Book Review #504 - Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror by Various Authors

Don't turn out the lights. Don't go out alone. And whatever you do, don't let down your guard. Because your neighbors might seem normal, but why do they collect knives and eat their steaks so bloody? And when the boy of your dreams finally asks you out, why is there something so . . . lupine . . . about him? And if your brother's fear of the dark is so childish, how do you explain those shadows creeping out of your closet? In thirteen blood-chilling stories from true masters of suspense, including five New York Times bestselling authors and four Edgar Award nominees, nothing is what it seems, and no one is safe.......

My Rating: 3/5

This is an anthology of short stories all which were more suspenseful than horror. I will do a mini-review of each story below:


Welcome to the Club by R.L. Stine - This one had way too many twists at the end that left me feeling flat. 


She's Different Tonight by Heather Graham - This story was practically about nothing and the big reveal at the end was entirely predictable. 


Suckers by Suzanne Weyn - With just about every anthology I have read there is always one story that I find I wished was a full length novel. This was the story for me in this book. The concept was interesting but the lack of development killed it which could have been addressed in a full length book. 


The Perfects by Jennifer Allison - This story was the first to have a female protagonist which was refreshing. This story had the potential to be suspenseful but the constant foreboding made it entirely predictable. 


Shadow Children by Heather Brewer - This was one of the more unique stories in this anthology. It was a little too over descriptive which slowed it down. 


The Poison Ring by Peg Kehret - This was my favourite story in the book. It was engaging, suspenseful and action packed. 


Dragonfly Eyes by Alane Ferguson - This was by far the shortest story as it was around 8 pages long but it was very haunting, thrilling and suspenseful. The characters were very stereotyped. 


Jeepers Peepers by Ryan Brown - This story was very atmospheric and it had a very cinematic feel to it. I found it very suspenseful but it fell apart towards the end. 


Piney Power by F. Paul Wilson - This was a very exciting and thrilling read however there were too many characters for such a short story. 


The Night Hunter by Meg Cabot - This was a very thrilling and enthralling read which definitely had the Meg Cabot quality about it. 


Tuition by Walter Sorrells - This story was gripping from the first sentence until the very last. 


Tagger by James Rollins - This was my least favourite story in the book. It seemed to drag on and was longer than it needed to be. 


Ray Gun by Tim Maleeny - This story was a great combination of suspense, sci-fi and action.    

Book Review #472 - Grim by Various Authors and Edited by Christine Johnson

This is a book full of short stories including a lot by some of the most popular young adult authors of today. Surprisingly though I had not yet read any books by the majority of these authors.

Because there are a total of 17 short stories told over the course of 454 pages, each of the stories are unsurprisingly shorter than other short story compilations that I have previously read.

Also, these short stories are retellings of the original Grim fairy tales, and I often wasn't familiar with the original story. I will review the short stories separately.

1. Key by Rachel Hawkins

This story contained an amazing amount of depth for its short length.

2. Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready

This story had an interesting plot in that it was told from an inanimate object's perspective.

3. The Twelfth Girl by Malinda Lo

This story was slightly dark and very mysterious.

4. The Raven Princess by Jon Skrovon

This story had the most genuine fairy tale feel to it in the entire book.

5. Thinner Than Water by Saundra Mitchell

This story was significantly darker and more disturbing than the others, yet I found it somewhat enchanting at the same time.

6. Before the Rose Bloomed by Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins is an author that I have heard plenty of positive things about but hadn't got around to reading any of her work yet. Her unique writing style puts me off. I found that the verse format helped with the enchanting feel to the story and this was one of my favourite stories in the book.

7. Beast/Beast by Tessa Grafton

This was another one of my favourites and it reminded me of Beastly by Alex Flinn as it is obviously a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

8. The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa

This was a retelling of the Three Little Pigs, one of the last stories I had expected in this book. This story had a very unique concept and Julie Kagawa's high standard of writing.

9. Untethered by Sonia Gensler

Even though this story lacked the fairy tale feel to it, I found it quite intriguing and loved the dark undertones.

10. Better by Shaun David Hutchinson

This had a significantly more sci-fi than fairytale approach to it which I loved because it really stood out from the others.

11. Light it Up by Kimberly Derting

I was really captivated by this story. I loved the genuine sibling relationship and the simplicity of the plot. The fact that this was one of the few stories that I was aware of the original story helped.

12. Sharper than a Serpant's Tongue by Christine Johnson

This story was extremely short and had a distinct fable feel to it.

13. The Real Boy by Claudia Gray

I loved the dystopian like setting of this story but I found it hard to get invested in the story.

14. Skin Trade by Myra McEntire

This was a retelling of Pinocchio with a cyborg twist. I found this story hard to follow and rather cryptic.

15. Beauty and the Chad by Sarah Rees Brennan

I was a little surprised to see another Beauty and the Beast retelling in the same anthology. This one was interesting but the lack of dialogue frustrated me.

16. The Pink by Amanda Hocking

I would consider Amanda Hocking as one of my favourite authors and so this was the story I was most looking forward to reading. Because I wasn't even remotely familiar with the familiar story, I thought this story was rather unique and I really enjoyed the characters.

17. Sell Out by Jackson Pearce

I loved how far this story strayed from the original concept whilst at the same time kept the obvious link to the original story. I would have liked this to have either been longer or full length as I felt like it was just building when it ended.

Book Review #469 - Kisses from Hell by Various Authors

Truly, Madly, Undeadly

This irresistible collection features stories of love amid vampires by five of today's hottest authors—Kristin Cast (Tempted), Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy), Alyson Noël (Evermore), Kelley Armstrong (The Summoning), and Francesca Lia Block (Pretty Dead).

From a fugitive vampire forced to trust a boy who might work for the group bent on destroying her to the legendary romance of two immortals whose love compels them to risk everything, this heart-pounding collection brings new meaning to the words "love you forever." Whether you're into romances that are dark and moody or light and fun, these stories will quench that insatiable thirst for enchanting tales of the beautiful undead.

My Rating: 3/5

This book contains five different vampire related stories, which I will review separately.

The first story was Sunshine by Richelle Mead. This was a companion story to the Vampire Academy series wherein it depicts where Lissa's parents meet.

This was my second favourite story in the book and because it was set in an already existing world, it was easier to read as well.

The second story was Bring Me to Life by Alyson Noel. This was a very atmospheric story.

The only negative thing about this story is that in a book that is full of vampire stories, having a plot twist where it is revealed a character is a vampire was too obvious and predictable.

The third story was Above by Kristin Cast. This was my least favourite story in the book.I found the writing too cryptic and hard to follow.

The fourth story was Hunting Kat by Kelley Armstrong. This was my favourite story in the book and it was by far the most unique.

This story was one of the longest in the book but it was definitely also the fasted paced one as it was really action packed.

The last story in the book was Lilith by Francesca Lia Block. This was the story that intrigued me the most as it is written by the only author in the book whose writing I have yet to discovered.

This story was the shortest in the book but definitely had the strongest character development. Even though it was more about demons than vampires it was my third favourite story.

Book Review #437 - Unite Me (Shatter Me #1.5 & 2.5) by Tahereh Mafi

Destroy Me tells the events between Shatter Me and Unravel Me from Warner’s point of view. Even though Juliette shot him in order to escape, Warner can’t stop thinking about her—and he’ll do anything to get her back. But when the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment arrives, he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner cannot allow.

Fracture Me is told from Adam’s perspective and bridges the gap between Unravel Me and Ignite Me. As the Omega Point rebels prepare to fight the Sector 45 soldiers, Adam's more focused on the safety of Juliette, Kenji, and his brother. The Reestablishment will do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam cares about.

My Rating: 3/5

Unite Me comprises two novellas from the Shatter Me series. The first, Destroy Me is told from Warner's perspective and is set between Shatter Me and Unravel Me. 

Warner is a character that I have found very hard to connect with. I still see him the way he was when he was first introduced and that is as evil. 

His story in Destroy Me did little to convince me of his more positive attributes. I felt like he was constantly pining over Juliette and I couldn't work out whether it was because of her gift or because he truly loved her. 

The second novella, Fracture Me is told from Adam's perspective and is set between Unravel Me and Ignite Me. It was my favourite out of the two. 

This novella contained a lot more action and included more characters which I liked. With Warner's story it was mostly his inner thoughts which got annoying after a while. 

Kenji is a character that I seem to be liking more and more as this story progresses and I loved the amount of time James was present as he is one of my favourite characters. 

The ending of the novella sets up Ignite Me perfectly and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

Book Review #109 - Let it Snow by Various Authors

The weather outside is frightful, but these stories are delightful! When a huge blizzard (that doesn't show signs of stopping) hits, Gracetown is completely snowed in. But even though it's cold outside, things are heating up inside, proving that the holiday season is magical when it comes to love. In three wonderfully (and hilariously!) interconnected tales.

My Rating: 4/5

This book contains three short stories.

The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson. I never fully came to like Jubilee. I did like this story though. It was also very funny.

The second story was A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green. This was my favourite of the three. It had funny, likeable characters that get themselves in the weirdest situations.

The third story was A Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle. This is actually the first time I have read any of this authors work. I am definitely going to read her other books. I loved the inclusion of the pig.

I probably would have given this book 5 stars had I read it around christmas, although Christmas in Australia is the total opposite as portrayed in the book.

Book Review #82 - Love is Hell by Various Authors

Sure, love is hell. But it,s totally worth it. 

In these supernatural stories by five of today's hottest writers—Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely), Scott Westerfeld (Specials), Justine Larbalestier (Magic or Madness), Gabrielle Zevin (Elsewhere), and Laurie Faria Stolarz (Blue is for Nightmares)—love may be twisted and turned around, but it's more potent than ever on its quest to conquer all. 

From two students who let the power of attraction guide them to break the hard-and-fast rules of their world to the girl who falls hard for a good-looking ghost with a score to settle, the clever, quirky characters in this exciting collection will break your heart, then leave you believing in love more than ever. 

My Review: 3/5 

This book contains five short stories. Sleeping with the Spirit by Laurie Faria Stolarz, Stupid Perfect World by Scott Westerfeld, Thinner than Water by Justine Larbalester, Fan Fictions by Gabrielle Zevin and Love Struck by Melissa Marr. 

This was a library book and I have already returned it as I finished it quite a while ago, and so I have no reference to use for this review. I don't remember what Thinner than Water and Fan Fictions were even about although that I remember liking them.

Sleeping with the Spirit I thought was a bit strange, and could have been explored deeper. 

Stupid Perfect World was my favourite story in the book. I would love to see a novel based on this world. 

Love Struck was my second favourite story, it had the best characters and the storyline had alot of depth for such a short story.