Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
First published: November 8th, 2011
Source: NetGalley
Pages: 317

Goodreads Summary:
The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.

My Rating: 4.0 / 5

First thoughts:

This was a very refreshing and fast read. It's characters are very intriguing and the plot kept me turning the pages to find out whether everything will work out. Leanna Renee Hieber managed to create a beautiful historical setting which sucked me in immediately and her characters made it impossible to stop reading.

More detailed:

I usually don't read (murder) myteries often, but this is the genre I'd use to describe Darker Still. But Leanna Renee Hieber has combined this with even more genres by adding a paranormal twist and setting this book in a historical New York. And this combination worked perfectly for me, making me want to be part of this world to get to know its characters even better.

Darker Still's main character Natalie has been described as very strong despite her muteness by many bloggers and I can completely agree with them. She's a wonderful character and reading her diary entries is a lot of fun. It is interesting to witness her encountering other people and having to deal with her handicap, always hoping to be able to be a part of society and friendships nonetheless.

Her relationship with Lord Denbury is lovely as well. He has been described as a perfect gentleman and, again, I can only confirm this claim. At times, I felt incredibly sorry for them, but with Natalie's help he managed to not give up and always continued hoping for a happy ending. I'd love to find out how their story will continue, because I've definitely grown fond of them.

The other characters in Darker Still are very diverse: I love Mrs. Northe who is such a great help for Natalie. Of course I don't like the demon possessing Denbury's body, but I also couldn't really warm up to Maggie, Mrs. Northe's niece. Her selfishness and superficiality are very pronounced and don't make her likeable.

Sometimes I felt like the plot wasn't moving fast enough, making me want to skip a few pages. But at the same time I was too scared to miss an important detail and was very happy when the pace picked up again soon. All in all, I really enjoyed Darker Still and would recommend it to everyone who might be interested in such a well written mysterious paranormal story.

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Have you read Darker Still? What did you think about?

Do you plan to read it?

Carina

Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Expected Publication: December 1st, 2011
Source: NetGalley
Pages: 288

Goodreads Summary:
What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys, and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university. But now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starting position... suddenly she's hoping he'll see her as more than just a teammate.

My Rating: 4.5 / 5

First thoughts:

The first thing that came to my mind when finishing this? I need a finished copy of Catching Jordan! This is a book that made me laugh and cry. A book that made me want to hug its characters and shout at them. It was impossible to put down and if you just think that you might like this, pick it up immediately. I love it!

More detailed:

Catching Jordan is one of those books that makes you laugh at the most unfortunate times, e.g. when you're around people that have a hard time understanding why a book can make you so happy. But when reading this I didn't care - all I cared about was finding out how Jordan's story will continue and whether she will be able to pursue her dreams.

Living in Germany, I don't know much about football. Therefore it was a little bit hard for me to follow Jordan's retellings of certain parts of important games. But luckily these parts don't appear too often and aren't too long, so following the story doesn't get too complicated for someone who doesn't know much about football. At the same time it was really great to get a basic idea of what this type of sport is like.

Just as the summary says, Jordan is one of the guys. She has their respect as quarterback and captain of their team and they care as much about her as she does about them. It is amazing to witness their encounters and to see how their friendships develop. I also really enjoyed seeing how her relationship to her father changed and how she continually fought for her dreams.

At some points it seems like the sexual aspect of a relationship is no big deal. Since I'm 20 years old I didn't mind these parts too much, but for a younger audience this might be suggesting a wrong attitude. Besides that I really loved the love story of this novel. I didn't care too much about Ty even though he sounds like a promising character in the beginning. But I completely fell in love with Jordan's other love interest and was always crossing my fingers for them to work out their problems.

All in all, Catching Jordan is an amazing novel about a young girl fighting for her dreams to come true. Jordan is a fantastic character and her voice is easy to listen to. I fell in love with this book immediately and will definitely get a finished copy of it soon. Add this to your to-read lists and try to read this soon; I'm sure you will not regret it.

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Have you read Catching Jordan? What did you think about it?
Do you plan to read it?

Carina