Book #15: Dangerous Creatures

Title: Dangerous Creatures

Author: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Date started reading: May 27, 2014
Date finished reading: June 1, 2014

Publish date: May 2014
ISBN: 978-0316370318
Number of pages: 384

Official summary: "Ridley Duchannes is nobody's heroine. She's a Dark Caster, a Siren. She can make you do things. Anything. You can't trust her, or yourself when she's around. And she'll be the first to tell you to stay away -- especially if you're going to do something as stupid as fall in love with her. Lucky for Ridley, her wannabe rocker boyfriend, Wesley "Link" Lincoln, never listens to anyone. Link doesn't care if Rid's no good for him, and he takes her along when he leaves small-town Gatlin to follow his rock-star dream. He teams up with a ragtag group of Dark Casters, and when the band scores a gig at a hot Underground club, it looks like all of Link's dreams are about to come true. But New York City is a dangerous place for both Casters and Mortals, and soon Ridley realizes that Link's bandmates are keeping secrets. With bad-boy club owner Lennox Gates on her heels, Rid is determined to find out the truth. What she discovers is worse than she could have imagined: Link has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay. With their lives on the line, what's a Siren to do?" (http://www.dangerouscreaturesnovels.com/)

Official book trailer:



How I obtained the book: Checked out of library

My commentary:

• I really had forgotten how much I loved Ridley in the original series. Having Ridley and Link be the focus of this new series was the right choice for sure. Both of those characters have way more depth than Lena and Ethan.
• In the original series, I was often annoyed at having to deal with it being written in Ethan's accent. This series doesn't have that strong accent, so it made it much more enjoyable to me.

Memorable quotes:

• “What can I say? Payback’s a bitch. But here’s the thing: So am I.” ~ Ridley
• "Let's get something straight: I'm supposed to be the bad guy. I will always disappoint you. Your parents will hate me. You should not root for me. I am not your role model. I don't know why everyone seems to forget that. I never do."  ~ Ridley
• "Being good Ridley was so dull that sometimes she was tempted to make new friends just so she could lose them later." 
• "As far as I'm concerned, I'm the CEO a your business, Wesley Lincoln." ~ Link's mom
• "Our love is rare, medium rare."  ~ Link to Ridley
• "When it came to relationships, the truth never set anyone free. The truth only sets things on fire." 
• "Love is an open door." ~ Ridley
• "Love, Nox, is awful. It's painful and humiliating and it involves songs -- horrible, sappy songs -- about hearts breaking and tears falling and following people into dark places. ... It's like a disease, Nox. A Mortal disease. A complete loss of spine. The emotional equivalent of projectile vomiting. And way too much acoustic guitar." ~ Ridley
• "When you're in love, you're not in control of what you think or say or do. And there is nothing I love more than control, and nothing I love less than not having it." ~ Ridley

Buy on Amazon.com: Dangerous Creatures


Reading Bingo: On the Reading Bingo Challenge I am going to mark this book off as "a book with music" on the young adult card. Link's in a band, so I think that works.

Book #14: Winds of Salem

Title: Winds of Salem (Book #3 in the Witches of East End series)

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Date started reading: May 21, 2014
Date finished reading: May 27, 2014

Publish date: August 2013
ISBN: 978-1401324704
Number of pages: 320

Official summary: "Freya Beauchamp is trapped in 1692, in Salem of all places, with no recollection of her past. A powerful enemy spell has sent her spiraling away so that she is separated by centuries from her mother, Joanna, and sister, Ingrid. This is not good news for a twenty-first-century witch. Not to mention the immediate threat she faces from the wealthy and influential Putnam family. When little Annie Putnam is one of the first to make accusations of witchcraft, her landowner father jumps at the opportunity to consolidate his power and expand his holdings in Puritan Salem Town. If Freya is caught using magic, she will be forced to relive the witch trials, and this time, even her immortality is in question. Meanwhile, twenty-first-century North Hampton has its own snares. Joanna and Norm consult the Oracle for advice, and Freddie and his pixie allies search for a missing totem that could reopen the passages of time and help bring his sister home. When Ingrid bumps into an old flame, she finds that her new love for Detective Matt Noble is in doubt." (http://melissa-delacruz.com)

How I obtained the book: Checked out of library

My pre-reading commentary:

• I have no idea how I've went almost a year without reading this book. I didn't even realize the third book in this series was out until this week. That shows how little I really like this series. If I don't keep up with all the upcoming books in a series then I really don't care about them. 
• I was pretty happy with the TV series made based on these books. The show is so much better than the books. I'm excited for the second season of the show, which starts on July 6. The promo for next season looks awesome (watch below)

My post-reading commentary:

• God, this was so boring. I have to admit that I skipped several chapters because I just couldn't take reading them. The first two books in this series were bad, but this one was horrible. On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, I'd give this a negative 2 stars.

Memorable quotes:

• "To lose our memory is to lose our identity." ~ James

Buy on Amazon.com: Winds of Salem: A Witches of East End Novel




Reading Bingo: On the Reading Bingo Challenge I am going to mark this book off as "a book by a female author" on the normal bingo card. It's the first square I've knocked off the normal card, and I'm sure it's the easiest category to match.

Book #13: Unmasked

Title: Unmasked (13th overall book in "The Vampires Diaries" series. Third book in "The Salvation" trilogy)

Author: "Created by L.J. Smith, Written by Aubrey Clark"

Date started reading: May 7, 2014
Date finished reading: May 15, 2014

Publish date: May 2014
ISBN: 978-1477823354
Number of pages: 310

Official summary: "Love is the most powerful force of all... Elena Gilbert is dying. When Damon Salvatore avenged his brother Stefan’s death, he broke the sacred deal he’d made with the Guardians — and put Elena’s life at risk. She should be dead, but instead, the Guardians are offering Elena a once-in-a-lifetime chance: to start over. Ever since she met the Salvatore brothers, Elena’s love for them both has caused endless death and destruction. But if Elena can return to the beginning — her senior year of high school, when she first met Damon and Stefan — and prove that she can exist alongside them without either of them killing a human, then Elena can live. But the Damon of years ago is unpredictable, rash, and dangerous. The only way for Elena to save everyone — including herself — might be to give up the Salvatores forever. Will Elena be able to sacrifice her own desires for the greater good? Or is her path to tragic love already written in the stars?"

How I obtained the book: Pre-ordered for $8.26 from Amazon using a giftcard I got free through Plink.com

My commentary:

• I really hope this is the last book in this series. I thought the series was over a long time ago. This book was great, and I like this new author, but the story is just ready to be over. It's just time to be done. 
• SPOILER ALERT: I'm really happy that Elena ended up with Damon in the end. I'm happy that everyone is more or less happy. I'm glad that Stefan's alive and safe. But having Elena go back in time and change history was just ridiculous. The Guardians had already changed history when they changed Elena's life making it where she had never died and become a vampire. So why did we need another history-changing storyline? 

Memorable quotes: --

Buy on Amazon.com: The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation: Unmasked



Reading Bingo: On the Reading Bingo Challenge I am going to mark this book off as "a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe." Bonnie's a witch, so I think that one will work for it.