Until the Beginning by Amy Plum

Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance

After the End Series, Book 2

Amy Plum's website

Expected publication date:  May 5, 2015

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Note:  This is the second book in a series.  Anything below can reveal plots from the first book.

Description (taken from Goodreads):

When Juneau's clan disappeared, she lost so much more than her friends and family. She soon discovered everything she thought she knew about her life was a lie. Her people's gifts were actually secret abilities that others wanted, desperately enough to kidnap an entire village.

Juneau and her new companion Miles's cross-country journey to find her clan has led them to a game preserve in New Mexico. Now Juneau's people are finally within reach, and she will stop at nothing to save them. But she has a target on her back too, because unbeknownst to her she is the key to unlocking everything. To rescue her people - and herself - Juneau must discover what she, and her abilities, are truly capable of.

This story picks up right where the last one left off: with Miles dying and Juneau trying to save him using the only thing she knows can save him.  As he enters a death-sleep, Juneau tries to help him through it by singing and keeping constant watch over him.  But they're on the run from dangerous people trying to capture them.  And Juneau must use her abilities to keep them hidden until Miles wakes up.  Even with the Miles' looming death, she still has to find and free her clan as soon as she can.

When Miles wakes up, he's a changed person.  And their journey has become a little more clear.  The people they are trying to save are in New Mexico.  But the closer they get, the more they realize the guy holding them hostage is a little more dangerous and eccentric than they first thought.  And while Juneau's elders are riddled with secrets, she finds it's not enough to give up on them and feed the hurt and betrayal.  In the end, sometimes what happened in the beginning is better left unsaid.

I must say I've been wanting to read this one ever since I finished the first.  I had to know more about the Yara and see Miles and Juneau's story to completion.  But I felt like the two points of view kept confusing me, and I wasn't as vested in it as I was with the first book.  Having more explanations about the magic, or Yara, and the medicine that everyone's after: it felt like a hippy meets technology war.  Yes, I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't as bedazzling as the first one, but I still enjoyed it and thought the ending was worth the read.

I still hold to my statement from my first review: read the first and second one together.  Hopefully that will make the second one more enjoyable.  And you won't have lost the sparkle like I did.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.

After the End by Amy Plum

Genre:  YA Urban Fantasy

After the End Series, Book 1

Amy Plum's website

Expected publication date:  May 6, 2014

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Amy Plum's website):

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness.

They′e survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact.

Everything was a lie.

Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she’s trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

Juneau has spent her entire life living in the middle-of-nowhere, Alaska.  Within her community, she is training to be the next Sage, a type of medicine man if you will.  They live off of the world in seclusion because of the radiation and devastation WWIII left.  But what she doesn't know is that they've lied to her.  The world's still there and people are thriving.  And when her entire clan is kidnapped by helicopter, Juneau embarks on a journey to find them and figure out what is going on.

Miles is the boy who has had it all his entire life,  except for the attention he craves from the people that should mean the most.  He's got the smarts, the money, the family name; so why does he end up acting out to the point of getting kicked out of school?  Forced to work a minimum wage job to prove to his father that he's not a failure, he sees the next few months going nowhere.  That is until he eavesdrops on one of his dad's work conversations about locating a teenage girl.  Miles decides he's up for the job and can get in his father's good graces by finding this girl.  Only he doesn't realize that this girl will make him see everything in a new light.

This book is told from two points of view: Juneau and Miles.  One who is 'one with nature' and a city brat.  We see the stark difference between their lives until their worlds collide and they join forces.  I really enjoyed the emotion and how they reacted to different truths and being lied to.  And the bits of magic, or Yara as it is called, that seems to float throughout the novel.  I want to know more about it.  And as they're being chased, we find there's so much more to the story than what we know.  I must know more...

Honestly, this is a good opener to a new series.  But...  If you can wait for the second book to come out (or the whole series), I would wait and read them all together.  The waiting is killing me (and I just barely finished this book).

Funny side note:  this book makes a stop in Salt Lake City, Utah.  And I loved the little bits of geography that were mentioned (I wish there was more).  Anywho, they end up at the library which is super gorgeous.  I got my bridals taken there (yes I'm a booknerd).  Just a personal connection that no one really cares to know...

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.

If I Should Die by Amy Plum

Genre:  YA Paranormal Fantasy

Revenants Series, Book 3

Amy Plum's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Note:  It's advised you read the series before reading the descriptions below.  They'll spoil previous plot lines.

Description (taken from Amy Plum's website):

I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself.

Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.

It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.

After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?

Did I not completely predict that or what?  So umm, nothing new in my mind happened.  Because I had it all figured out (although I think it was kind of obvious to figure out).

As the second one ended, we found evil betrayer villain (EBV for short) destroying Vincent.  But is he really gone?  Kate, along with the help of her friends: the revenants and guérrisseur, will fight until the end to save Vincent.  I feel like I can't give a description because there are keywords that will give it all away.  Needless to say, this book is captivating.

I was pretty much hooked from the beginning because this was one of my fun series to read.  However, it didn't feel as awesome as the other ones.  I was captivated sure, but I wasn't surprised by anything.  And to me?  The ending was dumbish.  I need a succinctly complete ending with everything explained to be satisfied...

Do you like romances?  Are you sick of the vampire/werewolf trend?  Do you like Paris, France?  Read this series if any of the above interest you.

Challenges:  Paranormal Reading Challenge

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance

Revenant Trilogy, Book 2

Amy Plum's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Amy Plum's website):

Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.

As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.

Hmm,  I'm mixed with this book.  I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to romance, I much more enjoy the pursuit instead of what happens once the couple's together.  Because once they're together, things can become slightly boring.  And while I would day the beginning of this book was slightly boring, the ending was a spectacularly event-filled ending that wowed me.

This is a second book in a series.  Kate and Vincent are together; so there's no romantic chase there.  If anything, we see their struggles as any paranormal/human romance would face.  And we delve deeper into Revenant lore, which is just so cool to learn about.  And then towards the ending, everything picked up immediately.  And then the ending claimed.  And I felt like I was at the edge of the cliff with someone ripping my heart out and tossing it over.

Even though I found this book predictable, I still have to say the ending made it for me.  And I have a prediction for the next book which is based on a technicality in this book (you'll have to message me if you want to hear it).  As far as recommendations go, I'd recommend this series.  Wait for the third and final book to come out, and read them back to back.  I'll be eagerly waiting to pick up the trilogy once the third and final one is out.

Challenges:  Sensational Seconds, YA Mythology, and Young Adult Reading Challenges