ARC Review: Cracked by Eliza Crewe

 

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Author: Eliza Crewe
Pages: 653 pages
Release Date: November 5th, 2013
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Recieved From: NetGalley
Status: Ebook, Soul Eaters #1

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Meet Meda. She eats people.

Well, technically, she eats their soul. But she totally promises to only go for people who deserve it. She’s special. It’s not her fault she enjoys it. She can’t help being a bad guy. Besides, what else can she do? Her mother was killed and it’s not like there are any other “soul-eaters” around to show her how to be different. That is, until the three men in suits show up.

They can do what she can do. They’re like her. Meda might finally have a chance to figure out what she is. The problem? They kind of want to kill her. Before they get the chance Meda is rescued by crusaders, members of an elite group dedicated to wiping out Meda’s kind. This is her chance! Play along with the “good guys” and she’ll finally figure out what, exactly, her ‘kind’ is.

Be careful what you wish for. Playing capture the flag with her mortal enemies, babysitting a teenage boy with a hero complex, and trying to keep one step ahead of a too-clever girl are bad enough. But the Hunger is gaining on her.

The more she learns, the worse it gets. And when Meda uncovers a shocking secret about her mother, her past, and her destiny… she may finally give into it

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Review:

This book was really an enjoyable read! Instead of giving us endless pages of back story and making us go through the patterns of hating the heroine, loving the heroine, seeing her being completely useless then all of a sudden- wham!- she gets a personality, Eliza Crewe delivers by giving us an action packed, totally sarcastic and humorous debut novel with an edgy side!

 

Meda was an enjoyable character for me; I actually had a hard time getting used to her narrating, but I got over it quickly. She always had something witty or sarcastic to say (whether it be in her head or out loud), and I love how she is able to take care of herself, and knows how to play her 'part' well while living in the school. She totally reminded me of Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy series!

 

Another thing I loved about this book is its plot and backstory- the whole Crusader/Templar thing was hard to wrap my head around at first, but once I got used to the terms, it made more sense and fed into the goodness of the story!

 

The concept of eating souls, not being totally human then having your life recorded like an experiment, and having characters being brought up as soliders to erradicate demons is not something you would have in one book. Especially in a debut. But Eliza wraps it all together nicely, and makes the story totally enjoyable!

 

There were times when I thought parts were too slow or uneeded for (but I always had to remind myself that I was reading an ARC), but it was still a good story overall. I even got teary when I read that part about Uri. Another thing I like about this story is the fact that it doesn't have a conventional love story or love triangle! This story was really good, and I really can't wait for the next books!

 

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Review: Endless by Amanda Grey

 

Author: Amanda Gray
Pages: 384 pages
Release Date: October 8th, 2013
Publisher: Month9Books
Recieved From: NetGalley
Edition: Ebook

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Jenny Kramer knows she isn't normal. After all, not everybody can see the past lives of people around them.

When she befriends Ben Daulton, resident new boy, the pair stumble on an old music box with instructions for “mesmerization” and discover they may have more in common than they thought. Like a past life.

Using the instructions in the music box, Ben and Jenny share a dream that transports them to Romanov Russia and leads them to believe they have been there together before. But they weren't alone. Nikolai, the mysterious young man Jenny has been seeing in her own dreams was there, too. When Nikolai appears next door, Jenny is forced to acknowledge that he has travelled through time and space to find her. Doing so means he has defied the laws of time, and the Order, an ominous organization tasked with keeping people in the correct time, is determined to send him back.

While Ben, Jenny and Nikolai race against the clock - and the Order - Jenny and Nikolai discover a link that joins them in life - and beyond death.

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There are only three ways to describe this book: fast-paced, action packed, and beautifully written.

 

Endless is about a girl named Jenny who leads a normal life- except for the fact she can see a person's memories. She hides it from the world, until she and her friend, Tiffany, take part in a seance and she learns that knowning other people's memories are the least of her worries. She starts to have dreams about a man, and slowly, he isn't a dream any longer... Thankfully, Jenny has her friend Tiffany, and Ben, the son of her father's newest client to help her figure everything out.

 

I chose to read Endless because I am a HUGE history freak, and Time-Travel and the whole notion of reincarnation have always been intersting for me (it's why I love Doctor Who so much, and why Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn is one of my all-time favourite books).

 

I loved how Amanda wove the story of Jenny, Nikolai and Ben together from both the present and the past- it worked beautifully, and kept the plot interesting. I loved how there was so much going on with the characters, but I just didn't like how we didn't get much world-building.

 

We got to see a lot of pre-revolutionary Russia (since the three main characters ARE from that time), but we didn't get a chance to really know the Order, Jenny's mom (I'm pretty sure we never learn her name), and Time-travelling. Yes, we got a lot of information about all of that from Nikolai, Jenny's mom's friend and such, but I felt like half the time, it was just there. Yes, it made the story good; yes, it made the characters have a connection. But the majority of the time, I felt like it wasn't brought up enough times nor was it developed the way I wanted it to be. I felt like it was just overshadowed by the romance half the time (not that it's a bad thing or anything).

 

Regardless, the book was amazing! I enjoyed it alot! The BIG problem I had? THE LOOSE ENDS! The story ends with a good resolution, but there is SO MUCH MORE story to be told! After I finished I was really happy, but then got really sad since I couldn't find a sequel anywhere!

 

I want to know more! I want to read more!

 

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars!

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