Review: Consume (Devoured, #2) by Shelly Crane

Eli and Clara's story continues as she tries to finish high school. Eli is as over protective as ever and Tate and his group of friends are no help. They wait for the Horde, always looking over their shoulder. But the ever annoying but strangely prophetic bird begins to become more of a chatter box and Eli learns something that could change some things. Not just for him and Clara, but Devourers everywhere.

Then an unexpectedness guest comes forcing Eli to flee with Clara, leaving her temporary family behind. She is thrown into his world of underground 'traitors' and learns much of his past. They meet many new people and creatures along the way to freedom. But when tragedy strikes the two, will Clara see the monster in Eli? Can she handle his strange world and awful past? Will one of them lose their life forever...

I'm jumping right in, much the same way Crane picked up in this sequel where she left off in the opener.  Just a warning, reviews of sequels and any installments that follow a series opener are hard to put together without spoilers, so if you haven't read this series opener yet, just know that it's a series you should get on board with immediately and come back to check out the reviews later, but if you're already finished with the first installment read on. 

Clara of course was ever hopeful that she'd be able to finish off high school and maybe tie a neat bow around everything but with the Horde an ever present threat a lot of that was out of her control.

Eli on the other hand has two priorities...keep Clara safe being the first and most important to him and then of course trying to ensure her happiness.  It's a tough job, but clearly one he wasn't walking away from.  Once these two were forced to flee, his goals start to become harder to maintain, but the action and suspense sure do get your heart pounding.  The new character additions were interesting and certainly threw curve balls into the mix, but who doesn't enjoy it when an author spices things up, right?

I know a lot of readers will be sad to see Crane end Eli and Clara's story after just two books, but at least we have a chance to see some more of them in Enoch's story, Altered.  I for one am really looking forward to getting more from Enoch.  I'm curious to see if he'll surprise us when he's center stage and I'm eager to find out.

Review: Devour (Devoured, #1) by Shelly Crane

Clara has it all. A wrestling star boyfriend, popular friends, all the right school activities...pretty much a perfect life...up until her parents died. Now she lives with the Pastor and his family and though they take good care of her, she feels alone. Then her boyfriend, Tate, starts to show signs of trouble when a new guy, Eli, comes to town. Clara is fascinated with him but hides it until something happens. Eli confesses to her that she gives him something he's never had before...something he needs. Everything is about to change for this normal pretty popular girl in a supernatural way.

I didn't think anything would stand up to the Significance series but Crane thankfully proved not to be a one (series) hit wonder.  The Devoured series quickly became yet another addicting read.  Clara and Eli, oh my goodness!  There are two huge reasons Crane always keeps me coming back for more.  One, her lead characters and the relationships they form.  And two, the fact that there are always more questions and twists and turns with each flip of the page to keep readers entertained and guessing until the very end.  She never allows her readers to become complacent or bored.

Choosing sides is of course a familiar element in Crane's work and readers will feel as though its not just the fictional characters making choices but themselves as well.  That's at least the feeling I got when making my way through this title.  Could you choose sides against your friends and family?  Go against everything you thought you knew to be right?  I could almost hear the disapproval in The Godfather's words, to "never go against the family" but yet unless you're in the shoes and faced with those decisions, it's a tough call to make.

Readers all over the blogosphere are claiming to have been "devoured" by this book and I'm not different.  Crane's given me no choice but to become invested in these characters and the world she created.  There was no question that I was going to move right along to the next installment.

In My Mailbox (133)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board. I'm always picking up new books, because I never tire of reading, but the other thing I like about this meme is that it gives everyone an opportunity to check out what other book fanatics, bloggers, etc... got for themselves. I've gotten great recommendations from this meme and hope that keeps up in the future.

Here's what I got, what did you guys get this week?

  

For Review:

 

Feuds by Avery Hastings (Thanks to St. Martins Griffin)

 

In this breathless story of impossible love, perfection comes at a deadly cost.

For Davis Morrow, perfection is a daily reality. Like all Priors, Davis has spent her whole life primed to be smarter, stronger, and more graceful than the lowly Imperfects, or “Imps.” A fiercely ambitious ballerina, Davis is only a few weeks away from qualifying for the Olympiads and finally living up to her mother’s legacy when she meets Cole, a mysterious boy who leaves her with more questions each time he disappears.

Davis has no idea that Cole has his own agenda, or that he’s a rising star in the FEUDS, an underground fighting ring where Priors gamble on Imps. Cole has every reason to hate Davis—her father’s campaign hinges on the total segregation of the Imps and Priors—but despite his best efforts, Cole finds himself as drawn to Davis as she is to him.

Then Narxis, a deadly virus, takes its hold--and Davis’s friends start dying. When the Priors refuse to acknowledge the epidemic, Davis has no one to turn to but Cole. Falling in love was never part of their plan, but their love may be the only thing that can save her world...in Avery Hastings's Feuds.

 

Consequence (Significance, #4.5) by Shelly Crane

 

Maggie and Caleb are married, leaders of their people, parents to their children, and happier than they ever dreamed, even with the visions they saw of it to prove it so. The council is still rebelling against Maggie’s changes, but this time it’s different. It’s almost as if something…or someone is behind them, pulling the strings and making decisions for them.

And Maggie is having strange visions that only she can see, leaving Caleb helpless to help her. But when her visions start to warn her that their daughter, Ava, will one day be in danger, they’ll do anything it takes to find out what’s going on and how to stop it, even paying a visit to a previous Visionary.

Maggie and Caleb must find out who or what is behind it all and stop them before Maggie is one vision too late.

 

Altered (Devoured, #3) by Shelly Crane

 

Enoch is tested.

His brother is human, the thing he hates. He watches as the brother he knew is stripped away by his love for Clara. He's never hated someone as much as he hated her...but the bond forced him to not only want to protect her, but feel things he never had before.

When a girl needs his help, that split second decision changes his whole world in one instant.

A Devourer's Fate...

 

Beautiful Oblivion (Beautiful, #3) by Jamie McGuire

 

The Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series.

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red.

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush of reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again.