Sequel Phobia: Natural Born Angel by Scott Speer

Today I'm going to start a new trend on the blog called... Sequel Phobia. It's about--you guessed it--sequels I'm afraid to read. This has been on my mind a lot lately, as the process of revamping my old reviews brought up some old faves that I was super excited for... and never read. Even if I actually own the book in question.

But... why?

With this first book I'm going to talk about - there is a very defined reason.

Natural Born Angel is the sequel to Scott Speer's Immortal City. When I read Immortal City way back in 2012, I fell absolutely in love with it. I was uber excited for the sequel, waiting for its release eagerly. And then it did release and I bought it... And saw some early reviews. 

A few words popped out at me: blah blah blah Love Triangle blah blah blah unnecessary drama blah blah blah Jack acting like a jerk blah blah blah...

Hold on. Wait a minute. WHAT? What what what what??? Nope. No. None of that sound good. Gah, why does it sound like I would hate the sequel to a book I love? I don't want to do that! I don't want to ruin my good experience! AHHH. 

Okay. I'll put it on a back burner for a while. Wait until I'm in a really good mood that nothing can ruin. Yep, that's what I'll do. that's the plan.

THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENED.

I'm not even joking. That mess up there? That's what happened inside my brain. The entire thought process. The whole plan. I've still not managed to grab that elusive mood that would upscale my petrifying fear of ruining the characters and world for me. 

I need help.

Do YOU have any advice as to how I might convince myself to read this sequel? 

Book Review: Immortal City by Scott Speer

Immortal City by Scott Speer

Immortal City #1

First Published: 2012

Paperback

Young Adult, Fantasy

Rating:

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest Angel in a city obsessed with Immortals. Everyone loves him.
Everyone except Maddy Montgomery, that is.
She's not interested in shallow celebrities... until Jackson takes refuge in the diner where Maddy works and an irresistible connection pulls them together.
But as Maddy is drawn into Jackson's glamorous world, she's exposed to more that the paparazzi. A serial killer is murdering Angels. Maddy and Jackson could lose each other for ever. 

While I started Immortal City wary of hoping for too much, in lieu of never reading a truly great angel story, it became promising very quickly. Mostly because of how unique the plot was, when in theory it shouldn't be. The general premise is fairly unoriginal: supernatural boy falls for normal girl... Been there, read that, have the bookshelves to prove it.

But it's the setting of Immortal City that truly sets it apart; imagine modern time with one key difference - Angels "came out of the closet" years ago and are now saving people from unnatural deaths as Guardian Angels... for money. Only the rich can afford this premium luxury, while everyone else watch the angels with starstruck eyes, following their every movement through the tv and fantasizing about winning their own angel.

Because not only are they now an enterprise, they're also the Kardashians of this world.

Can we just take a minute to appreciate this? Have you ever heard of a story commercializing angels? I sure as hell haven't.

And surrounding all that, there is a strange,  impossible murder investigation. Angel murders. Angels who are supposed to be un-kill-able--unless by another angel. I'm not sure I'm doing the intensity of this setup justice, but trust me that it was insanely intense.

These different plot lines are transmitted through three different point of views.

The first is that of Maddy, possibly the only girl in the world who is disinterested in the angels. Despite this unoriginal role, Maddy turned out to be a strong and logical girl with a very likable voice. You know you truly like a character when you understand where they are coming from and forgive their annoying parts.

The second point of view is that of Jackson, a superstar angel about to become the youngest guardian to date. He was cute... but sometimes really clueless, which is surprising considering he's such a hotshot. My one major problem with Jack was how often he hurt Maddy because of his high sense of duty and justice or his silence. I think the silence part was more aggravating.

Like, if someone calls your girl trash... anything other than outrage is unacceptable in my opinion. I kept wishing we'd see him truly protect Maddy; from emotional harm as well as physical. If he would have just fought against his dad and defied his stepdad, even by asking him some effing questions...

He did become fiercely protective and kick-butt when he realized he loved her, even if that realization happened like a week quickly. But, WOW what a first kiss! The romance in here kind of reminded me of Twilight's, which in my case is not an insult or anything but to some people...

The third point of view that isn't mentioned anywhere in the synopsis is that of Detective Sylvester. From his side comes the murder mystery, as he is responsible with catching the killer. He was a great character, one that made me excited for those little breaks in the dominant plot-line to see the hunt for the killer.

When it came to the twists in this book, I kind of figured them all out from a mile away. I even knew who the killer was!... sort of. I kind of hoped my other option would've been the killer, if only for them to have an excuse to kill him/her. Maybe in the sequels?

But what the book lacked in plot twists, it all but made up for in the action department and the surprising way things unfolded. The book starts slow, building the world and characters, but it was never boring. And it ups the ante considerably as it nears the end. To the point where I simple couldn't put it down until I had finished.

And let me tell you, Speer knows how to make you sweat. I literally held my breath. The last few chapters just put me in a hyperventilating mess of "oh my god"s. I did not expect any of it. Speer sure knows how to surprise and scare! He managed to make me fall for the same ruse twice, god damn him!

And then it ends on a somewhat cliffhanger? You're an evil man, Scott Speer. 

The only thing less the stellar was parts of the writing. While I applaud Speer's ability to effortlessly switch from one character to the next, the descriptions sometimes seemed to lack. They just didn't play in my mind--couldn't play in my mind. The logistics of it made no sense. But it was a rather small thing, really, on the grand scale of things.

And what a scale that was...

Three Reasons To Read Please Save My Earth by Saki Hiwatari | Manga Review

Please Save my Earth by Saki Hiwatari
Completed at 138 Chapters, 21 volumes
Reading Status: Finished

Published: 1987 to 1994 (no dates specified)
Mystery, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Rating:

Mystic dreams of a previous life in the moon lead to the bonding of seven students in an attempt to uncover the secrets behind what they have forgotten. As various truths are sought and avoided, Alice must hurry remembering if she is to save the fragile Rin from self-destruction. For only after facing the grave errors of the past, can they all move forward and live fully in the present.

I'm a huge manga fan. And Please Save my Earth is one of those manga I find myself re-visiting often. And whenever I do, I get flooded by feels just as if I was reading it for the very first time. It's one of these manga that I would recommend for anyone, and here are the reasons;

Please Save My Earth tells not one story - but two. The first one is of six modern day teenagers and one eight year old child who have memories of their past lives. Those memories and personalities interfere with their present lives, especially for the eight year old.

The other story-line is that of their past lives - seven alien scientists from planets far more advanced than earth who were stationed on the moon and died there from an outbreak, which led to them being reborn on earth.

Please Save My Earth expertly weaves together the two stories, one a tale of finding a way to release the memories and finding one's self, and the other a heartbreaking tragedy tinged with hope, making you desperate to know more about both and specifically the characters of the leading four: Rin and Alice and their past selves Shion and Mokuren.

Every character in this manga series is just so flawed and imperfect, in the most lovable way. You will love them to pieces, because they're real and gray and layered and they're not just one thing or the other. That's why the story looks slightly different from every character's eyes.

Also, this idea of reincarnation is way cool. I hope I was an alien in a past life.

This is probably the one most people are going to have the biggest reserves about. Please Save My Earth features many complicated and layered romantic relations/feelings. But the main two are something even beyond that.

The first relationship happens in the past; between two scientists aboard the Moon Base. One is a man who only knows war, fear and loneliness, he has a very weak grasp of what love is and he is afraid of it. The other is a woman who receives adoration from everyone around her because of her abilities and beauty, but only wants one person to love her for herself. 

imagine you had the memories of this love. This wretched, often misguided love that ended before having enough time to blossom because of the disease. And imagine that you're now eight years old, and the woman you've loved --and presently love-- is nine years older than you and has no idea about anything.

I bet you just went "Whaaa?"

Yes, there is a giant age gap. And it's the type of age gap that bothers people more because the woman is older (not that I understand the double standard there). And yes, the boy is incredibly young. But if you read the manga, you see all those are just incorrect assumptions--or rather, meaningless ones.

Because Rin, the boy in question, is more adult than child due to his memories, and the love he feels for Alice is not some fleeting infatuation, but the real deal. And even if you're skeptic at first, by the end of the manga you will believe this love with all of your being.

Yes, I cry. Every. single. time. 

It's like, I can't deal with all these emotions, from the past and from the present. You get so in-tune with these characters that you can't separate yourself from them so when you see their tragic pasts; you are sure to cry. When you see the past trying to take their present and making them miserable; you are going to cry! And when you see them finally grasping happiness after everything... you guessed it; you will cry!

\

Honestly, one of the more underrated manga out there, despite being somewhat of a pioneer in the Shoujo genre in Japan - I highly recommend it to everyone out there. The art-style is very eighties (if you read manga, you probably know what I mean) but another nice aspect of the manga is watching it evolve and get some fineness as the series progresses.

DNF Review: Blind Attraction by Eden Summers

Blind Attraction by Eden Summers

Reckless Beat #1
First Published: 2013
Free Kindle Version
Adult, Romance
Rating: DNF

He can seduce with a single glance.

Peering down at a sea of fans, rock star, Mitchell Davies can’t deny the innocent beauty of a woman in the front row. He’ll stop at nothing to get to know her. When a public altercation leaves her weak and defenseless, he takes the opportunity to be her savior.
She’s been sheltered from the world.

Alana Shelton wants to spread her wings and experience life away from her restrictive upbringing. But she isn’t prepared for a gorgeous stranger to sweep her off her feet while at her most vulnerable.

Attraction will bring them together, but their pasts will try to tear them apart.

He wants to teach her how to trust, but she’ll show him how to love. In a glamorous world of rock-and-roll, only time will tell if they’re up for the challenge.

DNF at 66%

Blind Attraction started interesting enough. I liked the idea of a truly sheltered girl, who lived in a house for abused women which her mother runs. That's some interesting back story there. But I was also immediately wary because of the instant connection the two share in one of his concerts. 

I carried on, and at first it was alright, but then... I just kind of got tired of the never-ending sex scenes, especially when they were repeatedly done with other people hearing/seeing them. Like, sure, this could be fun but it came across as kind of tacky and seriously, can no one get a semblance of privacy in this book?

I skimmed every sex scene after the first one.

Admittedly, this might have been as much my mood as anything else but I wanted plot. I wanted them falling in love. I wanted them talking. Less physical stuff and more meaningful stuff. 

But it really lost me when Mitch decided to back off to give Alana a... better shot at life? To make the hard decision so she won't have to? Dude, let her decide what she wants to do with her life and for god's sake, what's so bad about you aside for the being away part? And, frankly, I don't think a photographer would mind traveling all over the world with the band.

Of course, Mitch has no idea she's a photographer because they've known each other a total of two days, which consisted mostly of sex and him physically helping her due to her blindness.

So, yeah.

Ultimately, I've read so many better rock-star romances that I decided to just drop this one, even though I've read (or skimmed) more than half of it.

On Unsubscribing and Why It's Difficult

This post is just some random thoughts that I had to write down. A few days ago, I unsubscribed from a few of the blogs on my mailing list. This is something I rarely do because I always feel so bad for those sites. I know how hard it is to make a wide audience base for yourself and how discouraging it can be to lose followers.

But at the same time... I wasn't a real follower to these blogs.

These are the blogs I almost certain I subscribed to because of some giveaway or another. I don't read their posts because their writing style doesn't engage me and they mostly feature books that are of not interest to me.

(it might be notable that I am an engaging subscriber to some blogs that are like this but have such an addictive writing style they might even get me to read those books I never planned to)

Can I count as a follower if I only check out the giveaway posts and most of the time I do nothing with them as well? If the blog covers novels that don't attract me? If every posts that comes into my inbox gets moved to trash without barely a glance, with only one in a million titles actually catching my interest???

There, I said it.

So I did some thinking with myself. I hate un-following. But in this case, isn't my "following"... worse? Aren't I somehow a cheat and a liar and I actually off-set their stats because I'm a ghost follower that doesn't really exist, like those bots and what not?

I AM NOT A REAL FOLLOWER. 

What do their stats need me for? What do I give them that requires I stay on board? Whose feelings am I going to hurt if for all intents and purposes I never "existed"in these bloggers lives to begin with?

These were the things that finally decided it for me. Maybe they are just excuses to make myself feel better about unsubscribing, and maybe if doesn't even matter if they are. I am going to do some real cleaning to the blogs I'm subscribed to. I am going to try and only subscribe to blogs I want to read the content of, and all those giveaways be dammed.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? DO YOU FIND IT HARD TO UNFOLLOW? DO YOU THINK A "SILENT FOLLOWER" IS WORTH SOMETHING? 

DNF Review: Rock My Bed by Michelle A. Valentine | Why I Couldn't Get Past The First Few Pages

Rock My Bed by Michelle A. Valentine

Black Falcon #1
First Published: 2013
Free Kindle Version
Adult, Romance
Rating: DNF

Everything always seems to fall into place for twenty-four year-old Aubrey Jenson, except for when it comes to her luck with men. Bad boys always draw her in and crush her heart, and Black Falcon’s lead guitarist, Riff, is no exception. After sharing a few wild nights together, she leaves him behind, knowing a guy like Riff isn’t the relationship type, merely just a play thing.
When she returns to New York, she tries to get the passion she felt in Riff’s arms out of her head by dating Isaac, a successful representative at Center Stage Marketing. Just when she thinks she’s forgotten Riff, she’s forced to see him again when her best friend, Lanie, ropes her into being a bridesmaid for her upcoming wedding to Black Falcon front man, Noel.

Sparks fly instantly between Aubrey and Riff when they’re forced to reunite, and suddenly she finds herself caught between the man that’s good for her and the one who completely rocks her in every way.

Why I Couldn't Get Past the First Few Pages

Warning: Vulgar language will be used in this post, which I don't normally do. Please stop reading if that may bother you.

Get Ready to Bawl Your Eyes Out With Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki | Manga Review

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki
Completed at 107 out 107 Chapters, 24 volumes
Reading Status: Finished

Published: May 18, 2006 to Mar 18, 2015
Adventure, Mystery, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural
Rating:

The air of celebration surrounding fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius's coming-of-age ceremony quickly turns to horror when he is condemned for a sin about which he knows nothing. He is thrown into an eternal, inescapable prison known as the Abyss from which there is no escape. There, he meets a young girl named Alice, who is not what she seems. Now that the relentless cogs of fate have begun to turn, do they lead only to crushing despair for Oz, or is there some shred of hope for him to grasp on to?

If you're looking for a funny, cutesy manga to pass your time with, LOOK AWAY BECAUSE PANDORA HEARTS IS NOT THAT. While immensely funny at times, Pandora Hearts is heartbreaking in it's core, weaving through dialogues, characters and beautiful art style an intricate, gut wrenching tale of love, loss and obsession.

From the very beginning, Pandora Hearts engulfs you in this sense of mystery and intrigue. What is going on here? What is the truth? What is the motives behind the characters actions? It piles questions on top questions, wrapping it up with a cast of endearing, funny, sweet and somewhat broken characters.

The main core of the manga are Oz, Alice and Gilbert. And yes, there are some very clear elements of both Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz interwoven into the tale.

Oz is the successor to the house of Vessalius, one of the four dukedoms of this fantasy world. He is a lovable but odd child. He has a hard time believing he is lovable. Believing he is worth something. He doesn't fight for anything, and at times seems oddly detached from this world. Someone might need to literally beat him up in order for him to realize his own self worth.

None of it is helped by his disastrous 15th birthday coming of age ceremony, where the party is disrupted and Oz gets cast into The Abyss, a twisted, eternal prison, for the simple sin of "existing".

The Abyss is what gives birth to "Chains" - strangely toy-like creatures with superpowers who can only exist in the real world by forming a contract with a human... and eating other humans. There, Oz meets Alice - a human shaped chain who offers to help him escape this prison if he forms a contract with her.

Oz does, forming a connection beyong a simple contract with the spunky girl. Alice is a peculiar chain. First of all - she has a proper name. She is human in her looks and behavior - acting a bit like a naughty child; she loves food; she is funny and sweet and innately attuned to Oz's feelings and moods. She tries to cheer him up constantly, because he "is her manservant and only she is allowed to make him sad". In short, she is a delight.

But why is Alice so different? Yet another mystery slowly unraveled by this manga.

cool Gil!

.... Real Gil...

And finally, the person who awaits Oz and Alice in Real Life, working to free Oz on his end - Gilbert. Oz's servant and best friend, he defines himself by his master, he will do anything for him, he is a bit weak and he's very insecure. He balances Oz's devil-may-care and Alice rush enthusiasm perfectly.

These three are squad goals and I love them dearly. Together, they work to find the truth behind what happened to Oz, what happened one hundred years ago... and what is about to happen next.

Around them are funny, odd, sweet, smart and crazy characters; from the Mad Hatter whom I long to give a hug, to Liem and Sharon, the count, UNCLE OSCAR (I love him), Ada, Elliot, Leo and of course... Vincent. Wacked-up, strangely endearing, impossibly impossible Vincent.

Everyone in this manga are such a mess, but a mess I loved.

Now when I first started this series, it was still on-going, and in it's relatively happy-go-lucky, just-fun-and-games stage. So I was not expecting it to punch me in the face suddenly and then keep punching non stop. Seriously, I started crying at around chapter 54 and continued crying up to the end.

I am not okay. This is not okay!

If you're looking for a manga that could really hit you in the feels and make you both engross and interested and completely heartbroken for everyone at the same time, manga with bitter-sweet endings, then... this one is for you.

Otherwise , stay away because this will break you.

Hope this review made some form of sense! lol