Book Review: Ada Legend of a Healer by R. A. McDonald

Review: Ada Legend of a Healer
Author: R.A McDonald
No of Pages: 250
Release Date: 1 January 2011

No sickness, No injuries, No pain, No limits.

If you had the power to heal, what would you do?

For fifteen-year-old Ada discovering that she can heal feels more like a curse than a gift. When she learns of the mystery surrounding her mother’s disappearance, and sees the indifference of so-called friends, she sets out for Paris to find her.

The power to heal protects her, but also has her hunted by a man who sees her as nothing more than his fountain of youth. Ada realizes her true power is her will to survive, and that her only chance at freedom is to become the best at escaping.

My Thoughts:

Ada Legend of a Healer had a bad start, but ended up turning into a rather good read.

Ada is an orphan with an attitude problem. After getting kicked out of yet another foster home she can’t be placed anywhere else, so she leaves the system, embarking on her own journey to find her mother. Her journey leads her to France and the people she meets there help her hone not only her healing skills but develop skills in the art of parkour.

Ada was not a likeable character for most of the story. Her only redeeming attribute was her sheer force of will power, all of her other aspects boiled down to her being an egotistical, self-centred teenager. For the first hundred pages I had the urge to not only scream but stick a fork in my eye because of the constant whining about how unfair the world is and how unfair it is that she have to bear the burden of having the ability to heal not only others, but herself.


Ada Legend of a Healer did start to get interesting when Ada went to France on her mission to find her mother. After using Jessie – her aunt – for money and information Ada struck out on her own to find out if her mother was still alive.

Delving into the world of parkour and the limits of Ada’s power was the highlight of the novel because we got to see McDonalds writing ability on show. Daniel and his friends and Daniel’s budding romance with Ada drove the novel from that point.


Ada Legend of a Healer was a slow read to get started and once it got going it was easy to see where it would end up, but I felt oddly compelled to finish, quickly. McDonalds writing drew me in after Ada got to France to a point where I couldn’t let go and Ada’s story wouldn’t let me go. Even after the final page was turned McDonalds message - to cherish what you have - stayed with me for a long time afterwards.

Book Review: Thicker Than Water by Carla Jablonski

Review: Thicker Than Water
Author: Carla Jablonski
No of Pages: 246
Release Date: 11 January 2007

WHEN DOES ESCAPE BECOME OBSESSION?

Kia is searching for an escape. From her mother’s cancer. From her father’s apathy. From her own rage.

The pressure is building. There’s a craving in her veins, a secret urge. She needs a way to let the inside out. But she knows she must resist. She knows she must find another way.

When she becomes immersed in an underground scene – Goths who live as vampires – Kia thinks she’s finally found that way.

At the centre of everything is sexy and mysterious Damon. With his otherworldly presence he pulls Kia deep into the night, into a world where the unbelievable can be believed, the unreal made real, until Kia herself can no longer draw the line.

My Thoughts:

Although not what I expected, Thicker Than Water drew me in and kept me coming back for more.

Kia is struggling. Her mum is dying of cancer and her Dad doesn’t really know what he’s doing. She has a couple of close friends but she can’t even tell them her deepest thoughts or troubles. One day at the hospital she meets a girl who invites her to a vampire party.

Kia is intrigued by the idea so goes along with her friends and for the first time in a long time, feels accepted. As Kia gets pulled deeper though she starts to reorganise her priorities, the feeling she gets when she is with the “vampires” is too good, and she always wants more.

Kia starts to forget about everything else with her obsession with the vampires and it doesn’t go unnoticed, but she doesn’t care. Until Kia is so far in she doesn’t know where the line between real life and make believe is drawn.

Kia is both a likeable and an unlikeable character. She is strong in the fact that she puts on a good face when it comes to dealing with people and doesn’t burden people with her issues. But on top of that she is also quite selfish. She thinks only of herself and even when she realises that she hasn’t gone to see her dying mother in over two weeks she still carries on doing whatever she wants.

The other thing I didn’t like about Kia was her willingness to push her new vampiric beliefs on everyone after telling her best friend Aaron that Wicca was stupid.

Thicker Than Water was a very interesting dive into the world of a vampire cult. They bit each other, drank blood (mostly fake though), had houses with “Royal Courts” and even almost a pecking order. Kia quickly rose through those ranks through her association with Damon, a vampire DJ who ran a lot of the parties, DJ at most of them and even hosted some very exclusive ones.

Thicker Than Water held an unrelenting mystery of is it real? Through Kia’s eyes it is definitely understandable that she started to fall into the trap. Even I did.

I think that’s why I got through Thicker Than Water so quickly, even though Kia was a bit annoying, I had to know if it was real.

Thicker Than Water pulled me along with its very clever lure, Kia grated on my nerves a little but other than that it was a very fast-paced, extremely interesting read.

Book Review: Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Review: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
No of Pages: 418
Release Date: 27 May 2010

“You’ve always been my best friend, my soul mate, and now I’ve fallen in love with you too. Why is that such a crime?”

She is pretty and talented – sweet sixteen and never been kissed.

He is seventeen, gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future.

And now they have fallen in love. But...

They are brother and sister.

My Thoughts:

That was possibly the most horrifyingly moving book I have ever read.

The Whitely kids don’t have it easy. Their dad has left. Their mum is an alcoholic with the temperament of a sixteen year old and barely makes it home at night. The responsibility has long since fallen to Lochan and Maya the two eldest children. At just seventeen and sixteen respectively they have managed to keep together their family of five, successfully taking care of their three younger siblings.

Things start turning more pear-shaped than usual. Kit, the thirteen year old middle child is lashing out, staying out until all hours of the night, smoking, drinking and hanging around with a gang. Tiffin and Willa, the two youngest of the clan need constant supervision and attentiveness.

Lochan is trying to study for his final year of school and Maya is only a year off that herself. In troubled times they have always turned to each other, always supported each other and been one another’s rock. They have always been the closest, the best of friends, the surrogate parents to the little ones, the team.

Lochie has always had trouble talking to anyone outside of his family, painfully shy and afraid of speaking in public after nearly losing Maya to another boy at school he realises why he has never wanted anyone else. He loves her, more than a brother should.

Maya has felt the same way and when given the opportunity to finally express herself, she willingly takes the chance.

Forbidden was in a way painful to read. There was no excitement at the unknown, no daring anticipation at the fact that they could be caught at any second. You start out thinking ok, well this will be a standard story about traumatised kids finding comfort in each other, but it is so much more.

You weren’t made to like the idea of incest, even Lochie and Maya hated it at first, you couldn’t sympathise with them, but you could understand what was happening. After their first kiss I had to put the book down and walk away, to be honest, I was disgusted.

You didn’t want them to succeed in finding a way to make their love work, but you almost didn’t want it to end. You didn’t want to continue reading because about halfway through it is easy to see the outcome but you couldn’t put it down.

Suzuma in a way forces you through their pain, by completely consuming you with their lives even though you don’t want to keep going, just like them, somehow you find a way to continue. By the time Forbidden was finished, I was a mess because it forced me to think of things that I didn’t want to think of. You want to write off Lochie as a nutcase, consumed by his own madness but that’s not fair to him, because he fought for so long.

I almost can’t bear to give Forbidden top marks, but it has to have them. I hated Suzuma for what she did to me, what she made me feel. I have never felt so depressed after reading a book, but that is what I want in a book, to be consumed, to be lost, to be pounded, to feel. I am honestly terrified of reading anymore of her work purely because of what Forbidden did to me. So, as her characters had to do; it will just be one step at a time.

Book Review: Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison

Review: Taken by Storm
Series: Taken By Storm - Book 1
Author: Angela Morrison
No. Of Pages: 304
Release Date: 4th February 2010

Leesie Hunt has many rules: No kissing. No sex. No dating outside the Mormon faith.

When Michael Walden—a deep-sea diver who lost his parents in a violent hurricane—arrives in town, Leesie sees someone who needs her. They fall for one another, even though his dreams are tied to the depths of the ocean and hers to salvation above.

Will their intense chemistry be too strong to resist?

Leesie and Michael must make the hardest choice of their lives: whether to follow their beliefs or their hearts.

My thoughts:

This book draws you in and doesn’t let go, even though you really want to get out.

Taken by Storm is good in the same way that it is bad. It depends how you look at it. It features Leesie, whose voice we hear through her poems and Michael whose voice we hear through his diving logs.

Leesie is the Mormon ice queen, no-one touches her and no-one wants to go near her, although it is a game for the guys to see who can pinch her the most.

Michael is the troubled orphan, who recently lost his parents and doesn’t really feel like living anymore.

And so inevitably they meet and the story ensues. Leesie and Michaels relationship develops quickly in pages, but slowly over time which is hard to understand at times. But the time that it was given was ample and well-paced.

They had their troubles with Leesie’s faith and Michael’s belief that love equals making love, which Leesie of course, does not agree with. So will it work?

The simple answer is, no. There is constant bickering and tension between the pair. And it’s ironic, for being you’re not so typical YA romance, it is very close to a real life one. They don’t think in happily ever after in Taken by Storm they are more focused on how they’re going to deal with the upcoming dance, and keeping the “width of the lords book between them at all times”.

When Michael got fed up during one of the “down times” and cheated, I instantly thought (a very nasty word) but then in thinking about it now, who wouldn’t? You’ve just broken up with your frigid girlfriend; you have built up tension and an easy chick waiting for you on the sideline.

Leesie is a good person, don’t get me wrong but she could be quite annoying and easily led Michael on in things you really shouldn’t lead guys on with. For being a Mormon ice-queen who won’t stand to be touched by anyone let alone a non Mormon, her values rapidly fall to the side when it came to even the first couple of meetings with Michael, which I didn’t see as realistic. If you’ve had it drummed into your head for your whole life (and I have) it doesn’t just fall away that easily for some guy that you barely know and who is obviously trouble. It spells disaster.

I think it was sad in a way that Taken by Storm didn’t go smoothly; it puts a damper on other inter-religious relationships. With the thoughts being so different when it came to Michael and Leesie it was like they came from two different planets.

Michael had all the normal non-religious thoughts about all the rules being stupid, Leesie had her high moral ground and faith in God.

Taken by Storm is an enthralling read, and even though it is sad in some ways, in others it is extremely happy; it also brings us out of the clouds of YA and shows us that not everything runs as smooth as one fight and then you’re betrothed for eternal life.

Taken by Storm is realistic, and that is its best attribute, it takes a familiar storyline and puts a unique twist in it making it captivating and memorable.

Also in this Series:
Unbroken Connection
Cayman Summer

Book Review: Stargazer by Claudia Gray

Review: Stargazer
Series: Evernight – Book 2
Author: Claudia Gray
No. Of Pages: 332
Release Date: 1st April 2009

I kissed Lucas again, more slowly this time. We held each other tighter, and I started to wonder how much closer we could get – and then I remembered what it had felt like when I drank his blood.

Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all – vampires, Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them.

But Bianca fell in love with Lucas – a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school.

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross – or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca’s secrets will force her to live a life of lies.

Yet Bianca isn’t the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning...

My Thoughts:


Once again this will only be short because I read this September last year, but I wanted it to be reviewed in lead up to the Hourglass review.

Stargazer was a stronger book than Evernight, still a little silly but definitely a more grounded story.

Bianca once again blunders on in her own little way – can we tell I don’t really like her? – But this book moves more from vampires in to the world of teen angst, and more importantly, teen stupidity.

Bianca is constantly making stupid decisions, defying her parents and sneaking around behind everyone’s back to see the person they are trying to protect her from. Lucas...the vampire hunter.

I was actually cheering for Balthazar during this and every time she turned him down, my heart broke a little for him.

I did however love the wraiths appearance in this book though. I love when a being we don’t usually see crops up in a book, like a wraith. Icy, evil, powerful.

Although Bianca is annoying, Stargazer still held my attention for the entire book and I am intrigued to see what happens in the next instalment of this series.

Others in this series:
Evernight 
Hourglass
Afterlife

Book Review: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

Review: Going Too Far
Author: Jennifer Echols
No. Of Pages: 245
Release Date: 17 March 2009

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn’t make it back.

John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won’t soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won’t be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge – and over....

My Thoughts:


I absolutely LOVE this book!!!

This is by far the best book I have read in a long time. It is so unbelievably powerful.

We view the story from Meg’s point of view, she’s rebellious, she hates the rules and she does everything she can to break them. I can connect to Meg on so many levels that it’s almost scary because I have been there, and in some ways probably still am. Meg has issues yes and they are very real, explain a lot and create a powerful yet vulnerable character.

John doesn’t see it that way, he sees it as kids being reckless and breaking the rules for the sake of breaking the rules, and because of their own stupidity.

And so they are thrown together for a week’s ride doing Johns grave yard shift. John orchestrates it to teach Meg a lesson because he has his own lesson to teach from pain he has felt in the past. The banter that ensues is absolutely hilarious, Meg constantly questioning and John trying to be an intimidating cop.

We start to see changes in the way Meg thinks, and I love the occasional loathing of her blue hair. What once seemed a good idea, now just seems silly.

Meg grows so much during this book that it’s inspiring. John grows as well but as we are seeing his growth through Megs POV we don’t see it as dominantly as Meg’s.

The romance that buds between our main characters is beautiful. It isn’t rushed, and there is a lot of doubt and going out on limbs. I loved how Meg was attempting to convince herself that she was developing Stockholm syndrome instead of admitting that she was starting to crush on a police officer.

I also loved the fact that to get around Meg’s fear of commitment John would plan things without telling her and let her think that it was her idea. Of course she caught on after the fact, but it was still so beautiful to watch.

There aren’t enough words I can use to explain how much I love this book, how much I can connect with it. I still get butterflies when I think about Going Too Far, hell I’ve even got butterflies right now as I’m writing this, I will probably get them again when I post it and a million times after that when I see it on various pages it ends up on.

As soon as I finished it I had the urge to read it again, I still do now and I think it’s attempting to take up permanent residence on my bedside table just tempting me to pick it up and revisit the story of Meg and Johnafter.

I love this book so much and even if the idea of teen angst doesn’t appeal to you, I still implore you to pick it up because it is a story so touching, so moving and so unbelievably powerful that even a person who doesn’t cry often was brought to tears over.