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    Marked

    Marked

    T.L. McDonald

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    'There is something terribly wrong with his eyes. My mind struggles to rationalize what I'm seeing...

Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)
Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)
Becca Fitzpatrick | 2009 | Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
7.6 (36 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'm still tingling from the ending of this wonderfully delicious book! I immediately went in search of a sequel and discovered that there is one set to release in November (thank the heavens!) titled Crescendo, phew! Sooooo, on with my review!
I decided to read this novel after reading multiple reviews of how fantastic this book is, especially since I have been looking for a good angel saga ever since I read Sharon Shinn's entire Samaria series in less than a week. (5 books) There is something refreshingly different about angels in the Fantasy genre of literature, instead of the almost-cliched use of vampires, werewolves, and witches. Not that I've had my fill of those, either, but change is good.
The lust-filled tension between Patch and Nora reminds me of a certain other famous couple in YA Fantasy, except Patch isn't nearly as secretive about what he wants. After stepping back and thinking about his character, I came to the conclusion that what attracts the fairer sex to the bad-boy type is not necessarily his "badness", but his confidence. The biggest clue that Patch was not normal was the amount of confidence he exuded around Nora. And I don't recall my sex ed. classes ever being as interesting as Coach McConaughy's class! Truly, I don't think I could say one bad thing about this book. The loose ends will obviously be answered in future books, such as Nora's father's death, Dabria's fate, and what Nora's mother will do about the farmhouse. The ending was almost a complete surprise to me, and unpredictable in many ways. I'm also curious as to how Nora Grey's parentage will play a part in future books and the massive potential that comes with it. I also like how Nora is not totally dependent on Patch and seeks to solve her own problems and fight her own battles - more strong woman than damsel in distress. Her best friend Vee provides a bit of comic relief, as well as adding a human element to balance the supernatural aspects of the book. I could go on and on. I'm also very curious if the topic of God will be addressed in any future books, since it would seem that acknowledging heaven, angels, the Book of Enoch, etc., means doing the same for God. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Crescendo!
  
The Taking (Afterlife #2)
The Taking (Afterlife #2)
Katrina Cope | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
After her actions at the end of the first book in the series - Fledgling - the human-turned-angel Aurora has drawn the unwelcome attention of Separus, one of the most powerful of the demons. He covets her power and is determined to capture her and turn her to the side of darkness.

Aware of this Archangel Michael, leader of the angels, assigns her and her friends to be further trained by Zacharias, a rather bad tempered 'earthbound' angel who is an expert in fighting and weapons. As their - at times brutal - training takes place the demons are plotting to capture the three angel friends by using the ultimate bait for Aurora - Ethan. Aurora will need to make a choice, and not an easy one.

The Taking continues more-or-less where Fledgling left off although there is a distinct change of tone. Whereas in the first book Aurora, Cindy and Ben are out and about in the world saving innocents, here they are in training for very much of the time. In other hands this might be a disappointment, but Cope has an eye for telling the interesting bits of stories and not labouring the mundane. It also helps that the training is somewhat unusual, as is the teacher. As the major new character Zacharias is very well drawn, suitably grumpy and terse at being given 'humans' to train, as he sees it.

When conflict with the demons arises Cope again shows the flair for describing fight scenes from the first book and these, as would be expected, are far more intense battles with much more at stake. These are not serene angels gently guiding their human charges through life. These are kick-ass super heroes who are not afraid to put themselves in the way of extreme danger for what they believe is right.

Aurora must also confront her feelings for both Ethan, her human love, and Ben her angel friend. Both relationships are forbidden and this just complicates things further. I suspect that this aspect of the books would appeal more to female young adult readers but they are well written even if you will probably be shouting at the book telling Aurora not to be so silly at points.

Overall a second strong showing in this series and very recommended. If the angel/demon theme doesn't sound like your cup of tea then just give it a go. You will be pleasantly surprised
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Origin in Books

Mar 17, 2019  
Origin
Origin
Dan Brown | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
3
7.3 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating
Long winded and dull
Dan Brown is a very divisive author. Most people either love him or hate him, and if I'm being honest, I'm verging more on the latter after reading this.

The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons were fantastic books, but I discovered after reading most of Dan Brown's other books that his writing and plots follow virtually the same paths. And that gets a little boring after a while when it feels like you're reading the same story with slightly different details. And this is the problem with Origin. It's the same old plot structure, but this time with a very dull storyline. It promises us this amazing discovery and builds it up for far too long over the initial 100 pages or so, but then reveals nothing until after 450 pages by which point I was very close to giving up. There wasn't even any tension or thrills during Brown's predictable chase scenes, and the whole story was just beyond dull and predictable. And even the final reveal right at the end, I'd predicted it right from the start. Think I may have to give up reading Dan Brown's books now.