Trials of A Teenage Werevulture by Emily Martha Sorensen

After my utter love of Stacy Claflin's Lost Wolf, I was (heh, heh) hungry for more. I discovered Emily Martha Sorensen through a giveaway a while back and was excited to hop on board for an ARC of her latest release, Trials of A Teenage Werevulture, which came out yesterday. The title said it all: humor, imagination, and fun. How did it hold up?

First of all, I really like the world that Sorenson's invented. Being a vampire or werewolf is nothing weird or exotic unless you're an exceptionally rare kind of were or vampire... like a vulture. Gulp. There was plenty of humor in a fun atmosphere and a surprisingly thrilling plot that Lisette and company uncover that unwinds beautifully as the story progresses. The scenes range from embarrassing teenage moments to serious danger to family love and heroics, making this a tough one to put down. That being said, the writing style was at times gimmicky and covered with puns, making me think this is a story best meant for tweens who have outgrown Monster High but aren't ready for higher end books.

It was fun--I enjoyed it from the first page on and am looking forward to the sequels!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆

Alive by Scott Sigler

Alive is a story that begins very much like a nightmare: a girl wakes up on what she believes to be her twelfth birthday--locked in a coffin with bars around her, a needle jabbing into her, and absolutely no memories about her past. And that's page one.

It's hard to go into details about Sigler's masterpiece without spoiling it or giving anything away because Alive is almost more of a book-length riddle than a novel, with details revealed at a tantalizing pace while the heroes fight for survival--and the answers to their questions. Who are they? Where are they? Why were they locked up?

I enjoyed this book from the first page. It was both a gripping story and a puzzle I could actively play with as I read further and came to my own conclusions (about half of which were right, and the other half were even better!). Five stars for a fascinating early summer read!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Lost Wolf by Stacy Claflin

Before I give you the summary, let me tell you a few things. First, as a writer myself, I sign up onto a lot of authors' mailing lists, usually via giveaways. Second, I remove myself from most of those lists early on, usually within the first couple emails. I don't know why Stacy Claflin stood out compared to the others. I clicked on an email out of courtesy. . . and I was hooked. As in, I downloaded the book instantly and read it over the weekend.

Lost Wolf has two main characters. First is Victoria, a college freshman just settling into her new life as a student--until she realizes that she remembers absolutely nothing about her life before arriving on campus. She doesn't know who her parents are, where she's from, anything. Then there's Toby, a werewolf leader who takes a job as a math professor in Victoria's college. The catch? Toby and Victoria were lovers years ago until she died tragically in his arms.

Yeah, it's YA werewolf paranormal romance. There's nothing shockingly new or different. The twists are easy to predict, the elements the same as we've always seen them. As Lost Wolf is the first book of a series, there were plenty of mysteries still unsolved by the last page and questions about the plot and characters that I still had.

But I loved it. Page one to the end. I couldn't stop reading this book. It ranged from fun to playful to heart-wrenching to dangerous, all so fluidly that I honestly didn't care that I already knew where it was going. The fun was in watching it all play out.

Lost Wolf isn't for anyone, but hopefully this review can give you an idea if it's worth taking a look at. And I absolutely say yes!

*****