As Christmas is fast approaching, I decided to go Christmas shopping, expecting to buy presents for my family.
In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean – and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future . . . and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened . . . what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?
The second novel in the addictive Fallen series...where love never dies.
I can't just storm in and proclaim my intentions. I can't 'steal' you away. I just have to wait and hope that, someday, you'll ask," Tamani said.
"And if I don't?" Laurel said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Then I guess I'll be waiting forever."
Although Laurel has come to accept her true identity as a faerie, she refuses to turn her back on her human life - and especially her boyfriend, David - to return to the faerie world.
But when she is summoned to Avalon, Laurel's feelings for the charismatic faerie sentry Tamani are undeniable. She is forced to make a choice - a choice that could break her heart.
The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.
The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.
Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.
However, of course I ended up buying books for myself. My mum literally had to drag me away before I bought the entire store, but not before I got two books for myself (I wanted SO MANY MORE but what can I do?).
So, I thought I'd do another instalment of What's New On My Bookshelf and share my early Christmas present!
What's New On My Bookshelf:
1. Torment: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate
How many lives do you need to live before you find someone worth dying for?
In the aftermath of what happened at Sword & Cross, Luce has been hidden away by her cursed angelic boyfriend, Daniel, in a new school filled with Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. Daniel promises she will be safe here, protected from those who would kill her. At the school Luce discovers what the Shadows that have followed her all her life mean – and how to manipulate them to see into her other lives. Yet the more Luce learns about herself, the more she realizes that the past is her only key to unlocking her future . . . and that Daniel hasn't told her everything. What if his version of the past isn't actually the way things happened . . . what if Luce was really meant to be with someone else?
The second novel in the addictive Fallen series...where love never dies.
I'm so excited to read this book! It's been ages since I read Fallen (the first novel in this series), so it feels good to know that I can continue to read Lauren Kate's work and reconnect with the characters Luce and Daniel. As well as this, it's been way too long since I read a fantasy novel, because I've had to read so many books for my English class, so I'm looking forward to reintroduce myself to this genre (that will always be one of my favourites)!
2. Spells by Aprilynne Pike
I can't just storm in and proclaim my intentions. I can't 'steal' you away. I just have to wait and hope that, someday, you'll ask," Tamani said."And if I don't?" Laurel said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Then I guess I'll be waiting forever."
Although Laurel has come to accept her true identity as a faerie, she refuses to turn her back on her human life - and especially her boyfriend, David - to return to the faerie world.
But when she is summoned to Avalon, Laurel's feelings for the charismatic faerie sentry Tamani are undeniable. She is forced to make a choice - a choice that could break her heart.
Much like Lauren Kate's series, I read the first novel in Pike's series, Wings, a while ago but I had been unable to find Spells in any of my local bookstores. Until now!
This book is a light-read, but I'm so very excited to see how the main characters, Tamani and Laurel, develop and I'm interested in where the story is going to go!
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I know I said I got two books recently, but I actually bought this third book a couple of weeks ago at a Fete, so I thought I should include it because I haven't blogged about it yet!
3. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family's need for peace and closure.The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.
Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.
People have been telling me for YEARS to read this book and it's been on my TBR list for ages, but I never saw it being sold, so I honestly forgot about it. Therefore, when I walked past the secondhand book stall at a Fete I went to, I knew I HAD to buy it! I really hope it lives up to all the hype - I'm sure it will because it sounds so intriguing!
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That's What's New On My Bookshelf! I can't wait to spend my holidays (we're on Summer Break here in Australia) reading these novels and then eventually blogging about them of course!
Have you bought any books recently? Leave a comment below! (What am I thinking, we're all bookworms here, OF COURSE you've bought a book recently).
- Tyra xx
