Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Tempests And Slaughter by Tamora Pierce Blog Tour: Review and Playlist

Author: Tamora Pierce
Series:The Numair Chronicles #1
Audience: YA
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 6th 2018
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: Publisher
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Arram. Varice. Ozorne. In the first book in the Numair Chronicles, three student mages are bound by fate . . . fated for trouble.

Arram Draper is a boy on the path to becoming one of the realm’s most powerful mages. The youngest student in his class at the Imperial University of Carthak, he has a Gift with unlimited potential for greatness–and for attracting danger. At his side are his two best friends: Varice, a clever girl with an often-overlooked talent, and Ozorne, the “leftover prince” with secret ambitions. Together, these three friends forge a bond that will one day shape kingdoms. And as Ozorne gets closer to the throne and Varice gets closer to Arram’s heart, Arram begins to realize that one day soon he will have to decide where his loyalties truly lie.

In the Numair Chronicles, readers will be rewarded with the never-before-told story of how Numair Salmalín came to Tortall. Newcomers will discover an unforgettable fantasy adventure where a kingdom’s future rests on the shoulders of a talented young man with a knack for making vicious enemies.
*Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Book Review: Lifeblood by Gena Showalter

Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Everlife #2
Audience: +16
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: February 28th 2017
My Rating: 4 Cup
Source: Own Copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):
My Firstlife is over, but my Everlife is only now beginning.

With her last living breath, Tenley "Ten" Lockwood made her choice and picked her realm in the Everlife. Now, as the war between Troika and Myriad rages, she must face the consequences.

Because Ten possesses a rare supernatural ability to absorb and share light, the Powers That Be have the highest expectations for her future—and the enemy wants her neutralized. Fighting to save her Secondlife, she must learn about her realm from the ground up while launching her first mission: convincing a select group of humans to join her side before they die. No pressure, right?

But Ten's competition is Killian, the boy she can't forget—the one who gave up everything for her happiness. He has only one shot at redemption: beating Ten at a game she's never even played. As their throw-downs heat up, so do their undeniable feelings, and soon, Ten will have to make another choice. Love…or victory.
*phew* This book was a roller-coaster, guys!

Lifeblood picks up where Firstlife ended, right after Ten dies and chooses Troika. What follows is a journey full of bumps, heartache, pain, and love. I love how the central themes of this book seem to be love, loyalty and forgiveness. I am curious to see how these themes will be used, if they will be used in the next book.

When we meet Ten in this book she’s still the same girl we know, the girl who wants to find her place without being forced into it, the girl who is in love with a boy she shouldn’t be, the girl trying to just fit in and be loved. Ten goes through a transformation process. Her love for Killian makes her do things that don’t endear her to her fellow Troikans. At the same time, while she’s trying to find Archer, she learns that love can heal someone’s soul. Not romantic love, but love through forgiveness. She learns some more about her family, and she meets important people to herself in this book, people she knew about, people she hasn’t yet met, as well as old friends. She makes some new friends too, and it’s interesting to see how each and every one of them plays a part in Ten’s journey. Throughout the book Ten discovers some interesting things about the two realms, things that somehow change the rules of the games in my opinion. They’re subtle, yet important things too.

Killian is, as usual, fantastic, and I wonder how his decision will affect the last book and the war itself. The brilliance of this story is that, while we see everything from Ten's POV, and we know that some people are loyal and honest, I have to wonder if, in the very end, Killian will prove to be who he says he is. There's a part of me, a tiny part of me, that kind of wants him to be bad.

There were a few characters in this book that I liked, some of them people we meet for the first time in Lifeblood. I'm curious to see the future of these characters, who lives, who dies. There are some old faces around as well, and I'm intrigued by them.

This book helped unveil a little bit of the hidden rules of Myriad and Troika, some details that people from these realms haven't yet thought about, or they relate to things the people have taken for granted. I can't wait to see if these rules will keep changing or if somehow they can be broken. We also learn a little bit more about the history of the two realms, as well as how exactly Troika functions. By default, we learn a little bit about Myriad as well.

The pace is pretty great, and the glimpses behind the scenes that we get through the messages between various parties from both realms make the story even more interesting. Ten's obsession with numbers continues, as well as her double poems. I like the double poems, as well as her numerology skills, her ability to find a numerical connection everywhere. I liked that there were things I couldn't anticipate. I also liked that just because you're a Troikan, doesn't mean you're 100% good, just like being a Myridian doesn't make that person fully bad. I like the grey areas and I'm curious to see if that will be discussed in Everlife or if it will somehow play a part in the final battle.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and I am biting my nails, waiting for Everlife.


Friday, January 19, 2018

Blog Tour Book Review: Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

Author: Marie Lu
Series: DC Icons #2
Audience: +16
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Superheroes
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: January 2nd 2018
My Rating: 5 Cups
Source: Penguin Random House
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.

One by one, the city's elites are being executed as their mansions' security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family's fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he's forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city's most brutal criminals.

Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce's only hope.

In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.
*Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

While I wasn't always a big comic book reader, I've always wished for a written version of the superheroes. I was super excited to hear that some very famous superheroes were getting their own books and I jumped at the chance to read one of these stories.

One of my biggest expectations was to have a glimpse into the life of the person behind the superhero mask. And I was very happy when I realized that that's what I was getting. I knew of Batman, but never of Bruce Wayne. Bruce has always been a mystery to me. This book allowed me to understand the man underneath the Batman costume a little bit more. We meet Bruce when he's about to turn eighteen, and the Bruce I met at the beginning of this book was a boy with big dreams, one that is still suffering after the loss of his parents, but one that still holds a small thread of innocence inside of him, the idealism of someone so young. He decides to take it upon himself to help out the police, which doesn't get him any "thank yous", but instead lands him some community service time at the Arkham Asylum. And in that environment you can see his idealism and the innocence I was talking about, because he thinks he can not only help the police, but also help redeem one of the prisoners there. By the end of the novel though I got to see a glimpse of the Batman I've always known of, from the animated show, movies and even the occasional comic books. Bruce starts to realize that some people can't be redeemed, that some people don't just need another chance, and while it's a tough lesson for him to learn, it's one that he needed. He also learned that sometimes you have to do some really risky things in order to save the people he cares about.


Another thing that Bruce learns is how to deal with some tough love from people who don't know him beyond him being the rich orphan, heir to the Wayne empire. The police officer who came up with his punishment represents something that Bruce hasn't had in a very long time: a mother figure. I know he's always had Alfred, but this was different. It was interesting to see Bruce faced with expectations from someone who doesn't care about the fact that he lost his parents, but who at the same time is trying to teach him a valuable lesson. The added element of the lesson coming from an authority figure adds a seriousness to that lesson, and it doesn't allow Bruce to charm his way out things. While Bruce is a smart young man, one who is pretty mature for his age, he also knows how to charm the people around him. And while he accepts that he needs to be punished for what he did, I don't think he really believes the punishment will be that harsh.

The novel uses a lot of mind games, and it's probably the reason why I enjoyed it so much. Madeleine, the inmate that befriends Bruce, is very smart, and she knows just what to say and how to say it to make Bruce take her side, without Bruce even realizing it. While Madeleine isn't one of the good guys, I found myself rooting for her. She's certainly smart, and she certainly shares with Bruce some form of truth, some reality mixed in with the mind games meant to have things play out the way they're supposed to, and I myself didn't really see through it from the very beginning. But the tiny truth that Madeleine shares is heartbreaking and you can see how Bruce could have ended in Arkham himself had he taken different choices, had Alfred not been there for him. That parallel between Bruce and Madeleine hit me harder I think than I expected, and I liked seeing that Bruce himself wasn't immune to Madeleine's tales.

The other thing I enjoyed seeing was the little Easter eggs that Lu masterfully snuck inside the story. I won't go into them, because I want you to discover them, but let's just say that there were a few details and characters in this book that were familiar and that had the nerd in me do a little wiggle.

The ending of the book was interesting and surprising. While I anticipated a few of the things that happened, the ending surprised me, and I'm curious to see if it will somehow reflect in the Catwoman book. All in all, I really enjoyed this story and I am very excited for more superheroes to get their stories told.



Sunday, November 12, 2017

Book Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Author: Stephanie Garber
Series: Caraval #1
Audience: +16
Genre: Ya, Fantasy
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: January 31st 2017
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Own Copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Welcome to Caraval, where nothing is quite what it seems.

Scarlett and Tella have never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year week-long performance where the audience participates in the show.

Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure.

When the sisters' long-awaited invitations finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show's mastermind organiser, Legend.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is an elaborate performance. But she quickly becomes entangled in a dangerous game of love, magic and heartbreak.

And real or not, she must find Tella before the game is over, and her sister disappears forever.



I picked this book when I was on a trip to Prague, because there's no better thing to do when you're a bookworm on a trip than buy more books. I tried resisting, but in the end I couldn't do it and I can't possibly tell you how happy I am that I gave in in the end.

Holy crap you guys!

Books that are similar on carnivals, hidden objects/escape-adventure games have been hit-and-miss for me so far, but Caraval really had me hooked from the beginning to the end. I enjoyed reading it and I especially liked how the book was structured. Garber was a genius in my opinion to structure the chapters into days and nights spent during, before and after Caraval. That, for me, increased the sense of urgency the entire book had. Whenever that "Day/Night..." page came, my excitement grew because I could tell that there was real danger in Caraval. And that's the thing I loved most about the book, the danger, the unknown of it all. I feel like the entire book is based on mind-games. And that more than the actual action is even better to me. It's been a while since I read a book that mentally challenging, to be honest. It wasn't just the game itself, but actually trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't, who was lying and who was telling the truth.

Scarlett is a strong character, that is also quite surprising. She's really reserved and cautious, but at the same time she's naive and reckless. She tends to put her trust in the oddest of places, but then the game doesn't just help uncover the darker side people keep locked away, but also their pasts. In a way, that's what happens with Scarlett, and while the scene with her father before them going to Caraval gives you a hint towards what that man is capable of, this game really made me understand Scarlett more. I also liked that she discovered her inner strength through this game.

Tella, although not that present, is also a really important character. In a way, she's exactly what Scarlett discovers in herself, if it makes sense. Tella has the courage and the recklessness to do what needs to be done in order to save herself and her big sister. She just has a lot more darkness in her that she accepts, and I wonder how that will work for her in the next book.

Throughout the game there are several really important characters that Scarlett encounters and I really hope that they are involved in the sequel. They were surprising and not what I fully expected, to be honest.

As I said, this story was a huge mind-game, and a fast-paced game at that. I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took, and the constant not knowing what was happening made me feel like I was an active part of the game. I also wonder how this story would have looked like had it been told from a viewer's POV.

Oh! I almost forgot to add this. Another cool stuff about the book is that we get to see small parts of Scarlett and Tella's childhood through Scarlett's memories, but this is done in a way to kind of explain her actions within the game, which was also a cool thing.

All in all, this was a really good book, one of the best I've read this year and I am desperately waiting for Legendary, book 2, to come out.


Saturday, June 10, 2017

Book Review: The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova

Author: Elise Kova
Series: Loom Saga #1
Audience: +16
Genre: Steampunk, Fantasy
Publisher: Keymaster Press
Release Date: January 10th 2017
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Her vengeance. His vision.

Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.

He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of this review in any way.


Steampunk isn't one of my favorite genres, but it might just become one if all books are just like this one. I've heard a lot of great things about Kova's books, and I've decided to give this one a try.

There's something incredibly magical about this book, and it's truly amazing to experience. First of all, the world of Loom is really interesting, with steampunk themes blending perfectly with fantasy, in a way I hadn't quite imagined. There's magic, dragons, and technology that, strangely, work just fine together. The world itself is really complex, with a lot of stuff to understand, and a lot of stuff that I didn't quite understood at first. I kind of felt a lot like Cvareh, being thrown into an unknown world and trying to understand it. At times that proved a bit difficult, especially since there's a lot of stuff that we don't know about what happened in the bast, way before the events in the book started.

I also liked having the book told from different POVs. It helped show a bigger picture than what one side would have shown, and I loved that we got even the villain's side of things.

Ari was a really interesting heroine. She is definitely not an easy person to understand, or even like. She has a lot of secrets, and the more I read about her, the more intrigued I became. I wonder if in the future we'll get to fully know who Ari is, what her motives for hating the dragons are, and if she'll get some kind of closure. But I did respect her, to be really honest, because as cold as she wanted others to see her as, she was truly loyal to her friend, even though that put her in a lot of danger.

Florence was one character that I loved from the very start. She was witty, funny, and kind of impossible to resist. I can understand why Ari wanted to protect her at all costs and why she rescued her when she did. I also liked that even though Florence had a pureness and tenderness that made her seem soft and breakable, she found it in herself to make the hard decisions, even though she was truly scared of the outcome.

Cvareh was the character that, much like Ari, was interesting, but it took me a while to understand. I still feel like there's a lot about him that we don't know, that he's keeping a lot of things about himself hidden, and I'm curious how that will work out in the next book. But as I said, having different POVs in this book made it difficult to decide which side of the war to sympathize with, because contrary to what Ari believes, Cvareh didn't seem so bad.

The more I read, the more I understood why I had so many people urging me to read Kova's works, mainly because she managed to get me to like a story in a genre that I don't normally connect with. The only thing I would have wanted was to have more background information, to maybe understand how to navigate the world of Loom better, but all in all this book was a great series-started, and I'll definitely read the next book in the series.


Monday, October 24, 2016

Book Review: The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids by Michael McClung

Author: Michael McClung
Series: Amra Thetys #1
Audience: +16
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Ragnarok Publications
Release Date: May 17th 2016
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
The self-published edition of this title is the winner of Mark Lawrence's Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (out of 270 entrants).

They butchered Corbin right out in the street. That’s how it really started. He was a rogue and a thief, of course. But then, so am I. So when he got himself hacked up in front of his house off Silk Street, I decided somebody had to be made to pay. They thought that they could just sweep him away like rubbish. They were wrong."

Amra Thetys is a thief with morals: she won't steal from anybody poorer than she is; of course, anybody that poor generally doesn't have much worth stealing.

When a fellow thief and good friend is killed in a deal gone wrong, Amra turns her back on burglary and goes after something far more precious: revenge. Revenge, however, might be hard to come by. A nightmare assortment of enemies, including an immortal assassin and a mad sorcerer, believe Amra is in possession of The Blade That Whispers Hate—the legendary, powerful artifact her friend was murdered for—and they'll do anything to take it from her.

Trouble is, Amra hasn't got the least clue where the Blade might be. She needs to find the Blade, and soon, or she'll be joining her unfortunate friend in a cold grave rather than avenging his death, and time is running short for the small, scarred thief.

The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids is the first volume in Michael McClung's Amra Thetys series.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Ragnarok Publications in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or opinion of the book in any way.

I really love discovering hidden gems in the literary world, and The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids is just that.

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about this book is the world building. I loved the characters, don't get me wrong, but the world of this book is so rich and so colorful. In a way, it almost felt like reading a post-apocalyptic book. It didn't feel dystopian, but it was certainly a book set sometime in the future, after the fall of mankind as we know it. I like how there really isn't a great detail of what happened in the past, and I have a feeling that that's actually the entire mystery of the series.

Amra is a great heroine. She's daring, she keeps her promises, she's much more honorable than many of the people she encounters that should be honest, and she isn't one to shy away from violence. The book starts off with her receiving a visit from a friend of hers, also a thief. And even from the very beginning you can tell that if Amra says she'll do something, she will do it. I liked that about her. I also liked the fact that she wasn't one to use pretty, "ladylike" language. If she needed to curse, then she did that, and I loved her for it.

The plot was pretty well paced. I did have a few moments where I felt as if maybe the plot was too fast. My only issue was with the way the book ended. The entire mystery of who killed Corbin, and why, is solved in a totally unexpected way, maybe because I wasn't expecting it. At the very end of the book we get kind of a history lesson about how the world in this series came to be, without actually answering the question of what happened before. It kind of stays somewhere above the real story, giving you a glimpse of what's to come, but also sharing bits and pieces of information that might or might not be revealing.

The book ended in a very interesting way, with Amra facing more problems than she imagines. I'm definitely curious about what will happen next and I cannot wait to read the next books in the series. I'm really glad I stumbled across this book on Netgalley.


Monday, October 10, 2016

Book Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Audience: +15
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: September 18th 2012
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Amazon
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

I know I'm a little late reading this book, as per usual with me and super hyped books, but I figured I should give it a try, especially now that the last book in the series is out.

It's rare that a book confuses me so much, that I don't know what rating to give it. But that's genuinely what I'm feeling right now. I've struggled with writing this review, not because I didn't enjoy reading this book, but because I'm so effin' confused here.

The thing that had me the most confused is the writing style. I won't lie to you, guys, I found this book to be too slow-paced for me. But the writing style made up for it. It was complicated, and yet so simple, beautiful and slightly scary at the same time. There's just something that the way Stiefvater writes hooked me, and kept me keep on reading, even if I didn't particularly root for the main characters. If you follow Stiefvater on social media, if you've read at least one of her blog posts, you've probably noticed that she has a way with words that not many people have, I don't think. And it's the same way with The Raven Boys, and I can see why so many people fell in love with her writing style, because I definitely did.

Now let's go back to the characters. Blue is a strange girl, because she's quite normal, compared to her family. But I found her a bit too... bland, if you know what I mean. She definitely wears her disappointment of the fact that she doesn't have any real powers of her own as you would a jacket or something, so it's really out there, and that kind of made me not be a super huge fan of hers. Also, the fact that she constantly has to take care to not kiss anyone because she might kill them was a bit strange. I understand that her family has all sorts of powers, but are we really sure that that's what's going to happen? Because I have a feeling that Blue might challenge that premonition. She's really careful, a girl that doesn't take a lot of chances, a lonely girl. I definitely enjoyed seeing her relax and enjoy the company of other kids, of strangers, and becoming friends with them, even if they are the Aglionby boys.

Speaking of the boys, I have a confession to make. Ronan and Adam, combined, reminded me of Michael from Rosswell. The TV version, because I haven't yet read the books. I love Ronan, and I kind of like Adam, but they reminded me so, so much of Michael, that I was trying not to swoon. (Michael is my favorite, but that's a different story). I'm super excited to read more about Ronan, actually, to find out about his story more, and understand exactly what it is that he can do, as well as how will this ability influence the events of the entire story. Gansey...yeah, he kind of annoyed me a little bit. Just a bit. I admire his dedication or solving one of history's mysteries, although I'm not sure I understood his motivation. I think there's more to Gansey's story that I hope we get to learn more about in the following books. And Noah, my sweet, sweet Noah. I'm not sure I know what to say about him, other than wow. I definitely want to know more about this mysterious guy.

Halfway through the book, I kind of got to get used to the writing style, and with the pacing, and a little detail that surfaced about one of the four boys hooked me in for good. Let's just say that what was revealed was so unexpected, that it surprised the hell out of me. But it was an interesting detail, and I'm curious to see what exactly will that "provoke" in the future, what consequences does that have on the future of all of the characters.

I saw that people who reread this book, after reading the last one, said that there's a ton of foreshadowing happening in The Raven Boys, so I'm really curious to see what happens in the future. I'll definitely read The Dream Thieves. I don't know when, but I will.


Monday, July 18, 2016

Book Review: A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Author: Sarah J Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Audience: New Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: May 5th 2015
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Personal Copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):
A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!


I've had my eye on this series for a while now, ever since my Twitter feed basically exploded with talks about Rhysand and Feyre and Tamlin, and since the gorgeous covers flooded the world of bookstagram. I am glad I decided to read this book, I do however regret not having A Court Of Mist and Fury to pick up immediately after finishing this one.

I'll be completely honest and say that I didn't know what to expect. Aside from the aforementioned Twitter convos I've seen, I've managed to stay away from any and all spoilers, so aside from the fact that this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, I knew nothing about this book.

Feyre is such a great heroine. I like that she's a strong, independent, "I-can-take-care-of-myself-and-my-family" young woman. I hated her family and how they treated her, but I loved her. She was stronger than anyone else would have been, and in those first pages of the book, when she's with her family and she describes how they treated her and how basically she was the only one keeping her sisters and her dad alive, I would not have blamed her for giving up, for saying "I'm done". Mad respect for her for not doing just that.

Given how Feyre was raised, to hate and fear all faeries, I feel like this book was a mirroring of the old fairytale, with "Beast" taming the Beauty. I liked that aspect, I like reading about people learning the truth about something or someone, despite the fear and hate they've been taught to feel from when they were infants.

Tamlin....My dear Tamlin. See, there were moments where I didn't like the guy as much as I should have, because he was always quiet and not talking about stuff, and then the ending happened and I understood it all, his silence, the half-answers, everything made sense.

My favorite character, though, was Lucien. I kept wishing he'd get more page-time. I keep hoping that the future books will focus on him more, because I need more Lucien! He was funny, he was awesome. Although he wasn't as kind with Feyre as I wanted at first, the ending, like with Tamlin, made it all make so much more sense.

Mad props for Maas for making Amarantha a true villain. That woman scared the crap outta me. She was just as evil as a villain should be, and just as deranged. I wonder if the next books will have a villain each.

Another reason for me to like this book is that, despite my misgivings with certain characters, like Nesta and Rhysand (I know, I know!), I got to understand the reasons of each character for behaving a certain way. It makes complete sense, now that I've finished the book, for Rhysand to act like he did, just like I completely understand Nesta for hating their dad. And I know I said on Twitter that I hope I never get to read about her again, I wonder if Nesta managed to escape and live a better life. I want to learn about her and how she's going to deal with.... something that happened at the end of the book.

If there's one thing I'd love to see, and if you guys know any fan art with this, let me know, is the Prythian map, as described by Feyre. There's this scene where she's describing a mural with the map, and the imagery is so gorgeous, that I'd love to see that in real life, with how the various Courts are painted and how the map is colored. Also, the cover makes complete sense now!

All in all, I'm super happy I read this book and I cannot wait to get my hands on ACOMAF and then the long wait for the next book starts. Also, I cannot wait for the coloring book!


Thursday, June 30, 2016

Book Review: Once Upon A Dream by Liz Braswell

Author: Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #2
Publisher: Disney Press
Release Date:April 5th 2016
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
What if the sleeping beauty never woke up? Once Upon a Dream marks the second book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.

It should be simple--a dragon defeated, a slumbering maiden, a prince poised to wake her. But when said prince falls asleep as soon as his lips meet the princess's, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.

With a desperate fairy's last curse infiltrating her mind, Princess Aurora will have to navigate a dangerous and magical landscape deep in the depths of her dreams. Soon she stumbles upon Phillip, a charming prince eager to join her quest. But with Maleficent's agents following her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are, and moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?
*Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from Netgalley and Disney Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion of this book or my rating in any way.

Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my Top 3 Disney animated movies. As a little girl, I remember being captivated by Aurora's relationship with the animals, but also by the three fairy godmothers. One thing I've always been attracted to, that I don't think I've ever told anyone before, was Maleficent's raven. I had a soft spot for that animal, even though he did ultimately belong to Maleficent, making him one of the bad guys, but he was a pretty bird. I was always sad when he ended up being turned into stone. Anyway...

I was very excited to see how the author would remake this story and make the villain win. There have been many remakes of the story, but I was really curious to see if this book could match the original movie's lavish world, with the medieval-looking drawings and details.

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the first quarter or so of the book. The plot was slow-paced and the language used made me think the book was intended for middle-grade aged readers. Which is not bad, except I was expecting more, for some reason.

I have to say though, I'm glad I pushed through and kept reading. Around the middle of the book, the story started picking up and it became the dark story I hoped it would be. It touched on some really delicate themes, like suicide and child abandonment, and I'm really happy the story went there. It was also really interesting to see that Aurora/Rose isn't shown as the delicate princess with the pretty voice and gorgeous hair that the movie shown, but she's more than that. She basically becomes the hero in this story, and I liked that very, very much.

I can't say I liked Prince Phillip very much. Probably because we see him mostly from Aurora's perspective, and he is yet another person who hid things from her. Even so, I was expecting more from the daring prince who faced a dragon for a girl he didn't even know.

The world-building was good. I liked how the story is told from the lens of a war won by the villain. Unlike the previous book in the series, I felt like Maleficent really was a villain in this story. She was cruel, she was ruthless, and she was deranged. Far more dark than the movie allows the audience to see. I still feel that, for a story where the villain wins at first, there were so few scenes told from her perspective.

I did enjoy this book more than the other one, however I think the first part of the book, as I said before, could have been a bit more fast paced, and maybe used a more mature language. I saw that the next book in the series is about Beauty and the Beast, and I can't even explain how much I want to read about that library that Beast has in his castle. So I'll definitely read the next book in this series.


Monday, February 1, 2016

Early Book Review: Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Everlife #1
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: February 23rd 201
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
ONE CHOICE.

TWO REALMS.

NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…


*Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC of this copy from Netgalley and Harlequin Teen in exchange for an honest review.

Life after death is one of those topics that will always be of interest to people, for various reasons, whether it's scientific curiosity, fear of the unknown or personal beliefs. I've always been fascinated with how different people interpret and imagine it, which is what attracted me to requesting and reading Firstlife.

I was very fascinated with the mythology of this world, the idea that you can choose where to go in the Afterlife, either Troika or Myriad. Usually the story of the afterlife is pretty much the one we've grown up with, that if you do good in this life, you end up in Heaven, if you do bad things, you end up in Hell. So I really enjoyed that aspect of free will and the fact that no matter what you do, you can choose how life after death is going to be like.

Tenley, or Ten as friends call her, is in a really bad place at the beginning of this book. I admired her courage, her stubbornness, and her conviction. I personally would have folded and would have accepted anything just to make my life easier. I liked the fact that she was also very loyal to her friends and that she had that "no man left behind" code, when a lot of other people wouldn't have given a damn. I also enjoyed her fascination with numbers. I thought that made her a very unique character and made her stand out more.

The boys, Killian and Archer, make the entire story much wilder and interesting than I first imagined. I didn't get the feeling of a love triangle, which made me insanely happy. Instead, I got the impression that they were willing to put their differences aside and make the right choices for the things they believed in, even if it might have gone against their world. There's an interesting dynamic not only between the two guys and Ten, but also between the guys themselves. There's definitely a story worth exploring there and I'm sure that there's a lot of other stuff that wasn't mentioned in this book that I want to see mentioned in the next books.

Aside from being a fantasy, dystopian story about life after death, I feel like at the core of this book there's the theme of parent-child relationships. I felt like the asylum was a giant metaphor for dysfunctional, toxic relationships between a child or a teenager and whoever raises them and is their legal guardian, be they a biological parent or whatever. It was something that honestly surprised me a little bit, because I wasn't expecting that, but it was done beautifully and I am glad that this was one of the many themes in the book.

As far as pacing goes, I felt like it was well paced, not too fast, not too slow. The ending came out of nowhere and I was shocked that it ended the way it did. It was a massive cliffhanger in my opinion and I am curious to see when exactly will the story be picked up in the next book.

This was a fantastic read and I am very, very excited for book number 2 and the (hopefully) many more books to come.




Thursday, October 29, 2015

Book Review: 13 Days of Midnight by Leo Hunt

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24465799-13-days-of-midnight
Author: Leo Hunt
Series:
Publisher: Orchard Books
Release Date: February 19th 2015
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
When Luke Manchett's estranged father dies suddenly, he leaves his son a dark inheritance. Luke has been left in charge of his father's ghost collection: eight restless spirits. They want revenge for their long enslavement, and in the absence of the father, they're more than happy to take his son. It isn't fair, but you try and reason with the vengeful dead.

Halloween, the night when the ghosts reach the height of their power, is fast approaching. With the help of school witchlet Elza Moss, and his cowardly dog Ham, Luke has just thirteen days to uncover the closely guarded secrets of black magic, and send the unquiet spirits to their eternal rest. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Hachette Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy taking a chance with new-to-me authors. Usually this forces me out of my comfy reader box, which I will admit is something that I need sometimes. This book presents a new take on necromancers and ghosts and I have to say, it was an interesting perspective. The fact that the story is told from a male character's POV was also a welcome change for me.

I really was intrigued by the idea that someone can "inherit" someone else's ghosts. This was the first thing that stood out when I read the blurb. One would hope they'd inherit money, estates or really pricey possessions from relatives, but ghosts? And not just any ghosts, but angry, creepy, scary as hell ghosts. I think Luke reacted like any other person would, which basically means to freak out at first.

Luke was an interesting character. I feel like he could have done things differently at the beginning of the story, mainly regarding his decision to hide certain things from his mom. I liked that he had the sense to be scared when he was. I did however wanted to shake him a few times, like I said before. But, all in all, it turned out great and I really did feel like he grew as a character by the end of the story.

 Elza was an interesting character. She was the voice of reason on some occasions. And I liked her willingness to help him, even though they weren't friends exactly. There is a romance element to their relationship, which I saw coming, to be fair.

This book was an interesting read, very fast paced and, like I said, new and fresh. I did hear that there's going to be a sequel and I hope that's not just a rumor and that it will be out soon. I want to see how Luke and Elza move on and how their relationship grows, but I also expect to see some new take on another supernatural element or creatures.


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Early Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24397040-a-whole-new-world
Author: Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Publisher: Disney Press
Release Date: September 1st 2015
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.


*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Disney Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


When I first heard of this book, the 5 year old in my did crazy happy dances. What could be better than a Disney movie retelling where the bad guy wins? So I was ecstatic to read this book.

The idea of the book is great. Although not one of my favorite Disney movies, I always loved Genie (Robin Williams, may he rest in peace, was amazing in this role). And although he was twisted and mean, Iago was my favorite pet sidekick, along with Abu. Though Iago was funnier in my eyes.

Because the book was focused on what if Jafar had gotten the lamp, we don't get to see much of Iago or the Genie. We get to see how life for the Street Rats was, how they go from being just the poorest of the poor to being the bravest of the brave. We see a darker Agrabah and I really enjoyed that. Usually the fairytales we get to read/see nowadays are lighter than this book, so it was a good change to see a darker story. There were some details that I didn't see coming, mostly relating to some characters and how they reacted to magic. I also liked some of the stories that were new to the story, like a little bit of Genie's backstory, or the beginning of the book, with Aladdin as a kid. I also liked the little moments that tied the book to the movie.

There were a few things that I was hoping would be different. For instance, there's an insta-love element that I feel could have been avoided. In the movie it was acceptable, because there is  a limited time frame that filmmakers have to put together a good story. But in a book setting, I feel like the love story of Jasmine and Aladdin could have been built a little bit more. I also would've wanted to see a little bit of growth in the characters. There were new characters used in this book, some of which were great and did feel a little changed by the end of the book. But the well-known characters could have had a little bit more growth in them by the end of the story.

A Whole New World was an interesting take on the story of the magic lamp and Aladdin. I've sometimes wanted to know how the story would look like if the bad guy won, so it was good to see a story like this. I'm curious what stories will be retold in the future.


Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Book Review: The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25637444-witch-hunter
Author: Virginia Boecker
Series: The Witch Hunter #1
Publisher: Orchard Books
Release Date: June 4th 2015
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
The magic and suspense of Graceling meet the political intrigue and unrest of Game of Thrones in this riveting fantasy debut.

Your greatest enemy isn't what you fight, but what you fear.

Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.

Salvation comes from a man she thought was her enemy. Nicholas Perevil, the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the kingdom, offers her a deal: he will save her from execution if she can break the deadly curse that's been laid upon him.

But Nicholas and his followers know nothing of Elizabeth's witch hunting past--if they find out, the stake will be the least of her worries. And as she's thrust into the magical world of witches, ghosts, pirates, and one all-too-handsome healer, Elizabeth is forced to redefine her ideas of right and wrong, of friends and enemies, and of love and hate.

Virginia Boecker weaves a riveting tale of magic, betrayal, and sacrifice in this unforgettable fantasy debut.


*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this novel from Netgalley and Orchard Books in exchange for an honest review.


I loved this book so much! I want to thank Meredith from Pandora's Books for recommending it to me.

I usually have a hard time reading about witches, probably because of my love for one very famous wizard and his friends. But I am so, so happy I was told to give this book a try. It was a very interesting story, but what I loved even more than the story were the characters.

I loved Elizabeth. She was fun to read about. There's a moment in the book where she's being completely honest with herself about why she chose to be a witch hunter and I loved that moment. I also liked the fact that she admitted to herself what was right and wrong, that she had the ability to say  "yes, this is bad". I also felt sorry for her at some point, especially when I found out her backstory. She was obviously in search of a family and I'm so happy that eventually she finds it.

Caleb pissed me off. I can't say I liked him all that much in the beginning of the book, but by the end of it I wanted to physically hurt him. How could he be so blind to what was going on with Elizabeth and how she was feeling? UGH! A lot of other things made me angry at him, but they're too spoilery for me to talk about. I'll just say this: he needed to be in a lot of pain.

I adored some of the secondary characters that Elizabeth met at Nicholas' house. Some of them were so, so hilarious. I can't wait for the next book, to read more about them. Peter was hilarious. I'm just sorry there weren't more scenes with him.

The story was good. I enjoyed the descriptions a lot. And some of the scenes, especially with the punishments handed out to those accused of witchcraft were so well written. I also enjoyed some of the descriptions. So vivid, so colorful. At some point, some events were predictable. It was obvious that some of those things were going to happen, but either way, I enjoyed the way they were put together and how they were told. Some things that happened, however, were unexpected to me. I thought for sure the villain was a different character. It makes sense that it's who it turned out to be, but for me it was shocking.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I cannot wait for the sequel to come out and see how the story ends. Or how it continues, in case there are going to be more books besides the second one.


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Monday, August 18, 2014

Book Review: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: August 31st 2010
My Rating: 3 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....


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Disclaimer: Before I start my review I should warn you that: 1) my review might contain SPOILERS and some curse words and 2) There will be a few GIFs because words fail me at the moment and I need them to accurately convey what I'm feeling right now. 

So...Umm...I finished reading this book on Sunday and I'm still a bit confused about what I'm actually feeling about this book. I loved the first part of it. Adored it, actually. Then the second half of the book happened and I kept wondering "What am I reading? What did I miss?". I'm getting ahead of myself though.

So the first half of the book was great. A girl was murdered and no one knows why, there's another girl kidnapped and a race of warriors feared by all dark creatures that will do anything to protect the humans, also known as "mundanes". Everything sounds fine until now right? Right. Our heroine is a book lover as well and that was so great, because I love book nerds as heroes/heroines.


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I have to admit to one thing first: I decided to read these books after I saw the movie. I saw the movie and I liked it (I know, I know, those who read the books were disappointed) and I thought I need to see if the books are just as awesome. The idea of a strong warrior race fighting demons, vampires, warlocks and other dark creatures has always appealed to me and it's still not getting old. I love that theme and so here I am. Granted, The Infernal Devices takes place before the events in the movie, but I always hated reading series/sagas out of order.  

I was thrown off by Tessa's naive nature, but then again she was a young girl in a new country, new continent, hoping to meet her brother whom she has not seen for a while. Plus, she's been God knows how many weeks on a ship and that would make anyone longing for some human interaction. Granted, there were people on that boat but maybe she was just shy *shrugs*. I did like the idea of her being kidnapped right as she arrived at her destination though. It made the villain be very scary, the fact that he acted right away, with no warning whatsoever. We are introduced to our hero (or so I thought), Will. Will is a smart-ass and I like that in a guy. Sarcastic and completely unashamed of his shortcomings. Sometimes he's a bit rude, but he secretly loves books and again my judgement was clouded by emotions. Then I got to know him a little bit and by the end I wanted to punch him in the nuts, just for shits and giggles, but that's another story. There's another guy in the picture, Jem, but I kinda didn't like him all that much. I mean, I didn't dislike him, but he was a little...he's a character I can miss, someone that I don't necessarily notice all that much.

Anyway, the first part of the book had a great deal of suspense, some mildly irritating moments involving a female Shadowhunter (of which I will refrain from talking about because then this review will turn into a rant about characters I'd like to bitch-slap into the next century), and some action-filled scenes, during which I was keeping my fingers crossed for the good guys.

Then... the rest happened. Here's the thing. I'm usually a forgiving reader. I understand that my expectations are somewhat weird in terms of how a book should end and that if I guess correctly what's going to happen sometimes that makes me roll my eyes, other times it makes me want to pat myself on the back for being a smart cookie. HOWEVER. Something happened here that didn't quite sit well with me.

First, how is it that the Shadowhunters, a great race of warriors, feared by all supernatural creatures, didn't know that one of their "trusted friends" was actually working against them? You'd think they would have the means necessary to control everyone 'cause, you know, they sounded like the freakin' police of the supernatural world. Amirite?


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Second, why is it that it took the good guys so much time to even consider that the one guy feeding them information might be lying? Granted, the possibility didn't even register in my mind at the time, but why would they, the smartest, strongest, most fierce of all, took so long? And then, when time came for them to figure it out, Will said it like he said something ordinary, like...oh, I don't know, "The sun is hot". If it was THAT easy, why did it take so freaking long in the first place??? 


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Then there's something...technical, if you'd like, that bothered me. It seemed that in the last...100-150 pages or so, there were too many important moments that could've been the ending of the book. Now, you might frown and look all confused, but usually big moments in a book signal the end of that book, right? Huge, bombastic moments happen once or twice, but this book seemed to have more. I probably wouldn't have noticed this, had the book been split in two parts. Then it wouldn't have been an issue. Since that was not the case, I kept scratching my head, wondering what could possibility happen next, because it seemed that all that had happened was all that seemed possible at the time. 

I'm not saying in any way, shape or form, that the book was bad. It wasn't, but the ending...Yeah, that was bad. The only way for me to express my feelings about the ending compared to how the book started, is by using this gif:


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It was exactly like that. I'm now confused, because I don't know if I am ready to read further or not. I do want to read City Of Bones, but I just don't know... It's sad, because I see so many bloggers that I follow and that I trust that gave glowing reviews to this book and I'm sitting here all confused and pouting, wondering if I read a different book.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Book Review: Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #1
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release Date: September 19th 2011
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi—pure-bloods—have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals—well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem—staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.


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I've had this book on my TBR for so long, it's actually slightly embarrassing. I told myself it was time to read it when that's what Random Generator chose when I did the January Random Reads hosted by the awesome Sarah. I'm very glad I read this book.

If you know me, you know I'm pretty obsessed with Armentrout's books. Not only are the heroes incredibly hot (and let's be honest here, some of her villains too) but they are really, really good. The one reason I tried to stay away from this series is that it has ancient gods and their offspring. I love ancient mythology and there are few authors that managed to write about the amazing creatures the ancient people believed in. It's a difficult task, when you think about it, or so it seems to me, and I've had a few disappointments along the way. Granted, I've read some very good books that I'll probably reread until I'm old and wrinkly, but those are few. I'm happy to tell you that the series Covenant is now part of that "very good books" list.

I have to mention that I loved this book so much, I could not help myself from binge reading the entire series. I read it in like a week and obviously I regretted my decision when I realized there's a certain character that gets his own book, so I basically wanted to smack myself because I now have to *gasp* wait for it's release. I mention this because I'll try really hard not to give away anything from the next books, so my review might seem a little...weird. Anyway, back to the review.

I loved Alex. She's the type of character that I love reading about. She has a big mouth and that sometimes gets her into a lot more trouble than she expects, she rarely has a filter so basically she just blurts out whatever it is that she has on her mind. She's also brave and she'd do a lot of things for the people she loves. And as the story goes on I just liked her more and more and more. She has a temper and that also gets her into a lot of trouble. But she's loyal and she rarely backs down from a fight, even though it might be what she should do at times.

Aiden is interesting as well. He's easy to like, even though he plays hard to get. I understood his reasons very well though, and in the books that follow the reasons for why he's so cold at times will be explained in detail (sometimes painfully so). He's strong and daring, but he's cautious and sometimes he's the voice of reason. He is a really good character and he grows on you the more you read the book.

And then there's Seth. I'm afraid I can't give you a description of this character without sounding like a lunatic baboon trying to pass on as a human. But he was... he was amazing. He's the kind of anti-hero you just have to love. You can realize he'll have a huge role to play in this series early on. And it's obvious he's tortured and he's hiding stuff, but he just gets under your skin so fast, you just can't help but love the guy.

Before I end this review, I have to talk about something. I noticed there are a lot of  readers that talked about the similarities between Half-Blood and another book, namely Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Did I notice any similarities? Yes, there were a few moments. The story takes place at a school for special people and the heroine falls for the wrong guy and there are a few other details as well. However, Alexandra had her own voice and I never actually even thought about Rose while reading this book. And let me tell you, I didn't notice anything similar between Aiden and Dimitri, aside from the fact that both are trying really hard to be cautious when it comes to the heroines. And they're both men (d'oh). Other than that I did not see other similarities, or I was able to get over them, because the story developed in ways I did not expect at all. I just noticed the fact that I loved the book so much I just had to read the rest of the series and that I had to read it fast.

All in all, I adored this book and I would definitely recommend this to anyone that: 1) loves Jennifer L. Armentrout's books and 2) loves smart-mouthed heroines and silent, sexy heroes and lots of adventures and danger and lots of twists and turns of events that will leave you open-mouthed and on the edge of your seat.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Early Book Review: My Life From Hell by Tellulah Darling

Author: Tellulah Darling
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #3
Publisher: Te Da Media
Release Date: March 20th 2014
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

To say that Sophie Bloom is at the top of her game with one only week until spring equinox and the final showdown with Zeus and Hades would be, well, lying. The Goddess of Spring feels more like the Goddess of Bzz Thanks For Playing than the savior of humanity. And could her relationships be any more messed up?

Good times.

Sophie is convinced that things can’t get any worse than crawling back to her mother Demeter and begging for help. But she’s about to find out how very wrong she is.

It’s a race against time for Sophie to implement the big battle strategy in the YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology finale My Life From Hell. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book three of this teen fantasy romance series. Save herself; save the world. Humanity may be screwed.

It's always bittersweet to read the last installment of a series, especially when it's of a series that I loved as much as I loved The Blooming Goddess trilogy. I remember the first thing that struck me and that made me want to keep reading this series was the fact that it used mythology as a starting point, but it made it in such a great way that it didn't feel like a caricature, like something I couldn't believe in. Reading about Kai and Festos and all others, I really believed they were gods and that's something that to me seems a bit difficult.

Sophie grows a lot in this book. I think by the end of it we see her being a mature young woman, one that has accepted her past and her role and her obligations, as well as her needs. She's come to terms with what it means to be a goddess, but also with herself as a person. There was such a great scene towards the end where she accepts certain things about herself and it's like she becomes a better version of herself in an instant. It's one of my favorite scenes, even though it was a little bit sad.

I liked that there were a lot of questions from the previous books that got their answers. It was a great thing, seeing all the things I've wondered about get answers. There were also some aspects of the story I never even thought of, some interesting facts I never expected to get.

There were a lot of emotional scenes in this book, some of them downright painful and most of them were completely unexpected. I loved the ending and I thought it was the perfect way to end Sophie's story. I can't imagine a better way to say goodbye to her and to her friends *sniff*sniff*

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Early Book Review: My Date From Hell by Tellulah Darling


Author: Tellulah Darling
Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy #2
Publisher: Te Da Media
Release Date: October 31st 201
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: e-ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Sophie Bloom’s junior year has been a bit of a train wreck. After the world’s greatest kiss re-awakened Sophie’s true identity as Persephone (Goddess of Spring and Savior of Humanity), she fought her dragon-lady guidance counselor to the death, navigated mean girl Bethany’s bitchy troublemaking, and dealt with the betrayal of her backstabbing ex, Kai (sexy Prince of Darkness). You’d think a girl could catch a break.

Yeah, right.

With Zeus stepping things up, it’s vital that Sophie retrieve Persephone’s memories and discover the location of the ritual to stop Zeus and Hades. So when Aphrodite strikes a deal that can unlock Sophie’s pre-mortal past, what choice does the teen goddess have but to accept?

The mission: stop media mogul Hermes from turning Bethany into a global mega-celebrity. The catch? Aphrodite partners Sophie and Kai to work together … and treat this suicide mission as a date. Which could work out for Sophie’s plan to force Kai to admit his feelings for her–if she doesn’t kill him first.

Add to that the fact that BFF Theo’s love life and other BFF Hannah’s actual life are in Sophie’s hands, and suddenly being a teenager—even a godlike one—seems a bit like … well, hell. Whatever happened to dinner and a movie?

The YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology fireworks continue to fly in My Date From Hell. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book two of this teen fantasy romance series. Breaking up is easy; dating is deadly.

I've been sitting in front of my computer for twenty minutes, staring at the screen and trying to find a better way to start off this review, other than "OMG!!". See, I'm learning and/or trying! I get cookies for that, right?

You all know how much I loved My Ex From Hell. To say I was impatient to read what happened next is an understatement. I couldn't wait and I had really high expectations. I'm happy to say My Date From Hell does not disappoint.

Sophie is still the same funny, cool and slightly devious girl we met in the previous book. Only now she's a little more mature and more aware of what her responsibilities are or should be and what she needs to do in order to keep the people she loves safe. She has some insecurities, but those are more than normal, especially if you think about her being torn between her past as Persephone and her present as Sophie. She's also discovering things about herself in this book, things she didn't know she had before.

I also understood Kai more in this second book. There's a side of him that was hidden in the first book. He's still bad ass and he's still sexy and dangerous and funny as before, but he's also a little bit vulnerable and more mature than I thought he was at first. Also, there are things about his past that helped me understand him a lot better.

There are a few new characters, some good, some not so good. There's an addition to the group that I love and adore. He's a great, amazing guy and I hope to see more of him in the next book. Hannah is still as funny and smart as she was previously and Theo is still as loyal and he's still willing to sacrifice himself to protect Sophie.

There were so many funny moments in the book, I couldn't count them all. There was one that made me laugh so hard, I think I actually woke up a neighbor or two (sorry, neighbors!). There were also very serious, deep moments. And also some huge surprises that left me gasping.

Remember in the beginning when I said my first thought was to start this review with something other than "OMG"? Well, here's why: cliffhanger. Seriously, I have no... I'm speechless. Basically, I can't even express how I feel after that cliffhanger. I didn't even see it coming. I thought something else might happen but not THAT! I actually resisted the urge to scream, I was so surprised by it. And I have to wait until next year to see what happens next with these great characters. *pout*

If you haven't read My Ex From Hell, go ahead and read it before this book comes out at the end of this month. If you have read the first book, be prepared to love this one as well and to be very, very surprised.


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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Book Review: A Time Of Dying by Hailey Edwards

Author: Hailey Edwards
Series: Araneae Nation #3
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: July 30th 2013
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Review copy offered by author in exchange for an honest review
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Once the future Segestriidae maven, Kaidi lived a privileged life. Now she spends her nights haunting cities ravaged by the plague. Spade in hand, she stalks rows of freshly dug graves for corpses...and then she takes their heads.

Her new life is caked in blood and spattered with gore, but it's hers. At least until-to her fury-she's caught napping.

A plague survivor by the skin of his teeth, Murdoch risks his neck to solve the mysteries left in its wake. Bodies have gone missing. Guards have left their posts and never returned home.

When he rouses a female dozing among the dead, he's unprepared for the violence of her response. Or his. Beneath the grime, she's lovely. Too bad the blood under her fingernails belongs to his clansmen.

He has no choice but to follow this alluring creature deeper into her world of winged beasts and flesh-eating monsters. She holds the knowledge he craves, but the price is high-and they may both pay for it with their lives.

Warning: This book contains one heroine in desperate need of a bath and one hero willing to wash away her sins. Expect threats, swears and general cursing. Love is a slippery slope, and these two are sliding.

There are so many good things happening in this book, I don't even know where to start. You have a very sexy hero, a surprising heroine, a huge thing happening that will affect everyone in this world, old characters coming back and more.

Let's start with the heroine, Kaidi. At first, I didn't know what to think about her. She clearly has some big secrets she's desperately trying to keep hidden. And she's doing some strange things, even though it's quite obvious she's not doing them because she enjoys them or because she tries to hurt anyone. Then we learn she was supposed to be maven and that is surprising and made me want to learn more about her. She's had some nasty things happen to her in the past and my heart broke a little when she was talking about some of those things.

Murdoch is... breathtaking. He's really quiet at first, dark and mysterious but once he starts knowing Kaidi more and more he sort of opens up and we get to see what kind of male he really is. He's very loyal and very protective. And I liked that he'd go to great lengths to protect those who need protecting. He can be a little too stubborn at times, but I like a stubborn character.

Like I said before, something really big happens in this book. I have a feeling this will change a lot of things in this world, for new and old characters. And it's something a little more than just scary, it's dark and it was completely unexpected. I definitely want to know what happens next.


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