REVIEW; 18 Things (My So Called Afterlife #1), by Jamie Ayers

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: Young-Adult, Death, Paranormal

Recommend: Yes

NO SPOILERS 

Summary:

Olga Gay Worontzoff is crushed when her best friend and crush, is going to Prom with someone else. In an effort to show she wasn't bothered, she invited him out sailing. But, in a freak lightening storm, Conner got killed and Olga is sent down a spiral of guilt, leading to her suicide attempt.

At therapy, Olga meets Nate, who soon becomes her best friend and helps her forgive herself about Conner's death. He also helps her compile her list of 18 Things, suggested by her therapist. A list of 18 accomplishments to be achieved in the year of being 18. 

But as she crosses off the items on her list, her therapist admits there was a much deeper and vital meaning to her list... one Olga never once dreamed of. 

My Thoughts:

I'm a little confused with the genre of this novel - I was expecting the paranormal aspect to hit a LOT sooner. And even still, it's not so much paranormal and more so just a little strange twist... 

Writing: The writing in this really threw me off and took away from the story. "true dat" was said by nearly every character, "da bomb." It's just incredibly cringe worthy. And then childish language like "nearly touched her ta-tas". This is a YA novel, so why not just say breasts/boobs/chest? Why chose such juvenile words? Also, this novel could pass as a song-book for the amount of pages filled with lyrics... which I got very quickly bored of as ultimately without music I find it hard to care for song lyrics, especially when from an original song that's unknown. 


Olga: I didn't really warm to her as much as I wanted to. I was of course expecting the grief journey and guilt, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to care for her well-being and I don't know why. She was so uptight with her list and then pushing Nate away when it was obvious he cared for her. It all got a bit tiresome and relentless and her constant mental battle between Conner and Nate. I only kept reading to find out what the twist was.


Paranormal: I won't give the twist away but ugh... As it neared the end I could start to predict what it was, although it wasn't all explained (I felt) as how it all worked out for the reader to have an explanation of what we had read meant and fitted together involving all the characters. It's probably better labelled as being more of a religious theme than anything, and if I had known there was such an interwoven religious thread, I probably wouldn't have read this just due to my own beliefs, but it wasn't too heavy, more so just at the end. 

Romance: There's deep feelings but little actual romance in this. No more than a kiss.

Overall: 

I feel 2.5 stars is an accurate rating for this. There is a solid concept that's good, but it just needs a lot of work IMO. Language and writing needs a lot of development and some better built characters. Relatively decent read.

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REVIEW; Being Jamie Baker, by Kelly Oram

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Young-Adult, Romance, Paranormal

Recommend: Yes

SPOILERS 

Summary:

Jamie Baker is the Ice-Queen or freak. After being in a car accident, Jamie managed to survive but changed forever. Jamie has been left with superpowers- she has super strength but when emotional, is alive with electricity. Socially exiling herself has worked well for Jamie, until she meets Ryan Miller. 
He is determined not to give up on her and break down her walls. And she needs him more than she cares to admit. 
But when Jamie realises she is facing a danger much bigger than being exposed, she has to risk everything, including the lives of those she loves, to try and protect herself and them.

My Thoughts:

I loved Kelly Oram's "Cinder & Ella" and fell for her cute writing style and adorable romances, so as soon as I got this book, I began reading it immediately and sacrificed many hours of sleep (which is serious business when you're up at 6am) to just read "one more page". 

Jamie: She had her flaws, but I did like her. I'm quite a sucker for Project Break The Ice Queen and Jamie made for a good one, although a bit of bitch. I liked her humour and how she was with Ryan, and loved how they both interacted. But her negativity and moping got a little teeny tiny bit thin quite quickly. Personally, I've I'd been graced with her powers, the first thing I'd investigate is how they can be controlled/ used. Jamie however, she had no interest in learning how they worked until she met Ryan. It seemed like such a waste!!  Granted, she'd been through hell and back with her accident and everything with Derek so she had all the reasons in the world to be sad, but some time has passed and I felt like she needed a little bit more umph and positivity just to have a life with her parents - but still remain an Ice Queen in school. 

Ryan: He's sweet, caring, genuine. Hard not to fall for his charm and humour but a little annoying. As with a lot of YA/NA novels, it's first obvious Ryan is from the imagination of a female. He understands Jamie too much and cares too much and has too much emotional connection and emotional knowledge to be a typical young guy. Sorry, they just don't exist like that. He was quite disrespectful at times with not acknowledging Jamie when she said no at the beginning, before they were close (but that could be down to Jamie saying one thing but meaning another.. I don't know). He's just not going to make it onto my book boyfriend list any time soon...

Superpowers: Jamie is not a superhero... she doesn't really do anything heroic apart from once. But she does have superpowers, which she has no interest in! I was really interested in her different quirks and abilities and enjoyed watching her practice with Ryan on how to control and manage them. My issue arises with the accident and how she got her powers. The whole drama surrounding the accident and Derek seemed like an afterthought quickly sketched in to enable the story some depth. 

Story: Not going to lie, I was hooked from the beginning with this. I loved watching Ryan dig deeper to try and figure her out and reveal Jamie's story. As per, the high school diplomacy was on point, with the usual rivalries and jealousy. One MAJOR issue in this book, and mainly why it lost a star - rape. In this, a side character gets raped by one of the popular guys. Jamie finds out and just warns him not to do it again... uhh... what? I recognise the influential powers authors have over their readers, and I think when such a sensitive topic is included, it shouldn't be done lightly and should also have proper conclusions. But in this it was just sort of dropped in like a bomb and then both characters ended up eating lunch together... riiiight. 
Classified as a romance, it does make for a cute love story. Of course, it's predictable but it doesn't run seamlessly for them both so it does keep the reader interested. 

There's also the added danger of Jamie being stalked by a reporter and questioning his motives. Does he want to expose her for a good story? Or is he trying to sell her out to a research company?  I enjoyed this level of danger as it added another dimension to the story just being centered around Jamie and Ryan. 

Overall: 

This isn't a deep or heavy story, just a cute little romance with a really original paranormal twist. It's exciting and fast paced and definitely hooks the reader with an unforeseen added element of a greater danger. Definitely recommend - I can't wait to read more! 

Goodreads 

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TOP 5; Young Adult Paranormal Series

Continuing with a post of my Top 5, I have my favourite series that fall under Young Adult Paranormal. Again, I haven't listed them in an exact order preference as they all have their perks!

1. Glass Houses (The Morganville Vampires #1), by Rachel Caine | ★★★★★

"From the author of the popular Weather Warden series comes the debut of an exciting new series set in Morganville, Texas, where you would be well advised to avoid being out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood. Will she be able to face the town's terror or will she drown like everyone else?"

I remember picking this book because the cover was glow in the dark (different version) and it sounded fairly interesting- but oh I was hooked so quickly. I love Rachel Caine's writing style and immediately fell for all of the characters. There's such a good dichotomy of love and chaos and the story is all through Claire's POV. The town of Morganville is built so strongly in description and remains vivid throughout the series. Ending usually with cliffhangers after a whirlwind of action and drama, you'll be hooked from the start.

Goodreads

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2. Wither (The Chemical Garden #1), by Lauren DeStefano | ★★★★★

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. 

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape - before her time runs out?

Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

I'm not a huge fan of Dystopian novels that portray a negative future but I love these so much. Whilst it's not really paranormal, this series depicts such an interesting concept where humans have much shorter life spans. The first book is a great introduction and a mix of love and drama and fast-paced action with a great load of suspense. I still have the final novel to look forward to and have passed this series on to so many friends that have thoroughly enjoyed it.

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3. Evermore (The Immortals #1), by Alyson Noel | ★★★★★

After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people's auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone's entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact to suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school — but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste.

Damen is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He's the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head - wielding a magic so intense, it's as though he can peer straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she's left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea just who he really is - or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she's falling deeply and helplessly in love with him. 

I read this series a good few years ago, but it was definitely one that I loved and impatiently awaited the next installment. Ever is such an interesting and captivating character and the reader immediately falls in love with her world. Damen is also such a great book boyfriend and their love story is one of my favourites. There's plenty of heartache and drama but the whole series is so endearing. 

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4. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin | ★★★★☆

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can. 

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. 
There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. 
She's wrong

I read the first installment last summer and can't wait to read the next ones. This was such an original story and one of my favourites yet. Mara can kill with the power of thought but suffers from this infliction.There's a subtle romance present but it's also quite a dark story without being disturbing. It has everything you want in a novel and even older adults would enjoy it. Read my full review for this book here.

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5. Blue Bloods (#1), by Melissa de la Cruz | ★★★★☆

When the Mayflower set sail in 1620, it carried on board the men and women who would shape America: Miles Standish; John Alden; Constance Hopkins. But some among the Pilgrims were not pure of heart; they were not escaping religious persecution. Indeed, they were not even human. They were vampires.The vampires assimilated quickly into the New World. Rising to levels of enormous power, wealth, and influence, they were the celebrated blue bloods of American society. 

The Blue Bloods vowed that their immortal status would remain a closely guarded secret. And they kept that secret for centuries. But now, in New York City, the secret is seeping out. Schuyler Van Alen is a sophomore at a prestigious private school. She prefers baggy, vintage clothes instead of the Prada and pearls worn by her classmates, and she lives with her reclusive grandmother in a dilapated mansion. Schuyler is a loner...and happy that way. Suddenly, when she turns fifteen, there is a visible mosaic of blue veins on her arm. She starts to crave raw food and she is having flashbacks to ancient times. Then a popular girl from her school is found dead... drained of all her blood. Schuyler doesn't know what to think, but she wants to find out the secrets the Blue Bloods are keeping. But is she herself in danger?

This series is best described as a paranormal Gossip Girl style. I can't remember too much in detail as I read these so long ago but it was around the Twilight era and they were definitely superior. The vampire take is original and interesting and it has your usual YA genres intertwined and a great inclusion of suspense and mystery. Would definitely encourage anyone who likes vampire/paranormal novels to give this a go.

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REVIEW; Blood and Snow, by RaShelle Workman

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Recommend: No

Summary:

Snow White is living in our modern world in Salem. She has her cat Gatsby and is best friends with 7 guys. Resembling the fairy-tale Snow White, with her pale skin and dark hair, she is being forever teased, and when she meets dashing Chase Charming, he understands her pain. 

Just before she turns 16, she falls unconscious, only to wake-up changed. Snow is no longer human, but also not a full vampire. She was bitten by The Hunter who was sent to change her into a revenant.

My Thoughts:

Ohhhhhhh dear. I was quite excited to read this as I really love the modern takes on fairy-tales and sadly I've to admit that whilst I completed the first novella, I failed to finish the volume of them- which is quite rare for me.

To kick this off- 

• Insta-Love. My pet hate so I'll say no more. 

• Girl character that doesn't realise everyone likes her and how pretty she is. 

• Has 7 gorgeous guys as best friends, who all fancy her, but she's clueless.

• Her best friend is sooooo much prettier than her and into makeup etc.

These things are all present quite early on which just put me in a bad mood with the novel before it even had a chance. I DESPISE these aspects in YA novels- they're in everything and not interesting or endearing. Just no! Please authors- STOP!

As I didn't complete this I've no idea how great it ended up being but the whole vampire/fantasy stuff started off pretty suddenly. It seemed bearable to begin with and I was looking forward to how the vampire story would be integrated into everything... Didn't expect it to hit like a 12 tonne freight lorry. 

It was made worse by everyone's reactions to it; those who knew and those who'd no idea and how "special" Snow was meant to be.

The writing was all over the place as if words were thrown on a page to fill space. Describing an action like the following:

"He grabbed a set of keys off a hook on the wall that said, coincidentally, KEYS."

Irrelevant.  

Random actions of romance or flirtation thrown in to "hint" at feelings:

"Pressing me closer, he said, 'You aren't always going to think of me as a brother. Someday, Snow. You'll see me the way I see you." 

Just no. Not even going to begin with the punctuation but no guy would ever say that to a girl with no prompting and Snow must be so thick if she can't comprehend what he means. It all just appeared fake and as if written by a clueless child trying their hand at writing. 

The first "book" ended so randomly, it all could've just been an introduction. It was too choppy between subtle romance, new guy, vampires etc. 

Overall: 

As I didn't manage to complete all the stories, I can't really give much feedback, other to not enjoying what I did read. Maybe I'll give it another shot in the future but for the moment it's remaining unfinished. Cliché after cliché.

Goodreads 
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REVIEW; Gravity, by Abigail Boyd

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: Romance, Young Adult, Suspense, Paranormal

Recommend: Yes

SPOILERS

Summary:

In a town called Hell, Michigan, Ariel is coping with the loss of her best friend Jenna, whom she believes to be dead but everyone else is convinced she has run away. As a result of Jenna's disappearance, Ariel is given little freedom in an attempt to keep her safe. 
Then enter the mysterious Henry Rhodes who chases after Ariel and soon befriends her. But meanwhile Ariel is being haunted by nightmares and disturbed by paranormal events and believes there is more to discover about Jenna's disappearance. 

Ariel befriends Theo, a girl who lives next door and the daughter of her art teacher, and together they investigate the haunted house and plan to delve into the supernatural world. Other girls are beginning to go missing and Ariel wonders if it's related to Jenna's incident.
All the while Henry has secrets of his own and Ariel gets swept up into his drama whilst trying to save herself from dangers she never knew even existed.

My Thoughts:
I ultimately have mixed thoughts about this novel; I found it hard to even settle on a star rating between 3 or 4. 

Positives; 

• Ariel: I really loved her character. She was headstrong and didn't give up her investigations simply due to the adults around her believing she was imagining things or that Jenna's disappearance was not suspicious.  She investigated the orphanage after dreaming about the abandoned building and proved herself as a great friend consistently throughout, both to Jenna and Theo. 

• Theo: Theo was my favourite character in Gravity. She was so unique and didn't fall into a specific stereotype teenager. I loved reading about her friendship with Ariel and it was clear that they both needed and helped each other through everything. She believed in Ariel and stuck by her as she delved into her investigations which was extremely admirable.

• Supernatural: The paranormal element of the novel was quite subtly included. It wasn't full on supernatural but a gradual inclusion of unexplained noises and Ariel performing a seance so it was written and portrayed quite cleverly as it was believable and read as reality. I find writing about paranormal events can be the hardest thing to get across in a fashion that'll make the reader truly believe it but everything that occurred to Ariel was subtle and cleverly depicted. There was also the perfect level of suspense and mystery wrapped around the events, such as the noises that Ariel could hear in her room but them not be explained by the end of the first novel.

Negatives;

• Errors: I generally overlook the occasional spelling mistake or punctuation error, but when the novel is over-run with errors it really disrupts the read and flow of the whole story. The wrong written version of words were used where they didn't make sense and there were just too many typos that ruined the read. 

• Henry: He definitely won't be going on the list of Book Boyfriends. He didn't seem to bad to begin with but the whole "Stay away from me if you want to live" thing that permeates YA novels really turned me off him. He wasn't presented in a great fashion that got you emotive about him or wanting him to notice Ariel or be friendly to her. His whole character and involvement with Ariel was just too cliché for a novel that seemed to be original. 

• Ending: I did like the ending so far as Ariel's near death experience and discovering the dead bodies. However there were no subtle hints that Mr Warwick could not be trusted or was in any way involved. Ariel's initial suspicions occurred too late on for it to seem realistic. One thing that bothered me throughout the book was how drawn out the suspense was at times but then by the end the last few scenes were rushed as if there was a hurry to complete the novel- It just didn't sit right. 

• Romance: The romance element of Gravity didn't fit. Ariel fell for Henry and he supposedly had interest too as he chased her to start with but it fell apart too quickly. In most YA novels the romance faces a few obstacles, but there is good reason. But yet it felt like Ariel and Henry didn't get anywhere together before it all ended between them and he ignored her. (Not going to start on the fact Ariel fell in love with him so quickly after so little even happened.)

Overall though, despite there being a few negative points, Gravity was an enjoyable read but it just felt a little unpolished. The pacing needed some more ironing out to not be so dragged out at certain times but then at pivotal points not be so rushed. As a paranormal read though it was so well executed and I am intrigued as to how the story continues in the next installments.

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REVIEW: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Summary:

Mara Dyer loses her best friend, boyfriend and his sister all in the one night; out late exploring an abandoned building when it all collapses and only Mara escapes alive. Her family uproot and move away to give Mara a fresh start away from all of her tainted memories.

Suffering with PTSD and dealing with hallucinations and nightmares, Mara slowly regains memory of the dreadful night, piece by piece. She also faces the traumas that are associated with starting at a new school; automatically sticking out without a uniform and then the "Queen Bee", Anna, targets her from the beginning and makes life worse for her.

Noah Shaw enters Mara's life and she can't help but fall under his spell. He is more than just a love interest for her however, as she soon realises he has more in common with her than she originally suspected. Mara has the ability to kill people with her mind, and Noah helps her with her journey in discovering her power and dealing with her daily flashbacks and fears.

My Thoughts:

This was a book I had been wanting to read for a good 2 years before I got the chance to. The blurb published doesn't really give much of the story away, but still the mystery suggested really drew me in;

"Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong."

I'll start with the fact that I loved the paranormal element to this novel. Mara was such an intriguing character and her power was a subtle yet distinctive one. She kills with her mind, and in a graphic manner and I loved how serious and detrimental her power was. 

And then there's Noah... woahhhh. I generally roll my eyes at the cocky confident "man-whore" of the novel who is so sure he'll "get the girl" from the beginning. He just has an air about him that is so enticing and definitely is up there in the top 5 book boyfriends. He too has some mind powers which is really cool and I loved how he had a back story that we slowly uncovered. The romance was a lovely, albeit heated, slow-built affair that was gorgeous to read.

There's also a great underlying sense of eeriness throughout the novel. Mara's nightmares cause a chill down the spine and the events towards the end of the book involving Mara's younger brother, really sets in the level of danger throughout. It's a dark story but one that's captivating rather than disturbing. 

It also ended on a major cliffhanger so I will definitely be reading the subsequent novels in this series. 

I spent a good while trying to decide between 4 or 5 stars for this book. Although I loved it a lot, there were some things that I didn't quite connect with. There were some actions from the characters that didn't seem to be in character to how they were portrayed previously. I also felt Jamie was significantly under-developed and would have loved some more building with his character so we could properly connect. Some vital scenes/events in the book weren't depicted in the best manner and I felt I often had to back-track to ensure I understood what was happening or if I was picking up on something suggested that actually wasn't. 

Overall; I definitely recommend this book, definitely to young-adults but I'd say new adults would easily enjoy this. Has an intriguing mix of paranormal with such a mind-blowing culmination and I look forward to the rest of the series.

Goodreads 
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REVIEW: Diary of a Teenage Fairy Godmother, by Kathleen Baldwin & Andrea Sisco

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genre: Young-Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Summary:
Lilliana Skye is not your average teenager. Lilliana is an undercover Fairy Godmother to Jess Harrison, a descendant of Cinderella, and helping Jess is her first mission after graduating from her training. The only problem is that Jess hates Lilliana immediately and wants her gone. Jess is still grieving over the death of her eldest brother, and fears Lilliana has ill intentions with getting involved with her other brother, Jake. There is undeniable chemistry between Lilliana and Jake from the moment they meet, increasing Jess' hatred for Lilliana.

Regardless of Jess not wanting her brother and Lilliana to be together, there are strict laws forbidding the union of a human and a fairy. Despite Lilliana's best efforts, Jake, Jess and her friends are all thrown into the midst of the magic world and face a magical battle and things they never thought possible. 

My Thoughts:
I honestly was on the fence about giving this 3 or 4 stars but in the end had to settle on 3. 

Pros:

1. Lilliana is such a complex character and reading about her adapting to fit in was entertaining and endearing.
2. The modern twist to fairy-tales was executed well with tying this in to the Cinderella tale beautifully and realistically too.
3. I loved Jess, even though she was so full of anger at the start, her determination was admirable and her heart was definitely in the right place. She also redeems herself massively in the latter half as she shows her true nature. 
4. The format of this book was quite cute; I loved the little Directives from The Fairy Godmother Training Manual that split up every few chapters. 

Cons:

1. The second half may as well have been a different novel as it was so different to the beginning; even though Jess etc didn't really believe in magic, there seemed to be such a sudden shift to the magical world and the end just picked up too much pace as we were thrown abruptly into an action-packed magical battle! 
2. I didn't find the humans' responses and reactions to finding out the truth about Lilliana all too believable. Jess was the only one who showed any skepticism and they all just took it in their stride as they went off with Lilliana and were with Naneth. 

Overall: 
I really wanted to give this book 4 stars; it really had a great story-line and wonderful characters. The modern fairy-tale genre was written in a lovely style and the general story-line held a lot of potential and was enjoyable. 
However I can't ignore the confusion I felt at the end, it just felt like the book completely changed focus and what I thought was the main story-line, was in fact just a build up to the "real" one. 

This is why I'm only giving it 3 stars but in regards to characters, the writing, format etc, it was all done beautifully. 

I would still recommend this book to any one who loves fairy-tales or modern fantasy books. I think the blurb on this novel should be edited to give a little more notice on what the book is mainly about however.  

REVIEW: Reading The Dead; Fidelis in Aeternum (The Sarah Milton Chronicles), by J.B. Cameron

Rating: ★★★★☆

(spoiler free review)

Genre: Thriller, Paranormal, Mystery

Summary:
In this second book of the Reading The Dead series, Sarah Milton is faced with a new investigation where she has to prove her old partner is innocent for a crime he didn't commit. Various murders are occurring in a copy-cat fashion of the "Fancy Dress Killer", a murderer that she was responsible for putting behind bars. 


With the help of Sarah's ghostly side-kick, Anna Nigma, they are thrown into the paranormal world once more, realising that they are dealing with more than just a copy-cat killer. Meanwhile Sarah also has to deal with her love life (or lack of) and figure out her true feelings for Ryan once given reason to be jealous. 

My Thoughts:
I loved this novel and the 400 pages flew by. The pacing is appropriate with a lot of tension at the various plot-twists. Anna's humour is my favourite thing from this series, there is such darkness and suspense that her wit is a welcomed respite to the heaviness of the story.

I still love the characters in this series. They all have their own quirks and personalities and there's a credible depth to them which makes the whole story more gripping.

The last 20% of this book was so action-packed and the ending shocked me. Not sure if I agree with what happened towards the end with Sarah & Ryan but the cliffhanger certainly held my attention. 

Enjoyed this a lot and my only reason for it being 4 stars was that I think I preferred the first one slightly more. It was a brilliant follow-on from the first book though. 

Thank you to the author as well for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Reading the Dead (The Sarah Milton Chronicles), by J.B. Cameron

Rating: ★★★★★

(spoiler free review)

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Paranormal

Summary:
As a child Sarah Milton was considered weird and a loner with her imaginary friend, Anna Nigma. Following the death of her mother, Anna disappears from Sarah's life and Sarah finally tries to follow a path to a normal life. Determined to track down her mother's killer, she finds herself in the police career.

Sarah now works as a Criminal Profiler in the LAPD and is on the hunt to track down the latest serial killer who goes by the name of Raithe. On a trip to the pet store to buy dog food, an event changes Sarah's life and she finds herself fighting to survive. When Sarah awakes she is reunited with her old friend, Anna. 

Anna is here to stay now and helps Sarah on her path to discover Raithe and prevent more murders. Following up on a clue left at a crime-scene, Sarah discovers there's a paranormal and supernatural element to the murders, and Raithe is not acting alone. Sarah must try to stop Raithe whilst realising both her and Anna's "life" could be at stake. 


My Thoughts:
I absolutely loved the supernatural element to this thriller. It really gave it an edge to the rest of the thriller genre. I liked the naming of Anna (Anna Nigma= an enigma), and I really hope that's where the naming came from! 

The characters all had some depth and defining features or characteristics to them and I felt like they were all relevant and had a purpose in the novel. 

Anna is just hilarious, she is a 13 year old ghost and her attitude and humour is portrayed brilliantly and I really loved her character; she was probably my favourite character. 

The writing was lovely and it was an easy read considering the content; I found it really hard to put down as it was such a page turner as Sarah uncovered more and more of the mystery. There was often such vivid description but yet not reams of it to a boring level. I felt like everything was "just right" with this book.

Overall I would definitely recommend this to anyone that loves a thriller or supernatural/paranormal books as it was full of plot-twists and was just gripping from the start! Thoroughly enjoyed it and I look forward to reading the second novel. 

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.