Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

November 18, 2014June 5, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Naturals #2

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?

With her trademark wit, brilliant plotting, and twists that no one will see coming, Jennifer Lynn Barnes will keep readers on the edge of their seats (and looking over their shoulders) as they race through the pages of this thrilling novel.

4 Drink Me Potions

Killer Instinct is what a follow-up sequel should look like. After reading The Naturals, it already amazed me at the high level of proficiency needed in creating all the twists and turns of a plot like that. This book does that justice, even taking the twists to a whole new playing field. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one amazing author.

The story focuses on a group of 5 teenagers with special abilities, called the Naturals. Now, who doesn’t like the sound of that? An emotion reader, lie detector, two profilers and a statistical genius? And this is all happens naturally to them. They are recruited by the FBI to help solve cold cases, but it always leads to participating in an active case. This time, there’s a copycat serial killer on the loose and it gets so much juicier from there!

Reading the story and trying to logically deduce who the killer was, I realized there is a lot of thinking required to throw red-herrings at the readers, and also have them make sense in the context of the plot. It was a very fascinating read with an ending that is not all that predictable.

I appreciated the friendships between the 5 main characters, as well as their individual personalities. Barnes writes in such a way that you can imagine what each person would say, a figure that’s coming to life right on the pages in front of you. They’re not just bland characters you see in every book. I will admit that Michael is the typical “funny” guy who makes the girl smile and can take things lightly, while Dean is the dark, quiet “brooding” guy in the background that intrigues the girl. There is the stereotypical characterization but through context and their character building, it becomes more than just a stereotype, for which I give kudos to Barnes.

There isn’t a lot of romance in this story, so romance lovers beware. However, I feel that romance and love triangles can get in the way of a good mystery story a lot, so I actually appreciated tamping down on hints of romance for most of the book. It allowed the focus to stay on the mystery instead of the drama between the 3 characters.

Overall Recommendation:
Killer Instinct stepped up to its predecessor’s reputation and more. A new intriguing mystery for our favourite Naturals, with suspense and unpredictable twists along the road. A definite read for those who want to know more than “who-dun-it”, and get inside a killer’s head to understand why they do it. Jennifer Lynn Barnes does NOT disappoint with her sequel, leaving you reading until the wee hours of morning just to know the answer. Criminal Minds? Pshh, this is definitely en par.

Review: The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

September 2, 2014June 5, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and — finally — a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn’t necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

4 Drink Me Potions

It took me a long time to get into the story. However, my suggestion is to stick it out for say, the first third to half of the book, because The Geography of You and Me most definitely won me over by the end of it.

The beginning was slower than I had thought it would be. Sure, the boy-meets-girl moment happens almost immediately but I wasn’t feeling much for it. AT FIRST. But wait! As the story took its course, there were moments where I had to sit back and just pause to smile at the pages before me.

Owen and Lucy are rather normal characters, as main protagonists go. I wouldn’t say they’re unlikeable, ’cause for sure they are likeable enough for me to continue reading their respective stories, but they’re not excitingly memorable/unique. Each have something to deal with at the beginning. For Owen, it was dealing with the move to NY and over losing his mom. For Lucy, it was being left alone a lot, with her brothers away for school and parents always travelling around the world. I loved that over the span of the book, they both changed and grew from these experiences.

The romance was cute. It was also slow coming, but eventually I felt that irresistible pull they had on each other just as they were discovering it for themselves too. Long distance relationships are hard, and it requires a lot of commitment to one another. I loved that it explored the ups and the downs in any relationship like that.

Maybe my 4 stars are a bit generous, but how could I not be? The Geography of You and Me has some of my very favourite things in it. A beautiful starlit sky where our protagonists first felt the magic; travelling/exploring beautiful cities around the world; and a romance that conquers the distance between them. Sighhh, it’s just too cute for words.

By the way, I absolutely am grateful that Jennifer E Smith kept the ending realistic. It didn’t take away any of the magic of the relationship, maybe even added to it. The writing still melts my heart as I think back on it.

Overall Recommendation:
What started off slow and almost too boring to continue, The Geography of You and Me holds more promise to it than that if you just dig deeper. With sweeping descriptions of gorgeous cities in Europe and America, any traveller who’s been there (like I have!) or wishes to will enjoy the imagery. Just imagine yourself there along with them! And how could anyone resist a relationship that knows no bounds? Distance may just soften the heart.
I recommend this sweet story to anyone who loves travelling and cute relationships!

Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

September 2, 2014June 5, 2015 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Vampire Academy #1

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES…

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth’s magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires – the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa’s best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger… and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

3.5 Drink Me Potions

Okay, I will admit that I broke my golden rule for this book….I watched the movie version before reading the book. I know. That’s awful, isn’t it? But the plot of the movie (which I had hoped stayed true to the book) intrigued me deeply. After the whole bang that Twilight created, vampire novels just seemed to pop up everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE.

So this is why it took me so long to finally read this series. It’s not like I haven’t seen it around before. I just was never interested in starting. How many more ways can these vampire books be different from each other? It’s hard not to compare them to “rip-offs” of Twilight-esque themes.

I was wrong. This book proved it to me. There are still so many creative things to add onto the vampire mythology that’s already out there. Richelle Mead did not disappoint.

Our protagonist, Rose, is a fireball. Man, I love her. She has a voice that’s so strong and clear, it’s almost like I can see her standing there in front of me. She has no restrictions when it comes to those she cares about. She’s not one of those weak and shy heroines at all. Her strength (and recklessness) is balanced throughout the novel with the frailty of her best friend, Lissa. I liked her too, as she had her own character that was special. She wasn’t as unique or original as Rose was, reminiscent of Disney princesses at first with their love of animals and always-kind attitude, but there were different sides of her that showed as the story progressed.

As for romance, the chemistry between Rose and her mentor were there. Obviously I’m glad it’s not just a hormonal-fueled relationship going on, as the two of them really connect on an emotional level as well. Let’s just say I can’t wait to see how things go with those two.

Overall, this story had turns I did not expect, especially nearer to the ending. I must say that watching the movie spoiled it for me, but I was surprised when I found out there, so I’m pretty sure I would’ve been doubly surprised with the book since I would have spent more time with the characters by reading about them instead. It still lowered my rating a bit (I did know what was going to happen after all), otherwise it may have landed 4 stars. It’s still a great start to a brand new series. I will look forward to reading the rest.

Overall Recommendation:
Vampire fans (and vampire haters)! Don’t overlook this book like I had for so long. Just because there are so many out there, I do understand vampires can get tiring, but this one is an exception. Richelle Mead created a brand new world of vampire lore, set in a school of teenage vampires that do the craziest things sometimes. How much more fun can it get? Danger, romance, backstabbing(!), it has it all. A great start to a series, I suggest you give this one at least a try before deciding if the series is worth it or not to read.