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Oct 29, 2010

Nic rated it:

Rating somewhere between 3 & 4 depending on my mood.

Quickie review!

Ummm what to say… I seem to be struggling with my reviews this week!

Emerald Talisman was a good start to a promising new series. It has an interesting plot and premise. I thought the action scenes were the most engaging part of the book. The had a great pace and description.

I did have some struggles with this book it took me a while to get use to the writing style and connect More...

9 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2010

Michelle rated it:

My General Rating: 3.5

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If sometime you literally asked yourself how would be the life of a possible vampire hunter who has no idea this beings exist and the help of "one of them" to train her, The Emerald Talisman main character could be a good example. The Emerald Talisman narrates the story of Julia, a simple girl with a singular talent. Julia's life goes out normally until one night when she is attacked by X cre More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 15, 2010

~Tina~ rated it:

The Emerald Talisman is a wonderful take on Vampires, and anyone who knows me, knows I can't get enough of this paranorm.

This was a fast paced book that will grip you, a captivating world filled with suspenseful mystery and a sweet romance.
Julia's irrational feeling towards Nicholas was something she couldn't help, from the minute he saved her life she felt an overwhelming connection that made her feel safe and alive.
I remember what it was like to be sixteen and have t More...

7 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Kathy rated it:

January 2012: Did a quick re-read to refresh my memory before starting the last book. Enjoyed it, but was a little turned off by Julia's quick obsession with Nicholas. Otherwise a fun read.

September 2011: I guess I enjoyed this one. I’m still wavering between my rating. I really wanted to like it, and for the most part I did. I guess the one thing that bothered me most was the relationship between Julia and Nicholas. It just wasn’t that believable for me. I just can’t believe Julie More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 04, 2010

Eleni ( La Femme Readers ) rated it:

Rating: 4.5

The Emerald Talisman was an enchanting, stimulating, and eloquently written book. Brenda introduced a promising vampire series that would interest fans of Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. Julia, the female protagonist was quirky yet endearing. Her ability to feel emotions from others curiously drew my attention. The story opened up with Julia's car breaking down. Now, instead of taking the safe walk to her home, she decides to naively take a short cut through the woods. T More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2010

Rhonda rated it:

This is a book I totally found myself living in. It`s full of excitement, family and romance! It is a book that is for all ages, no cussing and that was important to me. I was happy to see that Brenda Pandos gave me enough from reading this book to feed my appetite but yet left me hungry for the second book! I was happy to find while reading The Emerald Talisman that the story was just detailed enough about the characters but not overly detailed about their feelings, I found that reading some ot More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 12, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading this book! Brenda Pandos did a wonderful job creating a fresh and exciting new vampire world. I loved the characters in this story (good and evil) and the suspense had me turning pages way too late for a few nights! I found Julia (the main character) very interesting. She was an empath, meaning that she could sense and feel the emotions of those around her. Her gift definitely came in handy on more than one occasion in the book, but remained a secre More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 17, 2010

Precious rated it:

Julia is sensitive, loyal and caring. Unlike most teenagers, she actually knows when someone is lying to her. Her gift helps her see through the façade and perceive someone as he truly is. But never did she expect that she would encounter someone so animalistic.

Young and charismatic, Julia finds herself falling for her life saver – Nicholas. More than anyone else, he confuses her. What seemed like rudeness to her was something else entirely to him. It was all part of his life and hi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 04, 2010

Amanda rated it:

Twilight meets Blade: that’s how one might describe this book. But of course it is much, much more. Teenage girl with a special gift, mysterious boy, and scary vampires: all are themes that may sound familiar, yet the author still manages to create a unique and absorbing book, complete with an intriguing and original story for the explanation of vampires.

A snap decision to walk home through the woods, and suddenly Julia’s life is changed forever. This includes her introduction to Ni More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 16, 2010

Wicked Walker rated it:

4.5 stars

The Quick and the Dirty...a refreshing new take on vampires and vampire slayers.

Why I was tempted to read this...Well the blurb reeled me in, always looking for a new vampire book!

Cover thoughts...it's pretty cool, not exactly how I imagined the necklace in my mind tho.

Romance Meter...Well of course! Julia and Nicholas hit is off right from the beginning and the romance started bubbling.

Character and Plot...Julia has a talent, she is an More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Vicki rated it:

A well-imagined vampire romance in a darkly appealing world. The chemistry between the two leads is really intense, but not sappy. Love is anything but logical, right? I found that there were plenty of twists to this book- my favorite being the use of empathy as a "special power." I haven't seen empathy portrayed well all that often, and thought Ms. Pandos did a great job with it. There's a lot of room for this universe to expand and I am sure the next book will deepen the mythology an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

Read my full review.

Bottom Line – Enjoyable read, with a unique take on Vampire lore, dynamic and tricky characters and a love story that will steal your heart, The Emerald Talisman is a wonderful start to what I can only hope is a unique and interesting series. I just hope that we get to see more of Julia and Nicholas soon, and that some of there secrets are reviled, as I think Julia is becoming fast aware secrets can harm much more than they seem to help! I give The Emerald Talisma More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 09, 2011

Jessica rated it:

I gave this 4 stars but would rather have done 3.5. Another reviewer said it was very similar to Twilight. I try to avoid comparisons as many things could relate to others. But I found myself checking the cover to see if I got some kind of mix up. It was very much similar. The difference being that I very much disliked the lead character. She was obsessed. She kept talking about a relationship with someone that only helped her once. Then how betrayed she was, and on and on it went of constantly More...

0 comments like

Jan 28, 2012

Ciara rated it:

Julia's mother mysteriously disappears and Julia's father opens the door to see a 5-yr-old Julia on their porch alone and unaware of her mother's whereabouts! Her father decides to move her and her bother Luke to a new town closer to his relatives so he can grieve and be surrounded by their remaining family. Leaving work one night she discovers her car is out of gas and decided to cut through the forest to take a shortcut on her walk home. There she meets mysterious stranger Nicholas when he sav More...

0 comments like

Jan 02, 2012

Inkbitten rated it:

Judged by the Cover: Just My Style

The cover of The Emerald Talisman (Talisman Series, Book 1) features a black background with the almost watermark background of trees/woods. Since the woods is the reason the entire novel went the way it did from the very beginning, I thought it was fit to put it on the cover. Also the cover features "the emerald talisman" as in the necklace being worn in the novel, now that also being the title do I really need to tell you the importance i More...

0 comments like

Jan 02, 2012

Sarah rated it:

This book, although was short, it was cute, mysterious and at times funny. The main character, Julia, is an empath. She can feel what other people are feeling. One night on her way home from work her car runs out of gas and her cell phone died. Julia decides it would be ok to take the short cut through the woods instead of following the road around. Although she has traveled these woods many times before, in the daylight, she finds her self getting scared at every little noise and movement. And More...

0 comments like

Dec 12, 2011

Shawna rated it:

Will let me start out by saying that I think that this is a very interesting book. I had read the peoples reviews on this book before I read it and thought that it was going to be a bad read, but it turned out to be a nice read there are just some things about the book that I want to talk about.

I enjoyed that the book was a fast past read and that it just flowed really nicely form one event to the other. I thought that Julia was a really sweet girl and I liked h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 23, 2011

Mel rated it:

First of all, while I may catch some harsh feedback from this first comment, I have to say that The Emerald Talisman is nothing like Twilight. If you like vampire stories, then yes, you will like this book. Julia Parker is not an average teenager. She has the ability to read people’s emotions. After losing her mother and being raised by a father who is almost never there, she happens to be a well-rounded, responsible girl. She works, she has friends, she has a social life and when the going gets More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 23, 2011

Lacey added it

First thoughts:

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was immediately sucked in. I couldn't put the book down, it was like I wanted to know what happened next. And even though there was some slow moments I was glad to meet the characters and be with them on the start of their journey. The author was creative in creating a unique and magical world and she did a great job on painting the scenes of the characters.

Summary:

Julia Parker has a u More...

0 comments like

Sep 19, 2011

Kathy rated it:

I guess I enjoyed this one. I’m still wavering between my rating. I really wanted to like it, and for the most part I did. I guess the one thing that bothered me most was the relationship between Julia and Nicholas. It just wasn’t that believable for me. I just can’t believe Julie would be so into a guy that she only interacted with for about an hour. They kind of had a conversation and the rest of the book we hear about how much she wants to be with him and only him. Even with her special abili More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 26, 2011

Amy rated it:

I had been seeing this book all over the internet, but it took me forever to finally get it and read it. I don't know why I was so hesitant on reading it, but I think it might have been because of the mixed reviews. So I finally caved and picked up my copy of The Emerald Talisman and dove into the world the author created.

While I liked the basic story plot, I felt the story lacked things to make it great. At times the writing was choppy and stalled. I kept waiting for it to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Dwayne rated it:

Reviewed @ Girls Without a Bookshelf.

Saying this book tested my patience does not even begin to cover it; it truly exhausted every ounce of whatever patience there was in me. While I admit I was intrigued about its premise at first, and was thoroughly excited at having the book in my hands, eventually I had to get rid of it or risk insanity.

For the record, I actually did not finish the book. So whether or not you'd take my review as accurate, I'll leave it for you to deci More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2011

Katie rated it:

Sixteen-year-old Julia Parker simply wants to fit in with the crowd. However, that cannot be done because of her incredible gift and her not-so-average life. The courageous, strong, leading-lady, Julia does not expect anything unnatural to happen to her despite her inhuman gift. When Nicholas, a half-vampire slayer, saves Julia from falling off a cliff, her life spirals out of control and she is sucked into the paranormal world. Nicholas reveals that there is more craziness in the world than More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 10, 2011

Annie rated it:

Terrible. It's trailing on the end of the vampire trend and introduces nothing new. The story is stale and uninteresting, superficial and slow. Basically, the author took the characters from Twilight (plain chick + vampirey stalker guy who saves her life) and stuck them in a generic vampire hunter romance. All of this is not helped by the mediocre writing, where the author uses childish dialogue such as "'You're mine now and I'm gonna do whatever I want with you, and he can't do anything ab More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 08, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

Twitter is a powerful marketing tool for that is how I came to buy this novel by Brenda Pandos. It must have been retweeted by someone on February fourth that this book for Kindle was now only $.99 on Amazon (and still is). Well, what do I have to lose, I thought, I like vampires, I like jewelry, where could I go wrong?

I will admit it languished in my Kindle lineup for a while as my TBR pile built to frightening proportions. But today I was looking for something light, something easy. More...

0 comments like

Apr 04, 2011

Rocío rated it:

Yo no sé si decir que me gustó o no me gustó, el libro me dejó una sensación rara y debo decirlo me siento insatisfecha. La portada me gusta, pero cuando supe que era otro libro de vampiros no sabía que pensar, estoy medio harta de los vampiros, aparecen en todos lados...... Pero me animé porque le tenia muchas ganas, la historia nos habla de Julia, una chica de 16 años, que asiste a la preparatoria, tiene su bolita de amigos, un trabajo de medio turno, en fin una chica normal de su edad excepto More...

0 comments like

Oct 14, 2010

Kari rated it:

The interesting premise and backstory is one of the biggest features of The Emerald Talisman. The first chapter is intriguing and grabbing although the pace drops off for awhile after the initial spark before coming together strongly for a bold climax and ending. Definable and developed characters help bring the book more to life and the new take on vampires make it stand out more.

Julia starts out as a strong character, her personality and views coming off from the start, though it s More...

0 comments like

Feb 14, 2012

Crystal rated it:

I downloaded this book from amazon because it was on the top 100 free list. I actually downloaded it because of the cover and I had no clue what the book was even about. I started reading it and was not sure at first, where this story would go. But then it drew me in and I found myself caught up in this story of Julia Parker. She has a special ability to read other people's emotions but she has never told anyone. Her mother disappeared when she was five and no one knows what happened to her More...

0 comments like

Apr 28, 2011

Marsha rated it:

When I read vampire books I always look for something different: either a new twist on the vampire myth, abilities, etc. However, "The Emerald Talisman" really did not offer anything new. It was pretty standard.

Another thing I look forward to in books is a 'strong' heroine. She does not have to have special abilities or be able to kill on contact; but, she cannot be whiny. In this case, the main character, 16 year old Julia Parker whined from the moment the story started u More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 30, 2010

Tahlia rated it:

I read this one because I heard that the next in the series is very good, much better than this one, so I thought I'd start at the beginning of the series. The book improved enormously as the work went on which gives me enough of a reason to give Brenda another chance with the follow up book. The writing became more confident as the book went on. The ending was satisfying and left somewhere for the next book to go.

The problems I saw with this one was the slow begining and the formula More...

0 comments like