Book Review: Torment by Lauren Kate

Synopsis:

Hell on earth. That's what it's like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.

It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts-immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.

At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn't told her everything. He's hiding something- something dangerous.

What if Daniel's version of the past isn't actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

The second novel in the Fallen series... where love never dies.

Our thoughts:

After falling in love with Daniel in the first book, Fallen, we found it kind of hard to like him as much in Torment since he keeps pushing Luce away in order to protect her. You just want them to stay together, but he makes it difficult. He comes through in the end, and we love him again.

It was great to discover that the Shadows are helpful to Luce, instead of her having to be afraid of them.

Some great new characters are introduced in this book. Two of whom being Miles and Shelby. Both of them help Luce work with the Shadows and help her to explore her past lives.

The end, however, left a big "What?" in our heads. We are hoping that it would be resolved in book three, Passion. JoAnna re-read the ending, and is still confused about what happened to the real Luce. If you have read this book and understand the ending, could you please do JoAnna a huge favor and explain it in an e-mail to vanceminions@gmail.com She would GREATLY appreciate it!

Book Blogger Hop - April 22-25, 2011

This week's question comes from Christina who blogs at The Paperback Princesses.  She asks:

 "If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

Of course! Especially since most of the books we read are from a series. Since we primarily hunt down new books in the library based on how interesting the cover is, and what the synopsis is, we try to see if it is in a series. If it is, we try to find out what number in the series it is and if we can find the others. If it is not the first one in the series, we place it on hold so we can read the series from the beginning. There is nothing worse than reading a book, only to find out it is a part of a series and that's why it doesn't make much sense. It's a good thing that JoAnna looks up the book covers and information online first to have a better idea of the author and the series. It also is a huge help when the books themselves list what book number it is either on the spine or near the title page.

In My Mailbox - April 18, 2011

Hosted by: The Story Siren

In our mailbox, or rather, on the library's hold shelf is Entwined by Heather Dixon.

Synopsis:

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest. But there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.

Released: March 29, 2011, 480 pages

Reading level: Young Adult

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Philosophical Friday - April 15, 2011

 

Time for some more things to ponder and laugh over this weekend:

 

I am going to start using big words to sound smart...

Sorry. I mean, utilizing gargantuan idioms to simulate intelligence.

 

 

 

 

Every girl deserves a knight in shining armor...

too bad they are all fictional characters and already taken.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Dark Rising

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Lacey Weatherford's "The Dark Rising" (Of Witches and Warlocks #4)
Release date: Slated for June 24, 2011.



Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Portia Mullins discovers the love of her life is still alive, her heart soars. But reality sets in immediately causing it to plummet when she realizes that he doesn’t remember his past life with her. Unwilling to give up on him, she embarks on a loving quest to help restore his life to him.
Vance Mangum sees the beautiful girl standing before him claiming to be his wife, and while he can’t remember her, he also can’t deny the intense pull he feels between them. Not knowing where else to turn, he agrees to give her the time she’s asked for and to help her in the effort to recover his memories.
The two quickly reconnect with one another, but dark surprises are lurking in the wings when Vance discovers a desperate longing for something he feels he can’t withstand. Will he be able to resist? Or will evil raise its head in a new form, leaving Portia as the prey of the very man her heart desires?
Darkness reigns supreme in this haunting tale of love and desperation, Of Witches and Warlocks, The Dark Rising.



I'm really looking forward to continuing the story with Portia and Vance. Book 3 (Blood of the White Witch) really makes you want to know what happens next. If you are thinking about starting to read the series and are just as impatient as I am, I suggest you wait until The Dark Rising comes out. It also doesn't help with my lack of patience when there are a few certain people teasing me about it! But my day will come.... not soon enough though.


Be sure to also check out our movie version of Waiting on Wednesday HERE!

Teaser Tuesday: 4/12/11

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 TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Valerie's Teaser Tuesday comes from Lacey Weatherford's The Demon Kiss (Book 2 of her Of Witches and Warlocks Series)




"Pumpkin, I'm an encylopedia salesman," I mimicked him. "But really I'm a warlock. Oh and did  I mention I'm a federal agent also?" I paused. "Is there anything else that I need to know about you?" I added loudly, calling to him over my shoulder, as I cast a glare back at him.

His only response was laughter.

p. 98, The Demon Kiss, by Lacey Weatheford (Of Witches and Warlocks, book 2)

Random Thought...by Joanna

I had just gotten done reading Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton today and was looking up other YA books to be on the look out for. I noticed something with practically every book I've come a cross. When the story starts out, and the main story is about a girl, everything starts out either before her 17th birthday or right when she is turning 17. Not that this is a bad thing, but it was just something I thought of today and was telling Valerie about it. The other thing I noticed is that with paranormal books where the main male character is either a vampire, fallen angel, or something else, they always have a tendency to have stopped aging right around the age of 20. Again this isn't a bad thing it's just another one of those observations I've come across. I guess it's just something that is trending and working for authors cause I really enjoy reading those types of books.

Waiting on Wednesday: Passion

"Waiting On Wednesday" is hosted by Breaking The Spine. What book are you waiting for?

The book we are waiting on is Lauren Kate's Passion which is the third book in the Fallen Series.


Release Date: June 14, 2011.

There is no official synopsis as of yet. All we could find was:

"Before Luce and Daniel met at Sword & Cross and fought immortals at Shoreline, they lived many lives. . . "

After reading both Fallen and Torment, we fell in love. The way Torment ended makes you really want to find out what happens next.

Teaser Tuesdays!!

 Hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.





"Yeah, until these two turn us in," muttered another boy. "For, you know. The thing."

"I'm sorry about your nose," she said. He blinked.
"It's not so bad," he offered. "Look, Claire-"
"Don't"

Pg. 187 "The Dead Girls' Dance" by Rachel Caine (The Morganville Vampires-Book Two)

In My Mailbox... err, Shopping Bag

Hosted by: The Story Siren

 

Since the Borders Book stores are closing around us, JoAnna stocked up! Shame that it's closing. :(

Young Adult:

Shadowland by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Ninth Key by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Reunion by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Darkest Hour by Meg Cabot (The Mediator Series)

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

Historical Romance:

Mad About the Duke by Elizabeth Boyle

Courtesan's Kiss by Mary Blayney

A Duke's Temptation by Jillian Hunter



Philosophical Friday!

Why does night fall but never break and day break but never fall?