Ink of Blood

The Widow Makers: Road’s End

Posted by cat2002116 on November 4, 2014

Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although this book was the third in a trilogy, I still found it really easy to follow. Tommy was a thoroughly unlikable character, which was somewhat disappointing, because I like there to be at least some redeeming qualities to the bad characters.

The book did have a nice historical feel to it and I felt it was clear how much research the author put into this book and this world. Although I don’t normally read purely historical books, I found this one to be really well-written, with interesting and engaging characters… apart from Tommy, of course. I hated him from his first appearance and didn’t really change that first impression much as the rest of the book went on.

I liked the rest of the family and I did feel sorry for Sadie, even though, to be honest, I felt that she was really quite naive at times. I would have liked to see more of her in the book and what her fate will ultimately be.

One of the really interesting things about this book was that Tommy was such a stark contrast to the rest of his family. It would have been nice to see exactly why he turned out so differently. I felt sorry for his parents and his brother. I’m actually not sure I could blame Joe for being so reluctant to have anything to do with Tommy after a certain point in the book.

It was good to see the appearance of other characters in the book as well, such as Edward and George. There were some elements of pre-knowledge that I wasn’t sure really worked in the book. (And just to clarify – that refers to those moments where the author informs the reader of something that will happen; i.e. this would be her last night alive).

The book was well-written and easy and quick to read, with very few if any errors. I’m not sure I’d read this book again, but I will pass it on to someone I think might enjoy it.

Blog Hop: Catch Me When I Fall

Posted by cat2002116 on November 3, 2014

Posted in: Blog Tour, Promotion. Tagged: Blog Tour, Promotion. 6 Comments

Today, I’m taking part in Vicki Leigh’s “My Worst Nightmare” blog hop, to celebrate the recent release of her young-adult, paranormal-romance/ urban-fantasy, CATCH ME WHEN I FALL, which centres around seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham, a Protector of the Night, who has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears.

Rules:

On 11.03.14 post about your worst nightmare, and what form the clawed, red-eyed creatures would take if they fed off your fears.
Visit the other participants of the blog hop, and comment on their worst nightmares

At the end of the blog tour (11/14/14) Vicki will pick one participant at random, and award them with Catch Me When I Fall Swag Pack, containing a dreamcatcher hand-made by Vicki.

This is my worst nightmare:

I’m standing in the middle of a dark room. There are no windows at all and the door is against the far wall. I can’t see anything in the room, but I can hear the sound of something moving around. I can feel the sensation of being watched. My skin crawls as I begin searching frantically for a way out, but the only thing I’m aware of is that there’s something in the room with me. And I can’t see it… but I can hear it and I can feel it. And there’s no easy way to get out without running (or even walking) across the floor to reach the door.

As for what form the Nightmares would take…

I can picture one of them as being like a big cat. Not a lion, or tiger, but a tabby house cat that’s massive. Instead of a furry tail, though, it’s the tail of a scorpion. And the Nightmare’s teeth (more like fangs) are jagged and sharp. The Nightmare also has huge, bat-like wings and small, rounded ears.

The second Nightmare has the hooded head of a viper, with fur sprouting along either side. The body is scaled, but more like a lizard, with some fur continuing along its spine down to the tail. The claws are more like needles and although not very big, they are really sharp.

Check out the other participants of the blog hop!

Cassidie Jhones at Rebook424 – Cassidie’s Reviews | Tawney Bland Twinning for Twins

Laura Rueckert | Katie Teller at Katie’s Stories | Ayden Morgen at A.K. Morgen Writes

Sharon Bayliss | Emma Adams at From the Writer’s Nest | The Writer Diaries

Katie at Writing, Reading, and Life | Robyn Koshel at Elder Park Book Reviews

Jenny at J. Keller Ford – Fantasy Author YA Junkie | S. K. Anthony

Merisha Abbott at Blissful Book Reviews | Sarah at Ink of Blood

Amy at Home Is Where the Wine Is Book Blog | Zoraida Cordova at Wonderlands

Ryan Hill at Ryan Hill Writes | Christie Gibrich at A Geek In Librarian’s Clothing

Nichole Giles at Random-ish | Kayl Hughes at Kayl’s Krazy Obsession

Rebecca at Sister Sinister Speaks | Kathy Kozak at Ordinary Girlz Book Reviews

Victoria Biram at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author | Vicki Keire at Vicki Keire Writes Chelsea at To Each Their Own Reviews | Sarit at Coffee Books & Art

Jennifer Brooks at The Cubicle Escapee | Katja at Cautious

Cait Spivey | Lucy Lala at Book-A-Holic

Recruited at his death to be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing more than to stop.

Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla. Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And him.

A vicious attack on Kayla forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.

Find Catch Me When I Fall Online:

Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Babadook

Posted by cat2002116 on November 3, 2014

Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. 2 Comments

(This review may contain spoilers).

I have to be honest… this film was quite a disappointment. Even up till about halfway through, I felt no emotional connection to the characters. Amelia was a terribly neglectful mother… and Sam was just really irritating.

I did think there were certain aspects of the film that were quite creepy, especially with the popup book… and even more so with version 2. There were some really good sound effects, too, like at the beginning, where it sounds almost as if Amelia’s underwater.

The film itself seemed to be quite low-budget. And like with most horror creatures, the babadook was less scary when it was actually seen.

There were a few jumpy moments, as well as some really disturbing ones. Those would have worked much better if I was able to care about the characters, though.

I would have liked more of an explanation about the babadook, too. This film seemed to fall into the fairly common trap of substituting scares and gore for a plot that made sense and character development.

There were some good elements of foreshadowing and I did feel that Sam reacted fairly realistically for a child of his age.

The ending of the film would have had more of an impact if I’d been emotionally invested. I don’t think this is a film I’ll be watching again.

Catch Me When I Fall

Posted by cat2002116 on November 3, 2014

Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

The concept behind this book was a really intriguing one and I liked the source of the Protectors. I especially liked Daniel as a character. Unfortunately, a lot of my estimation for him went down because, rather than falling for Kayla because he observed her and got to know her, he fell for her after seeing a picture. And there was kind of the feel of insta!love involved.

I particularly liked the working relationships that formed. Tabbi was probably one of my favourite characters and it would have been nice to see more of her past and personality.

I was a bit worried that Samantha would turn out to be an awful person (because of the love triangle. Bleh), but I was pleasantly surprised to see that she wasn’t made into a villain.

I did like Kayla as a character and as I found out more about Daniel, I particularly liked him as well. Seth was a good character and I would have liked to see more of him.

It was nice to see the training that the characters did and I also liked the fact that Ivan eventually started working with Daniel… even if the two of them did still really dislike each other.

I was also really relieved to see that Kayla wasn’t the only one with power… although when it was stated she had much better control than the others, that was a potential red flag for me. At least there was a realistic explanation for that, though.

I was a bit confused about Adelynn, though. I would have liked to see some more of her and exactly what was going on there.

I do think that, if the romance didn’t come across as too fast, I would have liked it a lot more. It was sweeter later on, but I couldn’t get over the fact that Daniel broke the rules because Kayla was pretty.

I would like to see more of the characters, but not so much of the romance. I’d like to read the next book/s in the series at some point in the future. Also, I found myself really liking Nolan as a character and it would be nice to see more of him.

The Vampire’s Granddaughter

Posted by cat2002116 on November 3, 2014

Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’d probably give this book 3.5 stars, but since I can’t give half stars, I’ll have to give it 3 stars.

Although this book was the second in the series, I still found it fairly easy to follow.

It was interesting to see the different types of creatures/races there were in this world. My favourite was probably Cyah’s kind. I only saw Cyah briefly, but I felt a lot of sympathy towards her. It was nice to learn about her kind – and the male one was really quite sweet.

I did like Zoe and Fee as characters, but I kept getting confused with some of the other characters.

I did find a few contradictory moments in the book, like when Zoe mentioned she didn’t know something that she’d only found out a short while before.

I did particularly like Holly as a character, though I did have at least one questions left by the end of the book. I felt sorry for her, too, because it seemed to take Zoe a long time to actually become friends with her… and to even make the effort. (She seemed to give up far too easily).

I also really liked Callie as a character. I thought her relationship with Lily was a really sweet one.

The vampires in the book were quite intriguing, but I was left with a lot of questions about how they fit in and what Theo’s exact relationship with Fee and Zoe was.

It was really interesting to see the myths of Zoe’s people and how they differed to ‘human’ myths and fairy tales. It was also really nice to see the different races coming together to help each other, even if it was to further their own ends at times. I also really liked that one of the bad guys had a chance of redemption.

There was one scene in particular that bothered me, because the author used scenes from movies to describe it… and I kind of think that’s lazy writing. Also, there were a number of asides that seemed to come from the author that I felt really detracted from the story.

Despite that, I probably would eventually read the other books in this series. It would be good to see more of the world and the characters.

Ouija

Posted by cat2002116 on November 3, 2014

Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did find myself enjoying this film more than I thought I would. I do find horror movies entertaining… mostly because it’s a ‘safe’ kind of fear. But most of the time, the characters are just attractive people with very little real personality outside of the stereotypes.

I didn’t feel that was so much the case with this film. I felt that there was time spent developing the characters and that was something I really appreciated.

Ouija boards are something that are quite scary and not something I would ever play around with personally. It might be a game most of the time… but they’re still very dangerous.

This film did follow quite a lot of the horror movie cliches, I felt. The whole dark basements… and the ‘cheap’ scares. (Where something perfectly normal appears unexpectedly. Also known as the ‘it’s just a cat’ syndrome). I did jump at some of the scary moments, but not all of them.

It was good that there wasn’t a lot of blood and gore in this movie. I honestly believe that less is more when it comes to horror and I felt that the camera panned out at just the right moment a lot of the time.

There were a couple of points where I felt that the characters didn’t utilise technology (read: Google) in the way they could have… or ask the right questions when in a position to do so. And although the grief at the beginning came across as real, there wasn’t really and reaction when others started dying. It was like all of the parents/family/friends weren’t interested… didn’t care. Even Lane came across that way a bit.

Although I only recognised one of the actors in this film, I did think a lot of them worked really well, even if I did get a bit confused about some of the relationships. (I thought Debbie was Lane’s sister at first).

I did find this film entertaining to watch, with some good jumpy scenes and believable acting most of the time. It’s probably a film I’d be happy to watch again.

Blog Tour: The Unhappening of Genesis Lee

Posted by cat2002116 on October 31, 2014

Posted in: Uncategorized. 1 Comment

The Unhappening of Genesis Lee

by Shallee McArthur

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Release Date: November 18th 2014

Rate: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.

Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.

The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things— or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.

Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I was quite surprised that I managed to finish this book as quickly as I did. (That’s what comes of somehow having two blog tours on the same day…) This was a book that, I felt, lived up to the expectations I had when I originally read the blurb.

The idea about memories being contained in links was quite an intriguing one. I was a bit confused about why there were some people who didn’t have those links, at least at first, but as the book went on, I found it easier to understand.

I found Genesis a character who was really easy to relate to. I was a bit unsure of her at first (I’ve had some bad luck with first-person characters), but I was very quickly pulled into her head.

I was particularly relieved to see that there wasn’t even a hint of a love triangle. Then again, it seemed like Genesis had enough on her hands when she was dealing with just Kalen. It probably would have been a lot harder on her if there had been two guys involved and all of the issues raised there.

I thought it was really interesting to see the differences between the two different factions. The idea of memories being so easy to steal is a particularly scary one. It would be awful to suddenly find you were missing even a day… let alone much longer.

One of the frightening things about this book (in my opinion) was how easy it was to control the population. Unfortunately, that’s a fairly realistic issue. People throughout history have hated others just because they’re slightly different in appearance or background… and it’s an attitude that’s prevalent now, too. There are certain things on television that, frankly, have made me ashamed of humanity.

Moving on… I particularly liked the romance in this book. It was believable and I found myself rooting for the characters.

The ending was slightly disappointing, but not enough to detract from my enjoyment of this book. It would definitely be interesting to read a sequel that dealt with the aftermath of the events at the end of this. I feel there’s a lot that could be explored further with this world and the characters.

“Equal parts dark and delightful, McArthur’s stunning debut takes an awesome SF premise and follows it deep into the maze of the human mind. I loved it so much I was jealous.” – Dan Wells, author of the NYT bestselling PARTIALS Sequence

“A thrilling read from beginning to end, this stunning debut had me wishing I could record my memories to keep them safe! Just like Gena, I was desperate to discover the thief while at the same time hoping the story would never end.” – Elana Johnson, author of the POSSESSION trilogy

Follow the FFBC The Unhappening of Genesis Lee and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Shallee McArthur originally wanted to be a scientist, until she discovered she liked her science best in fictional form. When she’s not writing young adult science fiction and fantasy, she’s attempting to raise her son and daughter as proper geeks. A little part of her heart is devoted to Africa after volunteering twice in Ghana. She has a degree in English from Brigham Young University and lives in Utah with her husband and two children.

She is represented by Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. Her YA sci fi novel, THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE, debuts from Sky Pony Press Nov. 4, 2014.

And because people always ask, her name is pronounced “shuh-LEE.” But she answers to anything that sounds remotely close.

Giveaway is open to US/CAN Only | Must be 13 or older to enter

There’s an Scavenger Hunt for extra points in the rafflecopter! All you have to do is go to the tour schedule and search for those blogs hosting a QUOTE CARD.

In the quote teasers/cards you’ll find a word in yellow and that’s the secret word you have to enter in the rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: Zhukov’s Dogs

Posted by cat2002116 on October 31, 2014

Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: Blog Tour, books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found this book a particularly intriguing one. The blurb sounded really interesting and I found myself pulled into the storyline almost straight away.

Zhukov was a really well-written character and it was good to see the storyline written purely from his perspective. Although the book kind of went straight into the action, I still found it really easy to follow.

I would have liked to see a bit more of Zhukov’s past. There was enough to make him an interesting character, but I didn’t really see enough of why he became one of the dogs.

There were times in this book that I couldn’t help thinking Zhukov’s morality compass was incredibly skewed. It made sense with who he was and how he’d been brought up, but the loose ends thing in particular made me think I’m not sure Zhukov would be a person I’d like in reality.

I particularly liked Zhukov’s relationship with Val. It was interesting how Zhukov didn’t identify himself as being romantically interested in men, but it was more that Val was an exception.

I would have liked a bit of explanation about how Val (and Anya’s) build was so different to what others like them were normally like. The contrast between Val and Zhukov was fairly interesting, but I would have liked to know why Val’s body temperature was so cold in comparison to everyone else’s.

I did think Zhukov was a believable character. I was pulled into this storyline really easily and it was good to see other parts of the world. I would have liked to see more of the history of the world, but that lack of detail didn’t really detract from the story.

I would definitely be interested in reading a sequel to this book. It did have a proper ending, but there was a lot more of this story that I felt could have been told. I’d like to see more of the world and the characters.

Get a copy: Zhukov’s Dogs

Source Code

Posted by cat2002116 on October 31, 2014

Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

(This review may contain spoilers).

I originally saw this film at the cinema and when it was showing on television, I decided to watch it.

Although this film is quite similar to several existing films (Deja Vu springs to mind), I still found it really entertaining to watch. When repeating a day or an event, Groundhog Day style, I’d imagine it would be really hard to keep the core elements the same, while having the characters react within those parameters to how the one person who knows what’s going on.

The idea of Source Code was a really intriguing one, but if someone was really in that kind of situation, I’d imagine they’d find it just as difficult to ‘separate’ from the people on the train. I felt that was a particularly realistic plot.

I liked the relationships that Colter formed with Christina and Goodwin. It was interesting to see the contrast between him with a fellow soldier and with someone he ended up being romantically interested in.

Colter was an easy character to empathise with, in my opinion. I felt that the issues he was facing were shown really well in the film. There were some darker moments in this film, but it was good to see that there was also some comedy moments.

There were quite a number of actors I recognised in this film and I found them all very believable in their roles.

I did think that there were still some questions left by the end of the film, but nothing really major. This film was really entertaining and managed to hold my attention throughout. I wouldn’t mind watching it again.

Blog Tour: The Gathering Darkness

Posted by cat2002116 on October 30, 2014

Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: Blog Tour, books, reviews. 3 Comments

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although, by the time I got halfway through this book, I found it much easier to read than when I’d started, I can’t really give it more than three stars.

The plot of this book was a really intriguing one. The idea of reincarnation is, for me, quite a fascinating one… and when I read the blurb of this book originally, I felt really grabbed by the idea.

Unfortunately, the romance(s) really killed this book for me.

I’m not fond of the whole insta!love thing. Even if the characters are soulmates or who have been in love in a previous life, unless they’re an established relationship in the current life, I want to see how they actually fall in love… not a summary of however long the passage of time is before, gasp!, they’re in love.

When I got about halfway through the book, I felt that the pace picked up quite a lot. It was nice to read something that didn’t have werewolves or vampires in as well.

I’ve started to become more interested in family relationships between characters and it was a bit disappointing not to see more of those. Like Marcus and Evan’s relationship… it’s always annoyinging to see two brothers fighting over the same girl. That’s one of those things that makes me roll my eyes, because since the Vampire Diaires, it’s one of those plotlines that I see more than I like.

I actually really liked Robyn and Beth as characters. To be honest, the fact that I was so taken by them was probably one of the things that finally drew me into this book. I also thought Maggie was quite an interesting character.

I did feel there was quite a lot of exposition by the other characters. I was more interested in the actual flashback scenes than when the main characters were being told the stories of their pasts. I was also disappointed that there were some plotlines that were kind of dropped… one thing in particular, towards the end, was left hanging and I was disappointed by that.

I did think the author did a good job with the nightmares. They were suitably creepy and well-described.

I’m not sure if I’d read a sequel to this book. It would depend… Multiple guys falling for the main female character is a red flag for me and I disliked Brooke when she kept leading them on. On the other hand… the moments between her and Marcus were sweet; and if there hadn’t been insta!love, I would have been rooting for them.

Get a copy: The Gathering Darkness