Mundie Moms

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Book Review: The Mephisto Covenant


Published by: EgmontUSA
To Be Released On: September 27th, 2011
Source: ARC from publisher to review
3.5 stars- A Good, Fascinating Read
Purchase from: Egmont| Amazon| Barnes & Noble

Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—she is an Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx always looming, Jax knows he has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life

A debut that's fascinating, dark, and engaging. Trinity Faegen's unique, mesmerizing mythology introduces readers to a whole new world between angels and demons and gives it a twist with romance, deception and redemption.

Trinity has put a fascinating twist on various religious themes in her book. By putting a creative spin on some well known Biblical figures, she was able to create a rich, intriguing mythology and introduce some rather unique characters that I enjoyed getting to know. From the Sons of Hell to Sasha, the Anabo whom is a descendant of the daughter of Eve, to the twist with her Russian mother and the KGB to the CIA, this book has a such a variety of interesting characters. Not to mention a romance I enjoyed despite the fact it falls into a cliche of other YA romances, but there was just something different about Sasha & Jax. Yes they are both tortured souls, because they want each other, but there's so many "what if's" and things that could go wrong that they shouldn't be together, but yet they can't help but fall in love with each other.

Sasha for me started off as character I really liked getting to know. She's an Anabo, which is rare (as in she's the second one the Brothers of Hell have ever found), she's of course very Godly, she's innocent, and embodies everything that is good. She doesn't get tempted, she doesn't stray from the path so to speak and has a one way ticket into heaven. Like a few other angels books I have recently read, I found myself starting to get really frustrated with her half way through the book. Part of that is due to the fact she's an angel, and yet she falls into the human trap of emotions, and temptations, and the other part of it has to do with some of the repetitiveness of her constant worries and being torn with her feelings for Jax and not wanting to be an Anabo. By the middle of the book she started to really annoy me, which was unfortunate because she has some great character traits. She does redeem herself towards the end of the book, but by then I wasn't as invested with her character like I had started out being.

I really enjoyed Jax and his brothers, also know as the Brothers of Hell aka the sons of Mephistopheles. I found their mythology to be the most creative and engaging to read about. Jax is a Mephisto and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about him. He's bound to earth with his brothers to collect the souls of the damned and to defeat their older brother Eryx. Talk about pure evil, Eryx is someone whom I wouldn't ever want to come across. Jax is the main love interest and despite being a Brother of Hell, this guy has a conscience. I really enjoyed seeing how he changes after he meets Sasha. Their relationship is one that's destined and also troubled, because there's huge risks for both of them in being together.

One of the things that intrigued about both the mythology and their relationship is the way Jax's Mephisto infects Sasha each time they kiss. I liked that anthology because she's light and he's dark. Throughout the book, Trinity isn't afraid to show how dark some of the characters turn when they decide to "sell their soul" or lose themselves in their selfish endeavors. Let's just say that Sasha's side effects to turning are ones similar to PMS. She's someone who could bring a guy to his knees if they ticked her off (which she does), she starts to feel angry (which she has every right to be) and she's someone who's words can cut like a knife. There's a scene between her and Jax's brother Phoenix that really ticked me off w/ her. I was applaud she would say the things she does to him.

Phoenix is another fabulous character that I really enjoyed getting to know. Jax and Phoenix have a great relationship and the two of them really made the story for me. It's ironic that these two are the ones that I felt did the most good through out the story. I also felt more of an emotional connection to these two. Despite having a broken heart that Phoenix has been trying to get over for over a hundred years, his wit and sarcasm was written in at just the right moments within the story's dark plotline.

With it's captivating cover and an incredibly creative mythology that takes the latest craze with angels and demons to a whole new level, Trinity Faegen's debut is one that is both engaging and intriguing and was in the end a good, fascinating read. This is one of those books that I'm torn on. I started out really enjoying this book, then around the middle I put the book down, and picked it up again, thankfully, because some of the things I was bothered with are redeemed by the end of the book. There are sensual scenes, a non graphic sex scene that do go along with the story's mythology between the Sasha & Jax, there's also some violence, an attempted rape scene and some language making this book one I'd recommend to older YA readers.

Book News!

I know there's been a lot of book news lately that we've missed posting on the blog. There's been a lot going on with back to school, getting back on schedules and so forth. Here's a few things I've found around the web this week:

Only 3 more months to go and Clockwork Prince will be OUT! Not that we're overly exited about it's release or anything.

The Hunger Games movie trailer!


Despite my hesitations with some of the casting choice, I feel they definitely nailed Katniss! I love this trailer.


The Lost Saint:
Egmont USA & Bree Despain need your help! With the upcoming paper back release of The Lost Saint (on November 22nd), they want fans to help them choose the cover. Here's the two images:

Head over to the The Dark Divine & The Lost Saint facebook pages to vote! Voting will end on September 9th, 2011. AND the first 100 people to cast their votes will be granted access to an exclusive read of The Savage Grace's first chapter! The Savage Grace is the third book in the series and will be coming out in March of 2012. Be sure to visit Bree's blog for more information!


Have you guys seen the trailers for Lani Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone? Here's the first one:


I'm so excited for this release! I'll be posting my review for this book later this month.

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann:
Lisa posted earlier this week that the paperback edition of Cryer's Cross has a new cover!

What do you guys think? I like both covers. I think both fit the story perfectly. The desk definitely depicts the creepiness of the story, and this one focuses more on the romance that's in the story. I also like it when the paperback editions have different covers than the hardcovers.


Here's another trailer for a book I'm excited to review this month: All These Things I've Done by Gabrille Zevin

Book Review: Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover

Written by: Ally Carter
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date:
Source: Purchased
5 stars - Simply spy-tastic. It's a Must Read. 

Synopsis:  When Cammie "The Chameleon" Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she's in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she's there to watch Macey's father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world's best school (for spies), "exciting" and "deadly" are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers' plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.

As her junior year begins, Cammie can't shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn't feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion's corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions, Who is after Macey? And how can the Gallagher Girls keep her safe?

Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey's private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth…

As I thought about this review, I kept wondering what I really wanted to say about this series. And I think it all boils down to this – these stories are incredibly well written and they’re definitely not just for tweens and teens to enjoy. Here’s why: Ally writes her main characters in such a way that you remember what it’s like to be in that awful moment when you’re expected to act like an adult but you just haven’t had the practice and therefore your confidence is kaput. Like zero. Nothing there. Yet, you find yourself remembering what you were told to do and you perform perfectly much to everyone’s surprise, most of all yours. Cammie gets to experience those moments over and over again. And as reader, who just happens to be a mom, I understand them and my heart aches doubly for her. In my opinion, this is the very essence of gorgeous writing.

So, what else do I have to add (keeping in mind Mundie Moms’ No Spoilers policy)? Well, in a lot of YA books, the parents/adults are absent because the plot line isn’t about them. Here’s where Ally’s different. She brings in the parents and teachers and makes you understand their motivations just as much as those of the main characters. This makes you care for the entire cast of characters – every single one of them. Ally also brings in a key figure who was missing from Cammie’s life for many years. I won’t even drop a hint here, because you’ll meet her fast enough. The dynamic she brings into the relationship between Cammie, her mom and even swoony Mr. Solomon made me laugh and yes, even tear up for a moment. You’ll see why. Real tears.

Now, okay, you know me far too well. Every page I turn, I look for a mention of Zach. You won’t be disappointed, Mundie Moms, on pages 162-166 is one of the best romantic-action scenes I’ve ever read (period). I literally didn’t breathe for those four pages. Not a single breath.

I will warn you that the stakes are higher in this story and you will worry about who will survive each action scene. But, Zach and Cammie are, yes still, Zach and Cammie (page 206):
     The announcer was talking over the loudspeaker, saying something about the homecoming queen and her deep love of puppies or something, but I just looked at Zach, trying to shake that feeling that I hadn’t really seen him in months. If ever. “Why do I feel like I can’t trust you anyomore?”
     I wanted him to lash out. I wanted him to fight, to protest, to argue – to do anything but look deeper into my eyes and say, “Because the Gallagher Academy doesn’t admit fools.”
Can you can guess what I’ll be doing this weekend? In fact, I’m sitting on my patio right now, with a tall glass of iced tea and my copy of Only the Good Spy Young right next to me. Don’t wait for next March when the fifth book, Out of Sight, Out of Time comes out. Won’t you join me in reading this series right now?

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