Ironskin by Tina Connolly

Overall Rating: 2 stars

Date Finished: January 29, 2017

I will start by saying that it took me a while to finish this book. The truth is that I was rather bored and there were other books that arrived that interested me more so this kept getting pushed to the side burner. Of course, the breaks in between reading may have affected how I felt about the book, but I never really felt any drive to keep reading either.

Unfortunately, the problems with this book begin with the premise itself. See, this book is premised as a retelling of Jane Eyre but in a world full of the Fae. So, you start off the book with very high expectations which are in all honesty pretty much impossible to meet because in all honesty we all know that it can't ever really compare to Jane Eyre. So the book set itself up but even alluding to it being a Jane Eyre retelling.

The second big thing is the romance. Now, there characters weren't all that great or really hashed out much, but that is unfortunately common in YA novels. The real issue is that the romance was based on absolutely nothing. Jane started falling in love with Edward based on almost no interaction. She would only see him for 5 minutes a week and sometimes less. And  yet, she just couldn't resist him and these deep feeling were developing just based on her obsessing over him? Not quite enough to make for an enjoyable romance.

And there is the main character herself. She was such a downer. Yes, she was injured. Yes, she had reasons to be bitter. But she was obsessed. She spent all of her time moping or obsessing about all the things she didn't have and felt she deserved. And all of this led her ridiculous, vain decision that could have ended everything. 

Towards the end you begin to see a difference in Jane as she grows and yet she is offered the chance to have a mask placed, on that would forever cover her deformity and its ill effects on other people. The catch is that the mask if made from fae mask which means that anyone with a mask can have their body taken over by the fae. Not only has the Queen already been trying to take her over but now she has personally witnessed people being taken over, and yet, despite all the risks, she decides to get a mask but the only thing she cares about is being pretty and special. And of course she is devastated when surprise, surprise it all backfires.

But even in the end she gets a  new mask and the overall message of the whole book is that looks is all that matters and the guy could never love her is she didn't have a normal face again. And of course, its okay to put your life, the life of everyone you care about, and the safety of your whole country in jeopardy just so she an be pretty. 

The Beauty of Darkness (Remnant Chronicles #3) by

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date Finished: December 15, 2016

The last book in a series is always a completely different beast from all the other books because it has to somehow wrap up everything that has happened throughout the series in a satisfying way and that is surprisingly hard to do. I try to reasonable when it comes to last books, but at the same time there are so many amazing series that rock the last book, is that really so much to ask?

And while this book was a pretty good conclusion for the series, there were still some things that I felt were lacking. 

One of those things was the relationship between Lia and Rafe. They kind of ignore the real world while they are crossing the plains and somehow imagine that their love will overcome all politics no matter what. Only to return to civilization and crack within the first few days. She won't change, he tries to cage her, and then when he finally decides to let her go and save her country, even though he provides his support, its at the cost of the relationship. There was no, hey come find me when you're done. It was, if you do this then we're over. Then when he comes to her rescue he's engaged to someone else. And then it isn't until everything is over that they finally decide to make it work. But here's the problem. She's the queen of one country, He's the king of another, and yet no one has any intention of uniting the kingdoms and yet in the last scene they say that they are going to make it work no matter what.

So, let's imagine that for a second. Let's say they chose to get married, or just be lovers if they so choose, without uniting the kingdoms. Both kingdoms are still going to need an heir. Maybe she chooses an heir from among the people, but Rafe will still need an heir. So, does he have an heir with someone from his kingdom or does their child become his heir. Does that then mean that any of their children will be raised with him. Will they spend six months in each country or only live exclusively in the kingdom they will rule? And on and on it goes. There are so many complications that them saying they were going to make it work sounded more like an empty promise to me than anything else. Saying they will work things out just covers up the fact that logistically there is no good way to work it out without one of their kingdoms suffering. 

I will say that I was very happy with how things ended with Kaden. For a while I was worried they would try to complicate the love triangle again but I feel like that worked out the way the author played that all out.

The other thing that left me wanting more was the ending with the Komizar. There was all this build up and then when the big confrontation finally happens there is absolutely no confrontation. He is pushed over the edge of a cliff and that's the end of it. There is no struggle, no fight beforehand, no desperation, nothing. Just, oh no there's the Komizar, oh, and now it's over. 

And yet, despite these things that frustrated me, there were also plenty of things that I liked. Lia really comes into her own and learns to have confidence. She saves her kingdom, and in doing so saves all the other too. So, even though I wasn't fully satisfied, it was still a good book, and a good ending.

Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date Finished: November 18, 2016

I really liked the original Gray Wolf series and so I was so excited when I heard that there was going to be a follow-up series. Of course, part of that was the excitement to see characters from the previous book, but also to see their children and the state of the world...etc.

I liked the characters for the most part and there was plenty of action and intrigue...and yet, it just wasn't the same.

There wasn't the same suspense. Most of the book was just them kind of biding their time waiting for an opening and unfortunately a lot slower than I was hoping for.

And yet, other things happened too fast. The beginning with the introduction of Ash and the death of his father felt rushed. We're talking about the strongest mage in the kingdom yet the fight is over in minutes?? And with all of that happening so fast we never get to see his mother or his sisters and so we really get no follow-up on them or the kingdom itself. During other parts of the book Ash would reflect on the past but we really don't get much of a detailed update on his family at all. 

And the romance with Jenna was too rushed. They have some psychic moment and all of the sudden they're in love. They spend all their time together kissing rather than getting to know each other and so it didn't really feel like a romance at all. I wanted to the build up and the excitement and maybe even some butterflies, something! And the reality is that seeing inside of someone's mind doesn't make you love them, so I wanted some kind of building or trust or some time getting to know each other to really build that connection. 

And then we finally get to the ending where things are finally starting to happen but it all felt a bit rushed. The death of the king, and all of the interesting reveals that should have been given more time were ignored or brushed over. And even though we have the epilogue, that left more questions than answer.

Overall, there was enough of this book that I enjoyed that I will still keep reading and I do look forward to the next book. But I am still hoping for a little bit more from the next book. 

Staying Dead (Retrievers #1) by Laura Anne Gilman

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: November 14, 2016

I have had this book sitting on my to-read shelf for a couple years now. I remember reading Hard Magic and really liking the first book. So, I added the second book to my to-read list and also added this book to see if I liked the other series as well. The problem is, I got distracted with reading other series and never really got around to reading this one.

Now that it's been so long I am practically starting from scratch because I really don't remember much of anything from the first series.  I don't remember any of the world building or characters and it leaves wondering whether I might have enjoyed this book more if I could remember the other series better.

One of the biggest problems that I had with this book is that I feel like we come in somewhere in the middle. The relationship between Wren and Sergei was complicated but I feel like we already missed all of the important parts of it. We don't see the beginning, how and when they meet, we only get a general recap. Now, that does happen in books and that's okay, but we really don't get to see anything else either. By the time we come in Wren has already developed more-than-friends feelings for Sergei. So we didn't really get to see that change in their relationship, at least not really. There is some development between them but it's all very subtle and there was nothing exciting about their romance at all. 

Beyond that, the job itself was okay. The ending is a bit anticlimactic and even though they are able to finish the job, they don't get the big payout and they end up having to work for the secret organization they didn't want to work for, just to have their protection. So overall, it wasn't exactly a great ending for anyone. 

To be fair, it's not that I didn't enjoy this book, I just didn't love it. Everything about it was okay but not much more than that. The action and magic was okay. The romance was okay but not very memorable. And overall I just wanted a bit more from this book.

Imprudence (The Custard Protocol #2) by Gail Carriger

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: November 10, 2016

I have to be honest with the fact that I really have trouble rating this series. Partially it is because I really liked the original series and I almost feel bad giving this a bad review because it is a continuation of that series. Partially because this brings back many of the characters that I loved from the original series. But the problem with that is that they are seen differently through Rue's eyes, and because I like the old characters more than I like most of the new characters so that makes it even harder.

I will say that I had a bit of trouble really liking Rue in the first book of the series. I loved Alexia as a character but her daughter was really nothing like her. While Alexia was always pragmatic and consistent, Rue was overly dramatic and rather quite spoiled.

In this book Rue is set adrift, so to speak, as she no longer under guardianship of Lord Akeldama, her parents move to Egypt and without her father, she is no longer a member of the pack. So, she has to find her place in the world. 

Because of that there we essentially lose most of the characters from the original series that I was looking forward to seeing. Especially with word of Professor Lyle coming back, I really wanted to see how that all worked out and the new dynamic between Lyle and Biffy. I will say that Rue was more enjoyable in this book. Because of everything happening she has to essentially put on her big girl panties and start taking some responsibility.

There are more mentions of the past, reintroductions of past characters, some much needed explanations, and of course, lots of tea. And while there are some interesting developments, in a lot of way it still doesn't quite make up for missing the old characters.

But I will say that overall I enjoyed this book more than the last one and I enjoyed the growth of the characters. The romances seemed a bit forced, but overall, not bad.

Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3) by C. C. Hunter

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: November 5 2016

As the Della part of this series closes up there is a lot of things to resolves and lots of questions to answer and Della is receiving pressure from her aunt the ghost to find those answers fast.

Chase is back. He is determined to do things right this time and he will willing to give up everything to do it. He is working hard to earn Della's trust again and has promised not to lie to her ever again (I'll believe that when I see it). And while the new Chase is very sincere and open about his feelings, he is also super frustrating because he just keeps saying, were meant to be together, and trying to force things. 

Steve is back too, and while things with Steve are awkward there is satisfying resolution of their relationship in the end. 

There is the usual mystery and searches while they try to find the murderer of their aunt in time to get Della's father removed as a suspect. And it doesn't help that Della's father is an idiot and turns Della into the police as a suspect for murder herself!

Della finally meets her uncle, lots of things are answered and everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow. And that was actually what I really hated about this book. I can live with Chase. I can live with some of the other changes and info reveals. What I can't live with is the magical, Disneyesc resolution with Della's father. 

I get it, he finally realizes that his daughter is not a monster. He cries and he feels so bad, blah, blah blah. And then she forgives him and somehow they automatically go back to having that amazing relationship that they had before. 

I don't care how great your relationship with your dad is, after years of being treated like crap by him, after being kicked out of your house and accused murder, there is no way that relationship is fixed in 5 minutes. Even if you still love him, even if you forgive him and do it sincerely, that relationship is never going to be the same. There is will always be drama, and hurt, and it is going to take them years to really resolve everything that happened. And I hate that she tried to just erase all of that in order to give Della her perfect, happy ending. You can still have a happy ending without it being perfect, that's called real life

So, overall it was good but I had some major issues with the ending. 

Eternal (Shadow Falls After Dark #2) by C.C. Hunter

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: October 31, 2016

So, let's all start by being honest and just admit that whether we love or hate these books, we are still going to keep on reading them because we loved Shadow Falls and we just have to see how it all ends!

Now, coming back to this series, as I mentioned in my review of the previous book, I am reminded how much drama there is in these books. There is of course the continuation of the love triangle from the previous book. I wasn't a fan of Chase in the previous book. And while I liked him more in this book than I did the previous one, like Della, I find myself wondering how much of that has to do with the bond and the shared visions. 

There is are still some unanswered questions and Chase still is not very forthcoming with information, which again continues to cause issues on the relationship front. And yet, there are also issues going on with Steve. Add into that Miranda's issues with Perry and there is lots of romance drama going around everywhere. 

The part that I do enjoy about these series is the murder mystery. You have these murder mysteries that also seem to tie into the history of Della's family and that leads to Della running out trying to solve it all before it's too late. 

At the end there are still lots of questions left unanswered and there is a big cliff hanger at the end that leaves Chase in the hot seat. 

I will say that it is getting harder to like a love interest who is constantly being an idiot, or lying. And yet, despite it all, I still enjoyed the book and I still look forward to the next book in the series, 

The Inquisition (Summoner #2) by Taran Matharu

Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

Date Finished: October 26, 2016

Sequels are always hard because it's so difficult to live up to the first book and yet, I really enjoyed this sequel. 

Now, I will say that the beginning was fairly slow. There's the trials and while there is new information revealed it is all talking and planning and not too exciting. And especially with the title being the Inquisition, I was worried that most of the book was going to cover trials and trips to prison and all of that. Luckily that moves along fairly quickly. There is still lots of talking and planning after that but it is planning for a dangerous mission so I was a little more forgiving on that part. And most importantly, we learn who Fletcher's real parents are!

From there they start the preparations for their secret mission into the jungle. The one thing that kept bothering me during this section was the egging notion that there was some kind of other conspiracy going on. And Fletcher struggles with the same question, because there is no way the Triumvirate would volunteer to help with this unless they were getting something out of it. 

And despite the slow beginning, from the moment they drop down in the jungle things get better from there on. There is lots of twists and betrayals and plenty of action. And amongst all of that someone is trying to kill Fletcher and blame either the elves or the dwarves in the process. The attempts cause the members of Fletcher's team to start doubting each other. 

And despite all the odds Fletcher's team comes out on top. They are the only team to witness the Troll ceremony, providing their country with the coordinates for the Trolls entrance to the ether. They become invaluable to the mission, only to be betrayed at the last minute. 

I must admit that the villain was cleverly planned. I had lots of suspects but in the end I never suspected the one who was the real traitor. And so, Fletcher and his team are left abandoned in the middle of Troll territory, near dead, with no one to help. And then they come up with an insane plan to get out. Can I just say, what a great ending! I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book!

The Flame Never Dies (The Stars Never Rise #2) by Rachel Vincent

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 22, 2106

This book pretty much picks up where the other one left off. Nina and the other exorcists are in the Badlands and are trying to survive without resources. And on tops of that demons are being sent from the demon run city of Pandemonia to track down Finn.

Now, on of my biggest complaints about this book is that there is a lot of things that are left unexplained. 

For example, in the beginning of the book they decide to raid a supplies truck. It is two or three supply trucks full of items and a very small contingent of guards. Once they've finished tying up the guards Nina notices that something just doesn't seem right about all of this. She asks the guards trying to figure out what's going on but once they realize that one of the guards is actually a demon they get distracted and the whole weirdness of the situation is never resolved. Why would the Church make a mistake like that? Chances are they weren't making a mistake but actually setting them up for something. But what? Later when they mention the virus I think, now I get it. They put the virus in the food and they wanted them to hijack it. But then the explanation given is that Mellie was injected with it while in the city. So then that the leaves the question of this raid. And if it wasn't significant, then why make it suspicious. Just have them raid it and move it. Don't make a big deal about at the moment only to have it mean nothing later on. 

And then we have the virus. The boy starts showing signs within 2 or 3 days, and yet a demon is able to possess Mellie for almost a week without very many symptoms. And then all of of the sudden it escalates all within a matter of hours. And when they get to Pandemonium all of the demons start showing symptoms within hours. Mellie was the original carrier so if anything her demon should have felt the affects sooner. It was all just a bit contradictory.

And then we have the baby. The world building previously explained says that the wellspring of souls is empty and a baby dies unless someone dies at the same time to give them their souls. Yet, the nomads believe that my killing demons they free the soul of the righteous which helps refill the wellspring. So, why do all babies die without a volunteer soul in the cities and yet some babies survive in the Badlands. And how do you explain how the baby survived. They stop Nina from sacrificing herself to save him and yet he somehow miraculously gets a soul. Does that have something to do with the illness, does it return Melanie's soul to the wellspring instead of the demon feeding off her or is there something else? Is the wellspring really empty? Does it have something to do with the people taken captive closer to Pandemonium. Did some of those deaths leave a soul in the wellspring? You can't describe the world in absolutes and then break the rules when its convenient without explaining it! Drives me crazy.

And there is the whole battle for Pandemonium. Nina gives herself up expecting to sacrifice herself in order to destroy all the demons. And while there was some action and some losses on both sides, in the end I was left feeling like it was too easy. They infiltrate the city fairly easily, the showdown with the big bad demon everyone is scared of lasts two minutes, and they basically topple a demon fortress with squirt bottles. I don't know, it was all a bit disappointing. Especially with that big bad demon being Finn and Grayson's dad, I expected something more from the show down. I don't know, a conversation, him trying to convince them to stay, or at least seeing it from Finn's perspective instead of Nina just seeing from the corner of the eye that Finn had killed his dad. Talk about anticlimactic!

Anyway, while there was some good parts to the book and it wasn't bad overall, there is still a lot that left me frustrated and wishing for something more.

Magic Binds (Kate Daniels #9) by Ilona Andrews

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 18, 2016

I originally came into the Kate Daniels series very reluctantly and was skeptical that I would enjoy it. And yet, despite the romance section which I tend to avoid, I found myself really drawn in by the characters. There are very few series that I will keep reading this long (or at least keep enjoying). If I don't give up by book 2 or 3, I will sometimes continue but not enjoy the books as much. This series, on the other hand, has always done a good job of maintaining.

Now, after everything that has happened in this book comes the inevitable show down with her father. And while this is just one battle it what will most likely prove to be a long war, if they lose this battle it's game over. 

It all starts when Kate it showed a vision of the two possibilities for the war. In one version Curran dies, and in another, their son dies. And so Kate is desperate to make sure that neither one of those happen. 

For the most part Kate continues to be her same old self but the people she care about begin to doubt her. Mostly her ability to control her powers rather than letting them control her. And so, in order to learn to control her powers she does a crazy thing and resurrects her aunt. Granted, her aunt is only resurrected in spirit form but let's be honest, no one is overly happy to see her again. But she is able to convince her aunt to help and begins training to control her powers.

Now, I will say that there is a lot more planning and talking in this book than actual fighting so it can get a bit slow at times. And my only other complaint is that the ending of the battle seemed to be a little too easy. Now, I will admit that there was lots of planning that went into it and they had allies that her father couldn't have planned for, but her father is so much stronger than her and in the end he could have used his power to just flatten all of them instead of fleeing. Again, I understand the factors that affected that decision and I understand that this was just one battle of a long war but I just expected a little bit more from her father.

Either way in the end they are able to save the city and Kate and Curran finally get married. There are definitely some interesting things coming up for the next book and I must say I am interested to see a pregnant Kate because for some reason I don't see her being the glowing, cheerful type of pregnant woman. And I'm sure Curran's protective side with definitely cause some interesting relationship issues. 

And on a bit of a side note, can I just say that I am really excited about Christopher! He was always kind of a fun, quirky side character but now that he is whole again, I just can't wait to see that all play out!!!

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 15, 2016

While there are a lot of Children's series that I really enjoy reading, I must admit that this book didn't really draw my attention when I read the summary. But, my children showed interest in wanting to read it together so I decided to go ahead and read it beforehand to see if it was any good.

To start with, I will say that I enjoyed Seraphina as a character. She was a bit odd and interesting which goes right along with who she is. She was very desperate for friendship which made her quite naive, but again, based on how she was raised, it was also understandable (although I would have expected her to be skeptic and stand offish instead, but I can see where lack of affection made her desperation for a connection with someone).

All of the other characters aren't really developed in too much details except for their interaction with Seraphina. 

And while I will say that I enjoyed the book and he characters, I must admit that the book is very slow going. Although all the drama happens within just a couple of days, there are parts of the book that take a long time to build up and it can be a bit boring at times. 

I was also disappointed with the mystery side of it. Mostly because there was not much of a mystery. The first person she suspects ends up being the culprit. And while I understand that this is a children's novel, you can't underestimate their intelligence. Almost everything points to the same person almost from the beginning and that takes out a lot of the mystery. The best part about a good mystery is the misdirection and second guessing.

And while the ending had plenty of fighting with the way it wasn't written I just didn't feel suspense or resolution like I wanted to. Yet, despite all of that I still found it to be an enjoyable read.

City of Eternal Night (Crescent City #2) by Kristen Painter

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: October 6, 2016

So, I came into this book already slightly disappointed from the first book. Now, I liked the characters for the most part and the plot was interesting but I felt like the action was often brushed over and the ending was very anticlimactic. As such, I came in really hoping for a big, exciting finish in this book to make for the last one.

Unfortunately, I ended up having the same problem with this book as I did with the last one. The book builds and builds and then just kind of flops at the end. I like the characters, I like the world building and I even like most of the plot but nothing is ever resolved in a satisfying way. All conflicts are short and for the most part conflict is avoided. And the most frustrating thing is that this had a lot of potential to have a killer ending. The end brings this showdown between the evil father and not just Harlow, but her long dead sister, the first born that was prophesied to kill him. And as we approached the showdown I was really hoping for something big, and yet it was all over in like 2 seconds. She walks in, kills her father and then boom, it’s over.

And Harlow was still a bit frustrating in this book. Even after everything that happened she is still pushing Augustine away and then there is this random love triangle for all of one chapter. And when Harlow finally puts on her big girl pants and chooses Augustine, I really thought things were finally going to pick up for them, and yet it doesn’t. And while Harlow is finally coming to terms with who and what she is, and is finally trying to control her powers, she makes stupid, naïve mistakes. Like making a deal with the big, evil tree that only brings sorrow, in order to try to resurrect her sister. A sister she can’t bear to live without after just learning about her two seconds ago. And when said sister appears and seems more than a little unstable and a bit psychotic, she just ignores it because hey, it’s my sister. And when said psychotic sister asks to share her body, she doesn’t even hesitate. There’s no “hey, she might be psychotic and try to take over my body(duh)”, she just says sure sister go ahead. And then is soo surprised when said psychotic sister does in fact take over her body.

 And the storyline with Giselle is getting old. Not that it's not important, I mean she is involved in a lot of it, but rather than the intrigue of the previous book, it was mostly talking and relationships and I was ready to move on from that storyline. And while I could understand the occasional check in with that story, it was almost every other chapter and I was really bored with it.  I also felt like Giselle’s sister was a very one dimensional character. She just agrees with everything and goes along with everything. I kept waiting for her to be secretly planning something and to turn out to truly be sadistic because I felt like that would have at least made her feel more like a real person.

Overall, I will say that I still enjoyed the characters and plotline enough to want to read the next book, but I’ve been pretty disappointed overall with the series. 

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Date Finished: October 2, 2016

Yes, Yes, Yes! I will say that I have been very reluctant to start this book. With so much having been resolved in the last book and the description I was just so worried that this book was going to become bogged down in negotiating and talking and overall just be fairly boring. And at the beginning when they are setting up the meeting with the leaders that's what it really seemed like I was getting. There's power struggles, blah blah blah, and I was preparing myself for boring court intrigue. And then being true to herself Aelin doesn't just sit still, she takes off and starts wreaking havoc. And boy was that fun to read.

So, the gist of the story is that when Aelin returns to claim her throne, her country refuses her. And boy was that frustrating. After everything she’s done to get to this point, to have her own countrymen turn her away was a huge blow. And they hint that the only way she could ever be useful to her country is through political marriage. (GRR!!!!) I will admit that I really wanted to Aelin to just tear them a new one then and there, but I also knew that there was no way she could do that and still make it work.

So now, Aelin has to go and get some allies, which is starting to look pretty impossible.

There are a lot of different POV’s throughout the book and for the most part it was enjoyable to see the different perspectives and how it all starts to come together. I will admit that at the beginning some one of the perspectives seemed quite boring and irrelevant but in the end it all came together to give the book more depth.

And more than anything I have to say that I enjoyed the fact the Aelin was her same old arrogant, chaotic queen-self. She wrought havoc and spilt blood and fought tooth and nail for her allies. And as we near the end of the book it just appears impossible that things will work out.

And while I don’t want to give too much away, let me just say, THAT ENDING!!!

At the end you just keep waiting for someone to say, just kidding, and yet, despite all of the crazy twists and turns, Aelin planned for all of it and everyone is left reeling by her pure awesomeness with everything she managed to bring together in the end. It is definitely not the end, there is still a lot to be done, but I will say that I was pleasantly surprised that this series keeps living up to my expectations.

On a side note, I will say that there were some graphic sex scenes that were pretty unnecessary. People are hooking up and that's fine, it's part of the plot and I liked most of the pairing, but we went from some spattered heavy kissing or just sex references to all of the sudden everyone having graphic sex. Plot romances all you want but there's no need for it to become graphic now, after everything. It just kind of felt like the author experimented with this in her other series and now feels like she has to throw it in everywhere. I'm more interested in the plot than details. So can we please skip some of that next time?

What's Left of Me (Hybrid Chronicles #1) by Kat Zhang

Overall Rating: 3 stars

Date Finished: September 27, 2016

This is hard book to review, and unfortunately a lot of has more to do with the fact that I have a very hard time imagining a world in which the concepts the author introduces can actually lead to a functioning society. So, I will try to divide my review and focus first just on the book itself and later on the concepts or questions the book raises that, to me, felt a bit unresolvable.

As far as the book itself goes I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Going in I was expecting this book to be told from the perspective of the soul in control (Addie) but it was actually told from the perspective of Eva, which I feel like worked better for the book. We still hear Addie and her inner dialogue with Eva but Eva is always our narrator.

Having said that, the book was often frustrating because while Eva was narrating, Addie was in control of their body, and Addie was not really one to act. She shied away from conflict, ran away whenever she was afraid, and spent a lot of time crying. And I understand her frustration and her fears, but I feel like things got better once they were kind of taking turn controlling the body.

The other worry that I had was the romance. You have two girls in one body which can complicate any romance and when Eva started to show interest in Ryan I was so sure that the author was going to have Addie fall in love with Devon and wrap it all up in a nice shiny bow and ignore all the potential complications of a romance when two people share the same body. But happily, she didn't. Addie has no feelings for Ryan or Devon and was not too happy about Eva using their body to kiss Ryan. And while that brings up a whole round of other complications, I feel like they are part of the reality of this world she is trying to create and they need to be addressed so I am glad that she didn't shy away from that.

Now, romance is one of the things that I just can't see a good work around for in this fictional world we've entered. Just looking at the example the book gave us. Eva falls for Ryan and Ryan loves her back. But Devon doesn't like Eva or Addie and Addie doesn't like Devon or Ryan. Now, Addie is starting to show some interest in Jackson but Jackson is a hybrid too. So imagine for a second that Addie is with Jackson and Eva is with Ryan. But then what about Devon and Jackson other soul? So they each find another girl. So, now we're talking 5 bodies and 10 souls. But what about the second souls in the new girls they find? And so and so forth until there is almost no end. So then what? How do they marry and have children and create any form of meaningful society. Do you share weeks or days. And what about the children? Does that mean they only see their parents every other week or every other day? The whole idea just doesn't seem to really pan out very well.

And then you think about the general running of a society. Addie is an artist, but Eva is not. So does that mean that everyone in society only does their job every other day and the other soul does their chosen job the other days? Does the dominant always get to choose or how can they divide life in a way that makes it meaningful for both. And what if one of them is a criminal. Does that mean you punish the other one too, even if they had no control over the other one's actions? Do you suppress the criminal, or does that just equate to the death punishment for every crime?

Just imagine trying to elect a president. Would have to vote for both souls or just the one soul that wants to be elected. The fact that one would make a good president doesn't automatically mean that the other would. And then what happens when the other soul takes over? You just don't have a President for the day? The same problem exists with any necessary officials. Even simple things like police officers, school teachers. And while the concept worked in the book for the small group of hybrids among a society of one soul people, I just don't see a society functioning with all hybrids.

So, if we go off the idea that settling isn't natural and the government is forcing it to happen, so how does the rest of the world actually function? And they say the hybrids were in control before the great war, what exactly does that mean? If settling isn't natural, then wouldn't everyone have been a hybrid before then. Or is this double soul thing something that happened later? There is just a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of things that I just have trouble believing that the author will be able to resolve in a believable way.

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Date Finished: September 22, 2016

Very few sequels live up to the first book in a series. For that same reason, I am always reluctant to start a second book in a series because there’s just no way it can live up to the first one and so many fail horribly. Now, I still found the first book more exciting but this book definitely lived up to what I was expecting of the series.

This book picks up where the other one left off. Elias and Laia are running for this lives and Helene must reluctantly hunt them down.

One of things that I really enjoyed about this book is that it was so dark and real. Too often in books like these miraculous things happen and all the main characters comes out on top and they somehow manage to save everyone they love against all days. And yet, reality is so much darker. Especially in an Empire like the one they are running from, with a cruel Empire leading them.

Helene struggles to come to terms with her love for Elias and her loyalty to the Empire. She plots and plans and yet every time she tries to come out on top she fails and in the end, she pays for it in unimaginable ways.

Elias is trying to come to terms with his imminent death. He was poisoned by his mother and knows that no matter what he does his end is drawing near. And while there were some frustrating decisions, for the most is was all consistent with his character. Despite it all, throughout it all he never gives up and never stops fighting.

Laia is the one that really frustrated me in the book. She is falling in love with Elias. And then her friend from the rebellion shows up and she starts to change. She was such a strong, fierce character and she burns so brightly, and yet she lets undermine her. After Elias leaves she allows him to cause her to be weak, to doubt herself and her gifts and her power to change the world. And the whole while that he is treating her so cruelly, she allows herself to live him. Now, in hindsight, I can see how this needed to happen plot wise but it was so frustrating to see Laia waste away into someone who was barely recognizable from the first book. Despite that she fights back and in the end they are able to accomplish the impossible. I just hope that this whole process brings us a stronger, fiercer Laia for the next book.

There is lots of ups and downs in this book. Some joy and lots of heartache. There is intrigue and plotting and fighting and action. The characters were inspiring and overall the book was just outright enjoyable. For the first time in a long time I actually find myself looking forward to the third book!

Greta and the Goblin King (Mylena Chronicles #1) by Chloe Jacobs

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Date Finished: September, 21, 2016

This is a loose retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Greta (aka Gretel) and her younger brother (not named hansel by the way) are lured into a witches trap by the smell of gingerbread. But instead of teaming together to throw the witch into the fire, Greta saves her brother from the fire only to fall in herself. The fire turns out to be a portal into another world called Mylena.

There were a couple frustrations that I had. The first being that it feels like you start out the book having missed a couple chapters. Greta's angsty relationship with the dark Goblin king, Isaac, is already in full swing. While the author summarizes what happened in the past two weeks it wasn't enough. I wanted to read that first meeting in the bar, that first dream and everything after, not just get random hints here and there. Greta's hot and cold act with Isaac got real old. I get that this is all part of a typical YA relationship but it kept going throughout almost the entire book.

And despite that I still kind of like Greta as a character and then the author goes and throws in a completely unnecessary love triangle.

Wyatt is the human love interest and was a great character until they threw in the love interest. He was great with the younger boys and a great leader and then the supposed romance changes it. To me, that ruined all of it. He somehow fell in love with her in two days, so much in love that he would give anything for her and can't stop thinking about her. And that of course has nothing to do with the fact that Greta is the first girl he's seen in years. And now that is going to complicate the next book because Greta's rejection will cause a wedge and blah, blah, and I'm already seeing the next book going downhill.

And then when things start to get tough, Greta keeps almost dying. Now, to be fair, she almost died at the beginning of the book as well, which puts in to question how good she really is. And I also understand that she is just a human against supernatural creatures and she is trying to protect this group of kids, but she keeps failing. Over and over. I mean, she is saved by little kids who don’t even know who to fight. I could get having a couple hard fights where she gets badly injured but I felt like she was getting badly injured every time she tried to fight, and that just made it harder to see her as the tough as nails hunter she is supposed to be.

It wasn't a bad read but not very original and I'm a bit doubtful about the rest of the series.

The Essence (Pledge #2) by Kimberly Derting

Overall Rating: 1 star

Date finished: 8/11/16

 

So, I have put off reading this book for a while now. I’ve picked it up a few times and was always horribly bored and I felt bad so I put it away hoping that maybe it would be better the next time I picked it up. Maybe the other books that I read recently were just more exciting and it was biasing my read of this book. I kind of enjoyed the first book and I was really hoping for a good second book but I was disappointed every time I picked it up so I just kept delaying.

And now I’ve finally bit the bullet and I’m afraid I was just as disappointed this time as I was all of the other times. Charlie was really not a strong character throughout this book. She doesn’t do well at anything she does; the fighting, riding horses, even the speeches, the learning, the memorizing. She is distracted, unfocused and despite wanting to make a difference she just didn’t feel strong. She felt more like she spent all her time relying on other people to do her job for her. With all the protests she doesn’t take a strong hand as a leader to stop them. And even after the opposition starts killing innocent people, they don’t do anything. In fact, they have evidence implicating Brook’s father, he even admits to orchestrating the killings, and yet all they do is say they’re going to find the people who did this. Hello! You already know who did this. Why isn’t her father immediately arrested and punished. Yes, there are other people he’s working with but offering freedom doesn’t mean letting people get away with anything. It’s possible to be a strong, fair leader without being a tyrant. And yet, she was a weak leader with heroic ideas and no action to follow it up.

There are a couple assassination attempts and yet she keeps naively trusting everyone around her and only wanting to see the best in them.

And on top of that, most of the book was pretty much boring. First she’s in the palace studying or obsessing over losing her sanity. Then she’s traveling by train; then by horse. And nothing really happens. Just talking and planning and traveling.

And then they get to summit where she is going to do so much to help her people and she freezes up. And not just once. She pretty much spends the entire summit without saying anything significant to anyone, complaining about how weird the other queens are, and not building a single diplomatic relationship.  And then all of the sudden the summit was over and it all ended up being a complete waste of time because she accomplished absolutely nothing.

And there are so many unexplained things. For example, Max comes rushing down, riding day and night, but says that it wasn’t because of the previous attacks and he’ll explain after his super-secret meeting with the guards. And then he never explains. He just says hey, so we haven’t found the bad guys so we’re going to take you to be with your family. Why does that warrant riding at break neck speed to get there. What was the urgency? He could have sent a message. Or just waited until they got back to the palace, because hey they went back to the palace before enacting their super-secret plan anyways.

The whole thing was just a bit ridiculous. And then after spending the entire book being weak and useless, in a moment of strength she draws on Sabara’s powers to save her sister and all of the sudden all of her friends are accusing her of being a monster. She finally stood up for herself. I could understand their horror at finding out Sabara is still inside, or that she killed the other queen, but being horrified because she used that same power to protect herself and her sister is just ridiculous.

Overall, unfortunately I just did not like this book much at all. Despite my frustration at least I finally made it all the way through to the end. I was just really hoping that it would redeem itself at some point and it never did. A disappointing second book to what was a promising series.

Menagerie by Rachel Vincent

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Date finished: August 10, 2016

 

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book! I will admit that going in I was expecting to be disappointed. The way the summary was written I was expecting a lot of the same things that I’ve already read. I expected Delilah to be one of many of the overused supernatural creatures, and I expected juvenile romance, but the reality was so much better than that.

Delilah was a well written character. I enjoyed the fact that she was a very original form of supernatural and that she had a dark streak in her that craved blood and revenge. I was kind of expecting her to be cowering most of the time, and while she did have her moments of fear for the most part she was strong and fought every chance she got. And her powers and how they work is very unique and I look forward to seeing her use them more.

I will also say that I was very glad that there no romance involved at this point. The tone of the book stayed fairly dark to highlight the suffering of those in the menagerie and I feel like a romance would have ruined some of that. I was worried at first that that’s where things were going with Gallagher but I feel like their relationship is much better just the way it is. I would be fine if a romance was introduced at some further point but I was glad to see a strong female character without any need for her to be tied up in a romantic relationship.

I also like the unique way that the other supernatural creatures were portrayed. While most of the characters are common supernatural creatures, they were often portrayed in unique ways. The one thing that I would have liked a little bit more history on the reaping. There were the headlines before each chapter that gave a little history into that but I would have liked a little bit more. Now, it does seem that not even the main characters of the novel know very much about what really happened, but there are hints at how supernatural creatures (cryptids) were a part of normal life before the reaping, but no clear picture of exactly what happened or how the surrogates fit into all of this.

Either way, overall I felt that this was an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series!