Review | Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

Title: Fractured Light (Fractured Light #1)
Author: Rachel McClellan
Genre: YA, Romance, Paranormal
Overall:  ♥♥ ♥   3/5

I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.

As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end.

My thoughts                                                                                                                        

Llona Reese lives with her uncle Jake, due to her parents death. They had never stayed anywhere too long, but now Llona feels like settling down in a little town called Bountiful. She is a social outcast by choice, too afraid to befriend anyone, because Llona has got a secret. She is an aura, someone gifted with the power of light and hunted by dark creatures: the Vykens, who also killed her mother. As she tries to deal with her mother´s murder and her father´s deadly accident, she meets Christian, a lovely boy who is just a little bit too overprotective. And then there is Llonas new math teacher, whom she just can´t seem to resist. Soon Llona finds herself being hunted by the same Vyken who killed her mother and she realises: In her current state she may not be able to stay alive...

I always adored stories in which the protagonists seem to have little power and slowly learn to unfold all their potential. It´s interesting to follow Llonas development, both in matters of power and social life. With each new page we get to know more about her and the world she lives in, grow with her, and discover together what it means to be an aura.

The relationship between Llona and Christian is a strange one. It didn´t feel forced, but the constant "we can´t be together"-drama was...well, annoying. So much so, that it kind of killed the vibe for me.

Another point I have to criticize: I found it rather obvious who the Vyken was. Right from the start actually. I had the hope that there was some kind of wicked trick to it, but in the end my suspicions were right and there was nothing more to it, which was very disappointing.

I enjoyed that the book deals with typical teeny problems, without being too childish about it (well, most of the time anyways). Of course teenagers make mistakes, but that surely doesn´t mean that they have to make every stupid mistake along the "growing-up-road".

In Short                                                                                                                                

A good read for YA paranormal- Fans, who like to watch strong characters evolve.

Review | Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary
Overall:  ♥♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 5/5

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

My thoughts                                                                                                                        

I still don´t know if my review will be a review in the right sense. After reading this book I just have the strong feeling that I want to talk and write about it, because it deserves the attention. This book made me feel so strongly that even now, after almost two weeks after rereading this book, I cannot fully grasp the feelings that shook me so deeply. Tabitha Suzuma created a beautiful story that left me stunned by its cruelness.

Maya and Lochan have to take care of their three younger siblings, because their mother is mostly drunk or absent from home. After a while they fall in love, maybe they always were, but never realised it. It is the story of a broken family, but they won´t let it break apart fully. They are desperate to appear normal to the outer world, because they are afraid that social services will take them away, seperate them. I really despised their mother for her selfish behavior. Yes, she went through a lot and her ex husband left her, but is that truly reason enough to be such a lousy mother? Most time I wanted to slap her in hopes that she finally wakes up from her little fantasy world and starts behaving like an adult, taking responsibility for her five children.

Maya is a sweet sixteen-years old girl that has to take too much responsibility too soon. She has the mind of an adult and that is probably why I liked her so much. She is not the typical girl you find in so many books that make mistake after stupid mistake. Maya knows that life isn´t always fair and that some people have it harder than others. She acts like the mother her younger siblings never knew, a mother full of kindness and worry, laughter and joy. Maya is willing herself to be strong for the kids and that is something that makes her truly beautiful to me. Most times I felt like she deserved a person that loves her for who she is...and who could actually know her better than her brother Lochan? Who shares the same burden as her?

Lochan is a seventeen-year old boy that suffers from extrem shyness. He is not able to speak to other people but his own family. Even the thought of speaking in front of a whole class makes him hyperventilate. Yet, Lochan is also very bright and is the best student in class. His grades promise him a bright future, but Lochan knows that he has to take responsibility for his family and must support them when he finishes school. His relationship with Maya heals him in some ways and I always had the feeling that without Maya, Lochan would fall apart. They steady each other as much as they need each other.

Let´s be clear. Yes, this book is about incest. And as much as that topic repulses me, I can look at the story and the circumstances with some distance. That being said I believe I would have a much harder time with this book, if I had an older brother myself.
This story made me feel helpless, because I realised at some point that nobody can do anything to make this story have a happy ending. This love is against the law and thus forbidden. It felt so unfair, because I truly rooted for Maya and Lochan. I wanted them to be happy together forever.
I don´t think I ever cried as hard because of a book before. Shouldn´t true love be left alone? Even if it is against the law? I still don´t know...Maybe there is no answer.

In Short                                                                                                                                

What a rollercoaster read. Not for the light-hearted and single-minded. It made me question love and society and the reading expirience stayed with me for quite a while.

Review | Claimed by Gods by Eva Chase

Title: Claimed by Gods (Their Dark Valkyrie #1)
Author: Eva Chase
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Mythology, Reverse Harem
Overall:  ♥♥♥ 3/5

 I thought I'd survived everything life could throw at me. All I wanted was to keep my distance from the criminals I work for and get my little brother out of the hell that is our mother's house.

Then I died and woke up to four stunningly hot gods telling me I'm now a valkyrie.

Sly, sharp Loki. Jovial but ferocious Thor. Dreamily compassionate Baldur. Grim and secretive Hod. They all have something to teach me. And around them, my walls start to crack.

But the gods didn't summon me just for kicks. Their king is missing, and they need me to find him. The first three valkyries they sent on the job never made it back.

More power is awakening in me than I could ever have imagined—and the gods' enemies are more devious than even they knew. It's going to take every trick in the book for me to save myself, my brother, and these divine men who're getting under my skin in the most alluring way.

I'm Aria Watson, and Valhalla ain't seen nothing yet.

My thoughts                                                                                                                        

The cover had me hooked, the premise even more so. Even though I´m not a huge fan of harem - or in this case - reverse harem stories, I was still so intrigued by the norse mythology aspect that I gave Claimed by Gods a go.

Ari is not the typical damsel in distress, but rather described as a stubborn, brave and clever heroine. With her newfound valkyrie powers she makes one kick-ass protagonist that I enjoyed reading about. Ari is nice... but she surely ain´t one of my favourite heroines as I didn´t like her so much personality wise. I couldn´t really connect with her...like, at all. Maybe that is due to the reverse harem aspect - I found it rather irritating that every god seems to be really smitten with her right from the start. 

One thing I really struggled with throughout the book is the characterisation of Thor and Loki. It was pretty hard for me to actually picture the gods in my mind - I had an especially hard time with them on this part. Both characters have already been potrayed in movies and it was so hard to set this already formed picture behind me. I guess that´s what bothered me while reading Claimed by Gods the most and I´m not even sure it´s the authors fault. Since I didn´t have these difficulties with Ari, Hod or Baldur I guess that really means I couldn´t distance myself from the already set pictures in my mind.

My favourite God by far was Hod, a rather grim and antisocial character that had real chemistry with Ari right from the start. I would love to read more about them both in the future - since this is a reverse harem story I´m sure that this is gonna happen because Ari is supposed to get on with all the boys - am I right?

The book was rather short with a fast-paced story and just enough action to keep me glued to my kindle. An enjoyable and quick read with interesting characters that were introduced in a fashion that unfortunately left them lacking dephths. The author chose to introduce them all at once, rather than focusing on one or two, which in my opinion the story didn´t benefit from.

In Short                                                                                                                                

A nice and quick read with interesting characters and an intriguing storyline. Surely, not without its flaws, but still good enough to keep me wanting to read the next installment in the series. Maybe.