Review: Fever (The Chemical Garden #2)

Title: Fever (The Chemical Garden #2)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.


Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an enviornment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness. 


The two are determind to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine's twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can't seem to elude Rhine's father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion... by any means necessary.


In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano's harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

My Review:

Disappointed a little :/


I don't know if it was because it was too hard for me to picture everything that was going on but things seemed to move a little slot to me. Maybe because I'm just not that interested? I like Rhine and Gabriel but my favorite character, Rhine's husband (I forget his name), wasn't in the story much at all. So little that I can't even remember his name. 


Anyways, this book is completely different from the first and I think that's what's throwing me off about it. They are out in the world and instead of Rhine learning all these news things along with her surroundings, now she somewhat knows where she is and how things will work. Of course, everything turns out to be a disaster but that's expected. She's taking control and making things happen instead of sitting back and watching all these things happen around her. 


The characters all grew up quit a bit and we meet so many more - which is good because we had a lot die off in the last book :( 


I'm excited to see what the next book brings because I think it's going to be really good. The ending gives you hope and grabs your attention. Sort of. I have my guesses where the story is going and I'm anxious to see if I'm correct! 


Surely I'll be reading the next.

Review: Stake That! (Blood Coven #2)

Title: Stake That! (Blood Coven #2)
Author: Mari Mancusi
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:
Two sisters - as different as the sun and the rain. For one, getting into the Blood Coven is to die for, but it seems destiny has something else in mind...


Rayne McDonald has it all figured out. Get turned into a vampire, become the mate of the Blood Coven leader, and live the high-life for all eternity. Too bad the head vamp took a bite out of her twin sister by mistake. Now, not only is Rayne still not a vampire, but she learns she's a slayer instead - destined to destroy vamps gone bad. 


After being recruited by a secret organization, Rayne is given her first mission: infiltrate a seedy bar downtown and expose its vampire owner, Maverick, for purposedly spreading a nasty blood virus. Luckily the Blood Coven sends some help - in the form of sexy vampire Jareth. Will vampire and slayer be able to settle their differences and work together to bring down the evil Maverick? Or will they find their own hears on the line? 

My Review:
I'm writing this review a bit later so I don't remember much about this book. 


I do know that if you liked the first in this series, then you will probably like this one. It's different most, if not all of it, is written like you are reading blog posts. It's ok that way, but at the same time I kind of wish it was more of a story. 


I liked the characters but it didn't make me love this series and I don't I will continue it. Not because they are bad but because there are others I want to explore. 

Review: Pure (Covenant #2)

Title: Pure (Covenant #2)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Description:
There is a need. And then there is Fate...


Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome -- especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom -- so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do -- and sacrifice -- for her.


When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies -- lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Convenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon... and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blog bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude.. or killing her.


When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

My Review:

I really like this series and this book was even better than the first! 


I enjoyed the kind-of love triangle because you're expecting it but throughout a lot of the book you aren't really sure if there is one or not. I have to say that while Aiden is my favorite, I really like Seth as well. However, after reading the little extra scene from his POV, I'm not sure I completely understand him/his motives. While reading the story from Alex's POV I got a arrogant ass Seth that still really cared about Alex. But after reading his POV, I feel a little differently. Like he's really holding something important back.


The thing with Alex being an Appollyn is driving me up the wall! I just want to find out  more about what happens to her and how it will effect her and Seth. I don't really understand all the different energies and why sometimes things happen and other times they don't. I want all of this explained! 


It bothered me that Alex was having nightmares and then all of a sudden they weren't ever talked about again. I know they found a temporary solution but even when that solution wasn't 'available' (best way to put it without spoilers), she didn't have them. That left me a little confused.


For some reason to me the characters in this book don't seem completely set. I really, really like this characters but there's just something holding me back from absolutely loving them. I can't put my finger on it. 


Some parts of this book made me laugh out loud and others were full of so much banter I ate it up!


Loved this book and wanting Deity yesterday!! So glad this series is going to be longer than 3 because I really do feel that to bring everything together in one book after this wouldn't work out well. There's too much everyone, including the characters, are in the dark about.


Also, I never noticed until I read the book description from Goodreads but the bad people are trying to stop Seth from getting too much power. Not that there are two Apollyons or that they are just trying to get rid of Alex. They don't want Seth to be too powerful either. From reading the book it seemed like they were only worried about Alex. Interesting.

Miss Weber's Goodbye

Natalie Weber, a girl I went to high school with, passed away Friday. I didn't know her very well but her family and mine knew each other pretty well. Her mother was once of my high school teachers and her brother accompanied me to Homecoming my sophomore year of high school. 

Natalie was a victim of Depression, which eventually lead her to committing suicide. It hurts me so much just to think about the reason for someone completing that act. To think that no one loves you that much. Or that not enough people care. The calling hours where supposed to be from 3-7 but my sister left at 10:15 and there was another half hour behind her. There was so much love and support there for her that she never knew. I was talking with her Father and it broke my heart when he said, 'I wish she could see this. All this support that was here for her.' Then he started to tear up and it broke my heart into a million pieces. I NEVER wanted another parent to feel like that EVER again and I never wanted anyone to feel like Natalie did. That there wasn't anything else they could do, that no one cared enough to listen to her. It makes me want to go into psychology and help people like Natalie so much that it's overwhelming. 

Could I help people like Natalie? Could I have enough patience and control to be able to help someone without making them worse? Would I be able to handle it if I couldn't help one or two of them? Am I willing to take that risk?

I just saw a quote that says, 'Everyone dies but not everyone lives.' At first, it makes sense when people say that, but if you think about it, honestly, can you say that's true? That's implying that people sit around and want to make their lives miserable - they do absolutely nothing for themselves and don't care to improve their life. Just because people aren't partying it up and living the way others think they should doesn't mean they aren't living their life the best they know how. It's self preservation to make oneself happy - is it not? Even people who are depressed and sitting in their houses all day. They are living to the extent that they know how. They haven't given up and doing only what they know how. They are living just as much as someone partying it up because that's all they can handle. Having a mental illness, like Depression, to me, is something that people have to learn to live with. They live their life the best they know how and can. It may not look like fun to you, and it probably isn't much to them either, but if that's all they can handle, then is it nice to say they aren't living? At that point in time it's the best they can give. I'm not saying they shouldn't get help, because they should, but saying they aren't living life to it's fullest, in their situation, it's not true. 

My sister commented on drinking a beer for Natalie because she thought Natalie would want her life celebrated and not have her death be dwelled on. If that was true though, would she have killed herself? If she wanted her life to be celebrated, would she have ended it? 

These have just been things running through my mind lately. Depression is a deep and complicated thing that isn't fully understood. I know I'll never understand it in it's entirty but it leads a lot of questions to the way people live their lives and why they do the things they do, which always fascinates me. 

RIP Natalie Weber - you are missed by many.