Lie Down with Dogs by Hailey Edwards

Rating: B+
Synopsis:
With tentative peace established in Faerie, Thierry returns to her job as a conclave marshal in Texas while the countdown to her coronation begins. But what happens in Faerie doesn't always stay in Faerie. A crown wasn't Theirry's only souvenir from her trip. Her new husband, Rook, is scheming again, and this time his plans are invading her dreams.

When her best friend throws a beachside going away party, Thierry is grateful for the distraction from Rook...and from Shaw. But her presence in Daytona rouses an old evil, one who wants the future queen as the crown jewel of his private collection.

My thoughts on the book: 
I enjoy most books by Hailey Edwards, and this novel was no exception. I think this series is actually my favorite of hers, so far. Lie Down with Dogs was a lot different than the first two books in the series, and it took a little while to adjust to Thierry's new life circumstances. However, I was quickly captivated by the world and characters and couldn't put the book down. I'm looking forward to the sequel, but also dreading it since it will be the last book in the series, and I hate to see such a good story end. 

Thierry is a likable and strong heroine. I really love reading from her perspective, though her stubbornness irritates me sometimes. No one is perfect, though, and I like that she is flawed. In this novel Thierry made some pretty big mistakes, but I was rooting for her the whole time. Shaw also redeemed himself in this book, which helped the story progress. We didn't get to see much of Rook, which kind of sucked because he was an interesting character. I really loved Diode, and Mable's had a couple of cameos, but not enough to develop any more than she already had. 

The world-building had already been established for this series, but Edwards was able to explain new occurrences in a way that made them fit perfectly with the story. The plot itself was intriguing, even though the pacing and feel of this book was very different from the first two. The ending was a cliffhanger, but it answered a lot of the questions raised in this novel. The writing was wonderfully done, and the character dialogue was realistic. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book and series to anyone who wants to read something a bit different about the fae. I'd also recommend any of Hailey Edwards' books to people who haven't read her before. She really is a fantastic author.

Order Lie Down with Dogs today!

Read More

THE SHATTERED COURT by M.J. Scott

Rating: B
Synopsis:
First in a new fantasy series from the author of the Novels of the Half-Light City.

Entangled in a court ruled by tradition and intrigue, a young witch must come to terms with newfound power and desire—and a choice between loyalty and survival.…

The royal witches of Anglion have bowed to tradition for centuries. If a woman of royal blood manifests powers, she is immediately bound by rites of marriage. She will serve her lord by practicing the tamer magics of the earth—ensuring good harvests and predicting the weather. Any magic more dangerous is forbidden.

Lady Sophia Kendall, thirty-second in line to the throne, is only days away from finding out if she will be blessed—or perhaps cursed—with magic. When a vicious attack by Anglion’s ancient enemies leaves the kingdom in chaos, Sophia is forced to flee the court. Her protector by happenstance is Lieutenant Cameron Mackenzie, a member of the royal guard, raised all his life to be fiercely loyal to the Crown.

Then Sophia’s powers manifest stronger than she ever imagined they would, and Cameron and she are inextricably linked in the process. As a witch unbound by marriage rites, Sophia is not only a threat to the established order of her country, but is also a weapon for those who seek to destroy it. Faced with old secrets and new truths, she must decide if she will fight for her country or succumb to the delicious temptation of power.

My thoughts on the book:
After reading the reviews about this novel, I was a bit apprehensive to start it, but I actually really enjoyed it. Yes it's an adult novel, but I have been wanting to read some adult fantasy, and this was a good place to start. I really enjoyed Sophie as a character, and Cameron was an excellent leading man. The plot was intriguing, and the world-building was fairly well done. The pacing was pretty spot on, too. I think that as long as you're aware that this is an adult book and sex scenes are present, then you'll like it just fine. If that offends you, then skip this one. 

Sophie was a fairly strong character, considering this book seemed to be seemed to be set in something akin to the Middle Ages. Women were oppressed, but she stood on her own very well. She was well-developed, too, and pretty easy to relate to. Cameron was also decently well-developed, and I really respected him as a leading man. The secondary characters weren't as fleshed out, and I would have liked to have gotten to know all of them a bit more. 

The plot was intriguing, but the climax wasn't that thrilling. There was no huge sense of urgency at all in this novel. A lot of it was world-building, and for the most part, the world makes sense to me now. I didn't feel that anything was over explained. The pacing was pretty spot-on, though a couple of places dragged. The ending set up the sequel, and didn't really answer any of the questions raised in this novel, which I didn't like. However, I will be continuing the series. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to people who love adult fantasy. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is high fantasy, since there were no dragons or anything. It just seemed to be set in an alternate world that had magic. Either way, this series is worth reading. I say give it a shot. 

Read More

THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT by Melissa Grey

Rating: C+
Synopsis:
For readers of Cassandra Clare's City of Bones and Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, The Girl at Midnight is the story of a modern girl caught in an ancient war.

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire. 

My thoughts on the book:
The last half of The Girl at Midnight was enthralling, and I couldn't put the book down. However, the first half fell flat for me. The writing was subpar, and the characters were dull. Luckily, as things moved along, the writing became much better. I also began to care about some of the characters. While this wasn't one of my favorite books, I will continue the series because I want to know what happens next. 

Echo was a pretty boring character for the first half of the book. She got more intriguing as things went on, but she never fully grabbed me. Rowan was super boring. I liked Caius quite a bit, and he was more interesting than the others. Ivy, Jasper, and Dorian were a bit one dimensional, but they served their purpose as filler characters. 

The writing for the first half of the book was incredibly stunted, for lack of a better term. It kind of resembled, "This is Spot. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run." The author seemed to struggle with the third person a bit at first, but she found her footing around the halfway point, and she had some really poignant lines after that. The ending bugged me. It's not so much as a cliffhanger as the book just kind of stopped randomly in the middle of stuff. However, the plot was unique enough that I kept reading, and I didn't hate the book. I liked it enough to continue the series. The last half really kept me interested. 

Overall, I'd recommend checking this book out from the library first. It's not the best book I've read this year, but it's decent. 

Order The Girl at Midnight

Read More

COLD BURN OF MAGIC by Jennifer Estep

B+
Release Date: 4/28/15
Synopsis:
It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America." Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power. 

I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick. 

But then some nasty characters bring their Family feud into my friend's pawn shop, and I have to make a call--get involved, or watch a cute guy die because I didn't. I guess I made the wrong choice, because now I'm stuck putting everything on the line for Devon Sinclair. My mom was murdered because of the Families, and it looks like I'm going to end up just like her. 

My thoughts on the book:
As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of anything Jennifer Estep writes. I love her world-building, descriptions, and kick ass heroines. Cold Burn of Magic did not disappoint me. While this is very different from the Mythos Academy novels, it is an engrossing and thrilling series debut. Estep has created another terrific world and filled it with interesting and complex characters. I can't wait to see what happens next. 

Lila is so different from Gwen that it was impossible to compare the two, which is good. I hate when authors write the same characters all the time. Lila resembles Gin from Estep's Elemental Assassin series much more than she does Gwen. Lila isn't quite as cold, but she is pretty hardcore. I enjoyed reading from her perspective, and she was one of those types who you trust because she just doesn't care enough to lie. I respected that. She was emotionally closed off, which I understood, yet somehow she was likeable and easy to relate to. Devon was a fantastic love interest, and he seems like a genuinely good guy. I really enjoyed getting to know him and look forward to learning more about him in the next book. Felix and Mo were entertaining secondary characters, though they had similar personalities. Mo was a bit more used car salesman than Felix, though. 

The world-building was fantastic for this novel. I love how Estep creates her own towns and cities in the US. In this particular book, she mentioned the other worlds she's created, too, which served to broaden the world as a whole. I now feel that Lila and Gin could run into each other because they live in the same world, even though they're in different cities. The plot itself was intriguing and full of suspense and action. I had the bad guy figured out pretty quickly, but I usually am pretty good at figuring out who can't be trusted in books and TV shows. The powers introduced in this series are very different from the ones that Estep has worked with in the past, and I really liked learning about these new forms of magic. The ending tied things up nicely and left room for a sequel.

Overall, I really loved this book and can't wait to see what happens to Lila and company next. I'd recommend this for anyone who's looking for a kick-ass YA heroine to read about. 

Pre-order Cold Burn of Magic

Read More

THE FEARLESS by Emma Pass

Rating: D
Release Date: 4/24/15
Synopsis:
The Fearless. An army, powered by an incredible new serum that makes each soldier stronger, sharper, faster than their enemies. Intended as a force for good, the serum has a terrible side-effect - anyone who takes it is stripped of all humanity, empathy, love. And as the Fearless sweep through the country, forcing the serum on anyone in their path, society becomes a living nightmare.

Cass remembers the night they passed through her village. Her father was Altered. Her mother died soon after. All Cass has left is her little brother - and when Jory is snatched by the Fearless and taken to their hellish lair, Cass must risk everything to get him back.

My thoughts on the book:

This book had a lot of potential to be good, but it was just depressing. I couldn't connect to any of the characters, and I really didn't care what happened to any of them. The storyline itself wasn't as interesting as it could have been, and I had all of the "mysteries" figured out well before the "reveal" because the author basically told me what was happening instead of dropping hints. Because of all of these things, I had trouble working my way through this one, but I finally did manage to finish it. 

Cass had a rough life, and she was just existing instead of living. All she cared about was Jory, and when she lost him, she risked her own survival to save him. That was admirable, but her adventure was so boring. She just wasn't someone I could emotionally relate to at all. And the dull guy whose name I can't even remember who took her onto the mainland was also unrelatable. Furthermore, there was no chemistry between them. And her psychopath friend who supposedly loved her wasn't any better. 

Overall, I'd say skip this book, or check it out from the library before buying. I know some people liked it, but it really fell flat for me. 

Read More

Sorry for the lack of reviews

Hey everyone!

As those of you who follow my GoodReads account know, I've been reading a lot lately. However, I haven't been taking the time to review because I've been gathering my thoughts about each book. Anyway, expect a lot of reviews to come your way this week. Have a great weekend!

Read More

Book Memory Challenge

(From Reading in Winter)

I haven't wanted to do a post in a while, just a mood I guess, but this looked so fun over on Kristilyn's page that I thought I'd try it.

The rules: answer the questions without searching the Internet or looking at your bookshelves and tag five bloggers.
*If you want to try this yourself, do it before reading my answers:)*


1. Gone by Michael Grant
2. Eragon (I think that's the name of it?)
3. Does a Curious George book count? I'm counting it.
4. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith.
5. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crawley.
6. Saving June by Hannah Harrington
7. Um, a knife...I'm guessing one of Jennifer L. Armentrout's books has to count, but let me try to go more specific...nope, drawing a blank.
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
9. Epony-what?
10. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Now...checking my answers...
After cheating with the internet:

2. Yes!!! Eragon is by Christopher Paolini. I feel like he's the same guy who wrote that children's book about the pasta that flowed over the whole town, but as I look it up on Goodreads, I get nothing. Maybe it's because he has an Italian last name.
5. Yep, except the author's name is Cath Crowley. A cute love story.
7. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I have a version with a different cover, so thanks for your help, Google.
8.  Embarrassed to say that I didn't know the author was Ken Kesey. I wonder if this answer is a popular one?
9. Does anyone not have to look this word up? I believe it means giving of one's name to something, so I'll go with Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.

I'm breaking the rules by not tagging five bloggers, but definitely try this! I appreciated the break. Plus, you'll never know when you'll be on Family Feud. I could imagine some of these questions being asked to 100 people...

Read More