Author Connie L. Smith
*Book source ~ Many thanks to the author for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher ~ Connie L. Smith
Published ~ 29 July 2013
Genre ~ YA/Paranormal
Pages ~ 349
FREE Feb. 24th-28th
My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5
AJ
is a typical 16-yr-old teenager stumbling through high school as best she can
when one morning she reaches her hand out to slap off the alarm and smashes it
and her night stand to rubble. Confused, she blames it on shoddy workmanship
and adrenaline. But strange things keep happening and it’s getting harder to
delude herself. When a hot mysterious stranger shows up and starts stalking
her, trying to explain why she’s not the same anymore, she tells him to bug
off. One night she can’t sleep and walks to the beach to clear her head. After
he shows up yet again, she decides to listen to what he has to say then wishes
she hadn’t. A war is brewing and she is needed to help fight it. At first she
resists, but finally she agrees to join the army. Let the training begin.
I
love fantasy/paranormal stories and don’t mind the same type of story told in
hundreds of different ways, but this story takes an interesting new direction in telling about the fantasy/ paranormal world. The
writing is excellent and the characters are varied and interesting. Told in
multiple POVs it really helps bring the world together. I had a love/hate
relationship with AJ though. I loved her loyalty, her fierceness and her
determination to protect, but her constant arguing got on my nerves. I honestly
couldn’t see why Julius liked her so much. On the other hand, their constant
bickering was, for the most part, entertaining and I made allowances for the
fact that she’s a teenager even though he is not. And no, I’m not saying what
he is.
The
whole back story was fascinating. How magic used to be a part of the world, why
it left and why it’s sort of back. My biggest problem with the story was how
Nicholai picked teenagers for his soldiers. Unpredictable, inexperienced
teenagers. His reasoning was sort of understandable, but not really. He didn’t
want to include people who might have already started families and end up with
them down one parent if they were killed in the war. Um, isn't that what our
military faces every single day? With the entire world at stake and the
imminent extinction of humanity fast approaching I would have chosen the best
of the best for my army. Marines, Rangers, SEALs, etc., those who already have
training and fighting experience. But I can see that might not be as good a
story since the teenagers had to be whipped (not literally!) into shape. So I
suspended my belief of what I would do and just went with the story. Trust me,
it’s a great ride!
*Book source ~ Many thanks to the author for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher ~ Connie L. Smith
Published ~ 24 February 2014
Genre ~ YA/Paranormal
Pages ~ 320
My Rating ~ 4 bites out of 5
It’s
Go Time! The war for all humanity has begun and Nicholai’s army of teenage
Essenced is as ready as they’ll ever be to fight the demons coming through the
Division. The ultimate question of whether they have a hope in Hades of saving
the world is about to be answered.
The
first battle is upon them and Smith did a great job with the fighting scenes.
They weren’t overly long and they weren’t too skimpy. Plus the multiple POVs
gave me a good idea of what was going on all over the battlefield. The aftermath
of the battle is definitely a focal point of the book. How they handled the
fighting, the grief at the losses, the tracking of the escaped demons and
various other missions as well as facing the hard truth about what it means to
be fighting a war. They know this is only the first battle and there are more
to come. Will the reality of it all break them? Or make them more determined
than ever?
This
book begins with a battle and ends with a battle, but the ending is also a
cliffhanger. Cliffhangers are not something I like. Yes, the first book ended
just as the battle was about to begin, so that wasn’t truly a cliffhanger, in
my opinion. However, what happened at the end of this book leaves me hanging,
so I took some points off for that. AJ & Julius are settling down and
except for one massive dumbass selfish move on their part, I’m actually liking
them better now. I loved learning more about the various characters and the
plot is all coming together. I’m really looking forward to the next book.
There is also a prequel to The Division Chronicles which I haven't read yet, but hope to soon.
Series ~ The Division Chronicles, #0.5
Genre ~ Paranormal/Romance
Pages ~ 118
