Review: There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you are a habitual fantasy reader, there is a lot in this book you've read before. Magic ("Graces") which can only be wielded by certain people and in certain ways; prophecies that people are trying to make come true or prevent from happening; "the chosen one," who is supposed to save the world; mystical warriors who are out to help the chosen one; and a couple of unsuspecting kids trying to survive who inadvertently bring about the end of the world.

It also was not unpredictable, in that I knew that the person who was supposed to be "chosen" wasn't actually the person people thought. And I also figured out that there would be a betrayal (and was not surprised in the least by who it was). There were a few surprises which I did appreciate (what Beru actually was, Mrs. Tappan's interest in the girls).

The story-telling was good, not great. I felt like there was way too much teenage angst going on in these characters (a lot of whom are actual teenagers, but who read as older people acting like teenagers). At times we veered into purple prose territory. The whole thing with Hassan and Khepri threw me because he's only 16, and I'm pretty sure she's older - early 20s? Anton is also only 16, but when his age was revealed late in the book I was a bit startled because he read like someone in his early 20s as well. I did not connect with any of the characters - I couldn't picture any of them, their ages were confusing, and they didn't jump off the page as "real."

Overall an interesting enough story to keep me reading, but I was not interested enough to pick up the next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the e-copy to review.

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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: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Utterly predictable and tropey, but boy did I love it anyway. The only thing I wished was that Maia wasn't so stubborn and immature (although I know she's very young), and that she'd stop referring to Edan as a boy (he's a grown man, dammit!). Otherwise, the writing was well done, the story was compelling with a couple of interesting twists and turns, and I got seriously lost in the love story. I stayed up waaaaaaaaaaaaay too late two nights in a row because I didn't want to stop reading.

Can't wait to read book 2!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book for review purposes.

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Review: Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

This was a fun little book. It was shorter than I expected, only took a couple of hours to read, but it was good. I didn't love it, it wasn't anything very new, but it was well-written and enjoyable. The romance was a bit much, and while we got a very blatant, "It's not because he's the first boy who cared, it's because he's the right one!" argument at the end of one chapter, it still read as a forced thing to me.

The will-they-won't-they thing is tired, the arguments and the "I hate you" attitude that Rasmira gives off is tropey, all the kissing is standard YA. It was pretty obvious from the start what the "god" actually was, I'm just surprised it took Rasmira so long to figure it out. She doesn't seem stupid, but she's also not that perceptive.

Anyway, recommended for people who like romantic YA fantasy with an adventure. If you're looking for ground-breaking world-building or non-trope characterization, you won't find it here.

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Review: Beware the Night by Jessica Fleck

Beware the Night by Jessika Fleck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

TL;DR: Predictable, didn't like the main character, but still want to see where it goes. 2.5/5 stars, it was OK.

Beware the Night is utterly predictable, down to the impetuous actions of our heroine, Veda. She is constantly told by everyone around her to wait, and listen, and go with her gut, because she's brand new to this whole thing and everyone else has been planning stuff for a long time. In the end, she listens to the first thing her brain ever tells her and reacts without actually thinking. As she says at the end of the book, she accuses everyone else of only thinking of themselves without realizing she's done the exact same thing.

And what's with the hourglass thing? I realize that hourglasses are a legitimate way to keep time, and that they were used for a long time (and still are in some instances), but the society as it's described doesn't seem to mesh with using hourglasses instead of clocks or some other time-keeping device. They have electricity and technology. There should be some way of making a clock that doesn't rely on everyone having a perfectly-synced hourglass around their neck. (And how does one use it for a timer when it's apparently supposed to be actually keeping time? Do they have multiple hourglasses they carry around? How does this make any sense??)

The love triangle is very strained. The constant mentions of butterflies in Veda's stomach is so overwrought. She's very obviously a love-sick teenager who's thrust into a role she has never wanted. She's confused, angry, being pulled on both sides, and doesn't know what to do. So what does she do? She acts out, completely disregarding the plans people have been making for years, and ruining everything. I couldn't stand her.

BUT BUT BUT (and there's always a 'but' if I'm not going to completely pan a book), I adored both Nico and Dorian. Yes, Nico is a bit wishy-washy, but I feel like he does what he feels is right for everyone, despite feeling powerless. Dorian's a bit of a puppy, but it's pretty clear he's loyal and passionate about what he believes in. Both of them have interesting perspectives, both have compelling arguments for their actions. If it weren't for the whole love triangle thing, I'd have enjoyed their characters so much more.

Anyway, I see that so far there's no mention of a sequel, but it's obviously set up for one because we get a clear cliffhanger at the end. It would be nice if there were a Goodreads placemarker so that I could be notified when it's out, because, if nothing else, I'd at least like to see who Veda picks (if anyone) and how this whole revolution fiasco pans out.

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Review: Dance of Thieves by Mary Pearson

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

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

Apparently this book is close to 500 pages, and I devoured them ALLLLLLLLL in two days. An admission: I am a sucker for a well-written romance, especially when it's in a fantasy adventure/mystery setting. Having read a lot of YA/NA fantasy romance lately, and being disappointed in pretty much most of them, I was expecting this book to be a dud.

It was not a dud.

It was nowhere near a dud.

I loved every freaking minute of this book and I want more!

The characters are well-developed. They all have backstories, histories that make them who they are. The world is rich with tradition and origin stories. The plot is convoluted in the right ways, and while I did guess at several of the "twists," I didn't feel let down that I was right. The romance is even believable, which isn't true for most of the crap I've read lately. I think my only real gripe about the romance is that these two are so in love with each other and make out all the time but they never actually "do it," as Synove likes to say. Not that people need to have sex to get a romance going (I like when they don't, TBH), but there was a loooooot of heat between these two people and it's kind of hard to imagine that nothing but kissing was going on.

Anyway, I'll be clearing my schedule for book two when it comes out, because I really need to know what happens next. And apparently this is set in a world the author has written about before? Looks like I have a whole new stack of books to add to my ever-increasing TBR pile...

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Review: The Story Peddler by Lindsay Franklin

The Story Peddler by Lindsay A. Franklin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

Last night I stayed up a little late just to finish this off, because I really couldn't leave it hanging until today with only one chapter to go. There is a lot to like in here, and I am definitely in for #2, but I did have a few hang-ups. Let's talk about the good:

Tanwen is not as wishy-washy as some of the female protagonists I've read, and while she's not yet the "strong woman" figure I like to see, she's on her way. The way she figures out her powers on her own, just by thinking about it - some would say that's a bit deus-ex-machina, but I read it more as she was discovering herself, by herself, instead of anyone else showing her who she is.

The story itself is interesting. Tanwen gets caught up in a scandal without realizing how or why (I still don't understand why the white strands were alarming; I assume we'll find out in book 2 - I hope), and finds herself on the run with a band of rebels who claim she needs to be protected. Her journey from there is somewhat predictable, but it was written well, with a lot of struggle and twists and turns.

Braith is about the strongest woman we get to see in this book. While I haaaaaaate her name (and the naming structure in general - it was very confusing and didn't make much sense to me), I absolutely adored her character. She was one of the few I felt got fleshed out to the "real" point, where she's not just words on a page but a breathing, evolving character.

There were some interesting foils in Sir Dray and High Priest Naith (or whatever his title was, I couldn't keep track of everyone). The little surprise with Naith in the end was completely unexpected, while I saw most of the other twists coming.

So let's talk about those twists. From the start I had a feeling that Tanwen was somehow related to the previous royal family, although admittedly I first pegged her as the king's bastard daughter because that's where most YA fantasies go with this kind of storyline. She wasn't nearly so important as that, but she was still pretty high up there. I still can't figure out why she specifically was a threat to the kingdom with her white strands, but there you go. Finding out who her father is/was (which was so super spoiled by the "The One In The Dark" chapters) led to a bit of an interesting revelation. But just about everything leading up to it was so obviously foreshadowed that it was impossible to be surprised.

If we're talking about wishy-washy characters, look no farther than Brac, the farmboy who loves Tanwen so blindly that he's willing to join the royal guard to convince her to marry him (a boneheaded move if I ever saw one, he's not too bright really). It's almost stalkerish how he practically begs Tanwen to marry him every time he sees her. She obviously doesn't want to marry him, and she's told him no several times, but he keeps persisting. Sad puppy stuff. Drove me nuts. (view spoiler)[And can we talk about the accidental betrothal when Tanwen thinks he's dying? I mean, of all the dumb ideas... It was bad. There's this sad heartbreaking scene and we think Brac's so injured he's going to be dead in a matter of minutes, and then someone comes over and snaps Tanwen out of her tearful goodbye and tells her to back the f off so he can help the poor kid. Of course he's not at death's door, because Tanwen just agreed to marry him (thinking he was dying, because for some reason she forgot that the people who were with her have healing powers?) even though she's in love with Mor! This was a twist thrown into a love triangle that the story just did not need at all. (hide spoiler)]

The characters were also not that great. I had a hard time getting to know any of them. When I left the book last night, intending to write the review today, I knew I needed to stew on it a bit. Because I liked it, but there was something bugging me. I realized that I didn't remember any of the sideline characters. They never became real enough that they jumped off the page. They felt like background, filler, thrown in just to complete the gang. I really wanted to love them, because they're the good guys, but I never connected. Plus everyone kept telling Tanwen that they'd reveal all their secrets about her identity "in good time," and of course that time never came. Personally, I think the only reason to do that is to delay the surprise, when in reality the perfect time to tell someone about who she really is is right now, not three weeks down the line just because you don't feel like doing it right then. If you're driving the plot based on purposefully withheld necessary information, there's a problem there.

And lastly, let's talk about that ending. (view spoiler)[Boy was that depressing. Brac's recovering from a stab to the nethers (or somewhere between the gut and the nethers, although there really isn't much distinction there so...I'm going with nethers), Tanwen has just found her father again but hasn't really talked to him in days, everyone and their brother nominates Braith to be queen, Gareth is dead by a mysterious story strand, and Tanwen just hops off with Mor to go on another adventure all over the world because the thing they need to help Griffelle is scattered in pieces lord knows where. It was really sad for me to read that she's ready to just hop to, run away, have her adventure, without even really reuniting with her father or telling Brac she didn't actually want to marry him. I know we needed to have a preview of the next adventure, but I was hoping for a little more "recovery" time. (hide spoiler)]

The negative seems like it should outweigh the positive, but I really did like reading this book. The adventure was interesting, the story strands was something I'd never seen before, and I love a good adventure. Predictable, not great characterization, and a bit of a rush-job ending, but I enjoyed the ride more than the specifics. Looking forward to book 2, hoping there's a bit more clean-up and deeper delving into characters.

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Review: The Memory of Fire (The Waking Land #2) by Callie Bates

The Memory of Fire by Callie Bates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

I did read the first book in this series, The Waking Land, and enjoyed that so was excited to read this one. This book was also pretty great, although I admit I wanted to know what the heck was going on with Elanna and Sophie while Jahan was doing his thing. Jahan's voice was refreshing, although he was pretty traumatized by his upbringing and has a lot of emotional issues. His problems trusting people and letting them in caused him a lot of trouble in this book, much of which probably could have been avoided if he'd only thought things through before acting.

Some of the characters' motives were extremely unclear through the entire book. It was difficult to tell who the reader could trust. This can be a great thing, especially for mysteries, but in fantasy I feel like there needs to be some solid ground that the main character can rely on. The only person I felt was true the entire way was Jahan's old friend from school. Even Leontius was a bit of a dishrag for much of the story.

Admittedly I didn't remember much about the relationships from the first book, so this was like starting over for me. I felt like some of the relationships weren't written the same way, like I don't remember Jahan being so insecure with Elanna (although he very well may have been), and I don't remember reference to Leontius being so angry at Jahan (but I'm sure it was there).

Overall this was pretty well-written. I thought there were way too many angles for me to keep track of, and character motives were a bit muddled, but I'm looking forward to book 3 and seeing how Jahan and Elanna manage to defeat the threat to Sophie's kingdom.

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Review: Olympian Challenger by Astrid Arditi

Olympian Challenger by Astrid Arditi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

[I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.]

I don't intend this to sound mean, but it may. I liked the book, but I didn't, so my review is mostly my problems with it.

I'm somewhat torn on this book. In pretty much all ways, it's extremely formulaic. Girl with home issues gets sucked into an adventure she doesn't want, she needs to beat out a whole crapton of other people who are better at everything than she is, somehow she makes it to the actual competition, and eventually she wins. I can't term this as a spoiler, because it is GLARINGLY obvious from the first page that she is going to win this thing. Even though she has no skills to help her through the competition, her "pure" heart and love are enough to beat out a bunch of other teenagers.

Along the way, she makes friends with a couple of people, hates and loves her teachers, and falls in love with a god. (This also isn't a spoiler, because from the second the guy is mentioned it's clear he's meant to be the love interest.) By the end they're whispering sweet nothings to each other and making out like horny teenagers (and at least one of them still is a teenager...).

This book is so meta that it even mentions The Hunger Games. In one scene Hope thinks that she has read that series and that's what this competition feels like to her. Well, it was. Really. I was reading The Hunger Games on Olympos. Even the government conspiracy comes into play because it's revealed at one point that the gods have their own sinister motivations for all of this. Next, I assume her job is to take down the gods/government and free the people (the demigods/heroes/earth) from their tyranny.

And Hope, as a character, is pretty bland. She's only concerned with getting back to her mother, she gets rescued a lot because her heart is so pure, she is the favorite of everyone to win except the actual gods, and she doesn't make mistakes ever. She's the perfect Mary Sue character - she can do no wrong (except that one time she tried to forfeit and then did the darn thing anyway). And she's annoying for it. Even when she can't do something herself, her mysterious powers come to the rescue. The scene at the end with the Pythia really sealed that for me. Her love conquers all! Her weakness has been turned into a weapon! It could not get any sappier.

Anyway, despite all of that, I did find myself liking the mythology, and some of the writing. Most of the characters were trope, and the time limits on some challenges didn't make much sense, but otherwise it was an okay read. So if you don't mind a rehash of The Hunger Games and all the similar books that have come out since (and before, since a lot of people argue that The Hunger Games was really just Battle Royale), and you don't have anything better to do with your time, you could give this one a whirl. I wouldn't buy it, and probably won't seek out book 2, but it was an okay read. I'm giving it three stars instead of two because I loved Gabriel so much.

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Review: Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

[I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.]

Most of this book was pretty mediocre. Several times it seemed that things were getting sinister, supernatural, and that something really bad or interesting was going to happen. Nothing ever did. There was so much emphasis on Kyra's "psychic" abilities, and none of it was ever explained. A lot of supernatural things happened (the voices, the shadows, the garden blooming in the middle of winter, etc.), but none of it was ever accounted for. Aaron's revelation at the end was not the murderous plot I was expecting after all the junk I had to slog through. And the ending was ridiculous - Corey just flies away and decides she isn't going to bother telling Kyra's story because no one would believe her and she gave up the letters Kyra wrote but never sent, so the whole damn "adventure" was for nothing.

Also, Corey was a shitty friend.

The book was okay, so two stars. But I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you're looking for a good thriller. Thriller this was not.

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Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK. So. This book was amazing. I loved it. This is the first time in a LOOOOOOOONG time that a super-hyped-up book has actually met (and exceeded) my expectations. I am super impressed by the writing style, the inventiveness of the story, and how freaking awesome all the characters are (and not necessarily in a good way - Saran was a goddamn monster). Everyone (except maybe Inan, I had some issues with him) was completely fleshed out. They were living breathing human beings with pasts and lives and expectations. That is what so much modern fantasy is missing. I'm so tired of the Mary Sue protagonist. Zelie is as flawed as they come, and she is brilliant for it.

Two things took away from it for me, so that's why I'm knocking off a star:

1. Guh, the romance. I could suspend my disbelief about the magic because of course this is fantasy. I could not suspend my disbelief enough to believe that in the span of like two chapters, two hostile murderous enemies suddenly are making out like horny teenagers.

2. Zelie had a "sea-salt soul." I was reminded of it in *every single* Inan chapter. The repetition drove me nuts.

But this is love, so now I sit and wait for #2 to come out so I can figure out WTH happened at the end!

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Review: World After

World After by Susan Ee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley.]

I'm always a bit hesitant to write a full review for a middle book in a series, mostly because if you haven't read the first book I'll either spoil you or you won't know what I'm talking about. But since I received this from NetGalley, the least I can do is at least form an opinion.

I am giving this book four stars because I enjoyed the continuation of the story, even though it was very lacking in Raffe. He mostly showed up in Penryn's brain, and a few scenes here and there, until the end of the book (which made the rest of it worth it). Why on earth am I hopelessly drooling over an angel with an attitude problem?! I usually hate books like this! Chalk it up to good writing, mostly, I guess.

Yet again with the saving of Penryn, though, which still bothered me. She rarely gets out of scrapes herself, and instead throws herself headlong into the fighting or danger and then wonders later how she's going to get herself out of it. Still, she is pretty tough.

One other thing that bothered me - the constant reference to the book's title.  "World After" showed up all over the place in describing the time in which the characters find themselves.  One or two references would not have been amiss, and I understand that's what people are calling it, but the number of times it was said was overkill for me.

For a second book, not bad. It doesn't suffer from middle book syndrome, although now I'm curious how the end will pan out.

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Review: Angelfall

Angelfall by Susan Ee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley.]

The description on Goodreads is woefully understated, not nearly enough to get a person interested in what this book is all about. To be honest, I think I only requested it because it was a YA post-apocalyptic and I could get the first two books for free. And while it had its issues (the whole "feelings" thing between Penryn and Raffe seemed too close to insta-love for me), and some of the storytelling was a bit overdone, overall I really enjoyed the read.

Penryn, while completely clueless sometimes, is also a pretty strong character. She doesn't wait around for someone to save her or her family, she does it herself. It's only coincidence that someone usually comes along who's stronger and more able to help (which is a little character-defeating, since the only scrape she gets herself out of is when she beats the crap out of a guy who is threatening her). I would have liked to see her a bit more self-sufficient or at least have the opportunity to do some actual saving, instead of rushing into something without much thought, getting stuck, and someone else doing the rescuing. But overall she had a very strong personality and she was loyal to a fault despite her loyalty being divided at times.

Raffe I couldn't quite get a grip on. He's an angel, and we learn more about him in the last 1/4 of the book, but other than that he just seems like a moody pain in the ass who falls in love with a human, all the while denying that he even feels anything but still acting like he's her boyfriend. His character by the end seems more fully fleshed out, and I appreciated his actions more after hearing what he and other characters revealed about his past.

The whole first-person thing is overdone and boring, but since the vast majority of YA is written that way now, I guess I can't fault the author for capitalizing on something that people seem to eat up.

There were some pretty gruesome parts in here, stuff I don't normally like to read - it veered into horror/thriller territory at times and I'm not a big fan of that, but I got through it. It sort of made the book a bit more adult to me.

Overall, this was a quick and easy read, interesting and fast-paced. I didn't have a hard time getting through it, or wanting to get through it, and I'm giving it 4 stars because I enjoyed the ride even if it wasn't perfect.

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Review: Seeker

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

[Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley.]

**To clarify my own thoughts because I was left feeling so muddled after finishing, I have been skimming other reviews. I had the same opinions as many others so I'm reiterating them here.**

Seeker is a difficult book to review. Overall it was well-written grammatically, pretty well-edited, and not altogether boring. But I didn't find myself engaged with any of the characters, or even the story. I hated the structure of it, where we get a different character's perspective in each chapter (at least the author didn't attempt to write from four different POV's but still). This technique dragged out scenes that should have lasted maybe 10-15 pages to what felt like more than 50. That huge battle at the estate in the first I think 25% of the story bounced between perspectives I don't know how many times, and it took me a good half hour to get through it all. And the way the back story was structured drove me nuts. We'd be getting along with the present story, and BAM we're in the past again. Also, I still have no clear idea of what a Seeker is. And isn't that the entire point of this book? That we're supposed to figure that out? Apparently they're just people who travel through "anomalies" and kill people. But WHY?

The fact that John was so consumed by the promise he made to his mother completely ruined him as a character. He showed zero progression as a character, no true remorse for anything he did. The constant, "Oh I hope no one hurts Quin, I don't want to hurt Quin, but she better help me or I'm going to hurt her!" only reinforced that he's a terrible person.

I think Shinobu is the only character who really evolved in this book. And I didn't even really like him that much.

I couldn't figure out the "when" and "place" of it all either. Some years were mentioned, but they were several hundred years in the past, and whenever the present was discussed it was stated like, "It's been some four hundred or more years since then," or some other such nonsense. I'm thinking the book takes place in some alternate reality, not based on the present but in an alternate steam-punk-wannabe parallel present. But I'm not entirely sure, because while we got some descriptions of the Scottish estate, and Hong Kong, and a few vague ideas about Traveler, there was no real sense of place or world-building to the story. I didn't feel at all that the estate was in Scotland, because the only person who spoke with an accent (and that wasn't even consistent) was Alastair. Hong Kong didn't feel like a real place either, because all I could figure out was that they lived near a bridge at Victoria Harbor. Traveler was barely described, and I didn't even realize it was an airship until the very end of the book.

The book was okay, but I don't think the author could decide whether to make it a young adult fantasy or a new adult romance. (Not that I think new adult romance is a real genre, but bookstores seem to think so.) And the romance was terrible. Quin is stuck choosing between someone she thinks of as a cousin (and who is constantly referred to as her cousin, even though he's barely blood-related to her, which makes this a completely weak plot line), and a full-tilt psychopath who has no qualms about hurting her to get what he wants, all the while protesting that he doesn't want to hurt her. And when he's done hurting her, they can be together!

Lastly, I was super annoyed by the fact that the pronunciation of "athame" was included RIGHT IN THE TEXT. If you need a pronunciation guide, put it at the beginning or end!

All told, I didn't like it all that much. I am willing to admit it was well-written grammatically for the most part, and readable, but I would not recommend this to anyone I know.

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Review: Goddess Test

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Ugh. Cassandra Clare said this was a great book. Much like her book being reviewed by Stephanie Meyer, mother of dreck, I should have known better. There are spoilers for the entire book in this review.

I'm running out of things to say about all the YA I've been reading lately, because it's all starting to sound the same. Why? Because all the books I've been reading are all reading the same way. One thing I've noticed is that every YA author seems to have picked up a liking for the word "deft(ly)" at the same time, and love sprinkling it everywhere. Also, whenever you kiss someone, your lips get swollen so badly you need to mention it. The other thing I'm noticing is that, plot-wise, nothing matters nearly as much as the romance. And that's just no fun.

I don't mind a romance, but I'm starting to think that teen girls are being encouraged to fall in love with the first or second guy they meet, at age 16-17-18, and let that consume their entire being. Their lives suddenly become all about making the guy happy. What about their own happiness? What about their own identities? By the end of this book, Kate is married (she's 18), she's become immortal, and she's 100% certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'll never stop loving Henry ever ever ever! She did this entire thing so that she could (a) spend more time with her mom before she dies, and (b) keep Henry from fading away. But what about her life? What about her hopes and dreams? She has zero identity outside of being Henry's new wife and queen of the Underworld. And that strange love triangle with James was forced and awkward. I never would have gone for that angle.

I remember, back when I was a teenager reading YA fantasy, there was actual fantasy amid the romance. The romance did not take center stage, it was often only a background element that blossomed into something more much later in a series. Take, for example, Tamora Pierce's Tortall books. Magic, intrigue, adventure, lots and lots of danger and excitement, and oh, a little romance here and there. Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle is also a great example of fantasy taking center stage, with the romance as something on the side. Why is that so hard to find in this generation of YA fantasy? Why is it that all teen girls (and adults who read YA) apparently want to read about is how a hot girl gets with a hot guy (or a not-so-hot girl gets with a super-hot guy), and oh maybe there's some magic here and there?

Lastly, the writing on this was so glaringly obvious that I had no trouble figuring out James was on the council, and that Kate's mom was actually the goddess Diana. Sorry if that ruined anything for you. I promise that you would have seen it coming a mile away yourself, unless you're super dense.

And I won't even get into the whole mythology thing. That has been very thoroughly covered in other reviews. (These are just two. Go see the multitude for yourself.)

The only reason I'm going to read book 2 is because I swapped for it at the same time as this one, and it's been sitting in my house, and I feel like I should read it before I send it away.

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Review: Dark Triumph

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*****There is a minor spoiler in this review, if you HAVEN'T read Grave Mercy yet.*****

[Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this e-book from NetGalley.]

4 stars instead of only 3, because I thought this one was *better* than Grave Mercy (although my review may not show it).

My main problems with this book are as follows:

1. Sybella and Ismae have an almost identical voice. They wonder about different things, and are concerned with different aspects of their relationship with Mortain, but they "speak" exactly the same. Without having read the description of this one and simply jumping in as soon as I finished Grave Mercy, I was a little confused because it sounded like the same person speaking, but with a different background. A few paragraphs in I realized it was Sybella, not Ismae.

2. There is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much narrated angst. This bothered me in Grave Mercy, but having read Dark Triumph immediately after finishing the first one, it was overkill. I love getting inside a character's head, but Sybella and Ismae are almost *too much* in their own heads. And it's typical teen girl angst, because they are all of 17 or 18 (I'm not sure how old Sybella is but I am guessing around Ismae's age), and outside of planning how to kill someone, they don't stop to think things through. They immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion ("I'm a something-or-other, I'm an awful person, he must hate me, now that he knows who I am I'm not going to look at him because he probably hates me even though it's not my fault and I don't know that for sure and there's no way I can possibly talk to him about it because that would be too awful because he probably hates me blah blah blah.").

3. While Ismae's and Sybella's stories differ greatly in the details (Sybella's story is much more complex and tragic, and frankly, interesting), they follow almost the exact same linear path. They are thrust into an assignment they don't want, their plans get ruined, they end up taking a detour and falling in love, and they almost lose that love to death, and then Mortain shows up and tells them how much he loves them, their eyes are opened, and they can go back to battle with complete clarity, understanding who they are and what they need to do.

4. Again, the ending to this was no ending. I know, series, continuation, cliffhanger, blah-de-blah.

But I liked the story and I liked getting further into the historically fictional conflict. It was interesting and fast-paced and kept me interested for the couple of days it took to get through it. Recommended with reservations. Hopefully I'll get to read the third book, although I have a feeling it's going to be much the same as books 1 and 2.

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Review: Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

[Dislcaimer: I received a free copy of the ebook edition from NetGalley.]

I'm very surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. It's a typical angsty teen romance, but there's so much more going on that I managed to overlook that for the most part. According to the author's note, the book is based on actual events from the Middle Ages, but since I'm far from an historian I won't comment on the authenticity. Overall this was well-written, intriguing, and flowed pretty well. I didn't really like how melodramatic Ismae could be when thinking about whether she loved Duval or not, but again, teen angst. I guess I can forgive it because of her horrible life up until she was 14, and for the rest of the book she's only 17 and spent years in a "convent," so it's to be expected.

The plots were so thick I didn't really see who was behind everything until Sybella manages to speak with Ismae for 5 seconds, well into the second half of the book. I thought the ending was a bit rushed, considering all the build-up, but knowing that it's a series makes up for it.

The fantasy aspects of the story were interesting, since it appears that there is much more to the "saint" Mortain than the abbess is willing to share with the girls in the convent. As Ismae figures it out, it gets more and more complicated. It will be interesting to see in book 2 how involved the abbess is in the deception. I also look forward to seeing the role Mortain will play in Ismae's new direction.

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Review: Broken Realms

Broken Realms by D.W. Moneypenny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

[Disclaimer: I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley.]

2.5/5 stars

There are minor spoilers throughout this review.

The blurb about this book sounded much more interesting than the book itself turned out to be. My main problem with it was there was a giant gaping plot hole throughout the entire thing: If Mara could control reality with her brain, why didn't she just, I don't know, CONTROL IT?! You can't give a character that kind of power and not explain away the way it works. There was a lot of speculation on the part of the characters (it's nice to have non-omniscient characters, but this wasn't exactly the right way to go about it) on how exactly the powers worked, and what happened when Mara "flickered" after using them too much. There needs to be at least some level of understanding why Mara can use her powers a certain way one time but not every time. The reasoning behind that was never worked out and never even touched on. I mean, she's able to pixellate pretty much anything and blow it away. But a dragon comes at her and she can't even get it to stop moving for more than a few seconds? It doesn't make any sense.

The narration was also pretty overwrought, there was a lot of purple prose, over-description, unnecessary passages that did nothing to advance the plot or set up any bit of the story, and the descriptors were overused. Concrete rippled, bridges rippled, roads rippled, the air rippled...you get the point.

The ending itself was too open-ended. I realize this is a planned series, but if you can't wrap up anything at the end of one book, what's going to make the reader want to read the next one? I would have at least liked to know if they were going to regroup at someone's house and start trying to help the people from other dimensions get home, or even if Detective Bohannon was still involved in any way. The way he was cut out from the last 20% of the book made me wonder if he was even necessary to begin with, other than as a "normal" bystander observing the strange phenomena.

I'm giving it 2.5 out of 5 stars because of the concept. The premise was really interesting and that's why I requested to read it. It wasn't executed particularly well, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other galleys I've read lately. It needs a more thorough editing to remove a lot of the over-descriptors and repeated verbs, along with wrong words and spelling errors and plot holes. If it hadn't already been released I would have suggested more of a polishing to make it seem less like an amateur novel, but we're past that point now.

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Review: Fractured Dream

Fractured Dream by K.M. Randall
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

[Disclaimer: I received a free ebook from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.]

*sigh*

I really wanted to like this one, but what sounded like an interesting fairy tale-inspired fantasy turned out to be a melodramatic, overwrought teen romance drama.

Story Sparks (yes, that is her name, and it drove me nuts) is abducted, along with her two best friends, by a water goddess (Sandeen) who tells her that she used to be a goddess herself and needs to dispatch an evil overlord who is trying to destroy her world and the fairy tale world. Seriously, this actually sounded interesting. Not so much. Her uncle was abducted by the same water goddess before Story was born, and her mother has been a bit batshit about the lake ever since. So when Story goes missing, of course her mom (Edie) completely falls apart. After that we don't hear from Edie for pretty much the rest of the book.

So Story ends up going off on her magical quest to save the world, but doesn't have all the information she needs because Sandeen and pretty much everyone else in her life feels the need to keep secrets and not tell her anything, but still expect her to save them all. Okay, right.

There is a lot of sexual tension between Story and her best (straight) friend Adam (I say straight because her other best friend, Elliott, is gay, so no sexual tension there except between him and every single male fairy tale character he meets, because apparently he's a giant ho). The sexual tension between Story and Adam is weird, because apparently they aren't actually interested in each other, even though they each get jealous whenever the other shows any interest in anyone else. But eventually Story falls in love with someone, and Adam is all "Woe is me" until he meets someone else, and then it's like there was never anything between them from the start. What?

The secrets and lies and convoluted story line were way too much for me to handle. And the "origin story" that Story gets several times throughout the book changes so drastically, because everyone has a different version. Whose is right? Apparently only the last one you get in the last few pages of the book.

The writing was juvenile and sweeping. There was definite obvious use of a thesaurus. Every single character was beautiful no matter who they were. An old crone? Oh she was beautiful even with all the wrinkles on her face. The most normal guy on the planet? He's gorgeous and Elliott is drooling all over himself. No room for ugly people here! And the overbearing romantic style of the writing was too much. I felt like I was reading a book that was being put on as a play with some really bad actors who would get down on one knee and soliloquize to an inanimate object. Story's heart broke every time Nicholas looked away from her or frowned at her. It was trying way too hard to be a great book, and didn't try to be a good book.

I really don't understand how this book has almost completely five star reviews on Goodreads. It was not good. Story was a giant pain in the ass, and none of the other characters were even close to like-able. And the writing was just plain teen.

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Review: Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More like 3.5/5 Stars, but I did really enjoy it despite its shortcomings, so that's why I gave it the full 4.

I have skimmed a few other reviews, and one thing I noticed is that people didn't appreciate the attempt at Russian culture. I know pretty much next to nothing about Russia, I wasn't born there, didn't grow up there, barely studied it in school, and while some of my friends were learning Russian in high school I was busy with Spanish. I couldn't even begin to comment on the Russian elements in this book because I would inevitably be wrong. So all I will say is that I hated (and I mean HATED) having random "Russian" words thrown in in italics for effect. If you're going to throw around terminology like that, at least give us more than a sentence to absorb what it actually means, because I pretty much skipped every single one of them after I learned what a kefta was.

Secondly, a lot of people have said that the first person teen girl narrative (so incredibly overdone today) is distracting, and she reads more as a damsel in distress than a strong female character. This is pretty much accurate and I agree. I thought Alina was pretty ridiculous at times, especially when she randomly *squees* with Genya over clothes and hair and girly things. From the first couple of chapters, Alina didn't seem girly at all. AT ALL. And I don't care if she's girly or not, but at least let her character be consistent. Too often I was taken out of the story by Alina's change in personality, and it became very distracting.

Thirdly, what is it with books where people in authority grab the main character by the wrist and lead her (almost always a "her") somewhere she doesn't want to go?

But despite the book's shortcomings, and that ending that was completely out of character for Alina, I had a good time reading it. And that's mostly what matters to me when reading. I have problems when the flaws outweigh the good, but in this, even though I minded, and even though I didn't like Alina as a character, the read was enjoyable. It was pretty fast-paced and exciting, even though nothing is really explained (like HOW exactly Alina "trains" her talent, and why she trusts one specific person over anyone else ever ever ever), and even with its flaws. A shaky but interesting fantasy. I look forward to seeing what else this author can do.

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