Portia By Christina Bauer

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Angelbound, Angels, author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, Christina Bauer, Demons, fantasy, fiction, literature, maxon, new adult, novel, plot, Portia, Portia By Christina Bauer, read, reader, review, stories, story, write, writer, writing

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy

Pages: 250

Point of View: First Present (Portia)

Released: October 27th 2015

Series: Standalone set in Angelbound universe.

Predictability: 4 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

My Summary:

Portia’s the opposite of her family (and the other protagonists in this series) She’s not a fighter or good with weapons, but she is smart. She’s a top class sorceress.

Everyone is afraid of her though, because she was born Marked by the void. Meaning one day she’ll turn into a void demon.

My Review:

A lot of the good was in the last 20%, so I can’t tell you about it, but you’ll have to trust me. The end is great!

The Good:

Standalones in an already established world are tricky, but Bauer did a fine job of explaining things for new readers without boring those of us who already knew about things. I’m always impressed how this author can continue to build on the world she’s created. The Firmament and the Dragon scale markings were nice additions.

All of the old characters were back, if only briefly. Portia’s family was so sweet and understanding towards her, but when trouble started they completely ignored her. (Weren’t they just saying she was so smart and an expert on all this?)

Portia was a nice protagonist. She could’ve used some of her mother’s snark though. (That’s what made this series fun!) She was hilarious when she got drunk though! Best part of the book.

Tempest was a complex new character. I had a feeling when he appeared in Maxon that he’d be back and I’m glad he was! I wish we got the chance to be inside his head for a couple of chapters.

The romance was sweet, but

The Bad:

Tempest is the first guy to speak to Portia, so naturally she falls for him. It was too hard and too quick for my taste though. I can see her liking him, but thinking of him as hers after one meeting? Not so much. (That one scene was my main problem.) After that it slows down a bit, but it was still too quick for me. (I suppose she only had 250 pages to get them to fall in love.)

Being so short it’s really fast paced. Things happened a bit too fast at times. I wanted more explanation about Portia’s quest. I know Portia did too, but I hate being confused! (Even if the main character is.) Portia did seem to know more than we were told though. How did she know she had Firmament magic and how to control it all of a sudden?

Do I recommend this book? Yes, but if you’re curious about this series you should start with Angelbound or Maxon. Not because of continuity or anything, but because they’re better. (Click the titles to see my reviews.)

Best Quote:

“He’s smarter than he looks. If he hasn’t killed you by now, he’ll go after someone you care about.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Then good luck to him. My family is a bunch of fighters who would like nothing better than to go after a Class A demon.”

---

How do you feel about inaccurate covers? I hate it when what’s on the cover doesn’t match the book! This book has a lovely cover, but the dragon’s not what I pictured at all. Wrong color, and not big enough. I thought it was a winged horse at first! At least the main character isn’t wearing something skimpy, even if she’s only in a dress for one scene.

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Maxon By Christina Bauer

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Angelbound, Angels, author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, Christina Bauer, Demons, fantasy, fiction, literature, maxon, new adult, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, write, writer, writing

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy

Pages: 400

Point of View: First Present (Maxon, Lianna)

Released: May 12th 2015

Series: Angelbound 4

Predictability: 4 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

My Summary:

Lianna is one on the apprentices training to become the next ruler of the water elementals, but she’s only a Thrax (half angel) so the odds of her being chosen are slim. Zephyr the leader of the air elementals has been killing off water’s apprentices. He attacks Lianna, but she manages to escape and stumbles into Maxon and his friends demon hunting.

Maxon is the prince of the Thrax. He’s spent his whole life fighting demons, and living in the spotlight of the Thrax world, since his mother is also the one responsible for sending souls to heaven or hell. He can’t become her heir until he falls in love, but no one can see that happening any time soon.

My Review:

Rated new adult due to swearing, sex, and torture.

Though it’s the Fourth book of the series, Maxon can be read alone.

Note: Both main characters have some PTSD. (Personal pet peeve.)

The good:

We get to find out what happened to all of the characters from the first trilogy. Though they weren’t in it much, it was fun to see them again.

I love how Bauer manages to add some awesome new world building to each of her books. The world of the elementals was fascinating and I loved Lianna’s powers!

This is a fast paced book with plenty of action. It’s hard to pull off magical battles, but these were well done.

I was afraid it would be attraction at first sight, but both Lianna and Maxon had reasons to want to stay apart and this let their relationship progress more slowly. It turned out rather sweet, even if it was quite fast.

I liked Lianna right away! Maxon inherited his mother’s sass, (the main character of the original trilogy) but it took me a while to warm up to him.

The Bad:

At the beginning, Maxon came off like a moody womanizer and he seemed way too overpowered. Luckily, he grew on me after he met Lianna.

Lianna did something really stupid towards the end. (The kind of stupid they use a lot in TV, but that didn’t stop me from yelling at her.)

What are your feelings on New Adult? I’ve had some bad experiences and I’d almost written off the genre, but I liked this series so I wanted to see where it went. There was only one sex scene and it didn’t just feel thrown in. (Though some of the swearing did.) I’m glad I gave it a second chance since I enjoyed this book.

Angelbound Armageddon By Christina Bauer

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Angelbound, Angelbound Armageddon, Angelbound Scala, Angels, author, book, book reviews, books, characters, Christina Bauer, Demons, fantasy, fiction, Netgalley, novel, read, reader, review, romance, sassy, Scala, tails, writer, YA, young adult

(I included the back cover too, because the artwork is so awesome!)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Demons & Angels

Pages: 532

Point of View: First (Myla)

Released: December 17, 2013

Predictability: 5 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Funny story, I saw this book on sale for .99, but when I went to buy it, it wasn’t on sale anymore. I contacted the website, not because I really wanted the book, but because I thought they should know Amazon messed up. Well turns out it was my mistake and it had been on sale yesterday. The publisher Ink Monster sent me a free copy of the book anyway! (Which of course didn’t affect my judgement of this book at all.)

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Age Rating: Older YA, due to one make out session. (Not sex, but parts are named.)

This was actually my first ever review! I’m reposting it before my review of Angelbound Armegeddeon for those of you who haven’t read the first book. (And since only one person was following my blog back then, I don’t think anyone else has read this review. Hi Kat *waves at first follower*)

My Summary: [Sorry my summaries used to be a little longer winded]

Myla is a quasi demon (meaning part human) living in purgatory. Around twenty years ago demons invaded purgatory and left ghouls running things. Myla’s mom is super over-protective and won’t say anything about her life before the war with the demons or even about Myla’s father.

Myla spends most of her time at school, but every so often she’s called to duty. When a soul enters purgatory they can choose trial by combat. Since she was twelve Myla’s been required to fight to the death in the arena against theses souls. As the best fighter they save the nastiest ones for her, but she’s not your typical almost eighteen year-old. She enjoys her battles in the arena, particularly when it’s against a demon and she keeps extensive notebooks on how to beat the various demon races.

Myla’s best friend Cissy (who has the tail of a golden retriever, yes it does wag when she’s happy. Okay, enough about tails…) has a huge crush on a boy at school, so when said boy invites Myla and a guest to his party she can’t say no. At the party, abandoned by her friend, Myla meets the frustrating prince Lincoln. He’s a demon hunter who thinks all quasis are evil, but Myla can’t stop thinking about him and not just about punching him. Well, that too.

My Review:

I don’t know what it is about me and tail fascination. I’ve just always wanted one. So naturally the reason Angelbound caught my eye is the main character has a tail. (The author actually uses her tail to show emotion and humor too.)

The Good:

Angelbound is told in a fun voice with plenty of humor and I liked the strong sassy heroine, Myla. It might just be me, (because I couldn’t pry the book out of my fingers to go to bed.) but this book was a quick read.

Romance is a strong part of this book and it’s well done. Though the conversation where they got to really know each other is only told about afterwards.

Angelbound has interesting characters and good world building. The author takes her time to really make us care about the characters and to establish the world.

The Bad:

There are a few slow spots towards the beginning, but I’m glad I kept reading, because it quickly picks up. (This is the author’s first novel so she makes a few mistakes like repeating things that didn’t need to be repeated.)

I did notice several errors, but I’m very nit picky about that sort of thing and often find such in books. There weren’t many and they didn’t take away from the book.

---

 

I didn’t review Angelbound, Scala because it was really more of
a novella (150 pages) than a sequel. It was good, but I wanted more!

---

 

Angelbound Armegeddon

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Demons & Angels

Pages: 250

Point of View: First Present (Myla)

Released: October 12, 2014

Predictability: 4 out of 5

Source: Netgalley

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Age Rating: Older YA due to one make out session, and swearing.

 

 

Warning: Skip the summary if you haven’t read Angelbound!

My Summary: 

It’s been five years since the events of Angelbound. Myla and Lincoln are now married with a three year old little boy, Maxom.

The king of hell, Armegeddeon (No the subtitle isn’t referring to the end of the world) has been plotting his revenge against Myla since she sent him back to hell. And what better way to get back at her than by threatening her son?

My Review:

The overall story isn’t quite as good as the first one, but the writing has drastically improved. (No repeating of information or unnecessary scenes.)

The Good:

We finally get to see some of the other realms. With so many beautiful and dark settings there wasn’t time for more than a quick tour, but I enjoyed seeing more of the world. We also learn more about the history of the first two large scale wars, the first against Lucifer himself.

The pacing picked up as the story progressed and by the end there was no place to stop where my characters were safe.

I liked all of the relationships. Myla’s marriage felt true as did her love for her son.

Maxom feels like a real little kid. (I could definitely tell that the author is a mom.) I liked his kid-logic and I loved the tail snuggling!

A couple of new characters were added, I particularly liked the spunky Hildy. (and the magical monkey Kiya was adorable!)

There were many times I was afraid it was going to be too easy for our main characters or they were going to make stupid mistakes, but the action in the end was well done with just the right amount of unpredictability.

Myla’s still the same strong heroine from Angelbound, but she’s grown up a bit in the years since then. (Okay, only a little bit.)

The Bad:

The mood of this book was darker, which makes sense given the circumstances, but I missed the funny sassy Myla. There were still a couple humorous instances, but overall she was all business.

I also missed some of the supporting characters from the first book. Both Myla’s best friend Cissy and her mom are barely in this book at all.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, but I recommend starting with the first in the series. There’s too much world building for this one to make sense on its own.

I kept thinking that she was hinting at a sequel with Maxom and I was right. The next book in the series, Maxon, will be released on May 12, 2015!

 

 

 

How do you feel about time jumps between novels? I personally hate them, because I always feel like I’ve missed something in the time I wasn’t with the characters.

Book Review ~ Angelbound By Christina Bauer

Tags

Angelbound, Angels, author, book, book reviews, books, characters, Christina Bauer, demon hunter, Demons, fantasy, fiction, ghouls, literature, mortal instruments, Myla, novel, plot, prophecy, purgatory, quasi, read, reader, review, romance, stories, story, tails, world building, write, writer, writing, YA, young adult

(I included the back cover too, because the artwork is so awesome!)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Demons & Angels

Pages: 532

Point of View: First (Myla)

Released: December 17, 2013

Predictability: 5 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

Source: Funny story, I saw this book on sale for .99, but when I went to buy it, it wasn’t on sale anymore. I contacted the website, not because I really wanted the book, but because I thought they should know Amazon messed up. Well turns out it was my mistake and it had been on sale yesterday. The publisher Ink Monster sent me a free copy of the book anyway! (Which of course didn’t affect my judgement of this book at all.)

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Age Rating: Older YA, due to one make out session. (Not sex, but parts are named.)

My Summary: [Sorry my summaries used to be a little longer winded]

Myla is a quasi demon (meaning part human) living in purgatory. Around twenty years ago demons invaded purgatory and left ghouls running things. Myla’s mom is super over-protective and won’t say anything about her life before the war with the demons or even about Myla’s father.

Myla spends most of her time at school, but every so often she’s called to duty. When a soul enters purgatory they can choose trial by combat. Since she was twelve Myla’s been required to fight to the death in the arena against theses souls. As the best fighter they save the nastiest ones for her, but she’s not your typical almost eighteen year-old. She enjoys her battles in the arena, particularly when it’s against a demon and she keeps extensive notebooks on how to beat the various demon races.

Myla’s best friend Cissy (who has the tail of a golden retriever, yes it does wag when she’s happy. Okay, enough about tails…) has a huge crush on a boy at school, so when said boy invites Myla and a guest to his party she can’t say no. At the party, abandoned by her friend, Myla meets the frustrating prince Lincoln. He’s a demon hunter who thinks all quasis are evil, but Myla can’t stop thinking about him and not just about punching him. Well, that too.

My Review:

I don’t know what it is about me and tail fascination. I’ve just always wanted one. So naturally the reason Angelbound caught my eye is the main character has a tail. (The author actually uses her tail to show emotion and humor too.)

The Good:

Angelbound is told in a fun voice with plenty of humor and I liked the strong sassy heroine, Myla. It might just be me, (because I couldn’t pry the book out of my fingers to go to bed.) but this book was a quick read.

Romance is a strong part of this book and it’s well done. Though the conversation where they got to really know each other is only told about afterwards.

Angelbound has interesting characters and good world building. The author takes her time to really make us care about the characters and to establish the world.

The Bad:

There are a few slow spots towards the beginning, but I’m glad I kept reading, because it quickly picks up. (This is the author’s first novel so she makes a few mistakes like repeating things that didn’t need to be repeated.)

I did notice several errors, but I’m very nit picky about that sort of thing and often find such in books. There weren’t many and they didn’t take away from the book.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. Will I read the next one? For sure! [And since I posted this I have.]

Sorry for not posting last week. We had some major storms here in Michigan and I didn’t have power for a few days. The good news is with not much else to do I read the entire Maze Runner Trilogy and since I had so much fun writing this review, I’ve decided to review that too.

Have you read any good books lately?