Tynga's Reviews

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Trailer Thursday - My Soul to Reap by Courtney Allison Moulton

This meme was inspired both by Dark Fairie Tales and Stop, Drop and Read.

This week I decided to introduce you to a new YA Author, her first book, My Soul to Reap, will release summer 2011!

Product description (from Courtney's website):

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers--monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell--she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between Seraphim and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of fighting the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her--an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting extracurriculars, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to destroy Ellie's soul forever, ending her rebirth cycle. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives--including truths that may be too frightening to remember.

Read an excerpt

Sounds totally awesome doesn't it?
I'm looking forward to reading that book, but the 18 months suspense is most likely to kill me! lol

by Tynga at Thursday, February 04, 2010

Courtney Allison Moulton, Trailer Thursday, young adult 3 People left their mark

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

"Dorina Basarab is a dhampir- half human, half vampire. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs live very short, very violent lives. So far Dory has managed to maintain her sanity by unleashing her anger on those demons and vampires who deserve killing.

Now Dory's vampire father has come back into her life. Her uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula), infamous even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to work with the gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.

Vampires and dhampirs are mortal ennemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on earth that truly scares her, so when Dory has to go up against him, she'll take all the help she can get... " - Book Cover

The book cover provides a pretty good resume of the story so I won't go down that path, instead I'm gonna tell you what I liked and what I didn't about this book =)

First of all, I've read other books about dhampir and it's the first time I've seen them with such a violent temper. I think it's a very original idea to provide this unique race a background and a good explanation for their low population, combine with the fact that vampires kills them on sight. On the other hand, I felt bad for the poor Dory, she got beat up pretty bad all the time, I don't think there was a chapter without her having an injury. Yes she is a bad ass, but sometimes I felt it was a bit to much.

At some points I had a hard time to follow the story, specifically when there were descriptions of past events or story backgrounds of other races (fae, trolls etc). Maybe it's just that my English isn't good enough? I don't know. It didn't stop me from enjoying the book but it was a bend in the road if I may say.

And a totally insignificant thing that bothered me is the name of one of the main characters. Louis-Cesare. I just don't like his name, and he have doesn't have a nickname in the book either. I guess the author wanted a very french-like name for the French vampire, but honestly? I'm french and I've never seen anyone with that name. A simple François or Antoine would have been just as good. But hey, that's just me =P

While I'm talking about french, I'd like to point out that unlike many other books, the french lines of the book were correctly written, so kudos for that!

Now that I am done complaining, I can say that overall I liked that book, the action was good, the tension between the main characters interesting and believable, and it was an interesting story in a book world full of vampire stories.

I have Death's Mistress sitting on my TBR shelf, so stay tuned for a review of the next instalment.

Read an excerpt

Dorina Basarab series:
Midnight's Daughter
Death's Mistress

Books Stats:
Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Onyx (MM) (Oct 7 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451412621
ISBN-13: 978-0451412621

Book Source: Personnal Shelf

by Tynga at Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Dhampir, Review, Vampire 4 People left their mark

Waiting on Wednesday - Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

This meme is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

This week I choose to spotlight another debut author, Rachel Hawkins, and her book, Hex Hall.

Product description (from amazon.ca):

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father-an elusive European warlock-only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters. By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Release date:

Hardcover: March 9th, 2010

Paperback: April 1st, 2010

Sounds amazin doesn't? Can't wait to get my hands on a copy ^^

by Tynga at Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Waiting on wednesday 8 People left their mark

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Teaser Tuesday - Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

-Grab your current read
-Open to a random page
-Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
-BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
-Share the title & author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

I am currently reading Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance, here's an appetizer!

" I clanched every muscle to halt the mouvement, while Louis-Cesare, damn him, was smilling. He slid a hand across my shoulder to my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair as he cupped the back of my head. I don't like feeling overpowered, and when it happens, I fight back. " -p.59

by Tynga at Tuesday, February 02, 2010

teaser tuesday 5 People left their mark

Interview & Giveaway with Chloe Neill

In the honor of the recent release of Firespell (Jan 5th, 2010), Chloe Neill generously accepted to answer my questions, and also offered a signed copie of her book and Firespell gift pack, how amazing is that?

Shall we find out some more about this fabulous author?

Firespell is the first installment in the Dark Elite series, how would you describe it?

FIRESPELL is a little like Harry Potter meets Nancy Drew. We meet Lily, a brave and curious 16 year old girl who's thrown into a strange city and an even stranger boarding school.

Three books were announced so far, are you hoping to publish more in that series?

I really enjoy writing about Lily and Scout, her best friend. I love Merit, the heroine of my Chicagoland Vampires series, but I think Lily is a little braver than Merit, actually. She's always willing to take a chance, and that's a very fun thing to write about.

Most people know you for your Chicagoland Vampires series, what's been the readers reaction so far to this new series?

So far, so good! I think some folks have been surprised by the age difference. FIRESPELL is a true young adult novel.

Our heroine is 16, and tends to act like it, unlike Merit's 28. :)

Now let's get to know you better =)

I read you like baking, what's you favorite meal?

I actually don't cook much--I tend to bake mostly sweets. My favorite type of food is probably TexMex. Give me some beans and a tortilla, and I'm in heaven!

Your favorite TV show?

That's a tough one--there are so many good shows out there right now! In terms of comedies, I really love 30 Rock and Community. For hour-long shows, Leverage and Caprica are at the top of the list.

Favorite book ever?

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. That entire series is fabulous.

Favorite movie ever?

Probably the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice. :)

A bit morbid, but answers are always so interesting! If you could choose your gravemark, what would it say?

Hmm. Probably something about a live well-lived and a girl well-loved.

The craziest thing you ever did?

Four years ago, I started writing. Never took a class, didn't have an agent. I had a lot of practice writing papers and such, but not writing fiction. That was pretty crazy, but it worked out well, I think! :)

Thanks for having me today! Good luck, commenters, with the contest!

On to the giveaway!

Chloe nicely offered a signed copy of Firespell and a gift pack,

here are the easy steps for your chance to win!

Contest open INTERNATIONALY (thank you Chloe!)

You MUST be a follower

You MUST leave a comment on this post

and Fill the FORM below.

Easy enough?

Contest ends February 16th, 2010.

No way to earn extra entries, but spreading the word is always appreciated =)

by Tynga at Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Chloe Neill, giveaway, Interview 126 People left their mark

Monday, February 01, 2010

Beautiful Monday

I am a big fan of Photography and in this feature, I will present you some pictures that I absolutely love!

Please note that I do not own any copyrights on these images, and I will link to the artist to give them all the credit they deserve!

Sorry I haven't done this meme in a while, I didn't have to cruise deviantart to find pictures I loved, but I found these 3 from the same artist (foto-duet) last week! Enjoy!