Location: United States
Member Since:
June 07, 2012
Amanda S
Smashwords book reviews by Amanda S
-
Faelorehn - A Young Adult Dark Fae Romance Novel
on June 11, 2012
For starters, I have to say I really enjoyed this novel! I'm so glad I contacted Ms. Johnson about reading and reviewing her novel. I was intrigued with the description and I was not disappointed at all. I was only disappointed when I had to put the novel down so I could sleep last night!! Needless to say, I am looking forward to book two in the trilogy. This was a great set up for a series because there are still so many unanswered questions that leave he next books room to explore and discover. I'm hooked and will be continuing for sure! Meghan Elam is a 17 year old outcast and former orphan who was very lucky to be adopted into a loving family. She struggled with visions, hearing voices and recurring dreams that she never really escaped. Plus her ever changing eye color is just icing on the cake. Despite countless treatments, nothing ever seemed to help. After having been labeled crazy by her classmates, she realizes she is better off keeping the strange happenings to herself. She has a great group of friends with whom she has bonded with given the fact that the five of them are all outsiders. They reminded me of a modern day Breakfast Club, but the twist is they are all real friends rather than friends for a day. So the beginning of the novel does a great job setting up Meghan's life with her friends and her attempt at some kind of normalcy that she tries to maintain even after the craziness begins when Cade comes into her life and offers her an explanation to those voices and visions. She is Faelorehn. A fact that will begin to shine some light on who she is as things begin to unfold. Meghan is a strong female character which I loved! I would much rather read a story with a strong female than a weak one who becomes complete mush when confronted with an attractive boy. Ok sure she is human and does swoon over the boy, but she is capable of carrying on with her life as well which makes her a much more compelling character than say Bella in Twilight. Yay for having a backbone! I really enjoyed Cade as well. We don't see him too much with this novel. We really only get snippets of him but I'm hoping we see much more of him in the future. Cade is a mystery and I look forward to learning more about him. The Celtic myths and lore are intriguing because with the market so saturated with Vampire and Werewolves THIS novel offers something completely different. I enjoyed learning about the myths along with Meghan rather than feeling I needed to do some research to find out just what the heck all of this is. Learning along with her helped me connect with the character more. I enjoyed learning about the legends and making the connections with Meghan to the world she was learning existed alongside her own. I admit the pacing of this is gradual and for some people it may be too slow, but for me this worked very well. I liked the fact that everything didn't completely culminate at the end and get wrapped up in a neat little bow. As I said there are some unanswered questions lingering that have me wondering just where things are going to go. One of my favorite quotes: "If I were an ordinary high school girl and if her were an ordinary high school boy, I would be hoping for some romantic liaison on his part right then. But neither of us was ordinary and he was definitely not a high school boy." If I were to be so bold as to make any comparisons, when honestly I don't think there can be this story is a one of a kind, there are elements that reminded me of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series just with the fact that Meghan never knew of this world and she now has to learn how to become a part of it. I loved the Mortal Instruments and I find that I am just as hooked on this series as I was with Clare's novel. For my full review check out my blog @ areadersaddiction.blogspot.com
-
Dolmarehn - A Young Adult Dark Fae Romance Novel
on Aug. 25, 2012
This is the second installment in the Otherworld series by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson. I had forgotten how much I get caught up in this series! I just love these characters! When I sat down with this book.....IT ALL CAME BACK TO ME. I was hooked once again and was regretful every time I had to put this book down. This book picks up where we left Meghan after Faelorehn. She has been healing and recouping over the summer after her run in with the Morrigan. While Meghan has been healing she has been a bit reclusive and Cade has been MIA, which has caused her to become a little obsessive over him. But hey lets face it I would obsess over him too! Meghan gains more exposure to the Fae part of her origin thanks to Cade when he finally makes an appearance. He gifts her with a Merlin for her birthday so that she has her own spirit guide and he can then take Fergus with him back to Elie. She learns to care for the little bird and the bird becomes her protector. Meghan goes to Eile on three occasions over the course of the novel and Meghan begins to learn more about herself, her magic and her origins. She also learns a little bit more about the mysterious Cade. I admit I fell in love with Cade. I didn't think I could like him any more than I already did after Faelorehn, but what do you know I was wrong. In terms of pacing, while the last book worked to set things up this novel has a lot more action and a lot more going on. We learn a lot more about the characters and their world of Eile.The bulk of the action takes place in the Otherworld while the mortal world is relatively calm. Don't mistake me, I don't consider Meghans encounters with the fae creatures in the mortal world to be calm by any means, but the amount of action between the Otherworld and the mortal world are very different. Well I'm not giving out the details because I want to leave that to the reader to discover, but the ending left me anxious and waiting impatiently for the last installment in the series. I can't wait to join these characters again and to see just where things are going to go.