Book Review: Glitch by Brenda Pandos

Book # 1 in the Lost In Time series
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian, Sci-fi, Time Travel
Publication: January 2014 by Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Acquisition: NetGalley

Synopsis:

Perfect world. Lies. Blue eyes.

When a mysterious guy from the forbidden zone sneaks an illegal slip of paper to a beautiful young girl from Brighton, she must decide if she should turn him in or follow what the note says.

Eighteen-year-old Abigail has no trouble following Brighton’s rules. For one, she’s OCD about checking her Date of Death clock latched to her wrist, making sure her decisions never shorten her timeline, and two, she enjoys the peace Brighton has to offer. In no way would she bring on another attack that destroyed earth’s inhabitants. But when her best friend returns from her Advice Meeting--a glimpse into the future--shocked and won’t tell Abby what’s happened, Abby is worried what awaits her glimpse. The stranger with blue eyes knows something, but does Abby dare enter the forbidden zone to get answers? Or is she doomed to live the life set in her glimpse?

(from Goodreads)

4 / 5 Stars

Requested this one from NetGalley because I've always enjoyed Brenda's books. Happy to report that Glitch didn't disappoint.

A bit different from what I expected, a bit hard to follow at times, but overall a really cool story. Some dystopian, some time travel, some romance - it all really worked for me.

The ending had me a little confused and I can't say I loved Abigail all that much but I was pulled into the story pretty hard core - every page had me looking forward to the next.

In my opinion Brenda did a fab job blending the dystopian feel with the perils of messing with time. But! Oh man! Major cliffhanger! Annoyed me a first but I got over that quirky when I realized what awaited me in book 2.

I will for sure be picking up Switch!

Book Review: The Onyx Talisman (Talisman #3) by Brenda Pandos

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: December 2011
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain
Pages: 247
Series: 3rd and final
Acquisition: received for review

Summary:

Unrest stirs deep in Scotts Valley. Filled with uncertainty, Julia anxiously awaits Nicholas’ return. Phil, hurt and unsure of his place as a sober vampire, holds the pieces of Julia’s fragile psyche together, secretly hoping Nicholas stays away forever. Scarlett bides her time, plotting for the perfect moment to prove herself and earn redemption. But somewhere in L.A., Alora conspires to reclaim her talisman and strip Julia of everything she holds dear.

Little do they know, a war is coming and more than one vampire would like to see the Prince of Vampires overthrown. As more and more vampires show up from nowhere, addicted to her scent, Julia must pick her allies carefully before it’s too late. Can Julia bargain with fate? When the time comes, will she even have a choice? Find out how it all ends in this explosive grand finale of The Talisman Trilogy. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
I picked up The Onyx Talisman right after finishing book 2. It was hard not to because I realized that even though I didn't love everything about book 2, I really wanted to know what happened. I wanted to know how it all turned out. Julia still annoyed me but I couldn't not know what her fate was. Nicholas wasn't my favorite but I had to know what decisions he was going to make.

Have to say, there were a couple of twists to the story that I did not see coming at all! Julia's life gets even more complicated (which I didn't think was possible) and the choices she had to make were pretty heartbreaking.

Now, the ending threw me for a loop. Honestly, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and I had a really hard time accepting it. The rules that snapped into place at the last minute contradicted themselves a little bit and it was a little too neat and clean for my tastes. But! I actually really liked the ending Brenda gave her characters.

Final verdict:
So, not my favorite read but defiantly one that will stay with me. With vampires that I could both relate to and hate - as I should - and characters that I understood even if I didn't love, The Onyx Talisman was a mixed bag for me. I took some issue with the flow of the story and the actions of some of the characters but overall, the emotion and depth of love Julia has for the people in her life really won me over.

Overall Rating:

3 / 5 Stars

Books in the Series:
#1 The Emerald Talisman
#2 The Sapphire Talisman
#3 The Onyx Talisman

Linkage Love:
Author's website
Goodreads
IndieBound

Book Review: The Sapphire Talisman (Talisman #2) by Brenda Pandos

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: December 2010
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain
Pages: 318
Series: 2nd in a trilogy
Acquisition: received for review

Summary:

With the local vampire coven decimated, Julia and Nicholas try to begin a somewhat normal life together. Bound by secrecy, Julia isn't allowed to tell Nicholas the leader survived. When Alora returns, bent on revenge, the reunion forces Nicholas and Julia to choose what they are willing to live and die for. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
Having read book 1, The Emerald Talisman, over a year ago, I had forgotten a lot of the characters and settings and unfortunately, this made it a little hard for me to really get into this one. I was a little lost and confused at the beginning, however, after a few chapters, details began to come back to me and I was able to enjoy the story more.

The Sapphire Talisman has a lot of pretty interesting characters, including one that I wasn't expecting and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. One character I did really enjoy was Scarlet. She has such a mysterious past and even though Julia can't stand her at times, I really liked her spunk.

The one thing that didn't work for me was the disconnection I felt with the Julia. I never really warmed up to her and a few of the things she did really didn't make any sense to me. Because of the 1st person POV, it was hard for me to stay interested in what was going on because I never formed an emotional bond to Julia.

Final verdict:
Overall, I didn't absolutely love The Sapphire Talisman but by the end I found that I was fully invested in the story. Less vampire action then in book 1 but more character development, which I liked. The romance or maybe I should say romances didn't always click with me but I'm actually on the fence as to how I want things to turn out for Julia, which doesn't happen often for me so I'm really excited for book 3!

Overall Rating:

3 / 5 Stars

Books in the Series:
#1 The Emerald Talisman
#2 The Sapphire Talisman
#3 The Onyx Talisman

Linkage Love:
Author's blog
Goodreads
IndieBound

Cover Reveal: Evergreen (Mer Tales #2) by Brenda Pandos

Book 2 or the Mer Tales series comes out in June and Brenda was kind enough to share her cover :)

I happen to love it!

Evergreen (Mer Tales #2) by Brenda Pandos

June 29, 2012 from Obsidian Mountain Publishing

A kingdom on the brink of war.

A king on the fringes of insanity.

A family running for their lives.

 Ash and Fin’s only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other’s life: become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone’s lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They’ll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can’t decide?

Enter the watery world of treachery, greed, and the binding mer kiss as the story continues with Evergreen, book two of Mer Tales. (from Goodreads)

Goodreads
Website / Blog
Facebook / Twitter

Brenda is also hosting a contest to name her new novella. The prize? A $50 Amazon gift card! Details HERE

Happy Book Birthday! The Onyx Talisman by Brenda Pandos

I hope you'll all join me in 

wishing Brenda a 

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY!

Today, the 3rd and final installment of her Talisman series, The Onyx Talisman is being released in ebook form. (The physical book will be out in January)

Buy it now for your Kindle or Nook for only $3.99!

And for an added bonus, the Kindle version of Book 1 in the series, The Emerald Talisman, is currently FREE! (and only $.99 for Nook)

AND! For those who post reviews of The Onyx Talisman on Amazon and BandN before January 1st, Brenda is hosting a giveaway of a life-sized Onyx Talisman. Sign-ups are on her blog.

Say it with me now: 

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY BRENDA :)

Brenda Pandos is the author of 2 series:

Talisman Series
The Emerald Talisman
(see my review)
The Sapphire Talisman
The Onyx Talisman

The Mer Tales Series
Everblue (see my reivew)
Evergreen - 2012

Places to stalk, I mean find her ;)

Goodreads / Website / Blog / Facebook

Book Review: Everblue by Brenda Pandos

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: July 2011
Pages: 304
Series: 1st in a series
Acquisition: received for review

Summary:

Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
I love the name of this series - Mer Tales - because that's exactly what it is. A tale of merpeople. Mermaids and mermen and the world they live in and the rules that govern them. There's more though. Action and love and friendship and devotion. It's all wrapped up together making for an engaging and thrilling story.

We are treated to 2 points of view. Ashlyn or Ash is a human, senior in high school who isn't very popular and doesn't seem to be all that sure of herself. Then there is Finley, or Fin, almost 18 and not human at all :) His sister Tatiana and Ash are best friends and have been for a long time. But as Ash discovers, there is a lot her friends haven't been telling her.

I did like this dual POV but for the first half of the book I felt like I was reading two completely different stories. Fin, Tatch and their parents leave, without telling Ash anything. So we have Ash going through the motions of high school with her rather obnoxious friend Georgia and then Fin, living in his people's underwater city, trying to fit in and figure out what is going on with his family. There is only 1 short chapter before Fin and Tatch leave so the story didn't really flow that well for me in the beginning.

And as much as I liked reading about Fin and his world, I was a little bored reading about Ash. I never warmed up to her and the way she acted, especially around the stereotypical 'hot guy' at school bugged me. This made it a little hard to root for her in the end. I would have liked to see more of Fin's world. There seemed to be a lot of layers to his people's lives and I really hope book 2 will give us more background and details.

Though, once Ash and Fin's worlds collide? Pretty much couldn't put this book down. I needed to know what happened and maybe at some points the story dragged a little but overall it didn't distract from the adventure.

Without giving too much away, I do need to say that I am not a fan at all of the romance in Everblue. It's almost calculating, as in, it has rules to follow and really? These rules take all the joy out of the relationship for me. We don't get to see the two love birds together very much until close to the end and then once they are together it's instant, I can't live without you love, which never sits well with me. But again, it's following a sort of order that the rules of the story have set forth so while it might not be my cup of tea, it makes sense for the storyline and the characters involved.

Final verdict:
Overall, I very much enjoyed Everblue. Brenda is awesome at weaving a story together and making you feel like you're there with the characters. And while I might not have liked all the characters or elements in Everblue, I felt engaged as a reader and really, that's more important to me.

Labeled as Book One, I can only assume there will be a Book Two and I for one know I will be reading it. Not so much a cliff hanger as a pile of unresolved issues was left at the end of Everblue and I'm really excited to see what happens to Fin and Tatch and hopefully learn more about the fabulous world they live in.

Overall Rating:

4 / 5 Stars

Linkage Love:
Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Author's Website
Goodreads

Cover Love: Everblue by Brenda Pandos

Everblue (Mer Tales #1) by Brenda Pandos

July 31, 2011 from Obsidian Mountain Publishing

Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever. (from Goodreads)

Isn't that cover beautiful!
Thank you Brenda for sharing it with us :)

Places to find Brenda
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

The Onyx Talisman by Brenda Pandos Cover Reveal

It's here!

The Onyx Talisman (Talisman #3) by Brenda Pandos

Tentative Release Date: October 16, 2011 from Obsidian Mountain Publishing

Highlight the text for synopsis - SPOILER WARNING!

All was perfect in Julia’s life until Nicholas had his vampire blood-lust activated by his mother Alora, her immortal enemy, turning him evil and bent on revenge. Heartbroken and out of choices, Phil and Julia ran away in the middle of the night, with Scarlett on foot, to Orange County to warn and plead Nicholas’ Godfather for help. Once arriving at Harry’s though, the local coven accosted them and they narrowly escaped. 

After they returned home, there was a huge showdown between Phil, Nicholas, Scarlett, Alora, Katie and Julia. Alora almost got what she wanted—Julia’s vampire warding talisman—but Preston, Nicholas’ father, and Harry came to the rescue. They escorted Nicholas and Alora back to Beverly Hills, pledging to return Nicholas free from his blood-lust. But all Julia’s received in the past four months is a letter stating Nicholas missed her along with some song lyrics and promise of a quick return. That was a month ago.

Now Julia awaits Nicholas’ return with the Fab Five Coven: Phil and Katie—the sober vampires, Scarlett—the half-vamp/shape-shifter, and Tyler and Julia—the inducted humans. She’s stuck in Scotts Valley with Phil as her self-appointed chaperon and no way to return to Los Angeles to check on Nicholas. Only Scarlett and Julia know her fate ultimately involves the demise of all vampires, possibly including the ones she loves. When the time comes, will she even have a choice?

Isn't it beautiful?

I like the lighter tones - different from the dark black of books 1 and 2.

Not familiar with the series?

*CLICK HERE for my review of Book 1, The Emerald Talisman

*Read an excerpt HERE

*Check out The Talisman Series website

*Watch the trailer:

Places to stalk visit Brenda :)

Her Blog

Facebook

Goodreads

Twitter

Thank you so much Brenda for the reveal!

Book Review: The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos

Reading Age: Young Adult
Publication Date: March 2010

Pages: 280
Series: 1st in a series
Acquisition: La Femme Readers Book Tour

Summary:

To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier - an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves. (from Goodreads)

Quick thoughts:
Vampires as blood thirsty villains - the way I've always envisioned them. I wasn't a huge fan of the romance but I did enjoy both Julia and her mystery man Nicholas. Lots of potential for some really cool vampire lore. Looking forward to more from the series.

Likes:
I liked the overall feel of the book. Strange things are happening in Julia's world and she doesn't quite know what to make of it all. There was a layer of mystery throughout that I really found appealing.

Also, Julia's ability to read people's emotions was pretty spiffy! I would be very easy for her to use this gift to manipulate but Julia is always looking for ways to help her friends.

Julia's family is also present and accounted for  - something that is sometimes lacking in YA books. Her father is caring and loving but also a little overprotective. Pretty realistic given the family's circumstances. Her older  brother treats her, well, like an older brother should! I found myself enjoying their interactions very much.

Dislikes:
The romance was a little weird for me. I don't want to give too much away but there is a time / age element that I wasn't too keen on. I really liked both Julia and Nicholas but I wasn't really routing for them as a couple.

Also, I would have liked to have Julia's ability explained. I'm hoping more info will come out in the next book, which I'm very much looking forward to reading.

Reminded me of:
No YA vampire stories come to mind, which I think is a good thing!

Final thoughts:
A very enjoyable read that I think fans of vampires and also anti-fans of vampires would enjoy. A great first book for Brenda and I hope there are lots more to come.

Overall Rating:

4 / 5 Stars

Books in the Series:
The Emerald Talisman
The Sapphire Talisman

Linkage Love:
Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Author's Blog
Series Website
Goodreads