Review: Oriana's Eyes (Great Oak Trilogy #1) by Celeste Simone

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Title: Oriana's Eyes (Great Oak Trilogy #1)
Author: Celeste Simone
Started: 26/12/11
Finished: 27/12/11
Medium: eBook
Publisher: iUniverse
Genre: Young Adult: Paranormal, Dystopian
Buy here: Amazon / The Book Depository / Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Synopsis: As a pure-blood Winglet, Oriana isn't supposed to look at a half-blood much less speak to one. Half-bloods are the lowest of all races at Odon's University, because they are half Winglet and half Finlet. But when a half-blood, Dorian, locks eyes with her in the hallway, Oriana can't help but be intrigued by his daring nature. After sneaking out to the garden in the middle of the night to talk to him, Oriana knows she can't let her feelings go. She fears not following Odon's rules, but the more she sees Dorian the more she wants to break them all. When Oriana's idea of perfection crumbles she seeks a way out of the imprisoning University that threatens not only her happiness, but her very life. Dorian promises he has a plan to take her far away, but Oriana doubts they can escape Odon's all-seeing eye. Oriana isn't sure what she fears more, being stuck in the University or finding out what lies beyond its walls.

Celeste Simone has created and written a wonderful alternate universe with new races based on the water and the air creatures. In literal sense, people who have wings and can fly and people who have fins and can swim. The worlds become chaotic when the Winglets (people who fly) and the Finlets (people who can swim?) mix and mate and produce the all powerful Half-Blood, who are the ones who let their emotions take over and have the power to rule thousands. Love the fantasy!

In this story, Oriana is attracted to a particular "part-blood" and escapes from the University (the place where they are brainwashed and stuff) when this part-blood smiles at her while passing her in the hall way. While, I was reading this book, I didn't have any feelings of "OH WOAH!" or "OH NO!!". Its more like "Okay, nice keep going". 

What I'm trying to say is that, Oriana Eyes is a good story with a nice plot and very well created scenario with a lot of new "races" as they called it in the book. But it lacked the WOW factor. Aside from that the ending had a sparkle or spec of the wow factor. It just needs to go beyond that a little. Also, the book was very realistic, to the point where people die, like they should when certain things happen. This gives the book a plus for me! I'd like to see (or read) where Celeste takes this story. Till then I give this a 3/5 stars.

Top 10 Books I've Read in 2011

This running from the 26th -30th of December. Its hosted by A Life Bound By Books, Rachel from Fiktshun, Jaime & Patricia from Two Chicks on Books & Confessions of a Bookaholic. 

TOP 10 BOOKS I'VE READ IN 2011

Lola and the Boy Next Door 
by Stephanie Perkins
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Goodreads Synopsis: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

 Anna Dressed in Blood

by Kendare Blake

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Goodreads Synopsis: Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

Nevermore
by Kelly Creagh
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Goodreads Synopsis: Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due—so unfair—on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he’d rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can’t help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.
Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life.

As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares. His life depends on it.

Across the Universe

by Beth Revis

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Goodreads Synopsis: This is a story about Amy and how her life is frozen (literally) with a select others for 301 years. They are frozen in a box (otherwise called cryo chambers) and put on "Godspeed", a ship that was sent out into space toward a new planet that will take over 3 centuries to reach. But something mysterious awakens Amy early from her boxed prison and from there the reader is taken on a roller-coaster sort of ride into Amy and Elders life. Amy's strife to accept her new prison and how alone she is and Elders fight to accomplish what a soon to be leader of "Godspeed" should be like.

Die For Me
by Amy Plum
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Goodreads Synopsis: Die For Me is the debut novel of a wonderful new writer named Amy Plum. The book was focused on the main character Kate who, with her sister, moved to Paris to stay with their grandparents after their parents death in a tragic accident. It isn't easy moving to a whole new place and leaving behind all her memories and her home. And Kate uses the world of books as a means to escape from her pain that she has to go through due to the loss of her parents. Slowly, she begins to get out more and read out in a cafe where a mysterious young man catches her attention and destroys whatever boundaries she put up with just one smile.

Anna and the French Kiss

by Stephanie Perkins

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Goodreads Synopsis: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

Darkfever 
by Karen Marie Moning
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Goodreads Synopsis: MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

The Apocalypse Gene

by Suki Michelle & Carlyle Clark

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Goodreads Synopsis: With Pandemic ravaging the globe, Olivya's psychic Sight compels her to see auras riddled with the colors of despair, and now her mother is infected.
Olivya’s only hope is the mysterious Mikah, a powerful Empath who claims the Pandemic is linked to his clan, the Kindred, and their brooding, monstrous, Immortal Lord. But can she trust this boy who can manipulate her very emotions?
With Mikah's aid, Olivya races to unearth Kindred secrets, desperate to find a cure, only to discover the Pandemic is far, far more than a mere disease . . .

Unearthly 
by Cynthia Hand
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Goodreads Synopsis: In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Released 

by Megan Duncan

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Goodreads Synopsis:  After a demon apocalypse kills their parents and everyone they know, 17-year old Abby Phillips, her brother, Carter, and friend, Max flee their home to travel through what has become the wastelands of America. When radio transmissions of a resistance offering shelter and safety cease, Abby is tempted to give up. Struggling to overcome life-threatening obstacles in their dangerous journey, Abby and her companions quickly discover there are much worse things lurking in the dark than they could have ever imagined.

Review: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake

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Title: Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1)
Author: Kendare Blake
Started: 24/12/11
Finished: 26/12/11
Medium: Hardbound

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: Young Adult: Paranormal

Buy here: Amazon / The Book Depository / Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . .

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

I am overwhelmed at how good Anna Dressed in Blood is. There wasn't a part where I found it dragging to the point where I was screaming "GET ON WITH IT!". It was going at a perfect pace. Authors who are able to write a book in a perfect pace needs to be worshipped for their awesomeness at it. If I ever get the chance to write a book, I don't think I'll ever get a perfect pace like how Blake wrote this book. 

I'm guilty. I didn't actually read the synposis before I decided to get this or read this. And because of that I didn't know the lead character, Cas was a boy until like the 2nd Chapter. Thats a major fail on my part. Anyways, I adore Young Adult books with male leads. It breaks the chain of endless female protagonists. Its rare but each time there is one "male" lead. I know for sure, the book will be good. 

And I was not disappointed. Like the title, my copy of Anna Dressed in Blood was also dressed and filled with its own blood. The text was crimson. Which adds in a more haunting effect to the book. 

Cas, our lead, is awesomely written and acts like he should as a teenager. He's a ghost hunter, like his father before him. He's dad is dead and he moves around with his mom killing ghosts with his dads knife. Cas is fascinated by the mysterious story of Anna, Anna Dressed in Blood and so he moves to Thunder Bay to kill it/her. Cas is a perfect protagonist for this role and for sure, a reader will love him. 

Along the way, Cas, who is a lone ranger per se. Meets two teenagers his age, who he accidentally drags into his plan to kill Anna and with their help they try a spell to weaken Anna. At some point, the book got scary. Like Look-behind-your-shoulder-scary. To be exact, Chapter 20 scared the begezuz out of me!

Anna Dressed in Blood is haunting, dark, gorey, extremely unique, original and by far the best book I've read in 2011. The world Blake creates is utterly vivid and captivating. Its that definite read everyone is longing to read. The book that'll haunt you after reading. A definite unputdownable book.