Top Ten Tuesday!

Every week The Broke and the Bookish hosts a bookish meme for all of us literary folk to participate in.  Titled Top Ten Tuesday, they provide us with a topic and then we all post our own answers for everyone to read as they skip through the list! (Want to join? The list is posted on The Broke and The Bookish’s site!)
This week’s topic is:

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I read in 2012

I’m assuming that this means I should pick authors who were out there in the publishing universe prior to my reading them.  So no debut authors on the list.

1. Jennifer Echols
Evidently Echols has been around for a long time, and I just now discovered her this year upon the release of her recent novel, Such a Rush. You can check out my review, HERE.

2. Ellie James
The first of the Midnight Dragonfly trilogy came out back in 2011, so of course I wasn’t blessed enough to read them until recently.  Sad it took me a year to discover them.  You can check out my reviews of all three novels: Shattered Dreams, Broken Illusions, and Fragile Darkness.

3. C.C. Hunter
Again, I missed out on a very addictive series by not picking up the Shadow Falls series before this year.  However, you can check out my review of the fourth Shadow Falls novel, Whispers at Moonrise, and the interview that I did with CC for my blog, here.

4. Gena Showalter
Evidently Showalter has been writing steamy romance for a while now! But Alice in Zombieland is definitely one of my favorites of this year. Check out my review!

5. Amanda Hocking
Up until the first Watersong novel was released, I had no idea who Hocking was.  Homegirl has written a ton of books!  I now have a goal for this next year: catch up on all her work.  Or at least finish the Watersong series,  check out my review of the first novel, Wake.

6. Kresley Cole
Much like Gena Showalter, Cole has been active in paranormal romance for a while.  On the other hand, much like Gena Showalter, her novel Poison Princess was another personal favorite from this year. Oh yeah, check out my review!

7. Alyson Noel
Still haven’t read her well known series, the Immortals, but have really enjoyed the first two installments in the Soul Seekers series. My reviews for the first and second novels can be found here and here.

8. Kenneth Oppel
Even though Oppel’s awesome new Victor Frankenstein series came out last year, I didn’t open the pages of This Dark Endeavor until 2012.  Then couldn’t put it down.  Such Wicked Intent was just as juicy.  I can only hope Oppel continues this series!

9. Tonya Hurley
Hurley’s Ghostgirl series is next on my To-Buy list, because after I read an ARC of The Blessed this year I just want to read more of Hurley’s work!

10. Brenna Yovanoff
Yovanoff came out with The Replacement back in 2010, and to this day I still haven’t read it (I’m a pansy and am afraid it might freak me out)  But if anything, that gives me even more reason to read it after reading The Space Between back in February, I am fully aware of how talented Yovanoff is. Anyone else as excited as me about Paper Valentine coming out in January?

What are some authors that were new to you this year?  I’d love to pick up a copy of their work!

Waiting on Wednesday!

Every week Breaking the Spine hosts a book meme where all of us book bloggers can get together and share the books we are desperately waiting to be released! 

This week I’m waiting on…

Release Date: January 8, 2013

PAPER VALENTINE, in which a girl haunted by the troubled ghost of her best friend finds herself sucked into a darkly mesmerizing string of murders, in which a serial killer who leaves a paper-heart ‘valentine’ on his victims’ bodies draws ever closer.

Book Review: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped – and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie’s whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.

I have to admit that I am a newbie when it comes to Brenna Yovanoff because I never read her debut novel The Replacement (although, I probably should). But I can honestly say that she didn’t disappoint me with The Space Between (despite the fact that it has the same name as that overplayed Dave Matthews song).

It has all the elements of a successful paranormal story: a lonely protagonist with supernatural heritage or ability (BOTH protagonists in this novel), a clear evil to fight against (Dark Dreadful & her master), and, of course, a love story. Although it does have something that most angel and demon based young adult novels do not: a look into the land of Hell or Pandemonium, and a personal look into the lives of the children of Lilith and other demons.

Daphne is one of the offspring of Lucifer and Lilith, so half-angel and half-demon. This gives her a unique outlook on the entire demon lifestyle, and she rejects the idea of WHAT she is supposed to be: a succubus. When her half-human and half-demon brother decides to leave the demon lifestyle for a human woman and a human life, Daphne does almost anything to get him back.

Interesting aspects of this novel that I thought were unique. Yovanoff plays off the Adam and Eve story by adding Lilith as the original female provided by God for the man made after himself, and compares Eve to an obedient and subservient creature compared to the headstrong Lilith. Another thing that was probably my favorite part of the novel was the idea that when a demon or collected soul descends to Pandemonium, they carry with them the last characteristics that defined them on Earth (i.e. Beezlebub’s flies). There are other examples, but I can’t really provide them without giving away key plot points.

I can’t say that I all together loved Truman as a character, but I think that is because he has this really tragic flaw that stains him for me. He seems too helpless at times, but I did enjoy the friendship and relationship between him and Daphne.

My major issue with this novel was that there was such great build up throughout the story, and the ending seemed extremely too abrupt. Why cut off such a good story with a quick and hardly explained ending? I just didn’t enjoy the quick ending. Therefore this story is only getting four bards from me, but I can tell you that I did enjoy The Space Between’s originality and plotline.

Now Reading: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Being the youngest daughter of the Devil has never been easy. Daphne’s father has no time for her, her mother no interest, and her status in the upper echelon separates her from the working-class demons that populate Lucifer’s metropolis. When her brother and only confidante goes missing, life in the restrictive city of Pandemonium becomes intolerable. Now, in an attempt to find him, Daphne sets out for Earth – and finds it larger and more chaotic than she imagined: a dazzling expanse of noise, dirt and random violence. Despite her bewilderment, she navigates the mortal world with growing fascination, gaining an ally when she saves a dying boy from her father’s minions. For Truman Flynn, the last year has been one long downward spiral, but when Daphne arrives just in time to save his life, he finds himself unexpectedly glad to have another chance. Together, Daphne and Truman go in search of her brother, braving the hazards of Las Vegas and the perils of first love, even as it becomes increasingly clear that her brother might have had a secret and compelling reason for leaving. Lucifer’s agents aren’t the only creatures on the prowl, and Daphne soon finds herself the target of a plan to rid the world of demons for good. Now she must evade a demon-eating monster, rescue her brother from an angelic zealot, and save the boy she loves from his greatest enemy – himself.

Review will be posted later today!