Audiobook Review: The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, #1) by Rick Riordan 
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Narrators: Kevin R. Free and Katherine Kellgren
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Buy It From Amazon |  Goodreads
★★★★☆

Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

The Red Pyramid is a fantastic story on its own, but the narration pushes it over the top! The story was easy to follow and the characters were easy to identify thanks to the extremely talented narrators. I was particularly impressed with Katherine Kellgren's take on Sadie's character! She reflected Sadie's spunk and sarcasm perfectly. It was so perfect that it actually had me laughing driving down the highway. I'm pretty sure people thought I was nuts, but oh well!

My only issue with this book would be that the children acted much older than they actually were. Their intelligence kept me interested, but did seem a bit unrealistic. The story itself was quite serious, but the humor and the characters kept it lighthearted and humorous! For these reasons,  The Red Pyramid, will most certainly thrill fans of The Mummy film.

I highly recommend listening to this one. You won't regret it. The top of the line narration and action-packed story will have you hooked for hours at a time. Don't miss out on The Red Pyramid!

Review: Wake (Watersong, #1)

Wake (Watersong, #1) by Amanda Hocking
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher/BEA
Release Date: August 7th, 2012
Buy It From Amazon |  Goodreads
★★★★☆

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs.  She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door.  He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back.  Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever.  She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove.  They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price.  And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

Not having read any of Amanda Hocking's books, I was hesitant to pick up Wake. Luckily, I was not disappointed. Wake proved itself to be a fast, engaging read! While I didn't find myself particularly impressed with the characters, I fell in love with the story. Hocking's true skill for storytelling will make Wake hard to put down this summer!

I was surprised to find that Wake has a darker side. I was expecting the usual fluffy summer romance. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with that, but it can get predictable. Wake was something completely different: an intelligent mix of mythology, horror, and a pinch of romance. After moving a bit slow in the beginning, Wake quickly picked up after Gemma's encounter with Penn, Lexi, and Thea on the cove.
 
The three antagonists, specifically Penn, made wicked awesome villains: beautiful yet deadly and easy to hate. Gemma was the perfect counter to the threesome mentioned above! She was passionate, likable, and relatively easy to relate to. Gemma was great, but the character that really stole my heart was Daniel! Daniel was a bit of a bum, living on a boat and all, but he had a fantastic personality. He was such an interesting character that he quickly became my favorite! Honestly, I wish he would have been Gemma's love interest instead of Alex!

While I do wish that the characters were a bit more developed, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I can't wait to get my hands on the next installment of the Watersong series. Definitely throw this one in your beach bag this August when it releases!

Review: Touch of Frost

Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy, #1) by Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp
Format: E-Galley
Source: Author
Buy It From Amazon |  Goodreads
★★★★☆

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy — a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest.

But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why—especially since I should have been the one who died…

Touch of Frost is an excellent start to the Mythos Academy series! Estep uses elements of suspense, mythology, and romance to enhance an enjoyable, yet somewhat predictable plot. Though the book had a slow start, it quickly picked up halfway through. This book may have been used to set the stage for the rest of the series but I certainly didn't mind thanks to Estep's fantastic world building.

Estep does an amazing job creating a grand image of Mythos Academy. Her writing had me rereading paragraphs so I could imagine the intricacies of the academy over and over. We've all read books where the descriptions are beautiful, but too wordy or too simple or too boring. Estep does it right by providing readers with all the necessary information, in a pretty little word package.

While we are on the topic of beautiful things, lets talk about.... Spartans. Namely Logan. While he doesn't play a huge part in Touch of Frost, he's definitely memorable. Described as the "man-whore" of Mythos Academy, I couldn't help but feel that that there was more to him than that label and that he may know more than he lets on. I'm hoping he will be a mystery that gets unraveled (...or undressed *wink wink*) in Kiss of Frost!
 
If you are looking for a quick, fun, and entertaining read with mythological influences then Touch of Frost is for you! It shows some great potential for this series and I can't wait to read the next one. I'm thinking a Mythos Academy marathon might be in order!

l{B}ook-A-Likes

You'll definitely like Touch of Frost, if you've enjoyed the following in the past: