The Sunday Post #19 + Stacking the Shelves #24

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba over at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This special post will provide a recap for posts that have been written for the week (April 22 - May 3, 2013)

Last Week 

Monday

Nicole's Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Tuesday

[Blog Tour] Michelle's Review: The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

Thursday

The Twins on Thursday: Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon

This Week

Monday

Nicole's Review: Wake by Amanda Hocking

Tuesday

Michelle's Review: Lullaby by Amanda Hocking

Wednesday

Nicole's Review: Crux by Julie Reece

Thursday

The Twins on Thursday: A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme first initiated by Tynga. This weekly segment will showcase the books/galleys/ARCs we've acquired/purchased/borrowed within the week.

Nicole

1. Rise by Anna Carey

2. Black Heart by Holly Black

eARC/eGalley

Confessions of An Almost-Girlfriend (Confessions #2) by Louise Rozett

Check out our review for the first book here.

(Thanks to Harlequin Teen x NetGalley!)

The Flute Player by Shawn Mihalik

(Sent for review)

The Twins on Thursday: A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso

"The Twins on Thursday" is reserved for the Twins' joint reviews. It is a special feature of our blog that discusses books that we either both like, dislike, or have mixed feelings about. This is also the day where we post reviews for books (and ARCs/Galleys) that have been sent to us by authors/galley sites/publishing houses. And because we don't believe much in uniformity, we'll be trying to mix things up a bit by adding random stuff in relation to our review (well, mostly for books we purchased anyway).

Title: A Shimmer of Angels
Author: Lisa M. Basso
Format Acquired: eGalley

Publication Date: January 29, 2013

Publishing House: Month9Books

ISBN: 9780985029425
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher via NetGalley

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it's more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can't admit to seeing?

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

If we had to compare A Shimmer of Angels to another series, we think it would have to be Michelle Rowen's Dark Kiss/Wicked Kiss, only better. Now books featuring angels and demons are a dime a dozen and it's not exactly easy to come across angel books that are a cut above the rest. A Shimmer of Angels is not exactly that but at least it didn't have your ever-present whiny girl and love at first sight.

Ever since her mother died, Rayna started seeing people with wings. Her family thought that it was her way of coping, but soon enough it got too much for them to handle and they sent her to the loony bin. Now in remission, Ray is determined to get things back to normal - meaning she has to fight to ignore the boy with wings who's oh-so-conveniently one of her classmates and generally not act all crazy. It's not exactly easy when your classmates are suddenly committing suicide the same same day you meet angel boy. Then Rayna finds out that maybe thanks to her strange angel sight she can help stop the deaths, well you can bet that everything's gonna change, and definitely not for the good.

A Shimmer of Angels had decent characters and we're grateful that there was no insta-love whatsoever. Ray is lost, she's always thought that she was hallucinating, seeing people with wings and then she finds out one day that she's not at all crazy and all the years spent in the mental hospital were all for naught? Yeah, we think we'd be a little lost too. She's a lot confused and who can blame her. She's got trust issues and OCD and she may be a little weird, just so you guys know. Admittedly, there were some parts where her dialogue and the narration just got confusing and it was either reread the part or skip it. We had to admit that her frequent freakouts with seeing the wings were a bit too dramatic.

There are two boys, two angel boys. Kade and Camael. We are obviously Team Kade  all the way because he is undoubtedly the more interesting one. He's more forthright and straightforward with Ray and was definitely a lot more fun to to read compared to stiff and all-too-serious Cam. When Ray needed help, Kade was always the one who went out on a limb for her. We can't fault Cam for focusing on his mission, but come on, dude! How can you ignore a person who obviously needs help?! Kade is obviously the better guy, and we can't help but groan over the fact that Ray is drooling over the wrong boy.

To be frank, the first half wasn't entirely convincing. It felt like the sequence was stuck on a loop what with all her talking about seeing angel wings everywhere. Ray's dad and sister also made us raise eyebrows. For people who claimed that they were concerned about her - and overly so, at that - they were always talking about sending Ray away or telling her to talk to her psychiatrist. We can't help but want to shake them both because Ray is a part of their family, and given her record, should be dealt with patiently and kindly. What kind of family treats one of their own as if they wished hard enough, all their problems - which was Ray - would disappear. Ray is better off without them and their definition of "help". The scenes with the bad guys were also dealt with properly, and definitely didn't feel forced or awkward. What we didn't get was why she could see angel wings in the first place, and hopefully, that would be resolved in the next book.

With us rooting for Kade and Ray and curious as to what the cast of characters will be up to soon, you can definitely say that we enjoyed A Shimmer of Angels. There's a decent heroine who didn't swoon at the sight of yummy guys, a hot bad boy who did more good than bad, and a plotline that, despite being a bit overused in the genre, definitely worked for Basso.

Rating:

 

NICOLE'S REVIEW: Crux by Julie Reece

Title: Crux
Author: Julie Reece
Format Acquired: Paperback

Publication Date: July 9, 2012

Publishing House: J. Taylor Publishing

ISBN: 9781937744069
Source of Copy: Purchased from Amazon

Summary:

She should have run. Now, she'll have to fight.

Eighteen year old Birdie may be homeless, but she's surviving, that is until a mysterious guy throws money in the air like a crazy game show host and she grabs some money with the idea she'll be able to buy dinner that night.

In that singular moment, unassuming Birdie becomes the girl in everyone's viewfinder. Thugs want to kill her. Money-guy wants to recruit her. The very hot, very rich and very out of her league Grey Mathews wants to save her.

Birdie though, wants nothing to do with any of them until she realizes fate didn't bring them all together.

Her heritage did.

Now with only twenty-one days left, she's got to decide whether to follow in the footsteps of those before her or risk her life for people she's only just met.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

I don't why I was under the assumption that this book was a dystopian. I really don't know why I thought that because this book is in no way a dystopian.

Birdie is homeless, struggling to survive and wondering where to get her next meal until one night she follows a strange man blathering nonsense who then proceeds to throw away wads of cash. Of course Birdie's not going to miss out on the chance to grab a few bills. But that night, the man also gives her something else - a key to a safe that leads to a pendant that will change Birdie's life forever.

Birdie is a likable character, she's strong and independent. She has to be since she's on her own. She's had it hard, bouncing from one foster home to the next and so it's not surprising that she has trust issues. Then she meets Grey. I don't know but I actually liked how Birdie met Grey - she was being chased by three guys so she gate crashed his family's dinner, he helped her get away and the rest, as they say, is history. But truthfully speaking I wasn't exactly sold on Birdie and Grey's whole relationship. I mean sure the girl's a mystery to you and she does clean up pretty well but how in the world is the guy not wary of Birdie or vice versa? I understand Grey wanting to be friends with Birdie but wanting something more from her after a few days? I mean they're cute and all and I like them together but that's how I imagined them to be after actually getting to know each other. But despite the rushed relationship I thought they were adorable.

Crux involves Vikings, time travel and a big battle where people obviously get killed and then die. Thing is, Birdie's got a huge role in said battle because she has to destroy an amulet passed down from one generation to another thanks to a greedy king who initiated the whole curse. Grey obviously gets dragged into the mess and the two end up fighting and training side by side. The whole time travel part is Birdie having to go back in time to the specific time and place where the battle occurred and end things once and for all. Note that all previous holders of the amulet had to go through with that process too and they ALL failed. Fancy that. Although Crux has it's own fair share of flaws but they're all fairly easy to ignore.

Another thing I noticed about Crux is how Birdie's newly acquired friends react to her having super powers - thanks to the amulet of course. They act like it's a normal everyday occurrence and super powers are nothing new. I thought that there should have been a you're-totally-crazy-and-this-is-some-lame-joke moment but I guess not. Birdie's lucky to have such accepting friends. 

Also can I just mention that I think Fenris - Birdie's dog or wolf, rather - is totally adorable? I wouldn't mind having a dog like that even if I'm a self-proclaimed cat person. 

So anyway, Crux was a fun read. Vikings, wolf-dogs and crazy cursed amulets? Cute, fluffy romance, war and time travel too. If you're fans of all that, then by all means, pick Crux up and take it for a spin.

Rating: