Night's Edge by Maggie Shayne/Barbara Hambly/Charlaine Harris

No. of pages: 377
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Three new stories in one delicious volume of horror and romance.

Her Best Enemy by Maggie Shayne
Kiley Brigham refuses to believe there's a ghost in her house, but when an unseen hand leaves a bloody message on her bathroom mirror, she's forced to turn to local psychic Jack McCain. As the two work to uncover a long-buried secret, Kiley finds that she's haunted not by spirits, but by thoughts of Jack...

Someone Else's Shadow by Barbara Hambly
Maddie Laveau worries about her young roommate, Tessa, when she stays late to practice ballet in the old Glendower Building...and when Tessa goes missing, Maddie enlists mysterious tenant Phil Anderson to help. But is Phil the white knight she needs, or the predator she fears?

Dancers In The Dark by Charlaine Harris
Layla LaRue LeMay is no ordinary dancer - her partner, Sean McClendon, is a three-hundred-year-old redheaded vampire. So when Layla Rue acquires a stalker, she's forced to face the music...and wonder if this will finally be her last dance.

Review: Night's Edge is a book of 3 short stories about supernatural romance. I really enjoyed Her Best Enemy and Dancers In The Dark, but didn't really think much of Someone Else's Shadow. Her Best Enemy was pretty creepy, and I really enjoyed the ghost aspect of the story, but the romance aspect was predictable as they always are in romance books. Dancers In The Dark was about vampires, so I knew I would love it, the fact it's set in the Sookie universe made it that much better, as I already knew the references to such things as The Fellowship Of The Sun. The story itself was enjoyable, I liked the characters and thought she wrote them really well. I found Someone Else's Shadow pretty boring though, I felt like it was dragging on even though it was only a short story. I didn't much care for the characters and thought it was silly how they loved each other after only a handful of meetings. The ghost aspect of the story was the best bit about it, although I didn't much like that either. I probably wouldn't bother reading anything by Barbara Hambly again if this short story is anything to go on. I'll certainly be looking into reading more by Maggie Shayne though, and would recommend this book to fans of Charlaine's if only to read her short story!

Soul Eater by Michelle Paver

No. of pages: 257
Rating: 8/10
Series: Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness (Book 3)

Synopsis: The ice bear twisted its head on its long neck and snarled: a deep reverberating thunder that shook the ice. It locked eyes with Torak - and the world fell away. It's winter, and Wolf, Torak's beloved pack-brother, has been captured by an unknown foe. In a desperate bid to rescue him, Torak and Renn must brave the frozen wilderness of the Far North. Soul Eater is a haunting story of loyalty and loss, and a chilling portrayal of the nature of evil. It carries you back to the flickering torchlight of the ancient world, and leads you on the next step of the perilous journey which began with Wolf Brother and Spirit Walker.

Review: Whilst out hunting with Renn, somebody snatches Wolf, and takes him to the Far North. Torak cannot abandon his pack brother, so they follow through unknown territory, but can they make it in time to save Wolf?

Again, another fantastic addition to the series. I'm really enjoying these books, you can tell the amount of research the author has done because it's so realistically detailed for that time. The stories have started to get darker in tone as Torak and Renn get closer to fighting the Soul Eaters, and with the end of every book, you never know where the next one will go, so it's always unexpected and interesting. A really enjoyable series so far, and I'm already thinking ahead and wondering what will happen in the last book, so I cannot wait to read the next three and find out!

Spirit Walker by Michelle Paver

No. of pages: 275
Rating: 8/10
Series: Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness (Book 2)

Synopsis: As the Moon of No Dark waxes large, the clans fall prey to a horrifying sickness. Fear stalks the Forest. No one knows the cause—and only Torak can find the cure.

His quest takes him across the sea to the mysterious islands of the Seal Clan. Here, Torak battles an unseen menace and uncovers a betrayal that will change his life—forever.

Review: When people from all the clans start falling sick, Torak goes off in search of a cure. After ending up on the Seal Clan island, he finds out about a lot of things that have been hidden from him, and fights to stop the sickness...

This was a great continuation of the series, again jam packed with a great storyline and lots of action. I liked the fact that Torak had grown up a bit more in this book, and I was very pleased to see the return of my favourite characters from the first book. I liked the introduction of the Seal Clan and their ways which are so different to the Clans we read about in Wolf Brother. A really enjoyable series so far, and I'm eager to read more!

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

No. of pages: 233
Rating: 8/10
Series: Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness (Book 1)

Synopsis: 6,000 years in the past, twelve-year-old Torak and his guide, a wolf cub, set out on a dangerous journey to fulfill an oath the boy made to his dying father - to travel to the Mountain of the World Spirit seeking a way to destroy a demon-possessed bear that threatens all the clans.

Review: With his father on his death bed, Torak promises him he'll go to the Mountain of the World Spirit for help with destroying the bear than killed him. But having never been alone before, the journey is a lot tougher than Torak imagines...

This was a really enjoyable book, and I am definitely going to continue reading the series. Paver does an amazing job of taking you back to times when people wore animal pelts, and hunted with arrows, and even the language has been thoroughly thought out. The storyline itself keeps you interested with the twists the whole way through, and even though this is written for YA, this is definitely something that can be enjoyed by adults. I would definitely recommend it!

Home by Nicola Davies

No. of pages: 259
Rating: 4/10

Synopsis: It's 2067 and the world has become virtually uninhabitable with all the pollution and toxins created by mankind. Ruling classes live holed up in the cities and workers live in Stations, safe from the outside world. But one day Station 27 is taken over by rebels. Nero, from the ruling classes, and Sacks, a worker, find themselves thrown together as they're captured by the rebels, their common enemy. As they begin to discover the terrifying truth about their world, the two children get separated and find themselves in great danger. Will they find each other before it is too late?

Review: All of the workers have been told that the outside world is harmful, and so everyone stays inside the glass domes where they work and sleep. Except for Sacks. When she goes out and realises it's not actually harmful, it sets in motion a massive set of events, which leads to something Sacks could never have dreamed of...

This wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be, which is a bit of a shame. The storyline was okay, the characters were okay, but nothing was ever more than okay. An easy read with an interesting concept which could have been so much more than it was. The way they talked was really annoying, the workers who were meant to be the lower class had chavvy London accents, and the rulers all spoke perfect english, which just seemed like such a stupid stereotype. Not something I'd bother recommending.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

No. of pages: 171
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: In Coraline's family's new flat there's a locked door. On the other side is a brick wall - until Coraline unlocks the door and finds a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only different...

The food is better there. Books have pictures that writhe and crawl and shimmer. And there's another mother and father there who want Coraline to be their little girl. They want to change her and keep her with them...Forever.

Review: Coraline finds a strange door in her new house, and when she goes through it, she's taken to another world where there's another mother and father. But the other mother doesn't want Coraline to leave, in fact, she'll do everything she can to keep her...

I've been wanting to read this for a long time, and I wasn't disappointed. I was surprised by how creepy it was though considering it's aimed at 10+ year old kids, it certainly would have scared me at that age. The storyline was great, I really enjoyed it and I thought it flowed really well, and even though it is a children's book, it's definitely one you can still enjoy reading as an adult. I've heard lots of things about Gaiman and his writing, and I was impressed by what I read, so I will certainly be going on to read other books by him that I'm interested in, and now I really want to watch the Coraline movie!

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

No. of pages: 607
Rating: 9/10

Synopsis: Toru Okada's cat has disappeared and this has unsettled his wife, who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life - spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table - are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.

Review: When Toru and Kumiko's cat disappears it's the start of a very bizarre journey for Toru. The people he meets are varied and interesting, but can they help him find what he's looking for?

I loved this book, it was such a refreshing change from anything I've ever read before. Obviously the Japanese culture is quite different to ours here, and I loved the mysticism of the spirits and being able to move out of your body for a period of time. The characters were my favourite aspect of the story, they were so random and quite bizarre at times, but they were great fun to read about and get to know. In particular my favourites were Creta Kano, May Kasahara and Cinnamon Akasaka, although I really did feel like each character brought something important to the story. My only dislikes were that it was a tad too long, and it felt like I was reading it forever and seemingly never making progress, and also that some of the longer memory passages were a bit too long too, and I found myself losing concentration a bit. But other than that, it was a fantastic book, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to read something a bit different.

Tempted by P.C. & Kristin Cast

No. of pages: 319
Rating: 7/10
Series: House Of Night (Book 6)

Synopsis: Zoey needs a break after some serious excitement. Sadly, the House of Night school for vampyres doesn't feature breaks on its curriculum - even for a High Priestess in training and her gang. Plus juggling three guys is no stress reliever, especially when one is a sexy Warrior so into protecting Zoey that he's sensing her emotions. Wider stresses lurk too, and the dark force in Tulsa's tunnels is spreading. Could Stevie Rae be responsible for more than a group of misfit fledglings? And Aphrodite's visions warn Zoey to stay away from the immortal Kalona and his dark allure - but they also show that only Zoey can stop him. She's not exactly keen to meet up, but if Zoey doesn't go to Kalona he'll exact a fiery vengeance on those closest to her. She just has to find the courage to do what's necessary, or everything that's important to her will be destroyed.

Review: When Aphrodite has another double vision, Zoey must stand up and decide what to do for the best. Can she resist Kalona's allure enough to destroy him? It's time for her to make some tough decisions...

I found Tempted to almost be a replica of the past two books, same exact storyline with nothing really solved. I think that if they stopped focusing on all the boy drama, which is pretty boring by now anyway, and focused on advancing the storyline a bit more, it would be much better. However, I did really enjoy the fact Stevie Rae played a much larger role in this book, she's one of my favourite characters, so it was good to read. Instead of being just Zoey narrating through the whole book like previous ones, in this book it flicks back and forth between Zoey and Stevie Rae and it worked really well, I also thought the direction they're taking Stevie Rae's storyline is a very interesting one, and for that I'll probably keep reading the series. I'm pretty bored of Zoey now though, and I think they need to bring something different to her storyline, which I'm hoping they'll do after the cliffhanger ending.

The Lost Book Of Salem by Katherine Howe

No. of pages: 463
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: While clearing out her grandmother’s cottage for sale, Connie Goodwin finds a parchment inscribed with the name Deliverance Dane. And so begins the hunt to uncover the woman behind the name, a hunt that takes her back to Salem in 1692 . . . and the infamous witchcraft trials. But nothing is entirely as it seems and when Connie unearths the existence of Deliverance’s spell book, the Physick Book, the situation takes on a menacing edge as interested parties reveal their desperation to find this precious artefact at any cost. What secrets does the Physick Book contain? What magic is scrawled across its parchment pages? Connie must race to answer these questions – and reveal the truth about Salem’s women – before an ancient family curse once more fulfils its dark and devastating prophecy...

Review: When Connie's mother asks her to clear out her grandmother's house so it can be sold, she's not looking forward to it. But what starts as a chore turns into much more when she discovers a piece of parchment with the name Deliverance Dane on it. Her search for Deliverance takes her back to the Salem witch trials, and reveals more than she ever could have imagined...

I've always been interested in the Salem witch trials, and so this was a great read for me. I liked how it started as two completely seperate people and times, Connie in 1991 and Deliverance in 1692, and then as the story went on, you saw how the two seperate stories came together. I thought it was really well written, especially considering it's a debut novel, and it showed that Katherine Howe obviously did a lot of research before writing it. The characters were really well written, and were enjoyable to read about, especially Deliverance and her daughter Mercy. Now I have to find more books written about the Salem witch trials as I found the topic really enjoyable!