Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate - 480 pages
Book 1 in the Fallen series

Luce Price is immediately drawn to brooding bad boy Daniel Grigori on her first day at her new boarding school in Georgia.  He wants to have nothing to do with her and she will stop at nothing to find out why.  Soon the connection between them becomes a danger to them both as Luce finds out the true nature of her destiny and her role in the continuing war between Heaven and Hell.

This is gothic romance teen paranormal fiction with heavy emphasis on the romance.  I found Luce to be a little too much of a damsel in distress without true agency for me and I won't be continuing with the series.

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff - 370 pages

Daphne, daughter of Lilith and Lucifer, is living an existence of boredom and fear in Pandemonium (the eternal city of metal and flame.)  She lives vicarously through her brother Obie (son of Lilith and Adam) when he brings her back souvenirs from his trips to the human realm to save lost souls.  Her chance encounter with a human boy named Truman who crossed the veil too soon changes her life forever and gives her the courage to go look for Obie when he goes missing on Earth. 

The world building for Pandemonium is very well done.  The reader can picture it all just like seeing it in a movie.  This is an interesting twist on standard teen angst fiction by having the protagonist be totally ignorant of human social customs and forced to interact in our world to try and find her brother.  This is another dark tale from Yovanoff that is marketed as a Teen book but will appeal to adults as well. 

Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead

Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead - 352 pages
Georgina Kincaid Book 3

Georgina's love life is super complicated since she can't actually physically interact with her mortal boyfriend because she might kill him inadvertently with her succubus powers.  Now she also is being tasked with mentoring a new succubus who is totally inept by her hated enemy in Hell's power structure.  A series of dreams begin draining Georgina of her powers and that leaves her not knowing which end is up. 

Plenty of snark abounds in this fun entry into this urban fantasy / paranormal romance series. 

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead - 384 pages
Georgina Kincaid Book 1

Seattle based succubus Georgina Kincaid is hardly leading the glamorous life one would expect.  She spends her days working at a bookstore and her nights trying to fulfill Hell's quota of damned souls without totally compromising her sense of self.  Her obsession with a famous writer complicates things when he appears in real life at the bookstore.  She can't touch him without damning him so she has to keep her feelings in check. 

I've enjoyed this author's previous urban fantasy series so am looking forward to spending more time in this world. 

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

City of Heavenly fire by Cassandra Clare - 729 pages
The Mortal Instruments - book 6

Sebastian has kidnapped the Downworlder representatives to the council in hopes of causing strife between the Downworlders and the Shadowhunters.  So Clary, Jace, Alec, Isabelle, and Simon set off to rescue them from Hell itself.

This is the final book of The Mortal Instruments series.  I thought it was a good ending to the series.  You could tell that there was a fair amount of set up for the next series which I look forward to reading.

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis -- 160 pages

The Great Divorce is a small book full of very large thoughts. C.S. Lewis writes a hypothetical story of a bus that takes people of hell to heaven, but when they get to heaven, it is so real that they are just ghosts and everything about the world hurts. They are told that if they stay they will adapt and become real, just like heaven is, but each one finds an excuse to leave and go back to hell, where it is not real, but it is comfortable, at least to a certain degree.

I found the Great Divorce to be thought-provoking and entertaining. C.S. Lewis certainly put a lot of thought into this book. It is also gripping enough that it is my "travel book" or the book that I always read on road trips. It is a book I never tire of.

Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson

Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson - 208 pages

Death has to deal with all the spirits kicked out of Hell when her brother Dream becomes the new Lord of Hell.
I didn't realize that this was part of the Sandman graphic novel series until I was reading the notes at the end of the book.  That might have helped me to figure it out more.  I didn't think the book was that good.  Neither the story or the artwork grabbed me.  I would say this book would only be for fans of the Sandman series.

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki
v. 4 - 192 pages
v. 5 - 192 pages

Oz is still trying to trace Alice's memories and help her discover what she lost. The Cheshire Cat comes onto the scene, but his purpose is mixed. We also meet the Mad Hatter. I still don't quite know what exactly is going on, but little by little it's making sense. Hoping the next volumes will shed some light on a few questions I have about Oz, Alice, Break, Gil and others.

Pandora Hearts, by Jun Mochizuki

Pandora Hearts, by Jun Mochizuki, 576 pages
v.1 -192 pages
v.2 - 192 pages
v3. - 192 pages

I'm a little lost having read only the first three mangas of this series. Oz Vessalius is somehow transported to the abyss by a secret organization for the sin of being born. Oz's mother was murdered and his father wants nothing to do with his son even going so far as to say he wished his son was never born. Oz's servant, Gil is loyal to his master to a fault. When Oz is banished to the abyss, he returns 10 years later to find much has changed. With him is Alice, a chain that he has contracted with in order to exact revenge on those who hurt him, discover what his sin was and also find all of Alice's lost memories. With so much going on, it's hard to keep everything straight, but it appears that the mangas are all Oz's memories of what has already happened ... and he's just reminiscing.

Hell Girl by Miyuki Eto

Hell Girl, vol.1 by Miyuki Eto - 194 pages

There is a website that is only accessible at midnight where you can type in the name of the person on which you want revenge.  They will then be dragged to hell.  But beware -- this revenge will cause your soul to go to hell when you die also.
This manga is based on the anime series of the same name.  I haven't watched the series yet, but it is one that our teen anime club will be watching in the future.  I thought the premise was interesting and I enjoyed the stories although they could be fleshed out a little more.  It will be interesting to see if the anime fills out more of the stories.

The Infernals by John Connolly

The Infernals by John Connolly --- 309 pages

This is the sequel to Connolly's The Gates. It was originally published in Great Britain under the title Hell's Bells. Continues the adventures of Samuel and his loyal dachshund Boswell, along with their friend the demon Nurd, as they fight to save Earth from an infernal invasion made possible by the Large Hadron Collider Project. Disaster narrowly averted in The Gates, rears its head again as the forces of evil seek to avenge themselves on Samuel by dragging him down to Hell. Now Nurd, with the aid of two police officers, an ice cream van driver, and Mr. Merriweather's horrible Elves, must free Samuel and his faithful hound from Mrs. Abernathy, a devil in a flowered dress, hat, and matching shoes and purse, before she can deliver him up to the Great Malevolence, regain her place at the GM's left hand, and launch another invasion of Earth (because it seems these scientists never learn from their mistakes). A third volume is promised. Click HERE to vist author John Connolly's web site and watch a video of him talking about his book and where he gets his ideas. Fans of Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling and Eoin Colfer might want to give this author a look.