Thursday, March 29, 2012

Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe Review



Dark Heart Forever
Author: Lee Monroe
ISBN: 1444901893 (ISBN13: 9781444901894)
Release Date:   October 1st 2010
Format : Paperback
Pages: 372
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Witches,
Werewolves, Vampires, Angels
Series: Dark Heart #1









Summary
Jane Jonas is nearing her 16th birthday and troubled by unsettling recurring dreams where the same mysterious boy her age comes to her, telling Jane that they are each other's destiny. Her mother is increasingly anxious about Jane's disruptive sleepwalking episodes, but for Jane her dream world and reality are about to collide ...

When she develops a friendship with an enigmatic stranger in town, the blond, uber-cool Evan, it's exciting, it's new, and Jane wants him more than she's ever wanted anybody - until her mystery dream boy gets in the way.

Now Jane is caught between two worlds: one familiar, but tinged with romance and excitement; the other dark and dangerous, where angels, werewolves, and an irresistible stranger are trying to seduce her ...

My Thoughts on the Book
When I first saw this series I really wanted to buy it not caring how poor the reviews were. As I started to read this book it was so slow at the beginning, I just couldn't quite get into the book so it took longer then necessary to read it. It got better at the ending though, I felt more connected to the characters then too.

About Jane's character, I would love to say that I found her character so damn annoying. She secludes herself away, dropping out of highschool to be home schooled just because people from her school bullied her . . . okay I was bullied in elementary school and highschool all my life and never once did I give up on school. It just made me feel like I should smack some sense into her. I even had no friends but I never left. I really couldn't stand her not to mention how she wasn't trusting of anyone but Luca. She likes one boy but then she dates another, after seeing how she feels about school how she's able to do this is beyond me. Luca is like a life preserver for me, he's calm collected and doesn't let his feelings take hold of him. You don't know his true feelings till the end which I find slow but quite cute. The fact that he doesn't care that Jane is dating some other guy makes me think about if he really is a Werewolf... Then there is Even half the time he acts like he's PMSing but then he changes and he is his normal self, acting all nice and tentative to Jane. You can tell something is up with him from the start but all you can see is how cute they are as a couple. So far I believe the only character I really like is Lowe though he stabs Luca in the back he's the only one i'm interested in and has a great personalty. I would hope there is more of him in the next two books.

The romance in this book is in a back and forth motion because one she is dating Evan but loves Luca and two she feels something everytime she is with Evan so she becomes confuse. I don't see why she has to keep dating Evan when she knows of her true feelings and just doesn't see Evan that way except when he touches her. She doesn't even fully trusts Evan only enough to figure she can still be with him. Luca is the one she trusts and loves so that's why I think it's a back and forth motion in the way she doesn't know who to choose.

The plot is alright, I don't find anything wrong with it, it's just that it was slow to get into. If it wasn't so slow I would have loved the plot a lot more. One more thing a few times I found this book a bit predictable, I would love to be surprise when I read but I wasn't once when i was reading this book. It just gave to many hints all at once which didn't work well with me.

Design



I really do love this cover design. The wolf in the background is what caught my attention right away into drawing me to this book. The Title stands out very well with the dark background and the blue of the girls dress. It's just so pretty to look at makes me wish I had that dress, though I don't wear dresses. The Author's name also fits very well at the bottom of the whole design making it stand out more with the red. Again if there wasn't a wolf on the cover I probably wouldn't have read this book with
because I wouldn't know if this book was mainly about werewolves or not.







Overall
I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 because of how many times I was annoyed with this book. Though I did like reading it and I do want to read the next to books in hope they are better then this book.

Rating
3.5 out of 5 Howling Wolves
.5


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Living for Tomorrow Manga Review

Author: Taishi Zaou
Artist:
Taishi Zaou
Genra: Yaoi
Year: 2005
Original Publisher:
Shinshokan
Volumes: 
1 Volume (Complete)
 Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher

Dokidoki







Summery
One day a crowd of boys rushed to Tasuku's school, claiming that he is the "Luck Goddess' Son", also asking Tasuku to get into bed with them, bringing everyone good fortune. Tasuku's very angry about it, but if he used this power he might make his best friend Oono, the lottery lover, become his. In order to test his powers, Tasuku actually begins to lure Oono...!

My Thoughts on the Manga
This was just a cute manga, I loved every moment of it from start to finish. Who would have guessed that a plot based on a boy trying to figure out if he is truly lucky or not be such a great read. Not to mention I just love how cute the characters look.



Tasuku is really fast in believing what others say, he didn't even bothering to figure out for sure if what other people say about his mother was right. He just goes right on ahead to act on his feelings to Oono to see if the rumors were right. He loves Oono more then just a friend ever since childhood but can't bring himself to tell Oono the truth until he was told of a rumor where if he sleeps with someone luck will be placed on the person he slept with. So thinking that Oono doen't like him if he could just sleep with Oono that would be enough and Oono would be happy with the luck. Oono is a nave boy who stays with Tasuku even though Tasuku beats him up on a daily bases. He is even slow on his true feelings for Tasuku even though they practically sleep together. He still doesn't understand his own feelings till the end. 


The romance is slow and kind of force due to the rumor "Luck Goddess" thing. Tasuku loved Oono for so long but Oono didn't feel the same way. It was only after they slept with each other that Oono realized that he loved Tasuku and didn't care if the goddess thing was true or not as long as he was with Tasuku. 


The plot is short and funny, you will diffidently like this one shot manga. It tells a story between two childhood friends, one wants more then just friendship and the other is nave to this. Not to mention that the ending is funny with what Oono does so be sure to read this manga it's funny.

Design




It's a really up to date manga design, the characters are really well done and the author took time to put either a background or gradients in each panel. The hair and clothes are also detailed and you can't help but think how cute the characters are. Oono is the white haired boy and Tasuku is the black haired boy. So different in looks and you can tell when you read them that you can see a difference in every character making this a really good manga read for it's design quality. 







Overall
I do recommend reading this book everything about it is great from the plot to the design. To bad it was only a one shot it would have been great if it was longer, instead of fitting the whole story into one volume.

Rating
4 out of 5 Howling wolves

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Love Mode Manga Review


Author:
Yuki Shimizu

Artist: 
Yuki Shimizu
Genra: Yaoi
Year: 1996
Original Publisher:
Biblos
Libre Shuppan (2009)
Shinshokan (2009
Volumes: 
 11 Volumes (complete)
 Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher

Blu





Summary

Mistaken identities, bizarre accidents and pratfalls, tragic pasts and plenty of broken hearts, and that is just for starters! Love Mode tells the story of the lives of the men involved with the classy male escort service, Blue Boy. Love lines intertwine and cross, friendships are made and broken in this boy's love classic!

Sakashita Izumi, your typical straight high school student, gets into a sticky situation with a gay translator, Takamiya Katsura, when he gets mistaken for Izumi - an escort from B&B (Blue Boy)! The two go on a date, Takamiya goes all the way with the young Izumi, and now the older man's in love with him. Tiny Problem: Izumi is slightly homophobe. Will he eventually convert in that which he fears?

Reiji, owner of B&B and other sleazy clubs (and seemingly not gay) finds out his girlfriend had been cheating on him - just after dumping her. He bumps into a young, family-less, money-less, trustless high school named Naoya who at that moment gets knocked out by a pot that Reiji's vengeful ex-lover drops on his head. Reiji accompanies the young boy, feeling bad that this is partly his doing, only to find that now Naoya is homeless since his apartment burned down and finally ends up taking in this "stray cat".

This serie contains more stories than just these couples.

My Thoughts on the Manga
Where do I start on this big series, its an old style manga style but I love it. I first read this series years ago it was my first big Yaoi manga series I've read. It was so unique and so good I couldn't stop reading. From beginning to end I loved it all because of the new couples that show up and the stories from the past everything was great. Ever single story side story in this book is just great because everything in connected from the present to the past it all connects in some way. Like the stories that have nothing to do with the two main couple are connected by the job Reiji owns which is like a male Host club and then some.

All the characters in this book are great, they each have their own personalty and you fall in love with each and every character, that's how well they are written. Each had their own personal background most of the older men who are friends have a old history to them which you learn about later. There is just so much history with these characters so much great stories that I don't want to spoil anything about it because it's just that good.

There is lots of Romance, some going slow, some going fast. Each volume of this series has it's own couple and romance does happen with that couple. Whether it's slow or fast the couples all end up together by the end of the manga volume. Besides the 2 main couples ever other couples in the series have their own story once in the whole series but you do see them a few times in other manga volumes.

Izume and Takamiya, Reiji and Naoya are the two main couples of this story. Most of the columes are about these two couples. Mostly just Reiji and Naoya which is fine with me because those two are my favorite from the whole series. The rest of the manga series has other couples in it but still are connected somehow to the two main couples. The Male host club isn't really a host club. What it does is hires males to work in the company and they do whatever the client wants them to do. Whether it's to go out for dinner or to have sex the worker has to do what the client wants. It becomes so cute when the people who work for that company starts to fall in love whether it's happy or sad you won't get tired any of the plot lines. This manga series does talk about the past so you do learn about how they end up being friends or their painful history. This manga did everything right and I don't think anyone would get bored of this manga series.

Design
This Mangka work really hard at this manga series, and over the span from the start of this series to the end you can see how her drawing style has changed to get better. In the first panel you can see how the drawings of the people are chopply done but in the second you can see there is much more detail in the looks of the boys. (Just to mention the small black hair boy is the same as in the second top picture.) It's an old style of manga so don't base to much of this series on the way it looks because the story line is so damn good you won't be bothered by it half way through reading the first manga book.




Overall
This is a great manga series, it has 11 volumes and all out in America. You will love every moment of it and I'm sure you won't get bored. I highly recommend reading it and you should tell me what you think of the series too!

Rating
5 out 5 Howling Wolves





Sunday, March 25, 2012

In My Mailbox [10]


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren where you can learn about all the awesome new books I've picked up this week!

 Woot it's my first post of In my Mailbox! I'm so excited to show you what I got this week, which believe me is a lot. I get lots of books each week, I do hope I can read fast enough so I don't get a major pile up haha!


Here are the list of books I've receive in the last week with a link to their goodreads page:

Bought:

Won:
Laptop picture lmao!!! sucks I know XD

Dark Heart Forever
by Lee Monroe
The Night Circus Arc
by Erin Morgenstern
The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires
by Katie MacAlister
Fallen In Love by Lauren Kate
Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein

Bright Young Things
by Anna Godbersen

Books not in picture:
Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak
Destined by Jessie Harrell
Moonlight Bleu by Renee Rearden
Destined to Fail
by Samantha March
Vigilant
by Michele Hart


Free



Saturday, March 24, 2012

Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon Review



Carrier of the Mark
Author: Leigh Fallon
ISBN: 0062027875 (ISBN13: 9780062027870)
Release Date:  October 4th 2011
Format : Paperback
Pages: 342
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Magic,
Series: Carrier Trilogy #1









Summary
When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRÍs.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.


My Thoughts on the book
I was surprise when I first started to read this book by how drawn in I was to it. The cover didn't really appeal to me so I wasn't going to bother reading this book but after not being able to pick any other book for winning a contest I decided to pick this book because of how many good things I've heard about it. I got to say this book really did catch my attention and I loved reading this all in two days.

Megan is such a loveable character who you start to like from start to finish. Her dad always wants to move and they don't stay in the same place for very long. So when she moves to Ireland she didn't think she would make any friends at first until she meets her friend Caitlin. After meeting her they quickly became friends and she doesn't feel so alone any longer.  Megan takes everything that's been happening with her quite easily, from her strange new feelings for Adam to the powers she starts to develop. With Adam by her side she's strong enough to face anything that comes at her. She's brave in wanting to stay with Adam even though people tell them they can't be together she doesn't listen. Adam is just the same he's a nice boy who doesn't really talk to anyone at first until he meets Megan who makes him act weird in a clumsy way. He gets distracted when Megan is around and can't take his eyes off of her. After realizing who Megan is he tells her the truth right away and also tells her his feelings for her. Even though he's a nice guy he does have a rough side to him which is very protective of Megan and will lose control of his powers if it's to do with her but she also calms him down so that he doesn't go out of control. He also has a twin sister Aine who is very nice to Megan and becomes her friend. She's a fun and loveable girl who takes their way of life seriously. They also have a brother Rian who has a rough side to him who doesn't really like Megan at first. Though he slowly opens up and you can see how nice he is.

The romance doesn't appear until the middle of the book where it's just so fast with how they feel and how they act together. They both have strong feelings for each other and want to be together no matter what even though people tell them they can't be together they don't listen. They would do anything if it means that they are together. Even Adam's guardian will let them be together and won't let other people take them away from one another.

The plot is great I loved how it has to do with powers and it explains why the earth's weather been so different recently. Not to mention that the people who are after the four elements will do anything to get them. I can't wait to read the next two volumes if the plots are just as good as this book!

Design
It's quite a boring cover, I really don't like how it's design so plain. Sure the title design is great an all but the background image with the girl on the cover is just boring. If I haven't heard so many good things about this book I probably would have picked it up in a book store. The placement of the title and the author's name is the only thing that's really eye catching about this book.

Overall
This book is a great read and I recommend this book to anyone who likes magic and romance all rolled into one.

Rating
5 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

All Hallows' Moon by S.M. Reine Review




All Hallows' Moon
Author: S.M. Reine 
ASIN: B005LHMVRC
Release Date:  September 5th 2011
Format : ebook
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy,
Paranormal









Summery
Rylie survived becoming a werewolf at great cost. She moves to her aunt’s ranch in the hopes she can enroll in a new high school and quietly continue her life... with a few distinct changes. She transforms into a beast every new and full moon and struggles to control her murderous urges.

Without many werewolves left, it’s hard to stay in hiding. A family of hunters -- Eleanor, Abel, and Seth -- recognize the signs and follow Rylie to her new home. They want to stop her before she murders someone, and the only way to do it is with a silver bullet. Seth soon realizes the werewolf is Rylie, the one monster he failed to kill. Worse yet, he’s still in love with her.

Torn between family and love, Rylie struggles to reconcile her feelings and control the wolf within while Seth fights to do what’s right. But what is right-- obeying desire or duty?


My Thoughts on the Book
This second book was just so good, I loved it so damn much, you got to learn more about Seth's family, seeing what they did. Again this book ended on a cliffhanger leaving you wanting more, which I'm glad there is not a third book out. You got to see more of Rylie as a werewolf in this book and I seriously do like that fact even though werewolves are blood thirsty killers in this book.

Rylie's personality has changed much more in this book but she still tries to act the same. It's her werewolf that gets her agitated and angry at people who don't mean harm. Her control gets worse when the new moon and full moon come around. I'm surprise she made friends at her new school but they are so cool and high they don't notice the change in Rylie's personality. As I said above you get to learn more about his family and how they work in the hunter feild. Seth is showing more of his feelings towards Rylie but has to hide him and tries to stay away from Rylie because of his mom and brother. You learn that he doesn't really want to be a hunter and that he wants to be able to finish highschool and go to college, which isn't what his mom wants for him. She's kind of rough not acting the way a mom should and that's probably another reason why he didn't want to be with her and stayed with Rylie. Abel is Seth's brother who was bitten by a werewolf and stopped himself from turning. He does have some werewolf personalty and strength but doesn't turn into a werewolf. Seth mentions how the scar on his face makes him look mean when he really wasn't. I really like this character and I wish to see more of him in the future novels. 



The romance again was only a little bit, because Seth's family was in town hunting for Rylie he found it best for them to stay apart. Even though he said this Seth got jealous when ever he saw Rylie hang out with her guy friends. Rylie still like Seth so nothing happen with her guy friends. The romance is slow and he can see how much they care for each other by the end of the book. It's really cute their relationship I just wish for more!

The plot is great this time around, it focus again on Rylie and how she turns into a blood thirsty killer every new moon and full moon. She's staying with her aunt on a farm in which she tries to help but has to stay away from animals because of how they sense the wolf in her. She soon learns about Seth being in town with his family and her life gets even more complicated because of that.



Design
Very Beautiful, I love how the leaves in the background captures the season of which it is in the book. The wolf is so cute, I just love how she stands out against the background and how she has the fur color that Rylie does when she transforms into a werewolf. The photographer picked the right wolf to put on the cover of this book. I also really do love the title font of this book making it look great on top of the image in the background. Not to mention that the illustration of the swirls look great under each main text. What I don't like though is the fact that the author's name is so huge on the cover where it isn't necessary to have it like that. Otherwise this book looks great on how the designed it.



Overall
This is a great second volume of this series, I loved the first volume and I love the second volume just as much. I can't wait to read the third book I really recommend this series for all werewolf lovers to read.

Rating
4 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows Review



Incarnate
Author: Jodi Meadows
ISBN: 0062060759 (ISBN13: 9780062060754)
Release Date: January 31st 2012
Format : Hardcover
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Myths
 Science Fiction Dystopia
Series: Newsoul #1









Summary


New soul
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?


Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

My Thoughts on Book
This book is so close to home at the beginning of the book, hearing what her mom did it made me cry a few times. I even had to try to stop myself from crying on the bus it was that sad for me. I was glad when it got happier after that though. I loved everything about this book, seeing with such low ratings on goodreads I just couldn't believe it. This book is really science fiction like because I know for sure it doesn't really take place on earth maybe a different reality though. In all this book took me two days to finish reading it.

Ana is such a strong characters, to put up with how her mother treated her, to be brave on going out on her own when she doesn't know much. She is very brave and I would love to be just like her. When she meets Sam she doesn't know how she should act because when she was with her mom she couldn't do anything she wanted to do. She was even told she wasn't suppose to have feelings. Sam slowly made her open up to him and tell him things she loves. She is very passionate about music and Sam uses that to make her open up a bit more. Ana runs into Sam when she was running away from a mythical creature that can burn you badly with just a touch. Even though Sam is like everyone else who lived for over 5000 years he doesn't treat Ana differently. He takes care of her and even starts to feel something for her. He's a really nice guy who loves music as well and wants to take care of Ana any way he could. Even though he's old and knows a lot he does have fears that Ana tries to help him with and that probably brings them even more closer together.

The romance in this book is very slow but it was a good built up. Ana starts to have feelings for Sam she never felt before and when she tries to react on those feelings Sam turns away. He doesn't know if they should be together or not because she might only be around for only a short while. You can see though that he also has feelings for her as well. I love how they interact and I love that Sam would do anything for Ana and will even be with her no matter what!

The plot is so great I love it so very much. To see that these people can be reincarnated so many times and then someone new appears and no one knows what to do it's just so great. I love just about everything about this book and I can't wait for the second one.

Design


I think everyone can agree with me when I say this cover is so very beautiful! Everything about it is eye catching and you would want to look at this book right away when you spot it in a book store. Not to mention the butterfly wings in front of her face is so pretty you can't help but wish you had the mask too haha. The Title and Author name is place nicely at the bottom, I love the font they use and the small design behind the Title.





Overall
I highly recommend that everyone read this book if your into Science fiction, mythology and Romance.


Rating
5 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Monday, March 19, 2012

After School Nightmare/Houkago Hokenshitsu Manga Review


Author:
Setona Mizushiro

Artist: Setona Mizushiro
Genra: Shojo, Drama, Gender Bender, Mature,
Horror, Mystery, Phchological, Romance, School Life
Supernatural and Tragedy
Year: 2004
Original Publisher:
Akita Shoten
Volumes: 
 10 Volumes (complete)
 Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher
Go! Comi (no longer around)





Summary

Like most teenagers, Mashiro Ichijo has a secret. But Mashiro’s secret is that he’s neither fully male nor female! So far, Mashiro’s been able to live his life as a boy, but all this changes when he’s informed of a new class he must take in order to graduate from his elite prep school. To pass, he must find the “Key”…and the only way to find it is to enter into a nightmare world where his body and soul are put at the mercy of the worst kind of enemies: his classmates!

My Thoughts on the Manga
Another warning is that this manga has extreme personal issues raging from rape, transgendered a few other things.


Just a small warning this does have some transgendered situations, if you can't stand the thought of that just avoid this manga but your missing out on a great story. This is my second transgendered manga I've ever read and both had a character who is struggling with him/her self. When I began reading this manga I thought it would be yaoi but it turned out to be a shojo manga. This manga had so many twists and turns I just couldn't stop reading, it took me only 2 days to read 10 volumes of this manga.

Each character in this manga had it's own problems they are dealing with. One character she grew up in a house that her father always yelled at her mother, she was also raped when she was a little girl, so she grew up hating men. Another character
Mashiro Ichijo is transgendered not knowing whether she should be a girl or boy. Another character see's something that isn't suppose to be there. They are all connected in this game to find their true selves. The three main characters you will learn to both love and hate at the same time, only when you read this manga series will you know why.

There is confusing romance in this book, first
Mashiro Ichijo falls in love with a girl and thinks he could love her even if he's half female, then he falls in love with a boy who forces a kiss on him tell him he's a girl. It's confusing but also very nice love story with a bunch of twist and turns in the romance aspect.

The plot is the most epic thing I've ever read, if you don't mind the harsh background stories of the characters it is really good. You see how the characters come together and try to help each other out over their personal problems. I didn't like how the manga ended though, it kind of ended in a stupid way without any explanation as to what happen to any of the other characters. I wish it would have been more but the author probably just wanted to end the series as soon as she could.

Manga Design







As you can see this mangka is very relaxed in the way she designs the characters. Not a lot of detail but you can still feel connected to the characters and you grow to love the way they look. There is a lot of dark scenes in this manga, with scary characters but that just makes the characters even more interesting. You will really love this manga if now with the design then with the plot line.







Overall
This manga is a really good read, I highly recommend everyone to read this manga. Even with the harsh character backgrounds you will still love it, since it has a bunch of twist and turns during the whole thing.

Rating
4.5 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Friday, March 16, 2012

Six Moon Summer Review


Six Moon Summer
Author: S.M. Reine
Format:
ebook
ASIN: B004Y1MGYE
Release Date: April 25th 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, 
Werewolves












Summery
Rylie's been bitten.

She's changing.

And now she has three months to find a cure before becoming a werewolf... forever.

Rylie's parents force her to attend summer camp, but she's just as miserable at the girls' camp as she was at home-- there's nothing vegetarian for her to eat at the mess hall, she hates hiking and archery, and the other campers taunt Rylie mercilessly. One night, the bullying goes too far, and Rylie runs away. She doesn't get far. It's a full moon, and she isn't alone in the forest.

She wakes up unharmed in her cabin the next morning with no memory of what happened. The only sign something has changed are the healed scars on her chest, her increasingly keen senses, and her sudden craving for raw, bloody meat.

A boy from the other camp seems to know what's happening to her, but Rylie isn't sure if she can trust herself with Seth. He's way too cute and he knows way too much.

Rylie soon learns that she only has until the end of summer before she becomes just like the monster that attacked her: a man-eating werewolf hungry for human flesh. Unless she can find a cure, she's going to transforming at the end of the summer and lose her life to the hunger.

My Thoughts on the Book
Wow, just wow, I love this book so much even though I was ify on whether to read this or not because of the fact that it said in the summery you lose yourself when you change into a werewolf. Dispite that I still read it and I'm glad I did I love this series and I can't wait to read the other two books!


The characters were so damn interesting, you had many at the camp all making Rylie's life either miserable or enjoyable. Rylie is our main character in this story, she doesn't know why but she never gets along with other girls so she only ever has guy friends. At first she's a quite girl who doesn't want to make trouble for herself who doesn't want to even be at camp and wants to go home to her parents who are in the middle of a divorce. Later though when she gets bit her personality starts to change. She gets angrier faster and wants to hurt the people who are making fun of her. She doesn't stand down when people tell her not to do anything and stands up for herself. Louise is a camp counciler who tries really hard to help Rylie in came. She tries to get her to interact in the activities and tries to make her fit in but it doesn't work. Cassidy is Rylie's first real friend at camp, though they hardly interact Rylie still see's each other as friends and they do talk when they can and hang out when they can. Seth is tall dark and handsome *drools* anyways he is a mysterious boy who tries to take care of Rylie by helping her through her transformations. He tells her the werewolf history and meets up with her on every moon to help or at least tries too. Through this though he carries a secret one he wasn't going to tell Rylie at all until the last second.


There is hardly to very little Romance in this novel, though there was a few close interactions between Seth and Rylie and the dance was so cute! I'm pretty sure in the second book there will be more interactions between the two that would be more then just cute!


The Plot was so damn great, I loved every moment of it, the summery practically says it all. It tells of Rylie's story of how she is bitten and starts to go through the changes of the wolf with the help of Seth. It takes place at a all girl camp and how Rylie doesn't quite fit in and it gets worse once she is bitten by a werewolf.

Book Design



Can I just say this cover is so damn beautiful!!! I mean look at that golden wolf in the front. That would is what caught my attention in the first place to make me want to buy this novel right away. Though I did buy the second book first thinking it was the first lmao! Anyways the placement of the words on top of the image is perfect the drop shadow makes the words stand out against the light areas of the image. The flourishes used is pretty both the large version and the small version found under the title and the author's name.









Overall
Overall it was a great read and I can't wait to read the second book, I highly recommend this book for you to read!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Way We Fall Review



The Way We Fall
Author: Megan Crewe
ISBN: 1423146166 (ISBN13: 9781423146162)
Release Date: January 24th 2012
Format : Hardcover
Pages: 309
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Dystopia, Post Apocalypic,
 Science Fiction








Summery
It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.

And then you're dead.

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back. Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival.

As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest. Because how will she go on if there isn't?

Megan Crewe crafts a powerful and gripping exploration of self-preservation, first love, and hope. Poignant and dizzying, this heart-wrenching story of one girl’s bravery and unbeatable spirit will leave readers fervently awaiting the next book in this standout new series.



My Thoughts on the Book
I've been a big dystopia fan recently and been reading anything dystopia like. Even though there is very little dystopia feel in this book but there is diffidently a post apocalypic feel because of a disease that is going around and no one knows how to stop it.  I also never read a book before that is based on disease, sure I've seen movies like "Contagen" where it talks about a disease that starts to kill people and they don't know what to do till months later. So this is the first time I read this type of book and kept reading not stopping or putting down the book at all. Only thing I had a problem with is that the main girl always talks to her friend at the beginning of each chapter showing us what she wrote. Hard to explain but imagine talking in your head to one person who isn't around anymore before continuing on with the day.

Kaelyn is the main character of this story, she is a girl who loves her family. She loves writing in her journal everyday. She loves animals more then humans and she has a crush on a guy who has always been her friend and doesn't live on the island where she lives anymore. Her dad is a scientest who starts to work right away on the disease once it broke out and started to effect everyone. He's so worried about his children that he doesn't tell them what's really happening till the mother tells him to tell them. Drew her brother is gay which i just love that fact, he tries to get his father to pay attention to him and his orientation which his father tries to ignore that part. At the start of the breakout he starts to disappear which worries Kaelyn. Later we meet Meredith who is her cousin and only around 7 years old. She is quite a good acting girl for her age, she doesn't want to cause trouble to anyone. Might have been because her mother left with out any warning a while ago. The we meet Gav who had started a fight club but the sterotype that came with that has nothing to do with him. He is a very nice guy who when the breakout happen he started to store up food and hand them out to families who may need food. This is what catches Kaelyn's attention by how kind he is and how he wants to take care of people. He doesn't care about his parents or whats happening to them unlike Kaelyn. It makes you think that something was going wrong at home that he's not sorry that they are gone. We learn a bit about that during the story but not much.

The Romance in this novel is small and cute. At first the two didn't know anything about each other Kaelyn thinks he's a bad person because of how he started a fight club so that automatically think he's a bad guy. Though when the outbreak brings Gav came to Kaelyn's and they soon began talking and getting closer to each other. Kaelyn isn't sure where this relationship will go because of what's been happening with the outbreak but she loves Gav and would never want to lose him.

The Plot is great and with the whole thing centering around a Disease outbreak. It wasn't long before the government quarantine the island, meaning that no one leaves the island and no one goes there. The Government sent army people to help keep the islanders in check but that didn't last long and soon the government people left due to fear.  As the outbreak continued to spread effecting everyone people start to take charge of the food distribution and getting medicine to the hospital. It focus on Kaelyn and her family and friends and how they deal with trying not to get themselves sick. I really do love this plot and how it ended!

Book Design
It's quite boring not really very eye catching except for the bright yellow that is used on the cover. The words for the title is a knockout of a image. I think if that image in the words were all over the cover and that the Title was yellow it would have been better.

Overall
I did love this book, I love the book and it really caught my attention how knew the topic is to me. I can't wait for the sequel.

Rating
4 out of 5 Howling Wolves

Monday, March 12, 2012

Ai Ore 1-4 Review

Author: Mayu shinjo
Artist: Mayu shinjo
Genra: Shojo, Drama, school life, 
Comedy and Smut
Year: 2007
Original Publisher:
BIBLOS (2006) 
Libre Shuppan (2009)   
Volumes: 
 1-4 out of 5 Volumes
 Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher
Viz Media






Summery

Akira Shiraishi, a young high school boy with feminine features, joins Blaue Rosen, the all-girl band that Mizuki Sakurazaka, an androgynous girl of the same age, performs lead electric guitar in.

Their high school life is anything but typical: Mizuki is the "prince" of her all-girl school while Akira is the "princess" of the neighboring all-boy school. A series of comical events brings them closer together, even as the prejudice of the people around them tries to pull them apart.

When Akira announces he was a boy in the first book "Ai wo Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero" so does the fact Akira goes to Dankaisan the boys school next to St. Nobora (Mizuki's school) Things start to get rough when pressure against Mizuki dating a boy from that school rise.

My Thoughts on the Manga
If you ever asked me what my favorite Manga Author is it would be Mayu Shinjo. I've read all of her books she ever brought out. The first series of hers I've ever read was Akuma na Eros that was back when i first got into manga which was when I was in grade Ten. Her biggest series I ever read and own is Kaikan Phrase (Sensual Phase in english) which is a 18 Volume manga set. Ai Ore is fairly new to north America but I recconized the drawings right away of that of my favortite Manga Author and I started to collect the series right away.  Just to mention Akira is the small boy on the front who looks like a girl and Mizuki is the blond girl on the cover who looks like a boy.

Akira is such a cute boy but don't let his looks deceive you, you will be beaten to death if you come near this cute boy. No seriously, since he goes to a all boys school he needs to be strong to protect himself from the boys who call him princess. For that his older brothers taught him how to fight so now he beats anyone who treats him like a girl or try to do something to him. He has a sweet side but also a very scary side.Mitsuki is the prince at her school because of how tall she is and how boyish she dresses. She is the lead singer of the band Blaue Rosen which is a all girl band. She has a cute personalty and loves the feeling she gets when Akira tells her how much he loves her. She does feel insecure at times because of their height difference but Akira is there to settle her fears.

There is tone of Romance in this manga book that everyone would love. At first it's Akira who has strong feelings for Mitsuki because he remembers her from his childhood but later Mitsuki slowly returns his feelings falling in love with Akira. Despite how small Akira is he is more of a man then anyone else in his highschool. He know what he wants and he shows it to Mitsuki. Mitsuki can't help but love Akira and wonders how it would be to finally be with him in that special way. Though I haven't read the last volume yet I'm sure they end up doing it in the last volume! hopefully!!!

The plot is great, it tells about the story of Akira and Mitsuki and their love with each other. While one is a princess at a all boys school (Akira) the other is the Prince at a all girls school (Mitsuki). Blaue Rozen lost the singer for their band and Akira came and sang and they fell in love with his voice unknown to them that he was a boy. Now Akira is in their band so that he can be closer to Mitsuki and their story starts from there. It's a sweet story full of drama and laughs not to mention the boys are to drool for.

Manga Design



Not the best of picture but it's shows how cute Akira is when he's serious. This mangka took a change in her style with this manga because usually her girls are really girly type of girls and the boys are really manly. In this manga you can see how she draws her hot grown men but this one is different. Her girl looks like a guy (since she is a tomboy) and her guy looks like a girl (though he doesn't want to be). Her style of drawing is well done and you can tell their expressions each panel you read. Not to mention that the boys are hot looking in all her manga. There is a lot of texture background in panels and not a lot of scenery but when there is it's simple but works!






Overall
I highly reccomand reading this series, this Mangka works hard at the plots to make them enjoyable. I'm sure if I love most of her series you will too, this manga is currently avablie at any book store up to volume 4 currently. Volume 5 I saw in a catalog which will arrive soon.


Rating
5 out of 5 Howling Wolves


Sunday, March 11, 2012

In My Mailbox [9]


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren where you can learn about all the awesome new books I've picked up this week!

Here are the list of books I've receive in the last week with a link to their goodreads page:

Bought:





Lane and the Lycans
by Gale Stanley
Kade and the Captives by Gale Stanley


Won:






Jewels by Lakisha Spletzer
Dusk Conspiracy by Lakisha Spletzer
Into the Shadows by Karly Kirkpatrick
The Tempo by Lakisha Spletzer
Moonbeams by Lakisha Spletzer
Werelove Midnight Revelations by Lakisha Spletzer

Curse of Ancient Shadows
by Rod TysonDee Days by Lora Richards


Free:



Enslaved Love Manga Review


Author:
Hiroko Ishimaru

Artist: Hiroko Ishimaru
Genra: Yaoi
Year: 2002
Original Publisher:
BIBLOS
Volumes: 
 1 Volumes (Complete)
 Licensed (in English)
No








Summery
1-3) Enslave Lover
Young newsman in love with his sempai. Will the sempai ever see him as anything but a subordinate?

4-5) My High-Handed Lover
Sports reporter Fujisaki is always being teased by famous baseball star Tsutsui. But the flirty star isn't serious, is he? Does Fujisaki want him to be? Oh well, a trip to a hot springs should sort everything out.

6) The Sugar Cake that You Love
On an exchange program, a young American falls in love with his host family's son. Will he reciprocate his feelings if he keeps teasing him about his name?

7) The Flower of Understanding
Painter Kairi has always been teased because of his mixed heritage. The only person he trusts is his adopted brother Kanade. But the love he feels for Kanade is slowly turning into something dark and obsessive that he can't control...

My Thoughts on the Manga
As you can see by the summery above there is many stories in this manga. Though I have to say that the First story and the last story is my favorite though they have nothing to do with each other. Though the first story and the second story takes place in the same setting. While the rest take place else were with no connection to the first two stories.

The characters in this manga volume are all dynamic and very different. Though you can tell who is seke and who is uke because the uke's well...they look like ukes, by being small and cute.

The romance in the first story came very fast because the person the main guy liked, liked him back. In the second story it went a bit slow but by the end they both had the same feelings. As for the rest of the stories the romance was fast because again it all takes place in one volume and there is multiple stoires.

In the first story the main character is a newbie newsman who has a crush on a ackerman since he was in highschool. So he decided to go to the same work place as his crush and soon runs into him. The Acherman has the same feelings as the newbie and they soon start to go out. In the second story Fujisaki is a newsreporter who does the sports. During one interview he gets groped by Tsutsui and ever since then Tsutsui doesn't leave him along and even asks him out. It's a cute story of how Fujisaki learns to trust that Tsutsui intentions are true and not just playing with him. In the Third story which is very short a transfer student comes to Japan to stay with a family. It tells the story of how he and one of the family's sons get along and be together. In the last story which takes place in the 1920's Japan Kairi life hasn't been easy because he was born with blond hair so he was picked on a lot and learns to trust no one. The only one he was able to trust though is Kanade and he loves him so much but seeing Kanade dance with a girl one night turns his love darker as the summery said. It's a great story and it does have bondage so be careful with reading that if your not use to bondage stories.

Manga Design





The drawings are simple but alright. The mangka loves to draw in unnecessary effects in the panels of the manga. She does random shapes and flowers like you see in the picture on the left. It's just a way for her to fill in the background it seems. The detail though in the characters design is great. There is detail in the ahir and clothes. The expression you can see in the eyes and how they change base on their feelings at that moment. It's a cute








Overall
The drawings are alright and the story is also alright, it's not the best but it does have a few good stories in this one volume.

Rating
3 out of 5 Howling Wolves