Posts Categorized: Thriller

YA Content Review- Embrace by Cherie Colyer

31 Aug, 2012 by in Omnific, Thriller, ya Leave a comment

Embrace
by Cherie Colyer
Paperback, 220 pages
Publication Date: December 20th 2011
by Omnific Publishing
ISBN 1936305968
Book Source: author

4 1/2 Stars

Book summary from Goodreads:  How far would you go to save the people you love?

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.
Dangerous, intoxicating, and darkly romantic, Embrace is a thriller that will leave you spellbound.

Crystal’s Review: My collage classes have recently started back and I have been swamped with homework. I decided to take a day off from my work to read this book and I am so happy that I did. I will admit the cover did not really grab my attention the way most covers do. It is pretty for sure but it did not really have anything about it that made me go I need to read that book. The description on the back of the book however grabbed my interest and I could not resist reading the book after reading it. I really enjoyed the story. I was hooked right from the beginning, the characters all seemed very real to me and the author did a fantastic job describing each one so that I could picture and connect with every character. Issac was my favorite character by far. Many stories these days have the situation where girl meets guy, girl falls for guy, guy shows interest in girl and then promptly beings to treat her like dirt and then finally admits he loves her and was only doing it for her own good. I am so tired of that line, Issac however displayed some hesitant feelings but he stuck around for the whole book. I felt like the supporting characters where a big part of the book and not just cardboard cutouts tossed into a scene when convenient. I appreciate when an author takes the time to make her supporting characters just as real as her main ones. I could tell the author spent time working on her descriptions of everything from smells to feelings and it made the book that much better. Overall this book is a wonderful read and fairly short so it can be read in a day or so by most people. I am highly anticipating seeing what else this author has to offer.

Content: Scenes depicting violence and death

Crystal

A little about myself: I write young adult and middle grade novels. I love finding new stories that keep me up late reading. While my favorite genre is fantasy, if the book is beautifully written with characters that come alive I’m all over it. Find out more on the author’s blog/ twitter/ facebook or website.

The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum

23 Apr, 2010 by in book review, Shadow Mountain, Thriller, time slip romance Hannah Montana 3 comments

to be published: May 10th 2010 by Shadow Mountain
details: Hardcover, 416 pages
url http://leosdungeon.com/
characters: Abagail Beatrice Edmunds, Dante Alexander
isbn 1606416359
4 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads.. His eyes. His touch. His kiss. Dante was unlike anyone Abby had ever met. Now he’s gone, and Abby will do anything to get him back…

The hourglass door has closed behind Dante, sending him back in time to hunt down Zo, Tony, and V. Abby knows that Dante, as a Master of Time, is the only one who can stop them from destroying time itself. She also knows that he will need her help. But almost immediately, things start to change and Abby’s worst fears are realized when Zo begins targeting her past specifically.

With each new change that ripples into her present, Abby’s life continues to spiral out of control. Her relationships with Jason, Natalie, and even her family, are threatened to the breaking point – and beyond. Zo’s power is greater than Abby ever imagined, and as she struggles to free Dante, she receives help from an unexpected – and unlikely – ally.

As Abby’s world fractures around her, she must face a terrible truth: either Dante didn’t make it through the door, or he is lost forever. So with Dante’s blueprints in hand, she begins construction on a new door, a new time machine that will either save Dante – or doom him.

The river of time is running wild, churning up secrets and betrayals, revelations and promises. With each new turn of the river, Abby faces a new challenge. Who can she trust? And how many more changes can she survive?

The bank is eroding, the barriers are thinning. And time is running out

Book two in the Hourglass Door trilogy was sent to me as an ARC from Shadow Mountain publishing and I let out a squee when it arrived. I met Lisa Mangum at the Authorpalooza in Utah a couple of years ago and the first book in the trilogy is amazing! So needless to say I got right to work on reading it. That being said, I wish I would have re-read book one before jumping back into the trilogy. My ADD brain had a hard time picking up where it left off a year ago. I think they two books would be best when read in sequence, one right after the other. The second book picks up with Dante stuck between the banks of time and I for one really missed him! The highlights of this book for me were the tidbits of native Italian (put more in book three please), the dark room sequence, and hearing stories of the Pirate King. This book is philosophically detailed with theories of time travel, music, and the creation of limits and balance. Obviously the author, Lisa Mangum is a deep thinker!
My favorite chuckle was in the acknowledgements where Lisa advises other writers to “find inspiration wherever you can” She says, “One night I dreamed my friend James Dashner and Hannah Montana were doing the “Thriller” dance complete with zombie moves and the make up. That dream saved he ending of this book. It’s probably best if you don’t ask too many questions on that one…”
Overall, I gave it four stars and reading this book inspired me to start a time slip collection on Etsy which will be revealed this weekend. I am even thinking I may try my hand at a photo gallery and book trailer. If you are interested in participating in our ARC tour for the Golden Spiral please email me your snail mail address and link to your blog at fireandice.heather@gmail.com