Red Riding Hood

Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henri, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.

After her sister's violent death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the werewolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But no one is safe. When an expert wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them - it could be anyone in town.

It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the Blood Moon wanes . . . or everyone she loves will die.

Red Riding Hood was actually written after Catherine Hardwick received the screenplay from the movie. She felt like the story was too good not be be more in depth. I really would like to watch the movie and see if it was set up differently than the book. Not to say the book was horrible, it just wasn't that good. I really liked Valerie,the narrator, but she was very indecisive and when she did make decisions they were confusing. She would spend a large amount of time talking herself in one direction and then actually go against everything she had just said. The ending was also a little haphazard and kind of thrown together. It could have been a whole lot better if the plot would have been clearer and not so confusing. Overall it was an easy read, but not very original. One thing the book did fairly decent was hide who the wolf was. Even in the ending it wasn't officially announced, which was a bit annoying since the reader had been lead in circles. I will probably post again once I see the movie.

Review/Description

The sleepy village of Daggorhorn has been plagued by werewolves for many moons. Animal sacrifices have proved effective in keeping the Wolf at bay, but now human blood has been spilled. Valerie's beautiful sister is dead, killed by the werewolf who is terrorizing the village. Valerie knows that the Wolf wants her; she has known it since she was a small child. She is somehow attached to the creature, enabling her to communicate with the beast. The village is desperate to rid themselves of the monster, and decide that Valerie can be used as bait. Valerie is a willing sacrifice; blaming herself for her sister's death. She hopes that the Wolf will be placated by her willingness to surrender; however, nothing is certain. Blakely-Cartwright has the basis for a wonderful novel; suspense, romance, adventure...but somehow, it falls short. The characters are two-dimensional, making it difficult to find a reason to care about them from the very beginning. There are also elements of the plot that are not explained well in the narrative, including how the houses are built on stilts to help protect them from the Wolf. The third person perspective is annoying at times, especially when trying to figure out which character is being focused upon. Look for the movie version of the novel, released on March 11th. Perhaps watch the film first and then pick up the novel.

Awakened

“My love, speak to me. Tell me everything.” Neferet went to Kalona, kneeling before him, stroking the soft, dark wings that unfurled loosely around the immortal.
“What would you have me say?” He didn’t meet her eyes.
“Zoey lives.” Neferet’s voice was flat, cold, lifeless.
“She does.”
“Then you owe me the subservience of your immortal soul.” She started to walk away from him.
“Where are you going? What will happen next?”
“It is quite simple. I will ensure Zoey is drawn back to Oklahoma. There, on my own terms, I will complete the task you failed.”

Awakened is the 8th book in the House of Night series, and I thought it was actually pretty good. The authors are starting to run a little low on material, so to me it seems like the conflicts are starting to repeat themselves a bit. However, Zoey finally has only one boyfriend, Stark, who she is now devoted to and in love with. The book starts out with them dealing with being back from the Otherworld and then, they sleep together for the first time. Neferet has control over Kalona who now hates her. Neferet has to repay her debt to darkness and to get Zoey to come back to school so she has Jack killed. The rest of the book is about Stevie Rae and Rephraim and Zoey and Stark. I liked the ending because it worked out for Rephraim, Nyx rewarded him with the ability to be human during the night. I didn't like the part about Heath becoming part of the vessel of evil.

Review/Description

Exonerated by the Vampyre High Council and returned to her position of High Priestess at Tulsa’s House of Night, Neferet has sworn vengeance on Zoey. Dominion over Kalona is only one of the weapons she plans to use against Z. But Zoey has found sanctuary on the Isle of Skye and is being groomed by Queen Sgiach to take over for her there. Being Queen would be cool, wouldn’t it? Why should she return to Tulsa? After losing her human consort, Heath, she will never be the same – and her relationship with her super-hot-warrior, Stark, may never be the same either…
And what about Stevie Rae and Rephaim? The Raven Mocker refuses to be used against Stevie Rae, but what choice does he have when no one in the entire world, including Zoey, would be okay with their relationship? Does he betray his father or his heart?
In the pulse-pounding 8th book in the bestselling House of Night series, how far will the bonds of friendship stretch and how strong are the ties that bind one girl’s heart?

Shiver

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I really like the theme of Shiver. I aslo like the characeters personallities. Sam was awesome and I thought he balanced Grace out perfectly. However, I thought the plot was a little lacking in exceitement. It got better toward the end when Grace is trying to save Sam, but during the middle it was just about them being in love. All the information about wolves was cool too. It was interesting that Grace's attack played such a large part and I liked it. The ending was extremely good, since I'm all about how books end and I like happily ever-after. I kind of don't want to read the sequels because I think they are going to make me mad, but I will probably read them anyway.

Review/ Description

Stiefvater leaves the faeries of Lament and Ballad for a lyrical tale of alienated werewolves and first love. For years, Grace has been fascinated by the yellow-eyed wolf that saved her from its pack when she was a child. Sam, bitten by a wolf as a boy, is that wolf. Long obsessed with each other at a distance, they finally meet after a wolf hunt (inspired by the apparent death of a local teen) sends a wounded and temporarily human Sam into Grace's arms. Their young love is facilitated by Grace's hands-off parents (“Once upon a time, I would've leaped at the rare opportunity of curling up with Mom on the couch. But now, it sort of felt like too little, too late,” Grace muses), but threatened by two linked crises: the fact that Sam will soon lose the ability to become human and the instability of a new lycanthrope.