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Showing posts with label Lee Nichols. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lee Nichols. Show all posts

Saturday, 21 April 2012

A Review for Surrender (Haunting Emma #3) by Lee Nichols

Surrender  (Haunting Emma, #3)Posted by Donna
Published Date: April 12th, 2012
Finished Date: April 17th, 2012
Publishers: Bloomsbury
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
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The Blurb from Goodreads: After a devastating battle at headquarters in New York, the ghostkeeping world is in shambles. When Emma and Bennett return home, they are determined to defeat the wraithmaster, Neos, forever. But it's not going to be easy. Bennett's parents kick him out when they realize he is still using drugs to enhance his powers. Emma is convinced her aunt has come back from the dead to warn her of a new threat. And worst of all, Neos is using wraiths to possess the students at Thatcher Academy. If the ghosts manage to take over the entire school, even Emma won't be strong enough to stop them. But if either she or Bennett sacrifice his or her powers, they might be able to save the ghostkeeping world once and for all-and break the "ghostkeepers lose their powers when they fall in love" curse. The question is: who will be the one to surrender all power?
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The Review: I’ve been a huge fan of Lee Nichols’s Haunting Emma series since the start and I have to say, finishing this book – Surrender; which is the third and final book in the series, was a sad moment for me because, even though this book was so, so good I’m still not ready to leave these characters behind but of course, Lee Nichols’s ends it with a bang and it was PURE-AWESOME!  
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This time around we see Emma and the gang trying to deal with the aftermath after the battle at the Knell; the ghost-keepers headquarters in New York. Everyone is unsure of what to do next and people are more afraid then ever. But Emma is more determined then ever to banish Neos forever. To do that, she needs to allocate his ashes which are hidden in Thatcher Academy somewhere and she really needs the help from her friends more than ever but that’s easier said than done. Bennett’s parents arrive home and kick him out when they realise he is still addicted to a drug that enhances his powers and Emma’s friends are all wrapped up in their own problem. But Neos won’t wait forever….and soon the fight it bought to them. Can Emma defeat Neos once and for all? And can she save the one she loves the most before he destroys himself?
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Surrender is a fantastic finale book!  Lee Nichols’s definitely left this series on a high note and I have to say it’s definitely my favourite out of all three books. From start to end, it’s fast paced, exciting and full of danger. And of course, the romance is hotter than EVER! And this is why I loved this story so much because we got to see Emma and Bennett really be a couple. Their scenes with each other was so sweet and beautiful and yes, they do have their up’s and down’s but it’s nothing they can’t overcome together.
I adore all the characters especially Emma, Bennett, Lukas and Harry but I’m glad to see they all go the ending they deserved. I have to say, even Bennett’s parents grew on me and I was glad we got to get to know Emma’s brother too.
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Overall, Surrender did not disappoint at all and if you’re looking for a spooky ghost story, full of laughs and romance then this is the series for you. Highly recommended!

Thursday, 18 August 2011

A Review for Betrayal (Haunting Emma #2) by Lee Nichols

Posted by Donna
Expected Published Date: September 5th, 2011
Finished Date: August 14th, 2011
Publishers: Bloomsbury 
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
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The Blurb from Goodreads: Emma Vaile is the most powerful ghostkeeper in centuries. Which is great when she's battling the wraith-master Neos, but terrible when she's flirting with fellow ghostkeeper (and soul mate) Bennett. When ghostkeepers fall in love, the weaker one loses all power, and that's not something Bennett can handle. Heartbroken and alone, Emma tries to lose herself in school with fellow ghostkeeper, Natalie. When a new team of ghostkeepers arrive-one a snarky teen boy, the other a British scholar-Emma finds solace in training for the battle against Neos. But as the team grows stronger, they are threatened by an unknown force. One they thought was good. As chilling and page-turning as Deception, this sequel will grab readers and hold them to the last page. No one is safe from suspicion as Emma closes in on the traitor.
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The Review: This series just gets better and better!

Betrayal picks up where Deception left off and Emma is mourning the loss of her two friend’s deaths. The only good thing she sees in her life is Bennett, even though they know they can’t really be together until they defeat Neos, they still try to get a few nice moments together. Well, that is until Emma goes to The Knell for the first time and is attacked by wraiths. After the attacks, Emma and Bennett seek comfort in one other and this then leads to Bennett leaving Emma. Now, Emma has to get over Bennett, try to defeat Neos and also find out who is betraying her family but can she do that and not let her other emotions get in the way?

I loved this book and I enjoyed it a lot more than Deception. Nichols definitely knows how to keep us reading on the edge of our seats and this is where I spent most of my time while reading this book.

Betrayal is action packed, exciting, and dangerous and it will leave you guessing a lot things. The main reason I enjoyed it all the more is because there was a slight mystery to the story this time around. The big question was “who was betraying Emma and the gang?”. I found I spent a lot of time trying to work out this out and did I get it right? NO! Oh my gosh! My poor heart broke when I found out who it was. I’m not going to tell you because I don’t want to spoil it but I loved this person and I’m still shocked now with the events that happened.

If you remember my review for Deception, I said I had a hard time connecting with Emma and Bennett’s romance but in Betrayal, I felt every single emotion and really connected with their romance. I have to say, their romance is put on the back burner for a while but you always kind of feel Bennett’s presence when Emma is thinking about him. Overall, I found it a lot more believable.

The overall story was great. The new characters that were introduced made the story funnier and a more lovable book. The characters really become a lot closer and really become a true family and I enjoyed that aspect of that story. The ending for me, left me wanting more and because the story is far from over, your left guessing to what direction the story will now take and I honestly just don’t know.

Nichols has definitely made me a fan of ghost stories and I can’t wait to find out more. Read this series, you won’t be left disappointed. 

Sunday, 14 August 2011

A Review for Deception (Haunting Emma #1) by Lee Nichols

Posted by Donna
Expected Publish Date: September 5th, 2011
Finished Date: August 12th, 2011
Publishers: Bloomsbury
Source: Received for Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
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The Blurb from Goodreads: When Emma Vaile’s parents go missing while away on a mysterious business trip, she’s left all alone in her creepy old house. But her brother’s very cute best friend, Bennett Stern—Emma’s knight in J. Crew armor—arrives unexpectedly to whisk her away to New England. There, Emma settles into his family’s museum-like mansion and enrolls at an old-fashioned private school. She quickly finds friends in the popular legacy crowd at Thatcher and spends her free time crushing on Bennett. But the eerie visions she’s been hiding from everyone have gotten worse. Emma has memories of Thatcher that she can’t explain—it’s as if she’s returning home to a place she’s never been. Finally, Emma confides in Bennett and learns she is a ghostkeeper, a person who can communicate with ghosts. Bennett brought Emma to Thatcher to protect her, but now he needs her help tracking an other-worldly murderer. 

The Review: 3.5 Stars: I was looking forward to starting this series as soon as I heard about it, so I was more than excited when it arrived in my mailbox last week. This book actually really surprised me because Nichols delivers an exciting ghost story that left me wanting more. It’s definitely a great way to kick off a new series.

When Emma Vaile’s parents go on a business trip, Emma does what any other normal teenage girl does when their parents leave them at home alone; she throws a party. What Emma doesn’t expect is for the police to turn up and try to send her to a half-way house because she hasn’t had any communication with her parents for a few weeks. When her brother’s best friend Bennett turns up to save her, he makes Emma move to New England. It is there she finds out she’s a ghost keeper, someone who can see and communicate with Ghosts. As Emma goes on a whirlwind journey trying to find out about her new powers and also crushing on Bennett hard, she finds out danger a waits for her and she is in the middle of it all.

Most of you know, I’ve tend to struggle with Ghost stories other than the odd few but this book has left me with a little bit of hope that Ghosts are just as good any other supernatural creatures. Deception is full of adventure, action, mystery and even has some very creepy scenes. I honestly don’t scare very easily and even though I wasn’t REALLY that scared reading this, it still left me with a teeny tiny scared feeling because Nichols descriptions are so imaginable and believable. It honestly gave me the chills in some scenes.

The characters are amazing! Emma is such a fun, lovable and quirky person. She has a fantastic personality and I loved the relationships she develops with all the other ghosts in the house. I also really loved her human friends too; Coby of course being my favourite but then Harry came in at a close second. I loved his sense of humour and literally had me laughing out loud. I have to say I’m a little disappointed where the author took Coby’s character. It’s a shame and I’m still trying to figure why it had to happen but I’m interested to see where it leads.

Now even though I enjoyed the overall story, the reason I rated it 3.5 is because you all know I’m a romance girl and there was only a little bit of a romance between Bennett and Emma. I honestly found it quiet hard to believe where their love came from. I felt there wasn’t much interaction between the two characters on the romance side and when something did finally happen, they were suddenly declaring their undying love for one another. To me, it just felt very rushed. Maybe the author intended it this way but I felt Nichols struggled capture their relationship and for that reason, I didn’t connect with them as much as I would have liked.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book and I’ll look forward to seeing where the author now takes this series. 
 
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