Book Review: Playing With Demons by Cally Edwards

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Playing with Demons
The Devil's In The Details #1
Author: Cally Edwards | Facebook | Instagram
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genres: Paranormal Romance | Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 6th 2019
Review Source: Author

The Devil’s in the Details…

In a world where humans are unaware of the demons that roam amongst them, it’s left to the Nephilim to keep it that way—or at least that’s what Grace Campbell was brought up to believe. Grace might have been born half-Nephilim and half-demon, but her loyalty is wholly on the side of the good guys. She’s dedicated her life to protecting the innocent, and her mixed lineage only makes her better at her job. Unfortunately, her blood also makes her the only one capable of entering Hell’s hidden wards.

Now her latest assignment will see Grace endure the trials of the seven deadly sins in order to win a barbaric tournament to secure an important prize for the Nephilim. To survive, Grace will be forced to embrace her dark side and accept the help of her greatest opponent yet, Lucifer’s son. The very sexy Prince of Hell, Zadeon, will have Grace questioning just how bad, the bad guys are.

Playing with Demons is a story that brings the audience into a fantasy world of demons and angels in our world. Grace is a young woman with the unique background of being a half nephilim half demon. She trained her whole life to support the Nephilim in their quest to keep the human world safe from demons. Grace has to face her biggest challenge when her very self is brought to question. Who is Grace Campbell and what is the truth of her world?

Playing with Demons takes an unusual stance of turning our perceptions of good and evil on it's head. Most people would say demons are evil and angels are good, keeping the balance of the world as black and white. Cally Edwards, the author, takes these mythical beings and humanize them to the concepts that we are all familiar with. The audience follows Grace as she needs to discover the side of herself that she is loath to embrace, her demon blood. Cally not only explains how Grace could come about into existence, but we are able to believe it in the context of the story. What I liked most of this story is Cally researched the basic mythology of demons and angels so the story has a physical hold on what people's basic understanding of God, Lucifer, and the creation of demons.

This story also gives us a love story between Grace and Zadeon. Though he is a demon, Grace overcomes her indoctrinated hatred of demons and falls for Zadeon. Though I love the idea of them together, I was a little disappointed on how easily they fell in love. For me I wasn't truly for or against the relationship and that's why when they got together it didn't further or hinder the story. I hope as this series continues I find myself, as a reader, more engaged with the success of their relationship.

Playing with Demons is a fun read especially for those who love the supernatural elements. Cally has left the story open for more adventures for Grace and I cannot wait to see what awaits our little hunter in future books.

Actress Cara Delevingne Next Role is YA Author - #MirrorMirror

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Cara Delevingne will not be the first or the last, but she is the next actress/model turn author. Cara recently shared on twitter, a picture of her holding a draft of her upcoming YA novel titled Mirror, Mirror. As of right now, you can pre-order the book on Amazon UK, it does state this item can be delivered to US on Amazon.

Check out Cara's tweet:

Soo excited 2announce my first Novel titled Mirror Mirror!Pre order on Amazon!!Can't wait 2share story with you all! https://t.co/M628H8iBHC pic.twitter.com/43nxK7BUzd

— Cara Delevingne (@Caradelevingne) March 14, 2017

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Here you can check out the information they have on Amazon UK:

MIRROR, MIRROR

Author: Cara Delevinge 

Release Date: October 5th 2017 (Amazon UK)

Publisher: Trapeze (Amazon UK)

A gripping coming-of-age story that explores identity, sexuality, friendship and betrayal for fans of WE WERE LIARS, GO ASK ALICE and THE GIRLS.

Friend. Lover. Victim. Betrayer.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

Sixteen-year-old friends Red, Leo, Naima and Rose are like anyone their age: figuring out who they are and trying to navigate the minefield of school and relationships. Life isn't perfect, but they're united by their love of music and excited about what the future holds for their band.

That is until Naima dies in tragic circumstances, leaving behind only one word. 'Sorry'.

What awful truth was she hiding? What dark secret was lurking behind her seemingly sunny persona? And how did Red, the self-styled protector of the group, fail to spot the warning signs?

While Rose turns to wild partying and Leo is shrouded by dark moods, Red sets out to uncover the truth and find out what - or perhaps who - was responsible for Naima's death.

It's a journey that will cause Red's world to crumble, exposing the dark and dangerous truth behind the fragile surface of their existence. Nothing will ever be the same again, because once a mirror is shattered, it can't be fixed.

Book Review: You by Caroline Kepnes

YOU
You #1
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Reading Level: Adult Fiction
Genre: Thriller | Suspense | Mystery
Released: September 30th 2014
Review Source: Atria | Emily Bestler Books

From debut author Caroline Kepnes comes You, one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of 2014, and a brilliant and terrifying novel for the social media age.

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.

Where do I start when it comes to YOU. This book was all sorts of blow-your-mind crazy but at the same time you could not put it down. I can't remember ever reading a book like YOU. I am so glad that I was able to review YOU for Atria Books because I probably wouldn't have paid any attention to this book otherwise. So I'm hoping with my review, more like myself that normally don't have a need or want to pick up a thriller like YOU, will now try it and love it like I did. This book is definitely out of the box and might even be way out of one's comfort zone but that is what makes it great.

If you looking for your cookie-cutter romance book, YOU is no where close to being that. The relationships in this book are insane and the people are even worse, if that's possible. But again this is what makes YOU great. See the character narrating the story is what one would call a psychopath with an obsession on the girl that he "loves". I sit here laughing because the choice words I should be using in this review are much more vulgar that what I'm using but out of respect to the younger audience we have on OUaT, I'm trying really hard not to use any of it but this book is really all kinds of F-up that you just have to find out what the heck will the psycho do next. And let me tell you about his love interest, she is worse than him and he is the psycho. She has some serious daddy issues amongst many other thing and somehow they just make sense together in a different dimensional world. YOU makes you become obsessed with its pages, it's like Kepnes put some voodoo in the pages because you can't put the book down. Their were moments I was asking myself "Am I seriously entertain withby this?" and without any hesitation I was. 

Now you have heard me talk about how crazy Joe is but he also has good qualities. And at times you even feel bad for him and want to bitch slap Beck. No one should deserve what Joe does with Beck but at times you are kinda routing for him. And Beck, oh man she is something alright. Who does half of what Joe described about her. And her one friend, now her I wanted to cause pain to myself. You see what I'm talking about, I'm getting all my feathers ruffled up again thinking about this book. You guys will not be disappointed, I even encourage men to read this book. But anyone under 18 , I really ask that you stay away until your older and this book won't scar you for life. 

YOU is a must read, I have repeated myself a few times reminding you that and you'll see after reading it, you'll be on twitter like I was tweeting the author like crazy because all you want to do is ask her how she did it. Kepnes hit this one out of the park! 

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Read an excerpt HERE!

Book Review: Poisoned Apples: Poems For You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann

Poisoned Apples: Poems For You, My Pretty
Author: Christine Heppermann
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Poetry | Retellings | Fantasy | Short Stories
Released: September 23 2014
Review Source: Greenwillow Books

Every little girl goes through her princess phase, whether she wants to be Snow White or Cinderella, Belle or Ariel. But then we grow up. And life is not a fairy tale.

Christine Heppermann's collection of fifty poems puts the ideals of fairy tales right beside the life of the modern teenage girl. With piercing truths reminiscent of Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins, this is a powerful and provocative book for every young woman. E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars, calls it "a bloody poetic attack on the beauty myth that's caustic, funny, and heartbreaking."

Cruelties come not just from wicked stepmothers, but also from ourselves. There are expectations, pressures, judgment, and criticism. Self-doubt and self-confidence. But there are also friends, and sisters, and a whole hell of a lot of power there for the taking. In fifty poems, Christine Heppermann confronts society head on. Using fairy tale characters and tropes, Poisoned Apples explores how girls are taught to think about themselves, their bodies, and their friends. The poems range from contemporary retellings to first-person accounts set within the original tales, and from deadly funny to deadly serious. Complemented throughout with black-and-white photographs from up-and-coming artists, this is a stunning and sophisticated book to be treasured, shared, and paged through again and again.

Let me start by saying I rarely read a book of poems, unless it is by Shel Silverstein - absolutely love that man and all of his poems. Other than that I don't prefer poems. So when I realized this book was a book of poems I was worried it would take me a while to finish. I went through it in one day-yes the book is fairly small and the poems are maybe a page if not less or just a half page more.  So this makes for a quick read.

The main reason why I am giving this book of poems 4 trees is because of the messages they convey. After the second or third poem I realized just how powerful these poems could be for the young adult women today. There are poems about depression, and about body image issues. They're powerful poems that make you stop and think about certain things and how they could be different, how you want them to be different but are saddened by the fact that they are what they are. I feel that every young woman should read these poems and sit to think about what they all mean.

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Read Excerpt from Iconic Filmmaker David Cronenberg's Debut Novel: Consumed

Consumed

Author: David Cronenberg

Release Date: September 30th 2014

Publisher: Scribner

 

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Excerpt from Consumed 

by David Cronenberg

Consumed A Novel By David Cronenberg by Simon and Schuster

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