Gatekeeper by Alison Levy REVIEW

 My Thoughts:

I absolutely loved this. I would have gotten this review done sooner but I am so busy with college lately. Rachel is from another dimension. Her job has her working with daemons, but her new assignment has her tracking down a killer trying to open another dimension so a very old, very dangerous daemon can get out and wreak havoc. The job is something she's never done before-and she has no available help since the offices are closed and no one is answering her calls. Rachel's first attempt at capturing the man is unsuccessful, but she finds a flash drive that he drops while running away. Since she is unable to read the language on the drive, she enlists the help of Miss Morely, an expert in languages, which gets them both captured. Can she finish the job? Why is the killer so obsessed with opening this door and finding a long lost gatekeeper?

I loved getting to know Rachel and her home dimension. I would, however, have loved to know more about her home and job. The end sounded like there was going to be a sequel, which would be amazing. I can't wait to see what else the author has in store. 

My Rating: 5 stars

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake REVIEW

*sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood*
Summary:

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.
His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live--not walk around half dead, pining for her. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.
Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep, and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...These aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears. Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

My Thoughts:

While this book is just as well written as the first and I got through it just as quick, it pales in comparison. The introduction of a secret order that Cas is descended from seemed rushed. While it was interesting, the idea just wasn't well developed.
I did really like how realistic Cas seemed throughout the book. Losing someone you love is really hard and you do really see them everywhere--just not in the same way that Cas does. I did really like Jestine (I wish we knew more about her) and I think it would be pretty cool to have a book with her as the narrator/main character someday, considering how the book ended.
In this book, Gideon was really different and it didn't feel right. In the first book, he was not just a mentor, he was also a friend to Cas, but this book just threw that out the window.
I would LOVE to have more books set in this world.

My Rating: 3 stars

The Edge of Elsewhere by Sam Stea REVIEW

Summary:

In the year 2079, fourteen-year-old Abbey Lane dreams of vivid colors that no longer exist and wonders of nature that have disappeared in a world blanketed with dust.
One day, scrounging through the abandoned ruins of Princeton University with her best friend, Max, Abbey discovers an ancient notebook that opens up a possibility beyond her dreams.
Using the information in the notebook, Abbey and Max and her brainy brother, Paul, defy time and travel into the past.
In the New York City of 1971, they discover the natural world, join a group of hippies, and befriend a legendary musician and peace activist, who may hold the key to changing the tragic destiny of Earth as they've known it-if they can only save him from an untimely death.
But do they dare disrupt the natural flow of events? Will it endanger their own existence? Will it make matters better or destroy everything and everyone they've ever known?

My Thoughts:

Since I know very little of the topic the author is writing about (climate change), I won't be talking about how realistic or not the world of 2079 is, I will just give my thoughts on the story.
At the beginning of the book, I definitely disliked Paul, however later on, I actually ended up liking him the most out of the three.
The story begins with Abbey and Max eating together at the spot where the university used to be. They end up exploring and finding a journal written by Einstein himself. They bring it to Abbey's house and Paul ends up taking it and locking himself in his room. He figures out how to time travel, and after lots of begging, agrees to let Abbey and Max go with him.
Most of the book takes place in the 70s, which is where they traveled to. I do wish the author spent more time building the world in 2079 though.
I suppose for the time period, it would make sense that John Lennon was an important figure in helping try to save the earth, but I personally know very little about him.
It isn't really clear how they end up saving the earth, which was the one thing I really wanted to know. (SPOILERS) Also, if their mom changes to not being their mom...shouldn't they not exist? That confused me the most.
While I found this book to be very interesting, the lack of enough world building and amount of unanswered questions really ruined the fun.

My Rating: 3 stars

Music From Another World by Robin Talley REVIEW

Summary:

It's summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can't be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy's only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk...until she's matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything.
Sharon Hawkins bonds with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others-like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom-and the kind she tells herself. But as antigay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths, what they'll stand for...and who they'll rise against.

My Thoughts:

I saw this at a bookstore and immediately ordered it from the library. I'm so glad I did. Tammy and Sharon are such well built characters, and so is Sharon's brother. I love the formatting of the book as well, although at first it was kind of confusing.
While I don't have anyone throwing antigay campaigns, I know what it's like to have a conservative family, go to a Christian school, and have to pretend I'm someone that I'm not. So it was really nice being able to finally relate to a main character in a book.
Tammy ends up running away to Sharon after her family finds out that she's gay. Sharon comes to terms that she's bisexual and in love with Tammy.
This was my first LGBT-centered book I have read, and I absolutely loved it.

My Rating: 5 stars

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake REVIEW

Summary:

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 every person who has dared step into the deserted Victorian house she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

My Thoughts:

I actually bought the sequel without realizing that it was a sequel last year, so I borrowed this book from my library. It was just as good as I hoped.
Cas is one of the few male narrators in books that I have actually liked. His father was killed when he was young and he secretly plans to get revenge once he gets enough experience to do so. What he doesn't know, is that he'll get revenge a lot sooner than he thinks. It turns out Anna is just a scared girl who was cursed to stay in the house and kill everyone, and that she never wanted to in the first place. The romance between Cas and Anna is so well written, although I wish the author explored their relationship a bit more.
Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes reading/watching things about the paranormal.
*also, it's definitely NOT a children's book. It is implied that Anna's stepfather did things to her, as well as other things that would be spoilers*

My Rating: 4.5 stars