Tuesday 30 April 2013

More plot twists than a Bourne film

ACID - Emma Pass
Available - May 2013

The year is 2113 and England has been cut off from the rest of Europe after massive economic decline of the GFC making it into the Independent Republic of Britain (IRB) and its new governing body is a police force on steroids - ACID (Agency for Crime Investigation and Defence) who rule the populace with an iron fist, mired in conspiracy.

London has been segregated into three very different sections, wealthy Upper, Middle (as the name would suggest) and poverty stricken Lower. Jenna Strong a former resident of Upper and Daughter of a high ranking ACID agent has been incarcerated in Mileway prison after being found guilty of murdering both of her parents… albeit accidentally while rebelling against the life partner scheme all 17 year olds are bound to uphold.

This is an edgy sci fi story with a kick ass protagonist who goes through absolute hell I mean this girl is put back together more times than Katniss Everdeen! The technology is advanced but relatable and Emma portrays a scary picture of what could be making me feel extra grateful for how free we really are in our present.


Friday 5 April 2013

Lifetimes of Love

Rising Darkness - Thea Harrison
Penguin - Available now, New this month!

"Oh good," she said. "We still have hours and hours." 
"A veritable wealth of minutes," he said.
She lifted her eyebrows and smiled, "A staggering fortune in seconds".

Having been immersed in YA  reading for a while I had quite forgotten what it was like to read an adult Paranormal Romance novel, its so refreshingly grown up! The characters are mature, the language and premise are so well formulated and in lieu of all the teenage yearning and angst is a satisfying yet tasteful sex scene or two (Yay finally). This is my first experience reading Thea Harrison but I'm sure it wont be my last, I had heard such great things about her Elder series that when this proof passed my way I was eager to give her a go. 

This story has one of my all time favourite plot twists connected souls and reincarnation, I'm such a sucker for a good romance spanning the centuries. Our two main protagonists Micheal and Mary along with 6 others are from an ancient alien civilisation of what I would describe as higher beings of light that almost predate our history, arriving on Earth after a self imposed exile to hunt down one of their own - the first of their race to break the bonds of a mated pair and seek to destroy for enjoyment. These poor souls have endured throughout the centuries to pit themselves against the 'Deceiver' in the hope of putting an end to his attempts at world domination, all the while knowing they can never return home. This ongoing war is about to have an epic final smack down and I cant wait for the next installment in the saga!


Wednesday 3 April 2013

I Am.

Nameless - Lili St Crow
Penguin - Available NOW, its NEW NEW NEW!

This new offering from Lili St Crow is a very different take on the Snow White fairytale, with a few of our old favourites thrown in (ahem Red Ridding Hood and Cinderella as co-stars much?) Also for good measure are Vampires families that rule like royalty and a whole horde of wonderful beasts and beings.

I have to be honest, she really throws you in the deep end right from the first page with creatures and terms I knew nothing about - I felt lost and more than a bit confused as I tried to navigate this new world that the characters were so familiar with. Slowly but surely however it all became more familiar and with that familiarity came a compulsion to devour, to know 'what next'?!

This particular re-telling is dark and Gothic with glowing magic intertwined with technology in a beautiful and sometimes superfluous fashion, charms used to ward off evil or add a sparkle to your hair do. What I found most refreshing about this tale was Camille or "Cami" our main character, found late one night in the snow - battered, bruised, broken and mute, she has a real sense of tragedy to her - jumping to the current day and Cami still struggles with irrational fears, nightmares and an unruly stutter that permeates her every sentence. The damages sustained in her past are as obvious as the scars that mare her body, that fragility and her continued existence speak so much for her strength and spirit ...to read a character that has suffered a dark past that visibly shadows her future brings a necessary element of reality to an otherwise fantastical tale and it is so often the missing ingredient.