Blog Tour: Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer

I'm participating on the Spirit blog tour! Here is a review of this amazing novel for you guys! You will also have the chance to vote for your favorite Elementals guy and the winner will be featured in a short story by Brigid Kemmerer (vote for Gabriel..just kidding, vote for your favorite!). If you want to check more of the stops on this tour, go here (where we are giving away 10 finished copies of Spirit!).

Release Date: May 28th, 2013

301 pages

Publisher: K Teen

With power comes enemies. Lots of them.

Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies.

He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait.

Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too.

With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he’ll have to find someone he can trust…

To tell you the truth, Spirit was the novel I was least eager to read from this series. I'm a huge fan of Gabriel and the other Merrick brothers but I didn't know if I would enjoy Spirit as much since it centered around Hunter. I was wrong. I enjoy it, a lot; however I was always happier when the Merrick brothers also made an appearance and they make a lot of them! Spirit was the perfect mix, to make some of us (me included) to like Hunter more and it certainly succeeded.

Nonetheless Spirit is a sad story, full of action, humor and great characters, but still a sad story. Hunter's life is no picnic and by the end of the novel, I realise that at least he's got the Merrick brothers now. It was amazing to see their relationship get better along the novel. Michael was specially an amazing character in this novel. The plot itself was also amazing (as always in this series), full of twists and turns and complications for our beloved characters. Many unexpected things happen and that is always a plus for me, when the twists and turns really come out of nowhere!

I have mixed feelings towards Hunter. I liked him, but sometimes I didn't. I don't know really know why but he just annoyed me sometimes. But I always understood why he did what he did, it certainly isn't easy to be always so alone. I loved his relationship with the brothers and his scenes with them were my favorite in the whole novel. I guess I'm biased. Kate is also a great addition to the series. She is strong, independent and a bit ironic (my favorite kind). 

Spirit was a great addition to this series. I know that even though I don't like Hunter as much as I like the others, I know he plays a big role in the story and I'm glad that Brigid wrote about him as well. I was surprised that I liked this novel so much, I didn't expect that. I would certainly recommend this to all fans of paranormal novels out there and of course, people who already read the prequels, you will not be disappointed!

Review: If I Should Die by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 7th, 2013

405 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself.

Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.

It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.

After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?

2013 is a sad and happy year for me. Many debuts are becoming new favorites, but also many old favorites are coming to an end. The Die For Me series has been a favorite of mine since the first book came out. Probably because of the freshness of the premise, the beautiful writing and the insanely romantic story set in Paris, one of my favorite (and most romantic) cities in the world! If I Should Die didn't disappoint me and I'm glad that, if this series absolutely had to end, at least the ending was a good one.

I'll try not to spoil so much of the story, since I'm sure there may be some of you who haven't had the chance to read this one yet (what are you waiting for?!). I'm sure many of you had some expectations about the ending, so did I, but If I Should Die won't (shouldn't) let you down. I wasn't very surprised about how Plum's executed the plot and its twists and turns; admittedly I had already thought about or guessed many of the surprises meant to rend us speechless. Nonetheless it didn't make this novel boring, on the contrary, I devoured it. I liked the fights, the humor, the trip to New York, the romance, the homecoming of some characters and the appearance of new ones: they made this book special, even unique in the trilogy.

I'm not going to lie, either, and say that this one was my favorite of the three. I don't even know which one would I choose. However I can say that the characters are equally great in all three of them. I love Kate as a main character and in this one, she is even more independent and strong. Long gone is the sad girl from Die For Me. Vincent is his usual swoony-self, however after reading Die For Her (the novella from Jules' POV - read it now!) my heart was torn between Jules and Vincent. That was surprising for me, since I couldn't imagine liking a character as much as I enjoyed Vincent in this trilogy. But Plum achieves the impossible, or many not so impossible, I guess. I love all the characters in this trilogy and I could certainly see myself reading anything, any novella, released about any of them.

Surely some of you will be disappointed (hopefully not), since you had some many expectations. For me, If I Should Die delivered what I had been hoping for: that happy feeling when you get after ending a beloved book. Maybe some things were missing, maybe not, but I'm happy with how things ended. Kate and Vincent certainly got happy ending they deserved and maybe Jules will get his one too. I don't know if I want Amy to write more on this series in the future, but for the moment, I'm satisfied. Thanks for giving us this wonderful series that will always have a special space in my bookshelf!

Review: Towering by Alex Flynn

Release Date: May 14th, 2013

293 pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.
Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying.

Rachel is trapped in a tower, held hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her.

Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.

Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now.

I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings and I've heard so many things about Alex Flynn and I knew that I had to read one of her books. I don't know why I have never read of her novels but when I saw a retelling about Rapunzel (a fairytale that is not easily and modernly retold), I just had to request a copy for review. A big plus was also that one of the main characters is called Rachel (sorry, I just had to mention it)!

The thing about retelling Rapunzel is that it's not an easy story to retell it in a modern way. There is nothing modern about locking a girl away in a tower nowadays and maybe that was just me, but I was really skeptical throughout the novel. I don't think it's entirely Flynn's fault, nevertheless I couldn't enjoy the story completely. I know that the magical aspects of the story couldn't completely disappear but there some things that didn't go well with me, like the whole story with the drugs and some cheesy parts which I didn't expect in a modern retelling. Furthermore some things weren't even explained and I just had the feeling that the novel felt incomplete (I still don't understand Dani's appearances and how they knew Rachel was going to be a special child..but I guess that's the fairytale aspect of the story).

The characters fell in the "ok" category. They weren't that special but enjoyable anyway. Maybe a bit too "fairytale-ish" for a modern retelling. Rachel was too naive and just like a Disney princess and Wyatt was the perfect prince, even though the author tried to incorporate some darker aspects into his past.

I'm not saying that I didn't enjoyed it, I did, yet it didn't blow my mind away as a fairytale retelling. Maybe I just started with the wrong novel since Flynn's retelling are usually well-reviewed. I certainly will give this author another shot. Rapunzel IS a difficult fairytale to modernize. Nonetheless I would recommend this one to those of you who are in need of a pleasant and rather slow-paced novel.

Thanks to HarperTeen for providing me with a copy for review!