Book Review: Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

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Suspicion
Author: Alexandra Monir
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Mystery
Released: December 9th 2014
Review Source: Delacorte Press | Goldberg McDuffie

"Take The Princess Diaries and add magic, murder and mystery, and you've got SUSPICION. A delightful read!"—Amy Plum, author of the of the international bestselling Die For Me series

"If Alfred Hitchcock had directed Downton Abbey, the result would have been this book. Alexandra Monir takes us on a gripping, nonstop thrill ride with just the right amount of supernatural and an ending that you definitely won't suspect. I devoured it in one sitting."—Jessica Brody, bestselling author of the Unremembered trilogy

Mysterious. Magnificent. Creepy. Welcome to Rockford Manor.

"There's something hidden in the Maze." Seventeen-year-old Imogen has never forgotten the last words her father said to her seven years ago, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family's English country manor.

Haunted by her parents' deaths, Imogen moves to New York City with her new guardians. But when a letter arrives with the news of her cousin's untimely death, revealing that Imogen is now the only heir left to run the estate, she returns to England and warily accepts her role as duchess.

All is not as it seems at Rockford, and Imogen quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind the mansion's aristocratic exterior, hinting that the spate of deaths in her family were no accident. And at the center of the mystery is Imogen herself--and Sebastian, the childhood friend she has secretly loved for years. Just what has Imogen walked into?

Combining a fresh twist on the classic REBECCA with a spine-tingling mystery and powerful romance, SUSPICION is an action-packed thrill ride.

At a young age, Imogen faced a terrible tragedy. While visiting her cousin at the Rockford residence, a terrible tragedy occurred.  The Rockford was supposed to be a magical place for Imogen but now it is a place that hunts her. Imogen lost her parent to a horrible fire accident on the grounds of this place.

Now left as an orphan, Imogen lives overseas. To protect her from the nightmares, Imogen’s guardian keeps secrets from her. But as she turns 18, her past comes knocking at the door. Imogen discovers that the remaining members of her family are now dead. To make things worse, she is next in line to become the Duchess of Rockford. And she is appointed to return to the land she was born. The land of myths, the land of all of her fears. Though warned not to returned, Imogen decides to take the challenge and tries to uncover the truth of her past.

Honestly, I had high hopes for this novel. Though the writing was appealing, I have to confess the more I read, the more I became disappointed. I liked the first 40% of story - it was very The Princess Diary-ish like. Yet the story lacks romance and mystery, it wasn’t thrilling. As I turned the pages, I kept hoping something magical would happen…it never did.

Overall, Suspicion’s pace was good, the writing was pretty but the story itself was… dull. It had potentials but it fell short of the mark. 

Book Review: Vampires of Manhattan by Melissa de la Cruz

Vampires of Manhattan
The New Blue Bloods Coven #1
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Reading Level: New Adult | Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Released: September 9th 2014
Review Source: Hyperion Books | Goldberg McDuffie

The Vampires of Manhattan is "hipster horror"--the memorable characters from her Blue Bloods series are older and cooler than before, trying to build "Millennial" lives in the bustle of Manhattan while battling forces of evil and, of course, each other.

Hero of this sexy, paranormal action tale is Oliver Hazard-Perry, former human conduit, and Manhattan's only human-turned-vampire, now the head of the Blue Bloods Coven. When his all-too-human lover is found murdered on the eve of the coven's annual Four Hundred Ball--a celebration meant to usher in a new era in vampire society, and to mark the re-unification of the Coven after decades of unrest and decay--Oliver is devastated.

Now, not only is he trying to create a new world order for the immortal elite, he's the prime suspect and is stalked by the newly installed head of the vampire secret police. Because according to the new rules, vampires who take human life can now be executed. Burned.

How can an immortal sentenced to die fight back? He has to find the killer--and the answers lie deep in vampire lore.

It was strange starting Vampires of Manhattan. Reading Blue Bloods where all main characters were teenagers to now where they’re all grown up sophisticated urban elite in Vampires of Manhattan. Usually once the series ends that’s it, it’s finished and you don’t get re-visits. So that was a nice change to get a new series of them 10 years down the line. Though if you plan on reading the Blue Blood’s series I wouldn’t recommend reading this book first. It will spoil a lot of things (unless you don’t mind that), but saying that, I think this book will be liked by both sides. I think those who enjoyed Blue Bloods will enjoy reading this series but also those who didn’t. I think enough information was included that new readers can enjoy this book without getting horribly lost in the plot. The plot wasn’t complex but easy to follow.

After ten years of peace, something went wrong. Strange things are happening, a body is found and pentagrams are appearing mysteriously. An artist is missing, the young girl is dead and a sinister drug is popping up. Something is clearly wrong with all these odd things happening.

The thing I loved about this book: some of the things which were briefly mentioned in Blue Bloods—and never got a real explanation to—were fleshed out in Vampires of Manhattan. I’d say this book is more of de la Cruz’s “adult” work (think Witches of East End) and you can tell this was intended to be more grown up, like her writing grew with the characters. Though this book was a good edition to the Blue Bloods world, you don’t have to read it. If you’d rather leave Schuyler (and company) where Gates of Paradise ended, it’s all good!