Storm Born - by Richelle Mead

As a big fan of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series, I wanted to try out another book by the author. I stumbled upon the first book in a series starring Eugenie Markham, Storm Born. While the Vampire Academy books were geared towards young adults, the Storm Born was definitely geared towards more mature audiences.

The story centers around Eugenie Markham, a shaman whose normal day centers on banishing elementals to the Underworld. When she becomes interested in a special case, involved visiting the Otherworld, she learns more about the Shining Ones than she bargained for, and learns a lot about herself too.

Although I was prepared for the occasional light curse word, the language in this series was much more mature, with frequent swearing, and the multiple sex scenes and even rape attempts. Despite the language, I initially wanted to say I liked the story line, but it was so laden with sexual tendencies and innuendo that it was difficult to look for a storyline that didn't center on sex. What Mead did do well was create characters the reader would want to read more of. Mead also uses such vivid and descriptive language that the reader can easily visualize what she is describing.


While I want to rate this book higher than a 1 star, I just can't due to the prevalence of sex and foul language. If these things don't bother you, you may really like the book and series.

Bloodlines - by Richelle Mead

As a big fan of the "Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead, I was excited to hear about the spin-off series, Bloodlines which featured the character Sydney the alchemist.

I received a copy of the book from the library last week and quickly devoured the book while on breaks at work over a few days. While I always liked the character of Sydney — she wasn't featured much in the previous series — it was nice to get a better understanding of her perspective on the Moroi and Dhamphir groups. All the set-up of the new characters and setting made the first half of the book too slow though, in my opinion. It wasn't until about page 200 that the action Mead is known for finally started to kick in and the storyline got interesting. If not for my love of the original series I would have likely given up on the book earlier.

Another down-side of the book was that the main story ended, but it seemed to have a few other endings in order to prep for the next book in the series. I'm also very interested in where upcoming storyline will lead. The last-minute addition of previous characters has enticed me to pick up the next book in the series (slated for summer 2012). I just hope Mead can pick up the pace in the next book and get me hooked again.

I rate this book a weak 3 stars out of 5, with hopes of rating the next book a 4 or 5!

For more information on Richelle Mead and her Vampire Academy series check out her website: http://www.richellemead.com/books/vampireacademy.htm