Showing posts with label Tor Teen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tor Teen. Show all posts

Riders by Veronica Rossi

Title: Riders
Author: Veronica Rossi
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: February 16th 2016
Source: Review copy from publisher (Thank you Tor Teen!)

Summary from Goodreads:
Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

Review

Veronica Rossi is one of my favorite authors so I was quite excited when I got my copy of Riders. Riders was not what I was expecting at all, it is a dark, action heavy book primarily narrator as a recollected story.   Riders drops the reader right into the story.  It took my a little bit to get used to the story telling and immerse myself into the story.

Since it is a different world where the characters are unsure of what is going on at first it took longer for me to get into the plot and understand the happenings at first.  It made the beginning part of the book a bit slow for me though it did pick up.  The action and fight scenes were dark and powerful.  I really enjoyed the introduction into the supernatural elements.

The powerful yet dangerous horsemen of the apocalypse are mysterious characters whose stories unfold throughout the course of the book. Although it was a tad slow at the beginning, I really enjoyed the good (ish) versus evil story line.  I look forward to learning more about each horsemen and continuing this high stakes series.

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Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly

Title:Seriously Wicked
Author: Tina Connolly
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date:May 5th 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher.
Summary from Goodreads:
The only thing worse than being a witch is living with one.

Camellia’s adopted mother wants Cam to grow up to be just like her. Problem is, Mom’s a seriously wicked witch.

Cam’s used to stopping the witch’s crazy schemes for world domination. But when the witch summons a demon, he gets loose—and into Devon, the cute new boy at school.

Now Cam’s suddenly got bigger problems than passing Algebra. Her friends are getting zombiefied. Their dragon is tired of hiding in the RV garage. For being a shy boy-band boy, Devon is sure kissing a bunch of girls. And a phoenix hidden in the school is going to explode on the night of the Halloween Dance.

To stop the demon before he destroys Devon’s soul, Cam might have to try a spell of her own. But if she’s willing to work spells like the witch...will that mean she’s wicked too?


Review

Seriously Wicked is a fun, light-hearted story of a teenage girl that finds herself battling her adopted mother, who happens to be a wicked witch.  The world building started off a bit rocky.  I was unsure if the characters and townspeople are aware that witches and demons exist in their world.  When Cam's friend is inhabited by a Demon, he does not seem very phased by all the magical aspects of the story. The witches in this book are in hiding, they even have their own underground phone system and Internet!.  Cam's "mom" wants to take over the town and have the witches come out of hiding and Cam wants to do everything she can to stop her. 

All that being said, I think a key factor in enjoying this book is to suspend your disbelief.  There are demons possessing high school crushes, dragons locked in garages, and werewolves as pets.  I definitely think it is geared toward a younger YA crowd, so you are not going to find your swoon-worthy romance plot line or deep emotional feelings out of this one.  If you are looking for deep and intense character development I would recommend passing on this one. The book is great fun but it cannot be taken too seriously.

Seriously Wicked is entertaining blend of Sabrina-the-Teenage-Witch-witchery, high school drama, and learning to accept others and yourself.  It is worth picking up if you want a younger YA book with crazy witchcraft and a cute story. 

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