Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Fun!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where we make lists about bookish topics.

This week is Halloween week. Halloween is seriously my favourite holiday, so I had to make sure I actually came onto my blog to make this list. This week is a freebie, so it's pretty much anything goes, so my list will be some fun, scary books that remind me of Halloween. Get ready to sleep with the lights on!

1. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake - Part ghost story, part love story, this one kept me on the edge of my seat and scared me silly.

2. This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers - Zombies at their best. Summers effortlessly weaves together a story that could be real. A girl who doesn't want to fight to survive, but ends up surprising herself by how hard she fights for her friends.

3. Rooms by Lauren Oliver - Told from many perspectives, two of which are ghosts, this tells the story of a dysfunctional family and the house they live in. Super cool and creepy.

4. Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma - This book is just creepy. After finishing it, I still wasn't sure what had happened and it stayed with me for nights after. Perfect for Halloween.

5. Hexed by Michelle Krys - Gotta have a witch tale on here. This one isn't really scary, but witches equal Halloween to me. This one has some Buffy elements and some cool witchcraft to make for an entertaining read.

6. The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe - A virus infects a small island and quickly spreads to the rest of Canada, then the world. Scary enough right?

7. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - A zombie book that takes place long after the apocalypse in a town that's starting over. Very old-fashioned and backwards and Mary will do anything to get out of it, even if that means crossing the fence into the unknown. Creepy at its best, and the sequels are amazing as well!

8. My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent - Demons, pure evil, and a seventeen-year-old girl trying to stop them from destroying her high school. One of my favourite series still and perfect if you want a little creep factor in your life.

9. Dracula by Bram Stoker - Because you gotta get a classic in there. If there's any vampire to be scared of, it's Dracula. Old school creepy.

And lastly, one that's on my list to read this year...

10. The Fall by Bethany Griffin - Her retelling of The Mask of the Red Death was dark and creepy, so I'm sure this one, a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher will be just as good. Just gotta find time to read it now!

I hope everyone will pick up a spooky book this week or at least watch something scary. Happy Halloween all!

Review: Hexed

Hexed
Author: Michelle Krys
Published: June 10, 2014
Hardcover, 384 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won't stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn't want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it's when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie's world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn't get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that's seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she's a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie's about to uncover the many dark truths about her life - and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid. 

This was one of the best kind of paranormal books. The paranormal elements are small, and they seem so real that you think there could actually be a witch living in the Occult shop. There were a lot of contemporary elements that made this a quick, fun read, and every character was charming and came to life. Indie is popular, but nothing she did really made her scream 'mean girl', which was a nice change from the popular stereotype. She's content cheerleading and hanging out with her boyfriend, but the minute she sees a guy die right in front of her, everything changes. When that guy comes back to life and starts following her around, claiming she's a witch, Indie's life spirals out of control. With the help of her nerdy friend Paige, and Bishop, the hot dead guy, Indie finds herself in a race to get back a family heirloom in order to save witches everywhere.

Indie is a great narrator. She's funny, sarcastic and made me root for her every step of the way. She's the popular girl you actually wanted to be friends with in high school and I'm glad she didn't have a mean streak in her body. The other characters were just as alive. Paige is the shy, strange girl who ends up being a really great help and even better friend. I love how Indie turned to her for help and how the two of them became really good friends throughout the novel. Bishop is the love interest you love to hate. He's secretive, snarky and does things that would drive a girl crazy. We slowly discover more about him throughout the novel and why he's the way he is and his character growth is a wonderful arc and I couldn't wait for him and Indie to get together.

Magic was a great character as well as it never took over the story. We only knew what Indie knew about how it all worked and I think that was a great way to tell the story, putting us in Indie's situation and not being quite sure of how to get out of it. I liked this but at the same time, I wanted more information about the world Indie was being pulled into. I'm sure we'll learn more in the next book, but those were the parts I wish were stronger. As a character lover myself, I'm glad the characters were the central focus and I loved the romance in this one. I'm a sucker for a good kiss scene and boy did this one deliver. I'm definitely anticipating the next book in this series, Charmed.

"And I just know that this memory will be forever burned into my brain, because this kind of magic - the kind that can't be conjured with a spell, where everything is just right, and all your problems vanish for three perfect minutes - doesn't happen everyday."

Review: Sweetly

Sweetly
Author: Jackson Pearce
Published: August 23, 2011
Hardcover, 310 pages
4 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

As a child, Gretchen's twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch's forest threatening to make them disappear, too.

Years later, when their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They're invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.

Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past -- until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel. He tells her the witch isn't gone -- it's lurking in the forest, preying on girls every year after Live Oak's infamous chocolate festival, and looking to make Gretchen its next victim. Gretchen is determined to stop running and start fighting back. Yet the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.

Gretchen is certain of only one thing: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry.

Hansel and Gretel was never my favourite fairy tale. Not sure why, since I have a brother, so you'd think I'd relate to the thing, but I wasn't a big fan. So it took me awhile to pick up this book, not interested in it at all. But after reading the rest of the fairy tale retelling series by Pearce, I knew I had to read it, and it became my favourite of the four! Gretchen is adorable, a girl who's only ever known a life without her twin sister and has relied on her brother Ansel for everything. When they were kids, a witch stole their sister when they were on a walk in the woods. Gretchen has been running from the witch ever since then, but now she wants it destroyed. But when they are kicked out of the house and decide to drive to the ocean and start a new life, they are distracted by a small town that sucks them in. Sophia Kelly takes them in as her own, feeding them chocolate and falling for Ansel. Things seem too good to be true and soon sightings of the "witch" cause Gretchen to take things into her own hands. 

Gretchen and Ansel have the kind of relationship that my brother and I have. You don't want to do anything without the other one knowing and you know you're safe when you're near them. This is all fine and dandy, but it's important to have your own life too and you see this gradually transform their relationship as Gretchen gets to know Samuel, a local hunter, and Ansel gets closer to Sophia. The mysteries behind the town kept me guessing. There was no telling which residents were really bad and which had good intentions. The witch coming closer and how that played out was fantastic and tied into the series very well. This book gave me a much better perceptive of Fathomless, the third book in the series, and had a nice lead up to everything that would come together in the end of Cold Spell. Pearce has a fantastic way of weaving together worlds that we know from fairy tales and turning them into a whole new story. 

This new twist on the classic left a good feeling in my heart. I have a whole new perspective on the classic tale and know I'd enjoy it more if I read it again. It's nice when an author can take a well known story and turn it into something completely new and thrilling. This series is perfect for those who know the old tales and also for those who are new to them. The wonderfulness of it is that you don't have to read the original as these stand on their own. Werewolves, magic, and happily ever afters are great selling points to me, and I'd highly recommend this series for those fairy tale lovers out there. This is more gruesome and poignant, much like the original Hans Christian Anderson tales. 

“I should be mad. I should hate her. I should judge her. But there is some madness in love.”

Review: Born Wicked

Born Wicked
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Published: February 7, 2012
330 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

I'll be honest, I haven't read too many books about witches. Not that I'm not interested in them, as I throughly enjoyed Hex Hall and I've always had a fascination with them, but to me, there isn't much you can do when witches are involed. People constantly try to revamp the vampire, but nothing will be as good as Interview with the Vampire. Thing is, I haven't found that perfect witch book yet, that is, until I read Born Wicked.

Spotswood captured the essence of witchery the way it should be. 1800s, witches are found and punished and no one is safe. She's taken the real past, a horrible time where witches were burned at the stake in Salem, and made it her own. She's taken the facts but gave the world an alternate history. The witches actually used to be in charge until the church, or the Brotherhood, intervened and got rid of them all. Now the Brotherhood makes the rules and if they accuse someone of witchery, either way they disappear. Cate Cahill and her sisters are hiding their true nature, all three of them witches, while trying to come out in society like proper girls. Cate has reached the age where she either needs to marry or devote herself to the Sisterhood and pledge allegiance to the Brotherhood. Thankfully, her childhood friend is interested in her, but she may have her eyes set on Finn, the gardener, a lower class boy whose family is frowned upon by the Brotherhood. 

I immediately fell in love with Cate and her sisters. All three of them are fierce, powerful, and eager to make their own choices. With their mother dead, there is no one to teach them about their magic so Cate makes sure they all keep it under wraps. Cate has many decisions to make in a short amount of time and she keeps it together perfectly. If I were her, I'd be ripping at the seams. To make matters worse, she finds her mother's old diary and it tells of a prophecy that could put her and her sisters in terrible danger. While trying to balance her family life, coming out, tea parties, and her future, she finds her drawn towards everything she's forbidden herself to have.

The tension between Finn and Cate is perfect. The moment he enters the book, I know she'll fall in love with him, and the anticipation of them getting together is overwhelming. The fantastic thing about this book is that is isn't your typical love story. Yes there are two men, but there is no obviously love triangle, and there is a lot more at stake than which boy she chooses to be with. Cate cares more about keeping her family safe than anything else and that's a great trait to have in a protagonist. And all her choices are perfect, even if they kill me to watch.

The language is key for this period piece. Everything is old fashioned and the fashion itself is epic! I love Spotswood's descriptions of the dresses and manners. It creates a scene straight out of the 1800s and kept me there the entire time. I closed this book wishing I could be wearing a corset and drinking tea in a pretty dress. A girl can dream right? 

There's no doubt that I loved this book and I can't wait to pick up Star Cursed when it comes out in June. After the ending, I need to know what will happen next!

“No matter how safe and beautiful it is, a cage is still a cage."

“From my vantage point I can see the back of his neck flush pink beneath his collar. He's got freckles there, too. I wonder how many more freckle's he's got. Are they all over, or just where the sun's touched?
Good Lord, why am I thinking of Finn Belastra without his clothes on?”

Waiting on Wednesday: School Spirits

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. It highlights the books that we are most anxiously awaiting!


My Waiting on Wednesday this week is School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins. In this spin off to the fantastic Hex Hall series, we get to see what's going on in Izzy Brannick's mind as she ventures through her new haunted school. Here's the description from Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

Rachel Hawkins' delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as the New York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!

I'm sure all us fans of Hex Hall are eager to read the next chapter in the wonderful world of magic, witches and demons. School Spirits is set to hit shelves May 14, 2013. I know I'll be there buying it right away!

What books are you eager to get your hands on?

49. Spell Bound

Book #49: Spell Bound (Hex Hall #3)
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Published: March 13, 2012
327 Pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

Sophie Mercer is just the best. She's more real than most of the heroines you follow in supernatural novels. She's still scared. She's as scared as can be but she still does it in order to help those she loves. You don't normally get to see the scared part of the girl because putting on a brave face is what we do. The brave part is what we love to read when we're reading YA because we like a strong girl. But me, I like them weak too. I mean it's real that way. We are not always on deck. We all have our moments of weakness, it's part of life. Sophie is the epitome of a teenage girl. She's just trying to fit in and in her case, it's not the easiest thing to accomplish.

After taking the Itineris to find the Brannicks, a group of women descended from witches who are sworn enemies of all Prodigium now, Sophie finds that her life is even more messed up that she thought it was. The Brannicks have been waiting for her because they think she could be the one to stop the war rising between Prodigium and those that want them dead. If that's not weird enough, a spell takes all the former Hex Hall students back to the school, where the demon raising Casnoff sisters plan on fuelling the war their own way. I don't want to give away much of the plot because this novel takes so many twists and turns that you need to read it for the real effect.

The cliffhanger at the end of Demon Glass would have left me crying for more if I didn't already have this one on the shelf to start right after. Sophie is lost and alone at the end of that book and we see how her actions and the thought of losing the ones she loves affects her. For the first few chapters, I was praying along with her that they would all be okay. And when Cal and her dad show up at the Brannick's doorstep, i couldn't help but burst into a smile. Even more so when at Hex Hall, we finally get to see Archer again (!!!!!) And of course Jenna, who completes Sophie in the perfect best friend way. Sophie and Archer are adorable in this instalment and I was so happy that the love triangle nonsense was cleared up quickly (I told you there was no way) (And wow that was a hardcore spoiler)

I won't spoil anything else, since it seems at bad at that, so I'll leave you with this. If you enjoyed Hex Hall then you will love the ending to this series. It's enough of a story that it could stand on its own and Sophie's triumph is proof that scared girls can be brave when they need to be. We don't know what we're capable of until it's our only choice and Sophie certainly makes the right choices at all the right times. Hawkins has created a series that will stick me for a long time and characters that I can only wish were real (in particular Mr. Archer Cross) (I blame you for this Mag!)

“Okay, fine. But just so you know, following me into hell means you’re all definitely the sidekicks.” “Darn, I was hoping to be the rakishly charming love interest,” Archer said, taking my hand.” 

48. Demonglass

Book# 48: Demonglass (Hex Hall #2)
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Published: March 22, 2011
359 Pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Note: I don't suggest reading this unless you've read Hex Hall. Too many spoilers to count!

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch. 

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?

The ending of Hex Hall shocked me out of my skull. I was not expecting Sophie to be a demon, nor was I expecting Archer to be anything but the charming, snarky boy he is. But Archer works for The Eye, a longtime enemy of the Prodigium, and Sophie is more than she bargained for. Upon realizing her true power, she realizes that it's not for her. She's too afraid she'll hurt those she loves, so she decides she wants to have the Removal, to take away her powers and become a normal girl (that's if she can survive the ritual) So when her long lost father shows up to take her to London, she assumes it means they'll let her go through with it. But things are not exactly what they seem in dreary old London. Half the council members are dead and someone is raising demons in a plan to do what exactly? Add in the fact that she can't see Archer anymore, she's engaged to her friend Cal, and her father wants her to perfect her demon powers, Sophie's not having the best summer. 

The story telling in this series puts a smile on my face. Sophie is sarcastic and blunt and she makes more mistakes than a normal teenager. She is still learning about who she is while trying to solve the mysteries that come along with it. Hawkins has a way with chracters. Each one is unique and different from the rest, even if they only have a small part. Jenna is forever the sweetest vampire out there (ironic right?) and Archer is swoon worthy even more so now that he's the enemy (you know I'm right) Sophie's father is strict and seems stuck up, but one Sophie gets to know him, she realizes he's a lot like her. 

The mystery in this one takes the series to a whole other level. When we thought the demonness was over when Alice was killed, we didn't realize it had just begun. Sophie goes through a lot in this book and yet she doesn't give up. She is brave without realizing it and uses her powers to try and help others. Her romance with Archer heats up in this addition, sizzling over every page. I wish Hawkins hadn't added in the illicit love triangle because to me it's just unbelievable in this series. Mind you, love triangles are never good, but there's no doubt in my mind that Sophie and Archer are going to end up together so why bother throwing Cal into the mix? I would like it better if they just grew close as friends without any sort of kissing and what not. Everything else about this book screams uniqueness so it's sad to see her diving into the cliches of YA. Hopefully I'm right about Sophie and Archer or else I'll be super embarrassed. 

I can't wait to find out the ending to Sophie's story in the final book, Spell Bound, because I have a feeling things are going to get much worse for Sophie and Company.

“It sucks that we miss people like that. You think you've accepted that someone is out of your life, that you've grieved and it's over, and then bam. One little thing, and you feel like you've lost that person all over again.” 

“None of this makes any sense."
"I'm beginning to think I should make that the title of my autobiography.”