Eden (Eden #1)

Eden (Eden #1)
Janelle Stalder

Publication Date: September 20, 2011
Date Read: December 17, 2011
Source: Review Copy from Janelle
Format: Paperback
Pages: 236

From Goodreads:
Stuck in the cruel world of hormones and high school bullies, Aiden is convinced life has something more to offer. A stranger soon brings him to a world that co-exists alongside our own called Eden. Here he will learn to trust himself and those around him, as all of Eden finds itself on the brink of war. With the handsome rider Wolf, his sidekick Logan, and the beautiful archer Elisa at his side, Aiden will battle to save Eden and learn just what he is capable of.

Being the only girl in the King’s Army, and the Captain’s daughter, Elisa constantly feels the need to prove herself. It doesn’t help that she is betrothed to Wolf, who challenges her at every turn, and who she refuses to marry. With the new stranger, Aiden, now involved, Elisa finds her life even more confusing than ever.

Rose is a prisoner of the war, taken by the army from the North. Her captor, the exiled Prince Callum, intrigues her and terrifies her all at the same time. Now she must choose to either betray her heart, or the memory of her family.

Eden is packed full of romance, adventure, humour, and action.

Wow. Eden was definitely nothing like I expected it to be. I found it a little difficult to get into at the start and wasn't quite sure what I thought of it but as I always do I kept on going. I am so glad I did as I found myself being blown away by the story. The more I read the more I fell in love with this book.

Aiden is just a normal boy with normal troubles like trying to survive high school. But then the extraordinary happens. He is transported to the magical world of Eden where there is a war brewing. Aiden must learn to fight and help Eden in order to get back home. What he doesn't count on is getting attached to the world and the people of Eden.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a great story and I commend Janelle on her amazing writing technique. The narration made me fall in love with all of the characters. I was really surprised how attached I became to the characters as the book is in third person narration which I usually don't like much as I feel like it is not as personal but with Janelle's superb writing this was not a problem and I loved it.
Her characters are amazing, I loved the relationships forming between Elise/Aiden/Wolf/Logan and Felix and I found myself wanting to read as fast as I could to see what happened and hope they won the war and defeated the 'bad side'. That was until we met Rose and Callum. I was very surprised when we met Rose and Callum. I never imagined that such important characters could be introduced so far into the book but Janelle did it superbly. When we first met them I found myself thinking oh, can we not just go back to seeing what's going on with Aiden and the others. And then when we did I was like But, what's happening with Callum and Rose. I just totally loved Callum, he is such a fab character and I know, I know technically he's on the bad side but he's just so sweet and I love him.

One thing I loved about this book is that you could see certain romances starting to form and seeing the relationships between the characters growing but it didn't happen too fast and the romance still isn't there at the end of the book. There are so many books out there where romances develop way too quickly and the reader is left thinking woah, how did that happen? so it is nice and refreshing to find a book where you can see the starts of relationships but where it is not rushed.

I really loved this book and I am really excited to read the next book and see what happens next. A great start to what is looking to be a promising series.

Poison Study (Study #1)

Poison Study (Study #1)
Maria V Snyder

Publication Date: September 21, 2007
Date Read: December 13, 2011
Format: Paperback
Pages: 409

From Goodreads:

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear…

I honestly don't really know what to say about this book or where to even start when writing this review. Poison Study is unlike anything I have read before as this was the first pure fantasy book I have read.

Yelena has a decision to make. Be executed for her crime or become the Commander's new food taster. When Yelena chooses to live she doesn't think that she may be still be in incredible danger. In Ixia, having magical powers results in death and when Yelena starts showing signs of magic she knows she must keep it well hidden in order to save her life. But there are more dangerous things coming, and Yelena must choose between her life and her heart.

I really liked this book. I thought it was a unique and interesting storyline. I didn't really get the Wow impression from the book that many people seemed to get from this book but it held my attention and I was intrigued about what was going to happen.
The more I read the more I got into the story and the more I enjoyed it. Even though it's not the best book I have read and it didn't completely blow me away I still enjoyed it a lot and found myself sitting for hours just reading as I needed to know what was going to happen.

Yelena is such a great character and my heart really went out to her. When the book starts all you know is she's a criminal and she is to be executed for killing someone. All the way through the book I really wanted to know why she had killed this person. The more you read the more you see she is just a gentle person and wouldn't kill someone unless she had a great reason for it. When I found out the reason, I was glad she killed him and my heart went out to her for the things she was put through.
I had such mixed feelings about Valek throughout the book. He is definitely the mysterious character and you don't really know what he is thinking but the more I read about him the more I loved him. He's a great character and I can't wait to read more.

Overall, I think this is a great story and I can't wait to read the rest of the series and find out what happens next. The ending wasn't the greatest ending for a book and there were unnecessary things explained while necessary things left unexplained but as for the main storyline I think it was a good ending in order to lead onto the next book in the series.
This is probably the hardest review I have ever wrote as I honestly had no clue what to write. I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.