Cry Wolf - Patricia Briggs

Cry Wolf is the first in the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs. The characters are based on the world of Mercedes Thompson, another stellar series by Briggs.

Anna is an Omega - a rare and powerful wolf. Charles is an alpha, less rare but no less powerful. When Charles is sent on business to Anna's pack, he discovers that horrific conditions that she is forced to endure. As her knight in shining armor he saves her and takes her far away from the terrors that have been her life the past few years. How could life get any better for Anna? Taken away from her nightmare, bound to a brilliant and handsome man - life should be perfect, right? Only problem is that Anna has been taught to be submissive for so long that she doesn't know how to be anything but. Will her own fear keep her from finding the love that she so desperately desires?

Briggs has created another set of fantastic characters here set amid a compelling storyline. I love Anna because she is a fighter - a woman, thrown headfirst into the unimaginable and yet despite everything she manages to keep her soul together.

Writing:5
Interest:5
Passion:5
Originality:5
Characters:5+
Pace:5
Overall: 30/30 - A

I give Cry Wolf a perfect A. The writing was beautiful, the scenery was fantastic, the characters became a part of the reader and the story line really keeps the reader guessing right up until the last second. Fantastic story! Can't wait for book 2, due out this August!

Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs

After reading the first four and waiting literally FOREVER (okay, a week) for this one to come in the mail, I was more than ready to delve back into the world of Mercy Thompson. Let me tell you, Bone Crossed, book 4 in the Mercedes Thompson series definitely does not disappoint.

I love Mercy because she is such a strong female character. She's not overly attractive or overly powerful. She's strong in her femininity and the way she exists as a survivor. She doesn't let the little things keep her down and is always ready to hand out a little butt kicking when it is needed.

In Bone Crossed, Briggs continues the story line started in Iron Kissed. I won't go too far into that as I wouldn't want to divulge any spoilers, but let me say that Briggs does it in a fantastically tactful way. Through her stories she shows us the true power of the female spirit and how even under horrific circumstances, everyone can find that little spark within themselves that signifies a survivor.

Mercy, a Walker, can shift into a coyote at will. Raised and now courted by werewolves, she lives a hazardous life trompsing through a supernatural world, all the while maintaining herself as an awesome mechanic. In Bone Crossed we learn a little bit more about the Mercy Thompson world and more specifically about the vampires that threaten Mercy's existence. Will she perish? Will she be able to protect those she cares about or will she be doomed to suffer their deaths?

Bone Crossed is a fantastic book in the storyline of Mercy. I can't wait for the next one, Silver Borne due out February 2010.

Writing:5

Interest:5

Passion:5

Originality:5

Characters:5+

Pace:5

Overall: 30/30 - A

You know, some people say I'm just too easy to please. I disagree. I think that I've just head really, really, really good luck when it comes to picking books lately. We'll see how long that lasts! I give Bone Crossed a solid A with a extra kudos for the characters. Well developed characters that we can't stand to lose really make a book, in my opinion.

Hunted - P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Hunted is the fifth book out in the House of Night series by P.C. & Kristin Cast. I like the House of Night series. It's a great new take on a vampire story with young characters that should really appeal to young adult readers. Books 1-4 of the series deal with Zoey being Marked by the goddess Nyx and finding herself at the house of night. Self discovery, adventure, betrayal and murder all take place before Zoey finds herself in a dire predicament at the beginning of the fifth book.

With friends turned enemy and enemy turned friend, who can Zoey really trust? Does she have the power within herself to banish the evil that has been tormenting the school? Can she protect her friends and those whom are innocent from the temptation that surrounds them? Hunted is a tale of of further self discovery, action, adventure and with three boys vying for her attention, romance.

Those are the great parts about the book. While I don't like to hover on the not as fantastic parts, I do feel a small obligation to state the parts that I personally didn't like. Remember, this is a personal opinion. I don't always like the books that others like and the same is true in reverse.

Hunted seemed in some ways to slow down the series and in some ways to speed it up. It did seem that we were able to see a more grown up side of Zoey, which I really liked. Our antagonist in the book (I won't name names so as not to create a spoiler) is a fantastic antagonist and very, very well written. The parts where it slowed down, however, were the tiny parts. The movement parts. The entire story of the fifth book takes place in a very short amount of time and while I like description of movement and transition between places, it seemed that this actually slowed down the book in some places. Now there's slowing down for pacing sake and then there's just plain slowing down. In general, this book felt slow. Right up until the end; and a fantastic end it was!!

Another part that I had a hard time getting through was the reoccurance of typos. Occasional Darius's and Damian's names were reversed. Keep this in mind while reading the story and hopefully you'll be able to realize it in time and reverse it. Let me tell you, there are some parts when switching the names creates for some very awkward moments! I don't think I would mind so much if it happened occasionally, but the name switching and other typos happened a few more times that occasionally.

Writing:3
Interest:4
Passion:4
Originality:5
Characters:5
Pace:4
Overall: 25/30 - B

Overall I give Hunted a B. Now, don't get me wrong, I really, really liked the story. It just seemed that the book was rushed and perhaps a little more polishing could have happened. That being said, I am still super looking forward to book 6, Tempted, which is due out 10/27/09.