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.

Warm Bodies and The New Hunger By Isaac Marion

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, fantasy, fiction, Isaac Marion, literature, New Hunger Isaac Marion, novel, plot, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, stories, the new hunger, warm bodies, Warm Bodies Isaac Marion, write, writer, writing, Zombie books, zombies

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Zombies

Pages: 256

Point of View: First (Julie, R)

Released: October 28th 2010

Series: Warm Bodies

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Bought

My Rating: 8/10 Stars

Warnings: Definitely an older YA. Violence, eating people, mentions of sex, and they’re fond of the F word.

My Summary:

Warm Bodies stars R, a zombie. He doesn’t remember anything about his life, but he thinks his name started with an R. He ‘lives’ (shuffles around) in an old airport. His best friend M is also a zombie. They mostly grunt and shuffle together, only capable of speaking the occasional word.

Then on a food run, (yes food is what you expect) R unexpectedly saves a girl named Julie. He wipes black zombie blood on her to disguise her living aura and takes her back to his home. He knows a bit about her because he ate her boyfriend’s brain. (Zombies see flashes of a person’s life when they eat brains.)

My Review:

This was one of the strangest books I’ve ever read! I usually avoid zombie books. They’re the one monster that totally creeps me out! But I saw the movie a while ago, (Yes I watched the movie first, I usually do *gasps*) and it was funny and cute and not at all what I expected. The book wasn’t exactly ‘cute’, but it was good. It’s a short, quick, fun read, which is just what I wanted.

The good:

I liked that we were inside the zombie’s head. R’s voice is what made this book! It easily could’ve been written from Julie’s perspective and though I liked her, it wouldn’t have been nearly as good. (And again my love for the whole good monster thing comes into play!)

R is one of the best protagonists I’ve read in a long time. He has an entirely unique voice and for a corpse he’s certainly eloquent. Far from being the mindless zombie, he might shuffle and groan, but his head is full. I especially liked the little things that changed in him after he met Julie. The hope, the caring, and all the little things like remembering how to smile. Julie was a good character too. She wasn’t just a damsel in distress or a mouthy tough girl, but somewhere in between, flawed and totally real. I also like both of the character’s best friends, M and Nora.

We don’t really learn what caused the world to collapse, or the virus of the Dead, and I don’t care. (Julie gives us her thoughts towards the end, but nothing’s confirmed.) The zombies, while traditional were unique enough. I liked the strange gray eye color and black blood thing. (Oh, and that eating human brains gives them flashes of memories.)

There wasn’t the normal sort of plot, because most of the time the characters didn’t have a plan and just reacted to the situations they found themselves in. But why would the plot be normal when nothing else about this book was?

For anyone curious both the movie and the book are good for different reasons. I remember the movie being more laugh out loud funny, but the book had quite a few chuckles. The movie was obviously more Hollywood, though they did a good job using R’s narration to keep his voice. I liked the book better of course, but just for the story not the missing internal thoughts. The Boneys (older Dead, now skeletons) in the book were much scarier than the horror versions of themselves in the movie. I think it’s because in the movie they were brainless, but in the book they acted. (Allbeit strangely) The boneys started a zombie church, and school. Giving children zombies to adults and teaching them what to do. It was all very weird.

The Bad:

There were parts that were a bit gross, but it is a zombie book after all.

---

The New Hunger by Isaac Marion

Pages: 105 192

Point of View: Third (Julie, Nora, R)

Released: January 28th 2013 October 8th 2015

Predictability: 5 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:

Nora and her seven year old little brother were abandoned by their parents in a world gone crazy. At only sixteen, Nora doesn’t really have a plan other than find people. (Living ones)

Julie and her parents are headed to an enclave which is supposed to be safe. At only twelve she can already take care of herself.

And a dead man wakes up in the woods with an empty mind.

My Review:

I’m glad I read Warm Bodies first, because even though it made The New Hunger predictable, it’s not nearly as sad. (I’d always rather be prepared for deaths.)

The Good:

It was nice to meet a young Julie and Nora. I loved Nora’s little brother Addy! M, R’s Zombie friend also makes an appearance. R’s parts were still my favorite! The things he talks to in his head were very strange, but I liked how he traded emotions for information.

I wish it had started just a bit earlier! I wanted to see R as a human and find out how he Died. Hopefully the sequel will answer some of the questions this book left me with.

We do get some answers about the progression of the messed up world, if not what caused it. And there’s a flashback of when they announced the zombie pandemic. It was also nice to see some other cities. (Or rather their ruins)

The Bad:

The tone was darker than Warm Bodies and it was missing the humor.

I was excited to read The New Hunger again when I heard they added more stuff in preparation for the sequel! But I was surprised at how little was added.

So, what’s different?

There’s an all new prologue and epilogue! (Though they were just weird and didn’t serve any purpose.) And a sneak peek at Warm Bodies 2! (Which shows Julie, R, Nora, and Marcus on a plane.)

The most interesting change to me was instead of R remembering the dead blond woman, he sees an old man in a tall building grinning and sipping a drink as his soldiers fill the streets.  Which could be significant.

Aside from that, the only really noticeable changes were Julie’s letter to her pen pal being removed and a paragraph about the militias added.

Though it obviously went through another edit, for word use and such, and possibly continuity. Most of the changes were small, like R being called him instead of the tall man.

Also, mentions of beer and rapists were removed and her penpal sent her Whiskey instead of Vicoden. (I don’t understand why since its still an older YA due to violence and the F word.) I do like that the brand names were removed, like ziplock and Redbox. (And some I hadn’t heard of before) because now it’s not so dated.

Were the additions worth it? I’m sure for big fans of the series they were, but I was disappointed. According to Amazon it’s about ninety pages longer, but it’s more like five! So while I still recommend it, if you’ve already read it there’s no reason to read it again.

---

Do you prefer to read the book first or see the movie? I’d usually rather see the movie first, because otherwise I’m too annoyed by all of the changes. And the movie’s shorter, so it’s a good test if the book will be worth it.

The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fantasy, fiction, Frankenstein, literature, novel, plot, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, Steampunk, stories, story, The Diabolical Miss Hyde, The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr, urban fantasy, Viola Carr, write, writer, writing

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Scifi, Steampunk, Mystery, Retelling

Pages: 464

Point of View: First (Eliza and Lizzie)

Released: February 10th 2015

Series: Electric Empire 1

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Bought

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

Warnings: Sex and some grossness (see the bad below)

My Summary:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s daughter also has the same affliction. Eliza Jekyll is a scientist and works with the police force. Miss Lizzie Hyde is a thief and likes going to rowdy bars in the bad part of town. Eliza takes a serum to prevent the change, but its starting to not work.

All magic is illegal, so she’s determined to keep her secret, but when a royal society enforcer gets involved with her latest case things get complicated.

My Review:

Let’s see how good Molly’s memory is. I read this book in April, but for some reason I didn’t write a review. (And now I’m angry with my past self.)

This book not only continues Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Frankenstein too and there’s plenty of originality added in.

The Good:

It’s set in an alternate past, so women are still looked down upon, but both Eliza and Lizzie are strong in their own way and defy convention.

I liked the relationship between the two ‘sisters’ a lot. They started out hating one another, but they still love each other and they come to respect one another over the course of the book. (I’m afraid the sequel will ruin this though based on the description.)

The romance? There were two and oddly I liked the most messed up one the best. (I’m not sure what that says about me.) He sort of reminds me of Hannibal Lector.

This was your basic steampunk world with robots and gadgets. It was mostly sci-fi, but had some Fantasy elements too. (Werewolves, alchemy, and the fey) Eliza’s investigation tools were cool but I didn’t see the reason for the robots, they were just there. (Both her ‘pet’ robot and the guard robots standing around the city.)

Though set in a dark world there’s plenty of light fun dialogue that I enjoyed. The banter wasn’t the best, but it was still cute.

There’s more than one mystery going on and it was all well done. I wasn’t sure who did it until the second half of the book. (Though I did figure it out way before Eliza and Lizzie)

The Bad:

There was a bit of grossness in this book, the case involved women turning up without their limbs, but it mostly didn’t bother me. (And I’m quite the wimp.)

At first if was hard to understand Lizzie. The book starts in her POV and I almost didn’t buy it because of this. I got used to her though and overall I enjoyed her parts.

Verdict: a good, if weird book. (With an awesome cover!)

Have you ever written a review a bit late? This is my first attempt and I’m presently surprised by how much I remembered. (Especially considering how forgetful and scatterbrained I can be.)

Nice Dragons Finish Last By Rachel Aaron

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, dragon books, fantasy, fiction, heartstrikers, literature, nice dragons finish last, nice dragons finish last by Rachel Aaron, novel, plot, Rachel Aaron, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, stories, story, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Scifi, Dragons

Pages: 315

Point of View: Third (Julius)

Released: July 15th 2014

Series: Hellstrikers 1

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Mood: Fun, light, action

Source: Bought

My Rating: 9/10 Stars

My Summary:

Unlike normal dragons, Julius likes humans and spends most of his time holed in his room. His mother’s fed up with him, so one day she has him woken up, sealed in human form, and dumped in a city where there’s a bounty on dragons. If he doesn’t prove himself a true dragon in a month, she’ll kill him.

Julius hires Marci, a young mage, to assist him, but she has problems of her own. She stole something from a mobster and he wants it back.

My Review:

This book has ALL of my weaknesses! Why didn’t I read it sooner?!

A futuristic fantasy! I love when SciFi and fantasy merge and it worked great here! After a comet hit years ago, magic was reawakened and now everyone knows about it. The reawakened spirits, mages, and dragons have reshaped our world. Most of this book takes place in the city of Detroit Free Zone, a city of spirits where its illegal to pollute the water, but pretty much everything except murder is legal. The rich live in high superscrapers and then there’s the ‘colorful’ underground. The magic system was simple, but well thought out. Technology and magic mesh together to create special phones and self driven cars. It was all so cool and well done!

My favorite aspect of course was the dragons and their culture. They’re truly cutthroat and highly magical and strong. (Julius still has his strength, even if he can’t turn into a dragon with the powers of fire and flight.) His mother has dozens of children. So many that she names each clutch by a letter of the alphabet to keep them straight. A is the oldest and she’s currently on J, making Julius one of the youngest at only 24.

Julius is a great protagonist! He’s spent his life bending to his family and feeling like a weak failure, since he’s a nice dragon. (Weakness no 1, the good monster hehe!) He really grew throughout this book and not only got tougher but accepted himself. Marci’s a doctoral student who believes in very structured magic. She’s been through a lot recently, but she’s smart and tough.

Both of the main characters are awkward so that made the romance cute. She also doesn’t know he’s a dragon. (Which I loved, the whole secret identity thing! And a forbidden romance!)

The Bad:

The only thing that kept this from a perfect book in my opinion is I wanted more humor, or maybe some banter.

There were also quite a few errors in my Kindle version. (But this is a self published book)

Will I read the next one? I already am!!

I tried to get my sister to read this, since dragons are her favorite, but apparently she doesn’t like human dragons. (Picky picky)

What’s your favorite fantasy creature? Dragons are high on my list (particularly human ones) but if mages count they’re probably number one and as overused as they are I still have a weakness for vampires.

Chains of Water and Stone by Katherine Hurley

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author,  book reviews, book, books, Chains of Water and stone, characters, fantasy, fiction, Griever's Mark, Katherine Hurley, literature, magic, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, write, writer, writing, young adult

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 287

Point of View: First Present (Astarti, Logan)

Released: April 28th 2015

Series: Griever’s Mark 2

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Author Request

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

My Summary:

For as long as Logan can remember it has been whispered that his father wasn’t the Arcon. He never wanted to know the truth, but after discovering he can do things no pure Earthmaker could do, he decides he needs to know.

Logan and Astarti race to discover the truth, while running from the evil Belos.

My Review:

This is a sequel, but any spoilers for the first book are clearly marked. See my review of Griever’s Mark.

Note: the characters never dress like they do on the cover. It’s not that kind of book honest.

It took me a moment to remember the events of the past book, but it came back. (Definitely not a stand alone sequel.) Astarti annoyed me at first. I understand she’s angry, but she’s so bitter and mean! Either she improved or I got used to her though, because she only bothered me at the beginning.

In many ways this felt like a second book. It was necessary and things happen, but it felt like all the good stuff was being saved for the ending. (Know what I mean?)

The mystery of Logan’s origins was well done and I never would’ve guessed it. I enjoyed how it was woven into the world.

The world building was one of the many things I loved about the first book. It continued to be well done and oh so cool! (Whispers “mermaid”) Some things which weren’t explained now make perfect sense! I love the intricacy of the world!

I didn’t like Logan’s POV in this one. (Spoilers this paragraph!) He’s been captured and tortured, though we only witness the psychological not the physical torture, it’s still pretty bad. Then he understandably has PTSD, which is handled well, (which is rare, and I appreciate) but I just don’t like PTSD in books.

We do meet a couple of good new characters. Mostly Horik, the king’s champion. He’s big and tough and such a sweetie!

There’s still a little romance, but it isn’t nearly as fun as book one. (I keep saying that, don’t I?) It was dark and serious instead of fun and teasing. There are a couple lighter moments, but then they’re sucked back down.

That was my main problem with Chains of Water and Stone, it was so dark! But, I’m still glad I read it and I plan to read the finale! Where is it?! (Looks around)

How is your summer going?

I’ve been working hard and binge reading silly super hero books. I finally broke down and tried out Kindle Unlimited. (So far I’m up to $14 of read free books!)

The Edge of Forever By Melissa E. Hurst

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, fiction, literature, Melissa E. Hurst, novel, plot, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, stories, story, the edge of tomorrow, the edge of tomorrow by Melissa E. Hurst, time travel, write, writer, writing, young adult

Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel

Pages: 256

Point of View: First (Alora, Bridger)

Released: June 2nd 2015

Series: Yes! (Untitled 1)

Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Edelweiss

My Rating: 8/10 Stars

My Summary:

In the year 2146, Bridger goes to an academy for Time Benders. A month ago his father died, but he was also a Time Bender, so the government won’t tell him anything. His father sends him a message “Save Alora.”

In 2013 Alora is an average teenage girl living with her aunt. Her parents dropped her off as a child with no explanation and she hasn’t seen them sense. She wants to know about them, but her aunt is very secretive.

My Review:

Time travel and super powers, how could I resist! To say I’m picky about time travel stories is an understatement. And I approve of how Edge of Forever did it! As for powers time bending is obviously used the most, but there’s also space bending (teleporting) and mind reading.

Somehow I didn’t realize that the main character’s father had just died when I requested this book. (A month before the story starts.) I’m glad I can’t bring myself to quit review books, because I really enjoyed it! (And I really didn’t want to read it at first!)

There are times at the beginning where Bridger’s actions may seem irrational, but considering what he’s gone through it’s understandable. I wouldn’t be able to resist trying to save my dad if I had the powers to travel through time and I think that’s ultimately what Bridger wants, to understand why his father died along with why he has to save Alora.

As you can tell there are several mysteries going on. Some were really obvious, but others I didn’t guess.

Everything starts horribly for both of our main characters. The POV shift worked, balancing the intensity of Bridger’s life with Alora’s ordinary life going to school.

There isn’t a ton of world building since Bridger already knows how the world wound up this way, so we mostly get hints. The technology all seemed realistic, though I kept wondering what stuff looked like. So the data thingy goes on your wrist? How big is it? How can it send an image?

There’s also a bit of romance, but no love triangles!

The Bad:

Alora’s picked on a lot in school. I usually avoid books with bullies, but it’s not a main part of the plot here.

Time Travel:

I like time travel where you can change the past, but not large events or create a paradox (like in Doctor Who) or where anything you do in the past has already effected your present. (Like in Pern and Harry Potter) Which do you prefer? Or do you not like time travel stories? I don’t care, as long as it makes sense. Once you get into the whole paradox thing (like accidentally killing your grandparent) I get confused.

The Shadow Revolution By Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, clay Griffith, clay Griffith and Susan Griffith, fantasy, fiction, literature, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, Susan Griffith, the shadow revolution, the shadow revolution by clay Griffith and Susan Griffith, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing, young adult

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Steampunk

Pages: 320

Point of View: Third (Simon, Kate, Gretta, Malcolm)

Released: June 2nd 2015

Series: Crown & Key 1

Predictability: 3 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:

A werewolf is loose in London and Simon, a magician and playboy, is after it for personal reasons.

Kate, the daughter of a rich adventurer, intends to discover what’s been done to her sister.

My Review:

This book took me longer than I expected since I couldn’t read it at night. (Nightmares) It’s rather violent, gruesome, and has scary monsters. (Although I am a wuss.)

At the beginning some of the lines were so over the top I couldn’t tell if the authors were serious, (Grins that blazed in the darkness, and striking cavalier poses) but the writing quickly improved.

Simon’s a party boy, and a womanizer, and at first I couldn’t stand him, but over the course of the book he grew on me.

Malcolm said it best:

“Once I thought little of you, but I was wrong. You are an honorable man, and while there are times I would as soon throw you through that window, I’d stand with you if you need me.”

Kate’s fiery and strong, and exactly my kind of heroine. I wasn’t sure about her judgment, being attracted to Simon and all, but she proves herself to be a smart woman. My favorite character was Simon’s best friend Nick. He’s a slob who would rather use magic to change his appearance than dress up and he always calls Simon on his failings. I wish he had a point of view too! He’s a much needed bit of comic relief. Malcolm the solemn werewolf hunter and Penny the spunky mechanic were also nice additions.

Simon’s potentially the last scribe, and uses runes to invoke magic. Nick’s a jack of all trades when it comes to magic and is Simon’s teacher. Kate practices alchemy, but despite her father’s vast travels, she’s never encountered magic before. If you ask me, magic needs limits. Those limits were unique here, as Simon acts drunk when he’s used too much magic!

There wasn’t much mystery, but I didn’t have a clue what the villains were up to. (And still mostly don’t) I prefer a little more story with my action, but the action well done so I can’t complain.

All three books of this trilogy come out in the month of June!

I probably should’ve rated this higher, but the gruesomeness was a bit much for me. I always feel guilty rating a good book lower for personal reasons. Do you rate based on your personal opinion?

Powerless By Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, fiction, literature, novel, plot, powerless, powerless by tera lynn childs and Tracy deebs, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, stories, story, super powers, tera Lynn childs, tera Lynn childs and Tracy deebs, tracy deebs, write, writer, writing, young adult

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Super Powers

Pages: 320

Point of View: First present (Kenna)

Released: June 2nd 2015

Series: The Hero Agenda 1

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:

In a world of super heroes and villains Kenna is powerless. Which is pretty much the same thing as invisible. Her mom is a genius inventor and Kenna works in her lab.

One night when Kenna’s working late, a group of young villains breaks into the lab. But instead of killing or kidnapping her, one of them saves her life.

My Review:

There isn’t much down time in Powerless. It starts with a bang and never really lets up.

The Good:

Kenna is tough and smart. She does spend too much time thinking of tall dark and villainy, but I still liked her. And there was a little sprinkled humor throughout the book, which I always appreciate.

The side characters were so good I kept wishing to hear from their point of view. I loved her best friend Rebel! I think she’d have made a great protagonist. She’s just so much fun! And maybe a villains point of view too! (I know a book is good when I have a wish list for next time!)

Kenna and her potential love interest bicker almost constantly at first. I prefer banter, but they grew on me. Considering the book only takes place over three days their relationship didn’t feel too quick. (The intensity of her feelings by the end was a bit much for me though.)

We get minimal world building, mostly what we learn about super powered people is in the prologue. I wish there’d been a bit more, like why some people are born with hero powers and others villains and what makes them different.

The Bad:

It didn’t bother me but this is the sort of book where she rarely said says, but gushed, spit, etc. Kenna also has a habit of repeating herself. (Which did annoy me.)

There’s a plot hole near the end, where a previously strong character is suddenly exhausted despite not doing anything. (Molly grumbles incoherently.)

I also feel I should mention the amazing number of times our ‘heroes’ failed. And the partial cliffhanger ending. (I would’ve read the next book. You didn’t have to torture me like this!)

Overall: A fun book with good characters, though the plot was nothing special. (Almost all action)

How do you feel about plot holes? I always spot them. I suppose that’s because they bother me so much!

Uprooted By Naomi Novik

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author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, fairy tale, fantasy, fiction, literature, Naomi Novak, novel, plot, read, reader, review, stories, story, uprooted, uprooted Naomi novak, write, writer, writing, young adult

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Pages: 448

Point of View: First (Agnieszka)

Released: May 19th 2015

Predictability: 2 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)

Source: Edelweiss

My Rating: 10/10 Stars!!!

My Summary:

The dragon (actually a wizard) protects villages from the corrupted woods, but every ten years they must give him a young girl. (Not to eat, but to work for him.)

My Review:

Right away it’s obvious that Agnie has a good voice. (What I call her, since her name is a mouthfull!) Which is good since there’s a lot of narration in this book and it really helps it feel like a fairy tale.

The nature of the magic and how she described it was familiar yet unique. Though mostly spoken words and mystical-ness, somehow the way the character understand it made it feel real. “It’s like gleaning in the woods, you have to pick your way through the thickets and the trees and its different every time.” (And I like when magic has a cost, here energy.) The Dragon saw magic very much like a precise science so he didn’t know what to make of Agnie’s bumbling way.

Dragon and Agnie are very different people. They get forced together and I loved their interactions! The characters and the world were so well done.

There was a sense of a different culture, mostly in the words used. Even these little touches helped it to feel like a different world. I also appreciated that the characters were described like real people, Agnie’s not perfectly pretty. (I love oddball main characters!) The Dragon actually called her horse-faced at one point. (He’s rather bristly at first. He didn’t say it to be mean. Yes, I feel the need to defend him!)

The Wood was a great villain! Normally I don’t care for the ambitious unseen evil force, but this was so creepy! (Plus there are some human ‘bad guys’ as well. Okay, just jerks I kept hoping would die.)

Uprooted has a pace which is all its own. Everything about this book was unique, but it all worked! There are five acts to this book (not officially or anything) and I liked them all, but the parts with the Dragon were definitely my favorite! Oh, I should mention there’s a great female friendship too!

Am I babbling? I might be. It was just that good!

The Bad:

It’s a standalone!

It took me a while to read this book. It was so good I wanted to savor it! Am I the only one who does that?

Revive By Tracey Martin

Tags

author,  book reviews, book, books, characters, fiction, literature, new adult, novel, plot, read, reader, review, revive, revive Tracy martin, science fiction, scifi, stories, story, thriller, Tracey Martin, write, writer, writing

Genre: New Adult, Science Fiction Thriller

Pages: 282

Point of View: Third (Sophia)

Released: May 15th 2015

Series: Redzone 1

Predictability: 5 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: 6/10 Stars

My Summary:

Sophia wakes up in a train station with no memory. Her ID says Sophia, but she knows that’s not true. A boy named Kyle seems to know her, but then people show up who she knows are bad. Her instincts scream at her to run. She might have no memory but she has spy like training.

Then we back up twelve weeks to when Sophia started at RTC college. We learn she’s undercover to find a certain student. Student X as she calls them is a mutant and if Sophia doesn’t identify him or her, they will. They = mysterious enemies.

My review:

Though rated new adult this first book is really more a young adult set in college.

I requested this book because I enjoyed Martin’s other series, Miss Misery (and the blurb promised that Sophia wasn’t human.) Sophia’s voice sounds totally different from Martin’s other main character. It always impresses me when an author can do that.

The good:

This was the kind of book that kept me reading looking for answers. It was also done right too. I got enough information not to feel strung along, but I was kept curious enough to keep turning pages.

The pacing alternates between exciting thriller and everyday college life and the time line bounces around as Sophia gets her memory back. (Sounds confusing, but it really wasn’t.) It’s set in the near future. Mostly our world, but there were few cool new inventions.

I liked Sophia in her flashbacks, but current her seemed ordinary and overly moral. (Okay so I might have skewed priorities, but there’s a time for morals and a time to kick bad guy butt without feeling bad about it!)

The best part was the friends she grew up with! Not only were they colorful characters, but they had a great relationship! Sadly, they were barely in the book. I’m hoping they become main characters in the next one!

The Bad:

There’s a love triangle of course. Between the guy she met at college (who she doesn’t know if she can trust) and a guy she grew up with. (Who she’s forbidden to be with.) I didn’t like either one. I know Martin can do banter, so where was it?

The plot kept me guessing, but only because I kept over thinking things. I was promised lots of twists and turns, so I couldn’t believe it would be so predictable! It was. Guess I read/watch too much SciFi.

My expectations were just too high. Do you ever do that? I hate it when I do, because even when the book is good, (Like this one) I wind up disappointed.