Dax VarleyRezensionen

FROM AMAZON: Max's mom has been kidnapped! When he sets out to find her, he learns this is no normal abduction. Demons have taken his mother. Will Max be able to rescue her from these evil beasts? Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards. Spellbound is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO.

This is a very interesting take on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. They both tell the story of The Headless Horseman, who is the ghost of a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by cannon fire during the Revolutionary War. In Dax Varley's version, Ichabod Crane is a sexy young school teacher who is hired to fill a vacancy when the previous school teacher is beheaded by the Headless Horseman. Katrina is determined to save Ichabod's life when he is marked by the Horseman to be his next victim. Katrina has already lost childhood friends to the Horseman, and she's determined to figure out how to stop him before that can happen to Ichabod.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was a very quick read, well written and interesting. Some characters were more fleshed out than others, but the story had a lot more going for it than against it. It definitely kept my attention and I'm looking forward to reading book 2 to see what happens next!

5/5 stars.

Take this as the compliment it is: This book reminded me of one of those Disney movies about teen witches that they show all October long. (Note to self: Set DVR.) It was light and fun and in the end things worked out great.

Cam works after school in her grandmother Mimi's magic store. It's got everything the new age witch needs and everything that new age witch needs to sell to tourists in order to make money. There's real magic there, sure, but it's surrounded by glitz and glamour. Cam finds a spell, a real spell, for ultimate power, and decides it's what she must do in order to maintain her 3.9 GPA and get past that pesky class on Shakespeare she dislikes so much. Her best friend Reade is in it for the love, because all the other love spells she's tried on the handsome and angry Troy just aren't working. And Zach is in it just because. Just because of the power and the challenge or just because he really wants to spend time with Cam.

There's a ferret named Four, a kitten named Egg Salad, locker shenanigans, graveyard capers, a grandmother's boyfriend, and a very bad man who is going to try to take everything Cam and her friends worked so hard for.

(Provided by publisher)

Juniper starts out scrying to find her best friend's lost retainer and ends up having visions of a girl who badly needs her help.

I've said before that Dax Varley's novellas remind me of those movies that air on the Disney Channel mid-day every October. The ones where teen girls with magic are matter-of-fact and where cute kids have adorable adventures and save the day. Lost Girl is no different. It's light and fun and I'm glad I read it.

(Provided by publisher)

I'll try this again someday because I enjoy Dax Varley's writing. But right now I am over-saturated with Sleepy Hollow.

Second Sight by Dax Varley is a teen book about a gal that buys these mirrored sunglasses that show her glimpses of the future. Sometimes she misinterpreted the vision incorrectly causing serious problems! Great story!

Lost Girl by Dad Varley is a great psychic mystery that is probably made for teens but I loved it too! Great story!

BLEED by Dax Varley is a teen/young adult paranormal suspense novel. Miranda comes to "Suicide High", called this because of all the suicides in the last few months. Miranda also has stigmata. She knows it is a rare thing but always wondered why her. She meets four other teens at the school that have other paranormal/supernatural traits/abilities. She soon finds out why she bleeds and what she needs to do with it and what it has to do with "Suicide High". Great plot, characters, twists, suspense, and great fantasy. This book does not promote suicide in case someone is worried about this.

Miranda's wrists gush out blood. She doesn't know why or when it will happen. As if that isn't bad enough she has just enrolled at a new school which has been nicknamed "Suicide High" thanks to the increasing amount of suicides happening lately. It's here she bumps into a cute boy named Jake and learns that he has the power to predict the immediate future. Jake's friend, Sam, eats the sins of the dead. Two of their classmates also have special powers. Topher can heal by touch. Xyan can speak and understand all languages. When it becomes apparent that something or someone is behind the suicides, these five team up to destroy the evil that's running through their school.

This isn't the kind of book I usually read but it sounded interesting. Definite points for originality. Xyan got on my nerves. I hate when I don't know what the characters are saying because of different languages. I didn't care for the last few chapters but overall the book wasn't too bad.

Sometimes you find a hidden gem and Bleed by Dax Varley was exactly that. Never heard of the author or the book before, but it was triple whammy when I saw the cover, the title and the synopsis. I was very intrigued and wanted to read it. What should clue you in on how much, is that I’ve had this book for just over a week and I’ve already read it. That’s actually very rare for me, it’s been a long time since I’ve read a book so quickly after purchasing it. I was in the mood for some horror and this book was my first choice. It was not a very scary book, but I did get a little of that creep factor, as well as a lot of ‘ew’ moments.

The story follows several different POV’s. We have five protagonists whose lives have lead them to converge on the same school, a school that’s been recently experiencing a bout of suicides and have taken on the moniker of Suicide High. After working their way into forming a group, they eventually figured out they’re dealing with a Demon that’s been terrorizing civilization for centuries and it’s always been their job to send it back to hell.

Miranda
After a little prologue peek into the story, we start out following Miranda on her first day at a new school after relocating from a very small town, where her father was disgraced. Miranda was nervous, not just because she’s the new girl, but also because of her affliction as a Stigmata. The meaning of a Stigmata was re-imagined for the plot of this story, so I won’t go into what that actually is, just that it means that Miranda bleeds from holes in her palms when she comes in contact with overwhelming, I’m gonna say, situations, it varies. Right away Miranda meets Jake and then later received a threatening letter that would make me march immediately to the administrative office to turn it in. Well, that didn’t happen, so the story continues.

Jake
Then we have Jake, the confused Psychic and Miranda’s love interest. He was the level headed task master of the group. At first I couldn’t understand Jake’s psychic abilities, he seemed confused too, when it was explained it did actually makes sense and is sort of a new way to see psychic abilities. He basically has Deja Vu Psychic abilities. Very surprised the others weren’t more frustrated with him for not just being a plain old psychic.

Sam
Sam’s the Sin Eater and all around flirt and funny one in the group. The first time I heard of a Sin Eater was from a TV show, so that wasn’t new to me, but it was to the group. It caused a lot of problems for Sam, it cramped his style majorly, especially his flirting.

Topher
Healer, nerd and the one with the saddest past of the group. Topher was reluctant to join the group, but with everyone needing constant healing and his need to help, he kept getting pulled back in.

Xyan
Last but not least, we have Xyan, snarky and full of attitude, and even more reluctant to be a part of the group. Xyan was the Linguist or the Speaker of Tongues, no specific title was given for her ability. She can speak any language, but probably wishes English would be there when she needs it most.

Overall
I really like this ensemble, there were a few other secondary characters that these characters were able to play off of really well. A parent or two made appearances, but since approximately 85% of the story took place in the school, those characters were teachers and students, obviously the demon would have to be one of those. I think the author did a good job throwing me off the scent of the culprit, when I thought of who that might be, it seemed too obvious, and decided to just be surprised. I was surprised and not surprised, meaning that the twist and turns got me all turned around and made me not so sure, but my original guess was correct. The romance wasn’t all-consuming, but I thought Miranda’s and Jakes romance was very sweet and tender.

The creepy and grossed parts were when the guys had their confrontations with the demon, he terrorized them and tried to take them down one by one, and even if it was creeptastic and gross, it brought the horror and action to the story. The negative thing about this story was the naiveté of the characters. I tried to understand that they were new to this and didn’t know better. A good example that did have me scratching my head was when the guys thought that they might have found the culprit, they had him arrested and thought, good, job done. I was yelling at them, don’t be foolish, it’s a freaking demon your dealing with, you need to banish it, that means killing it. Other than that I really liked these guys and the story as a whole. I felt that the characters and more about the demon aspect could have been delved into more, but it’s a Stand-Alone and with that, it was still a really fulfilling story, and I’m left with wanting more.

A quick and fun read that entertained me the whole way through!½

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

With a title like Bleed I should not have been surprised by the gruesome beginning of this story. I doubt I’ll ever read a prologue as shocking and disturbing as this one, and it really set my expectations for the rest of the book. I am happy to tell you I was not disappointed. Bleed wins the creepy and weird award and oh, I enjoyed every gory minute of it!

The quick of it is this: Miranda is a new student at Century High, aka Suicide High. She is stigmatic, she bleeds from her palms spontaneously and her condition has ruined her first day of school. . .and most of her life. If that’s not bad enough, she and her new group of friends must use their extraordinary abilities to find out a way to stop the supernatural force terrorizing Century High before it’s too late for all of them.

I’ve read a good amount of young adult horror and while Bleed had the makings for a predictable premise, I was really surprised by how Varley kept me on my toes. There were hints here and there that led me down the right path, but I really was taken by surprise in the end. And holy cow was the bad guy a weirdo!

It’s rare that I come across a young adult novel that has a good mixture of action, horror, and romance without a lot of drama to muddy the experience. While Bleed had its fair share of high school drama (where would YA be without it?), very little of it was the relationship drama that makes me want to slam my head against a wall repeatedly.

Jake kept an even pace, loping alongside her. “You know, you could blame me if you want.”

She cast him a questioning look. “And why would I want to do that?”

He cut his eyes to her and shrugged. “Because I’m Jewish. If my people hadn’t killed your Jesus-guy in such a ‘creative’ way, you wouldn’t be so holy.”

She held up a hand. “Is that a pun?”

Jake chuckled. “There you go. I knew under all that hemoglobin was a sense of humor.”

Each of the main characters wormed their way into my heart for one reason or another. Each of them have their own secrets, hardships and best of all – they had weaknesses like real human beings. I felt for them and I fell in love with them. They were all charming in their own ways, too!

I was fascinated by the abilities the main characters had, especially Miranda. I never knew that stigmata was a real condition, so when I googled it I was surprised by how many people have conditions like hers – though for most people who are stigmatic, the bleeding isn’t only in their hands. Yikes! Can you imagine having to live like that?

Bleed was such a fun experience for me. I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read it! I definitely want to read more from this author. I recommend this book to young adult fans who love a large helping of weird with their horror.

I'm not usually a fan of YA horror, but I absolutely love this story! The whole concept was very interesting and not what I expected. Five friends, each with a different special ability, try to figure out why so many of their classmates are committing suicide. This story had me guessing from every turn and the ending just brought it all together. A must read! I recommend this book and author.

I received this free book in exchange for an honest review.

I recieved This book from early review

This books was very interesting it takes place at a high school were there are lots of murders. They call it suicide high the main characters have special abilities.There is a sin eater, a healer, a psychic, one with the stigmata and another who can speak any language who finds it hard to control her outbursts. I don't want to give to much away, but they team up to solve the mysterious death's. I would recommend giving this book a try you might be pleasantly surprised.

Reading this novelette left me wanting more. The story was interesting, fun, fast paced, had good characters, suspense, action and was great to read.

Reading this novelette left me wanting more. The story was interesting, fun, fast paced, had good characters, suspense, action and was great to read.

Reading this novelette left me wanting more. The story was interesting, fun, fast paced, had good characters, suspense, action and was great to read.

This story centers around 5 high school students with different abilities investigating suicides at their school. There is a sin eater, a healer, a psychic, one with the stigmata and another who can speak any language. I really liked this book. The story was different and creative and it had me guessing until the end. It has horror, comedy, and a touch of romance, all the aspects of a great read!

A YA supernatural high school horror novel. Five teens, who each have a different supernatural power, attempt to learn what or who is causing suicides at their school. With each chapter the POV alternates between these students. Okay, the story is a little morbid, but It's a page-turner. Think The Breakfast Club meets The Exorcist. Recommended for YA suspense/horror fans.

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I did not read the first book so maybe would have been better. Im not sure what I was expecting but it wasnt this book. It was good enough but something seemed a little "off". Not sure if willtryto read the first ttosse if it adds to the story.

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

First, I had not read the first book going into this one. But it did not take away the immediate love for this book. Its written in a way it draws you in. I did not really expect the history of the headless horseman to be what it was, but it made it all the much better. Its a good book for anyone to pick up and read. Betrayal, lies, secrets, and a love that nothing could ever stop. You will be very happy with this book.

3.25 Stars
The sequel to Severed. You need to read the first book to better appreciate this novella. I like the new characters and I love the back story on the Headless Horseman. Ichabod was more of a side story in this book. I would have liked to see the last quarter of the book extended a little more. If you enjoyed the first one, you will want to read it.

LT Member Giveaway½

I really enjoyed reading this novella. I had not read the original Sleepy Hollow before reading this. I still haven't but I did do some research and I've seen movies on it. With that said, I must say this book was most excellent. It picked up right where the original left you hanging and gives you complete closure, though it does open up for the possibility of new stories for Violet and Jonas. I was completely enthralled from page one and could not put this down. The characters are full of life and easy to love. There is humor, danger, mystery and love. I wouldn't change a thing, not to take away or add. This was a perfect read. Thank you so much Dax Varley. I will be checking out more of your works, as I love the way you write.

I loved this book! It was a very interesting and fun read. I love thrillers and this one is great too. I would recommend this one to anyone that likes short thrillers. * I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

This is a short novella in the horror genre. Three teenagers decide to spend the night in the local haunted house to write a piece for their school newspaper. Perhaps this is not the smartest thing they ever decided to do. The book covers the earlier parts of their night and all the spooky things they encounter. This is not just a “something goes bump in the night” tale. The author has tried to make it much more. Personally, I think he would have succeeded more had the story been longer. As it is, the reader encounters some action, person or event that is scary and without any further ado, the book moves along to something else. I liked the way the author tied the scary events, actions and persons to the legendary history of the house. Was it scary to me? Not really. As I said, if the book were longer, it may well have been. There was a lot of jumping around which made it a bit disjointed. Finally, the author interjected a fourth, unknown, mysterious person into the mix, but with little development. As I said, I think the book was too short to do the plot justice. However, it can provide a brief interlude to someone who enjoys these sorts of things and it is well written. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.