FIRE TOUCHED by Patricia Briggs

Rating: B+
Synopsis:
Mercy Thompson has been hailed as “a heroine who continues to grow and yet always remains true to herself.”* Now she’s back, and she’ll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it’s the children who suffer...

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

My thoughts on the book:
When I saw this novel on NetGalley, I was so excited. Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors, and this is one of my favorite series, even though a couple of the most recent efforts in Mercy's world have fallen flat for me. However, this novel was a refreshing change from the past few books. The action starts in the first couple of chapters and doesn't end until the very last page. Some of the new characters introduced were extremely interesting, and aside from Mercy randomly throwing in ridiculous words in an effort to prove she's intelligent, the writing was top notch. Fans of the series are going to devour this book.

Mercy is one of my favorite Fantasy heroines. She's tough, smart, and able to take care of herself. She has a man in her life because she loves him, not because she needs him to be fulfilled. She continues to grow throughout the series, but she doesn't change so much that the growth seems out of character for her. She has issues and PTSD and a bit of anxiety, but she overcomes that to help others. She's a great example of a flawed, but still wonderful and strong, heroine. Adam is a fantastic complement to her, and the way he's evolved over the series is also organic. I really like who he's becoming, and I love how Mercy has challenged him, and his whole pack, to open their minds and accept people for who they are instead of trying to change them. This novel illustrates more of that kind of pack growth, and I feel that it's much needed and really added to the tapestry of the pack and their bonds. 

The world-building and descriptions were beautifully done in this book, but Briggs seemed so hung up on showing that Mercy wasn't an idiot that she used some really random, what I like to call "GRE words" to prove it... words that no one uses because you can express things in a much simpler manner. This hasn't happened in the past, and I'm not sure why it happened now. Those words really broke up the flow of writing, though, because even though I knew what they meant, as many readers will, they just didn't come across naturally. That was my main pet peeve with this novel and why it got a B+ instead of an A. The pacing was super fast, but not rushed, the story itself was well-told and interesting, and the alternating of action scenes vs. emotional scenes kept me emotionally engaged. The ending tied things up nicely, and after this book, I can't help but think that Mercy's story is about to come to an end. I feel like she's about to get things squared away enough that she can have her happily ever after. We'll see if I'm right or not, but that's the feeling that I got. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this series. I'd also recommend this series to anyone  who loves Urban Fantasy with strong female characters. Briggs is an amazing author, and she will not disappoint. 

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SPINNING STARLIGHT by R.C. Lewis

Rating: B
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men shows up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired. Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word, and her brothers are dead. Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home—a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back? Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans fuses all the heart of the classic tale with a stunning, imaginative world in which a star-crossed family fights for its very survival.

My thoughts on the book:
I absolutely loved Stitching Snow by this author, and when I saw that a companion novel was coming out, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Spinning Starlight did not disappoint. Some of the writing choices the author made didn't really appeal to me, but overall, I really enjoyed the book. I liked the characters a lot, and they grew throughout the story. The pacing was pretty spot on, and the world-building was fantastically done. I hope that Lewis decides to write more fairy tale retellings. 

Liddi was a great leading character and narrator. She was incredibly strong and reliable. She had some hang ups about herself, but that just made her that much more realistic. She had some tough things to go through and some difficult decisions to make, and I think she did her best with the hand she was dealt. Also, she was super smart, and I liked that a lot. We need more highly intelligent female heroines. Tiav was a great love interest. He was her equal and supported her. He didn't act all caveman crazy about things, and he gave her space to do what she needed to do. The rest of the characters weren't focused on much, but they all seemed okay. I wish we could have gotten to know the brothers better. I mean we got flashes of them in the flashbacks, but I didn't feel super attached to any of them. 

The pacing was pretty spot on with this book, and I wasn't bored at all. I really wasn't a fan of the flashbacks. I get why they were there, so we'd care about who Liddi was trying to rescue, but they really broke up the story and made things kind of clunky at times. However, Lewis' world-building was amazing. I could fully picture each of the planets that we visited with Liddi. Also, I really loved the idea of a sci-fi version of a fairy tale. That was a lot of fun. The ending made me cry a little bit, but that just means this was a good book. 

Overall, I'd recommend this novel to anyone who loves sci-fi and/or fairy tales. Lewis is an excellent author, and you don't want to miss out on these stories.

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ASH & BRAMBLE by Sarah Prineas

Rating: F
Synopsis:
A prince.

A ball.

A glass slipper left behind at the stroke of midnight.

The tale is told and retold, twisted and tweaked, snipped and stretched, as it leads to happily ever after.

But it is not the true Story.

A dark fortress.

A past forgotten.

A life of servitude.

No one has ever broken free of the Godmother’s terrible stone prison until a girl named Pin attempts a breathless, daring escape. But she discovers that what seems to be freedom is a prison of another kind, one that entangles her in a story that leads to a prince, a kiss, and a clock striking midnight. To unravel herself from this new life, Pin must choose between a prince and another—the one who helped her before and who would give his life for her. Torn, the only thing for her to do is trade in the glass slipper for a sword and find her own destiny. 

My thoughts on the book:
Ash & Bramble had a lot of potential, but it fell flat for me in many areas. A lot of good ideas and theories went into the creation of this novel, but none of them was explored deep enough to really make an impact. The characters were confused and under-developed, and so was the story itself. I feel like if the author had picked one theme and explored it in depth, then the novel would have turned out much better. Instead this book was a mishmash of ideas with vapid characters and strange pacing. 

Pin, or Pen - unless they're from the Midwest, I'm not even sure how they could tell the difference in who was saying which - was extremely boring and a bit dumb. I know that the Godmother was controlling everything, and her memory had been erased and altered, so I get that she didn't know a ton of her past, but she was just such a sheep. Shoe was also really obnoxious and ridiculously stupid. I feel like if he and Pin had had more personality, then I would have enjoyed the book more. Apparently the Godmother stole personalities along with memories, though, because no character in this book had anything interesting to offer.

The plot was extremely convoluted, and the author touched on a lot of themes, but didn't stick to a single one. The idea of free will was prevalent throughout the novel, but it was never really explored. The idea of true love was also addressed vaguely, as well as the idea of self. However, nothing was discussed or explored deep enough to have any meaning. The writing switched between first and third person and was ridiculously simple. It almost felt as if I were reading a Middle Grade novel instead of a YA book. I didn't like the switching of perspectives, either. When I finished the book, and it had a strange ending, mind you, all I could think was why was this written and why did I waste so much time reading it? I was left with nothing. No feelings, no ideas, nothing. 

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone. I kept reading thinking that maybe the author would decide what she wanted to say and stick with it, but I was sorely disappointed. Chances are you will be, too. 

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CRIMSON BOUND by Rosamund Hodge

Rating: B
Synopsis:
When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

(This is a standalone novel, not part of the Cruel Beauty Universe.)

My thoughts on the book:
Crimson Bound was an extremely interesting retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. This novel blew me away and kept me reading until the very last page. The mythology behind this story was different from any fairy tale retelling I'd ever read. Hodge wasn't afraid to explore the darkness that was inherent in the original fairy tales (before Disney got ahold of them), and that showed in this book. The character development was fairly well done, though a little lacking. The plot was full of twists, turns, action, and romance. I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. 

Rachelle was a complex and flawed character, and I really enjoyed reading about her. The POV was third person limited, and it followed Rachelle's journey. She had a tough go of it, and she fought so hard to be good. I really enjoyed all of the different layers to her, and I couldn't help but root for her. I also enjoyed Armand and Erec. They were both extremely interesting and well-developed, too. Erec more so than Armand, in my opinion, but both men had their own personalities. The remaining secondary characters weren't incredibly well-developed, but authors can't spend tons of time on every single character. All of the people in the novel felt real enough, though, and that's what matters.

The plot was full of twists and turns. The major plot twist at the end actually shocked, me, even though I feel like I should have seen it coming. I love when that happens. There was also a ton of action in this book. The pacing was pretty fast, but nothing felt rushed. The world-building was done beautifully, though I didn't get a really good feel of what the Great Woods really felt and looked like. The romance was confusing and I didn't really buy some parts of it. I didn't feel the two characters falling in love like I usually do in books when the romance is well-written. However, it worked well enough. I was able to achieve a willing suspension of disbelief, and I couldn't put this book down thanks to the twisty plot. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fairy tale retelling. The world Hodge created is dark and full of surprises. You won't be disappointed.

Order Crimson Bound today!

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