Another great short story, read it in Enthralled! And of Tory's mom distracting Chloe while Tory was in trouble, when Tory ran off after find out that Simon's dad is also her dad! So good!

Merged review:

Loved all these short stories, and I wish that full length books could be written in the same worlds, and for those that already have that, more books were written in these worlds, because I just love these worlds! Awesome short stories!

Not my favorite. I could've done without some of the stories, and some I could've read as a full book!

Collection of short stories with fantasy themes...some better than others, good intro to some authors who have published full-length novels.

I read "The Darkest Powers" short story from this and liked it quite a bit. It was lovely to read about Chloe, Derek, Tori, and Simon again. Purely the only reason I picked it up. I did not read anything else.

I like this book very much. The only problem was that the Short stories had characters from the already written books of the various different authors. This made it very hard for me to understand, as I didn't read all of the different author's books.

Overall, it's a good book. Read it! :)

Giovanni's Goodbye- 2 stars
Scenic Route-1 star
Red Run- 1 star
Things About Love-2 stars
Neiderwald-1 star
Merely Mortal-2 stars
Facing Facts-1 star
Let's Get This Undead Show On the Road- 4stars
Bridge-2 stars
Skin Contact-2 stars
Leaving-2 stars
At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show- 4 stars
IV League-1 star
Gargouille-4 stars
The Third Kind-1 star
Automatic-1 star
Average Rating-1.8

I really liked the novellas here! It was great to read more about Derek and Chloe in Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series

This review is for Carrie Ryan's story, Scenic Route!


I can't tell you how much I love Carrie Ryan's writing. If you have read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, you will recognize the setting of her story in Enthralled. This story, however, is about Margie and her younger sister, Sally. These two girls have been devastated by what we can assume was the "zombie apocalypse" that Carrie's Forrest series centers around. Margie and Sally have found refuge in a small abandoned cabin in the mountains, but are constantly fearful, not only of the monsters, but also of the people the monsters have left behind. In this new world, sometimes people are the real monsters.

I'm amazed by how much feeling there was in this short story. My heart was pounding while reading it. Not only from the fear of what was lurking in the darkness, but also from the amount of romantic tension that Carrie was able to fit into these 28 pages. I fell in love with these two sisters, and my heart broke for them. For what happened in their past, and what was happening in their present. One of the most amazing things that Carrie is able to do in her stories. though, is leave you with hope in the midst of despair. Fantastic job, once again, Ms. Ryan!

Andye

P.S. I just found out that two of the characters in this story, Jeremy and Jeffrey, were named after my good blogging friends over at Novel Thoughts! This brings my level of love for this story to new heights....especially given the type of characters they are.......

I have never reviewed an anthology before and wasn’t sure how to go about doing it without spoiling the stories for you. I was excited to read this anthology because there are a lot of writers in it that I haven’t ready anything they’ve written. This was a good opportunity to read from these amazing authors that I have heard so many good things about. I had the pleasure of seeing the Smart Chicks Kick It tour and see some of the authors in person and that made me want to experience what they have written for myself. I hope all the anthologies I read are this good. Somehow, I seriously doubt that is going to happen though. I will warn you that this is by far, the largest review I have written.


Giovanni’s Farewell by Claudia Gray
This is story about twins and the discovery that they make. It involves a ghost named Giovanni. This story was really heart-felt and gave me a new appreciation for the bonds that siblings have, especially twins. Having never read anything by Claudia Gray, I was happy to see how easy it was to get involved with this story.

Scenic Route by Carrie Ryan
I’m told that the setting for this story mirrors that of her novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I haven’t read that either. In this story, there is Margie and her younger sister Sally. They move around a lot and they are deciding where to go next. Calvin shows up on their doorstep one night. This is the story of the interaction between the three of them. After reading this short story, I am putting other works by Carrie Ryan on my TBR list!

Red Run by Kami Garcia
Red Run is a street in “the Lousiana backwoods.” The story is that the road is haunted and a ghost kills people that travel on it. One of those was the brother of Edie, the main character. She is determined to kill the ghost responsible. She drives down Red Run at night and meets Tommy Hansen, a ghost there. In this story, she picks him up as a hitchhiker and it goes through what happens on Red Run. I really liked this story. I never knew what was going to happen. I had my suspicions, but they were rarely right.

Things About Love by Jackson Pearce
In this story, Lawrence is the best friend of Viola, who fell in love with a genie named Jinn. Because of this, Lawrence has had a genie guard. His latest guard is Juliet. Genies or jinn don’t normally have names, but she picked this one out for herself. Her mission is not only to guard Lawrence and make sure that he doesn’t talk about her world, but to research and understand love. I liked this little story. It was predictable, but a good story nonetheless.

Niederwald by Rachel Vincent
If you have read any of Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamer series, you will recognize the characters in this book. It is about Sabine, whom I’ve never liked. Although, I’m not sure she is meant to be liked. This story talks about how she used a trip with Emma (Kaylee’s best friend) for her own advantage. You get a deeper glimpse into the character of Sabine and what is important to her in this story, but that doesn’t improve my opinion of her. It is a good side story for the series.

Merely Mortal by Melissa Marr
This involves Keenan and Donia, who is the Winter Queen. Keenan is described as having both summer and winter in him. He gave up his immortality for the woman he loves, Donia and it now mortal. This story describes a vacation they take and the journey for them to decide on whether or not to try to make Keenan immortal or fey again. This is a good story and gives you a glimpse into the writing of Melissa Marr. I will definitely be putting her on my TBR list.

Facing Facts by Kelley Armstrong
This story involves the characters of the Darkest Powers series. I have to say upfront that I love that series and was biased when reading this. It is a nice side story about Tori, a witch, Chloe, a necromancer, and Derek, a werewolf. This has to do about Tori finding out who her real father is, how she reacts to it and how Chloe reacts to her reaction. (Confused yet?) It is a good story, but it didn’t give me as much excitement as the Darkest Powers series normally does.

Let’s Get This Undead Show On The Road by Sarah Rees Brennan
“A Vampire craze has taken the world by storm. It seems as if everyone is developing a taste for blood.”
That quote is how the story starts out. Given that, you don’t really know what is going to happen. This story involves the English boy band 4 the One. One of the members of the band, Christian, is a vampire. The other three members are human. In this story, it goes over briefly how Christian became a vampire and the struggles that he deals with while touring with the band. You were given a different take on vampires in this story and that was refreshing. Everyone knew about them. This isn’t about how the general public deals with vampires, but how the band deals with the one member who happens to be a vampire.

Bridge by Jeri Smith-Ready
This is a side story of the Shade series. When I first started this story, I was discouraged because it was 50 pages long and these were supposed to be “short” stories. However, by the time I finished, I wished that there were more pages and I couldn’t believe how quickly I read those 50 pages. This tells the story of Logan and what he goes through in order to get in contact with his older brother Mickey. I will definitely be putting the Shade series on my TBR list.

Skin Contact by Kimberly Derting
In this story, Rafe is following the dreams he had which leads him to a house. In this house, he expects to find Sophie, the girls he loves who left to take care of her mother and brother. He calls a FBI agent that he knows for help when he arrives to the place in his dream. It describes the things he finds out when he gets there and how he knows them. This is a good short story.

Leaving by Ally Condie
This is the story of Sora and how she is “untouchable.” In this story, it tells of the other classmates in her school and their reaction to her and the stuff that has happened after her father left. She dreams of the “beautiful people” and wishes they were here to help her. I like the way this story ends. I like Elio in this story also.

At the Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show by Jessica Verday
“Nothing says ‘Hey, I’m normal’ like a car graveyard in front of your house,” I muttered.
This is the story of Jane and how she wants to prove herself to her family. She is always the “bait” in their traps. They hunt supernatural beings. Everyone in her family was “gifted in their own way with some unique power or skill” except Jane, and that is how she always ended up being the bait. She goes out to hunt a supernatural being by herself. The target: cannibal Girl Scouts. Jane knows where they’ll be and when. She just doesn’t know what the night will have in store for her. I love Verday’s writing. Until I read this story, I thought I just liked the Hollow series, but I was wrong. She is a writer who I love to read.

IV League by Margaret Stohl
This story is a good, but peculiar one. It is about Wren Lola Lafayette aka Wrennie and her friend Maynard Hopper Wilson aka Hopper and their quest to find a college to go to after high school. The school takes a field trip to various colleges to allow students the opportunity to choose one school or the other. Wrennie and Hopper choose to go to Harvard and this is their story about the interview and the things that happened while they were there.

Gargouille by Mary E. Pearson
Giselle is a gargouille…or she was until she was captured and they cut her wings off. She was in love with Étienne, another gargouille. Giselle is put on display and carried in a cage as the person who has captured her, intends to sell her to the duke. That happens, but not as her capturer intended. This is a good romance story.

The Third Kind by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This is the story of Kristy and Jess Carlton. Kristy aka Kissy, get these ‘pulses where her eyes turn “stained-glass green.” When she got these, she had to do what the ‘pulse told her to do. She didn’t understand it, but she had to do it or her condition would worsen. This is what happened one night when Kissy woke Jess up and told her “We have to go to San Antonio.” Jess doesn’t understand these ‘pulses either, but she understands what happens when Kissy doesn’t do them quickly enough. This is what happens to Kissy and Jess on their way to San Antonio. This story was good and full of action for as short as it was. The only thing I would say that I didn’t like was what happened when they got to San Antonio and that the story ended to soon.

Automatic by Rachel Caine
This is a short story involving the characters of the Morganville Vampire series. I haven’t read this series and have moved it up on my TBR list after reading this story because I liked it so much. The main characters in this story are Michael and Eve. Michael is a new vampire and Eve is human. They live in Morganville where vampirism is known and common. When it comes to testing new technology, since Michael is a new vampire, he is elected to try it first. The thinking is that because he grew up with technology, he will better adapt to it. There is a new machine at the blood bank. It is akin to a Coke machine and dispenses blood in cans when you swipe your “card.” This is the story of what happens to Michael after testing out the new machine.

I loved it, I thought that I wanted to find out more about what happened to the gang after the last book and this is perfect! I just wish we could get more from the conversation between Tori and Kit, that's too bad. But still it was enjoyable, the Derek/Chloe parts and how Chloe seems grown-up.