Wintercraft - Jenna Burtenshaw

4/5 Stars

Wintercraft is the first of three books in the Wintercraft Series by Jenna Burtenshaw

Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort. Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane -- the High Council's most feared man -- recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace. The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft -- a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft. To help Artemis, Edgar and herself, Kate must honour her pact with a murderer and come face to face with the true nature of death.

Jenna Burtenshaw's debut novel Wintercraft is the first book in a trilogy. It takes you to Albion a small town in Morvane.

Kate, Artemis and Edgar get taken to the city of Fume which is a graveyard city, where the High Council meet. This is where Kate learn's the truth about herself and those around her.

As it tells you in the blurb above Kate's mother and father were harvested by the high council to help in the country's war.

10 years later, their back and their harvest falls on the city of Morvane.

The citizens of Morvane have lived in peace, so when a swarm of blackbirds arrive along with the warden's only Kate and her book-store owning uncle Artemis are ready for a fast departure.

However when Kate restore's life to one of the blackbirds she is forced to hide in a secret hiding place in the basement of the book-store along with Edgar an employee at the book-store.

Silas arrives with the warden's and captures Artemis and takes him on a terrifying journey on the Night Train which used to transport the dead.

Silas Dane is the most feared High Council member who is nothing like the other members on the High Council.

Twelve years ago Silas was used as an experiment by the High Council and they damaged his spirit making it so he could never be killed.

Knowing Kate is one of the skilled - A rare group of people who have the ability to see into the veil (A place between the living and the dead) - Silas want's her and set's out to get her so she can undo what the High Council did to him all them years ago.

Kate need the knowledge of Wintercraft - A very powerful spell book that is kept hidden beneath the graveyard city of Fume - Wintercraft is a book so powerful it is believed to be able to change the fate of Albion forever.

Kate ends up questioning the very people she has always trusted, it seems that everyone has their own secret. Where will Kate turn?

This novel was an enchanting read and continues at a nice flowing pace. The character's don't let their personality's show very much but hopefully this will change in the next book and we will learn a lot more about Kate, Edgar and Silas.

Wintercraft is definitely the beginning of a great new series in teen fantasy as Kate's journey through Albion and Fume has only just begun.

I am really looking forward to reading Blackwatch which is the sequel to Wintercraft.

Evernight - Claudia Gray

4/5 Stars

Bianca wants to escape.

She's been uprooted from her small hometown and enrolled at Evernight Academy, an eerie Gothic boarding school where the students are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek, and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.

Then she meets Lucas. He's not the "Evernight type" either, and he likes it that way. Lucas ignores the rules, stands up to the snobs, and warns Bianca to be careful—even when it comes to caring about him.

"I couldn't stand it if they took it out on you," he tells Bianca, "and eventually they would."

But the connection between Bianca and Lucas can't be denied. Bianca will risk anything to be with Lucas, but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart . . . and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed.

I saw this book in my local supermarket - along with most of my other books. I read the blurb in the store and decided to buy the book. On my way home I read the prologue and couldn't wait to get started on the book.

This book is really good and caught my attention from the go which for me is something I love in a book. If it doesn't pull me in by the end of Chapter One I give up reading the book unless I have nothing else to read.

Even though after reading the prologue I thought I had an idea of what I though the book was about bits of it were different and it surprised me.

You get those books where you think its going to be great but not many 'live up to it' well Evernight does.

Evernight is one of the best books i've read this year so far. Claudia Gray makes it look like she has written dozens of books, even thought Evernight was her first.

The book is about a teenage girl Bianca who's parents get a job teaching at Evernight Academy. Bianca doesnt want to be their, so she decideds to run away - she runs as more of a statement than anything - but she ends up bumping into Lucas another student who has just arrived at the school. They hit it off right away and exchange there running away stories. Bianca is pulled into a love story with a twist.

After talking with Bianca a while Lucas convinces her to go back to Evernight and when she returns her parents are still asleep and never noticed she had gone anywhere.

I think the main characters are interesting. You will fall for bad boy Lucas who has an attitude but not in the way that will make you hate him - although you may hate him a little at some point in the book because I no I did - And you will feel sorry for Bianca throughout the book.

Lucas will shock you so be prepared!!!

I cant wait to read the next book in this series.

All in all I enjoyed the book and recommend I to anyone who loves a good vampire and teen romance book.

You will be hooked from the prologue on. :)

Ash - Malinda Lo

1/5 stars

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Many book's just don't turn out how you imagined them originally in your head and you suffer from the "it sounded good on the back of the book" syndrome not that these books are bad but sometimes they just aren't what you wanted out of the book.

I thought that about Ash. I found it hard to keep focus on and I kept getting bored while reading it but I continued reading anyway.

I actually bought this book mainly because the front cover looks really pretty and the blurb on the back cover made it sound like a really good book. It sounded a bit like a remake of Cinderella.

I like reading fairy tales and fantasy books. Fairies are the main bit in Ash but that makes thing's different - Ash's 'fairy godmother' is a male fairy called Sidhean and he grants her wishes but for a price - The other thing different is who Ash falls for. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who wants to read it but Ash doesn't fall for the Prince, she falls for a woman.

Ash starts of slowly but you get to meet Ask and her father who are grieving over the death of her mother, like in all Cinderella stories her father remarries. Ash's step-mother and two step-sisters are also like the Cinderella stories.

After Ash's father dies Ash becomes a servant to her step-family. The only thing that keeps her happy is reading an old book about fairy tales.

Ash meets Sidhean, while she is walking in the forest Sidhean is a fairy from the forest. Ash and Sidhean they form a friendship.

Sidhean grants Ash wishes which help her escape life of a servant for a few hours.

Ash's step-mother is obsessed with getting her two daughter's married to wealthy men. Then Ash meets the Huntress Kaisa.

I liked the twist on my favourite fairy tale, but i think because I love the original Cinderella so much this is why I didn't enjoy Ash very much.

RATING SYSTEM

5/5 Stars - Excellent. I definitely recommend and will more than likely re-read it.

4/5 Stars - Pretty good and a worth while read.

3/5 Stars - It was OK, but It's not a book I'd re-read.

2/5 Stars - Satisfactory.

1/5 Stars - I do not recommend.