Book Review: Forbidden (The Soulkeepers #1) by Lori Adams

 

Category/Genre: New Adult/Paranormal Romance

My star rating: 4.5/5 (Rounded up to 5* on Goodreads)

Scheduled release date:  April 15

 

**I received a complimentary copy from Random House Loveswept via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review** 

Goodreads blurb: 
When Sophia St. James learns that she’ll be moving from Los Angeles to a podunk town somewhere in Connecticut for her senior year of high school, she isn’t expecting an otherworldly encounter. But there is more to Haven Hurst than meets the eye: it’s home to a family of Guardian Angels, and she is the only one who can see them in spirit form. Sophia soon realizes she wants to see much more of Michael, an irresistible yet volatile Guardian who seems drawn to her too.

As Michael battles his forbidden desire for the beautiful young newcomer, one of Hell’s most notorious Demon Knights arrives. Handsome and charismatic, Dante has come to claim the reincarnated soul of his lost lover trapped in Sophia. Cursed with the demon of Persuasion living inside him, Dante will use his seductive charms to lure Sophia into a dangerous game that ends with the kiss of death—unless Michael, who has captured Sophia’s heart, can now capture her soul.

THE RAVE WORTHY: Confession time: this is the first "angel" romance that I really enjoyed.  I think its a really difficult subject to write.  You don't want to completely defile the image of divine winged beings, but you still have to give them some heat to keep it from getting boring.  Lori Adams did a great job of balancing the two.  The story begins at the right point, just when Sophia is starting her adventure so there is no first chapter lull to push through.  Her description of Hell is fascinating and unique from anything I've ever read.  Lori takes a wonderful path with her story in the way that soldiers of both dark and light (and everything in between) battle it out in plain sight without being seen by the ignorant mortals.  The ending had me clawing at my eReader, hoping if I hit refresh just one more time another page would appear.  Torture, Lori.  Most of all though, I absolutely loved the raw emotion that she was able to push into my heart.  I felt the pain, the love, and the passion as if it were my own.  That's really hard to do, and Lori has done it incomparably well.  Side note:  Dante is the guy I felt the most for.  Imagining myself in his situation was shattering, even if he is supposed to be the "bad guy".

THE GRUMBLE WORTHY:  The first chapter was great, but the next couple of chapters were a little difficult.  I understood the need for back story, but it felt like a really slow info-dump.  In the beginning, the banter between the teens seemed a little clumsy and awkward, but it did become much more natural as the story went on.  The only thing that really bothered me was Sophia's father being a pastor without it being played on more. There weren't any scenes in church, or really anything else in the story that made him being a preacher so important to have included it.  My mother is a minister, so maybe its my proximity to the profession that makes it so significant for me.

Book Review: The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson

 

Category/genre: Contemporary/Young Adult

My star rating: 5/5

Scheduled release date: February 11th

**I received a complimentary advanced readers copy from Knopf Books/Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Goodreads blub: When her father is killed in a coup, 15-year-old Laila flees from the war-torn middle east to a life of exile and anonymity in the U.S. Gradually she adjusts to a new school, new friends, and a new culture, but while Laila sees opportunity in her new life, her mother is focused on the past. She’s conspiring with CIA operatives and rebel factions to regain the throne their family lost. Laila can’t bear to stand still as an international crisis takes shape around her, but how can one girl stop a conflict that spans generations? 

J.C. Carleson delivers a fascinating account of a girl—and a country—on the brink, and a rare glimpse at the personal side of international politics. 

THE RAVE WORTHY: Every once in a while you come across a book that slaps everything into perspective.  This book was one of those books.  As Americans, so many of us are so blissfully unaware of how good we have it, and we also seem to push away the realization that so many of the countries that we are in conflict with (as well as many that we aren't) have so much less than we do.  Carleson forces us to confront this and so much more through the eyes of a 15-year old girl from the middle east.  I was instantly interested in Laila's story, and empathizing with her was effortless.  How can you not feel badly for a girl in the middle of a culture shock crisis that is also having to deal with the shattering reality of the truths in her family's filthy closet?  She is planted right in the middle of the all too familiar war of American vs. middle eastern ideals and her struggle to recover and relate was gripping.  The writing is simple but powerful; I truly felt as if I could have been reading the pages of a very mature teenage girl's diary.  I don't generally get into contemporary fiction, but I am glad that I made an exception for this one.

THE GRUMBLE WORTHY: It's hardly worth a mention, but I did feel that Laila seemed a bit older than 15.  This could easily be explained by her experiences and the higher expectation of behavior of young girls from her culture, I'm just afraid that first world young adults might not catch this. 

WHAT WILL STICK WITH ME: I am not a political person.  I know my stances on key debate issues, but as far as the specifics of foreign policy and interaction I am grossly undereducated.  Carleson has made me want to remedy this and I whole-heartedly believe that the majority of people that read this book will have the same reaction.  This could be a game changer.