Chasing Before (The Memory Chronicles, #2)by Lenore Appelhans

Synopsis

“I’m a ticking time bomb. And one day soon everything is going to explode.”

Felicia and Neil have arrived in Level 3 and are supposed to prepare for their divine vocations.

But during Felicia and Neil's training period, a series of explosions rips through Level 3. Tension is high, and casualties are mounting. A rift forms between the pair, one that grows wider when Felicia receives memories from the Morati. The memories cast doubt on the people she loves the most, but Felicia can't stop her curiosity. She has to know the truth about her life – even if it means putting at risk everything she’s worked for in her death.

Review

 
“I’m a ticking time bomb. And one day soon everything is going to explode.”

Felicia and Neil have arrived in Level 3 and are supposed to prepare for their divine vocations.

But during Felicia and Neil's training period, a series of explosions rips through Level 3. Tension is high, and casualties are mounting. A rift forms between the pair, one that grows wider when Felicia receives memories from the Morati. The memories cast doubt on the people she loves the most, but Felicia can't stop her curiosity. She has to know the truth about her life – even if it means putting at risk everything she’s worked for in her death

Review

An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Lenore's take on the afterlife in The Memory of After (previously titled Level 2), I also  liked the use of flashbacks as memories to show us how Felicia had spent her  time on Earth prior to entering Level 2.   

Level 3 is a place where you are supposed to learn your vocation like healer, demon hunter, muse, or seraphim guard, and then continue on with your afterlife. Upon arriving in Level 3, Felicia and Neil discover that Level 3's world has been thrown upside down by the arrival of the Morati. There is a war brewing, and Felicia may be the key.

Chasing Before is splits between the afterlife and memories of being alive.  In Level 3, the focus is on moving on with your life, well afterlife. 

Lenore draws on various sources to pull things together from  Christian and angels,  to other mythologies.  It’s all structured in a creative and  imaginative.

This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. But if you are a fan of story's based it the afterlife then this is definitely a book you should try.

Lullaby (Watersong #2)by Amanda Hocking

Synopsis

Don't miss the next chapter of Watersong, a bold new series that will enchant you, entrance you, and hold you captive under its spell

Now that Gemma Fisher has inherited Penn, Lexi, and Thea's curse - and all the strange new powers that come along with it - she has no choice but to run away with them. Devastated that she has to leave everyone she loves behind, she's still determined not to give in to the unspeakable hungers that plague her.
Unfortunately, they're growing stronger every day, and she's not sure how much longer she can resist.

Harper won't give up on finding her sister Gemma, vowing to get her back no matter what the cost. The search draws her closer to too-gorgeous-for-his-own-good Daniel, and tests her fiercely guarded independence like never before. She's always been the strong one who everyone else depends on.... Can she let herself depend on Daniel?

As Gemma and Harper plunge deeper into a magical world they barely understand, it becomes painfully clear that Gemma's old life may be lost forever. But can she still hold on to her humanity?

Review

In the second book in the watersong series we find Gemma left with no choice but to live with the seirens. Though  having beauty, magical powers and immortality should be a gift Gemma decides to  treat this curse as it was ment to be. 

After what Harper witnesses at burnies island she decides that she will do anything to find Gemma and bring her home . Even if that means a total disregard for her own safety. The problem is that she doesn't really understand what happened. 

So when Harper and Alex decided to team up to bring Gemma home  no matter what it takes. There biggest issue is working out not olny where she is but what they are dealing with

i did find Lullaby to feel at times like  a background filler. Which is not necessarily a bad thing as it gave us more insight and knowledge about the seirens and there past.   There are peices of the story that often left me wondering,  was that needed. These thoughts tend to be around the girls mum and her role in the story.

We also got to see the depth of the relationship between Gemma and Alex. There is also the development of the  relationship between Harper and Daniel. At times through the book you are left wondering if Harper is ever going to have the opportunity to live her life for herself. She is always thinking of others and putting there needs ahead of her own. So it was nice to see her taking a chance and put herself first.

I look forward to seeing how Gemma and her family will handle the challenges ahead.

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die, #1)by Danielle Paige

Synopsis

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission

Review

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Dorothy must die is a highly original and unique story using thw traditional story as foundation. Like Dorothy Gale of old, Amy Gumm is flown into a world she couldnt imagen .

Rescued by the there one minute gone the next , Pete. Amy has to set off on her own journey down the yellow bricks to find Emerald City, but  what she will discover is  how warped  and twittered Oz has  become.

Amy Gumm is the kind of realistic, butt-kicking female lead that I love in a story. You can easily relate to her and her life before Oz.  Amy is not by any means perfect, she learns from her mistakes. Unfortunately her kind heart tends to distract her.

Casting Dorothy as a magic hungry,  control freak is a interesting idea.  Dorothy punish citizens for silly things like the crime of sass.

Unfortunately Dorothy managed to drag several of your favourite  characters down into corruption, thus creating a formidable force that Amy could not have imagined.

A tale of magic, self-discovery, and sacrifice. Dorothy Must Die is the perfect book to curl up on a winters day or relax in the sun and read.
As a side note I love the creative cover design which uses the traditional imagery associated with the wizard of Oz.