A Review for Lost Seraphine (Seraphine Trilogy #2) by KaSonndra Leigh

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: November 24th, 2013
Finished Date: November 17th, 2013

Publishers: TriGate Press
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Source: For Review

Format: eBook
Pages: Unknown

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

Caleb Wood now knows the Dark Seraphine's true identity. 

Life should be a little more sane now, right? Wrong! It’s kind of hard to ignore the walkers, fallen souls taken by the Angel of Chaos. Oh yeah, only Caleb can see them.

After saving his girlfriend from the wrath of a sea witch, Caleb finds himself faced with a new problem…understanding the strange tattoos showing up on his body. He must also deal with his Lost Seraphine, the girl who left her family behind to save the boy she loves. The same girl who just happens to be the daughter of a mythological god. 

Gia gave up one of her powers to be with Caleb. She knew that she was connected to the Dark Seraphine in some way. You see, there’s a prophecy, something she always believed to be a fairy tale linking her with the girl who also wants Caleb. Haunted by visions of her dead brother, Gia realizes she has made a terrible mistake. The ability she gave up is the one thing she will need to keep her boyfriend safe. 

Will Caleb be able to accept the things he will learn about his real father while trying to save the girl he loves from herself? Book Two of the Seraphine Trilogy and prequel to the Lost Immortals Saga is coming soon.

The Review: Lost Seraphine is a great continuation to the Seraphine trilogy…at the end of book one, we were hit with some pretty big pieces of information including Caleb’s parentage, Gia’s true identity and also the identity of the Dark Seraphine and when you put all three together we get a nice big prophecy! As events start to unfold we find there are a LOT of secrets being kept and that nearly everyone is hiding something. Both Caleb and Gia suffer with guilt in the beginning and start assuming that they aren’t worthy of one another. Caleb carries guilt for Gia having to give up her life for him, he doesn’t feel he can be what she needs, protect her as well as he should. Whereas Gia feels like she isn’t good enough for Caleb or her family, why should she have to choose between them and let down her people. she already let down her friends and her brother when she couldn’t save them and this led to a quite solemn start to the book as the characters all take stock of what’s happened. I enjoyed getting both Caleb & Gia’s point of views this time around, I like how they are written and I really like their personalities which comes through in the writing easily but in the beginning it was heavy on the inner voice as our characters took on a sort of retrospective aspect and whilst I understand why, I was wishing for less. I liked the progression in the relationship, I like them together as a couple and once they started actually communicating again… it was a lot better. The storyline, again was great progression and I really liked how the events from book one carried over. As I mentioned earlier, there are a LOT of secrets & reveals in this which was awesome, everyone is hiding something and whilst some secrets are just little omissions, some are huge and have the capacity to change a persons life. Allegiances will be made & also broken as peoples true colours rise to the surface. I do like the magical/supernatural element to this, it’s interesting and I want more, I like that we’re getting some good interaction with the ‘bad guys’ and that we’re getting explanations about how Caleb is involved. I don’t feel we’re seeing the full extent of everyone and what they can do but I love the action we do get in this and wish there was more. For all there are a lot of explanations about characters, I want to know more about the kind of power they all have, Caleb especially because he has heritage from more than one parent and his maternal side is just as interesting. We meet a couple of very interesting characters in this who really piqued my curiosity, Mabry is one, he seems familiar and because I know that these books are connected to the ‘Lost Immortals’ series, I keep looking for clues and he rings a bell… the other is a seer, she was super creepy and we all know how seers can affect a story but always in a good way and considering there’s now a prophecy to play out… I’m very happy! I did think this was a really good read but just as some questions were being answered, more were being brought up so that it really whets the appetite for the final book, I want to know how everything interlocks, I want the magic to make a big impact, I want to know about Mabry & his scheduled talk with Caleb, I want to meet the missing pieces to Caleb & Gia’s lives, I really want to work out the ‘bad guys’ & I want a connection to Chela & Castle Hayne, Is Darren’s fence, ‘the’ fence from Castle Hayne?...the plot thickens. 

The Lost Immortals Saga Blog Tour; Review for When Silver Moons Rises

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: January 20th, 2013

Finished Date: February 10th, 2013

Publishers: Self Published
Source: For Review

Format: Kindle 

Pages:  312
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US /Barnes & Noble

Facing an unstable future, Chela Prizeon leaves Castle Hayne and crosses over to enemy territory in pursuit of Faris--the boy of royal blood who is cursed by a bitter rival. But soon Chela learns that he has been taken deep into the treacherous frozen prisons--a majestic, but deadly place where people enter and are never seen again. To find the boy she loves, Chela must join forces with one of her greatest enemies. And even though she pulls strength from the good in her powers, she finds herself drawn to the dark side's temptation as well.

Narrated from both Chela's and Faris's point of view, this enchanting sequel to When Copper Suns Fall will take them on a voyage into unknown lands, where the dark, twisted, and revengeful wait to make this their most dangerous journey ever.

Please Note: This book contains mature content including profanity, drug/alcohol use, and sexual situations/language.

The Review: 3.5 Stars!

I enjoyed When Silver Moons Rise just as much as the first in the Lost Immortals series. We start the book with life going back to normal for Chela, with her brother Micah on the mend, things seem to be on track. Faris has gone off on to get help in his mission to save his sister Asa from Rabia, the tainted who has her trapped in another realm but things don’t go accordingly as he is faced with someone from his past whose word may not be true. Through their bond Chela becomes aware that something isn’t right, Faris has been gone months, she’s getting strange dreams & feelings - so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She enlists the help of a couple of friends and sets of to save him, but when they are parted, she puts herself in worse danger as she tries to make it to her destination and forced to make an unlikely alliance just to survive. Will she save Faris? Or will she fail and all hope will be lost for our Champion?

As I said, I really enjoyed this sequel. I think the first book got a bit bogged down with information about the world it was set in because it was filled with rules & expectations, how people were expected to act etc. but this seems to be a lot lighter because we really had the freedom to get to know a lot more about our main characters. We get to see a bit more of what Chela is made of and to what lengths she is prepared to go in her efforts to free Faris. We get to know a lot more of Faris’s past through the memories he recalls and of course we also get to know Seth a lot more through his bond with Chela & Faris’s memories too. All of this gave some great insights into the characters so the reader can really start to connect with the characters inner workings because the more we find out, the more our first impressions are changed, especially Seth – we all know book baddies aren’t always as bad as they appear, particularly when they are a love interest – and we start to see the unravelling of Seth as his goodness shines a little. To be honest, I’m still not even sure whose team I’m on because whilst Faris is awesome, there’s just something about a bad/evil boy hiding his inner light that appeals to me.

The storyline was a great progression, I liked that it introduced more people & places. I liked that Faris’ past is brought to the plot and links in with getting to know him better, where he is at for a large amount of time has my curiosity, especially when we find out there are some familiar faces there which also loops around to involve Seth’s past. The baddie is good in this too and through the situation we see a lot more of how far reaching the treachery goes. It did have the feel of players being introduced and like it was setting everyone in their place for what will become inevitable which was not a bad thing. There was action & danger aplenty that carried on throughout, holding my interest all of the way through and it held a nice pace & easy feel. I really like the connection Chela has with both boys and what that could be used for in the future, I like seeing Seths walls come down a bit, I love Faris’ protectiveness & love for Chela and I loved Chela’s devotion to him and also her alliance with Seth. I’m also looking forward to see where all this will lead in book 3 – a great sequel! 

Author Bio;

KaSonndra Leigh was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She now lives in the City of Alchemy and Medicine, North Carolina. She likes to write about people of all ages doing fantastical things in magical worlds. 

She loves to play CLUE, Monopoly (the Indiana Jones version), and Pandora's Box (good writer's block therapy). She lives in an L-shaped house with a garden dedicated to her grandmother. It has a secret library complete with fairies, Venetian plastered walls, and a desk made out of clear blue glass.

Official Author Website: http://www.kasonndraleigh.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5137209.KaSonndra_Leigh

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kasonndraleigh

A Review for When Copper Suns Fall (Copper Suns #1) by KaSonndra Leigh

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie 
Expected Publish Date: December 6th, 2011
Finished Date: November 25th, 2011
Source: For Review from Author
Format: Kindle
Pages: 381
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The Blurb from Goodreads: In fifteen-year-old Chela Prizeon’s city, alchemy is forbidden and angels hide among the mortal. With a deadly virus ravaging the globe, Chela’s nightmarish memories compels her to experience a past riddled with gloom, and now her brother is infected. Chela’s only hope is the Caduceans, slayers sworn to protect the last seven Light Keepers and the ancient memories they share. A group led by the sometimes elusive, sometimes infuriating boy who intrigues Chela. But can she trust this boy with the mysterious past, someone who can influence her memories? With the Caduceans aid, Chela races to defeat her rivals, to unearth dark family secrets, desperate to find a cure…only to discover the glutovirus is far more than a simple disease.

The Review: 3.5 out of 5: Chela’s world is filled with rules, rules that are strictly followed, rules about who to consider the enemy, rules about taking medication, rules about what kind of people can live where, rules about how to dress and who to date, lots of rules. That’s quite understandable really considering the world is a delicate state, the elements are ravaging the world and a deadly virus is infecting people. That’s not to mention the myths of beasts and all things scary if you leave the safety of Castle Hayne. But when Chela’s twin brother Micah is infected with the glutovirus and falls into a year long coma and the doctors want to use him as research, Chela starts to question those rules. As she approaches her 16^th birthday she stops taking her medication thinking that there may be something to Micah’s theory about it not being right and sets of a chain of events that will challenge and change all she thought she knew, and she discovers things about herself that even she has trouble believing. As she meets two mysterious boys she is pulled in two directions, but which is the right one? Everyone seems to be hiding something and even those you trust with your life can turn your life upside down and that isn’t even the half of it!

I’m in-between liking and really liking this book, as first books go it was good. The beginning was slightly slow and a bit confusing with all the new world rules, what was happening, who was who, who couldn’t be where etc. but the pace soon picked up and got going and became a lot easier building to a really good ending that does leave you wanting more. The world is set in 2067, so not too distant a future, set in a new USA that has suffered through the Tidal years ever since the great war, believed to have been started by two presumed extinct groups, the Caduceans and the Tainted. It is a quite grim dystopian world dealing with unstable weather, disease and pollution, colonising into sectors known as The Nation of Corunum and only selected people can live within its walls, normally people who have some sort of gift. Chela is one of the people lucky enough to live in Castle Hayne due to her father being a VIP and we see a shy girl happy to ‘tow the line’, hiding herself from people who may discover her secret, change into a determined girl whose thoughts were to do the right thing and to protect all she knows and loves no matter the consequences or what it might cost her. Her whole world is changed with the revelations she finds out and even though she is tempted a couple of times to do the opposite of what’s needed, she rises to the challenge. I’m saying nothing about the two boys or the secrets they may be hiding because they are major parts of the book and I really don’t want to spoil the enjoyment that comes with finding those out, needless to say they involve a few open mouth moments. All in all, a good first to a new series with an interesting plot that is going to carry over well into future books, has left me curious and wanting to know what’s going to happen now for Chela and the people in her life after the conclusion of this book and looking forward to the next one.
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Thank you to KaSonndra Leigh for giving me the opportunity to review this book.