Super Duper Book Reviews

New blog

2012-02-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog up, where I'm doing movie reviews so go check it out!

http://supermoviereviews101.blogspot.com/

The Darkest Kiss

2012-02-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

Book tittle: The Darkest Kiss
Series: Riley Jensen Guardian Series
Author: Keri Arthur
Pages: 386
ISBN: 978-0-553-59114-9

Note: I know this review is long overdue, but I have been busy with other things so sorry about that!

The Darkest Kiss, or the sixth book in the Riley Jenson Guardian series. These books have provided many a warm, and cozy night (and even days) in bed spent reading. These are the kinds of books one reads just for pure enjoyment. The plot may have flaws here, and there, the characters may not be out of a Hemingway novel, and sometimes you just want to roll your eyes at how simple the writing style is.

But these books are just a warm cozy book. It doesn't matter how simple some things might be that is what makes them great! Being able to put them down, and pick them up the next day without having to piece together an overly intricate plot, that's full of metaphors, and things you can't even explain makes these books almost perfect for those of us who can't afford to do nothing all day.

The book starts off, and gets to the point rather quickly -someone is killing high profile people. To make things even worse though (for the protagonist) another someone is killing off another group of people. Solving one murder is hard enough but solving two?

The book is again like the others action packed, and full of scars, and close calls. It seems that Riley Jenson can never catch a break, and is always getting the short end of the stick in each book, as she battles with the evil beasties trying to bump people off.

I don't like to reveal any info about prior books so i must end my review here. If you like just sitting down, and enjoying a good book, and don't really care that its not a "classic" then I definitely recommend this series.

Embraced By Darkness

2012-01-23T05:49:00.000-08:00

Book tittle: Embraced By Darkness
Series: Riley Jensen Guardian Series
Author: Keri Arthur
Pages: 384
ISBN: 978-0553589610

Just finished reading Embraced By Darkness the fifth book in the Riley Jensen Guardian series. I have to say, the book definitely was not as good as some of the others, it had its weak points (mostly weak points) and some strong points. Without the strong points I would have probably dropped the series, or possibly just continued on to see if the next book was any good.

Most of the weak points from the book came from the sex (Insert: What?! Sex is awesome!) which was very overplayed. I mean after five books of the same old ways of describing something that is rather prevalent in the series, it does tend to get old. In fact if I had to criticize major points of the series thus far probably my only complaint would be this: No originality in the description - i.e the use of the same words, and style of describing something gets damn boring after so long.

The series continues to stay true to its roots however, continuing with the "detective" feel that really doesn't seem to be there -if it were it would probably run this series into the ground, as most people who are reading it aren't doing so for the detective side of things, but more for the mysterious, sexy dhampir protagonist whose promiscuous and blah blah blah -yeah I know how that sounds, but its all up to the reader to decide how to read this book.

Which brings me to my next point: This is not a twilight monkey show though, (I enjoyed those books either way, I'm very acquiescent when it comes to a lot of things) the book can read like a festering smut fest if you choose to ignore the rest of the things that go on (such as people getting their heads blown off and general "FUCK YEAH VIOLENCE" type of stuff.) Its really up to the reader to decide just how s/he reads this.

If my exuberant love of the series doesn't show much in this review that's because at the moment its just not there -I make no excuses for anyone, I play it straight. However the series is good enough to hold my attention (case in point I haven't read anything else) and can easily hold most anyone else's.

This book also had a lot of things that most anyone can relate to, such as revenge and heartbreak, though I won't say anything else about that, otherwise I'd give away the whole "GASP!" moment at the end of the book. Which as has been the style for the last four books (if my memory serves.) The climax does come at the end of the book (at least the climax to that one particular book) but there's also more things after it which drives on the rest of the story (or the bigger picture) and usually gives an easy opening to the next book in the series.

Next book will be "The Darkest Kiss." What? Its not as if I come up with the titles.

Dangerous Games

2012-01-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

Book tittle: Dangerous Games
Series: Riley Jensen Guardian Series
Author: Keri Arthur
Pages: 384
ISBN: 978-0-553-58961-0

Dangerous Games, the fourth book in the Riley Jensen Guardian series, I have to say was damn, dynamite. Demons, half crazed vampires, and death gods? Yeah it all seems a bit much to include in just one short book, but Keri Arthur does it flawlessly.

I won't reveal plot twists from the old books -because I can't assume that someone won't read ahead to the other reviews, and have something get spoiled from the first books; What I can say without giving much away is that Gautier (that oh so love-able fully crazed killing machine) makes a big appearance in this book -and now he's got buddies!

Keri Arthur continues to show her very adept writing skills in this novel (unlike the blunder that was the end of Tempting Evil) developing character relationships, right in the thick of danger. We also start to see more, and more powers start to show from Quinn, and Riley that we were never aware of before.

Though the books continue with the soft hint, of a detective novel (the whole keep the reader guessing at the edge of their seat) it definitely does not read like one. Its more of a 'rebel' in the sense that it doesn't follow much of the commonly held practices in writing books, and just chucks the whole template out the window, to bring the reader an entire world of different genres, and techniques.

As in the other books (minus the first) the stage is set rather nicely -though not as subtle as in the other books-
for the beginning of the next book in the series. It doesn't just drop off once the climax is through though (which is a good thing) it lets the reader know what happens in the moments after, and gives a good insight into the mind of the characters.

Next in the series is Embraced by darkness, which I've already started reading!

Until next time -Take care.

Tempting Evil

2012-01-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

Book tittle: Tempting Evil
Series: Riley Jensen Guardian Series
Author: Keri Arthur
Publishing company: Random House
Pages: 416
ISBN: 978-0553588477

Alright so tempting evil the third installment in the Riley Jensen Guardian series... The book like the other two in the series had its ups, and downs (taking you very much along for the ride) and its highs, and lows.

The book starts off rather slow (compared to the beginning of the second book, and the rest of it which was non-stop action) and stays that way for the first 3/4 of the book. You can expect a lot of spying and snooping around, and a bit of mystery, why you might ask? Well because the quest from the first two books (finding where these mysterious hyper-mutated/augmented clones are coming from) finally draws to an end.

Towards the last 1/4 of the book 'the plot thickens' so-to-speak as things start getting very dangerous for this dhampir. Though the ending will seem rather rushed, because just as the the stage is getting set up for the big finale everything just ends, as if the writer realized a little too late that she only had a few pages left to write this book; Which is a shame because with about 50 more pages the ending could have been really spectacular rather then just a vague satisfaction that its over yet still wanting a little bit more.

All-in-all the book wasn't the best one I've read from this series so far (that goes to #2 for now) but it wasn't bad either. It had a few more surprises then the others (a big one at the end which sets the stage rather elegantly for the next book) and had its own pizzaz, almost as if the writer is trying to draw in a greater audience, with many different styles, rather then just sticking to your typical vampire romance, throw in a little sex, and mystery to keep people happy type book.

Coming up next will be Dangerous Games, from the same Riley Jensen series. I'm trying not to branch out too much into other books, because I want to finish this series the right way. So stay tuned, and follow my blog!

New review scheme

2012-01-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

So in the attempt at making this blog more professional, and easier to sort through to get at what you want, I want to implement a new style to my reviews which I think is better, but I want the opinions of my followers regardless.

It goes a little something like this:

Book tittle:
Series:
Author:
Publishing company:
Pages: (as in number of pages)
ISBN:
Synopsis: Short synopsis probably no longer then a paragraph.

Below that ^ is going to be the review. So any thoughts, or things you would change, add, etc?

Reading update- Tempting Evil By Keri Arthur

2012-01-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

Alright so I'm currently reading the Riley Jensen guardian series by Keri Arthur, and so far I'm liking what I read. Its not the sex scenes that get me the most (though they're pretty good in there own standard) its the mystery, the intrigue, the action! Its the force behind the books, that compels Riley to push forward, and solve this mystery, and that compels readers to keep on reading.

I won't reveal much about Tempting Evil just yet (I'll leave that to do review) other then to say so far like the other books I really like it, even though the beginning is different then both the first, and second book.

I hope to have it done by tomorrow -if studying doesn't get too much in my way- so you'll just have to wait for the review 'till then!

To my followers

2012-01-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

So You guys like books too huh? Well thats not at all surprising.. Anyway I want to thank you guys for the comments, and being supportive. I know I don't update this blog much but that's because I'm only one person, and can only read so much at one time!

So I think some reading updates are in order! (at least until I figure out a way to read 5-10 books simultaneously..)

So my next post will be just that -a post about a post now theres something you don't see often...

Kissing Sin

2012-01-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Just finished reading "Kissing Sin" The next instalment in the riley jensen series and all i have to say is woah! Seriously I could barely put this book down, and its agood thing i rarely did! This time unlike in the first book of the series "Kissing Sin" finishes off with some enticement to pick up the next edition in the series, and that is something I DEFINITELY won't forget to do!

All I'll say about the first novel is that it ended in much of a bland normal run of the mill novel fashion (don't make the mistake of thinking its bad, I definitely enjoyed it), nothing fancy no pizzaz to it just an ending that left one thinking just that -this is an end to a book nothing more.The ending for "Kissing Sin" though, leaves the reader with a taste of the things to come!

Such as a few key points that make it different- and no i don't mean the sex (which is rather prevalent) I mean the action, and boy was there action! In the first novel it is true that the action is non stop but in the sequel its non stop and then some! nothing is left to the readers imagination other then what will happen next? Since this is only the second book in a rather long series what does the writer still have in store for Riley and her crack team if non human professionals? We'll have to see in the next installment of the series "Tempting Evil."

The Demonata

2012-01-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

This is yet another great series by Darren Shan; And again the "young adult" grouping of the book is total crap. Not only are there demons tearing people to shreds (described in rather vivid detail) in every book, the amount of attention to the characters, and there use/development as the story plays out is amazing. That's one of the better things about Darren Shan is that he pays lots of attention to his characters, and really seems to care about them (in a detached sort of puppet master way, because really how can you love a fictional character?)

The series has three different protagonists, and each book switches between one of the three. To fully understand what is going on one must read the entire series otherwise between jumping from one characters point of view in one book to a whole different time era/character in another book, the reader simply won't understand whats going on without having read all this stuff.

This series also ends with quite an anti climatic, yet very satisfying conclusion, even though you slightly want to know what it is that goes on after the series concludes.

Cirque Du Freak

2012-01-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

The Cirque Du Freak series written by Darren Shan, starring Darren Shan gets off to a rather ominous beginning by lulling one into a false sense of security recounting childhood memories of the authors (and the main characters) love of spiders, then stating "This is a true story." That in and of itself isn't very scary, but once on starts delving further into the book, you realize why this is so scary.

The series is pretty fascinating, and will hold the readers attention despite being for "young adults" which I think is an exaggeration seeing the character development. And make no mistake the character development is far from flawless; The beginning of the series has a few "exaggerations" (didn't want to give anything away there with a description) which are later worked out by basically ignoring them and plotting out the truth.

If I had to say something bad about the end of the series I would say that it is sort of an anti-climax; Don't worry though it wont have you trying to claw yours eyes out or anything like that, it was rather fitting, and satisfying, even though you wanted it to end with a bang, hail, and claps of thunder, it doesn't leave anything lacking.

Full moon rising

2012-01-08T05:59:00.000-08:00

Full moon rising is part of the "Riley Jensen guardian" series by Keri Arthur. The book begins straight away with the main character placed in danger (vampires, and new ones at that kill people! What you didn't know?) and with an almost immediate plot twist; A naked vampire sitting (or standing) at her door. Now I wont reveal any more then that other then to say the book has its pizzazz, lots of sex scenes, weird happenings, and detective work that will have you turning the pages at warp speed (if you can somehow read/move that quickly.)

This series definitively has an interesting beginning, and this is sort of a promise or foreshadowing of good things to come -Lets hope.