The Sapphire Talisman (Talisman, #2) in Once Upon a Twilight blog

Jul 31, 2010 Jennifer Lane rated it really liked it

I was quite excited to win this book as a first reader on Goodreads! The Emerald Talisman introduced Julia Parker, a 16 year-old empath who becomes involved with vampires—-some good, some not so good. The Sapphire Talisman extends this complexity of the “bad guy” characters by really messing with the reader. My favorite part of the story was how Brenda Pandos manipulated my loyalty to Julia’s love interests by creating layered characters facing vexing challenges.

Here’s a quote from page 73:

Julia ...more

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Jul 20, 2010 Once rated it really liked it

We begin here where The Emerald Talisman left off. Brenda made this one a roller coaster ride from the beginning to the end. As a sequel I think it did a great job following the 1st book. It continues to give us a story that has not been written before in the Vampire world. The characters are well written. Honestly my favorite character is one of the supporting character. I still enjoy the main characters but the way Brenda writes this supporting character you just have to love him.

Nicholas sho ...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Laura Kreitzer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-book, ebook, signed-by-author

The thought of her locked up in the science lab all weekend seemed funny.—Julia in The Sapphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos.

The Sapphire Talisman is book two in the Talisman Series and what a breath of fresh air it is! Pandos moves forward instead of back when it comes to her writing style. It’s obvious she’s matured and grown along with her main character, Julia. In this book we see the relationship between Julia and Nicholas grow, which was needed after their quick love story in The Emerald Tali The thought of her locked up in the science lab all weekend seemed funny.—Julia in The Sapphire Talisman by Brenda Pandos.

The Sapphire Talisman is book two in the Talisman Series and what a breath of fresh air it is! Pandos moves forward instead of back when it comes to her writing style. It’s obvious she’s matured and grown along with her main character, Julia. In this book we see the relationship between Julia and Nicholas grow, which was needed after their quick love story in The Emerald Talisman. Of course, as soon as we see their relationship come together, they get ripped apart and a new man shows up in Julia’s life. Someone we’ve seen before, but I can’t tell you or else I’d spoil it! Let’s just say that I love this character deeply and fawned over him the entire time. We finally find out what the heck is up with Alora and Enigma (whose name is actually Scarlett). Julia goes on a kind of soul-searching journey—at least that was how I saw it. She grows as a person and finally moves out of that younger teen stage.

What did I love about this book? First of all, Pandos does not lack with the action, romance, or excitement. Any time the novel began to slow down, it quickly sped back up and caught me up in a whirlwind of action. There were times my heart was gripped with worry and others when I wanted to weep along with Julia. Also, Julia seems to gain more of a personality and shows she isn’t all perfect and sweet. The relationship between her and Enigma (aka Scarlett) was hilarious and caused me to laugh out loud several times. I love it when a book can do that to me. Besides the characters that seem to come off the pages, the plot changed from unoriginal to fantastical! I honestly had no idea where Pandos was going at the end and found myself going through the pages so fast I had to go backward to reread a few times. Oops. I guess she drew me in a little too well.

All in all, The Sapphire Talisman is sure to shine, and possibly outshine The Emerald Talisman. Pandos has weaved such a lyrical and beautiful story that I can’t wait to see what she does next. Watch out, Pandos is on the rise! ...more

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Sep 03, 2010 Lisa Sanchez rated it really liked it

The Sapphire Talisman, by Brenda Pandos was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The sequel to The Emerald Talisman, TST started with a bang and ended on the same note.

Several surprises are revealed throughout, so I'm going to keep my review short and sweet to avoid spoiling anything. Brenda Pandos has a delightful YA voice, and did a fabulous job capturing the ins and outs of a high school girl with extra sensory powers and a half vamp boyfriend. The relationships between Julia and her friends were bel ...more

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