Showing posts with label Avery Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avery Williams. Show all posts

Friday, January 06, 2012

Review: The Alchemy of Forever

The Alchemy of Forever
Avery Williams
Release date: January 3rd, 2012
by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase
After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world's riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human's life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she's done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again.

Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying to save her. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she's inhabiting--and falling in love with the boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she's him again, and every moment she stays, she's putting herself and the people she's grown to care about in danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that's eluded her for centuries: true love?
*A copy was provided by Simon & Schuster for review purposes*

Reincarnation has always been an iffy subject for me. I'm not easily interested or impressed with it. I can happily say that the Alchemy of Forever is by far the best reincarnation story I have ever read (though I haven't read that many - but still it was awesome!). In The Alchemy of Forever, when Seraphina dies next to Cyrus, the man who was to take her hand, he gives her a drop of Alchemy potion he's discovered, that allows Seraphina to attach her soul to another body. She can now live forever jumping from body to body. How cool is that?

What would you do if one day, you were suddenly in someone else's body? Living someone else's life. Someone you have never met, with a family and friends, classes and hobbies. Well... fake it 'til you make it! And that's exactly what Sera did! This premise, to me, is extremely fascinating. We've all wondered what it would be like to live someone else's life at one point or another. It was very interesting, and often amusing, to watch Sera go through this. The girl has never even gone to school! And now she's supposed to act like a normal 16 year old!? It was great! I was completely engrossed in it from the very first page. Sera is a fabulous protagonist who is extremely brave. I loved everything about her: her personality, her voice, even her name - Seraphina - it's so chic, isn't it?

Trying to get Seraphina back, Cyrus will go to great lengths. He's the ultimate villain with the ultimate weapon: immortality. How can you escape someone who can not only live forever, but can LOOK like ANYONE? He can take any body he chooses. And he's the type who will do anything to get what he wants. He kills mercilessly, and forgives no one. No wonder Sera escaped him! But, as you can surely guess, she sees him again.

The writing is excellent, the pacing is perfect, the romance is wonderful, and the end is heartbreaking. There is nothing I disliked about this book. Even the killer cliffhanger is extremely interesting (and what's funny is I sort of expected it, but it still shocked me!). With most books you can often guess where the story is going to go after a cliffhanger, but this time I have absolutely no clue what Avery is planning for us. I'm positive that it will be gripping and surely full of emotions. However, I may not get to read it, because I may die waiting.

5 Hot Espressos

Monday, January 02, 2012

Cover Reveal: Toxic, The Pledge, Entasy & The Alchemy of Forever

Toxic
(Denazen, #2)
Jus Accardo
Release date: May 1st, 2012
by Entangled Publishing

When a Six saved Kale’s life the night of Sumrun, she warned there would be consequences. A trade-off. Something taken for the life they gained. But Dez never imagined she’d lose the one thing she’d give anything to keep… And as if it’s not enough Dez finds her immunity to Kale fading, the Six brought in to help Kale learn to control his killer touch starts drooling on him the moment they meet. Worse than that? Jade can touch Kale. But bimbo Barbie is the least of Dez's problems.

After Dez and Kale got away at Sumrun, her father lost not only his most powerful weapon but an important piece of the Supremacy project. Forced by Denazen to remedy the situation, he poisons Dez and offers her a choice—surrender to Denazen for the cure…or die. Determined to find a solution that doesn’t involve being bagged and tagged—or losing someone she loves—Dez keeps the poison a secret.  But when a rash of Denazen attacks hit a little too close to home, Dez is convinced there’s a traitor among them. Jade.

Sacrifices, broken promises, and secrets. Dez will have to lay it all on the line if there’s any hope of proving Jade’s guilt before they all end up Residents of Denazen. Or worse, dead...
The Denazen series:

The Pledge
Kimberly Derting
UK cover
Release date: March 26th, 2012
by Allison & Busby

Add it to your Goodreads
Words are the most dangerous weapon of all.

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before... and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country’s only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.
US vs UK cover

Entasy
Brynn Myers
Release date: June 2012

Kira is the granddaughter of two Celtic goddesses but due to a tragedy Kira's memories were taken to protect her. She has no idea who she is really but soon she will find out...soon she will have to confront her past in order to save her future.









The Alchemy of Forever
Avery Williams
UK cover
Release date: March 1st, 2012
by Simon & Schuster UK

Add it to your Goodreads
People say ‘love never dies’… but love might be the death of Seraphina. Seraphina has been alive since the Middle Ages, when her boyfriend, Cyrus, managed to perfect a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. Sera ran away from Cyrus years ago, when she realized that what they were doing—taking the lives of innocent people—was wrong. She doesn’t want to die, so she finds young people who are on the brink of death, and inhabits their bodies. When we meet Sera, she has landed in the body of a girl named Kailey who was about to die in a car accident. For the first time, Sera falls in love with the life of the person she’s inhabiting. Sera also falls for the boy next door, Noah. And soon it’s clear the feelings are returned. Unfortunately, she can never kiss Noah, because for her to touch lips with a human would mean the human’s death. And she has even more to worry about: Cyrus is chasing her, and if she stays in one place for long, she puts herself—and the people she’s grown to care for—in danger.
US vs UK cover


Wow!! Just... WOW! I can't get enough of Toxic's cover. I love the browns and Dez's hair! <3 As for the others, the UK covers are definitely pretty, but I think I prefer the US ones for both, though The Pledge's UK cover seems more eye catching. And Entasy's is very striking - did you notice her hand? Pretty neat and mysterious!

What do you all think?