Serena Trebilco

I really wanted to like this book. The plot looked amazing and I even liked the characters. But there was a major flaw. I couldn't finish it. I got to about a third of the way through and felt there were so many other books much more worth my time. Why, you ask? Because it was so badly written.

I hate giving bad reviews but the writing annoyed me so much that I couldn't just stop reading without giving it a review. A lot of the phrases felt so out of place in the novel and a lot of it was really cheesy. And I don't mind a bit of cheese, but there's only so much a girl can take.

The novel is about Val, a teenager who when she turns 18 has a mysterious tattoo appear on her arm. Not only that, she can teleport, control water and not be affected by fire. Now this to me sounded like a really good premise for the book. It was something different, and I genuinely wanted to find out why this was happening to Val and find out more about her powers. But the writing, I'm sorry to say, got to me and I just can't see myself ever picking it up again.

Hands down one of my favourite books! I've always been a tad obsessed with finding lost objects around the house, turning everything upside down to find them so I completely understood Sandy's way of thinking. I get so absorbed in this book, I've read it about 4 times and it never loses that feeling of WOW when I've finished it. It makes me laugh out loud one minute and then reaching for tissues the next. Absolutely brilliant!

This was definitely a really quick, easy read. And that's no doubt due to Rachel Caine's lovely writing. Every sentence flowed so easily, hence quick and easy, and there was nothing that confused me. I adore the whole idea of Morgaville, and yet am a tad creeped out at the same time! Mainly the fact that the whole town is run by vampires, and everyone that lives there has to be ‘protected'. The whole deal with Michael and Glass House is, in my opinion, brilliant and felt completely believable.

Regarding the characters, I admit there are some that could have had a bit more depth, but no doubt that shall be explored in the following 11 books! I really liked Claire's character, the fact that she is bright (and has read Wuthering Heights) made me warm to her. But, I feel that she was really naive most of the time. Ok, I get that she was bound to get herself into danger living in a town full of vamps but it felt like at every possible turn, she was putting herself in deliberate danger for sometimes absolutely no reason, and having to rely on someone else to get her out of it. That's probably my only qualm with the book though, and I look forward to reading the others in the series.

Overall, a pretty damn good read :)

I don't think I'll read the rest of the trilogy but on the whole it was a really enjoyable read. It's a mixture of fantasy/paranormal fiction and historical fiction which I think worked really well. The novel was so easy to read, I could easily have read it over a couple of days (I couldn't however due to uni committments!) But it didn't leave me feeling like I wanted to follow the characters any further. If you're into fantasy and/or historical fiction I would definitely recommend :)

DNF at 51%

This started with such promise. I thought I was going to love the characters and plot but honestly I'm just bored. The problem may be that I went into this with the mind set that it would have a fairytale feel and I was disappointed. I definitely agree that this is for children through to adults but it's not for me.

Woah. Don't get me wrong, I loved the family aspect to this and the writing makes it so easy to keep reading. On those points alone I'd give it 4 stars. What makes it a 2 star book for me was the unnecessary drama and the boys (OMG those boys!!). I couldn't stand them, either one. I wish it had been more about the letters and less about Peter.

I so wanted to love this book. After reading Sparkles, which I absolutely adored, I was really looking forward to reading another book by Louise Bageshawe. Glamour had everything going for it: 3 powerful women, the test of true friendship, gorgeous guys and even a really good story line. But what made me only rate it 3 stars is how disconnected I felt from the characters about 2/3 through this book. After almost 300 pages of thinking what brilliant characters these were and that I really knew them, I suddenly felt like I was reading a completely different book and I no longer cared what happened to them. Also, what got on nerves was that one minute it was all ‘girl power' (excuse the cheesiness!!) and not needing a man to being completely dependent and not being able to function without having a man in your life. Completely chliched.

What I did love about the book though was the personalities of the 3 women, each so so different and yet all believably (although not all of the time) gain wealth and success in their lives. The pace also made the first 300 pages really comfortable reading, but that did seem to change and everything felt a bit rushed after that.

All in all, not one of Bageshawe's best reads. I'm definitely going to check out her other books though, I'm hoping this one was just a blip!