20 | December | 2011 | reading is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

RATING:

(Last Survivors #1)

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all–hope–in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

Literary Awards: Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award Nominee (2009), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2009),ALA Teens’ Top Ten (2007)

*****

Life As We Knew It bored the reading crap out of me. Yes, there was a time i was so afraid (the panic-buying grocery scene), and i was kinda relieved (the ending), but Pfeffer’s storytelling is not for me. I’m an action-packed kinda gal, and since this book has no action at all, i didn’t like it.

Miranda is living her normal teenage life when suddenly, the moon got knocked out of its orbit – now it is too close to earth which causes the erratic changes in weather, with no electricity and technology. Goodbye, life. Hello, survival. After the event that changes everything, Miranda and her family struggled to survive by staying in their home, hoarding canned goods, water, and medicine. The post-apocalyptic theme is very real it made think that I need to survive with Miranda. Alas, it did not hold my attention too long. I started reading last October, put it down a week later, then i picked it up again just days ago. I guess the whole conflict was laid out in Miranda’s family’s chances to survive in their house and that didn’t excite me.

Life As We Knew It will not appeal to readers like me who yearns for action and adventure in their post-apocalyptic reads. The concept is good, in fact, it still gives me the creeps because it is plausible in real life. But the storyline did not work for me.

#27 Off-the-Shelf Reading Challenge 2011

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”

Rating:

(Guild Hunter #4)

The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more…

Book 1: Archangel’s Blood review | Book 2: Archangel’s Kiss review | Book 3: Archangel’s Consort review

***** ***** *****

DECADENT.

Archangel’s Blade is sinful; very, very sinful! This book is, by far, the strongest and the most solid story among the Guild Hunter series. Nalini Singh wrote Dmitri’s character very consistently and i loved that. Even though I was irritated on how (or why) Honor and Dmitri connected, I can’t deny that I really enjoyed the book. How i’ve missed these cruel angels and impossible vampires!

Honor and Dmitri both have painful, horrible pasts. Whereas Honor still finds compassion among the helpless, Dmitri has none. I can imagine Honor’s struggle and determination to survive, as much as Dmitri‘s decision to kill his humanity through cruelty. They are both fighters, literally and emotionally. Though the general atmosphere of the plot is about dark, bloody vengeance, it was balanced by snippets of Ilium‘s (Yey!) and Raphael‘s humor. Venom is getting really interesting! I believe he’s starting to grow on me. Jason is brooding – an air of sentimentality laced with pain – man, he’s gonna be the bomb for the next book. Ms. Nalini Singh, about Bluebell’s story?!! 😉

Archangel’s Blade is a hard but rewarding read. Dmitri’s world is lethal; Honor’s is unforgiving. Reading it makes me think of a phoenix: in order to rise and have a new life, Dmitri and Honor must die and be grinded into dust until there’s none left. I am still not a fan of Dmitri, but i think his story is more compelling and well-written than Rafael’s.

.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”