Image from Goodreads

Title:  Sempre

Author:  J.M. Darhower

Published:  January 2012 by CreateSpace

Genre:  Young Adult, Romance

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Haven Antonelli is a modern day slave.  Her mother, who is also a slave at the same residence, tells her that she must run away because she fears for Haven’s life.  Haven does run, but she doesn’t end up with her freedom like she hoped, she ends up as a slave for Vincent DeMarco, a powerful man in the mafia.  However, the conditions are much better at the DeMarcos, and she meets Vincent’s two sons, Carmine and Dominic.

Dominic is the older son.  He’s down to earth and relaxed.  Carmine is a seriously troubled teenager.  He lost his mom when he was young, and he has never been the same.  He always gets in trouble, skips school, and isn’t afraid to talk back.  His old best friend is now his enemy.  He doesn’t have an interest in having a girlfriend; he just likes to sleep around.

The sons know that their father is involved in the mafia, but they don’t know who Haven is or why she’s at their house.  They both treat her kindly, and then Carmine finds himself thinking about her more and more.  But will Haven ever be able to open up to him even though Carmine is her master’s son?

I chose to read this book because of all the five star ratings it was getting from some other blogs I follow.   This is the first book about modern day human trafficking that I have read, and frankly the fact that slavery still exists is disgusting.  This was a good story with solid characters.  The POV changed from time to time, but the change was easy and not bothersome.  Usually point of view shifts drive me nuts, but here that was not the case.

In this story you get to see what it might be like to be a slave in today’s society through Haven’s eyes.  I think that anyone who reads this is going to have an eye-opening experience and start being more observant.  Today, the day I finished reading Sempre, I was browsing the Yahoo homepage when this article came up regarding slavery and how about 27 million people are slaves today!

Here’s the link:  http://news.yahoo.com/27-million-people-living-slavery-us-070112851.html

Back to the book; there is obviously violence in it, but nothing gruesome.  And although the book is about Haven being a slave, it is more about Carmine and her relationship, so I didn’t really consider it a dark read, which I totally thought it would be when I picked it up.  There are a bunch of light hearted moments that had me laughing out loud.  Here’s a sweet conversation between Haven and Carmine:

 “Romeo?”

“Like in the book, Romeo and Juliet.  They come from different sides but met in the middle.  We have the forbidden love part, right?”

“Yeah, but we’re not killing ourselves, Haven, so that’s about as similar as it gets.  Besides, Romeo’s an idiot.  Pick someone else.”

“How about Shrek?”

His brow furrowed.  “Shrek?  Really?  He’s an ogre.”

“Shrek and Fionna thought they were different when they weren’t.”

He contemplated that for a moment until he realized he was seriously comparing his life to a cartoon.  “Pick another one.”

“Titanic?  Rose and Jack weren’t supposed to be together.”

“Seriously?  He dies.  I’m not gonna jinx myself here.”

She was quiet for a moment, running her fingers across his abs and tracing his scar with her fingertips.  “How about we just be Haven and Carmine?” she suggested.  “We don’t know the ending, be we can always hope for the best.”

~Page  248

I gave this book four, not five stars.  Why?  It was a really good book, but it didn’t blow me out of the water.  A five star book is hard to come by, for me anyway.  However, I am so happy that so many people are reading it, enjoying it, and spreading the word.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam

    (Image from Goodreads)

Title:  Insurgent

Author:  Veronica Roth

Published:  May 1, 2012 by Katherine Tegen  Books

Genre:  Young Adult, Dystopia

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*This is the second book of the series (Divergent is the first), but this review is spoiler free for both books.

I read a lot.  I read very fast.  Therefore unless it is an exceptional book, the character’s names and the plots don’t always stick with me or they sometimes take a while to come back to mind.  I read the first book in this series, Divergent, back in January.  It took me less than two days and I rated it a four.  (Thank you goodreads.com for being an awesome website and letting me track my books so I don’t reread them, lol.)  I’ve also read a few dystopian books this year and wasn’t sure which series this belonged to until a few pages in.

So this is what I thought of the book; I thought it was a bit boring for the first eighty pages.  Then, it definitely picked up and I got into the story, but near the end I just wanted the book to end already.  I found myself getting annoyed with Tris and Tobias.  Tris kept making the same mistakes over and over again; her character just frustrated me.    I really didn’t feel like there was any personal growth or even growth within their relationship.

Although the story itself is good and well written, I just didn’t feel that emotional connection with the characters.  Because of that, I’m going to stop reading the series with this book.  It is a decent book, and if you read it I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

My Rating:  3 ½ out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam

(image from erinmorgenstern.com)

Title:  The Night Circus

Author:  Erin Morgenstern

Published:  September 2011 by Doubleday

Genre:  Fantasy/ Magical Realism

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From the very start of the book you can tell it’s going to be a somewhat dark read.  It starts off with a six year old girl that has been delivered to her father with her mother’s suicide letter pinned to her coat.  Open noticing her, her father states an expletive and then tells her that he thinks she’ll be useful while squeezing her face.  Sounds pleasant, huh?

But the book isn’t horrible, that’s the thing.  The author is pretty talented; Ms. Morgenstern paints you a picture of a different kind of circus then we are used to.  This circus appears at random in different locations and is only open at night.  Each tent holds something different to experience.  There are tricks done without safety nets and illusions that are incredible but can’t possibly be real, can they?

This book was extremely well written and I can honestly say that I’ve never read anything remotely like it; it is, in truth, one of a kind.  Why did I only give it 3 ½ stars then?  The writing was great, the story unique, I just felt like it didn’t have the extra something to give it the other 1 ½ stars.  Also, I lost a little interest towards the middle; I wasn’t really rushing to pick it back up.

It’s hard to say much more because I don’t want to give anything away to anyone who wants to read the book.  But I’ll leave you with my favorite quote.

“It is important,” the man in the grey suit interrupts.  “Someone needs to tell those tales.  When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative.  There’s magic in that.  It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict.  From the mundane to the profound.  You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose.  That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words.  That is your role, your gift.  Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy.  Do not forget that.”  He takes another sip of his wine.  “There are many kinds of magic, after all.”

~page 381

My Rating:  3 ½ out of 5 stars

Happy reading!

~Pam

Image from author’s website: karenmoning.com

Title:  Into the Dreaming

Author:  Karen Marie Moning

Published:  April 24, 2012 by Delacorte Press

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

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I just finished the rerelease of Karen Marie Moning’s Into the Dreaming last night.  Not only do you get that story, which is about a hundred pages long , Ms. Moning also includes some work of hers that was never published, an inspirational and informational note about how you should always follow your gut, and a sneak peak at some of the pages from the graphic novel coming out, Fever Moon!

Into the Dreaming reminded me of Ms. Moning’s  Highlander series.   She mentions in the book that this story was the start to the fever world and you can definitely see it.  The heroine, Jane Sillee, has been dreaming of a man for years.  Turns out that the man she’s been dreaming of, Aedan MacKinnon, is a real person, and they really have been meeting in the dreaming.   Unfortunately for Aedan, he was tricked by the Unseelie King to protect his clan.  He has been held prisoner for so long that he doesn’t remember who he is.  It’s up to Jane to help him remember and break the curse.

All and all a good read.  Whenever I read anything by Ms. Moning it’s so easy to delve right into the story.  She makes her characters come alive like no one else.  If you’re a fan of Ms. Moning, or even if you’re not, then you should definitely pick up this book.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

Happy Reading!

~Pam

(image from Goodreads)

Title:  The Unidentified Redhead

Author:  Alice Clayton

Published:  February 16, 2010 by Omnific Publishing

Genre:  Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance

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Usually when I see a book on Goodreads that has more than 4 stars I go for it and know it’s probably going to be good.  Sadly, that wasn’t the case with this book.

This story features Grace Sheridan, an aspiring actress who lives with her best friend Holly.  Holly happens to have her own managing company and is an agent for Jack Hamilton.  Jack is about to be a huge hit; he’s in a highly anticipated movie (think Twilight, Hunger Games, etc.) and already gets gawked at by the ladies wherever he goes.   Holly has a party in which Jack takes notice of Grace (who is 9 years his senior ;)) and their romance begins.

I usually read a book in a few days; this one took me about a week.  I just thought it was boring and couldn’t wait for it to be over.  Another thing that bothered me was the humor.  Grace is thirty three but she has the humor of a teenage boy.  It just didn’t do it for me.

Also, things were a little too easy for Jack and Grace.  Yeah, Holly didn’t want them to show too much affection in view of the paparazzi with Jack’s career taking off and all, but that wasn’t even a huge issue.  You know when you’re reading a romance and the two main characters have a fight and you’re just like, nooooo can’t you see he didn’t mean it?   You know what I mean?  You don’t want the characters to go through that, but that fight is what makes the story better.  What kind of story is there without conflict?  Unfortunately a boring one.

While this wasn’t a book for me, for all those who think they may be interested, the second book in the series already looks to be better just from what happens at the end.  Sorry to leave you hanging, but I don’t want to give anything away for future readers.

My Rating:  2 out of 5 stars

Happy reading everyone!