Review for Speechless by Hannah Harrington

TITLE: Speechless
AUTHOR: Hannah Harrington
PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2012
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
PAGES: 288 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: Publisher via Edelweiss
RATING: 5 bows

Chelsea Knot has taken a vow of silence. After a drunkenly outing Noah, a classmate, which results in someone beating him so bad he was hospitalized, Chelsea can’t keep her mouth shut. She confesses everything she knows to the cops, including the name of the perpetrators, making herself public enemy number one with her friends. She decides that only bad things come from when she speaks without thinking and she needs so serious quiet time to sort it all out. Surprisingly, silence isn’t so bad. Despite being harassed by the majority of the school, she ends up making a friend or two in the most unlikely places. Friends that seem to be able to forgive her for what she’s done. Now can she find the courage to forgive herself?

Chelsea is initially a character I hate. Popular and mean and full of herself, she is the it girls bestie. All that really matter are the rumors she spreads, her clothing choices, and the fashion world. But when the shit hits the fan, she steps up and realizes that maybe it’s time to change.

Shit…bad choice of words. That just makes me think of the fact that Shim Moore left Sick Puppies and my devastating feelings on that matter.

I’m good, I swear, so let’s continue. Chelsea takes this situation and turns it into something positive. Since the last few things that came out of her mouth only caused trouble, let’s not speak for a while. This is more challenging than you’d think. Not only can you not verbally communicate with anyone, but you can’t hum or sing along to your favorite music (which would be a tremendous challenge for me) and you can’t defend yourself from ridicule. But it has the intended effect. Chelsea now thinks before she responds and her answer isn’t just the first thing that comes to mind. The vow actually impacts her in a positive way because she makes true friends and starts improving in school and realizing that the people you associate yourself with makes a world of difference. She realizes that the bad guys aren’t always the ones doing the bad things, but also the ones who stand by and let the bad things happen. She certainly didn’t beat Noah to a bloody pulp, but her actions caused it and even before that moment, her not speaking up when her friends where being homophobic jackasses in a small way lead to it.

Sam, the love interest, is sweet and dorky and absolutely adorable. He stands up for what he believes and he fights for what he thinks is right. He reads…::swoons::…and listens to NPR…::not so swoons:: but he makes an effort for Chelsea and they are so cute together, that you can’t help but believe they’ll make it out alright. They’ll figure out a way to make it work, regardless of whether or not they have common interests.

What makes this so special is the amazing transformation Chelsea undergoes. We see real change and development on her part. She is one of the most fully formed characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. It also could come across as a PSA, giving you that lecture feel because of the subject matter, but it doesn’t. Chelsea’s story is very readable and addictive. She grows and changes and learns. This novel manages to give you a good message, especially one for teenage girls, without throwing it in your face. People are assholes, but there are some good ones out there and it’s a great idea to learn to be thankful for what you have. Things could be a great deal worse.

Geez, I’m not explaining this right. I just can’t find sufficient words to make you understand. This novel was perfect. There wasn’t a thing I would change. It feels real and true and wholly amazing. Chelsea changes. I know I keep saying that, but how many YA stories do you get where the heroine changes on her own. There is no spirit guide or world that needs saving or magical event that helps her along the way. After the Noah incident, she knows something has to give and maybe that something is her.

This novel has been sitting on my TBR shelf for far too long and I really regret waiting to pick it up. It’s going down in my book as a favorite because it was amazing. It has everything you need in a great novel, with a good message, readable quality, realistic characters, and those humorous moments that make you smile despite yourself. I recommend it to absolutely everyone!

****Thank you to Harlequinn Teen for providing me with an eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Spark (Elemental #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Spark
SERIES: Elemental #2
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2012
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen, a division of Kensington Publishing Corp
PAGES: 345 pages
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Won from Step Into Fiction
RATING: 5 stars

Gabriel Merrick has always been the bad one. Fire, his element, is beyond his control and though he tries, he can never seem to get it right. He uses sports as an outlet for his excess energy and frustrations, but now his new math teacher is threatening his right to play sports. Then someone starts setting fires and everyone blames him…but he’s not doing it. Everyone refuses to believe him, except a quiet girl in his math class who keeps throwing him off balance.

Gabriel has to be my favorite of the Merrick brothers. Cocky and badass, with a fierce loyalty to his brothers…mmm…just the way I like ‘em. His brothers have it easy compared to him. Their elements help them, bending to their will, but all fire wants is destruction, whether it is what Gabriel wants or not. It demands it and he can do nothing to stop it, only succeeding in slowing it down a little sometimes. One of the things I was looking forward to in this book was seeing a bit more of Gabriel and Nick’s twin bond and I was a little disappointed there. Towards the beginning the two get into an epically large fight and don’t speak to each other for most of the novel. But for those who wanted that, the scene at the end where they makeup is totally worth it. It’s so emotional and perfect and unexpected that it had me in tears. His relationship with Michael also got to me a bit. The two are so alike that it’s easy to see why they fight all the time, but hard to imagine why Gabriel can’t see the similarities.

Then there is the girl, Layne. Quiet and geeky, she isn’t who you would expect Gabriel to fall for. She doesn’t party, doesn’t drink, and has the biggest overprotected father I’ve ever read about. Her relationship with her deaf brother was especially fun to read. I’m fascinated by sign language, so naturally it caught my interest. She’s always been attracted to Gabriel, so when she notices that he is majorly struggling in math, she offers to help and a very reluctant Gabriel agrees. The attraction between them was instantly obvious, even though Layne was too self-conscious to even consider that he could truly be attracted to her.

I loved almost everything about this novel, but my favorite part has to be the sibling dynamic. Typically, I’m all about the romance, but here, I just love the way the brothers interact. Especially Michael’s relationship to his brothers, trying to both be a brother and a father and failing more often than not. The moments when him and Gabriel do finally see eye to eye are beyond touching. Speaking of romance, though, there is plenty of that here. Thankfully, this installment is love triangle free and you get plenty of Gabriel/Layne action.

This is one of the very few sequels that I ended up enjoying more than the original. Storm was great, but Spark somehow manages to be better. I cannot wait to read more of this series and more by Brigid Kemmerer in general.

Review for Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions #1) by Louise Rozett

TITLE: Confessions Of An Angry Girl
SERIES: Confessions #1
AUTHOR: Louise Rozett
PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2012
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
PAGES: 264 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: NetGalley
RATING: 4 stars

Rose Zarelli is just starting her freshman year and she doesn’t have a clue what the fuck she’s doing. Her dad died in Iraq a few months back and she’s definitely nowhere near finding closure on that, then the typical high school drama starts with her best friend changing into a cheer-witch, and a cute older guy showing interest in her while being aloof and attached to another girl, she doesn’t know which way is up.

Is any book going to earn 5 stars from me ever again? This one gets criticism for the same reason so many others do, the ending. This one has a non-ending type deal. At the end, Rose makes a decision to do something and then that’s it. We don’t see how it works out or how she resolves things with the special guy, it’s just implied that things will improve. I almost dislike those more than massive cliffhangers.

Beyond the ending, I really enjoyed quite a bit of this book. Rose was an interesting character to follow, she reminds me a good bit of Jessica Darling (from Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty), though a bit less observant. As the title implies, she is a bit angry at the world because of her father’s death and is avoiding the issue rather than dealing with it. Add to that anger the turmoil of starting high school and this novel is so full of teen angst (the good kind) that I was jumping for joy. Rose’s anger lead her to do things I wasn’t expecting and the violence she displays later in the novel had me cheering her on. Yeah, yeah, violence is never the answer, I know. But sometimes, it’s a great path to the answer.

The other characters were all interesting as well, especially Angelo. Nope, he’s not the love interest, that’s Jamie. He’s Jamie’s sidekick. Talkative with a sweet side that you never see coming, he almost had me rooting for him to win Rose’s heart (almost). Jamie, though, was a bit of a mystery. I liked him initially simply because everyone around Rose didn’t. Every “friend” she mentions him to cautions her to stay far away and that just automatically caught my attention. Another small disappointment in this novel is that you don’t get to learn too much about him. I understand that since its all first person via Rose that I will not be privy to his inner thoughts, but some sharing would have been nice. All we really learn about him is that he has a troubled home life.

Rose’s bestie, Tracy was even more of a mystery. She’s constantly being a bitch to Rose and then the nice switch flips and she’s nice for a page or two then its back to bitchville. I mean, I understand that those friends you make in childhood are hard to forget and I’m as guilty as the next person at standing silently by someone who really needs to be put in their place, but Tracy takes it a bit far.

I really like the writing style. Each chapter begins with a word and its definition, which amused me greatly. I love learning new words, and though I knew most of these, a few were unfamiliar, such as blunderbuss or quagmire. I loved Louise Rozett’s blunt way of discussing sex. I loved that she put in that health class discussing STD’s and unplanned pregnancy and all the ways sex can go wrong if you aren’t ready or prepared. I loved that Rose doesn’t want to have sex yet because she knows she isn’t ready and she won’t let anyone pressure her into believing otherwise. Considering YA paranormal’s always come up with an absurd reason that the teenage characters can’t get it on (like one it’s impossible to comingle the species, or some such nonsense), it’s refreshing for the character to simply not be ready and leave it at that.

This is a contemporary story of a girl trying to deal with all the pressure and changes associated with high school. It’s heartbreaking and funny and stunningly true to life. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good contemporary read.

****Thank you to Harlequin (UK) Limited for providing me with an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake

TITLE: Girl Of Nightmares
SERIES: Anna #2
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake
PUBLICATION DATE: A, 2012
PUBLISHER: Tor Teen
PAGES: 239 pages
FORMAT: Hardback
SOURCE: Gift
RATING: 4 stars

Let me just go ahead and apologize now because I know this review is going to come out weird…and probably shorter than I usually write. I don’t know what’s up with me lately, just not in a reviewing mood I guess.

Girl of Nightmares picks up six months after the events of Anna Dressed In Blood. Cas can’t seem to let Anna go and then she starts showing up and haunting him. He has to watch as she is tortured and there isn’t anything he can do about it. For a while he thinks he is going insane because he knows Anna is on the otherside, wherever that may be, and she can’t possibly be back in his world. But the athame doesn’t lie and when it detects her as well, Cas becomes determined to find Anna and bring her back from her torturous afterlife. One that she is only in because she saved Cas, Thomas, and Carmel from the Obeahman.

When I finished Girl Of Nightmares last year, I was so epically angry that I couldn’t put it into words. The novel was perfect but the ending had me screaming at the top of my lungs. Stupid goddamn cliffhanger, why why why?!?!? So, as you can imagine, I was eager to get my hands on the sequel. My feelings upon finishing it, are an extremely watered down version of what I felt when I finished ADIB. I’m not angry, per se, just disappointed. The novel was great, Cas is a believable teenage boy and I think we all know how difficult it is to find a novel by a woman that really feels like a guy, the story is as interesting and intense as ADIB, but the ending just left something to be desired. I felt like Cas still got the short end of the stick. I knew enough to know that Kendare Blake wasn’t the type of author to just wave a magic wand and have Cas bring Anna back over, she magically turns human again and they skip off into the sunset, I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that.

All that being said, it was still a great book. I really enjoyed it and though I wasn’t satisfied with the ending, it definitely fit the storyline. If you enjoyed ADIB, you’ll definitely enjoy this one, just be prepared for the ending.

Review for Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry

TITLE: Pushing The Limits
SERIES: Pushing The Limits #1
AUTHOR: Katie McGarry
PUBLICATION DATE: August 1, 2012
PUBLISHER: Harlequin Teen
PAGES: 392 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: NetGalley
RATING: 5 stars

Echo Emerson has a troubled past. She was once the golden girl, popular, dating the basketball team’s star player, friendly, and open with good grades and a great future ahead of her. Those days are long gone now, when she is the class freak that is stalked by stares and gossip. Two years ago her life changed forever when her older brother died in Afghanistan and then traumatic events involving her mom occur and suddenly there are only 2 people at school that will even speak to her. She desperately wants two things. The first is to remember exactly what happened that fateful night at her mom’s house. Her dad won’t tell her and it was bad enough that she awoke in the hospital days later and her brain had just blocked it all out. The second is for things to go back to normal. Will she ever achieve either goal?

Noah Hutchins is a bad boy. Stoner, one night stand-er, with dismal grades and a label as a troubled kid in the foster care system, he hasn’t got much going for him. So when the new glorified guidance counselor tries to change his attitude, he tells her to fuck off…until she dangles what he really wants in front of him, visitation rights to his little brothers. When he was a sophomore, his parents died tragically in a house fire, and nothing will ever be the same. He has been bounced from foster home to foster home since then and has no intention of turning over a new leaf, unless it can gain him access to his brothers. So when these two are thrown together with her tutoring him, both their worlds tilt off the access and they realize they have more in common than anyone could have ever imagined.

I don’t think I will ever be able to say enough amazing things about this novel. From the first moment I’m started reading from Echo’s perspective, I was rooting for her to find all the answers she sought, to stand up to her father, and to get her life back on track. She managed to seem wounded without coming off too whiny, which is a real feat. Noah is the perfect leading guy. He’s that good guy who turns into a bad boy that is still a bit of a softy underneath all that swagger and bravado. One of the biggest things I loved about them together is that Noah realizes right off the bat that he is falling for Echo. There is none of that bullshit where he cares for her but doesn’t realize it is love until after he has already fucked everything up. Don’t get me wrong, he fucks it up, but he knows he loves her when it’s happening. I found that so refreshing. They are so perfect together that it was hard for me to keep from yelling at them as they fought their mutual attraction. On the same note, I loved every minute of that dance.

I also loved that Mrs Collins seemed so knowledgeable and genuinely wanted to help them both. She made the book feel like the author really put effort and research into Echo & Noah’s issues and I’m constantly drawn to that. Reading about people recovering from extreme trauma or abuse gives me hope for the future in a weird way. I know none of it is real, but it easily could be and if an author somewhere can dream up a way for these fictitious people to get around their issues, than surely it is really possible.

This is, by far, the best contemporary YA I’ve read this year. I started yesterday night around 7 pm. I arrived early to class and decided to start one of the many netgally earc’s I’ve got on my kindle. I’d heard good things about it and quickly fell into the world Ms. McGarry created. Class soon started and I had to tear myself away. After class, I rushed home to continue reading. When 1 am rolled around, I was shocked to see that it was that late and yet I still couldn’t stop. I still continued reading, hoping I’d be able to finish it before the need to sleep overcame me. Since I am not a particularly fast reader, I did not accomplish this goal. At 4 am, I finally gave up and went to bed, knowing I’d hate myself when the alarm went off at 7. The gist of this rambly bit is you know a book is good if it can make you willingly tolerate going through on only three hours of sleep. Right off the bat, it reminded me so much of that fanfic I’m raving about, Wide Awake. It also reminded me a lot of Perfect Chemistry by Simon Elkeles. Or really any book I’ve read by Simon Elkeles, so if you like her stuff or just want a read that you won’t soon forget, read this.

****Thank you to Harlequin for providing me with an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Onyx (Lux #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

TITLE: Onyx
SERIES: Lux #2
AUTHOR: Jennifer L Armentrout
PUBLICATION DATE: August 14, 2012
PUBLISHER: Engtangled Teen
PAGES: 366 pages
FORMAT: Ebook
SOURCE: Borrowed
RATING: 4 stars

***If you have not read Obsidian, this will give away spoilers***

Onyx picks up right where Obsidian left off. Daemon turns on the charm to try to win Katy over while she fights with her hormones to resist him. All the while, they are trying to figure out the freaky alien connection that has opened up between them since he healed her after the epic battle. Katy dear is still stupidly denying that she feels anything for him and then a new guy shows up in town and suddenly Katy has a new date. You can imagine how Daemon feels about that. But when Katy starts moving things with her mind, we come to learn that Blake (the new kid) is just like her and can train her to control these new abilities, things get intense pretty quickly. Chaos, tension, intrigue, and mayhem are all ingredients in this installment of The Lux series.

As completely in love with this series as I am, I spend the better part of this book screaming at Katy. If she were a real person, I probably would have hunted her down just to smack her in the face and scream “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” at her. Though this book doesn’t feature a love triangle, she does date 2 different guys in this book. She is still doing that flirty dance around Daemon, but she also goes on several dates with Blake, much to Daemon’s irritation. While I understand the thrill of someone liking her and the frustration of Daemon trying to tell her what to do, this is unacceptable. Lady, you have DAEMON pouring his heart out to you, what the fuck are you even hesitating for?!?!?!? When you walked away from him saying that you couldn’t excuse his dickheaded-ness, he started trying to….well the word “woo” doesn’t seem to suit Daemon, but it’s the only word that comes to mind, so he started to woo you in earnest. You finally get to see more of the guy beneath the ass, the one who is nice and thoughtful and downright sweet. How can you say no to that? How can you even think of another guy, much less date him when Daemon is offering to defy his very species to be with you? You can’t, you just can’t. So you Katy-bug get an epic fail for this book. You do the wrong thing, the exact wrong thing. The whole time Daemon is telling you that he doesn’t trust Blake and you assume it’s nothing more than jealousy, but you are wrong.

I won’t spoil what happens, but I will say that there were some things that went down that I do not approve of. That being said, it was still an emotional rollercoaster ride and I loved every minute of it. That’s the mark of a good writer is that even when I hated Katy, I still couldn’t stop reading. I was still rooting for her to fix her stupid mistakes ****SPOILER****which she doesn’t, she just keeps being stupid and not trusting Daemon enough to tell him the truth and then Blake finally shows his true colors and Adam ends up dead just when things were starting to get good between him and Dee. Which really fucking sucks. I was not amused at all, I may have actually cried.****END SPOILER***

Finishing this book left me in whatever the opposite of a book high is. Book depression? Book melancholy? I rushed through these two novels because they were so good that I couldn’t get enough and even though I know the journey isn’t completely over because Opal will be release in December, I still can’t bring myself to feel anything but incredible sadness. I can’t believe it’s over. I can’t stop thinking about this story. It’s been all I could do all day not to go back and start re-reading it….I might have even read a chapter of Onyx to refresh my memory which is absurd considering that I just fucking finished it at 10 last night. I had to physically stop myself from reading. To add impact to that statement, I don’t really re-read many things because I feel like I have too much to read and can’t justify revisiting a story I already know, which the exception of a few scant things that I just can’t help but go back to and I think these novels are going to be added to that list.

Review for If I Lie by Corrine Jackson

TITLE: If I Lie
AUTHOR: Corrine Jackson
PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2012
PUBLISHER: Simon Pulse, a division of Simon & Schuster
PAGES: 276 pages
FORMAT: Ebook
SOURCE: PulseIt
RATING: 4 stars

This book completely blew me away. Once I started it, I’m became instantly addicted and finished it in one day. Let me add to that by saying that I’m not a particularly fast reader. Even if I only stop reading for bathroom breaks, it will still take me more than 5 hours to finish a 350 page book, but some books just won’t let you go.

Sophie Topper Quinn has done the unthinkable in her small town, she has cheated on Carey, her Marine boyfriend who is currently overseas fight the war. Or at least that’s what everyone believes, but nothing is every as it seems on the surface. Quinn, as she has been called for the last 6 years by her Marine father, didn’t really cheat because Carey isn’t really her boyfriend. He confessed that he was gay and begged her to pretend to still be his girlfriend while he was overseas until he found the courage to come out to his family and friends. Since he is her best friend, she promises to protect his secret at all cost, but little does she know that promise will cost her everything. A few days after Carey deploys, a picture surfaces of Quinn in her lacy undergarments with a guy too deep in the shadows to name and everyone in the town, including Quinn’s own father, turn on her. She is shunned and called names and tortured by the people who believe she has done the lowest thing anyone can do. And then Carey goes missing in action and things escalate even more. And the faceless guy? Carey’s best friend Blake, who Quinn is hopelessly in love with but can never tell the truth too….at least not until Carey comes out of the closet.

The first thing I want to say is that Quinn reminded me so much of Veronica Mars, how she was in the very beginning, but without the badass sleuthing skills. She puts off that same attitude, that same air of defiance, and the refusal to allow the mean kids to see her cry. I admired her courage and the determination it must have took to take this beating from everyone she loved instead of just screaming the truth from the rooftops to get away from all the bullshit. And Blake treats her like she has a disease, believing that she used him and lied to him, he wants nothing to do with her.

I loved how this book blended the present and the past together so beautifully. The pacing was absolutely perfect. While seeing what was happening in the present with Carey MIA, the story of the past slowly unfolds as well. You learn about Carey and Quinn’s first kiss, what really happened on that magical night between Quinn and Blake, about how Quinn’s mom deserted her and her father, and so many other things. It makes your heart break for this girl who really doesn’t deserve this fucking shit.

I also loved how, in the end, everyone isn’t perfect and summed up in a little bow. Quinn’s father, though he has started to show his love for her, is still a controlling, overbearing dick who doesn’t like admitting he’s wrong. Some things get resolved and some seem like they never will be. I also loved how Quinn seemed to curse like a real teenager would. Sometimes I think writers who write teens get caught in one of two stereotypes with teen cursing, Either they think that teens are good little kids who don’t curse at all (which is possible but extremely rare) or they think they are hooligans who curse every other word when parents/adults aren’t around (again, possible, but not the norm in my experience), so it was refreshing to see Quinn curse just the right amount at the appropriate moments.

So, if I’m raving about how amazing this book is, why does it only get 4 stars? That would be because I was not overly fond of the ending. ****SPOILER****First and foremost, I HATED that Blake and Quinn don’t end up together. I’m all about self-discovery and the need to put yourself first but if you love him like you claim to, there is now way I can legitimately see you just walking away when he asks if you can just start over. I get that you two have been through some painful shit, but that’s part of the relationship world, learning to work through it. I also hated that she moved in with her mother. I’m sorry, but regardless of the fact that your dad refused to let her see you after she left, it doesn’t excuse the fact that she left. I can understand that life with your dad was difficult and that you want to get to know mommy dearest again, but I just don’t buy it. Even if your dad did fuck up a lot, it is still apparent that he was doing his best and he could have easily shipped you off to a military school or boarding school to get rid of you instead of trying to take care of you. The one who sticks around is the one who cares the most, in my humble opinion, and lady you just chose wrong. I also hated how she gives Blake this whole lecture about how they have to stop putting Carey first and then she just runs to him at the end when he needs her like nothing has changed. GIR…the ending just wasn’t what I had hoped for.****END SPOILER**** Suffice to say that if you want a happily ever after with all the loose ends tied up, this isn’t your cup of tea. But for those who can overlook not so perfect endings, I highly recommend this one.

Review for The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer

TITLE: The Demon Catchers Of Milan
AUTHOR: Kat Beyer
PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2012
PUBLISHER: Egmont USA
PAGES: 288 pages
FORMAT: Ebook
SOURCE: NetGalley
RATING: 3 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book. It gets 3 stars because it was mildly entertaining and also because most of its issues can be fixed in the upcoming sequel which has great potential to be much better. But my overall opinion of the novel was that it was mediocre at best. The writing style was okay, nothing amazing, but not bad. The character development was decent enough for Mia, but the majority of the other people felt very one dimensional to me. It was also just boring for a good portion and nothing gets resolved at the end.

The basis of the story is that Mia gets possessed by a demon and her distant family from Italy show up and save her and basically demand she return to Italy with them so they can protect her and teach her how to protect herself. So off to Milan we go…..and then nothing happens. Mia basically gets trapped in the house because she can’t protect herself so she can’t leave without at least 2 escorts. They set her in a room with a Italian dictionary and a bunch of history books and tell her to study and that’s basically it. Beyond hearing her whine about not being able to go out, all you read about is introductions to her enormous family and how they feed you constantly and how good the food is. I guess it was good in a way because you really get a feel for how trapped she is when you feel trapped as well, but it was slow and dull and it took quite a bit longer to read than it should have. There are a few random exorcisms thrown in and then boom novel over. So many things are left unexplained. They haven’t learned any new information on the demon they are hunting, Mia’s family is still cryptic as fuck when she tries to get explanations for things that happen, you don’t find out why there are random spirits in Mia’s room, and the whole Satanist tangent is never explored fully. I found that very irritating.

Something else that really bothered me was how attracted Mia was to her cousin Emilio. She comments numerous times on how attractive he is and how she can feel him near and so on. Now they are very distant cousins, but it still skeeves me out.

I don’t think I will be recommending this book to anyone until I read the sequel and see if it improves any or answers any of my questions, but it was a decent enough read.

****Thank you to Egmont USA for providing me with an eARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review****