Raised by Wolves (Raised by Wolves #1)

Title: Raised by Wolves (Raised by Wolves #1)
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: June 8th, 2010
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.

But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?-GoodReads

I can't say that I loved this book. I had a real problem with the romance. Romances where the characters really don't know each other but feel an uncontrollable need to be with each other annoy me. It's just unrealistic and obsessive. Of course when paranormal books are involved you have to give the book a little bit of wiggle room because of outside supernatural influences. I also didn't like how Bryn bossed Chase around. It seemed like she was doing to him what she hated being done to her.

I loved the werewolf world, it feels so realistic. It reminded me a lot of the Mercy Thompson world. As for the characters, Lake ROCKED!!! Who wouldn't love a 15 year old shotgun toting werewolf?! I also loved Devon. Bryn was pretty cool, Chase had a nonexistent personality, and Callum is kinda badass. I loved how his character was portrayed in the last part of the book. I kind of loved him. Speaking of the last part of the book, the ending is epic. It's really cool. If you want to find out what I'm talking about just read it. And another note about the ending,there is no cliff hanger, it feels like a complete book. Everything that the characters set out to do got done. I really appreciated that.

I think this book could have been a bit shorter. As much as I love books, unless their one of my favorites, 400 pages is just too much for me. Overall, besides the puppy dog, brainless romance it was a good book. If you're looking for a werewolf book to read, this isn't a bad one to pick. I enjoyed it despite my grumbling.

Anna Dressed In Blood

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen
Date: August 30, 2011
Rating: 3 Stars

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.-GoodReads

I usually don't read ghost stories but I read Graveminder and I've been rewatching seasons 1 and 2 of Supernatural so I felt in the mood to read Anna Dressed in Blood. I was actually really looking forward to reading this book, but I was kind of disappointed. I was hoping to read a book that was kind of like Supernatural. You know, with a guy traveling around killing ghosts, but the romance kind of killed it for me. It just seemed out of place, I think it could have waited for a later book when the author develops their relationship more. On the plus side there was quite a few gross descriptions thrown in there, so that made it feel more like a horror book.

The characters were ok, not boring or annoying but I didn't feel a connection to Cas or any of the other side characters. There just wasn't any spark. Nevertheless, I will say that Anna was pretty darn cool. She kicked butt. I loved the last battle scene, it was awesome!

I felt like the main villain was rushed. You find out about him half way through the book and then the conclusion just seemed rushed. And can I say I hate Voodoo. Even The Princess and the Frog creeps me out. I just don't like it.

The writing style was good and the story was fine, but at times I think it lacked believability. Overall, it was okay read, I'll probably read the sequel eventually but the book wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Graveminder

Title: Graveminder
Author: Melissa Marr
Publisher: HaperCollins
Date: May 17th 2011
Rating: 3 Stars

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn't a funeral that Maylene didn't attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words "Sleep well, and stay where I put you."

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place--and the man--she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D--a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.-Amazon

There were so many great things about Graveminder but I feel that it didn't reach it's full potential. The world was fantastic, both the world of the living and the dead. I love the idea of the Graveminder, someone connected to the dead and watching after them, protecting them, and also making sure they don't ever come back. Also, the Undertaker who's responsible for dealing with the bodies left behind and a partner to the Graveminder.

Marr loves writing from many character points of views and that isn't bad, but it can also connect you with side characters that aren't supposed to be important and in the case of Elizabeth, Alice(I think that's her name), and Amity I feel like she didn't give them satisfactory endings.

The story was a bit slow to start off, considering the length of the story I feel that there should have been more accomplished in the first 150 pages. Rebekkah and Byron were only just their getting into their jobs as Griveminder and Undertaker by the end of the book and it just felt too short, like their should have been more.

Overall, it was an interesting book. It had a great world and storyline and I did enjoy it.