"Twin Souls" by DelSheree Gladden

I picked up Twin Souls because I really enjoyed DelSheree Gladden's Destroyer trilogy (see my review here). Her writing is fast-paced and addictive. You get immersed in the story and keep wanting more long after it is over. Twin Souls was no exception, and luckily it is a trilogy so I have two more books to go. 

Unlike The Destroyer trilogy, this is not a dystopian novel. Twin Souls is an urban fantasy, rooted in the Native American mythology and legends. Personally, I love mythology and I had high expectations about the book before I even started reading it. 

As all great legends, it is centered around a love story of a great hero. Uriah and Claire seem to be made for each other and despite her father's objections, they are making plans for a summer wedding. Following their parents' wishes, they go to the elders to receive permission for a wedding on the tribal lands. To everyone's utter shock and dismay, the tribe's shaman denies their request. She claims to have gotten a vision which precludes her from granting them permission to get married. Nothing like this had happened for as long as anyone can remember, and if the shaman is telling the truth, all legends and fairy tales Uriah grew up with are real. This visit to the elders sets in motion the chain of events which will test Uriah and Claire's love and put Uriah on the path to self-discovery and realization of his own nature and destiny. 


The book is well-written. The story is unique and authentic. I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes mythology, legends and the supernatural. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

"Let It Snow" by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

This is definitely a nice book to read around Christmas. It is a compilation of three stories by three different authors. All three stories are set in the same location and have common characters. Each story zeroes in on a different couple, but you will see them again in the following stories. Reading this book reminded me of watching "Love Actually" or "New Year's Eve", the movies that have several story lines, but the characters all one way or another know each other and all come together at the very end. Overall, I would say the stories get progressively better as you go along. So I liked the final one best of all. John Green wrote the second one, and I was a bit disappointed in it. I guess I had high expectations for his writing. Definitely a great book to curl up with near a Christmas tree with a cup of hot chocolate. These are all fluffy love stories with couples finding true love or reuniting on Christmas Eve/Day. It will also make a great holiday present for a book-lover in your family.

Reading during Holidays

With Thanksgiving behind us, my next several posts will be centered around holiday reads and reading during holidays.

My most cherished childhood/college memories have to do with reading during winter breaks. Growing up, my parents did not have much money and my brother and I did not get lots of presents for Christmas. However, I always got a good book as a gift from my mom. I remember the feeling of anticipation that I would get a new book to read and then actually reading it late into the night sitting on the couch by the twinkling Christmas tree in the family room. Those are the moments I treasure as I think about holidays. It is also a reminder to me that it does not matter how small is the gift, what we will remember is how that gift made us feel. Books were always my favorite presents to get, and my family always knew the types of books I loved: a mix of adventure and historical fiction, mysteries or detective stories. That love for books never died, and I still prefer getting books to just about anything else for the holidays. So this year, I already got quite a few books to read over the holidays and December is definitely shaping up to be a great reading month for me. Stay tuned for updates on the best holiday reads!

"The Infinite Sea" by Rick Yancey

Unlike some other readers who reviewed this book, I really enjoyed this sequel. If you have not read it and are hesitant to pick it up because of lukewarm reviews, I suggest you give it a try first. I liked The Infinite Sea much better than The 5th Wave (see my review here). The first book was really slow going for me, especially the first 150 pages or so. The Infinite Sea, on the other hand, is well written, things move along at a nice pace and a new twist to the whole situation is gradually introduced. Since this is part 2 in a trilogy, there is not much I can share about the plot without giving away too much. The story continues where it left off in The 5th Wave. The main characters are still trying to survive and evade silencers, Commander Vosch and his recruits. Cassie, Evan and Ringer are really starting to question everything they know about the alien invasion. In particular, they try to make sense of why would a technologically advanced species need to stage several waves of invasion when they could have easily wiped out the entire humankind. I really liked diving deeper into the minds of the main characters (especially Ringer). Overall, this is a very good sequel, I can't wait to read the conclusion

Let's Talk about Series

It is the last day of the month so I thought I would do another post on what I have been reading.

I started a new series that's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I finished the first book last week. This book seems to have gotten mixed reviews: some find too many similarities with Twilight, others think there is too much emphasis on romance and not enough action. I personally liked this book. I liked the writing - it is very lyrical almost poetic at times. Sure, it is about werewolves, but it does not mean it could not be beautifully written. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I also inadvertently got sucked into reading Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard. The first book was free on Amazon so I read it. I had never watched the TV show and did not know what the book was about. However, because it is a mystery, I felt I needed to keep reading just to find out who the bad guy was. What a mistake! You do not learn ANYTHING until book 4 and even then, it is not even close to the end of the story.  Book 4 was the only one in this series that I thought was half way decent. Books 1 through 3 read more like a soap opera with an undertone of a bad horror movie (lightning flashing, figures appearing out of nowhere, etc, etc). Book 4 was interesting, finally provided some closure and really pulled me in. I am now reading book 4.5 - a collection of holiday stories about the main characters, and these are also quite disappointing. I don't think I'll be continuing with this series.

"The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

The Book of Three was mentioned by one of my favorite authors as her childhood favorite. It was published in the 1960s and since then has won the hearts of many readers. This is the first book in a five-part series. I have only read the first one so far. The story is inspired by Welsh lore and mythology and is set in the land of Prydain, where fantastical creatures walk the earth, magic is real and valiant heroes get into sword fights with evil sorcerers. The book follows the adventures of Taran the assistant Pig-Keeper and an aspiring hero, who is thrown into the thick of war between good and evil and is able to overcome tough situations not so much through his swordsmanship, but through the greatness of his heart. If you enjoy high fantasy and want to read a well-written and original story, this book is for you. It is pretty short (around 200 pages), so you will breeze through it in no time. Happy reading! 

"The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey

I read this book last month, but just have not gotten around to posting a review. Also, I was hoping to read the second book in the trilogy (The Infinite Sea) and do a joint review of both books. However, I am waiting for the sequel to become available at my local library and feel like I need to review the first book while it is still fresh in my mind. Overall, I would rate The 5th Wave four out of five stars. This book is very popular and a lot of people like it very much. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because it starts out really slow. Things start moving along only once you get past the first 150 pages or so. I also could not shake the feeling that the premise of the story was very similar to The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I am not sure if anyone else felt that way, but the whole concept of aliens taking over human bodies felt eerily familiar. This feeling did go away once I got past the slow start and the story picked up the pace. I thought the plot was very original and I liked how Yancey keeps you guessing about who the bad guys are throughout the book. If you like sci-fi and aliens, definitely check this one out. I personally do not read many books about alien invasions and I thought the plot was a bit darker than some other sci-fi novels. I am looking forward to reading the sequel and will post a review of it as well.