Review: Queen of the Dead (The Ghost and the Goth #2) by Stacey Kade

Title: Queen of the Dead

Series: The Ghost and the Goth #2

Previous book in this series: The Ghost and the Goth

Author: Stacey Kade

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: May 2011

Published by: Disney Hyperion

Source: Owned hardcover copy

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Synopsis:

After being sent back from the light, Alona Dare - former homecoming queen, current Queen of the Dead - finds herself doing something she never expected: working. Instead of spending days perfecting her tan by the pool (her typical summer routine when she was, you know, alive), Alona must now cater to the needs of other lost spirits. By her side for all of this - ugh - “helping of others” is Will Killian: social outcast, seer of the dead, and someone Alona cares about more than she’d like.

Before Alona can make a final ruling on Will’s “friend” or “more” status, though, she discovers trouble at home. Her mom is tossing out Alona’s most valuable possessions, and her dad is expecting a new daughter with his wicked wife. Is it possible her family is already moving on? Hello! She’s only been dead for two months! Thankfully, Alona knows just the guy who can put a stop to this mess.

Unfortunately for Alona, Will has other stuff on his mind, and Mina, a young (and beautiful) seer, is at the top of the list. She’s the first ghost-talker Will’s ever met—aside from his father—and she may hold answers to Will’s troubled past. But can she be trusted? Alona immediately puts a check mark in the “clearly not” column. But Will is - ahem - willing to find out, even if it means leaving a hurt and angry Alona to her own devices, which is never a good idea.

Packed with romance, lovable characters, and a killer cliffhanger, Queen of the Dead is the out-of-this-world sequel to The Ghost and the Goth.

My rating: ★★★★☆
After being sent back from the light (seriously, who does that happen to?? Oh right..), Alona is stuck helping Will and the ghosts who have “unfinished business.” But during one of their missions, they run into another seers, just like Will O.O Alona doesn’t like this at all (remember how Will and Alona might or might not be having a thing?). Will seems to be super curious about this other girl. He says they are just friends and that he just need to know more about his ghostly ability, but Alona doesn’t know if he should believe him.

Review: Monster High by Lisi Harrison

Title: Monster High

Series: Monster High #1

Author: Lisi Harrison

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: September 2010

Published by: Poppy

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis:

From Lisi Harrison, the New York Times bestselling author of The Clique and Alphas, comes a new series with a fresh twist on high school, romance, and the horrors of trying to fit in.
They prefer to call themselves RAD (Regular Attribute Dodgers), but some call them monsters. So far, the "monster" community has kept a low profile in Salem, but this year two new girls enroll at Master High School, and the town will never be the same.

Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and cheerleading. But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters who might be stalking the halls, Frankie finds that life in the "normi" world can be rough for a chic freak like her.

She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver--but can a normi be trusted with her big secret?

My rating: ★★★★☆
I found out about this book through a TV commercial. Yeah, weird, I know lol. It was a commercial about a website for kids where they can play games and whatnot (www.monsterhigh.com). It featured a lot of cool paranormal creatures, ranging from vampires to werewolves, mummies, and even Frankie Stein herself. I always thought that was pretty cool…and later I find out that there are actually books! But Monster High wasn’t exactly what I expected. Is that a bad thing? No. I actually really liked the book! :)

Review: Flawless (Pretty Little Liars #2) by Sara Shepard

Title: Flawless

Series: Pretty Little Liars #2

Previous book in this series: Pretty Little Liars

Author: Sara Shepard

Genre: YA, mystery

Publication date: March 2007

Published by: HarperCollins

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis:

In the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, where the sweetest smiles hide the darkest secrets, four pretty little liars--Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna--have been very bad girls...

Spencer stole her sister's boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. And Hanna's obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives.

And someone named "A" is threatening to do just that.

At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago...but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer's ultracompetitive sister? Or Maya, who wants Emily all to herself? What about Toby, the mysterious guy who left town right after Alison went missing?

One thing's for certain: A's got the dirt to bury them all alive, and with every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message A sends, the girls get a little closer to losing it all.

My rating: ★★★★☆
Years after their best friend Alison disappeared mysteriously, Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hannah start receiving threatening messages by someone who goes by -A. But it couldn’t possibly be Ali herself. She’s dead!

The messages keep on coming, bringing the girls together and wondering who they could be from.

After analyzing the Jena Thing one was and another, the girls figure that the most obvious person who would want to blackmail them is Toby, Jenna’s stepbrother. So why couldn’t Toby be -A?

[Well 1st off, because I watch the show (and I feel the need to mention that its nothing like the books) I know that Toby is not -A. why? Well, IDK, he just seems genuinely nice. Plus, he dies at the end of Flawless O.O I did NOT see that coming!! And so, after Toby dies, -A is still texting the girls…so now they know it wasn’t him.

And thanks to watching the show, I have a strong suspicion that –A is Jenna…or has something to do with it. But IDK for sure; it’s just a hunch.]

I absolutely love this series! It’s a great break from all the paranormal and urban fantasy books I always read. I have always loved a good mystery, and this -A mystery is a good one!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)

Review: Misfit by Jon Skovron

Title: Misfit

Author: Jon Skovron

Genre: YA, paranormal

Publication date: August 2011

Published by: Amulet Books

Source: The publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

Jael Thompson has never really fit in. She’s changed schools too many times to count. The only family she’s ever known is her father, a bitter ex-priest who never lets her date and insists she attend the strictest Catholic school in Seattle. And her mother—well, she was a five thousand year old demon. That doesn’t exactly help.

But on her sixteenth birthday, her father gives her a present that brings about some unexpected changes. Some of the changes, like strange and wonderful powers and the cute skater boy with a knack for science, are awesome. But others, like the homicidal demon seeking revenge on her family? Not so much.

Steeped in mythology, this is an epic tale of a heroine who balances old world with new, science with magic, and the terrifying depths of the underworld with the ordinary halls of high school.

My rating: ★★★☆☆
Jael’s mother was a demon, making her half human, half demon…or how her mother liked to say: all demon and all human. Her mother died when she was a baby, so it’s been only her and her dad for a long time. Only the two of them, moving from place to place every year or two. Why? Because a powerful “Duke from Hell” has been after her her whole life. He thinks half breeds are an abomination, which is why he is set on destroying Jael. But I just think he’s afraid of her ;)

Review: The Angel of Death (Forensic Mystery #2) by Alane Ferguson

Title: The Angel of Death

Series: Forensic Mystery #2

Previous book in this series: The Christopher Killer

Author: Alane Ferguson

Genre: YA, mystery thriller

Publication date: February 2008

Published by: Puffin

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis:

As assistant to her father, the county coroner of Silverton, Colorado, Cameryn Mahoney has seen more gore than the average seventeen-yearold. But even Cameryn is shocked when Kyle O'Neil, the most popular guy in school, discovers the gruesome corpse of their English teacher murdered in his own bed. Kyle is drawn to Cameryn, who wonders if she can trust him with the secret she can't tell her father—that her vanished mother is back in her life. As her relationship with Kyle speeds into romance, Cameryn struggles to unravel her teacher's bizarre death—but is she too preoccupied to identify the killer in time?

My rating: ★★★★★
First of all, can I just say: I knew it!! I knew who the killer was this whole time!! Ha! But I wont tell who it is 'cause I'm cool like that ;) or evil...depends how you look at it :P Or maybe I'll be so tempted to mention something that I'll have to throw in some spoilers...who knows?  ;)