REVIEW: Trial By Fire - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

PAGES: 304
PUBLISHER: Quercus
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

At seventeen, Bryn is has the usual schoolgirl worries: a new boyfriend, a new school and a new home. But she has one major concern that her friends don't have: she is an alpha - a human girl in charge of her own werewolf pack. When Bryn and her closest friends, Dev and Lake, broke from the werewolf Callum's pack, it had all felt right. Together with Chase, Bryn's new love, they had rescued some newly made female werewolves from a despicable master and established their own pack, with Bryn as leader. Yet Bryn has always resented the rules of Pack life - the constant bowing to authority, the submission to the alpha. And she is determined to live differently, to run this pack openly and justly. Then one night, a badly beaten werewolf shows up on her territory. He needs help, sanctuary, care. But taking him in could violate inter-pack rules, and no one knows better than Bryn the costs of challenging those rules. Obedience is law in Pack life, but Bryn is going to break the rules, again.

REVIEW

I loved everything about this book! The story was amazing and intricately plotted, the characters were all unique, well defined and genuinely served to further the action and the descriptions of the places were wonderful. 

Lily and her identical other self were captivating, they reminded me of Elena and Katherine in the Vampire Diaries, but the plot adds to their depth of character and makes them even more interesting. 

The magic that powers the other world is brilliant, the idea of magic v science was really clever and I loved that it was set in modern times, yet seemed almost medieval. 

The tension builds throughout the novel to bring it to a dramatic ending that had me screeching at the book that it couldn't possibly end there because I wanted the next instalment straight away!

I can't wait to get this in to my shop, I know so many people who will love it as much as I do!

- Gem.

REVIEW: Department 19 - Will Hill

GENRE: Adventure, Fantasy

PAGES: 496

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Children's

FORMAT: Galley

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 3 Stars

SUMMARY

In a secret supernatural battle that's been raging for over a century, the stakes have just been raised - and they're not wooden anymore. DEPARTMENT 6 IS THE ARMY, DEPARTMENT 12 is MI5, DEPARTMENT 19 IS THE REASON YOU'RE ALIVE. 

When Jamie Carpenter's mother is kidnapped by strange creatures, he finds himself dragged into Department 19, the government's most secret agency. Fortunately for Jamie, Department 19 can provide the tools he needs to find his mother, and to kill the vampires who want him dead. But unfortunately for everyone, something much older is stirring, something even Department 19 can't stand up against...

REVIEW

Department 19 is the coming of age story of Jamie Carpenter, descendant of John Carpenter - valet to the legendary Abraham Van Helsing. When Jamie's dad is shot by men in black, his mother is kidnapped by Alexandru, one of the 3 oldest vampires in the world. While trying to get her back Jamie is introduced to Blacklight, Department 19 of the British government, that deals with the supernatural dangers in the world. Unfortunately someone keeps giving away Jamie's whereabouts...

I really wanted to like this book. It has absolutely everything that I love: Dracula, Vampire, Frankenstein and a good bit of gore. But it really fell flat. I wrote my dissertation partly on Dracula and Frankenstein so I think there are grounds for arguing that I am just grumpy because of how much Department 19 takes liberties with the original stories. I think that if you were excited to read the classics after this you might have a bit of a shock. However, had those classics be written today perhaps this is what they would be like. I liked the idea of something major coming out of Dracula's world, even with the little addition of Vlad Tepes' background, but I have read reworkings that work so much better than this.

Boys and girls who love grizzly gore will love this and it's actually pretty disturbingly violent in places (like shoving a grenade in a mans mouth) so its definitely not for the younger readers. I felt that the characters weren't particularly fleshed out, I didn't associate or really care about any of them. I don't recall seeing one female Operator and would loved to have one of the descendants being a kick-ass girl. When Jamie is given his quick training at Blacklight it felt a little like 'Tron' and would transport well to the big screen. In fact a lot of the imagery is very bright and good, both the descriptions and the settings - I loved the village in Scotland in particular. However the rest of the description was overloaded with military terms and I became bored very quickly with it. There was very little emotion apart from "I miss my mom" and "your dad was my best friend". 

I found myself skim reading towards the end. I didn't care if Jamie ever found his mother. It's aimed more at YA boys who love constant action. I have to admit I was intrigued by the internal leak situation and finding out the truth about Jamie's dad but it didn't play out in a way that really kept my concentration.

I really wish I had more to say about this that was positive because its an absolutely brilliant concept. There are a lot of people that will find this fun and interesting and actually for people who have hated the classics you might find something more accessible here.

- Bex.