Dark Secrets 2 by Elizabeth Chandler

Series: Dark Secrets

 Author: Elizabeth Chandler
Page Count: 599
Published: May 4th, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
  3 Stars ★★★

This young adult bind-up contains books 3 and 4 of the Dark Secrets series. In "No Time to Die", we follow a girl attending a theater camp where her sister died. The mystery of her death remains unsolved, but a supernatural mystery - and a love triangle - complicate things further. In "The Deep End of Fear", Kate returns to the Westbrook Estate where her friend Ashley drowned many years before. Tutoring the young Patrick, she starts to fear the possibility of dangerous family dynamics, and even the paranormal. Will she suffer from another loss? Or will she be the one to die this time?


Both of these books are best described as enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.


The atmospheres in both stories were definitely creepy and tense, which was a major strength. Overall, the characters were interesting, likeable, and made me want to keep reading. However, the second story felt way too drawn out, and at times quite boring.


I appreciate the hint of romance in both stories, although the first story had a bit more romance than the second. I like that there was a paranormal or supernatural element to both mysteries, however it wasn't too intense or overpowering the "real life" mysteries that the characters faced. It was very balanced.


I think that the reveal of the first book's villain, and their motives, was a bit too unbelievable for me. I also found that there were some annoying cliches, such as the whole "villain explains evil plan to the hero" trope.


Overall, these books were interesting, but I'm not interested enough to keep them in my book collection. I recommend this for fans of Elizabeth Chandler's first two Dark Secrets books, and for those looking for a short mystery.


Find Dark Secrets 2 on Goodreads

Thirst No.1 by Christopher Pike

Series: The Last Vampire
Author: Christopher Pike
Page Count: 594
Published: August 7th, 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
  4 Stars ★★★★

In this bind-up, readers get the first three books of Christopher Pike's series, The Last Vampire. This series features a five thousand year old vampire named Sita, or "Alisa", living in the modern world. The first book starts with Alisa discovering that somebody is investigating her, and after she promises a dying man to look after his son, she meets Ray. Alisa is drawn to Ray, but there is more at stake than friendship and love. Her life may be in danger, along with the lives of those around her.

As with many of the books I own, I found this at a thrift shop. I'd enjoyed Christopher Pike's Remember Me, so I could not resist buying myself a copy of Thirst. After reading six of his books - three in the Remember Me bind-up and now another three in this one - I have come to the conclusion that Pike's stories are addictive. 

While his writing style isn't the best writing that I have ever come across, once I start reading it, I find it hard to stop. This was true for Thirst, as I gave the first book only three stars, but the next two went up to four stars. His writing got better and better as I went along. 

The main character, Sita, or "Alisa", was absolutely captivating. Written in first person, the reader gets to hear all of her thoughts, memories, and fears, and I think that the author did a marvelous job of putting me in the head of a five thousand year old vampire! She was extremely intelligent, with a nice mix of ruthlessness and compassion mixed in. She was truly a bloodthirsty vampire, though she held on to pieces of her humanity. There was nothing boring about the main character.

The origin of the vampires in this book was very unique from what I've read in other novels. There is an interesting mix of Indian mythology and religion in Sita's past, and it made for a very memorable read! This was a nice change from the usual vampire myths and legends.

The characters around her, from other vampires, to the humans she gets to know, were interesting as well and all played important roles in her story. My only issue is that sometimes, the author wrote the characters' dialogue too much like Sita's. For example, some of the main teenage characters spoke like our five thousand year old protagonist at times, which got on my nerves. This did get better as the books progressed.

The books were very short, and it took me very little time to get through them. While it was nice to have some short reads after getting through some longer books, I think that the books could have been a little longer. Some things happened too fast, particularly this sort of insta-love with Ray. While I don't always mind this instant love or attraction, the author didn't do a great job of writing it so it got on my nerves. Their romance didn't seem that believable. Other situations could have been a bit more drawn out as well, this would have added more tension and suspense to the stories!

Overall, I enjoyed this and I'm glad I picked it up. I'll definitely be continuing the series, and I hope to read more books by Christopher Pike in the future. 

I recommend this book to readers looking for unique vampire stories. If you're interested in a bind-up containing short novels with a very interesting main character, this book is for you.

Find Thirst No.1 on Goodreads

Beautiful Cover(s) of the Day!

L.J Smith is famous for writing the Vampire Diaries books. The Night World novels are another one of her captivating series, 10 books in total, now compiled into three omnibus books and one yet to be released. Their covers are undeniably intriguing with their gothic edge and simple colour schemes. I find that book series with covers such as these, a different colour scheme for every book, tend to catch my eye easily and side by side the covers tend to compliment each other.

The blurb

"Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters -- they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.

In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now Poppy's only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first they both must risk everything to go against the laws of Night World.
Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.
Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It's a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder."

Find Night World on Goodreads