Review: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

OK. I'm going to come at this from the angle that everyone (except Rhoda, Hestia, and Leandros' two friends) were absolutely abominable people and therefore it was a bit like watching a fantasy mystery romance with characters from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

That doesn't really make sense, but that's how I felt. Maybe the Gang could be considered Slytherins.

Alessandra and Kallias are some pretty terrible people. As the author herself said, these characters have "questionable" morals and aren't exactly heroes. However, watching these two awful people fall in love and kind of learn to be a teensy bit "better" was fun. I enjoyed the ride, and found myself rooting for Alessandra and Kallias despite the shitty things they had planned for other people. Frankly, I thought it was hilarious when (view spoiler)[Alessandra is finally accused of murdering her first boyfriend, and after sending the police away, Kallias laughs his ass off and says she's perfect for him. (hide spoiler)]

So overall this was a good read. Nothing mind-blowing, and honestly for all the talk about sex and being liberated it seriously missed the opportunity to put in a couple hot sex scenes, but I guess we can't win all the time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. My opinions are my own.

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Review: Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin

Nameless Queen by Rebecca McLaughlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a severe lack of worldbuilding in this book, and I had absolutely no sense of place no matter where the characters went. I also had no idea what *anyone* looked like. BUT, despite those things (which are usually a big factor in whether I like a book or not), I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. I saw the "twist" coming a mile away, so it wasn't a surprise to be told why Coin was named queen. But I enjoyed seeing her building relationships with the people around her, learning about her powers, and figuring out who she really was and how she could help heal her country.

Overall, a good read and recommended for fantasy readers even though it was more action than place.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

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Review: All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title of this book is...interesting. I don't love it. I don't quite connect it to anything besides teeth being what Amora uses for her soul magic. But teeth aren't the only things she uses, and stars are only really mentioned when they are sailing, so the title doesn't make much sense with what the story was about. Anyway.

I was pretty ambivalent about everyone except maybe Vataea, who was bad-ass but still a bit not quite there as a character for me. I frequently forgot she existed. From the first chapter I absolutely hated Amora (I just finished the book and I actually had to go back to the last page and look up her name because for some reason I could not keep it in my head), her arrogance and surety was obviously a set-up for her to fail and it was too blatant for me. And the only thing I could think of when reading Bastian was Captain Hook from Once Upon A Time. He exudes sexy-pirate vibes with swagger and confidence, and it felt like that was the character Bastian was modeled after. While not a horrible thing, I still wish I'd been able to see him in my head as his own person.

The story itself was interesting. I think that was what really kept me going. I was curious to see how the different islands worked, how Kaven was gaining hold, and who and what he really was. It was pretty clear from the moment Bastian broke Amora out of prison that they were going to fall for each other, but the romance wasn't too in-your-face. I thought the twist at the end was good, although I still don't understand (view spoiler)[how Bastian activated the curse, when he doesn't have soul magic and the king just killed himself. Shouldn't it have been the king who activated it?
Or even Amora every time she killed someone? That part really didn't make sense. (hide spoiler)]

Poor Ferrick was just dead weight the whole time - the only thing he was good for was healing people and literally chopping off his own limbs so that Amora could kill other people. His shining moment at the end was a nice way to give him something to do, but I really wish he had been given that chance much earlier and wasn't such a bumbling idiot throughout the first half of the book. He seemed like a decent enough person, who wasn't all that stupid actually, but who was trying to help someone he cared about and was only treated with frustration and disdain (yet another reason I didn't like Amora).

I'll still probably seek out book two because I want to know whether Amora can break her own curse, save soul magic, and save the kingdom. Hopefully the characters are a bit less unlike-able the next time around.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My opinions are my own.

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Review: Weathernose by Maram Taibah

Weathernose by Maram Taibah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Admittedly I didn't realize this was actually a novella, so I was a bit disconcerted when I looked down after a while and saw that I was 65% of the way through the book and it was going up with every page. There were some good points to this, I enjoyed seeing Tart and Cypress becoming friends, but I think it was a bit too easy to get there. Then again, I guess that's the point of it being a novella, eh? But I wish there had been more to it.

The character development is interesting. I had a serious dislike for Tart from the moment he was fired, and it only got worse until the last bit of the book. Even then, though, I didn't love him. I didn't really connect to any of the characters to be honest. But I did like that there were a few changes of heart as things went on, and I liked seeing Cypress express the desire to be "just a kid" at one point.

A cute little novella, good story, but really wish there was more to it.

Thank you to Book Sirens for the opportunity to read and review this book. My opinions are my own.

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Review: The Deep by Rivers Solomon

The Deep by Rivers Solomon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can I give this 10 stars? Because I really want to give it 10 stars.

There is so much to unpack in this novel(la?) that I honestly don't really know where to start. There is an afterword explaining where the idea came from and how it was transformed, and I had read in a few reviews about the song by clipping., The Deep, that inspired the book. I went and listened to the song and really absorbed the lyrics (you can find it on YT here and the lyrics here).

The afterword explained how the gender and first-person narratives were stripped away in the song and "y'all" was used instead. In the book, many characters have a distinctly male or female gender, but several are referred to as "they." The characters we see in flashbacks, Zoti and Basha, are both non-gendered as "we." And Yetu explains to Oori at one point that the wajinru (the mer-folk) aren't truly gendered, as they can mate as male or female with anyone, and anyone can carry a child. I thought this was an interesting way to present the information, because we aren't focused on whether we're reading about a male or female mermaid, but rather that they are something different. These creatures were born of violence and necessity, and a little magic. What does gender matter?

The question of identity outside of the self is explored quite well. The wajinru give up most of their memories to the Historian, who carries the memory of all wajinru since the beginning. They are then left as empty shells, who don't form meaningful memories, and don't carry their history with them. Then Yetu meets and becomes close to a "two-legs," Oori, whose sense of self is destroyed because she doesn't have a home anymore, she's the last of her people. Yetu can't understand how that kills a person, because she sees it every day with her people. The two come to an understanding after a lot of struggle and discussion.

Yetu's adventure away from the wajinru gives her the inspiration and strength she needs to be part of her people and yet still maintain her sense of self. I loved how at the end she learns to harness her own power and use it to make an entirely new creature, and it's left a bit open for anything that may evolve from these artists in the future.

Seriously meaningful stuff, and I'm not even scratching the surface here. I am not a POC, and I don't carry their history inside me, so I don't want to impose my own meaning on something that may mean something entirely different. But I did appreciate and connect with the material and even if you're looking at it as pure fantasy, it is a spectacular read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

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Review: The Unicorn Anthology edited by Peter S. Beagle

The Unicorn Anthology by Peter S. Beagle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As a lifetime fan of Peter Beagle, I jumped at the chance to read this (even though only one of the stories was his, and I had read it before). It turned out that I had actually read the last few - My Son Heydari and the Unicorn, The Unicorn Triangle, and The Transfigured Hart. Admittedly I'm not much of a fan of these three, they were good when I first read them but I don't love them as much as some of the other unicorn stories and books I've read.

But there were a few gems in here. I liked Ghost Town, The Highest Justice, and A Thousand Flowers. The rest were kind of meh. I especially disliked the one about the unicorn horn dildo (gross - that one was up there for me with the story in another collection about a woman who sculpts dicks and has sex with the devil), and the one where the guy who buys his bait as a child then ends up with her, "taking her" against the side of a dead and bleeding unicorn (also gross). And I agree with most other reviewers who say that the stories all adhere to the tropes (virgins, etc.), nothing new is done here, and most of them barely feature unicorns at all.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this collection. Overall it's a meh dud for me. I'd much rather read actual books about unicorns, or at least something new and interesting done with the idea of unicorns.

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Review: The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher

The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whooooo *fans self* If the cover hadn't given away that this was a bodice-ripper, there was no doubt in my mind pretty early on when there was so much tension between the two main characters that it was oozing into every aspect of the book. I don't normally request these things because I have so many other things to read but this sounded interesting at least.

Overall, this is a fantasy book tangled up in Irish fairy folklore. Honestly, I'm not a scholar of Irish fairy stuff, but I've read a lot of different fey stories so I wasn't completely out of my depth here. We briefly meet WB Yeats (which frankly, I didn't see the point of, but I get the little homage there), we read about different folk heroes and fairy kings and queens, and all the while we're on a (sexy) adventure with two pretty attractive people ;) The naughty bits are definitely graphic, so if you're not up for that then steer clear. But if you are, have fun!

4/5 stars because even though it was something I'd consider "fluff," even if you take out the bedroom romps it was still a great story with plot and character development.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

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Review: The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To be honest, I'm surprised I enjoyed this one so much. At the beginning of the Kindle edition is a list of names and their pronunciations, which threw me (I have no idea why but it sort of made me feel a little overwhelmed with all the different names and I knew approximately how they were pronounced anyway but there were SO MANY), and the opening few lines did not grab me at all. But I came on Goodreads to check out other reviews, and there were so many positive ones (that actually had some good info) that I decided to keep going. Good choice on my part.

The story is interesting, although not one that we haven't seen before. The main characters start off on an island where they're training to be secretive fighters who apparently also do spy duties. There is a little tension set up in the beginning between Liobhan and Dau, and a bit of apprehension on the part of Brocc, but otherwise not much is gained through such a brief look at their training.

I appreciated beyond belief that this was NOT a love story! There were no real hook-ups (outside of the ending, which made sense and I'm not going to spoil it), there was a little bit of attraction here and there but nothing overt. Instead we got an actual story free from the angsty teenage pining that tends to take over a lot of the fantasy I've read lately.

The magic was subtle and explained well. I liked how some of it was a tad bit unpredictable (although I did guess at just about all of the "twists" and was not usually wrong). The relationships between the characters were done thoughtfully, with definite character evolution throughout. I think Brocc was the most wet-noodle character, though. He just sort of goes with the flow, although that can sort of be explained by his back story which is revealed as we go along.

My favorite character though was Dau. He goes through such an emotional transformation that I was left feeling happy for him while still sad at all he had to endure to get there. He is definitely someone that I would like to read more about, maybe in book 2.

Speaking of book 2, it's already on my TBR list even though it doesn't have a title or plot yet. So I definitely recommend this book for all lovers of fantasy. Like I said, it's nothing new or revolutionary, but it is a great tale and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: The Swallows by Lisa Lutz

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting but it wasn't what I got. There are several different viewpoints and I hated them all. Yes, even the kids. The teachers were all assholes, the boys are all douchebags, and the girls are ridiculously overdone. The story wasn't that interesting and nothing super major happened until the end and by then there had been a whole lot of buildup for not much of an explosion.

2 out of 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OK folks, buckle yourselves in, because if you pick up this book you're in for a wild ride.

(As an aside, I can't remember the last time I saw a fantasy book that was being hyped like this one that was actually this good. And I also can't remember the last time I saw a book like this with so many four- and five-star reviews that are actually genuine. So I think the hype was well warranted with this one. Although I'd market it more as adult fantasy than YA as another reviewer commented.)

There is a lot to love here - a badass female lead who is strong AF while still being able to admit to uncertainty and fear. Fie is the heroine we all need in this world of wispy girl leads who pine romantically for the prettiest boy they ever did see and everyone else be damned.

One of the best things about this book is the magic system. Every caste (I'm still a bit confused about them but don't totally care) has their own "birthright," which was given to them by their own dead gods. The Crows have no birthright, and must take from others. They are called "bone thieves" as a slur by every other caste because they get their magic from other castes' teeth. Now, I am not a huge fan of this kind of thing, it's a little gross to think of someone holding onto a bunch of teeth, pulling them out of dead bodies, and carrying them around in a bag (or on a string around their neck). I admit to being squeamish. But this was so unique that I couldn't put it as a negative. It's seriously amazing to think that the person holding a tooth can see the entirety of the former owner's life and then harness that former owner's magic. Fie gets really good at using the Phoenix teeth (for fire) and the Sparrow teeth (to hide).

The Crows are called "merciful" because they are the ones who answer the plague beacons. As the only caste who can't get sick from the plague, they are charged with finishing off the sick (mercifully slitting their throats) and then burning them away from the village so the plague doesn't infect everyone else there. If the crows don't answer a beacon they are supposedly punished by the Covenant, which I gathered is the magical "rules" which were settled when the gods died.

The rest of the castes really hate the Crows and go out of their way to make them miserable, even though the Crows help them with the plague. The Oleanders even hunt them down and kill them in terrible ways (Fie's mother was murdered when Fie was a little girl, and she found her body by following a trail of her fingers). No one ever does anything to help them against the Oleanders, and that is something that Fie wants to change.

So when the two lordlings that are supposedly dead from the plague sit up in her cart, Fie sees her chance to change the Crows' fates. And after she forges that covenant vow with Jasimir, she is forced to live with everything that happens because of it.

There is a lot going on in this book between the Oleanders, the skinwitches trailing the band, the love story (which was pretty well done, actually), everyone out to kill them. A few times I thought I had pegged how the next bit was going to go and was wrong. And while I figured out the "big reveal" that comes at the end a long time before, admittedly it was still a bit of a surprise to be proven right.

I so love Fie's character development, and I even liked Tavin (although it was pretty obvious that the two of them were going to get together). Jasimir... I could take him or leave him. He's whiny and has a stick up his ass, but by the end he does have a new side to his personality that I warmed to.

The only thing that made this four stars for me was that sometimes the magic really didn't make sense, it felt like it was just being used to get them out of a scrape that they never would have escaped from otherwise, and wasn't well-thought-out. There was also at least one nick-of-time rescue that wasn't believable. Otherwise, this is fantastic, I loved it, and I highly recommend it.

You know what, screw it, I'm giving it five stars anyway.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

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Review: The Girl in Red by Christina Henry

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Guys. Go out and buy this book. It was freaking fantastic.

I can't remember the last time a fairy tale retelling really blew my mind. This one was so well done it was almost unrecognizable from the original - except for the wolves, Red herself, and her grandma. There are a lot of dangers for a young woman traveling alone in the woods after a sickness wipes out huge numbers of the population. But it turns out that Red can handle herself - she's spent years reading apocalyptic sci-fi and studying horror movies. She knows where everything always goes wrong, and is determined to not make those same mistakes. Rule number one: Stay Together or Something Will Happen.

If only it were that simple.

Red's plan is to leave home with both of her parents and her brother. It's too bad that fate had different plans for them. When we first meet Red she is alone, no family left. We find out what happened to them over the course of several chapters labeled "Before," where we get the story leading up to the start of the book, interspersed with the story of what is going on "now." I really enjoyed the way the book was split back and forth, for once. This isn't a style I always love and isn't always done well, but Christina Henry did a great job. The story itself is gruesome - she doesn't pull any punches when talking about what Red does and sees, what she's afraid of and what she thinks may happen.

There are a lot of unanswered questions, though I know those questions are essentially just tangents to the main story. The journey itself is the story here, while everything that happens on the sidelines just serves to propel Red forward. Red repeats over and over that she's not a "Chosen One," that she's not here to wonder what happened and figure it out and rescue humanity from what is happening. She's not here to protect anyone or stop anyone or any of that nonsense. She is here to make a journey to her grandmother's house. And no one is going to stop her.

The only thing I did not like was the ending. We've spent so much time with Red on the journey that it feels like the rest of the journey was cut. When the story is about that journey, and you jump forward 25 days with no further discussion, it feels like you're cutting your story off. I'm sure there are only so many ways that Red can get waylaid and put in danger, and I bet if Henry had told those 25 extra days she may have been tempted to steer the story away from the journey and focus more on the things happening around Red so I get the impulse to not rehash the same stuff over again. But it still felt rushed. I wanted so much more! But I am happy that it actually had an ending instead of just leaving things up in the air for possible sequels.

I see that Henry has written several other fairy tale retellings, which I am apparently going to need to read now, so thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this one!

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Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are apparently 800 pages in this book. I've read books that long (and longer) many times before. That wasn't a stumbling block for me, but damn were those a long 800 pages.

First, let me say how happy I am that this is NOT a series and that the story is wrapped up (mostly) in just the one book. I didn't have to wait for ten more sequels to come out to figure out what was happening. I didn't have to slog through thousands of pages of bullshit just so someone could drag out the story.

A lot of other people have talked about the themes of this book and all the issues it explores in much more detail and probably better than I can. We have the fundamentalist Christian pastor who gets into bed with neo-Nazis, a female president who apparently most of the country hates, a kind of strange look at homosexuality, there's even a pretty brutal male-male rape scene that I was...seriously disturbed by. The sickness itself is disgusting, frankly. And there is a lot going on that is left up in the air as mystery for a very long time.

And I'll admit it - Wendig got me. I'm usually sitting here reading and picking out the "twists" that are supposedly so hidden but are actually pretty plain. Not with this one. At first I couldn't figure out the purpose of the walkers. When that was revealed, awesome, I was surprised (although looking back it's probably pretty easy to spot and I just missed it in all the science talk). There was a lot of blatant commentary on the people who weren't getting sick, so I figured that one out early enough. But the ending - I always suspected Black Swan of being more than just the "benevolent AI who wants to save the human race," and while I wasn't surprised about what happened, I can say I didn't see that exact scenario playing out. And Shana's part in the end of it all was definitely unexpected.

There were a few characters I grew "close" to - Marcy, Pete, and Benji. Once Pete got over his rockstar status and became an actual human I liked him very much. Benji was always just trying to do the best he could for everyone else. And Marcy was such a good-hearted person that it wasn't hard to love her. I do still wish we had been told exactly what had happened between her and the "glow" - Sadie mentioned that Marcy was a receiver because of the metal plates in her head, but how that made her more functional is beyond me.

There are two reasons this does not get a 5 star review - first, I am not one to shy away from swearing in books, but I feel like it was over the top in this one. There were a lot of random fucks interjected into conversations, thoughts, revelations, etc. It was too much for me to even feel like it was realistic. Second, the ending wasn't quite satisfying after all we went through to get where we were going. It came too quickly after all of that, and it felt cut off (although very sinister - good job at upping the creep factor at the end there).

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. My opinions are my own.

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Review: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5 stars

This book was exhilarating. Our scene is set almost as a Cinderella story, but it goes so much further than that very quickly. Soon our heroine is on an adventure with a deposed Mayan god, and her pace almost feels breathless. I was sucked in quickly and inhaled the book over about a day and a half.

(SN: Anyone else have The Road to El Dorado stuck in their head the whole time? Every time I saw the word Xibalba I was tossed back into the movie and I'm sure that's terrible but eh that's life :P)

Anyway, Hun-Kame was not exactly likable as a god, but as he grew more and more human I sort of started falling for him too. Casiopea's longing for adventure finally caught up to her, and she got what she wanted, but not exactly as planned. Martin - I just wanted to slap him silly. And pretty much the entire rest of her family.

The reason I gave this 4.5 stars is because we don't get to see what happened to Casiopea's family after the final "game." I wanted to know what was going to happen to her grandfather, how her mother was affected, and all that. I wanted to know what kind of person Martin would become. And admittedly, even though the way it ended was actually kind of perfect, I was a little disappointed that it didn't end the way I half expected it to. I think it could have worked out either way, and I do like that the author was bold enough to end it with the outcome she chose.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this wonderful book.

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Review: Vow of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

Vow of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ugh this was so great I was disappointed when it ended! Easily one of my favorite reads of the year so far. I really love it when I get so into a book my heart is actually racing with anxiety over what's going to happen, and I can feel myself getting super emotional at certain points. I inhaled this book over the course of two days, and probably would have finished it in one if I hadn't had to work. The first book was fantastic on its own, but this one really blew it out of the water. I am definitely going to be checking out more of Mary Pearson's books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a solid 3 stars for me. I liked it, but it was not love. I had a lot of trouble with the language in the beginning - often words were used that had zero context, so I was left to assume. By about halfway in I noticed that there was more translation. The word would show up, and then in italics the character would think the translation. It was strange. There was also a lot of detail that seemed to be left out. For example, at the end, (view spoiler)[when Benyamin whistled for the kaftar to come help in the battle against the Lion, I didn't see where the text actually said they showed up. But then later, when the fighting stopped for a moment, they were mentioned as stopping as well. (hide spoiler)]

The story itself was interesting. We get a different perspective with this Middle Eastern-like setting. There was a bit of a culture adjustment for me, because I couldn't figure out why there was so much emphasis on men going shirtless until I realized that Zafira was uncomfortable around men who were revealing so much skin, not that she was romanticizing their gigantic muscles. There are a lot of twists and turns, which weren't wholly surprising. I could see where things were going well ahead of Zafira, who always seemed to be two steps behind. The adventure was similar to most other fantasy adventures, where someone is "the chosen" to go and retrieve something valuable, meets up with a troupe of people who don't trust each other, they eventually become friends, yadda yadda. The stereotypical handsome joker, the brooding but gorgeous prince, the chattering elf (who didn't chatter as much as you'd expect, but who still seemed to have all the answers), and the random warrior woman all join in with our self-conscious and unsure heroine. That is to say, there was a lot of trope, just in a new setting. But it was at least a good read.

I think that one of my major problems with the book overall is that Deen and Kulsum only existed to provide the possibility that Zafira and Nasir wouldn't fall in love (of course, both of those characters are expendable, and of course Zafira and Nasir fall in love but are way too stubborn to actually embrace it). These two characters are absolutely unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Deen and Kulsum have no character development, provide no real impetus for anything, and serve only to provide an excuse for Zafira and Nasir to feel pain. It feels like more should have been done with them to provide them with better character arcs, make them actually have an impact on the story beyond passive actors.

Also, there was a lot of wandering in the desert of Sharr with no direction and no destination in sight. They are literally just wandering, following Zafira, looking for a book, and fighting ifrit and other dangerous characters who pop up now and then. Most of their trip seems uneventful. All they do is argue, wonder whether they can trust each other, will-they-won't-they, etc. Yes, we're building relationships here, but I think that comes a bit at the cost of the story.

So overall, a solid 3/5 stars. I enjoyed it enough to keep reading. I wanted to know what happened to everyone, I wanted to know if Zafira and Nasir would actually admit to loving each other, and whether they would succeed in finding the book and setting things right. We're left with a nice epilogue which sets up well for the next book. I hate cliff hangers and this one was far from it. I was glad that the sultan's plan to destroy the village after Zafira left was addressed instead of just leaving the mention there and not talking about it again. Overall I'm glad that there will be a second book instead of trying to fit everything into this one, because after 91 chapters I was pretty spent. If given the chance, I would be interested in picking up book two when it's released to see how the story ends. If it ends up bleeding into more books, I probably will not keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: The Book of Flora by Meg Elison

The Book of Flora by Meg Elison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was going to say that this book must have been the shortest of the three, but it turns out it's actually the longest. I'm actually sad it's over. I *loved* it, I mean, as much as one can love such a brutal world. The series as a whole is so original and so well-written. I was reading through in this book and noticing (for the first time - how is this possible??) how the city and state names were all bastardizations of actual cities. Estiel - STL - St. Louis. Niyak - New York? Demons - Des Moines. Iwa - Iowa. I am guessing that Shy is Chicago (Chi-Town). And it keeps going and going and I was amazed at the sheer number of cities these people were able to make it to and through in their journeys. Also: No magical Mormons as many people feared!

The exploration of gender was very interesting. And the idea that humans were evolving so rapidly - literally in a generation or two - was a really compelling take. I think my main problem with the story line was what was happening with this army, and why. I guess I didn't understand the motivations of the army's leader, even though it seemed like it was explored and laid out in quite a bit of detail. It just didn't make a lot of sense to me.

Overall I loved the book, and I loved the entire series. I wish that this book had been longer! Even a little extra at the end with the army's arrival, and a longer epilogue with more detail would have been fantastic. But what a fitting end to the series. I'm looking forward to more Meg Elison in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There is a lot to like in this book - complex political intrigues, battles, betrayals, magic, epic adventure...but there's also a lot to dislike. The only character I actually cared about wasn't even a major player (Tenga). There is graphic rape, descriptions of bodies being hacked apart, and pretty much everyone was insufferable. I started to get into the story once things started picking up (around 75%) but by then I was too bored with the rest of it to get much enjoyment out of any of it. I couldn't root for anyone to succeed because I disliked them all.

In the end, I can give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 simply because GR doesn't do half stars. It was pretty well-written (although the advance copy I had was riddled with spelling and word errors), a lot of people would enjoy something like this (especially people who like grimdark), and it's definitely a richly-imagined world. But I didn't love it, I had to really slog through to get to the end, and I have zero interest in picking up the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide a review.

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Deal Alert: Drawn series in Smashwords

In case anyone is interested, you can get the box set of the Drawn series by Maria Keffler 30% off on Smashwords!  Regular price for all three books plus the novelette is $17. Regular price for the boxed set is $12.59.  They are on sale for $8.81, which is a fantastic price!  I have not read these books but have heard very good things from a lot of people (and they are on my to-read list).

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Review: Glow by Aubrey Hadley

Glow: Book I, Potency by Aubrey Hadley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

NetGalley provided me with a free e-copy of this book to review.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 since GR doesn't do half stars.

The concept was interesting. Finding out you're a human-alien hybrid has to be disorienting. Trying to figure out who in your life is telling you the truth sounds even more difficult, when both sides are telling wildly different (and completely unbelievable) stories. Poor Harper has to do both of these things, and her confusion definitely reigns in this book.

The thing is, I really just didn't love it. I can't say I've read it before, because I haven't, and can't think of anything else I've heard of that's similar. But for some reason it just didn't elicit any real emotions from me. I was disconnected from just about all of the characters. I worried more about the people left on earth than I did the hybrids in the Base of Ki. From the moment Harper's human body was dissolved and she became more Ancient than anything else, I had a general sense of unease about the Ancients that never went away. Everything was creepy, all of the Ancients' interactions with the hybrids were strange and condescending, and I just could not get past it all. Of course this was intentional, we were supposed to question the Ancients, but I just felt weird about it.

One thing I noticed (and mentioned in my reading notes) was that one of the hybrids who told his tragic story mentioned that his pregnant wife was executed right in front of him. But a big deal was made previously about the fact that hybrids were sterile. Was this an oversight, an error that was meant to be written out? Or were the Ancients lying about that, too?

The ending wasn't a satisfying ending, not even a cliffhanger. It was like the book just stopped, like there was supposed to be more but it got left out. After the however many pages (seriously it felt like 1000 pages), I think there could have been a couple more devoted to Harper thinking about what was going to happen next. Or at least something to make me clamor for book 2.

I have no idea where this is going to end, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the next book to find out. 2.5 stars because it wasn't a bad book and it was an OK read, I rounded up to 3 because I didn't feel like 2 was enough. But again, no spark for me. I guess it just wasn't the right book for me.

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Review: The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons (Preview Excerpt)

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy preview excerpt of this book from NetGalley for review purposes. It included the first 23 chapters (seemed like about half the book).

Ho-lee-crap. I was *not* expecting to love this as much as I did. I was expecting it to be your average adventure-fantasy, but there's a lot here to like. Kihrin is kind of a dumbass, but I was fascinated by his story. Getting to know the various characters was interesting, because they each had their own actual developed personality (unlike a lot of the newer stuff out there that sacrifices world-building and characterization for romance and a badly-written plot). The plot itself is pretty tangled up, and even though I'm pretty sure I got the first half of the book, I have no idea where it's really going. And for once, I liked that!!

There were two things that really took away from the book for me:

1. I HATED switching back and forth between Kihrin and Talon for each chapter.
2. Those footnotes! They were numerous, they didn't seem to be super helpful, and who the heck was speaking in them? It wasn't Talon, and presumably wasn't Kihrin - was it supposed to be the person writing everything down from the recording stone? Was it someone else? I'm hoping we get that later.

I am definitely placing this on my to-be-finished shelf (not that I have one) and will hopefully remember to pick up a copy when it's released so I can finish the damn thing! Setting Google alert now...

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