Kalona's Fall by PC Cast and Kristin Cast

In KALONA'S FALL, the shadows in Kalonas past will finally come to light We will learn about the winged immortal's secret history and discover how he went from being the Goddess's Warrior and Guardian to her enemy and betrayer. Did Darkness taint Kalona as it did Neferet, or has the powerful immortal always preferred power over honor, and control over faith? This novella will be crucial to fans' understanding of Kalona, before his role in the explosive final installment of the House of Night, REDEEMED

I have been reading the HoN novels since they first came out. They get a lot of flack and grief from my fellow bloggers, but they are a guilty pleasure of mine, I quiet enjoy them. I have read the first three several times. Though I must admit that the last novel was a disappointment and I have not yet purchased Redeemed because Zoey being arrested left a sour taste in my mouth.

I have also really liked the little novella's showing insight into the grown ups. However, this novel was horrible.The art work was juvenile and if this book took more than a week to finish writing I would be surprised. The plot line was simplistic, though the magic descriptions were cool, and the characters annoying if not flat out stupid. If you have read these books then you know why Kalona was cast out, we don't need a whole Princess and the Pea type set up (Erebus and Kalona have to endure three trials to decide who should be Nyx Companion.) I already know Kalona is full of jealousy and anger, this novel didn't give him or Erebus any DEPTH! And Nyx acts so much like Zoey and a giggling school girl that I had a hard time seeing the great Goddess she is in the series.

There was no need for this novella to be written aside from the money it made the authors. I rolled my eyes so often that it took way longer than it should have for me to finish it. The only good thing about this book were the magic descriptions, the cats and the fact it gave me another book to add to my good reads reading challenge.

Sweet Unrest By Lisa Maxwell

Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something, and her rational side doesn’t want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish

When I got Sweet Unrest from the library I figured it would be another piece of YA garbage focusing on hoodoo/voodoo and reincarnation. But instead of garbage I got a book that did its research about voodoo, actually did a good job discussing why there would be insta-love via reincarnation and worked in planation deep south history, photography and added a hint of how race was viewed back in the day and gave us BAM Sweet Unrest, a reincarnation voodoo ghost story.

I thought the main character had spunk and was interesting and not too whiny. The love interest was mysterious and not unhealthy in the way YA normally is and the plot line had depth. I like novels that take the paranormal with the historical and make it work, conjuring images of sweaty southern afternoons and ladies dressed in too many layers fanning their faces.

The ending of this book was surprising and without giving anything away it doesn't end the way you think it would, which was a breath of fresh air! So hopefully you can pick this up and enjoy it as much as I did.