{Review} The Reluctant Sacrifice by Kerr-Ann Dempster

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: August 7th, 2015
Finished Date: December 27th, 2015

Publishers: Self-Published
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Source: For Review
Format: eBook

Pages: 263
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

 

Centuries ago, sibling rivalry tore Aramith apart. As punishment, the losers were stripped of their immortal birthright and banished to Earth. There, they wasted away from old age and diseases. However, there is hope…

If a Shaw child, born on the 12th day of the 12th month offers her soul in a public sacrifice, then the exiles will be forgiven and welcomed home to Aramith.

Aubrey Shaw is that child, but dying for the exiles is not on her to-do list. Using her gift as a Jumper, Aubrey leaps between bodies to escape relentless shape-shifting hunters. Only, shedding her skin is not enough. Not when Joshua, her best-friend-turned-hunter, is hell-bent on dragging her to the altar.

Will Aubrey’s love for Joshua change his mind?

Or, will she have to trust the scarred stranger who shows up out of the blue cloaked in lies and secrets? Doing so means giving up on Joshua. But betting on Joshua's love could do more than break her heart.

It could kill her.

The Review: I am so glad that I took a chance on reviewing this book because it was fab!

As the synopsis states; Aubrey Shaw is meant to sacrifice her life for her people so that they can become immortal once more and return to the place of their ancestors. Aubrey's mother knew that something was up and ran with her daughter, which they have been doing ever since. When Aubrey and her mother ran, they left behind a husband/father, a daughter/sister and Aubrey's best friend/love of her life – all of whom are hunting her with a passion especially when it's revealed that Aubrey and her mother are 'jumpers' who have the ability to jump between bodies and assume the identity of the person into whose body they have jumped into. This is a pretty cool power if you ask me – apart from the fact that you start to lose sense of who you really are the more times you jump, so I took that as a sort of insanity.

It's quite close to the sacrifice date and the pursuit hots up for Aubrey with Joshua leading the way and when things seem dire, they receive help from an unexpected source but this particular time will have far reaching effects for Aubrey. It also introduces us to tall, dark and scarred hottie by the name of Coy – a hunter like Joshua – with his own agenda. I really liked the connection that Aubrey and Coy have, he helped her in her time of need and when he comes back.... there's some chemistry but Aubrey is still hung up on Joshua. I was always left feeling like I didnt know whether to trust Coy, I preffered him in the love triangle but it always seemed like he could turn on her whereas Joshua didnt hide what he was up to. Never the less, I liked how the relationships played out and as the story goes on it became clear where Aubrey's heart lay.

As the wait to the sacrifice date grows nearer we follow all of the characters as they deal with what is on the horizon. Aubrey tries to remain as normal as possible but the guys start to branch out into doing their own thing which wont always be in Aubrey's best interests. There are a lot of secrets to uncover and things that Aubrey must deal with in the run up to her doom.....but there will be a plan – the questions is.... will it work?

Another thing that I liked about this book is that it was different, this is the second book I have read by this author and both have been unique and unusual, they are also suspenseful, really get you thinking and also becoming so engrossed in the story that it's so hard to put it down. I thought it was well written, well thought out, flowed well and I thoroughly enjoyed it – give it a go!

Thank you to Kerr-Ann Dempster for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review. 

{Review} Beneath Scarlett Valley (Scarlett Valley #1) by Kerr-Ann Dempster

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: August 4th, 2014
Finished Date: September 25th, 2014

Publishers: Ink City Books
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Source: For Review
Format: eBook

Pages: 300

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

Death or Immortality … Cassidy chose death. Cassidy Daniels hates being a Furor. First, there is the hellish rage that storms through her veins, urging her to kill. Then there is the gnawing guilt, the nightmares, and the pretense. Unfortunately, her sister wants to be immortal. To do so, she needs Cassidy's help to find the Source, an ancient pool hidden beneath Scarlett Valley. When they arrive in Scarlett, Cassidy intends to find the Source and get out, but then she meets Sebastian. Everything about him makes her rethink her choice. There is just one problem. The choice between death and immortality is no longer Cassidy's to make. There are pretenders everywhere, with dark pasts and even darker plans.

The Review: Beneath Scarlett Valley is an intriguing book and very easy to read and get into.
We meet Cassidy Daniels and her sister Harper as they arrive at Scarlett Valley in search of ‘the Source’. Both Cassidy and Harper are Furors or rage demons -as the myths say- who constantly battle the internal rage and the need to kill. Their parents had become immortal by drinking from ‘the Source’ and had supposedly left clues for their daughters to achieve immortality to so that is all that Harper is interested in…. find the source and become immortal….. but Cassidy doesn’t want that, she wants to die because she doesn’t like what she is but she agrees to help Harper. She starts to rethink her decision however when she meets the schools swimming star – Sebastian – and begins to fall for him but could she ever get a happy ever after? She also finds that there are a few people who aren’t exactly who they’re meant to be and she needs to find out what everyone is up to because Furors don’t really have friends…. So who to trust?
So, as I said, this book was very intriguing and moreish. I liked the set up of the girls being sisters and rage demons, they were both very hot tempered and I thought that got across their rage problem very well. I liked that they were on a sort of quest, like looking for the fountain of youth but in this case ‘the Source’ that when drunk from, will give the drinker immortality and I liked that both Cass and Harper were on opposite sides of the fence about using it because it gave us a view for both for and against using it. A lot of Scarlett Valley’s history is tied to the Furor and I thought that definitely added to the story, we get some folklore that everyone believes is false – but is it? And we also find that the Furor aren’t the only supernatural fish in the pond giving us a glimpse of an enemy and a long ago feud that moulded what happened to both sides. There is also a bit of a side thread of story about missing teens that ties humans into the equation too, especially Sebastian.
I thought all of the characters were likable, there were a few instances when Cass & Harper came across as spoilt b*tches that irritated me a bit but I suppose that could be classed as the mannerisms of a rage demon. I liked Cass and Sebastian’s love connection, they fit well and got along great, it was nice to see her struggle to keep her demon in check more as if she was trying to be the better person and overcome her basic instincts.
The story culminated into a big ending where there are some major reveals and some massive consequences and I’m very curious to see where it’s headed now – this was a good read though and I’ll be looking out for book 2.

Thank you to Kerr-Ann Dempster for giving me the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.