Mundie Moms

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Book Review- Secrets and Shadows


Published by St Martin's Press
Released on February 15th, 2011
Source- Bought
4.5 stars- It's A Great Read

Nothing's simple when you run with werewolves. Jess Gillmansen thinks she's seen it all but her eyes are about to be opened to even more danger and a reality far more paranormal than she's suspected. With Jess' realization that the Rusakovas' mother is still alive and imprisoned, the group's choices become harder and trust more important. Lines are drawn and relationships change as the broken Rusakova family struggles to reunite to free their mother - and those who Jess thought to be normal people show themselves to be much, much more.. (quoted from Goodreads).

Secrets and Shadows is nothing I expected it to be as it is full of twists and turns and nothing is what it seems. Shannon totally took me on one heck of an emotional roller coaster with this sequel. One minute I want to yell at Pietr and Jess, and the next moment I'm laughing at Max or sighing over Pietr and Max's affection for Jess. Let me just say, there is a lot of that happens in Secrets and Shadows that kept me emotional invested into the story until the very end.

The characters really grew and some of them changed and not necessarily for the better. I really enjoyed getting to know more of the Rusakovas history and I adored seeing a softer side, well I should say a more protective side to Max. He adds comedic relief at all the right times in the story. I was a huge Max fan in 13 To Life, and I'm an even bigger fan now. The one that shocked me the most was Derek's character twist. I knew there was something about him, but I was totally shocked at what Shannon reveals (you'll have to read the story to find out what it is), as his character plays a bigger role in the series than I thought. Sarah was my least favorite in 13 To Life, and her true colors show here. There's a lot to Pietr and Jess's relationship to talk about, and I don't want to give anything away, but I will say I liked how Shannon surprised me with the manner in which some things happen.

I really enjoyed that the story picks up right where 13 To Life left off. This time around, I spent a good part of the book being totally irritated with Pietr and Jess, but then Shannon reveals little bits of her plot twists and that allowed me to understand why they made the choices they did. Shannon not only throws in twist after twist through out the story, but she throws in a lot of emotional kinks. There is a lot of important things that happen through the story, both with some character and plot twist revelations. I was shocked at how emotional invested I became with the story. I yelled, I laughed, I sighed, and towards the end of the book I felt completely satisfied with how Shannon wraps up the story. But don't let Shannon fool you into thinking all is well, as just as I finally have that "ah ha" moment, she leaves me with a cliff hanger. Oh yes, the type of cliff hanger that makes you wish you could run out and pick up the next book. Yes, I will be rushing out to get Bargains and Betrayals as soon as it's released in August.

I enjoyed this sequel, and I highly recommend picking it up. If you've read 13 to Life, wait till you read Secrets and Shadows! I can only imagine what Shannon has in store for us when Bargains and Betrayals is released. If you read through Shannon's acknowledgements, you'll find a few Mundie Moms named in there.

Vanish by Sophie Jordan- Cover Reveal Puzzle Piece

We love pretty book covers and we loved Sophie Jordan's Firelight. Today we are one of six bloggers who will be sharing a cover puzzle piece for Vanish, the sequel to Firelight. I can not wait to see what the final cover looks like! Here's our puzzle piece.....

Our key word is IMPOSSIBLE

I believe I see scales..... Be sure to visit these other blogs through out the day to piece together the cover.

7 AM: Cari Blogs
9 AM:
US
10 am
Pirate Penguin Reads
11 am:
Total Bookaholic
1 pm:
Elliott's Review
3 pm:
ReadingTeen

Then tomorrow, be sure to visit these blog for tomorrow's Final Cover Reveal!
A Good Addiction
A Fanatic Book Blog
Books Complete Me

Waiting On Wednesday- City of Fallen Angels

To Be Released on April 5th, 2011

“City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.” (quoted from Goodreads)

We've enjoyed being apart of the chapter hunt and while we're not allowed to post an excerpt from the chapter reveal, you can read the entire 1st chapter that Cassie posted yesterday HERE. Let me just say, we are more than a little impatient to get our hands on the book. I don't think April 5th will get here fast enough.

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, and allows us to spotlight a book that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

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