Title: Daemons In The Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book 1)
Author: Alicia Kat Dillman
Publisher: Korat Publishing
Publication Date: May 20th 2011

Goodreads Summary:

Finally getting the girl of your dreams; what could possibly go wrong?

Seventeen year old Patrick Connolly has been hopelessly infatuated with Nualla for years but he is all but invisible to her. Until, that is, he rescues her from a confrontation with her ex. Little does Patrick know he’s just set off a dangerous chain reaction that will thrust him into a world of life altering secrets and things that shouldn’t exist, because the fog and mist of San Francisco is concealing more than just buildings.

A deliriously captivating and exhilarating romantic roller coaster full of unexpected twists and an ending you won’t see coming.

My Thoughts

First of all I love, love, love… this cover! I think it is absolutely gorgeous. Alicia did such a wonderful job with the cover and I enjoyed reading the story inside.

Patrick and Nualla have gone to Bayside Academy for years. Over those years Patrick has been developing a huge crush on Nualla and she has never even noticed him. All that changes though when Patrick steps up and interrupts a confrontation between Nualla and Michael. Nualla finally knows who Patrick is and they are even going to a school dance together. It all sounds innocent enough until Nualla, in an attempt to avoid Michael, asks Patrick if he wants to get out of town and they end up in Vegas. After one crazy night everything changes and Patrick becomes a part of a world he never knew existed. Nothing will ever be quite the same for either of them.

Daemons in the Mist went back and forth between Nualla and Patrick’s point of view. It was nice getting to read how both characters felt about the situations they got into. I also liked how each chapter had the month and day so that you could see how fast things were progressing. Above all, I enjoyed reading about a new subject, Daemons. I do wish I could have learned a little more about them and the differences between the two kinds while reading.

The characters were great. I enjoyed reading about them all and there really wasn’t anyone I strongly disliked. Patrick was absolutely adorkable. He was just too cute. He was sweet, an artist (he liked to draw), and it even said he knew how to dance (woo hoo ). The only thing he was seriously lacking was self-esteem. I feel like I still need to get to know Nualla better but what I got from reading so far was that she cares strongly about the people close to her and she isn’t one to give up. Towards the beginning she did have a couple moments were I felt she was being a little dramatic. She did make an effort with Patrick’s friends and I really liked that about her. As for their relationship, I appreciated how for at least half of the book no one was saying “I love you”. Those words did come up before I was completely convinced about their relationship but by the end I was totally rooting for them.

Nikki (Nualla’s cousin) and Shawn (her friend) were fun and very open towards Patrick. Connor (Patrick’s friend) was always there when Patrick needed to talk but also knew how to stop asking questions when Patrick said he couldn’t tell him. Beatrice was always reading a book so of course I loved her and Jenny was a drama queen that I wished would have toned it down a bit. I feel like Patrick’s friends weren’t around as much as Nualla’s so I am hoping to get to read more about them in the future. Travis, a longtime friend of Nualla and a young genius is another character I really want to read more about.

There was a lot that happened in this book. Things never settled down for long and although this left little room for a dull moment at times I felt like that was it and that there wouldn’t be a big ending which brought me down (it made it hard for me to read sometimes). Fortunately, I was wrong and I got the ending I was hoping for. It was sad, suspenseful, and surprising. I think surprises make everything better in stories.

While reading Daemons in the Mist I had a lot of questions that I felt the characters should have been asking. Thankfully most of the time they eventually brought it up though. I also didn’t care for how Patrick found out Nualla’s secrets and how he reacted to them. It was just instant acceptance and didn’t feel right. There were also some grammatical errors but I did really enjoy the subject, the characters, and the ending really grabbed my attention making it an enjoyable read. I look forward to seeing what happens next in Patrick and Nualla’s lives.

***Big thanks to Alicia for having me on this book tour and for providing an ecopy  of her book for one lucky winner. Please be sure to check out her awesome soundtrack for the book and take a look at the extras for Alicia’s bio, websites, book trailer, the first few chapters of Daemons in the Mist, and a link to the list of other stops on the tour.

Soundtrack

Here is Alicia’s playlist ordered by book chapter

1. Secrets in the Mist
~ Lights- Ellie Goulding
2. You Don’t See Me
~ She’s So High- Tal Bachman
~ I Want to Hold Your Hand- sung by T.V. Carpio- Across the Universe soundtrack
~ Love Like Woe- The Ready Set
~ Chain Reaction- Ke$ha
3. Parallel Universe
~ Everybody talks- Neon Trees
4. Pictures of You
~ I’ve Just Seen a Face- sung by Jim Sturgess Across the Universe soundtrack
~ If It’s Lovin’ That You Want- Rihanna
5. A Thousand Different Ways
6. Let’s Get Out of This Town
~ What Makes You Beautiful- One Direction
~ Call Me Maybe- Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Dreaming Out Loud
8. Raise Your Glass
~ Glad You Came- The Wanted
~ Raise Yor Glass- P!nk
~ Take it Off- Ke$ha
~ Moves Like Jagger- Maroon 5 (the song Nikki and Nualla perform to)
~ Give Me Everything- Pitbull
~ Mr. Saxobeat (radio edit)- Alexandra Stan
~ Where Have you Been- Rihanna
9. Waking Up in Vegas
~ Waking Up In Vegas- Katy Perry
~ Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)- Katy Perry
10. Vanishing into Dreams
~ Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow- James Durbin
11. How to Ruin Your Life in 48-Hours or Less
12. Solid Reminder
~ Sun (acoustic version)- Daphne Loves Derby
13. Reality Check
~ Brighter Than the Sun- Colbie Caillat
14. What Have You Done?
15. Please Tell Me You’re Joking
16. The Secrets Behind Your Eyes
17. Unnatural Selection
~ A Thousand Years- Christina Perri
~ Secrets- OneRepublic
18. Your Eyes
~ Just the Way You Are- Bruno Mars
19. Nothing Fools a Cat
20. Who Needs Self-control?
~Hey, Soul Sister- Train
~Your Love Is My Drug- Ke$ha
~You Make Me Feel- Cobra Starship
21. Barely Contained
22. Is This More than You Bargained for Yet?
23. In Over My Head
~ Over My Head (Cable Car)- The Fray
24. Hiding Lies with a Smile
25. If You’re Reading This
26. Reflections
27. Playing with Fire
28. Please Tell Me it’s not Too Late
~ Without You- David Guetta
~ All You Need is Love- sung by Jim Sturgess Across the Universe soundtrack
~ Marry Me- Train
29. Beautiful Disaster
~ This = Love- The Script
~ Thistle & Weeds- Mumford & Sons
~ Wait for Me- Moby
30. Doing Right by You
31. It’s Not Wise to Tease the Animals
32. Even the Fearless
~ She is Love- Parachute
~ Collide (Acoustic Version)- Howie day
33. Buicks, Extinguishers and Dancing Platypuses
34. Facing the Music
35. The Difference of a Month
~ Show Me What I’m Looking For- Carolina Liar
36. Succession of Consequences
37. Breaking Free
38. Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t
39. It was Bound to Happen
40. We All Fall Down
~ Abraham’s Daughter- Arcade Fire Or Come Away To The Water- Maroon 5
41. Nothing is Ever what it Seems
42. Last Kiss
43. The Bonds that Bind Us
~ Timshel- Mumford & Sons
44. Personal Demons
~ Kingdom Come- The Civil Wars
~ Cold- Aqualung & Lucy Schwartz
45. After the Storm
~ After the Storm- Mumford & Sons
46. Broken Hallelujah
~ Hallelujah- sung by Rufus Wainwright
47. All the Things I Can’t Say
48. Photograph
49. A Truth that Changes Everything
50. Just a Feeling
51. Warnings in White
~ Come Away To The Water- Maroon 5
52. I Should Have Known
~ Run Daddy Run- Miranda Lambert
53. No More Words
~ Wait for Me- Moby
54. A Time for Miracles
55. Open Your Eyes
~ Safe & Sound- Taylor Swift
~ Feel The Tide- Mumford & Sons or Timshel- Mumford & Sons
~ Some Nights- Fun

Giveaway

1 Winner will receive their choice of a Kindle, Nook (Epub), or PDF Copy of Daemons In The Mist by Alicia Kat Dillman

*Please do not forget to read the terms and conditions

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Extras

Author Bio

Indie author & illustrator Alicia Kat Dillman is a life long resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. Kat illustrates and designs book covers & computer game art by day and writes teen fiction by night. The owner of two very crazy studio cats and nine overfull bookcases, Kat can usually be found performing, watching anime or hanging out in twitter chats when not playing in the imaginary worlds within her head.

Website

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

Google+

Deviant Art

Daemons in the Mist Sample Chapters

Don’t Forget to Check out other stops on the book tour here!