Kids' Korner: Suddenly Supernatural Books 1 & 2

Published February 10th 2009

Genre: Children's Chapter book, Fiction, Paranormal

Synopsis: School Spirit - Kat's mother is a medium and talks to spirits. Kat has never wanted to invite friends over because, undoubtedly, something weird would happen at her home. She finally finds a friend, Jac, who doesn't seem to mind. Unfortunately, Kat notices she is seeing spirits as well; specifically, she is seeing one in her school that she and Jac must help cross over.
Scaredy Kat - Kat realizes that when lots of spirits begin seeking her out for help, it can be pretty scary. She has to learn how to control her power despite and angry spirit living in the abandoned house next door. To make things worse, there is a spirit like none she had ever seen in the second floor of the abandoned house that she must figure out how to help without the angry spirit harming her or Jac. Somehow, the story of a missing boy is connected as well so Kat and Jac must figure out how to solve this mystery and save the boy.

These were both very cute stories. My 5 and 7 year old absolutely loved them! They love haunted, spooky stories so the ghosts in this one added an extra level for them and they LOVED it! :)

Author: To learn more about Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, visit her website here http://www.codykimmel.com/

Rating: **** Four Stars

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The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis: This is a trilogy consisting of three book, Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, and Clockwork Princess. A young woman, Tessa, crosses the ocean from America to find her brother, Nate, living in Victorian England. When she arrives she is quickly snatched up by the Dark Sisters who know of a power Tessa has but is completely ignorant of. They work for one who also wants to claim the power as their own, or as belonging to his wife. Tessa finds herself in a world she never knew existed. She also finds herself pulled between two young men whom she never would have met if she hadn't learned about this power. Meanwhile, dark forces are created an indestructible army that only her new found power can defeat. She must learn to control it before the entire world is destroyed and the love of her life disappears forever.

I really did enjoy these books. They weren't a fictional masterpiece or anything but the story was fun. I enjoyed this series more than the City of Bones series which is based in the same world but at a different time. It was fun reading about the ancestors of some of the characters also in the City of Bones books. This was a very fun read that I will give FOUR STARS **** to. :)

Author: To learn more about the author, check out her site here http://www.cassandraclare.com/

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Supernaturally by Kiersten White

• ISBN-13: 9780061985867
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 7/26/2011
• Pages: 352
• Age range: 12 - 17 Years

Genre: Paranormal/Young Adult

Review: Evelyn is still trying to find her place in the world. She thought she was all set going to high school and rooming with Arianna, a vampire, as she worked at a diner that served mostly other paranormals. She had her boyfriend, Lend, who is half human and half immortal and she's offered her job back at IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency). All this while she's trying to survive real high school. However, she refuses to work with fairies and gets teamed up with Jack, a young human who has learned how to work the Faerie Paths. Strange things start happening to her, well, stranger than her already strange life. It seems that paranormals are trying to kill her at every turn. Someone wants her dead and she has no idea who. She tries to survive as she searches for the truth of who she is and where she came from. She wants to know why she can see through the glamour of the other paranormals and why she is the only one (besides Vivian) who can suck the souls out of other creatures. Is she a monster?

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The Dark Lifer's Revenge: A Short Story by Linda Joy Singleton

• ISBN-13: 9780738734668
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
• Publication date: 12/1/2011
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 38

Genre: Short Story/ Paranormal/ Young Adult

Review: Sabine's, a psychic, boyfriend's body is taken over by a Dark Lifer (an evil soul who "borrows" others' bodies to do their dirty work) to take revenge on the man who killed him. Sabine goes to the only person she knows who may be able to help... Amber, a Temp Lifer (temporarily steps into the lives of people who are suffering to help them navigate through their problems). Together, they try to save Sabine's boyfriend, Dominic, and the man the Dark Lifer is out to kill.

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Flashback Friday: The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Fallen by Celia Thomson

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Paranormal

Review: Chloe is a typical girl... a bit boy crazy and acts like a teenager by fighting with her mom and cuts class once in a while. Around her 16th birthday she started noticing strange changes -- a bit cat-like really, including the claws. She feels alone with these changes and doesn't understand where they came from or if there is anyone else like her. She stops worrying so much about that once she finds out that someone is out to kill her because of what she is -- whatever that may be.

I started reading this book for the same reason many others did. I saw the television show on Netflix and thought it was really cute. Then, the show was cancelled after the first season, leaving the viewers with a terrible cliff hanger. My logical solution, "I'm going to read the book then." Like many books, it is very different from it's counterpart. That was a bit disappointing and in the first book my questions weren't answered. Also, the book is more sexual and has a moderate amount of cussing in it that I didn't enjoy. I was surprised that the TV series was cleaner than the book. That was a first. Overall, I did enjoy the story and want to read the next in the series to find out what happens.

Author: The first thing I learned about Celia Thomson while trying to find info on her is that Celia Thomson, J.B. Stephens, E.J. Braswell and Tracy Lynn are all pseudonym for Liz Braswell. Here is a little snippet of her bio from her webpage.She was born in England and has many interests, but I'll let you read more about this woman with so many names at her website.

Rating: *** Three Stars

If you would like to purchase your own copy of this book then click on the link below (hover for details).

The Fallen (Nine Lives of Chloe King)

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Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

Review: A normal day in Evie's life involves wearing the color pink, watching teenage drama TV shows, talking to her best friend, who is also a mermaid, and capturing paranormals to take them back to the top secret government agency she works for, IPCA. A mysterious paranormal is captured one day who makes her question everything she has ever known. Meanwhile, paranormals everywhere are dying from unknown causes and Evie may be the answer to everything.

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Flashback Friday: Evernight by Claudia Gray

Flashback Friday is the day that I get to review the older books that I want to read instead of the new releases that are given to me. There are some great older books out there that should get some attention, too. :) Today's Flashback Friday book was published in 2009. Enjoy!

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The Pentacle Pendant by Stephen M. DeBock

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review: Claire Delaney is a senior in college when she meets Lukas. Lukas decides he loves her shortly after they meet and decides to turn her into a werewolf. Together they are test subjects for a doctor trying to find a "cure" but Lukas calls it a gift. Werewolves are not the only paranormals out there and it quickly becomes very tense.

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Flashback Friday: Evermore by Alyson Noel

This week's flashback Friday review is on one of my giveaways. I thought it was appropriate to publish it this week since it has the whole Halloween theme going... kinda. Well, paranormal anyways. Those of you who may be new to my blog, Flashback Fridays is when I get to review a book that is not a new release. There are so many great older books out there and I always receive new releases from publishers and authors so this is my chance to review some of those. :)

Genre: YA - Paranormal - Romance

Review: Ever has recently lost her entire family in a car accident and is moved from her home to live with her aunt in California. Not only is her home and family different but she has some new abilities after the accident that she hadn't counted on. She is suddenly able to hear people's thoughts, see dead people, and see aura's so she tunes them out the best she can -- with shades and ear-buds giving her the title of "freak" at school. Then all the voices go silent when she comes into contact with the "new guy", Damen. She needs to learn how to control all the stimuli around her and figure out who this Damen is and what he is and why everything stops when he's around.

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Ecstatic Evil by Amanda McNeil

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review: Tova is a half demon and trying to decide which half of her she wants to embrace -- her evil demon half or her less evil human half. She has two months to decide but is distracted by the pull of another creature of the underworld, Greg.

I wasn't too sure about this book from the cover. I though, "Oh my! Is this going to raunchy?" haha! Yeah, I can't help it. It looks that way. I read reviews on it and it sounded good and others talked about how the cover was deceiving so I decided to open it up. I was a bit disappointed. I received it as a PDF and converted it to epub. It ended up being only 54 pages and I made it to page 20 and stopped. Here is why. In the first three pages there were about five uses of profanity. It didn't get any better. Then, I was in their bedroom reading about everything they were doing in there. Sorry, I'm just one of those people who likes what happens in my bedroom but not other people's so I decided to close the book. The story sounded promising and the writing was fun to read. I just have a hard time getting through writing like this so, it wasn't for me but probably great for other people.

Author: She currently lives in an attic apartment in Boston. She spends her days working and her nights writing. Ecstatic Evil was her first book and published in July of 2011. She is planning on the publishing date of the sequel to be in November 2011.

Rating: * Star

It is available for purchase through Amazon for the kindle here.

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Witch & Wizard by James Patterson

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

Author: James Patterson has set many records with his writing. One of the coolest ones in my opinion is that he holds the New York Times record for most Hardcover Fiction bestselling titles by a single author (63 total), which is also a Guinness World Record. I will be honest though... he has been writing books for so long and there is so much that can be put in a biography that I really couldn't find much on 'the man' and only stuff on 'the author'. The truth is, most of us know about him. He's is very well known. I was able to find this which is a little bit about 'the man'.

Synopsis: This story was about two ordinary teenagers -- Whit and Wisty, brother and sister. They are ripped from their homes one night from everyone they know and love and are thrown into a prison. They are accused of being a witch and wizard and the only thing their parents are able to do is hand over an old drum stick to Wisty and an old blank book to Whit. What good will they do? They learn that The New Order is trying to take over the world. They are imprisoning children they suspect of having magical powers. They soon learn that there are worlds within the worlds and the only way to escape is to cross through them. Soon, Wisty and Whit learn they may actually have powers and, because of some prophecies, are expected to save the world.

Review: Truly, Whit and Wisty were not very extraordinary to me. Well, besides the whole supernatural powers thing which is definitely an extraordinary thing. Before the powers were discovered there was nothing that would have grabbed my attention about them. This book was written for young adults and it feels like the author tried to "dumb down" parts a bit too much. It was annoying for me. This was an entertaining read however. I heard rumors that it was supposed to be the next Harry Potter.... I am going to have to say that is a big negative for me but it was an interesting story none-the-less. The sequel is out and available at the library and I think eventually I will read it but right now there are some books that I think would be more fun to read right now.

Rating: *** Three Stars

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The Witches by Roald Dahl

Genre: Juvenile/Paranormal

Author: Roald Dahl was born in 1916 and died in 1990. He's British and it's very obvious in his writing (I love it!). He became popular in the 1940s from both his children and adult books. He is most commonly known for James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In his career he wrote over 60 short stories.

Synopsis: This is the story of a little boy who lives with his grandmother. She is a fascinating woman who is great at storytelling and knows a thing or two about witches. She warns her grandson how to recognize a witch so he isn't destroyed by her since it's all witches' goal to rid the world of children and, well, he's a child. What happens when he sees someone and recognizes the signs? What if that someone is the grand witch of all the world? How does the young hero of this story react? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Review: My 5 yo, 3 yo and I read this one together. They loved it! I read lots of reviews where they discussed how scary this would be for children. This wasn't scary at all for my kids. They loved it and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The only thing that bothered me was the ending. The immediate story was over but it led to another story that wasn't finished. Almost like this could have been a series or something but it never was. My 5 year old was a bit upset. He wanted more. He wanted to find out what happened after The End. Overall though, it was an excellent book and the kids really enjoyed it! This is a chapter book though so if your kids won't sit and listen then I don't recommend this book for them... yet...

Rating: **** 4 Stars (Only b/c of the ending.)

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The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

Author: "Austin, MN, United States  Obsessive tweeter. John Hughes mourner. Unicorn enthusiast. Fraggin Aarvarks guitarist. Muppet activist." This is what the author wrote about herself on her blog here. I thought it was so great, I didn't want to reword it. =o)

Synopsis: These books are actually about trolls. I know, weird. I totally wasn't expecting that one. Wendy Everly grew up with her brother and aunt because her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her when she was six years old. At 17, Wendy meets a young man named Finn who introduces her to a whole new world where she learned that perhaps her mother was right.

Review: I loved this story line and I loved that there were no vamps or werewolves in it. Just a lot of trolls. This is another paranormal romance. It is a bit predictable however there are some twists that threw me for a loop. I totally didn't expect them. Amanda Hocking is a self published author. For a self published book, this was an awesome read! It would have been better if she had an editor. There were times that I was wrapped up in the story experiencing a new adventure and then there was a typo or a sentenced structured incorrectly and I was ripped out of the fictional world back to reality to decipher what she was saying. I always figured it out but it was a bit distracting. It was a very fun story though and if you're into paranormal romance and can get over the editing mistakes then I completely recommend this book! =o)

Rating:  *** Stars (because it was a bit cliche and needed editing.)

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Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

Genre: Young Adult/Paranormal

Author: "I write urban fantasy novels for both teens and adults, drink a lot of coffee, and am convinced my neighbors are ex-KGB spies. I also think music was perfected in the 1980s. But not clothing." (Info came from here)

Synopsis: This is a 6 book series and yes, it's about vampires. There are three types of vamps -- you have the damphirs. They are half human and half vampire. They do not require blood to survive. In fact, there isn't much "vampire" left in them. They are strong and are generally used as body guards to another group of vampires called the Moroi. This group of vampires are like the nobility of the vampire world. They are closer to the stereotype -- the sun weakens them and they have to have blood to remain strong but they don't kill the humans they drink from. If they do kill a human then they become a Strigoi. Strigoi are the evil bad guys of the series. They are the wicked vamps who kill everyone and are destroyed by sunlight. They are super strong so the damphirs even have trouble fighting them. The Moroi also have powers. They can control the elements -- fire, earth, air, water or spirit. Spirit users are rare but one of the main characters of the story, Vasalisa or Lisa as she is commonly called. She is best friends with Rose, a dhampir who is constantly kicking butt to save the Moroi from the Strigoi. The stories are very complex with romance, violence, politics and some heavy teen subjects. 

Review: Okay, I must admit that I was a bit skeptical about the series... I mean, seriously, another books about vamps? But, as soon as I got started I was sucked into the story line and my poor children didn't have an adult playmate for a while. hehe! Don't worry, I dressed and fed them if you're concerned. These were excellent books that will certainly keep the reader turning the page. There was mild language.

Rating: ***** FIVE Stars 


Bonus: A friend of mine does book reviews on youtube and here's her book review on the series.

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