This Is Not A Test by Courtney Summers...

Series: -
Published: June 19th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 323
Rating: 3 stars
Age Recommendation: -

Synopsis:

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Review:

I had very high expectations when I started reading this book use I have loved the previous two Courtney Summers books that I have read "Cracked Up To Be" and "Some Girls Are" but there was something about this book that seemed to fall a little flat for me and I found things I liked and didn't like when reading this book.

The plot. One of the things that I found with this book was that there was no real character set up, especially for the side characters, it just jumped straight into what was happening in the book - the zombie apocalypse - which I have to say I didn't really like and it caused me a few problems when it came to deciphering characters at the start. But aside from that I really did like the plot, this book isn't really about zombies, this book is more about people learning to survive. I thought that the book was a really quick read it took me a couple of hours and I have to say it was pretty enjoyable.

The characters. I thought that the charcters were all written really well they were all really believable and had realistic responses to everything that was going on and for the most part they were all really enjoyable to read. I loved Sloane's character. I thought that she was a great protagonist for the book and I loved seeing everything happening through her eyes and seeing her take on what was happening as well as how she developed through the book and started to let Rhys in. The other character that stood out to me in this book was Rhys, I always thought that he was a strong character throughout the book but I also liked seeing how he changed when his relationship started to develop with Sloane.

Overall I thought that it was a pretty good book, not one of the best that I have read by Courtney Summers but I still liked it.

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward...

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood (Book #6)
Published: June 3rd 2008 by Signet
Pages: 534
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: 16+ (Due to graphic content and violence)

Synopsis:

In this "frighteningly addictive" paranormal romance sage there's a war raging between vampires and their slayers. Here are the stories of a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. And now a dutiful twin must choose between two lives...
Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is obligated to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive, and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body, but his heart for herself. She is drawn to the noble responsibility behind the emotionally scarred male. But Phury has never allowed himself to know pleasure or joy. As the war with the Lessening Society grows grim, tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, and Phury must decide between duty and love

Review:

I loved this book! It seems that the series just keeps getting better.
This was a really long read for me, I think it took me about a month to get through but if school hadn't taken up all of my time this book would have been finished within a day.

The plot. I absolutley LOVED the plot, there were so many unexpected things that happened which I really want to talk about (but I won't because I want to keep this spoiler free) all I can say is WOW. The book was so fast paced that I never wanted to put it down, if I had my way and I didn't have to write essays this book would have been finished within the day I started it.

The characters. With every book I read in this series I find myself becoming more attached to the characters. I see new layers to each of the brothers and I become more attached to them with each book I read.
I really loved Phury's character, he has always been one of my favourite characters but this book just made me love him even more, I loved seeing how he grew throughout the book and how he coped with being the primale and all that it entailed. I also loved seeing him change when he got to meet Cormia how he changed as their relationship developed throughout the book. I also really love Cormia's character, I have to admit when she first came into the series I didn't like her character because I didn't feel that she was very relatable, but seeing the world through her eyes and seeing her experience the human world has made me come to understand her character and I really have come to like her.

Overall I thought that this was a great edition to the series and I can't wait to see what's in store for the next four books that should be coming to my door on Monday!

Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward...

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood (Book #5)
Published: September 25th 2007 by Signet
Pages: 502
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: 16+ (Due to graphic content and violence)

Synopsis:

In Caldwell, New York, war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Now the cold heart of a cunning predator will be warmed against its will...
Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous, son of the Bloodletter, possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father's war camp he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time-until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that cannot include her...

Review:

Oh my gosh!! This series just keeps getting better and better. To be honest I have no idea what I am going to write for this review I'm still trying to collect my thoughts from reading this book, it has pretty much left me speechless.

The plot. I LOVED the plot. The two reasons that it took me so long to read it was one, because of school work and two, because I didn't want it to end, so I was trying to only read a little at a time (though that didn't always work out). I really loved the storyline in this book I thought that it was really interesting and I loved all the flashbacks into V's past where I got to find out more about how he got to be who he is now in the books. A lot of what happened in this book I was not expecting at all, there were so many plot twists and crazy things happening in this book that I was taken off guard a lot of the time and I found this book to be an emotional roller-coaster for me, especially towards the end. I also really loved the ending of this book, I thought that it showed a different side of the Scribe Virgin and I thought what V did for her in the end showed that he knew the extent of the sacrifice she made for him and wanted to repay her for it.

The characters. I loved the charcters in this book!! I thought that Jane was a really strong character who was also really relateable and a great match for V. I liked seeing how she grew thoughout the book and how she handled being involved in the vampire world. I really loved V's character aswell, he would have to be my favourite brother in the books, so when I found out that this book was on his character I was so excited to get to see more into his head and have the story focus on him, and it did not dissapoint. I loved seeing how his character grew thoughout the book and how he handeled the things that he struggled with and I think that out of the five books that I have read so far he had the hardest time out of all the brothers in what he had to deal with. I also loved seeing how his charcter grew throughout the book, I liked seeing him go from the hard character that he was in the beggining of the book and seeing how he changed when Jane came into his life and how he came to terms with the changes in his personality.

Overall I am completely in love with this book and now I have super high expectations for the next book so I am a little scared to read it. Out of the series so far this would have to be my favourite and I thought that it was a perfect book and I really cannot wait to see what happens to all the brothers in the books to come

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward...

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood (Book #4)
Published: March 6th 2007 by Signet
Pages: 468
Rating: 5 stars
Age Recommendation: 16+ (Due to graphic content and violence)

Synopsis:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York,
there's a deadly war raging between vampires and their
slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers
like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their
race. Now, an ally of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
will face the challenge of his life and the evil of the ages.

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world-to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.

But fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him.

Review:

I LOVED this book! Though I read it with really long intervals in between every time I picked it up again I could remember exactly what had happened before and then got completely lost in the story all over again.

The plot. I really loved the plot of this book, I thought that it was very different from all the other books in the series that I've read so far, I thought that there were a lot of great plot twists in the book and I really liked seeing the vampire world through a humans eyes and seeing how Butch tried to fit in, and I loved how descriptibe the writing was and how it felt like I was right there with the character I was reading about and seeing everything through their eyes.

The characters. I really loved all the characters in the book, they were all written flawlessly and they all had a lot of depth and back story to them which I loved. I really liked Butch's charcter, for me he has always been a unique character and I have loved reading about him in the previous books because I loved his witty comments throughout the book and I also loved seeing how he grew throughout the course of the book. I also really loved Marrisa's charcter, when I first read about her in the series she always seemed to come across as quite weak, but after reading this book I knew that I was dead wrong. Marrisa is a really strong character and I really loved reading about her in the book and reading the story from her POV and I loved seeing how she grew in the book and became more of her own person and really started to take control of her life and went after what she wanted.

Overall I thought that this was a great edition to the series and I liked how the main character in the story was human so I got to see his perspective of the vampire world. I also loved how there and multipul POV in this series so I get to see what is happening inside the heads of different characters throghout the book. I seriously cannot get enough of this series, I just ordered books 7-10 and I cannot wait to see what in store for all of the characters in the books to come.