Demon in My View

By Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Book two of the Den  Of Shadows quartet

Seventeen year-old Jessica Allodola doesn't fit in at her high school, and she doesn't really care. She has a secret, however: she writes vampire fiction under the pen name Ash Night. What she doesn't know is that the characters in her books are real, and that some of them don't like what she's writing. When a new student shows up at her school, she immediately recognises him as the vampire Aubrey from her books. But he doesn't exist outside of her imagination, right? Jessica is about to find out just how real her vampires and their world are. This is one of my favorite stories by this author, and is, in my opinion at least, better written than the first book in this series. Interestingly, "Tiger, Tiger", Jessica's first book, has the same plot as In the Forests of the Night. I wish I could read Jessica's book Dark Flame, but I am pretty sure it only exists in this book.  Demon in My View is a great story, and the series, author, world, and characters are just amazing. I loved Jessica, Aubrey, Caryn, and even liked Fala. SUCH an awesome book!

Meridian

By Amber Kizer

Meridian Sozu has lived with death for her entire life. Dead and dying animals find their way into her room at night and follow her at school. She has always accepted that she is strange, a freak, but after witnessing a bad car accident on her sixteenth birthday, Meridian's world is about to change. Suddenly she it sent to live with her aunt in Revelation, Colorado and told that she is in danger. Her aunt tells her that she is a Fenestra, a half angel, half human link between the living and the dead. Now she must learn to open the "window" between this world and the afterlife, through which the souls of the dead pass. And Meridian must learn quickly: the Acternocti, the enemies of the Fenestra, are hunting her. The Acternocti are also links between the living and the dead, but with a difference: they are evil. They carry souls to hell, rather than heaven. Meridian also has do deal with the charismatic new preacher in Revelation, who is taking over the town and  is likely an Acternocti. And if she has time--and can accept herself and her sworn protector, Tens, for who they are--maybe even fall in love. Dark, thrilling, romantic, and beautifully dramatic, Meridan is a simply delicious book. I don't know if there is a sequel, but I hope so. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous. As always, LOVED IT! I adore Meridian, both the book and the character. Purrrrr.

So You Want to Be a Wizard

By Diane Duane

Book One of the Young Wizards Series

Fifty or sixty eons ago, when life brought itself about, it also brought about to accompany it many Powers and Potentialities to manage the business of creation. One of the greatest of these Powers held aloof for a long time, watching its companions work, not wishing to enter into Creation until it could contribute something unlike anything the other Powers had made, something completely new and original. Finally the Lone Power found what it was looking for. Others had invented planets, light, gravity, space. The Lone Power invented death, and bound it irrevocably into the worlds. Shortly thereafter the other Powers joined forces and cast the Lone One out.
Many versions of this story are related among the many worlds, assigning blame or praise to one party or another. However, none of the stories change the fact that entropy and its symptom, death, are here now. To attempt to halt or remove them is as futile as attempting to ignore them.
Therefore there are wizards--to handle them. 

                                                     ---- The Manual, exerpt

When thirteen year-old Nita Callahan finds a book titled So You Want to Be a Wizard at the library, she thinks it's a joke--or is it? The book is actually a manual--for wizardry, and it says that Nita herself could be a wizard if she wants. She takes the Oath, and begins her Ordeal. All new wizards, once they take the Oath, embark on an ordeal, a test of aptidude. If they survive, they become full-fledged wizards. Nita soon meets Kit, another new wizard on Ordeal, and they become friends. When they are accidentaly thrown into an alternate Manhattan, they must work together to survive, find a way home, and save the Universe. I (of course) loved this book, this series, and this author. Nita and Kit are awesome, the Lone Power is a great villain, and Peach is hilarious. As always, great writing, great chrarcters, great plot. LOVED IT! The writing is fairly simple, rather than the somewhat complex books I sometimes read, but sophisticated enough that IT IS A GREAT BOOK! It was funny, interesting, and engrossing, with a great take on magic, fun characters, and AWESOME epic battles. The quote at the top is from Nita's Manual in the prologue of So You Want to Be a Wizard. I don't usually put quotes in my posts, but I thought it was the best way to explain why there are wizards in this book. This is a nice long series, with about nine books already out and more to come. YAY!