Tina SmithCritiques

****I received this arc in exchange for an honest review****

This book was a very different read for me, and it made a very nice change.

Here we have a story surrounding the wolf shape shifting topic and it really was a good read.

The story was well written and easy to follow, the characters were fantastic and different. It makes a change to have a female alpha.

The ending, well what can I say.

If you love this genre and wolves then this is the read for you.

This is the sequel to the first in the series Forbidden

This story was told differently to the first, even though it picks up where it left off, there seems to be a different writing style here.

There are a lot of flashback scenes, I do like a few but there were times I felt it was too much. Saying that it was another good read.

This series seems to get better was each book is released.

There is a lot more action and adventure, at times a little darker. We seem to be back to the writing style so the first book and I found it flowed a bit better.

A good read and a fantastic follow up book

Now we are patiently waiting for the next book

****I received this arc in exchange for an honest review****

This book was a very different read for me, and it made a very nice change.

Here we have a story surrounding the wolf shape shifting topic and it really was a good read.

The story was well written and easy to follow, the characters were fantastic and different. It makes a change to have a female alpha.

The ending, well what can I say.

If you love this genre and wolves then this is the read for you.

This is the sequel to the first in the series Forbidden

This story was told differently to the first, even though it picks up where it left off, there seems to be a different writing style here.

There are a lot of flashback scenes, I do like a few but there were times I felt it was too much. Saying that it was another good read.

This series seems to get better was each book is released.

There is a lot more action and adventure, at times a little darker. We seem to be back to the writing style so the first book and I found it flowed a bit better.

A good read and a fantastic follow up book

Now we are patiently waiting for the next book

****I received this arc in exchange for an honest review****

This book was a very different read for me, and it made a very nice change.

Here we have a story surrounding the wolf shape shifting topic and it really was a good read.

The story was well written and easy to follow, the characters were fantastic and different. It makes a change to have a female alpha.

The ending, well what can I say.

If you love this genre and wolves then this is the read for you.

This is the sequel to the first in the series Forbidden

This story was told differently to the first, even though it picks up where it left off, there seems to be a different writing style here.

There are a lot of flashback scenes, I do like a few but there were times I felt it was too much. Saying that it was another good read.

This series seems to get better was each book is released.

There is a lot more action and adventure, at times a little darker. We seem to be back to the writing style so the first book and I found it flowed a bit better.

A good read and a fantastic follow up book

Now we are patiently waiting for the next book

Well well well another good read, action pack, that grabs you right from the beginning.

The author certainly has done her research on mythology and incorporated it in her book.

Well written, and makes you want the next book straight away.

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Written for young adults 'Forbidden' is the first in the 'Wolf Sirens' series. The legend of the Angel and the Wolf intrigues me but the preface's description of the legend's effect on Shade is too detailed. This interesting information would be better drip fed into the story through the characters, making it easier to absorb.

The first half of this book didn't compel me but I persevered and found the second half more to my taste. I appreciate this book is aimed at young adults and first love and this definitely came across when Lila is torn between two potential lovers. The first person point of view limits the potential of this story because we only see things through Lila's eyes and I would like to know what the men in her life were thinking and the mysterious Cresida.

There were some interesting twists in this story which made it suspenseful and I liked Lila. I would love to see how she progresses into her destiny.

If supernatural wolves are your thing and you enjoy reading about popular paranormal themes you should read this. I am hooked enough to try book two in the series 'Wolf Sirens: Fever.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Dafuq did I just read?

Putting it concisely: This book was a sloppy, horrible mess.

This book leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have never read something like this before, and not in a good way. I don't want it to seem like I'm hating on Forbidden: Discover the Legend for the hell of it; it truly is this terrible and it's hard for me to conceal my anger towards this.

First and foremost, I want to put it out there that I was only able to bear about 65% of the book; the rest, I skimmed. I rarely skim books, which just displays how much this was a pain to read.

The Writing
The writing was amateur at best, childish at its worst. Filled with run-on sentences, unorganized paragraphs, and spelling and grammatical errors, I felt like I was reading a story written by a 12-year-old. It made the novel a million times harder to follow, in addition to the confusing plot.

Not only that, but Forbidden was jam-packed with unneeded mental questions the narrator/MC was aiming at herself. It got repetitive and tedious. Sometimes, there were paragraphs consisted entirely of mental questions.

C'mon, all these errors shouldn't be done by an author. It's all Writing 101.

Don't believe me? Here are just a few examples:

"I didn't pry further. I hoped as she had the key, that it wasn't stolen and she didn't seem the type. I wondered who had been pissed off enough to have keyed it. I learnt Giny was short for Giane--even though it was the same length, she told me with a laugh." And that is all in one paragraph, might I add.

"Hers were the deepest brightest blue I had ever seen and we weren't in the sun, but they sparkled."

"I was so pale I was green." Uh-huh. I never thought green would be classified as "pale".

Lila- The Main Character
Moving on to the MC with no personality, Lila. Or, if you consider being a snob as having a personality, I guess you could say she has somewhat of a persona. A shallow one, nonetheless.

Anyway, Lila, who the author wasn't bothered enough to have developed, was a judgmental snob. I like to describe her as a hypocrite, since she goes around judging people before she gets to know them and magically knows all their bad qualities-- qualities that she undeniably possessed.

Now, I want to make it clear that I don't have a problem with flawed heroines. In fact, I prefer reading of those than of Mary-Sues. But her. She is a different story altogether, It was downright irksome to have to be in her head for so many pages. That girl gave me a major headache. *takes ibuprofen*

Here's a quote that displays her judgmental self:

"She had a small gap in her front teeth which gave her more character than she appeared to possess before as she smiled widely at me."

Look who's talking about having no character! Besides this being judgmental and hypocritical, it makes no sense whatsoever.

And another great exhibition of her personality:

"As I gazed at him I unfortunately knew then that I found his friend, Sky, far more attractive, but if he was seconds, then I sure couldn't compromise."

So looks are far more important than personality? How could you be so shallow?

Oh, and my favorite:

"I was decidedly more like Giny, maybe slightly looking I supposed, otherwise he would date her, although he wasn't with Lily or Bianca either, and as far as I could tell they weren't otherwise taken. Perhaps I'd underestimated myself and I liked that thought."

Perhaps you are in dire need of a reality check to fix your shallowness, hon.

"The thought of becoming a werewolf appealed to me, not for Reid or the eternal life, or anything- but the possibility that then I would be beautiful enough for Sky."

I sincerely hope that there aren't actually people like this. I really do.

I won't even go into the under-developed supporting characters. I hate all of them. And I hate the plot, too.

Furthermore, why was Artemis even brought up in the Prologue? I'm really curious. It's not like she was mentioned at all in the rest of the book.

In the past, I have only read one other werewolf book prior to this, and that is [b:Shiver|6068551|Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328839272s/6068551.jpg|6244926] by Maggie Steifvater. While Forbidden has nothing on Shiver, I didn't exactly like Steifvater's novel. So, I've learned my lesson. I won't be reading anything by this author, nor anything on werewolves.

This book was good, but it definitely has first book syndrome. I felt like the author was a wonderful writer. But too much focus was placed on building up the world for the sake of the series. It took away from the story for me. The characters are interesting enough, and I did feel a connection to them. I'd be interested to see where this series is going.

I had a hard time with this read. It seemed to need a little more editing. I liked the plot line in general. It is a good first book by the author though.

This young adult book geared, to those who want to read about werewolves, begins in much the same way that Twilight did. Lila is a 17 year old who has moved to a small town from the big city. She has a mother who is recently divorced and not the most hands-on of parents. She is rebellious, strong willed and interested in belonging but unsure where she should and will ultimately fit in. She catches the eye of the athletic beautiful in-crowd who eagerly include her in their group. She also catches the eye of someone in her class named Cresida who warns her against being part of the in-crowd. There is love, angst, a bit of sex and a different twist to the werewolf mythology by bringing in Artemis, Apollo and Zeus. The first book in the series left me wanting to read the next book even though I had not thought I would in the first half of the book.

Very enjoyable read about a young girl with supernatural potential being courted by a Werewolf pack. Gripping tale about Lisa a young girl with a hazy past and family she never knew. She's transferred to new home in a small town where werewolves and humans live side by side, something everyone in town knows about but she and her highly medicated mother have yet to discover.

**Review written for an originally posted on my blog, Book Bliss. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review**

Review:3 stars

General: This book is one hell of a ride and I am not sure if I mean that in a good way or a bad at this point, so I am writing this all out before I assign a rating to it and see where my mind goes.

Forbidden was a difficult read for me. I thought the writing itself was great. The worldbuilding and the plot itself were good. However, one of the issues for me was the pacing was off. There was almost too much world building. In fact, had this not been a YA novel I probably would not have finished it as it was very slow. But I have found very few werewolf YA so I pushed myself through. Thankfully about halfway through it really kicks up speed and was a good thing.

The plot itself is horribly depressing – in a good way. Full of drama and loss and honestly it was represented wonderfully. However the characters sincerely dragged this novel down for me. I was in no way connected with the characters and was annoyed for most of the book.

So does wonderful writing and a strong plot cross out bad pacing and annoying characters? Unfortunately me for it did not this time. The characters were just too off for me.

Characters: Lila- Lila is one of the worst characters I think I have read in a YA. I do not say this disrespectfully as many people may find her endearing and sympathy worthy. I on the other hand wanted to smack her. She experienced a lot of loss in her life. Divorce, a move and then death in numbers once her “new life” began. It is easy to find pity for her at first as she is written well in the beginning. As the book continued she continued to whine, continued to feel like she was owed something and over all made stupid assumption and stupid choice one right after the next.

Once I started reading Lila's POV, I immediately disliked her as her actions and reactions didn't sit well with me. Her mother was completely absent from almost everything. She lets Lila do whatever she wants and doesn't ask any questions. All of the characters were a little flat to my test; the emphasis was placed on their looks - All the guys were hot and all of the girls average compared to 'The Clique. Also I had a problem with Cresida part, she supposed to be some kind of guardian, but it really didn't seem much.

But I did like the base idea of the Hunter = Artemis(Dana in Rome), as I do love Greece mythology. (and It also creates a whole new spin to the werewolf myth). I always had a conflicting feeling about Artemis.... as a teenager I did romanticized her life as a nature element but I didn't like her harsh and impetuous judgment and acts. Maybe in this Lila somewhat resemble her.

I was also intrigue about this small town of Shade with its weird people and its parallel existence.

I didn't have any problem with the stereotypical love struck heroine who is obsessed with an inhuman. It is an indispensable part of the fast light plot,and make things interesting. But as I could understand her crush with Skye I didn't understand what 40 yo guy find in this teenager.

This is a real fast reading ... but I found myself skipping parts which I was too impatience to read and I find this kind of fault in the plot. It is quiet disturbing if you can skip parts and don't feel guilty about it.
Overall, It's a solid start to a decent paranormal YA, will absolutely pick up the next in the series to see what happens next.

The second book in the Wolf Sirens series picks up with the Epilogue from book one In Fever we got to know about the background of the other characters a lot more and how they became wolfs or hunters. We see how and why they acted the ways they did. Like how did Sam make others do what she wanted (her special talent). How Cresida came to live with her Aunt. and about her motives .We also, learn about Cresida past with Skye of werewolves and about her growing feeling to Reid. (For me Reid is controversial character as my knowledge about his past and motives expand.)

In this book you learn more about huntress role towards the werewolves. Lila learned more about herself as well as her enemy. But her character still ambiguous for me. We lean that not only are going through a painful change, but also the huntress has to go go through. If the change to a werewolf is due to a very contagious poison, the huntress change is not contagious but look like a very bad case of flue.
We also learn that, Lila has a hard time accepting that Sky is dead and gone. She wants to leave town and look for him see where he died, But she is always being watched and manipulated by Cresida.
All this created a much bigger role for Cres (Cresida). While Sam is out of the picture Cresida kind of replacing her as alpha for Reid and Jackson. She also has to train her but as a mix of werewolf and a hunter she do it only partially, mainly to keep her busy and tired. Lila will have to learn about her part and heritage by herself, maybe with the help of the daughter of a previous hunter (this part wasn't clear), which, also saved her from drawing in Artemis river once upon a time.

The town - Shade - is more isolated then in the first book and this time it got more Australian characteristic ( which I notice only when I encountered the tea tree and then of course I went and discovered, to my pleasure, that Tina Smith is of course Australian) .

The connection to mythological Artemis in also stronger and there are more explanations about.

I enjoyed the new character, Tisane, even though, she seemed underused. I would have liked to have seen more dialogue and experiences between Tisane and Lila.

We also learn about the other mysterious werewolf pack and their connection to the one of the hunters ( through Tisane and Narine). The other pack knew about Lila and has part in the responsibility (?) of Cres's control over her.

Overall, I look forward to the next installment in this series and want to read more about Lila's journey towards her destiny.½

3 STARS

Fever started off slow for me. Don't know if it is because I forgot a lot of the book or what. I admit to liking second half of the book a lot more.

We get to read the background of the other characters a lot more and how they became wolfs or hunters. We see how and why they acted the ways they did. Like how come Sam liked to make others do what she wanted. How Cresida came to live with her Aunt. We learn that Cresida likes some of the wolves too.
I like how the characters were enriched by the more we knew about their pasts.

Fever sets up really good for book 3. Now if my memory will work I will be ready for it the sooner the better.
Lila has a hard time accepting that Sky is dead and gone. She wants to leave town and look for him see where he died. But she is always being watched. Cresida has been training her to keep her busy and tired.
The high school is mourning this is the second death within months. Lila has to learn about handling death.

I love the cover of Fever! It draws me in to the wolf.

Some people when they get bitten change where others die from the fever It tells a lot of the conversions stories and what their families went through the tough times.

I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it and be part of their blog tour.

4STARS

Mostly it is high school typical of every high school, You have your clicks, don't fit in, don't get along with your parents. You have a crush on someone and someone different likes you. All the regular teenage dramas except you learn that some of the teenagers are not teenager or even human. That jealousy can kill you. That the weird girl has a reason for being different. That their is more differences around than just country over city.

Lila's parents got a divorce and her mom has moved back to the town she grew up it. It is cheaper to live in the country than the city. Lila's first few days of school she realizes that she does not fit in. No one even talks to her. Her mom does not care about her.
Then when she meets someone Cresida she tries to tell her about the werewolves. That they want her. Cresida is different. She used to be one of the popular kids. Now she stays off by herself.
The cool kids invite her to join their group that is competing in dance troupe they are short one girl. They start to pressure her to come watch them. They make her feel like she belongs.
One of the cool guys Reid becomes her boyfriend fast. Lila ends up sleeping with him but all she can think of is another boy Sky.
Cresida is still watching her. Warning her away from the group and than telling her it might be better if she does hang with them.

I cared about the characters. I wanted things to workout for Lila. It is funny that Lila's mom was worried more about her when she was doing good then when she was sneaking out drinking and having sex.
As a parent I did not like how fast and easy Lila and Reid got together. Especially when she was thinking about Sky Reid's best friend.
The Mythology of where and how the werewolves came to be really has not made sense to me. Maybe as the next book comes out I will see and understand that part of the story more.
Some of the werewolves are much older than high school age. Werewolves look really young and fit. You can't just tell how old one is by looking at them.
I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. I hate having to wait for the next part of the story.

In Forbidden, Lila and her mother move to Shade due to her mother's divorce. As Lila joins the in process school year and tries to make friends and adapt she discovers, things are not as they seem on the surface.

Lila discovers who she was meant to be and who her fellow students are throughout the tale.

The book starts with the legend of the town, which I found greatly enjoyable and feel adds to the authenticity of the story line.

The characters and story are well written and engaging. At times, I did want to slap some sense into the characters but looking back at myself at that age, I want to slap some sense into myself.

While, I am still not sure how I feel about the ending, it is passionately and well written.

Overall, definitely a enjoyable tale.

Night Fall details the preparations for and the battle between the Cult and non-Cult members.

As with the previous two books in the series, there is some local mythology or legend at the beginning of the book.

This book was formatted differently than the others which was a bit confusing. The most confusing part being instead of ending during a chapter, it ends with an epilogue. As with all books/tales involving life stories, it is not truly ended, I still have questions, but perhaps I am reading too much into the format.

The story line and characters are detailed and well written. The quick moving and engaging plot grabs the reader early.

Definitely an entertaining tale.

Fever, starts where Forbidden ended. While there is forward movement to the overarching storyline, there is significant back story for many of the characters involved.

While the background is interesting and well told, a couple times it was a little difficult to remember who was the focus for the chapter and what was going on in the current or present portion of the story.

Negatives aside and without having read the third book, this feels like a good bridge/background story between the initial/introduction book and the finale.

This was an interesting twist on a paranormal story, encompassing some ‘coming of age’ struggles with the main character, Lila, as well as coming to realize that the world is far more complex than she realized. In reading this book, there were some lags in the forward motion, and some pieces seemed to be dropped in without reason, but all does come clear in the end.

The writer shows a facile hand with both description and development, both facets serve to enhance the reader’s experience while providing a series of contrasts for the reader to envision a world that is different from the one they inhabit. The research into mythology is integrated into the story, and the result is a polished set of contrasts and contradictions that feel both plausible and heartbreaking, creating a real page turner. The ending is satisfactory, while still leaving a desire to know more and this leads beautifully into a second story: and this is the first of a series. As a starter it does leave the reader with great desire to know more and to see just where Lila will finally find her own satisfaction and solutions to the many difficulties she has encountered.