Rating: 2
Description: Six-month-old Heaven survived a plane crash that killed her parents and was adopted by the affluent Kogo family. The now 19-year-old is forced to marry sleazy Teddy Yukemara, the son of a wealthy businessman with whom Heaven's mafioso dad is involved. When a ninja crashes her wedding, she sees her dad stand by and watch while her brother is brutally murdered. Convinced that she can no longer trust her family, she flees the wedding, her parents, and her posh lifestyle to learn the ways of the samurai and eventually avenge her brother's death. Heaven doesn't know who she can trust - some she thinks she can trust end up betraying her, and some she thought were untrustworthy end up being her greatest allies. And in the midst of all this death and danger, Heaven gets a huge crush on her sensei. The books are about Heaven's various battles with unknown forces and her quest to find out who her friends really are.
Note: The first portion of this description (up until "avenge her brother's death") was stolen from amazon.com because I was too lazy to write my own.
Review: This series is one of the worst I've ever come across. Most teen series are rather silly and mostly fluff, but this goes above and beyond fluff. The first few books are okay, but after that, it gets old. Nothing new ever happens, it's just the same old same old - Heaven and her hunky sensei kicking the asses of unknown assailants and Heaven learning some worthwhile life lesson. And, okay, I was sucked in a little - I wanted to know who was really after Heaven, and just how much of a bad guy her dad was, and if she'd ever get together with Hiro. But the ending! My goodness. I hate hate hate the ending. NO ONE is what they seem. And in the end NOTHING is resolved, yet there's a sort of sense of finality - I doubt there will be more new books (probably because the first six were so bad). Only hardcore fans of Japan and samurais should read this book. If you read the series despite my warning, stop after book four, because the last two are the worst.