Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers (Review)

Genre: Paranormal

Number of Pages: 400

For ages 14+ for limited strong language

"Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.

Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.

Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.

And not everyone will get out of it alive." -Goodreads

I was so worried I was not gonna get this book read in time. Holy Cow. My first day of high school started this week and this weekend I had homework in 5 of my classes. Oh joy.

I was at Barnes & Noble the other day with my friend, Megan. (Yes, the same Megan from last post) ;) We were waiting for my mom to pick us up from the movies so we headed over to the bookstore to wait. ( We saw The Help. AWESOME MOVIE!) Anyways, even if I'm going into Barnes & Noble to wait, I'm most likely gonna buy something. It's like surrounding you with delicious food when you're starving to death. You're most likely going to eat the food, right? Well, you should. I got two books. I got Passion, the third book in the Fallen series, and Original Sin. Unfortunately, I didn't pay enough attention, because Original Sin is the SECOND book in the series. Not the first. I wanted to read that book NOW, and I didn't want to have to wait to get the first, (I'm impatient okay?!) so I just decided to go along with it and read it anyways.

Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers was beyond better than expected! She also did an awesome job on catching you up on the first book. I would have been so lost if she hadn't "recapped" it, so to speak. (Look at me sounding all intelligent!) It had the things that I love in books. Two swoon worthy guys, and a booty kicking main character.

Frannie is not your average YA main character. She can kick some booty. She's also one lucky girl, because she has this thing called, "sway." When she uses it the correct way she can persuade anyone. Who wouldn't want that power? WHO?! If you find someone, tell them to contact me so I can knock some sense into them.

So not only was there ONE swoon worthy guy, there were TWO. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? This book had me swooning a. lot. Luc, he's a demon, right? Yet, I love him so darn much! Then there's Gabe. He's a really cute angel. WHAT?! I can't take it. They are AWESOME, and they both love Frannie. Win win, right?

I can not tell you how many times I started talking to myself throughout this book. "DON'T DO IT, FRANNIE!" "STAY HOME" "DON'T GIVE IN!" I'm sure my siblings have now confirmed I truly am crazy. I've known this statement to be true pretty much since I started to talk, but for my siblings, that probably confirmed their questioning to be correct.

This was a pretty amazing book. I will ABSOLUTELY be reading the third book when it comes out. Maybe then I will read the first book, then the second, then the third. I suggest this book to paranormal romance lovers. You won't be disappointed.

I give this book 5 out of 5 diva crowns! Two words: overwhelmingly amazing.

The Keepers (Review) by Monique O'Connor James

Genre: Paranormal

Number of Pages: 344

For ages 13+

"Jess denies God. In his infinite wisdom, he’s taken everyone she’s ever loved. Moving to the French Quarter was a ploy to erase the guilt she felt for rebuking her faith. Perhaps, if she hadn’t met Justin, an angel preoccupied with getting back into God’s good graces, and drowning in his hatred for humanity, her plan would have worked. Justin’s general disdain for the human race makes him difficult to like, but some higher power has appointed him her keeper. Justin’s convinced he can mend her broken relationship with her maker, but in the process he learns a thing or two about his own humanity. Never mind falling in love, that’s not supposed to happen. In fact, it may even be forbidden. Jess just wants Justin to understand her plight, and he wants to protect her from a world she doesn’t know. If neither are equipped to save the other, then whose soul will live and whose will perish?" -Goodreads

*This ebook was given to me for an honest review.*

The Keepers by Monique O'Connor James was a FANTASTIC book. I had just put up my "contact me" page and a day later I had a request. You have no idea how excited I was. I was just nonchalantly reading my email while my friend,Megan, was over and I see I have a request. I seriously started screaming, which did scare Megan. ;) So.. not only was it my first request but it was an AWESOME book. Awesome all around.

From page one I was hooked. It starts with Jess at her mothers funeral. Jess had had so much hurt in her life, and so much death. I really felt her pain. I know how it is to lose a parent, so it was something her and I had in common. I felt a special "bond" with Jess because of her hurt. That's why Jess, out of a lot of YA characters, touched me the most.

Justin was one cute angel. If you look at my list on the right, you'll see I have already added him to my "swoon worthy boy characters list." He's quite the stubborn guy, I have to say. But he's well worth it. I love Jess and Justin's relationship with each other. They're always bickering, but at the end of the day they still love each other. I think that they are perfect for each other. <3

One thing that I think kind of threw me off was, three of the characters had their name start with, J. It confused me at the beginning of the book because I didn't know if Jess's brother's name was Jordan or Justin, but I did finally figure it out and all was well.

I definitely suggest you should get this book. It was a FANTABULOUS read. Yes, fantabulous. I love that word. Sometimes my stereotypical teenage girl needs to come out, okay?! Anyways, I highly recommend this book for paranormal romance lovers. It has all of the things I look for in a paranormal romance and then some. So, therefore, I give this book 5 out of 5 diva crowns. :)

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Don't forget you have ONE MORE WEEK to enter my giveaway for the ARC, Daughter of Smoke and Bone! Not a lot of people have entered so we need to keep the entries comin'! Go here to enter! Please share! <3

Winner of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi!

Thanks so much for entering everyone! I had so much fun seeing all of your answers and powers!

Now I will draw the winner..... (Excuse the rambling and ridiculous hand gestures.) ;D

Congratulations! I will be emailing you with all of the details!

Now go check out my newest giveaway! Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Go here!

Thanks again for entering! More giveaways to come.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (ARC Review) and Giveaway! *CLOSED*

Genre: Paranormal

Number of Pages: 432

For ages 14+

"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?" -Goodreads

I was definitely excited to read this book because a lot of people were raving about it. When I first began to read I was getting a little bit discouraged because it wasn't interesting me as much as I though it would. I kept getting reassurance from people that it did get better. And in fact, it did!

Karou was a strong character whose personality stuck to you like glue. She was a character that didn't take "crud" from other people. Plus, she could kick anyone's butt! She was, without a doubt, a unique character. She didn't blend in with the normal forgettable YA characters.

One thing I was worried about was the lack of romance. I was more than 100 pages in before it got to the romance which, isn't my sort of thing, but oh well. Finally, though, there was romance. And boy, was it worth reading all those pages. Akiva and Karou are like the perfect couple in the not-so-perfect way.

This book was so complex that it blew my mind. That's right, it blew my mind! Sometimes, I couldn't even rap my head around the story line of this book. Sometimes I did get confused, but other times I would have to just put the book down and pull my jaw up from being on the floor.

I really loved this book. When it comes out in September I'll probably be reading it again because there were so many important details that I may have missed by being distracted. Because, unfortunately, I got very distracted while reading this book. Like I am getting distracted now by listening to the theme song of Wow Wow Wubbzy.

I can not wait for this book to come and have everyone read this book. This book has all of my loves in it: paranormal, romance, demons, angels, hot guys, you know, the usual. I give this book 4 out of 5 diva crowns, just because I didn't REALLY get into it until the 100s.

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Now, you're probably wondering, "What's this special surprise??" Well, the special surprise is, I am ALSO going to be giving this book away!

I decided that I would give my new followers from the last giveaway a chance to become the "old followers" and get more points for this ARC. Unfortunately, this book is not signed. But still! You get a chance to read this AWESOME book before it comes out!

All the same rules apply, but for the new comers, it's +1 for new followers and +2 for old! You can also earn points by....

*Sharing my giveaway/review on your blog or twitter. +2 (Leave a link or tag me in your tweet, @SparkleJewelz)

*In the book Karou has a necklace with beads that she can make wishes on. So answer this in a comment, If you had a necklace like Karou, with only one bead left, what wish would you make? +1

Then total it all up in your comment.

Make sure to leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win. Because if you win, and you didn't leave your email, then you may not know that you won!

This giveaway IS international. I feel bad for not having my last one international, so this one will be! :D

The deadline will be two weeks from now, just like my last giveaway. So, the deadline is, August, 21, 8:00 am Central time.

Good luck to everyone who enters and please share!

Supernaturally by Kiersten White (Review)

Genre: Paranormal

Number of Pages: 336

For ages 12+

*CAUTION:*

THERE MAY BE SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION ;)

"Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal."

I decided to take a small break from the ARCs and read a book that just came out. Supernaturally! Don't worry there will be another ARC review next week! I was so excited to read Supernaturally by Kiersten White, because I loved Paranormalcy. You can find my review on that here.

I've seen many reviews saying that this book was a filler book leading up to the third. Unfortunately, and this is heart breaking, it was. There wasn't a whole lot going on in this book.

I loved Evie's voice in this book. She was still the same kick butt, girly girl that I came to know and love in the first book, which was a relief. There were knew things to learn in this book. There were. So I'm not telling you, "Don't waste your time reading this book." You need to read it. It's got things that can't be missed.

Lend is still hot as ever. Thank goodness! He's still the sweet, swoon worthy Lend. The sad thing was.. He wasn't in it as much. He's off at college a lot in this one. So, bummer. Don't worry, though. Lend is still in the book a lot. Praise the lord. Oh man, If there were situations where you're yelling, "WHERE'S LEND WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!" He would be there the next paragraph later.

This was a quick read for me. I would be at page 50 and then the next thing I know, I'm at page 100. So, that shows you that this book is good. So don't give up hope! There were points in this book where it seemed like things just didn't match up. Hence, the filler vibe.

Kiersten's writing was still fantastic, as always. I'm still looking forward to the third book to see what she makes of it from the events that happened in the second.

Even though it seems like this book wasn't the best, it was still pretty good. It definitely did not advance to the quality of Paranormalcy, but it wasn't TERRIBLE. I give this book 4 out of 5 diva crowns. The characters were just as strong, but I wish the story line was a little more neat.

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Don't forget that there is one week left to enter my giveaway to win a SIGNED ARC of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi! You can find that giveaway here! Enter, enter, enter!

Also, I love me some comments so comment away! ;)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (ARC review)... and GIVEAWAY! *Giveaway is now CLOSED*

Genre: Dystopian

Number of Pages: 352

For ages 13+

"Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel." -Goodreads

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is an AMAZING book. You know how there is all this hype on the book right?? It's because this book is SO DARN GOOD! Oh my goodness!

Juliette is one of those characters that you can see her progress through out the book. When you first start reading Juliette is put in a mental institution because people think she's crazy when by putting her in the institution she becomes crazy herself. Every time Juliette talks to Adam she gets better little by little until finally by the very end she is actually confident about herself. I really liked that about the book.

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow!!! Adam=AWESOME! Adam is so amazing that he's right up there with Etienne on the Swoon Worthy boy list! No stinkin' joke. Adam is the total package. He's cute, he's sweet to Juliette, and he's funny! :) He's not like Patch, from Hush,Hush, who makes the girl he's in love with uncomfortable. Sorry... I still can't get over that.

This book had no flaws what so ever, and I read the ARC! Tahereh did an amazing job on this book. I don't think I've read this good of a book in a while. It was nice to be able to read this book after Hush,Hush just because I didn't know what to think. I was all confused, whereas when I read Shatter Me, I instantly knew that, I LOVED THIS BOOK!

Even though Warner was the bad guy, at some points I felt bad for him... and then I'd hate him again... but that's not the point. I think that Tahereh wanted you to feel for Warner. He was a man who loved power but had no one to love. So yes, I did feel bad for a bad man. Then by the end I hated him again. So, all is good with the world.

I read this book in a day and was always turning pages for more. I did take ONE break from this book because my family was going on a bike ride and I had been laying around on my bed all day reading... I needed to be active for a little bit! I had to pull away from this book, and let me tell you, once you get into it, you can't get out. Not easy.

I DEFINITELY give this book 5 out of 5 diva crowns. It makes me all happy inside! I can't believe that the people who don't have the ARC have to wait until NOVEMBER!

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Now, that isn't the end of my post. Oh no. I have a little surprise for you all. I am going to give AWAY my ARC of Shatter Me....SIGNED. One of you DOESN'T have to wait until November! WOO HOO FOR NO WAITING!

I had a hard time figuring out whether or not I should give it away. The reason is, my mom got it from BEA and got to meet Tahereh and my mom got it signed. So, I didn't know if I wanted to giveaway my signed copy or not. But I decided that it would be selfish of me to NOT give it away. I need to share this amazing book. So if you win, it will say my name in it ;) but you will also have Tahereh's signature!! (Don't worry, I'm photo copying the signature for me and I'm gonna put it in the book I buy when it comes out in November!) WOO!

To enter you have to follow me. +1 for being a new follower, +2 for being an old one! You can also...

1.Share this post on twitter or your blog (make sure to leave me the link in the comments or tag me in the tweet, @SparkleJewelz)= +2

2. Answer this in a comment, If you could have any power what would it be?= +1

Then add everything up and comment your total! Make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

This giveaway is NOT international. Sorry! Not enough babysitting jobs this summer. I'm broke.

The deadline will be two weeks from today at 12:00 AM Central time. So the deadline is technically Sunday morning! That Monday I will post the winner! So watch out for that!

Also don't forget to look out for my review this Sunday. I'll be reviewing Supernaturally! I post a review every Sunday.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Genre: Paranormal

Number of Pages (ebook): 260

For ages 13+

"For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend,Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgement, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decided whether to fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen- and when it comes to choosing side, the wrong choice will cost her life." -Goodreads

Hush,Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick has been a pretty popular book. There were also lots of different feelings on this book. Some people absolutely LOVED it, some thought, "meh...", and other's completely and utterly hated it. I just finished it and I still am not exactly sure what to think. When this book first came out I was going to read it, but from some of the people I knew I heard some bad things. This was before I was a book reviewer, and I decided that if other people didn't like it then I wouldn't like it.But now I AM a book reviewer, so I decided to give it a try.

When I first read the description of the book I though it sounded, A LOT like the description for FALLEN, which I absolutely adore. Fallen angel falls in love with a human, been there, read that. But when I started reading I realized this book was nothing like FALLEN.

I have to say that at the beginning of the book I loved Nora. She was hilarious and had a sarcastic side to her, and if you have been reading for a while you would know that I'm quite sarcastic myself. (A quality I get quite well from my mother.) Then when I started getting into the book and she started to get more attached to Patch, she kind of lost some of her voice. She faded away with the other YA characters. That started to worry me. Thankfully, by the end she started to come back to her old character self, but not completely.

Vee, Nora's best friend, was I think the best character (next to Nora) in this whole entire book. She never lost her voice. She was always her cocky self! She was quite fun to read. Definitely one of my favorite of the main character's best friends.

Patch, hm.. I still can't put my finger on this guy. I don't think I'll be putting him on my "swoon worthy boy characters" list just because for me to be "swoon worthy" you have to actually be nice to the girl. It's not just about the good looks people!

This book, in a way, frustrated me. I could not see why Nora was attached to Patch. It aggravated me that she couldn't just STAY AWAY from the guy. I mean if you're scared and uncomfortable to be with this guy then DON'T GO NEAR HIM! It just annoyed me how when this guy is holding up and examining a knife to make you uncomfortable, you still want to be near him. (Don't worry that didn't give away anything, promise!)

Even though this book did frustrate me, I couldn't put it down. I started on Thursday night and I finished Friday late afternoon/ early evening, with things in between, of course.

I honestly have no idea what I think about this book. Which makes me feel really weird. I finish the book and I'm just put in this awkward state. I don't know if I should throw my arms up and go, "THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!", or throw my mom's iPad across the room in disgust. (Which of course I would never do.. that would NOT be good.)

I can tell you one thing for sure, don't read this book before bed. It has this eerie mood to it that just makes you uncomfortable when you go to bed. At least it did for me... but you never know.. I'm just weird like that.

I will most likely be reading the next book just to see if I can get myself out of this "awkward state." So.. for now I give this book 3 out of 5 diva crowns, and will be left in my "awkward state."

P.S. Next review is an ARC review and it comes with a... GIVEAWAY! :D