Okay, as promised back when I first posted this... reviews! (Mostly doing this at the moment due to lack of ingredients for baking and cooking at the moment.) The major delay in posting new reviews is because I went on a two week vacation to London just recently and things were quite crazy for awhile. I didn't get much reading done on the trip (none really!) but as I was there to experience London, I'd say that's okay. Even if it did put me a bit behind on my reading schedule haha.
Books I've read since the last time I posted:
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Goodbye For Now by Laurie Frankel
Black Dawn by Rachel Caine
Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
The Dragon's Tooth by N.D. Wilson
Whew, that's a lot! But many more to come too!
Warning Spoilers Ahead!!!
Starting from the top.
Fragile Eternity (Wicked Lovely #3) by Melissa Marr
Fragile Eternity... I honestly don't know if starting this series off by accident with the companion novel Ink Exchange ruined my ability to enjoy this series or not. All I know is that Fragile Eternity was a bit of a chore to get through. There was almost 0 character development. Things happened, but the characters really didn't "grow". They changed a bit, yes, but not for the better in my opinion. I couldn't stand Seth and Ash in this book and they're the main characters! They didn't talk. They didn't communicate problems they were both having and as a result things went bad. Fast. After reading this book my desire to finish the series fell away completely. Thus ends my reading of the Wicked Lovely series and possibly any other Melissa Marr book if this is the way hers are all written.
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
I adored Seraphina to death. One of the best books I've read this year, right up there with Eon and Eona. This my lovely readers, is one of those books where I want you to just go and read it. Right now. Seriously! What are you waiting for? Go to your library, your local bookstore or online and buy a copy!
I did have one complaint. Certain things seemed... rushed. I don't want to spoil anything and say exactly what I felt was rushed however. Unlike certain other books which I've read somewhat recently (I'm lookin at -you- Fragile Eternity!) there was a good amount of character development in this story. Not JUST in the main character however. There was development in others. I felt such elation at the development of the relationship between Orma and Seraphina. When push came to shove it the result was "awesome".
Seraphina is my favorite kind of Heroine. ...Ugh. Bad Twilight connotations with that word now...Anyone else? (shudder) Anyways, she's not perfect. Far from it! She's unsure of herself, she gets scared, she gets angry, she gets determined. She goes after what she wants and does what she believes to be the best course of action even if it will get her in trouble. Even if others don't see that path as the correct thing to do, she does what she believes in. You get to see her evolve into this amazing young woman who's ready to take on the world.
Again, read this. Now. ^_^
Goodbye For Now by Laurie Frankel
Oh this book. I'll be honest here and admit that this book made me cry. If I were in HS I'd never admit to such a thing. But now I don't care and can admit when something moves me in an emotional manner. You could say this book is split up into 3 parts I think. The entire last part of this book had me in tears almost the whole time.
This is one of those poignant, reach right into your chest and pluck your heart strings, kind of books. It examines life and love and possibly most importantly... death. What death means to you, to others. This book also makes you consider the future, the kind of technology which honestly probably isn't THAT far off into coming into existence. It's a bit scary to think about to tell the truth. What would you do if you had a chance for one last conversation with someone you loved who died? Would you take that chance? Would you say: No? Taking that chance would give that person back to you if only a little. But wouldn't it be better to just let them go? To hang onto the good memories you have of that person? It's a tough choice. It's a tough topic to consider period.
Black Dawn (Morganville Vampires #12) by Rachel Caine
Ahh we once again return to Morganville, Texas. A hot dusty town where there roam vampires. Like every other book in this series it goes by fast. You open the front cover and if you blink the whole story has gone by! Almost. The pace of this series is one of the things that makes it enjoyable to me. It doesn't drag it's feet to get things going. Things are ALWAYS happening in Morganville. Always. Not to mention the events in the book can be usually measured in days. Sadly this book really drove a steak through my hopes of a Mirnin and Claire romance. Mostly. -dramatic sigh- What can I say? I'm a sucker for crazy fanged-bunny-slipper-wearing genius types! Stupid Shane. Okay... Shane isn't a bad guy. He's actually a really decent type. Much to my chagrin. He even manages to come up with an idea to save the day in this book. I really want to dislike him, but I can't! Not 100% at least. Part of me still thinks he's too much "dumb jock" for Claire but eh, what do I know? (Crazy genius' are better!!!)
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Lots of twists and turns like normal. More recent to the series however is the mass amount of POV switching that occurs. In some books it would be overwhelming to deal with so many. For this series it works. Everything you see through each character's eyes is worth noting.
Happily this series hasn't slowed down it's bullet train rate of progression since book 1. Looking forward to what these guys get caught up in next. I mean, seriously... How many disasters can these guys run into? They're like freaking Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine. Except with a crazy vampire and a hearse.
Eagerly awaiting #13 out of 17! (Getting close-ish to the end!)
Singing The Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman
I was both extremely eager and hesitant to read this book. Eager because the other two books I read by Ms. Goodman blew my expectations out of the water and into space. She is the author of Eon and Eona. My top two favorite books of this year. I was hesitant because Singing The Dogstar Blues was her first novel. Not to mention the premise is a bit odd! Aliens and time travel... in Australia! Okay, to be fair it's pretty far into the future. But still, Australia!
Quite happily though this book was just as much of a joy to read as Eon and Eona were. The heroine is a tough and scrappy little thing who isn't afraid to get her answers any way she can. Some of plot twists were a little bit predictable, but for a first novel it was more than decent.
As in Eon and Eona, one thing that made me happy was the author's approach to sexuality and love. It's just right there, casually slipped in. In a nice positive way. Not in your face, but still a key component. Just as it ought to be.
I have no complaints about this book aside from the length. It could've been longer and I would've been more than happy to keep reading! Def pick up a copy if you like time travel, aliens and espers! Oh wait... Wrong blog. =P (You get bonus points for getting the reference!) But really, get a copy if it sounds interesting! Definitely worth the read!
The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa
This was another book I was eager to read, again with some slight hesitation. Eager this time because Julie Kagawa's other series Iron Fey was fanfreakingtastic. The Iron Prince was my #1 of the series however. Ash for the win!! =D
I was hesitant about this one because it was about vampires. I like vampires as much as anyone but with the big vampire crazy over the last couple years you can't blame me for being wary of someone who might just be attempting to jump on the bandwagon. Happily this book exceeded all my expectations and set the bar high for the sequel.
In a post apocalyptic world where vampires rule everything inside their city walls there are people who have no wish to follow their overlords. People who are determined to not be "cattle" who want to fight for the human race. Allie is one such person. But when tragedy strikes Allie must make a decision. Become what she hates or die. Choosing to live, she becomes a vampire and learns that there is so much more to the world that she thought. An attempt to hang on to her past causes her and her brief mentor to flee the outer limits of the city. After journeying on alone Allie comes across a group of people who are surviving out in the wild.
Lead by a zealous ex-preacher and his second in command "Zeke" they are searching for Eden. Or as close to it gets in this world. A place free of vampires, free of the dangerous Rabids. Allie decides to tag along with this hopeful band of humans for a time. For as long as she can fight off the ever present hunger. Slowly Allie and Zeke find themselves being drawn together but can anything happen of it? He who hates vampires more than almost anything else, her the very thing he hates?
This book is so, SO different from her Iron Fey series it's amazing. From the world of Fey to a world of death and blood and oppression. Ms. Kagawa's skill at imagery is stunning. I can still picture the scene where Allie sees a car with a tree growing through the hood. This book seemed more "alive" more "there" than the Iron Fey series. The author's overall grasp of a post apocalyptic world is spectacular.
This book is #3 in my top books of the year list currently. So much I could say about this book. So much that I shall leave you to discover for yourself!
The Dragon's Tooth (Ashtown Burials #1) by N.D. Wilson
As the description of this book says: Fans of Percy Jackson will probably enjoy this book. The book got off to not so speedy a start, but things quickly picked up. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn between this book and the Percy Jackson series. Which is both good and bad. Good because it has many elements that made Percy Jackson so likeable. Bad because it gives you that whole "It's been done before" vibe. Mostly this book felt like it was constantly laying down groundwork for the rest of the series to build on. But too much at once almost. Lots of characters, lots of things going on.... but not enough explained in detail that I wanted to know.
Antigone and Cyrus become Acolytes to a secret society basically and are told to inherit from their recently deceased benefactor they must reach Journeyman status within a year. Under old rules. Tough rules. All while evading a "kind of immortal but not" baddie who's intent on getting a very old and powerful relic in the possession of one Cyrus Smith.
This book was a fun ride. But over too soon. You're introduced to all these amazing ideas and concepts and aren't allowed to stop and examine them. The part I was most looking forward to, the part where they're training to gain said Journeymen status... skipped right over! Right to the testing, which wasn't given in much detail either! I was honestly really disappointed with that.
I really want to read the second book in this series. I fear that it's going to have that awesome but rushed as hell feeling to it. I would also like to see some more of the story from Antigone's point of view as well. Cyrus is a good character to have a POV from, but I want to see things from his sister's POV a bit more often too.
SPOILERS OVER
Well that wraps up my thoughts on those books for today. I could easily go into more detail about many of these, but I'd much rather you read them yourselves and find out all the great things they're hiding inside!
Before I go I'm going to toss up a list of upcoming books that I'm going to be reading. =P But I AM starting Boneshaker tonight so it's next up on the list! I do have them ordered on my bookcase in "to read" order, but I'm not in the mood to order them as such here tonight. Perhaps after I read Boneshaker I'll feel like it.
Upcoming Books To Read!
In no particularly planned order:
Boneshaker / Priest, Cherie.
Adaptation / Lo, Malinda.
Covet: a novel of the fallen angels / Ward, J. R.
Death most definite / Jamieson, Trent.
Fox and Phoenix / Bernobich, Beth.
His majesty's dragon / Novik, Naomi.
Incarnate / Meadows, Jodi.
Magic bites / Andrews, Ilona.
The Floating Island / Haydon, Elizabeth.
The Floating Islands / Neumeier, Rachel.
The name of the star / Johnson, Maureen, 1973-
The tale of Genji / Murasaki Shikibu, b. 978?
Tortall and other lands: a collection of tales / Pierce, Tamora.
Under heaven / Kay, Guy Gavriel.
Urban shaman / Murphy, C. E.
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