Review: Possession and Illusion by Annie Oldham

Possession by Annie Oldham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This was such a great read. Necromancy isn't a common topic and this kept my attention from beginning to end. I really enjoyed it and recommend it.

The book follows high school senior Constance Jerome. Constance is awkward, and no one except her best friend Greta and her immediate family like her. Constance can't wait to graduate and get out of Milltown. The only thing she truly enjoys is singing in the choir, Greta on the other hand flirts with being a social butterfly and sits just outside being one of the popular kids. Senior year starts off with Constance being a calculus tutor to one of Milltown High's prized football player's, Seth, who happens to be the boyfriend of Seline who is at the top of the social ladder. Amidst trying to survive high school, Constance having strange memories and nightmares and her mom is acting weird and going on strange errands. One is of her mom bringing her hamster back from the dead when she was 5, and the other is of herself bringing a duckling back from the dead. After some more weirdness in the Jerome home, Constance finds out she is a necromancer and can control spirits. She comes from a line of necromancers that herd spirits back where they belong when they get misplaced, a good necromancer if you will. Veronica, Constance's mother, has been going on errands to herd spirits back to the upper and lower planes because someone either a dark necromancer or an amateur has been letting spirits run amok in Milltown. Constance is naturally shocked and doesn't really believe her at first. Then her memories start to make sense and she begins to work with her mother to corral the naughty spirits. Paul Jerome, Connie's dad, is not really happy about the situation and doesn't want his daughter involved, but she does it anyway as she feels obligated to help her mom.

The weird keeps getting weirder as one of Veronica's necromancer candles disappears once night after she comes back from an errand. Turns out Greta took it thinking it was an aromatherapy candle and was no big deal. Seline swipes the candle from Greta, and Constance and Greta try to get it back to no avail. Turns out Seline is using the candle to do a little necromancy of her own to try to make homecoming perfect. As Seline's attempts at amateur necromancy get out of control at homecoming, Constance is there to stop her with her new found abilities and kind of saves the day and the school. Constance tries to go back to normal, but she knows she has more to do and more to learn. Not all the spirits are back where they belong and she and Veronica have their work cut out for them since they apparently aren't the only necromancers in Milltown.

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Illusion by Annie Oldham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book in exchanged for an honest review. I really like this series. The 2nd book wasn't as good as the first in my opinion, but I still really liked it. It lost 1 star for formatting errors, missing periods and such which are easily fixed, but it really bugged me as it was constant throughout the book. The story was good though, however I didn't appreciate the cliffhanger ending, it felt a bit rushed and incomplete almost like the book doesn't stand alone. A pet peeve of mine is that each book in a series should stand alone with a distinct ending, I just really don't like cliffhangers.

On to the actual story, Illusion picks up where Possession left off with Constance trying to figure out what being a necromancer really means. She is walking the fine line of protecting the family secret, helping her mother, and still trying to keep some normalcy with her dad, and failing miserably at all of it. Things at school are strange as Queen Bee Seline is no longer on top after her antics at Homecoming, Mr. Ransom still gives Constance the creeps, and something is up with Greta. Constance is trying to still be a normal teenager and tutor Seth at calculus by day, and at night she is trying to learn how to banish naughty spirits back to where they belong. As the book progresses they determine who the dark necromancer is and come up with a plan to try to stop him and his evil plan with Seline and Greta in tow. Greta finds out she has a poltergiest attached to her from her previous run in with that "aromatherapy" candle from book 1 that they have to banish before someone gets really hurt, and Seth finds out what is really going on with Constance. As things get more dangerous Constance starts to come to terms with her "powers" even if her mom doesn't accept that there is another way to do things. Constance starts to take things into her own hands to try to draw out the dark necromancer and get some answers. The whole Jerome clan is in danger and Constance is determined to stop the dark necromancer from hurting her friends and family.

Overall I've really enjoyed this series thus far and I'm anxious to find out what happens next. I really like the different subject matter on this one. Necromancy isn't something you see often and I like Oldham's writing style, so much so I've downloaded some of her other books. I highly recommend the series, it is a good entertaining read.



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Review: The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte by Jennie Goutet

The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte by Jennie Goutet
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There was alot going on in this book, but overall I liked it. There were too many storylines going on for my taste, I had to go back and re-read some parts to make sure I knew what was going on. The characters also have several names so I was confused at times until I figured out who was who. Fortunately this was a pretty quick read and the author did a decent job tying up all the loose ends at the close of the story. I didn't feel like anything was left unanswered at the end. Overall, I thought this was a nice, sweet romance. I would have liked a brief description of what a viscount is, as it is never really explained in the book, he just does a lot of stuff and seems to own a big chateau. I gather that he's kind of like royalty in his town, as he has a very high profile public life.

The story follows Chastity, the American who teaches English at a school in France. She meets the Viscount of Maison-Laffitte, Charles, when she expresses concerns over his son, Louis' school work. The viscount is pretty hands off when it comes to parenting, for reasons that are explained along the way. He is irritated that Chastity dare call him to discuss such matters as his son's English homework and accuse Louis of possible drug use. Louis is in fact using drugs and in way over his head. This is where the story branches off into several storylines. There is Louis story with his struggles as an incompetent drug dealer, Chastity's story as a teacher and mother, and Charles story as Viscount, racetrack owner, father and doctor. This is where Jean also known as Marc, enters the picture, he plays several roles in the story which are unclear until the very end.

A terrible accident befalls Chastity and her beloved son Thomas. Enter Charles the neurosurgeoun who is actually a very kind and caring man, not the cold Viscount and father Chastity has seen previously. They connect in the hospital in a very innocent and sweet way, and a sort of romance ensues. Chastity must focus on getting her son better, and Charles still has his chaotic, high profile life. In the end they find themselves falling for one another inspite of relationship baggage, drama with their children, drug dealing, and an art heist. This is where all the story lines culminate and come to a close and you figure out what role the extraneous characters are playing.

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