Title: Stained
Series: Book #1 of Stained
Author: Ella James
Pages: 157
Genre: YA (Nephilim, Paranormal Romance)
Rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis. After a fire destroys seventeen-year-old Julia’s home and kills her foster parents, she chases the half-demon responsible across the country and back, determined to avenge her family and discover why a host of celestial baddies want her dead. With Julia is enigmatic hottie - Cayne, who has his own score to settle with the half-demon, and who might be just as dangerous as the creature he and Julia hunt.
My Thoughts
I totally loved this book!! It had a great story line and def a lot of action! Here's my account, more detailed:
What I Loved
I totally loved Julia, Cayne and their relationship. Well, first off, i'm a total sucker for sarcastic type guys... i love guys who have good comebacks and dry senses of humors. So Cayne was right up my alley. He also seemed bery real the way he was feeling one thing but then showing only a totally opposite and stoic outer image... i totally know guys who do that! Some guys need to learn communication skills!! Julia seemed very sensible and i could related to most of her feelings... esp with Cayne on the train! I've totally been there. The relationship between the two seems very authentic. Def no instalove here. I sort of like love stories where in the beginning they dont like each other...but secretly do. hahaha. To me, that's better than "love at first sight". They are cute as a couple.
What I Liked
I really like the Characters backgrounds. I like know about how characters cam to be and i think good stories always bring in a bit of the past. It brings depth and interest to the story! I also sort of like Cayne's bad boy like image! :D
I also really like that there are only 2 real characters. In some books (i wont mention breaking dawn...lol) there are like sssoooo many characters! I get confused easy and sometimes i just don't like them. On the other hand though, sometimes i do like them. I think if supporting characters are done right then they are good, but in this book i didn't mind Julia not having a constant best friend or brother/sister, etc!
I totally love the ending too. I was torn at first and wasn't sure if i liked it. My kindle tricked me. I was at like 85% and reading happily, then bam, i turn the page and i see end credits.. wtf? Apparently there is a sneakpeek chapter for another book at the end...but dang, i wasn't prepared for then! Let's just say that the ending was a major cliffhanger...im not even sure if the climax was in this book. I have to say that book two is going to start off with a bang. Also, i sense a little second book syndrome...
What I Didn't Like As Much
One thing that i didn't quite like, was the way some elements just appeared out of nowhere. Like in the first few chapters, you think that Julia is just a normal girl but then out of nowhere she uses her "talent" and your like wait...where did that come from. I was wondering if i even read it right. The was no previous thoughts on it or anything... It was kind of awkward but does pay a huge roll in the rest of the book. I just wished it was introduced more smoothly.
Another thing i didn't necessarily love was the dream/thought sequences. These confused me a lot too. Especially the first one. I dont even think it was Julia's dream... it seemed awkward to me and i couldn't figure out where it came from or how it fit into Julia's story. It was like all about Julia then there was like this dream about something totally irrelevant seeming. Of course it ends up being somewhat explained, but im not sure if the place is right or if it needed at all. There are other dreams/thought sequences too and while they are story building, i've just never been into them much in books.
Overall i totally love this book and i'd give it a very high 4 stars (so very close to 5 stars). I def recommend it to others, especially to people who would like a unique story about fallen angels. Or if you are new to fallen angel books! Im def going to read book 2 and would def try other books by this other as well.
About the Author
| Ella James is the author of Stained and Stolen, books one and two in the Stained Series; HERE, book one in a sci-fi romance trilogy; and Before You Go, a romance YA beach read that tells the first meeting of Logan and Margo, who will be featured in her upcoming adult release, Over The Moon. She has a YA paranormal romance release scheduled for every month of 2012, including Chosen (Stained Book Three) in June and the second HERE book in July.
Ella is inviting readers to help her write a shapeshifter romance, which is plotted via polls and questions on her blog and her Facebook page. |
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With love,
Margaret
