Neverland & Pan's Revenge by Anna Katmore

     Neverland and Pan's Revenge by Anna Katmore


Rating: 4 .5stars

Synopsis (Neverland): Why is there a boy who doesn’t want to grow up?
How can an apple start the sweetest romance in fairytale history?
And what does a ruthless pirate have to do with it all?


Angelina McFarland loves reading fairytales. But she never dreamed of falling right into one herself. That’s exactly what happens when she slips on her balcony and a flying Peter Pan catches her mid-fall.

Ending up in Neverland where no one seems to age and laws of nature are out of control, Angel has no idea how to get home. Worse, the ruthless Captain Hook captures her and keeps her trapped on his ship, the Jolly Roger, where she gets caught between the lines of a timeless battle. But the more time Angel spends with the captain, the more she sees beneath his ruthless façade.

As Angel desperately tries to find a way to return to her real life, she discovers a train ticket to London in her pocket. It won’t be any help in getting off the island, but as her memory fades away the longer she stays, this is all she has left to remind her of her former life and why she can’t give up trying.

Or is staying in Neverland forever the better choice after all?

Review: I love, love, love, love, love this series. I bought Neverland on a whim - it sounded interesting and it got great reviews and I'm so glad I did! Neverland is written in a dual POV - Angelina 'Angel' and James 'Jamie' Hook. Angel is thrown into Neverland when she falls off her balcony but don't go expecting this to end up like the Disney fairy tale. While Peter Pan does catch her, they soon part ways after an argument and Angel ends up in the hands of notorious pirate Captain James Hook.

The characters in this are so great. Angel is a strong heroine who knows what she wants and won't put up with anything that could deviate her from her path. Except maybe, possibly falling in love with a Pirate. Angel and James (or Jamie as he's also known) get off to a rocky start - he is a pirate - but, after saving her from one of Peter Pan's pirate traps, the pair begin to grow closer.

I love James. You really get a feel for him as a character. His life is balanced between being a pirate and being the person he wants Angel to see and get to know. It's quite funny to see the moral dilemma James faces as he starts to fall in love with Angel and, fair warning. Pirates do swear - a lot - so if you're against swearing in books this probably won't be for you, but for me it just added to the authenticity.

In this series, Peter Pan is James' little half brother. They're past is quite complicated but it wasn't an easy childhood and both have suffered for it, leading to the ultimate decision from Peter to never grow up and to battle with his brother over...well...everything. This added a unique twist to this tale because, while it's something I've never really thought about until now, it does answer the question of why Peter and Hook are enemies.

The romance is cute. Again, another warning, there is a lot of fluff between Angel and James which isn't going to be for everyone. Personally, I love a good romance (don't know if you can tell ;) ) so it didn't really bother me but like I said, I know it isn't for everyone. The only reason this book isn't 5 stars is because the romance does seem to develop quickly - one minute they hate each other and the next they're kissing. But it's very easy to overlook this one little flaw. I completely fell into this story and loved every single second of it.

                                                               
Pan's Revenge

Rating: 4 stars

Pan's Revenge (Adventures i“Are you ready to be kissed?” he breathes against the corner of my mouth.

My knees start to tremble and there are butterflies in my belly now. Way too many. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I think it’s the best idea I had in a long time.”



Desperate to leave Neverland and find his love in this notorious town called London, James Hook makes a gravSynopsis: Desperate to leave Neverland and find his love in this notorious town called London, James Hook makes a grave mistake. He puts his own wishes above those of his half-brother and once-arch-enemy, Peter Pan.

The consequences alter Peter’s life in a way no one could have foreseen. The boy who wouldn’t grow up swears revenge, and what better way than by stealing Hook’s girl?

The first to arrive in London, Peter finds Angel once again without any memory of ever being in Neverland. That gives him time to plant the idea of a ruthless pirate captain in her mind—someone who tried to kill her once and is now on his way to kidnap her again. If only this stubborn girl would stop playing with Peter’s head. He’d completely forgotten how beautiful she was. Or is it only because he sees her through different eyes now?

Through a shower of falling stars, a loop around the moon, and then a hard left at the Clock Tower—when James Hook finally arrives in London, he has to fight with a vengeance for his love and face a boy who grew up after all...

Review: The second and final book in this duology and while I enjoyed this one almost as much as the first I didn't really like the evolution of Peter. The premise was good. Three months after book 1 ends, Angel has forgotten about her adventures in Neverland but James hasn't - far from it. He's desperately trying to find a way to be with Angel again but, during these attempts, James manages to get Peter to destroy the watch (read book 1 to understand this bit because I don't want to give away too many spoilers). This means that Peter Pan who was once the boy who never grew up - is growing up and fast.

Determined to take revenge on James for ruining his life, Peter figures out the way to London and tries to steal Angel away from James. This started well but I didn't like who Peter turned into. As he grew older, he became more and more cynical and bent on revenge and I didn't think this evolution necessarily worked.

James and Angel are thrown back together and, because Angel doesn't remember James, hilarity and chaos ensue when James finally gets to London. He has three days to win Angel back but Angel is incredibly stubborn so, James does what any pirate does, and kidnaps her. Again. I loved this plot point because the two characters are so stubborn and so insistent that the other needs to listen to them and do what they want that the whole situation just makes you smile, especially as it's so reminiscent of how Angel and James originally met.

The ending of this is so sweet and perfect and just...argh! I loved it and it leaves it open for another book. Anna Katmore has said that she isn't planning a third book but the option is there if she wants it. Despite this the ending is satisfying and draws everything to a conclusion. But, on the off chance that Anna Katmore is reading this (she's not but let me pretend for a minute) then a third book would be great. Maybe? Possibly?

This series is a really easy read - I got through one book in a day I loved it so much. Definitely a duology to pick up!

(Just a quick note regarding Julie Kagawa's Blood of Eden series. I'm not going to be reviewing the third book the Forever Song because I haven't really enjoyed the series and I can live without reading the final book which means for me, that I haven't really enjoyed the series. I'm sorry to all those who are waiting for the review but my review for The Iron Fey should be up soon - there's just a lot of them to do so it's taking a while)

No copyright intended, images from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22056857-pan-s-revenge & http://annakatmore.com/2014/03/21/neverland-story-and-cover/

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Synopsis:
Out here in the Fringes, there is only one rule: Blood calls to blood.
She has done the unthinkable: died so she might continue to live.
Now Allie, the reluctant teenage vampire who was cast out of Eden, and Zeke, the human boy who loves her, must attempt to save the world from a deadly new strain of plague. In order to do so, they must first hunt down the monster who holds the promise of the cure and Allie s beloved mentor in his sadistic grip....
Joined by Allie's blood brother, Jackal, this unlikely posse of companions will brave a landscape stalked by raiders, rabids, and rogue vampires. But even if they survive, they re bound for the Inner city, and a vicious showdown that will test their bonds in ways they never expected.
It may just be that becoming undead was the easy part. Confronting the horrors of Allie's awakening hunger, her growing feelings for Zeke, and the uncertainties of their future is going to be the ultimate challenge.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Okay. So Book 1 of the Blood of Eden trilogy left me a little disappointed but the ending definitely saved it for me. Book 2 - was so much better. It still started a little slow for me but there was a lot more action throughout the book.

I liked that we got to see a little more of Jackal, Allie's blood brother. He's a really interesting character and reminds me a little of Peter in Divergent, he's in it for himself and, if he's not on the winning team, he'll leave. This provided a great source of conflict for the group and helped keep the book moving as you're never truly sure about Jackal's motives.

Allie finally came through! She turned into someone who I can start to relate to a little more. I mean, she's still not on the same level as Meghan is for me (review definitely coming guys, promise!) but she's getting there. She seems a lot more sure of who she is in this book. She's not so hung up on her choice to become a vampire. The topic does still come up and she still thinks about it, but not as much as Book 1 which really helped me get to know her a little more.

Zeke. Oh Zeke. I do love you. Again, not as much as Ash but, you're still lovable. I'm glad that Allie found Zeke again in this book - their goodbye seriously almost broke my heart - and I'm glad that Zeke fought for Allie. He seemed a little...I don't know...not weak but afraid maybe in Book 1? He really came into his own in this book and stood up for himself a lot more.

And now we come to Stick, or Mr Stephen as he's now known. I was a little unsure of this character in Book 1 and I'm still unsure now. I knew Stick would come back in this book, I feel like it was an obvious plot point, but I love how Julie takes what should be an obvious plot point and makes it into something so completely un-ordinary. Stick is now chief advisor to the Prince in New Covington and is acting all high and mighty about himself. I really didn't like him. Not just in a 'you've turned on your best friend and sold her out' kind of dislike (although that was there) but in a 'I don't truly buy that you'd change this much' kind of dislike. Because I didn't. I can totally buy that Stick would turn to the Prince - I get that. I don't understand why he'd completely turn on Allie after everything. I'd like to think that if I was in that situation and I knew my best friend was a vampire but HADN'T eaten me yet, I'd hear them out. Maybe it's just me on this one but Stick for me was a really awful character and I couldn't really buy into any of his actions.

Overall, this book was waaayyy better than the first one but again it did take a little while to get into the book, despite picking it up straight after finishing Book 1 and that brought the rating down for me.

No copyright intended - image from http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Eternity-Cure-Blood-Eden/dp/1848451857 

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

                                                        The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (Blood of Eden Book 1)

Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis: In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. She must decide what - and who - are worth dying for.

I found Julie Kagawa through The Iron Fey series which I love. It's probably my favourite series at the moment (and a review of the series will be coming soon). I was sceptical about picking up the Immortal Rules because I loved the Iron Fey so much and I thought at first I had been proved right. It took me so long to get into this book and it really disappointed me in the beginning. It wasn't until about 240 pages in (242 if we're going to be exact) that I finally found myself being sucked into the book and enjoying the story.

And I'm not sure why it took so long. I have two theories. Theory number 1: this is a dystopia/supernatural book so it's very different from the Iron Fey which is fantasy. This may have hindered Julie's writing as it takes a while to get used to writing in a new genre and therefore, limiting my enjoyment of the book. Theory number 2 (which is a lot more probable): I didn't care about Allie. Not until 242 pages in did I really care about what happened to her. She's the main protagonist in this book and I didn't care about her - BIG problem.

I kept comparing Allie to Meghan, the lead protagonist in the Iron Fey. Meghan is a lot more relatable in my mind. She went through normal struggles and you could clearly see her grow into a strong person. Allie was a strong person at the beginning of the novel and maybe that was the problem. A lot of the things thrown at her, she could handle. Lack of food for example? No problem, I'll go hunt in the rabid infested area outside the wall! As well as this, when she was turned into a vampire, she kept second guessing Kanin which really irritated me. She acted like she knew everything when, in reality she didn't, and the whole time I wanted to shake her and tell her to stop acting like a little know it all and LISTEN to what Kanin was telling her.

The relationship aspect of the novel took agggeeessss to get to. I'm a believer that, although you don't necessarily need a romance early on to help the book, it does help. In this case, it would have definitely helped. You're left wondering if Allie is ever going to find someone when eventually Zeke turns up.

Zeke...is a good character is most respects. Better than Allie, I felt like I could relate to him more than I could to Allie but there was still something missing and I'm not sure what it is. Again, I compared Zeke to Ash and there is no comparison. While both are strong in their own ways, Ash can carry a good portion of the story (or a whole book in the case of the Iron Knight) and I can't help but wonder if Zeke could do the same. Maybe in Books 2 & 3 the character's will progress a little more but in Book 1, I was a little disappointed.

Overall, the plot was good, especially once we got out of New Covington and met up with Zeke and the other humans. It really started to pick up pace and I did end up starting to feel something towards Allie and Zeke and wanting Zeke to realise that Allie isn't a monster. The whole thing with the sires and the blood siblings was a nice touch although I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the whole 'big brother little sister' thing that was done in the Mortal Instruments. I didn't see it coming anyway so that's a plus.

I loved Caleb and Bethany. The two kids were only minor characters but they really lifted the story for me. They're so innocent and blunt in the ways that only small children are. When Caleb is asking Allie to bring his sister Ruth back from the dead I almost shed a tear. That tear then turned to laughter when he was distracted by the prospect of getting jelly. The scene with the goat as well was really sweet, with Bethany trying to name the goat Princess I think and Caleb shooting her down. It was really well done and really sweet.

Overall, I'd say stick with this book because it does get better despite a ridiculously slow start. If you're not sure about this I'd definitely suggest picking up The Iron King which is book 1 in the Iron Fey series because that is ten million times better and, like I said, a review of the whole series will be up soon but I have a lot of reviews to catch up on first!

image from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10215349-the-immortal-rules - no Copyright intended