SullivanMcPig

I am in love with this book!

It has everything I love in a good Dystopian YA read: It's well written, has great world building, a lead character that I can root for and it's gritty and grim.

Tana is a great character. She isn't the 'special' heroine you see so often in Dystopian YA stories. She is insecure, makes mistakes, terrible things happen to her (And not just to others. Ok, she's lucky to survive the massacre that kills most of her friends, but that's about it.), but she keeps struggling on and manages to overcome the obstacles that keep getting thrown in her way. 

And then there's Gavriel. He is such a cool character. The way Black writes him is incredible. I was intrigued by him and even if the story hadn't been as awesome as it is, I had wanted to keep reading to find out more about him.

Luckily though the story is absolutely awesome. It's intense, grim, gritty and had me on the edge of my seat. I started reading this book shortly before I had to go to work and had to put it down when I was several chapters in. I can tell you I counted the hours until the end of my workday so I could continue my reading.

There's only one negative thing I can say about this book: It's a standalone as far as I understand and that saddens me, because I could read lots more about these characters and this setting. So to get my fix I'll just have to reread this book often. 

Somehow this book managed to stay off my radar until recently people started talking about the upcoming sequel. 

And let me say: Why didn't anyone tell me sooner how awesome this book is?

Because this is an amazingly cool read. Once I started on it I couldn't put it down and finished it in one afternoon. It's that addictive!

I will confess I hadn't expected that a book about angels could be this gritty. I thought it would be the umpteenth Dystopian read that doesn't really deliver, but instead it's a thrilling Post Apocalyptic tale filled with violence, darkness and danger.

I loved both Penryn and Raffe. The interaction between them was cool and believable (apart from one scene that made me want to slap Penryn for being a bit slow to grasp what was glaringly obvious). I kept rooting for them both to survive the perils they have to face.

The ending left me hungry for much, much more and I immediately preordered the next book so I can get my trotters on it as soon as it releases.

I love zombie retellings of classics, so this modern zombie remake of Dante's Inferno was right up my alley.

And it's so good!

There's lots of cool zombie action, an intense story and characters you can really love.

Even though this book is filled with (subtle) references to Dante's Inferno I will confess that I didn't really take note of them, because the story is so good I was totally engrossed in it. Cash and Clutch are both awesome characters and I rooted for them to survive the ruthless zombie attacks and the even more vile attempts of other people to take away what little they have. 

The story follows the descend into hell and with each new circle a new emotion gets introduced to the story. It makes for really intense reading as the sins and emotions that get thrown into the mix are getting gradually worse. There are some really gruesome scenes in this book and they fit the intensity of the story in my opinion. I kept cheering Cash and Clutch on, even as things seemed to go from bad to worse. At times Aukes gave Cash and Clutch some much needed reprieve from their trials and I rejoiced with them whenever things went well for them.

I can't give away too much about the ending without being too spoilery, but I can tell you I'm already looking forward to the next book in this series, because I need more!!

All in all this is a totally awesome post apocalyptic read that I can advice to anyone who loves a good zombie story. That it's a remake of Dante's Inferno is a bonus, but believe me: you don't need to have read it to enjoy and love this book.

I will confess I have a weak spot for boarding school stories. I blame Enid Blyton and her St. Clare's series.

So when I was asked if I wanted to read and review Rory and saw the mention of a Charm School I jumped at the chance.

And even though large parts of this book don't take place in the mentioned Charm school, this is a very enjoyable read.

I really liked Rory. Apart from the strange upbringing she had, Rory could be your next door neighbor. When she's abducted she has only her wits to get her through the trials she has to face,

The school and the weird lessons Rory has to take are very intriguing and that part of the story could have been twice as long without me getting tired of it.

And then there's Martin Marius. He's mysterious, weird and Dutch! I liked him from the start and loved reading about his weird contraptions and the house filled with cats. The growing friendship between him and Rory was fun to read.

The overall storyline was suspenseful and although sometimes character development slowed down the action, it never got boring. There were some things I wondered about, but for most part I enjoyed the story and the characters that peopled the world of Palladino.

I think I'll keep an eye out for book 2 in this series to see what happens next for Rory and to see if some of my questions about this world will be answered. 

I will confess: I'm a total fan piggy when it comes to Laura Bickle. Her books are among my absolute favorites and The Hallowed Ones topped my Top Pearls list of 2012.

That being said: How can one not be totally in love with books as good as The Hallowed Ones, no matter who wrote it? So I can safely say The Outside was one of the most anticipated releases of 2013 for me. I've been counting the months ever since reading The Hallowed Ones for the first time.

And it was totally worth the wait!

The Outside is amazing!

It's full of heartbreak, danger, doubt, love and hope. I feared for Katie, cried with her and for her, and her struggles to stay alive and to stay true to herself kept me up way past my bedtime.

I love how Laura Bickle shows the harsh reality of staying alive in a world filled with darkness. Katie has to make some difficult choices and this doesn't come easy. She knows that whatever choice she makes will have consequences that she will have to live with for the rest of her life, how ever long or short that might be.

I also like how the subject of faith is handled in this book. Faith is an important factor in Katie's life, still Laura manages to keep this book from turning into a sermon, she balances Katie's faith with Alex's more practical approach of things. I loved the relationship between Alex and Katie: it's not the instalove that is common in many YA books, but it's believable and sweet.

So yeah: I totally adore and love this book and it will be reread and treasured. I'm sad this is already the last book in this series, but I'm looking forward to reading lots more stories by Laura Bickle, because I'm certain each one will be a winner.