ARC Review: Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak

Title: Through the Smoke
Author: Brenda Novak
Release Date: October 15th 2013
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository

Goodreads Summary

A shocking betrayal…

Riches. Power. An ancient heritage of pride. The Earl of Druridge wanted only for an heir. So when he learned that his wife was carrying another man’s child, he was filled with a thirst for vengeance.

But he wasn’t the one who caused Katherine’s death. Or was he? To his horror, he remembers nothing of that dreadful night, when their last confrontation ended in scorching flame and cold blood.

A forbidden love…

Rachel McTavish, the beautiful daughter of a coal miner, knows something about the fire that took Lady Katherine’s life. In secret, the strong-willed girl strikes a bargain with the desperate earl: he must send his physician to help her dying mother or he may go to the devil—and the scaffold. He agrees, but she is still unsure that her revelation will be enough to save him when so many wish him dead.

Passionately drawn to the nobleman, despite all the doubt and mystery that shrouds him, Rachel wonders if he can really be a murderer. Or if he is the only man who will ever own her heart…

It took me a long time to decide on a rating for this book. I wanted to give it a 5 and a 4 and a 3, which made choosing the closest ‘half’ star a whole lot harder.

My friends who read this book absolutely loved it and while I had a great time reading it, it just didn’t enchant me. I think that was one of the reasons I ended up giving it a 3.5, I expected so much from this book and while I got it, the book didn’t captivate me.

The strongest points of this book for me were the characters and the romance. Novak did a wonderful job developing both.

Lord Druridge lost his wife in a fire. He wasn’t particularly heartbroken about that because there was no lost love between them, she had lived to make his life hell even going as far as to go get pregnant with someone else’s child and calling it his. Because of this the majority of people believe that he was the one who started the fire that killed his wife. Even though he doesn’t remember what happened that night, he is pretty sure that that isn’t true but if he doesn’t prove it, he will be punished for a crime he didn’t commit.

I loved how the author didn’t try to pretty up his character. He owned a mining company and he didn’t really go out of his way to be nice to them. In fact for the most part they barely registered on his radar, because yes he was above them in status so he didn’t really have to care about them. That doesn’t mean he is dense and perceives himself to be the center of the universe. He just realizes that he is from a completely different world from them. He was raised to value honor and duty and he remains true to that for most part of the book. He isn’t a perfect character and he isn’t meant to be. He is human, he feels pain, anger and betrayal just like everyone else but he is also strong. He despairs but never lets it bring him to his knees and he fights because if he doesn’t have faith the real criminal will get away.

Rachel has lost most of her family over the course of the last couple of years until all she has left is her brother. It’s up to her to take care of her brother now as well as manage the bookstore her family has been running for the past couple of years. She despises the Earl because of what he stands for, her brother died while working for the mines and her father lost his job because of him. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with him but because he owns the lease to both the bookstore and the house she cannot just ignore him. It isn’t until her mother is at her deathbed that she gives in and offers up the information she had but her mother ends up dying anyway.

Rachel has tons of pride and doesn’t want help from anyone, especially the Earl. She is willing to starve and work in the mines to feed her little brother but the thing about her is that while this may sound like a bad quality, it works for her, life has made her how she is. Her life wasn’t a fairy tale, it was pretty tough. But even with all her pride, Rachel is not stupid. She knows when it’s time to let go of her pride and accept help. The only thing that bothered me about her character was how in the beginning she was set aside from all the other women because she liked to read and didn’t want to get married. She was speshul flower because she liked to read. Half the female leads in historical romance say the same thing but it bothered me so much more in this case because Rachel was already set aside from the rest of the women in this genre by a factor of things. The fact that the author chose to emphasize the fact that she read and wasn’t really going out of her way to get married disappointed me. Aside from that ‘minor’ issue I enjoyed Rachel’s character as well. She was a strong female lead who’s life did not revolve around the guy she was in love with.

The secondary characters are pretty well developed too. My favorite, Penelope, makes an appearance right in the end. I thought her addition was pretty interesting although I am confused as to why that was necessary.

The romance though was my favorite thing about this book. It was just so realistic. What I loved most about it was that the forbiddeness of their relationship wasn’t romanticized. It was an obstacle. They are worlds apart, they won’t be accepted as a couple. They are likely to be shunned, in fact Rachel was already shunned. At first there was some insta-attraction which bothered the hell out of me but I tried to be rational and realized that it’s alright for people to be attracted to each other right off the bat even if it pisses me off. Aside from that Novak spends such a great deal of time developing the romance. It slowly buds into something beautiful. Truman and Rachel are always supportive of one another but even with all that they realize that they realize that because of their different upbringings their priorities will always be different.

Speaking of relationships, I was pretty disappointed that Novak didn’t really develop Rachel’s relationship with her brother; I was kind of looking forward to it but as it is her brother was barely there, even when she was the earl’s ‘mistress’ her brother was out sleeping in the stables.

The plot seems to take a backseat to everything else going on in the book. Before I say anything else I’d like to say that Brenda does a wonderful job developing suspense, she does it so well that I found myself questioning even Truman but in the end when you find out who the actual criminal was, it was all very anti-climactic. The criminal’s identity seemed pretty obvious but the reasoning behind the whole incident seemed so weak. The actual mystery fell pretty flat too, there didn’t seem to be a lot going on until the very end. I feel like Novak could have made the plot a whole lot stronger and more enjoyable.

In the end though, this book was extremely refreshing, it’s so different from the other historical romances out there. I’d definitely recommend this to fans of historical romances and I’d even go as far to say that those of you vary of HR’s, give this a shot. 

The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

Title: The Kingdom
Author: Amanda Stevens
Series: Graveyard Queen #2
Release Date: March 27th, 2012
Publisher: Mira
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town. …My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I've been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I'm coming to think I have another purpose here.

Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I've discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town—this withering kingdom—and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.

And so I finished the second book in this series and discovered hope for finding unique books in the urban fantasy genre. The End. Although technically speaking this isn't really urban fantasy, it's more along the lines of gothic. I read the first book in the series a while ago and I fell in love. At first I was reluctant to start the second book in the series because Devlin wasn't going to be a big part of it. But after a while I started craving dark/gothic books. At this point, I've read so much urban fantasy/paranormal that most of the times whenever I read something along those lines, I am mostly reading for mindless entertainment and don't have much hope for discovering something amazing. They are fun but they don't do anything for me, they don't remind me why I love reading. There are so many cliches out there and most of the characters in these books are so similar. It's like reading the same story again and again a hundred times. So I decided I needed something different before I forgot what it felt like to read a great book, one that blows your mind into tiny pieces and leaves you there trying to put your mind back together. And so I picked this book up hoping to be impressed. And I was. I was more than impressed and this comes as a surprise to me because I thought I'd miss Devlin too much to enjoy this book. I think one of the reasons I am so in love with this series is because of our main character. It's rare for me to wholly appreciate a female lead. I am someone who tends to look for faults and so most of the time even if I say I like a female lead there will be certain things that annoy me about that character. However Amelia is different, she doesn't hide behind sarcastic lines. There are so many female leads that are sarcastic and deep down they hurt and they'll take it out on the world. But Amelia doesn't. Things are not wonderful for her, she sees ghosts but she cannot acknowledge them, she has spent her whole life trying to make sure they don't know she can see them. That makes for a hell of a life. This whole ghost-seeing drew a wall between her and her parents, her dad can see them but even with that they have a cliff between them. Despite this she isn't angry at the world. She is actually a smart woman with an actual sense of self-preservation. She doesn't just throw herself into random situations without at least acknowledging the consequences. Of course that isn't to say that she sometimes does go into bad situations against her better judgement but sometimes curiosity does get the best of all of us. As I mentioned her relationship with her parents is somewhat strained, of course she could hold this against her parents but she realizes that they love her even with all the secrets that they keep from her so she doesn't try to push them out of their comfort zones and demand the truth. She is also very honest with herself, which I can admire. Of course that isn't to say that she sometimes tries to hide from the truth. Some of the things that happen are awful so I don't blame her in the least. In this book we meet a wonderful canine companion for our awesome female lead, Angus. Dogs always make things better don't they? So did this dog. Although I wish he had gotten that shower that Amelia kept on promising him. :P Quaint was the word that came to mind, and it was only on second glance that one noticed the deteriorating vital signs of a dying community—boarded windows, sagging gutters, the stopped clock in the beautiful old tower. The author does a great job with the way she presents Asher Town, it's really creepy and since I love creeepy I am very happy. I think the plot was also really good. There are things that are obvious right from the start but in a subtle way. Predictability usually annoys me if the main character is the last one to catch on but I believe that in this case it's predictable because the main character suspects some of the things in her subconscious mind. She does have great instincts and actually pays attention to what her gut is saying. This book brings in a potential love interest in the form of Thane. In the last book Amelia ran away from a potential relationship with Devlin because she realized how much that could harm her. So they aren't actually in a relationship at this point, however she is in love with him. Thane is a character similar to Devlin in some ways but not nearly as intense. The way the author plays out their relationship is interesting and the way she closes their chapter even more so, this is how I wish authors would play out their love triangles. This ISN'T a love triangle, I repeat THIS BOOK DOESN'T HAVE A LOVE TRIANGLE because there aren't two love interests, Devlin isn't in this book so you cannot count him. What I mean by my statement is that I wish authors would end things as nicely as Amanda did and clear things up for both the people instead of just making a female lead cut of the other love interest. The ending to this book is great. It's perfect. I rarely say that. I always have issues with endings. Of course this is the second book in the series but it can be read like a stand alone (although I have no idea why anyone would want to not read about Devlin). But I love how the author can tie up all ends and leave us in anticipation of the sequel without using a dramatic cliff hanger. I wish I could write down all my feelings about this book but it's hard to put what I want to say into words so I am going to end this here.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: Unspoken
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Series: The Lynburn Legacy #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: September 13, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Kami Glass is in love with someone she’s never met – a boy the rest of the world is convinced is imaginary. This has made her an outsider in the sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, but she doesn’t complain. She runs the school newspaper and keeps to herself for the most part – until disturbing events begin to happen. There has been screaming in the woods and the dark, abandoned manor on the hill overlooking the town has lit up for the first time in 10 years. The Lynburn family, who ruled the town a generation ago and who all left without warning, have returned. As Kami starts to investigate for the paper, she finds out that the town she has loved all her life is hiding a multitude of secrets- and a murderer- and the key to it all just might be the boy in her head. The boy who everyone thought was imaginary may be real…and he may be dangerous.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be a romance. I mean  with that summary there isn’t anything else you are going to think. This is why I get pissed at goodreads summaries from time to time. They make so many of the books sound more romantic than they actually are. I could make a list of all the books I was tricked into thinking were overly romantic and didn’t want to read. No. I do like romances but I don’t like reading a book that is focused primarily on the romance (unless you count chic lits but I don’t read them THAT often, only when I need to chill). I like books with amazing plots. This book had one. I don’t think saying this book blew my mind is enough, it would have blown my mind if I had high expectations, I had low expectations because I went into the book thinking it was primarily a romance, to say it blew my mind is understating what it did to me.

I thought  Kami would be a pathetic love sick teenager. I was so far of the mark it’s not even funny. She is one of my all time favorite female leads. She is hard working, dedicated, loyal and absolutely hilarious. This book had the whole gothic feel to it, yet it was also light because of Kami’s humor.

I admire Kami for not letting other people's opinions influence her own. She hears horrible things about Jared and even when everybody tells her to stay away from him she doesn’t. How could she when she knows him better than everyone else? Even WHEN she doubts him she sticks by him because how could she not?

Oh yeah and umm yes I suck but one of the best things about this book was Jared. I am absolutely in love with him. It’s so funny how he is scared to touch her, It annoyed me when I was reading the book but now I am just like.. oh Jared. Yes a lot of people are annoyed with Jared’s behavior at the end of the book. I was sad about it but I get why he did it. Throughout most of the book I just wanted to cuddle with him and slap him mom for being such a bitch (yes I am swearing but I really hated his mother, any other word would be too nice for her). What kind of mom tries to convince other people that her son is not worth saving? If you don’t want to bloody care for him don't try to stop other people at least!

Now back to the story. The plot is awesome as I mentioned early on. I actually had no idea what paranormal creatures this book involved so when I did find out I was surprised. I am glad I got to be surprised about that one thing because, you know, being surprised is fun. If you went into the book knowing everything then what would be the point?

I loved the mystery behind the Lynburns but oh my god, THAT ENDING! Why the hell did I have to read this book so soon after it released? Now all I have is snippets from the sequel to survive on and even those aren’t good enough. They break my heart.

I am counting down the days to the sequel and also even if it does have a love triangle I am going to read it because the first book was  THAT bloody awesome. No I don’t want one. I don’t want one so bad it hurts. BUT I will read it nevertheless because of Jared.

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Title: Dark Companion
Author: Marta Acosta
Publisher: Tor Teen
Date Published: July 3, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Jane Eyre meets Twilight in Dark Companion, a lush and romantic YA gothic tale about an orphaned girl who attends an exclusive private school and finds herself torn between the headmistress’s two sons.

Orphaned at the age of six, Jane Williams has grown up in a series of foster homes, learning to survive in the shadows of life. Through hard work and determination, she manages to win a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy. There, for the first time, Jane finds herself accepted by a group of friends. She even starts tutoring the headmistress’s gorgeous son, Lucien. Things seem too good to be true.

They are.

The more she learns about Birch Grove’s recent past, the more Jane comes to suspect that there is something sinister going on. Why did the wife of a popular teacher kill herself? What happened to the former scholarship student, whose place Jane took? Why does Lucien’s brother, Jack, seem to dislike her so much?

As Jane begins to piece together the answers to the puzzle, she must find out why she was brought to Birch Grove—and what she would risk to stay there…

It's so good to read a book that leaves you with a satisfying ending. These days you will have series where the authors will end on a serious cliffhanger or if there are stand alones where the ending will be too picture perfect or too open.

This book has the kind of ending I want. Where things are resolved but the future isn’t set in stone.

This book was creepy at times but it was the good kind of creepy.  It made you shudder but at the same time you were surprised and more curious as to wait else awaited you.

There are tons of books out there about vampires, werewolves, witches, the usual paranormal stuff.  Why cannot they look into something like this? Yes from the summary it may seem like there are actual vampires in the book but don’t worry there aren’t, I cannot elaborate without spoiling but when you find out what's going on and who the people really are, it's surprising. 

Sometimes I wanted to smack Jane but the thing is I realized that it's not her fault that she was blinded at times, had she been able to see through half of the things it would have made her seem unrealistic because really who can? I think what I loved most about her was her determination. She could be easily hurt but she didn’t let people bring her down. She was her own person to rule.

I also loved all the side characters like Mary Violet.. she was hilarious. The rest of her friends were also great, they weren't flat or boring and they were kind of important, not just there for show. 

For me, it was love at first sight with our love interest Jack. The moment the author brings in him we know he is going to be hilariously awesome. You see, you have jerks, you have guys who aren't serious and act like idiots and then you have Jack. He was funny but he was also serious. The things he said totally made you think.

Of course there is a bit of a love triangle going on here but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a love triangle. It's complicated. Read the book you'll know. 

With that said I cannot believe that this book has a rating of 3.57. I would have given it a 5 if there was a little bit more to the mystery and paranormal aspect was looked into more because this book was seriously worth my time.

Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh

Title: Enshadowed
Author: Kelly Creagh
Series: Nevermore #2
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Date Published: August 28, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Varen Nethers is trapped in a perilous dream world — a treacherous and desolate realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. Isobel Lanley, plagued by strange visions and haunted by the nightmares of Varen’s creation, is the only one who can save him.

Isobel knows that her only hope lies within a Baltimore cemetery. There, in the early morning hours of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, a mysterious stranger known as the “Poe Toaster” will make his annual homage at the legendary poet’s grave.

Only the Poe Toaster holds the key to the way between worlds. But even greater dangers lie ahead for Isobel. An ancient evil, draped in veils of white, is watching, challenging her for Varen’s affections. When Isobel finally finds Varen, he is no longer the quiet and brooding boy who once captivated her, but a dark force, powerful and malevolent.

“Is — is any of this real?” she asked. “Are you real?”

He lifted a hand to her cheek, his fingers brushing her jaw.

“Even if this is a dream,” he whispered, “I’m not.”

Kelly Creagh if I were a poet I’d be writing an ode to you. In your series you have managed so much. YA has constantly disappointed me yet I continue to read it and I am glad I do, otherwise I wouldn’t find gems like Nevermore. 

The first book left me begging for more and I was glad I had discovered the book after the second book had released. I wouldn’t have been able to wait to read the next book after that cliff hanger. Sadly I didn’t discover this book before the third book released. Despite the kind of ending the author left us with I think I’ll survive. I want Kelly to make the last book the best thing ever because this book deserves the best ending.

I wanted to give this book a four because I was deprived of my Varen for most of the book and he does happen to be my favorite character. But I couldn’t. The book is too amazing for me to do that.

It gets points for amazing best friend, great parents and most of all good female lead.

Isobel again shows character development. I love how she doesn’t give up. Yes sometimes she is too goal oriented and doesn’t see the amazing friend she has in Gwen. Which does bother me but despite this I still love Isobel. What I like about her is that she doesn’t go into a state of depression after that ending. Yes she is sad and she doesn’t concentrate as much but almost immediately after leaving Varen behind, she is trying to DO something. She isn’t just sitting on her ass whining about how she is a horrible person and how she left Varen behind. I am glad for this.

I also love how she loves her parents. She feels bad for what she is doing to them. She hates that they are hurting because of her. She recognizes this despite her own pain and I love her for that.

I think one of my favorite parts in the book is when she is telling her father she is sorry and that she will come back soon. She doesn’t want to have to trick her parents.

Yes I think a lot of people will find this book slow but I find is mesmerising. I love how the author makes connections between the first and second book with certain lines and scenes. 

The ending. Ah the ending. I have to talk about it don’t I?

Kelly Creagh. You are messing with my brain. How do you simultaneously create an ending that is both beautiful AND heartbreaking. I knew it was coming because well were it not to happen I would have been disappointed. Yes it’s was heartbreaking but  were it not the way it was it would be a VERY easy answer to their problems. It wouldn’t make sense. When trust it lost you cannot gain it back in a second.

It broke my heart into a many pieces but it was the Epilogue that left me feeling hollow and numb. Seeing Varen like that broke my heart into tiny little pieces. The Epilogue was perfect though. I had goosebumps while reading it and my heart was breaking at the same time. How do you do that Kelly Creagh?
What’s your secret?
What’s the special ingredient?

Now I have a long journey ahead of me. I have to wake up every single day knowing the third book isn’t out yet but I also wake up knowing I have a day less to wait.

Kelly don’t make the wait long. Please. I beg of you. I am trying to maintain a positive attitude about the wait or else I’ll break. Please don’t mess with my poor broken heart.

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Title: Nevermore

Author: Kelly Creagh
Series: Nevermore #1
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Date Published: August 31, 2011
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear that he’d rather not have anything to do with her, either. But soon Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her freinds and possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying shories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.
As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagned and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Can she save Varen from the madness taking hold of him? Or will they both be consumed by the shadows of his nightmares?

“You’re a dream. Like everything else.” 

It’s been ages since I’ve finished this book and I still don’t know what to say. I don’t think anything I can say for this book will be enough.

This is one of the most unique paranormals I’ve read. You’ve got all sorts of Pnr out there but what about books where people create creepy worlds with their creativity. This is one creepy book but I love it. The world building is amazing. It’s so ORIGINAL!. Why don’t we have more stuff like this out there? Our minds our powerful things and sometimes the creepiest things live there. The author has a great concept (I’ve said that already I know).

I remember when I first saw the summary I rolled my eyes. A cheerleader and a emo guy. How perfect? *sarcasm* But I added it anyway because I had yet to read one where that happened. I unlike a lot of people didn’t run into a lot of books that went along those lines so the idea wasn’t cliche to me yet. It took me a few months to finally read it. THERE IS NOTHING cliche about their relationship. Or for that fact any of the ones in the book. It has always annoyed me how in YA parents are either absent or they suck and well friends suck as well. Why cannot there be good relationships in YA. Why must the guy be the girl’s savior? WHY?

I love how the author takes it slow with the relationship. The girl doesn’t wake up one day and decide that she loves the guy thank god for that .

It develops slowly, from hate to being okay with them to like to love. This kind of development doesn’t only happen on the girl’s side, it also happens with Varen. No Varen hasn’t secretly loved her for a long time or any other things that happen these days in YA. He dislikes her because she is popular.

And no he isn’t a bad guy. He is never outright rude to her. It’s more like Isobel thinking he is and you can see it. He isn’t a broken bad boy who is an ass. He may be broken but he doesn’t take it out on other people which I admire.

Yeah I think Varen’s awesomeness is one of the main reasons I love the book. How can someone read this book and NOT love Varen? He is one of the most original male characters in YA.

I think the character development is also amazing. The girl finally decides that her popular friends suck. Her boyfriend is too overprotective so even though it hurts her she turns against them and starts hanging out with Gwen. (Gwen’s awesomeness must also be mentioned but we don’t see as much of it in this book as we do in the next book so I won’t talk about it because I’ll probably end up spoiling the next book).

I cannot think normally for too long when I think about this book because thinking about it always brings a rush of emotions. I really do love this one and at the same time I wish it were nicer to me, loved me more and wouldn’t be so mean.
*sighs*

Now I am just rambling. I should shut up.