Hi there fellow readers and welcome to my blog!
1) Who am I?
I’m a 32 year old avid reader from Sweden who was surprised at how much I loved reading the Twilight Saga. Surprised because before Twilight I hadn’t ventured much into young adult at all (apart from Harry Potter which I loved).
After finishing the series, I started frantically scanning the YA, paranormal romance world on the hunt for the next Twilight. In short, I turned into a reading maniac consuming books as if they were daim chocolate bars (another current addiction).
2) Why this blog?
The main purpose with this blog is to simply record what I read (because at the speed I’m reading now I’m doomed to forget most of it). However, I’m also hoping to help some of you (adults who like YA) navigate in the young adult paranormal romance genre. That is, if we share the same taste in books..which brings me to the next item below.
3) What am I looking for in a book?
Ultimately, I’m looking for an all-consuming love story that feels as real and pure as that of Bella and Edward. I’m a romantic at heart and loved that whole aspect of Twilight.
Other than that, what I care mostly about in a book is characterization. Without great characters, everything else falls short (in my opinion). Hence, the plot has to be character-driven, and the writing should show what the characters feel (not tell).
A paranormal twist is definitely a plus, but not a necessity. And if supernatural elements are involved, I have no preference..so vampires, weres, fairies, angels, ghosts, pixies, demons all work just as well!
And as for my favorite books, they are included in the following link:
Well, that’s all for now. Hope you enjoy my blog and thanks for stopping by 🙂
After Twilight... 
I keep hearing good things about this book/series. I’ll wait for your review
I know, I kept hearing so many good things about The Heavenly Series, that finally I just HAD to read it. And it’s turning out great. Let’s just hope for a great finish as well..review coming soon..
I blew through the entire Evermore series recently and would highly suggest reading! I picked up this book in the store many times and put it back because it was not grabbing my attention. I finally gave the book a chance and really enjoyed it!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for your recommendation! I have had my eyes on Evermore for a while but can’t seem to decide whether to pick it up or not. Good to hear you enjoyed it though, I might just pick it up now!
Hi
thank you for all your reviews! I got curious and I just got some of the books you spoke in so good way (like perfect chemistry…) … and I am going to read them asap!
🙂
I totally agree with almost all the reviews you made of books I already read (especially “spells” by Aprilynne Pike…)
I look forward to read more reviews!!
🙂
Hi Jenika,
Thank you, I´m glad to hear we share the same taste in books! I would love to hear what you thought of Perfect Chemistry when you´ve read it. And I promise I will keep posting more reviews soon! I´m just having a little “review break” right now due to travels 🙂
Hi!!! I tried to read Perfect Chemistry but I stopped half way… I’ll try to read it again in a few days but I am not really sure I’ll enjoy it… I couldn’t really feel the characters very real… but I want to read the full book before say anything definitive.
I am writing now actually to advise the reading of a TOTALLY BEAUTIFUL book, “Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side” by Beth Fantaskey… I read it today again and I keep in loving the story. (And if you’ll enjoy the book, read also the “Wedding” chapters on line in the author’s website… they continue the story in veeeeeeery good way) … I had a look in your website and I didn’t see any review about it. I am sure you will love it.
🙂
Hi Jenika,
I´m sorry to hear that you didn´t like Perfect Chemistry, it blew me away. But I recently lent it to a friend who wasn´t a big fan either, so it may not appeal to everyone.
Thanks as well for your tip, I´ve actually had my eyes on “Jessica´s guide..” for quite some time. I had my doubts at first, mostly because of the dorky title – but after reading a couple of 5-star reviews changed my mind. Now thanks to your comment it´s moved up to the very top of my TBR-pile 🙂
When I first saw the cover of the book it made me curios… after I read the title of the book I didn’t really get a good impression… (“Jessica Guide to Dating on the Dark Side”) but I read the story anyway and now is one of my favorite books!!!
Hi!
I just wanted to let you know I finished to read a few minutes ago “Perfect Chemistry” and I have to say it was an interesting reading. Even if it’s not in my list of favorite books ever, it was quite interesting and enjoyable. A few moments were very catching and I found myself wondering “what is going to happen next?” I liked the way the relationship between Alex and Brittany was builded up and i liked also the secondary characters (Paco, Isa, etc,etc…)… thank you for writing a review of this book, i am happy I read it!
Hi Jenika!
I’m so glad to hear you finished Perfect Chemistry and enjoyed it in the end. The characters in that book is what made it so good, I agree that even the secondary characters were well drawn – I ended up caring about them all as if they were my own family 🙂 And it is definitely very romantic too – oh I loved Alex! Very sweet under that tough shell! By the way, I loved that scene as well!
p.s. please note that this is a spoiler of Perfect Chemistry:
I totally loved the scene where Alex goes on his knees and tells Brittany he will ask her to marry him in 4 years!!! Yes! Way to go Alex!
I am really surprised you haven’t read the Evernight series by Claudia Gray. It is my second favorite romance next to Twilight. I guarantee you will love it! I am also 32 and can’t get enough of ya paranormal romance. Love the website! Check out Evernight series. Don’t let the cover fool you. They are great!
Hi,
Good to find another 30+ ya fan out there!
And thanks so much for your tip! You’re right, it is surprising that I haven’t read Evernight yet. I think I confused it with Evermore at first, and as Evermore didn’t recieve the best praise I kind of lost interest in both books. Then just recently, I read a great review of Evernight and realized that I should probably give it a go. And believe it or not, but I’m expecting the book to arrive in the mail any day now! Great to hear you loved it so much, can’t wait to read it now!
Tess
Hey!! Thank you sooo much for this blog!! I’m 27 and I’m french, and like you, after Twilight, I started to read read read a lot of YA books, and I love it so much.
Your blog will be very helpful then!!
Try “Jessica’s guide”, I just finished it and it’s one of my best reading since Twilight.
The serie “The luxe” by Anna Godbersen is a good one also (even if I stop after the second).
“Wicked Lovely” by Melissa Marr
“Beastly” by Alex Flinn… I LOVED it!!
Most of the time, I read only the first book of the series, because it’s often disappointing…
Keep reading and writing about it, and thanks again!!
Hey Chris!
Good to hear someone else out there who experienced the same as me after reading twilight 🙂 Since then, I just can’t seem to stop reading, and I’m loving the ya genre!
And thanks so much for all your tips!! You’re not the first one who tells me “Jessica’s Guide..” is a great book, which means..I really have to get that one now!! And I have been debating with myself whether to get Beastly or not, as well as Wicked Lovely and The Luxe, good to hear you liked them, I might just give them a go now.
Very good of you as well to only read the first book! You probably save yourself time, because I find that the first book is usually the best. After that, more often than not, the series declines. Yet I always go after the sequel anyway if I enjoyed the first book, I just can’t seem to stop!
There are exceptions though, Vampire Academy being one of them, which is a series that actually becomes better the more books you read!
Anyway, I’ll definitely keep reading and posting reviews! Thanks again for your tips!
Tess
Hey Tess!! Thanks for your answer. I read most of your posts yesterday, and my list of books to read is now very long, and I’m very exciting about it 🙂
I’m still not sure about Vampire Academy, but maybe you’ll change my mind…
Anyway it’s so good to see that I’m not the only crazy “not young adult” who love YA genre 🙂
Thanks again for your amazing work!!
xxx
Chris
Hey Chris,
Oh that’s great to hear that you are about to read those books! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
As for The Vampire Academy, like you I was very hesitant at first, so I understand what you mean. Well, let me know if you do decide to read the series as it would fun to hear what you think!
Thanks again,
Tess
Hi!
I read the first 2 books of Evernight series and I enjoyed the second book more than the first… but I am not very sure I want to continue to read the series as I read a few reviews very bad about the third and forth book…(and I don’t like what happens in the story…) I know maybe even the most beautiful book might receive a bad review but I think there are other series out there more interesting.
I advice to read the Casa Dracula series… it’s not really a YA book but is romance, with vampires, zombies, and fun. The author, Marta Acosta, wrote also a YA novel, “The Shadow girl of Birch Grove” that is very good read.
I recommend it.
And of course “Jessica guide to dating on the Dark Side” by Beth Fantaskey… I read it for the fourth time last week and I loved again every single moment of it.
I highly recommend it.
Hi!
Thanks for all your book tips!! I have already got the first book of Evernight, so planning to read that one soon. Have heard as well that the series decline after a few books, so not sure if I’ll read them all. Never heard of the Casa Dracula series though, so have to check that out! And you know what, I just started reading Jessica’s guide.., finally! Have wanted to read it for a while, but just never got around to it, very excited now as it seems good. Review will be posted soon!
Thanks again for the tip!
Tess
Wow, I am very curious to read your review on Jessica Guide To Dating on the Dark Side! I think you will like it…
Have a good reading!
🙂
Thanks! So far I’m liking it. And Lucius is slowly growing on me. Review coming soon!
by the way, speaking about 30+ YA fan, I am 31…
😉
About “Wicked Lovely” by Melissa Marr: I read it some time ago and it was quite an enjoyable reading. Very interesting but not sure I want to continue to read the series.
“Beastly” by Alex Flinn was very boring for me, after 40 pages I decided to stop.
I advice to read “Bloodthirtsy” by Flinn Meaney. Here is the plot:
Awkward and allergic to the sun, sixteen-year-old Finbar Frame never gets the girl. But when he notices that all the female students at his school are obsessed with a vampire romance novel called Bloodthirsty, Finbar decides to boldly go where no sane guy has gone before-he becomes a vampire, minus the whole blood sucking part.
With his brooding nature and weirdly pale skin, it’s surprisingly easy for Finbar to pretend to be paranormal. But, when he meets the one girl who just might like him for who he really is, he discovers that his life as a pseudo-vampire is more complicated than he expected.
This hilarious debut novel is for anyone who believes that sometimes even nice guys-without sharp teeth or sparkly skin– can get the girl.
here is the plot for The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove (I paste it):
When foster teen Jane Williams is invited to attend elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls, she thinks the offer is too good to be true.
It is.
Soon she starts receiving threatening messages from an unknown enemy. She’s also beginning to suspect that the pale elegant headmistress and her gorgeous sons are hiding secrets. Lucky is the sunny, golden son who is especially attentive to Jane, and Jack is the dark, quirky older brother, who constantly puzzles her.
The longer she stays at Birch Grove, the more questions she has about the disappearance of another scholarship girl and the headmistress and her family.
What will she give up and what risks will she take to stay in this privileged world and be bound to Birch Grove forever? What’s Jane willing to sacrifice for this once in a lifetime opportunity?
another book I recommend is “The Ghost and the Goth” by Stacey Kade.
I just heard there is also a sequel: “Queen of the Dead”; I didn’t read it yet but I will.
Here I paste the plot of the book:
“After a close encounter with the front end of a school bus, Alona Dare goes from Homecoming Queen to Queen of the Dead. Now she’s stuck here in spirit form with no sign of the big, bright light coming to take her away. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total outcast type who hates the social elite. He alone can see and hear her, but he wants nothing to do with the former mean girl of Groundsboro High.
Can they get over their mutual distrust—and this weird attraction between them—to work together before Alona vanishes for good and Will is locked up for seeing things that don’t exist?”
What caught my attention was the cover of the book. The two characters sitting on a bench (the goth guy and the transparent blonde girl)…
and I am happy I read it.
It was an enjoyable reading. At the beginning Alona was a pain but after I got interested on both characters!
Hi!
After reading your review o “Poison Study” I got curious and I wanted to read it. So when today I saw it in library and I borrowed it straightaway. I started reading it a few minutes ago, I read 20 pages only but it looks very very interesting. And I already like Valek.
I’ll let you know my thoughts about it when I’ll finish it.
Thank you for your review!
I just finished Poison Study, I read it without stopping ’till the end. I really enjoyed it, I like Yelena and I really like Valek!!!! I am very curious now to read the sequel…
uhm… I read your review about Magic Study and I am not very sure I want to read it…
it looks like a bit disappointing, especially because my favorite character is Valek and in the second books looks like he becomes a different character…
Anyway, about Poison study (please note that there are going to be some spoilers now) one character that I don’t like at all is the Commander… he is a cheater, hiding is real identity to everybody, and also a very ungrateful person. Yelena saves his life, helps him to fight his demons and what he does? He signs the warrant of execution for Yelena!! Ok, gives her a way to run away but what’s the point in enforcing a code that he doesn’t believe in anyway? Boh…
The ending of the book was somehow disappointing… I don’t like that Valek and Yelena got separated and also I don’t like that Valek had so much loyalty for a character (The Commander) that I don’t like at all.
Two characters who started as boring but became very very interesting are Ari and Irys. I like so much when The Commander says about Yelena death warrant and Ari says “you’ll have to get through me first” … putting himself with his sword in front of Yelena and daring anybody to touch her… I didn’t expect this, as I didn’t expect Valek saying that he would execute the order…
overall anyway Poison Study was a very interesting story.
This book (especially the relationship between Yelena and Valek) remembered me a lot “The High Lord”, the third book of The Black Magician series by Trudy Canavan.
There are some similarities: a young sorcerer in danger and in training,Sonea; her protector and mentor, Akkarin who looks completely bad and her enemy (but it is not) and a romance totally wonderful. I read only the first 3 book of the series and I don’t want to read the rest because for me the story ends at the third book. (if you will read them you will understand why).
I’m glad you enjoyed Poison study, isn’t Valek the most fascinating character!? I loved him! I was a bit taken back by the end of Poison Study as well, but as I assumed they would get together in the next book, so I didn’t care too much. Unfortunately, like I said, in Magic Study, Valek seems like a pale comparison to what he was in Poison Study. Such a disappointment. It’s not all bad though, and Ari and Irys both appear, which I liked. If you do read this book, I would love to hear what you think!
And I’ll check out The Black Magician series, if it’s anything like Poison Study I’m sure I’ll like it!
Thanks for the tip!
Tess
i read the suggestion of a girl saying this guy could be a good Valek: I imagined it a bit different but maybe it could be (especially for the blue eyes)…
Have a look at this photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rafal00001/RaffaelloBalzo#5077770689549141762
what do you think?
Hmm, I think I pictured Valek a bit older, and more manly somehow. The guy in those pictures is cute but definitely too young. Or so I think. I guess everyone have their own mental image of Valek 🙂
Hi!
Thank you for your answers, yep, maybe the model is a bit too young but the eyes could easily be Valek’s ones…
🙂
Of course if I’ll read Magic Study I’ll let you know immediately what I think about it.
I just found in the author website two free short stories: Assassin Study (about Valek while Yelena is in Sitia) and Power Study (about Janco and Ari).
I didn’t read them yet so I don’t know if they are good stories but I thought to let you know.
Here are the links:
http://www.mariavsnyder.com/powerstudy.php
Click to access Short%20Story.pdf
I think you will love The High Lord… it’s a lot on Poison Study style… of course there are many differences but it was a good book.
And if you liked Valek you will LOVE Akkarin.
I started reading the series from the first book “The Magician’s Guild” where there is not really romance but it was an interesting book. After in the second book “The Novice” things starts to be quite complicated and I started to like Akkarin very, very much even if there are too many secrets and mysteries around him. He is a friend? Is he a bad person? On the third book finally it’s all about Sonea and Akkarin. (and all the secrets are revealed) And that was very nice. Only one thing totally disappointed me (and when I read reviews of the book I discovered I was not the only one). Of course I can’t say what, you will see. But I advice to read it.
(here is the presentation of the story taken from Wikipedia):
The Black Magician trilogy is a fantasy novel series by Australian author Trudi Canavan. The books follow a slum-dwelling girl named Sonea who, although born and raised in the slums of Imardin, discovers that she has natural magical abilities usually restricted to the upper classes. They describe her attempts to escape capture by the Magicians’ Guild and gain control of her powers, her struggle to fit in and learn magic, and ultimately her attempts save Kyralia using the one type of magic forbidden from use.
Hi Jenika!
Thanks so much for you tip about the short stories on Maria V Snyder’s website, I didn’t know about that, but if she has written anything more about Valek I want to read it!!
Thanks also for telling me more about the Black Magician trilogy, it really does sound interesting. Will definitely check it out now!
Thanks,
Tess
Hi Tess!!
Did you hear about “Awaken” by Katie Kacvinsky?? it seems good, would love to have your opinion 🙂
By the way I just received “The Truth about forever” by Sarah Dessen, I’ll let you know if I like it as much as you!!
xx
Hi Chris!
No, I haven’t heard about Awaken but will definitely check it out now. Thanks so much for your tip!!
And oh, I hope you like Truth about Forever as much as I did. That book gave me a lot of “warm fuzzy feelings”, like I wanted to go and hug everyone I care about afterwards 🙂 I hope you’ll feel the same way!
Tess
I read The Truth about Forever a few months ago and it was an enjoyable reading…
Good to hear you thought so too!
Hi Tess!
I am wondering if you would like to review my comic book series “Vampire Free Style”? I am self publishing it in Uk and Ireland already from a few years, I am at issue 5, the 6th is in progress.
Here you can have a better idea of the series (with story, previews and so on):
http://www.neptunefactory.com
(I am not sure if I can definite the series as a YA, but in a few reviews it has been definite as YA genre…)
Even if not reviewed officially I would be curious anyway to know your thoughts about it.
I will be happy to send the first 5 issue at any address provided.
If interested this is my e-mail:
neptunefactory@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you!
Jenika
Hi Tess,
I miss reading your reviews !
I hope everthing is okay and that you get a chance to write soon!
Thanks!
Ri-Anna
Hi Tess, long time, no review, how are you doing? Hope everything is ok with you and you are stil reading 😀
I just wanted to advice you to read “I’m number Four” and “The Power of Six” by Pittacus Lore, I really love both (didn’t see the film so can’t compare).
Hope to hear from you soon!!
🙂 🙂
hi tess!
I hope is everything ok! I look forward to read more of your reviews!