#BookReview Vampireville by Ellen Schreiber

Vampireville, the third book in the amazing Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber, is another excellent addition to my bookshelf!

I love this series and I have a very obvious bias towards it. This series was a big part of my teenage years and it’s hard to not jump back into this series and fall in love all over again. Alexander and Raven’s epic romance is one of the best YA couples around (go ahead and argue that with me) and I can’t help but shout from the hills about them. Jumping back into these books as an adult cemented my love for this series. It’s still just as good!

Vampireville is a young YA book – the maturity of this novel isn’t strong but that’s why I loved it. Lots of YA books take themselves way too seriously, so having a book like this that is so much fun is a real delight. Raven is your stereotypical goth girl (Hot Topic shopping, black lipstick, loves black, black cats, in love with a vampire, etc.) but that makes her so cool. She’s the ideal of every 13 year old girl who wanted to be a goth but her parents wouldn’t let me (haha… me!). She’s sassy, makes mistakes and feels more real than most YA heroines.

Raven and Alexander continue facing a very bumpy ride, but the ride is fun! I highly recommend binging the whole series as soon as possible. I didn’t enjoy these books all on their own: I liked reading the entire series from beginning to end to really get this series. It helps that all the books are relatively short and written in a nice form so you can easily jump from book to book.

Five out of five stars! I love this series and I want more!

 

You can find this book on:
Goodreads
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Kobo
Barnes & Noble
Indigo – Canadian Retailer

Check out Ellen on Goodreads: Ellen Schreiber on Goodreads

Or take a peek at her website: EllenSchreiber.com

Maybe give her a shoutout on Twitter too? @EllenSchreiber

 

If you enjoyed this book, check out another you might enjoy:
#BookReview The Coffin Club by Ellen Schreiber
#BookReviews Girls That Growl by Mari Mancusi
#BookReview The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

 

Give me a shout out on Twitter if you read this review! #briarsreviews @ReviewAlholic

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#BookReview Avalon Hall by Ruth Miranda

Avalon Hall by Ruth Miranda is an excellent start to a new series I will surely be addicted to.

King Arthur. Round Tables. Medieval Fantasy.

My gosh, this book is packed TIGHT with everything I love about Ruth Miranda and her writing. Epic fantasy, a potential romance, drama, “echoes from the past”, murder, and an epic tale. Seriously, this series already has me hooked and IT LEFT ON A DARN CLIFFHANGER.

I swear, Ruth Miranda sits away at her computer knowing full well I’m going to be pulling my hair out and screaming while I wait for the next book. It may be a little egotistical, but she’s totally doing it to me, on purpose. And I fall for it every time! I can picture her with evil, maniacal laughter filling the room as she typed the final words in Part 1…

But, that’s not the meat of this review. Avalon Hall centers around King Arthur being from Scotland, where the wonderful Avalon Hall (a present day academy for witches and fey) sit. 30 years before modern day, a young woman named Stephanie Miller was murdered and 30 years later there’s been yet another murder. Fortunately, this time it was just some jerk. That being said, Stephanie’s murder brought lots of attention on this hall that only wanted to be seen as a hippie community that studies tarot cards and astrology. Atticus Downe, the new head master, wants to keep it that way. Oh, and he’s hiding a vampire named Emrys in the attic.

Along comes Yseult, a beautiful witch, to Avalon Hall 30 years after Stephanie’s death. She begins seeing ghosts, these “echoes from the past” and sees some ghosts from her present too (like her abusive ex Gary).

Part one is all about Yseult and Avalon Hall. Seriously, this was the best opening for this story. I was truly hooked in and was totally addicted to the book with this opening. It had a fair bit of drama, with mean girls and crushes, alongside the fantastical elements of the story. Also Emrys and Yseult are totally end game for me. Seriously, I need to know what happens next! I also really liked that Ruth expanded on Nora Bell’s character. I was expecting her to be some mean girl, but she’s not all she seems to be.

Then we move into part 2, which brings us back to King Arthur’s actual birth. There’s a lot of back story on his family in this one. The worst part for me was trying to pronounce any of those names. It brought me out of the book a few times because I couldn’t decide on how I wanted them pronounced and I didn’t like google’s pronunciation either. Confusing names are hard, okay? But, I digress, this part of the book was REALLY good. The lore, the back story, and the fast pace of the story. I loved every second of it.

I really hope this series continues and I can get my hand on the next book. Ruth Miranda’s writing style is marvelous – it’s fast, she has a talent for weaving her words into beautiful sentences and she makes up excellent plots. Plus, she’s really good at horror, romance and action.

Overall, this book is a 100% recommended book from me. If you like myths and lore, action and adventure, and a pinch of romance, then this book is for you! I’m definitely going to be continuing the series so you might as well start it with me!

Five out of five stars!

I received this book for free from the author, Ruth Miranda, in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

 

Check out Ruth Miranda on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15263413.Ruth_Miranda

 

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#BookReview I Am the Night by Ruth Miranda

Ruth Miranda has a way with words that really pulls me into her books.

I Am the Night is a continuation of the Blood Trilogy series. It takes place inbetween the first and second novels, but it’s still one marvelous read.

In this little novella, we take a peek into Marcus’s life. His back story of becoming a vampire is more fleshed out this time around. I have to say that I really enjoyed it, despite all of it’s brutality. There’s lots of blood, gore and sex yet it doesn’t feel over the top. Somehow, Ruth also manages to mix in the raw emotion and crazy roller coaster that Marcus is going through. The highs and the lows are all present, and somehow she moves seamlessly from one to the other. It’s really intriguing to read, to be brutally honest.

I was totally addicted to the Blood trilogy, so this little novella made perfect sense to me. I wouldn’t recommend picking this story up unless you’ve at least read the first book in that series. It won’t make much sense otherwise. I’d label this book a “companion” novel to that main series. I’d like to see more little side stories like this one in the Blood trilogy series. It’s such a good series with so much plot and development! It deserves little stories like this to keep it alive!

I’d give this book an R rating for the intense horror of blood and death. It’s not overly horrific, but if you don’t like hearing about vampires killing people or blood then this book won’t be for you!

Overall, this book is epic! I love Ruth Miranda and her work! It’s no surprise that I’d binge read this book in one sitting too. It was well worth the wait and I hope Ruth brings some more books my way!

Five out of five stars!

I received this book for free from the author, Ruth Miranda, in exchange for an honest review.

 

Find more books by Ruth Miranda on Amazon:
Amazon.com – Ruth Miranda

Check out my reviews of other books by Ruth Miranda by clicking the links below:
#BookReview Blood by Ruth Miranda
#BookReview Marianne by Ruth Miranda
#BookReview Scars by Ruth Miranda
#BookReview A Study for Love by Ruth Miranda

 

Give me a shout out on Twitter if you read this review! #briarsreviews @ReviewAlholic

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#BookReview Blood Lust by Alexandra Ivy

Blood Lust by Alexandra Ivy is the perfect mix of action, romance and drama!

Bas and Myst have two of the coolest names I’ve ever seen in a book, let me say that outright. And now, onto the review!

I’ve been hoarding Alexandra Ivy books on my shelves for years now, so I was thrilled to finally pick up one of the books hanging around on my shelves. This book was a lovely book to start off with, even if it was third in the series. I had no problem jumping into this story and I fell in love with these mysteriously epic characters! In this book, Myst and Bas have a young girl named Molly (she has such a normal name for her parents having cool ones, just saying…) and she brings them back together. Bas, the assassin, and Myst, the woman who’s seen a very important vision, are such a strangely well paired couple. They are hot and bothered and ready to fight.

I loved that this book wasn’t purely romance – I’ve gotten tired of the “this is a fantasy book” but it really is all romance trope that I’ve been seeing lately. Having this book full of intense drama and action with the romance coming in closer to the end felt REALLY nice. These two characters are definitely made for the romance sphere, but they also have such incredible back stories that it would have been a waste to not explore them. So, kudos to Alexandra Ivy for making this book so different.

My notes on the book are as followed:
1. You can see the ending coming from a mile away, but that’s probably just me reading too much and watching too many movies.
2. This book is easy to jump into as a stand alone, but I might have understood a little bit more of the world building if I had read the first two books in the series.
3. The fantasy in this book is REALLY COOL. You can tell a world is being built around this series, so I really hope there’s more books to come.
4. I love the relationship between Bas and Myst. They are sassy, sarcastic and yet romantic at all the right times.
5. The story felt “real” – you can believe that Bas and Myst would go save their daughter. All of the plot points didn’t feel forced and worked really well within the story as a whole.
6. If I had to pick one negative for me, it would be that the book felt just a little too long. Some scenes could have been cut out and the story would have made just as much sense.

Overall, I really liked this book! It was a great mix of fantasy, action and romance and I’d highly recommend it to someone looking to fill the void in those genres. I wouldn’t recommend purely binging it. I liked it much more when I was able to set it down and jump back into the world.

Four out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

 

Check out some other books and reviews you might enjoy:
#TopBooksList Briar’s Top Fantasy Reads, Part 1
#BookReview Light My Fire by Katie MacAlister
#BookReview Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

 

Give me a shout out on Twitter if you read this review! #briarsreviews @ReviewAlholic

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#BookReview Dance with a Vampire by Ellen Schreiber

This is one of my fave throwbacks to my teen years – Ellen Schreiber and her Vampire Kisses series. To say I was obsessed with this series is an absolute understatement. Recently, I picked this book up again and decided to throw myself into this series, and I still love it!

This series is full of cute-sy YA romance with Alexander and Raven. The book is written for a younger audience, but if you’re like me and love sinking away into a fantastical world then it will be no issue to you. If you’re expecting a “True Blood-esque” novel, then you’ve come to the wrong place.

The fourth book in this series, Dance with a Vampire, continues Alexander and Raven’s epic love story. Except, this time around we’ve got more crazy antics that the pair have to deal with. Valentine is now up to her trouble, making it seem impossible for our love birds to have a happy ending.

A note for the reader: These books are relatively short, which makes them a fun, sweet, and smooth read. It’s really easy to binge all of these books in a day if you have the nerve to. I read the first four books (back in the day) on a bus ride to a school swim meet. I re-read these books many times because of how short and fun they were. So, it’s not a big time commitment if you read these babies one by one.

Final note: The manga version of this series was one of the first mangas I ever read and made me fall in love with that “genre” (is genre the right word? Probably not). The pictures were beautiful, the story was magical and I’m glad it got me so into reading! Thank you Ellen for being one of my early reading addictions. Hopefully I’ll find some more newer books by her soon! Her writing just vibes well with my reading style.

I’d highly recommend these books. They are on the younger side of YA, but they are funny, sassy and absolutely adorable. My biggest con for this whole series was that it ended! I loved each book and I really want more by this author. So many YA novels take themselves way to seriously and try to make the teen be an adult. This series makes Raven be a fun, young girl who makes mistakes along the way (but she somehow gets an epic romance out of it).

Five out of five stars!

 

You can locate this book on:
Goodreads
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Kobo
Barnes & Noble
Indigo (Canadian Retailer)

 

If you enjoyed this book, check out another book or review you might enjoy:
#BookReview Once Upon a Vampire by Mari Mancusi
#BookReview The Coffin Club by Ellen Schreiber
#BookReview Jessica Rules the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

 

If you love YA, check out my top ten list for Young Adult reads!
Collection 2: #TopTens – Young Adult Part 1

 

Give me a shout out on Twitter if you read this review! #briarsreviews @ReviewAlholic

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#BookReview Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Many eons ago in my high school/teens years, I used to read J-14 magazine. That magazine was my lifeline to society – celebrity gossip, posters of the Jonas Brothers, and book recommendations! During those formative years, I remember seeing endless advertisements for Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins and I never truly forgot about this book… Fast forward to my mid-twenties! I’m at a local charity book sale and I see THE BOOK! The book was right there within my reach! I picked it up, put it on my book shelf and forgot about it… until recently when I cleaned my house and donated many books so I had room on my shelves.

I am SO glad I finally picked this book up. This was another one of those books that gets me hooked instantly and falling in love with some teenie bopper characters. Throw in fantasy, typical YA “I can save the world”-esque plots and magic and you’ve got me hooked!

This book is funny, super sweet and sometimes sassy. It’s absolutely the first book in the series and it leaves off with one of those dreaded cliffhangers that makes me want to read the next book ASAP.

We follow Sophia (she goes by Sophie) in this adventure filled novel after she performed a love spell a little too well. She gets sent off to Hecate, Hex Hall, and the rest is history! Sophie gets roomed with Jenna the vampire, she holds classes with some ‘Mean Girl’ clique-y girls and might be falling for the school’s bad boy. She’s the daughter of a powerful warlock, everyone seems to hold that against her and she’s got some wild family history behind her. Yes, this sounds like the typical YA plot but it’s written so wonderfully that I didn’t even care! Rachel opens this world and makes me feel like I was apart of the journey. I felt for Sophie and Jenna, I ogled after Archer and I absolutely HATED Elodie. Hey, I was a teenage girl once. I remember the mean girls ruining all of the fun.

My favourite part of this book is all of the sassy one liners thrown around. Sarcasm is the way I live my life, so I loved that this book is full of it! Sophie, Jenna and Archer are absolutely hilarious. I also adored the side characters, the Groundskeeper being my favourite.

My least favourite? STUPID CLIFFHANGERS. I hate them and I truly believe that a book should be able to stand on it’s own. I hate when I’m left off feeling cheated at the ending. Yes, I know Rachel wants us to read the next book in the series but I don’t like when I’m left feeling like I HAVE to read the next book – I WANT to.

Overall, this book is a real gem! I’m glad I finally found it. Back in my teenage years I didn’t have the funds (I mean, I’m a college student…I still don’t, but I know how to bargain hunt now!), so it’s awesome that I found a book I’ve been dreaming of! I still remember that ad page distinctly…

Five out of five stars!

 

You can purchase this book on:
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
Kobo
Barnes & Noble
Indigo – Canadian Retailer

If you enjoyed this book, check out another book or review you might enjoy!:
Collection 2: #TopTens – Young Adult Part 1
#BookReview Once Upon a Vampire by Mari Mancusi
#BookReview Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

 

And give me a shout out on Twitter if you read this review! #briarsreviews @ReviewAlholic

And like me on Facebook for more urgent updates! @BriarsReviews on Facebook

Or follow my on Goodreads: Briar’s Reviews on Goodreads

 

#BookReview A Play of Shadow by Julie E. Czerneda

A Play of Shadow by Julie E. Czerneda is a fantastical novel packed full of action.

I will admit that this book was hard for me to get through. My best bet is because I haven’t read the first novel in this series, so I just didn’t know half of what had occurred before this novel. That doesn’t mean this book isn’t good though! It was just very hard for me to push myself to read it. It almost felt like a chore because I couldn’t comprehend some of the past experiences of the characters. I did look up some information on the last book, but it didn’t help me. That being said, I don’t recommend jumping into this series without starting from the beginning.

This book did feel fantastical though! Julie is a truly mesmerizing author and I love her talent. I felt like I was reading a Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones styled tale. It’s full of fantasy, action and lore that was truly interesting.

I did like Jenn and Bannan together. They felt like a real couple and the were truly lovable. I found their development to be my favourite part of the story. I fell in love with them instantly despite not knowing what happened to them in the previous book. Shout out to Julie for doing so well with them!

The magic in this book was also fun to experience. It didn’t feel like the typical dramatic magic I’ve seen in romance novels (which is where I commonly see magic), so I enjoyed Julie’s spin on it.

Overall, not reading the first book really screwed me over with this book. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I read it in order the way it was intended. I think big fantasy lovers will enjoy this book way more than I do. I like to dabble in fantasy, but it’s not really my scene. Those who love fantasy will devour this book so quickly and will truly love it. I’m just not made for this type of novel! So I do truly think this book is amazing, but in my opinion it doesn’t do it for me as a reader.

Two out of five stars – since it was really hard to get into and really hard for me to get invested in.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

 

Check out some more of my reviews that you may enjoy if you love fantasy:

#BookReview Marianne by Ruth Miranda

Book Review: HALFWAY DEAD (HALFWAY WITCHY #1) by TERRY MAGGERT

#BookReview Elves Get Organized? by Katja Vartiainen