Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright and David Leslie Johnson

Genre: teen fantasy
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 329
Synopsis: The blacksmith would marry her. The woodcutter would run away with her. The werewolf would turn her into one of its own.

Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henry, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tried to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.

After her sister's violet death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generation, the Wolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But now no one is safe. When an expert Wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them--it could be anyone in town.

It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of the creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the blood moon wanes...or everyone she loves will die.

--------

I LOVED this story! I never managed to see the movie when it was out in theaters, but the book was wonderful. Blakley-Cartwright strung her words together in lovely sentences that were beautiful to read.

Red Riding Hood is a excellent spin off of the classic fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Blakley-Cartwright included all the important characters: Little Red, the grandmother, and the wolf. And the item for which the book is named: the red riding hood. The town of Daggerhorn was, in my opinion, perfectly crafted with the townspeople and the layout of the village and all the side characters each had a place in the story, and weren't just pointlessly present throughout the novel.

Overall, this was a magnificent and action-filled novel that grabbed my attention from the opening: Once upon a time...there was a girl...and there was a Wolf. Doesn't it just give you the shivers?! I'm hoping to see the movie soon and see how they adapted the story. The ending was shocking, and my opinion changed so often that I never quite guessed who the Wolf was (and honestly, you'll never figure out who the actual Wolf is until you read the bonus chapter at http://www.redridinghoodbook.com/). This was a fantastic story! I'd highly recommend it!

The Cover: Perfect. I loved the Wolf's shadow and Valerie running off into the woods. And the little writing in the upper corner was so cool: Good girls don't talk to werewolves. I could live without the small black circle in the corner, though.

Release: Kiss of Death by Lauren Henderson

Scarlett thought Dan McAndrew's murder was long behind her, but when she and her classmates arrive in Edinburgh for a week long field trip, she's startled to be joined by her old St. Tabby's cohorts--and enemies--who are visiting the area on a field trip as well. Even more startling, Callum, Dan's surviving twin, is in the area--and his cold treatment leaves Scarlett wondering what's changed, especially when a series of attacks makes her believe that someones out to get her for her past mistakes. Would Callum ever hurt her, though? And what's Scarlett to make of her conflicting feelings for Callum, now that Jase isn't around? Even more upsetting, why is her most trusted confidante, Taylor, acting distant and dismissive?

This actually came out yesterday, but I was busy and didn't have time to post.

I read the first book in this series (Kiss Me, Kill Me) and I didn't really enjoy the book. This is the fourth book in the series, and I don't think that I'm ever going to finish this series. The first book went by to fast and didn't have enough plot to give is a great mystery novel.

Daily Dose (21)

Daily Dose is a weekly meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly where we share inspirational photos we've found. Usually, I have a meme before this one, but I think I'm going to give that up, because I just feel that I have no purpose for it. Anyway, comments can be sent to me through my email (left sidebar) or you can comment down below.

The Body Finder (Body Finder #1) by Kimberly Derting

Genre: teen mystery
Series and Book #: Body Finder, book 1
Pages: 336
Synopsis: Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feeling for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies--or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world...and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer--and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer...and becoming his prey herself.

--------

Although everyone said that The Body Finder was a fantastic read, I didn't quite agree. Although I loved the plot line, and the concept, I didn't like Derting's writing. I felt it was drawn out and that there was too much enunciation in the words. I also felt she should have focused more on the murders than Jay and Violet's relationship.

The Body Finder was a very creative book. A girl that could sense echoes of the dead? I was hooked. But when it turned out to be more of a love story than a mystery novel, I quickly lost interest. Although towards the end, when the climax finally started to peak, I found myself wanting to read it more and more.

Overall, I thought that The Body Finder didn't quite live up to my expectations. I expected more action, with a awesome romance tied in. The side characters were cute, funny, and very interesting. I found myself enjoying Violet's interactions with her friends more than her moments alone or with Jay. Not one of my favorites, but I may pick up the sequel.

The Cover: I think it catches the novel perfectly. The flower blooming makes it seem like it's an echo of a dead body. I think the eerie blue against the black was perfect.

Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund

Genre: teen science fiction
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 272
Synopsis: Secrets stand in their way, danger lurks in her hearts.

Aerin Renning is a scarred fugitive, Dane Madousin a rebellious son of privilege. On the surface, they have nothing in common. But the two most competitive freshmen at Academy 7 share an undiscovered bond. Both harbor a dangerous secret that threatens their own destruction. And while their safety depends upon their staying apart, the two are inexplicably drawn to each other. Even as unknown forces conspire to separate them, their competition turns to friendship, and their friendship to romance. Now not only their lives--but their hearts--are at stake. To survive, the two must unite all their knowledge, skills, and gifts to uncover a secret bigger than either could have imagined. A secret as big as the entire universe....

--------

Unannounced to me, this novel was not set in the present day, but in the future in space. I got quite a shock when I realized that it wasn't a novel set in a dystopian world but instead a novel set in a futuristic space that has a different branches of governments and different planets and technology. But that just added to the interesting plot of this story.

The secrets and lives of Aerin and Dane draw you in. Aerin is so unlike Dane, and knows nothing about where she came from or who she is, while Dane would rather not know what his family's like. The two connected, and I loved their relationship, as they both didn't want to open up to each other but found that they did as they grew closer. There wasn't much mystery, nor as much romance, as the summary suggests, but I did find the mystery of Aerin's past and Dane's family life interesting.

Overall, this book was very different from others. It gives you the feel that you're reading a regular setting, but it's really not, and I found myself fascinated with the world Aerin and Dane knew. Osterlund did an amazing job with this novel, as she set it up so that we learn about Aerin and Dane with them. This would be an OK standalone novel, but I'm hoping for a sequel.

The Cover: I like how it sets the stage for Aerin and Dane's relationship with each other, and also the dark background and the girl's expression. Very nice cover.

Releases: Illusions by Aprilynne Pike and Bite Club by Rachel Caine

Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.
But just as life returns to normal, Laurel realizes that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.

After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble. There's a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare- knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other-or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire- accompanied by her friends and frenemies-to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville...

--------

Ugh, I haven't read both of these series! I'm hoping to read Wings pretty soon (the predecessor of Illusions) and The Morganville Vampires series is on my MRL! From everything I've seen researching these two books, their worth the read.

Daily Dose (20)

Daily Dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly where we share inspirational photos that we've found around the World Wide Web.