Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler (Jane True #1)

 

To begin I normally read a book within about a day or so, it keeps things fresh, and I try not to take longer than that because I have to read so much for school that I end up not remembering all the details of the books I read for pleasure. That being said I was finishing my senior Capstone classes over the summer and therefore this book took about two weeks to read.

I enjoyed the book a lot, and I wish I had the time to read the book from beginning to end in a few days because it was very entertaining and the story line was certainly good enough to keep me wrapped up in the story. I am not familiar with the "supernatural scene" of this book at all, I have mainly stuck to vampire or shape shifter books that only mention the fae in limited degrees, so to read a book about a young girl who just finds out she is a selkie and her introduction into that world really helped as a way to introduce me to this kind of world. Much like Jane had Ryu (among others) as a guide to the world that she was suddenly a part of, Ryu also served as a guide to me, helping to explain the creatures and lore the book is based on. I really appreciated that as the reader I was no expected to already know the lore behind the book.

In the beginning I felt bad for Jane, due to her past. She harbors a lot of guilt and a lot of pain that has caused her to essentially be trapped in her life and really never progresses as a person, never seeking a relationship, or more friends, just content to live a very basic and depressed existence; which is understandable when the circumstances are revealed. That being said at some point during the book, maybe about half way through I found myself being more annoyed with her guilt than anything else, it got a little tedious after a while.

Jane is also introduced to this new world in a very fast pace as well as in rather gruesome circumstances, so Peeler using witty humor really helped to lighten the situations and make it more enjoyable for the reader. Although with that being said Peeler did sometimes try to make witty or humorous sex quips during strange circumstances and they kind of made me pause and think "huh" to myself. That's not to say that the sexual content in the book wasn't well written, it wasn't overly grotesque and fit in with both the characters and the plot, it didn't feel forced. Even Jane's holding on to human fears of pregnancy and STDs helped to show how Jane was not able to transition to the new life overnight.

Ryu was amusing to me, he was a great guide for me to grasp what was going on, but he also came across as someone who really cared about Jane. Even so he still had his "other worldy" predilections, which really shined through at the end when he didn't seem to affected by the human Nyx brought to the celebration and so obviously abused. It was very telling to me that Jane had a similar reaction as I did to that situation.

Peeler introduced a lot of characters in Rockabill that I really hope in future books of the series are revisited and further explored, especially with Anyan. I think the book could have used another editing pass and maybe some revisions. Some of the internal monologue didn't could have been better placed because in some instances it seemed out of place and detracted from the story line, but other than that I am interested to see how the series progresses and how the authors storytelling ability progresses as well. It was an entertaining read, and I enjoyed it.

Buy Tempest Rising on Amazon!
***Up next is going to be Strange Angels***

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance (Cassie Palmer #1)

 

Okay to begin I have been a huge slacker on getting these reviews done. I have been so busy with school I just haven't had the time. It should get easier around mid August and I will have more time to write these and enjoy the books themselves.

I have read this book before, but I am rereading my books as a way of inventory for myself. I picked this book because she has a new book out that I have no read from this series so I figured I would catch up on the series before I bought and read the new one.

So I thought I would start with the things I did not like about the novel. One of my biggest problems with this novel is she flows so often from one thing to the next that it is disjointing for the reader. While action is a great thing in a book, especially one from this genre, it only works if the reader is able to keep up with it. I found myself having to reread a page or two a couple of time to figure out what I had missed. I understand the need for jumping from one scene to another when Cassie is having a vision because it's disjointing for her to experience, but this occurrence was not limited to when Cassie was having a vision.

I also believe that the first book in a series is one of the hardest to write because you have to build the world, and that world has to be enough to sustain a series as well as keep the reader interested. With some books it often feels like you are thrown into a world and then have to spend most of the book just figuring out what is going on in addition to getting to know the characters. Being able to introduce a world in a manner that doesn't feel like work for the reader is a gift. I think Chance did an okay job at world building but there were a lot of times I wished I knew more about something and having to wait until 3/4 of the way through the book to get the answer that would have not hurt the progression of the book if I had known it earlier.

So those are my two main issues with the book, and now for the things I liked. I like Cassie. She's confused, ballsy, and doesn't understand her own potential. I think one of the most relatable things about Cassie is that she is nervous and unwilling to suddenly except her position of huge responsibility. She knows that this position gives her power but it is also going to make her vulnerable to people always wanting her under their control, something she is not willing to go back to because of her past. That being said Cassie always stands up for people she feels are innocent and tries to help whenever she can.

Tomas is one of the most annoying characters in the book, but after the way it ends it is understandable why he is so clingy. I HATE when men in a book feel like they own a woman. It drove me bonkers with Bill and Sookie Charlaine Harris books, and even though I loved her books I often wanted to strangle Sookie and hit Bill over the head with a frying pan and tell him to stop calling her "his". I was really worried it was going to be another situation similar to that, except with Tomas it came off as creepy and weird, and the more he acted "protectively" the more he was creepy. I can't say this enough, thank god Cassie did not go for him.

I like the characters as a whole, they have a lot of fleshing out to do over the next couple of books, but I like them, and I love Mircea. He gets so wonderfully more complicated as the series goes on as well as within the spin off. Rafe is sweet and fatherly. Louis Cesar is appropriately full of himself. Pritkin amuses me with his insanity and naive "i know everything" attitude and questions. Tony is a fitting bad guy, mostly because you don't see a lot of him, you just hear about him which makes him more menacing I think. Same is true for Rasputin. Myra was an interesting twist. And can I just say I love Agnes' personality and wise but amusing declarations.

The series does enough to make me want to read more, and its negative points don't make me not like the book, in fact the good outweighs the bad enough for me to really like this series once it really takes off in the subsequent books. I do like this book and Chance as an author a lot.

Buy Touch the Dark on Amazon!
***Up next is going to be Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler***

Thanks for sticking with me :)

Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan

 

I considered not writing a review of this book. Mostly because it is not my kind of book. But I decided I should write about because books are the only thing that are giving me a reason to write lately. And more over they make me think about things. I picked this book to read because it was a free download. And I made a promise to myself that I would go outside of my comfort zone and try new things. I remember the day I tried out urban fantasy books, and I protested the whole way. Turns out I fell in love with them. Now I can't imagine a world without werewolves and fae and everything else in between. So why not venture out? Maybe there is something out there for me that I never would have thought to give a chance, a book somewhere on a shelf that will stay with me for years to come. So here I go on my journey to find that book.

To start this is a period book. The thing about period books is that as an English major and well quite frankly as a history minor I have read pieces of literature from this time, and they sound nothing like this. Although I get the reasoning behind it. I can remember struggling to understand the words on the page before me, and trying to figure out what they were saying in 1775. How the English language evolves over years is amazing to me. So that being said I believe the author did her very best to convey the times while still writing in a dialect that the average person living in 2000's could understand.

For me this book contains a lot of God. Almost to much for my liking. It's a personal preference. I understand the need for God in this book, this woman is starting over after one of the most tragic things that could happen to a person have happened to her, both her son and her husband dead within a years time. To rebuild a life after that, to strike out on her own, you need something to hold on to, and I understand that need wholeheartedly. The only thing that bothered me about the continuing mention of God 18 times on every page was Abby was on a journey to find herself, to become herself, and instead she spends so much time focusing on what God wants, and forgets to listen to her wants and needs.

Beth is really the only person I found moving throughout the book. She is a young girl who has literally turned into a bitter angry girl by following her fathers example. She tries so hard to be hard, to be like her father, that she knows no other way to be. The journey that she and Abby take together, in showing Beth that it is okay to be a girl, to want to be happy is okay, it's moving to see.

I found the last couple of chapters very rushed. The sudden reappearance and acceptance of Conner's son felt unnatural. The then sudden return of the supposed dead wife, Sally, is the most forced, surreal, part of the book. In all of like a chapter she arrives, throws everything into disarray, and then dies. And then oh my gosh, Abby and Conner and wed and live happily ever after. All this long buildup to only have this sudden sequence of events happen is just weird.

I also felt that the arrival of Hannah was unnecessary, like an attempt by the author to give the other characters in the book some reason to interact with the main characters. And as a way to show Abby has some kind of sway over Conner. Although it should be noted this is a series of books, and I think Hannah ends up being one of the "brides" in the course of the series, so maybe that is why she was introduced, either way I don't feel like she made any contribution to the story of Abby.

I will say that it was able to keep my attention, I didn't hate it. I didn't like it. But this book is not for me. I can see the appeal for other people though (that is until the last couple of chapters where the entire pace of the book changes). I will not be continuing with the series, but I do enjoy a free book.

My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent

 

As always SPOILERS WITHIN

To begin I would like to say I LOVE Rachel Vincent. I am slightly willing to be unfairly kind to her because her the world she creates with her mind makes me so uber happy I am sometime willing to overlook things I would sometimes give other authors grief about. This all stems from the Shifters series, of which I fell madly in love with. That being said I remember when Vincent started releasing information about Soul Screamers and then finally the novella. I toyed with the idea of reading it over and over again, mostly because I love her and there were times between Shifters books when I needed a fix. But alas I avoided the YA. My reasoning behind this is this, I also have a bit of a love affair with Rachel Caine (PS I love that both of these amazing women live in Texas). I started with Rachel Caine's Weather Warden books, and then moved on to her Morganville books. While I enjoyed the Morganville books, they clearly have a different tone to them, and because of that I picked up on things I found annoying. And then when I went back to Weather Warden books because a new one had come out, I would find those same things I found annoying in Morganville, and then my love for Rachel Caine got a little bit smaller (I still buy all her books and read them religiously so it's not like I'm a Rachel Caine hater now). My fear with Vincent is that the same thing would happen, and I was not willing to do that. Well Shifters has been over for a while now, my tears have dried over the amazing ending to a great series. And now I need a Rachel Vincent fix. After stalker her website for months, and searching the internet far and wide for any information on her new series I have given up and gone for Soul Screamers, or at least the novella, it's hella cheap on my Nook so I figured why not. It's short if I don't like it no harm no foul, I will just wait patiently for the new series.

So with that really long and probably unnecessary introduction, I read it. I liked it. Vincent is a great writer, she never dumbs things down for the reader, even the YA department. Another thing I like about her is her world building. I remember reading the first Shifters book and coming away from it thinking I have a really good grasp on what is happening in this world. This not always the case for some series, some series I can be three books in and confused because my foundation isn't good. This is not a problem Vincent has, she's great at the world building (and if her twitter posts are any indications it's because she works her but off on getting everything the way she wants it).

That being said this novella was no world building, it was Kaylee building. Kind of a new concept for me, I'm used to character building while world building. Vincent doesn't explain what Kaylee is, doesn't really introduce any other characters in any kind of major way. You leave the novella knowing that Emma is Kaylee's best friend, and a good one judging by the fact that she wrote to Kaylee while she was in a mental hospital. That her Uncle really loves her, and probably understands her best out of all of her parent figures. That her Aunt loves her but doesn't get her. And that she has a "cool" cousin who we never meet.

Most of the novella takes place in the mental hospital, which is a traumatic experience for Kaylee, as I think it would be for any young girl suddenly waking up tied to a bed. Vincent's descriptions of Kaylee's reactions were real and easy to relate to. I could easily see myself reacting the same way as Kaylee did if I were in her situation.

Mostly this novella leaves the reader with a feeling of knowing what Kaylee is going through and how she feels, and more than that the reader wants to know what the heck is going on with her as much as Kaylee wants to know. It is clear Kaylee knows when someone is going to die, which she knows when she has what she refers to as a "panic attack" and the overwhelming desire to scream. So I kind of have a feel of where this is going but in no way do I have any specifics, or have any idea how Kaylee is going to get a handle on this, but I want to know.

I think the novella achieves its purpose by making me want to see what happens to Kaylee. Vincent gives just enough to make me like Kaylee and find out what happens next. That being said I follow Vincent on Twitter so I know the names of characters and kind of a round about idea of what is going on (I think there is someone named Todd and I think he might be a reaper, don't quote me on that). Either way I am intrigued, and thoroughly enjoyed the writing, will be reading the next book in the series sometime soon.

Buy My Soul to Lose on Amazon!

Pack Challenge by Shelly Laurenston

 

Once again CONTAINS SPOILERS

This book was recommended to me in a urban fantasy forum, and so I figured I would give it a try. It is the first book in a trilogy, although from a simple search on BN.com it would seem the author has several series to chose from.

I don't have a lot to say about this particular book. It was an enjoyable read but by no means one of my favorites, but on the same token, it cost around $4 on my nook, which I have no problem spending on a book I enjoyed reading. The book is about a woman who has no idea that she is a shifter, her name is Sara. From the very beginning it is clear she has had a rough upbringing, and has been left with both emotional and some very serious emotional scars from her childhood. The real upside for her is that her two best friends look out for her and give her the kind of love she didn't experience from her grandmother.

Her grandmother, having died not to long before the book began, is clearly the one of the villains in the story. Her grandmothers death, which seems like a relief for her, actually brings back a feud that she was unaware of her entire life. A feud between a Pride of lions and a Pack of wolves (the same Pack her parents were once a part of). The Pack has arrived in a town where there is another Pack, the one who has been protecting Sara all of her life without her knowing. The author does a good job of showing the people in Sara's life as being protective of her, as well as the Pack mentality typical of shifters.

This book contains more sex in it than the typical mainstream book like Charlaine Harris or Patricia Briggs. That being said, it was well written, a common problem with sex scenes is that they come off as cheesy, with the author often time comparing sex to things having nothing to do with sex. Laurenston did a good job at keeping it realistic as possible, although she enjoys the words nipples and hard as rocks.

The relationship between Zach and Sara is fun to watch evolve, especially since the two of them fight it for so long. Although when they both accept it, they fit together so perfectly. I found the character of Casey to be amusing, she strikes me as one of those girls who think they own the world, until someone shows them they ain't shit, which is something Casey needed. Although I think my favorite part of the book was the ending, when in the end there are three packs of wolves who all respect and care for Sara, something not commonly seen this world. It was kind of a tribute to the person Sara is.

Overall I would say this book is worth reading, but don't expect it to be your all time favorite novel, but that doesn't mean it isn't a fun read.

Buy Pack Challenge on Amazon!

River Marked by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #6)

Spoilers ALWAYS included

Patty Briggs is one of my favorite writers, and I think Mercy is one of my favorite characters. She is ballsy and doesn't take any prisoners. But she is not super woman, I think one of the hardest scenes I ever read was where Mercy was sexually assaulted in a previous book, her recovery from that incident I think is some of Briggs' best writing.

But on to the actual book, it started out a little slow for me. I think Briggs was trying to establish an intimate relationship with Adam and Mercy, but it honestly just felt to drag on. The last half of the book picks up and became a very enjoyable read. Briggs is one of the fantasy writers that doesn't stay in one or two of the supernatural categories, she is willing to include any and all supernatural elements, and she blends them in such a way that is still cohesive for the reader as well as entertaining. This book is no exception. There is interaction with her vampire friend who needs Mercy's help, the werewolf pack Mercy is no married into, the fae sending Mercy and Adam to the honeymoon spot as well as the Fae villains, as well as the exploration of Mercy's heritage which brought in a whole new supernatural element never explored before.

Mercy has always been an outsider in the books, she is the only one of her kind, or so she thought. As a coyote raised by wolves, I believe that Mercy has always been content with the road her life went down. She has even mentioned in prior books that she has looked in mildly to her heritage but never really took it further. This book changes all of that, her heritage rises up to meet her.

I love the Native American culture, and I love that Briggs did not just make this about one specific tribe, in fact in the end Mercy is the child of all of the tribes because her father is one of the remaining immortal figures Coyote that serve the Great Spirit that all of the Native Americans believe in. The extensive culture that Briggs explores in this book is amazing, and it is great that she was able to not only make a plot that was interesting to the reader but also gives Mercy more depth and a clear and remaining link to her past, that is sure to show up in the following books.

The book was full of small sentimental moments that long time fans of these series would appreciate. I believe my favorite of these moments would be Bran at Mercy's wedding, acting all parts of the father he really feels he is to Mercy. Seeing the bond Mercy had developed with the most powerful werewolf in the world is something so sweet and special. I also love that Mercy is becoming more and more like a mother to Jesse, they have always had a good dynamic together, but it has begun to really evolve into a parent and child dynamic that has been so great to watch evolve.

I also really love the small moments Mercy has with Stefan. Stefan was a main element in the prior book. One of my biggest issues with a lot of series writers is they forget the prior books existed for some characters, the main character always remains changed but the others just seem to be along for the ride. Briggs never does that to her characters. While Stefan was not a main player this time around, she didn't forget him and showed him as the damaged vampire he should be. And true to her form Mercy does everything she can to help him heal. And in the end when Mercy herself is healing from the situation within this book, Stefan comes along to help her as well. The moment between the two of them at the end was sweet not just because of Stefan caring for Mercy when he was still clearly not completely well himself, but also the interaction Coyote and Stefan have together. Mercy is clearly a character that has the ability to unite elements of the supernatural that prefer to remain separate and also typically at odds.

Over all this is a book I loved reading, even though it to in my opinion, took far to long to pick up. The continual mundane activities that Mercy and Adam go through for so much of the beginning of the book reminds me almost of how Harry Potter's last book seemed to go on forever when they were on the run, it was just more and more of the same over and over again for far to many pages. I also think she made the river monster far to large, I think she could have made the monster even slightly smaller and way more believable within that context. But overall I think the book was great, probably my second favorite of her books.

Buy River Marked on Amazon!

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

 

Welcome to the very first book review of my blog! I might experience some growing pains along the way so bare with me.

All Reviews include SPOILERS!

To begin, I love Charlaine Harris, she is an amazing author. In fact the hardest thing about watching the True Blood series was that I felt they messed with so many of Harris's amazing story lines that I would get angry at the TV. Sure I have my favorites out of her 11 Sookie books, but overall I love her writing.

That being said, Dead Reckoning is not my favorite of the series. It's also not my least favorite, it falls somewhere in the middle for me. Often throughout the book I began to feel like she was putting various characters in the book just to let the reader know what they were up to and didn't actually fit into the story line. One such example of this is the 2 pages that Alcide makes an appearance in. His being at Sookie's house just felt forced and unnecessary. To be quite honest I felt that way about Bill to some extent in this story, although he actually played a role in the development of the story. Alcide and Bill both continue to proposition Sookie, Alcide with sex and Bill with love. But either way I personally found it more annoying that sweet.

Amelia is one character's reemergence that I felt fit. She had to arrive in order to break the blood bond for Sookie and Eric. But at the same token she also provides reasons for Sookie to realize she can't trust people as much as she wants to. Amelia is her best friend and she wants to tell her everything, only she knows now she can't do that, as Amelia has problems telling people she shouldn't about the inner-workings of Sookie's life. Sookie's life throughout this series has become increasingly more secretive, and it's important that it stay that way.

The arrival of Sandra Pelt back into the picture provides more humor than the other sub-plot points as well as keeps the story moving while other elements are developing. It was a nice tie of that story line while also allowing for the dynamic of Sam and his girlfriend with Sookie to develop, and for the reader to get a better feel for Sam's girlfriend.

The fae in this book I enjoyed, it's nice to see Sookie with her family, in spite of the fact they are just as secretive if not more so than the rest of the supernatural community.

One of the biggest problems I had with this book is the build up of the mystery regarding Sookie's inheritance from her great-grandfather Fintan. This is a mystery that progresses throughout the story but rather anti-climatically is not used and left open for the next book. I have no problem with cliff hangers, in fact in my opinion Harris left a fairly decent cliff hanger in regards to Eric, but this was neither cliff hanger nor did anything to progress the story. I am sure, without a doubt, that Harris is going to use this object as a plot point in the next book but I wonder if she could have held of introducing it until the next book as well.

Harris throws a hiccup in Sookie and Eric's relationship, although she does make it clear to the reader that the two of them are in love. Even with their love, their duo looks like it is about to become a triangle with some serious repercussions in the next book. It was good to see the to of them together and to see how they dealt with the conflicts that arose throughout the book.

It was also good to see Sookie go more on the offensive than before. She is the first one to really say outloud, "why haven't we killed this guy yet" She is also instrumental in the planning phases too. Although Sookie has become more involved in the supernatural world, and even more so the violence that it entails, she is still Sookie, and she still doesn't like the violence or want to be around it, the difference is that now she knows it is necessary.

Another minor point I loved in this book is the softer side of Pam. Pam is a character I have always likes, her hard-ass exterior often offers some comic relief, as well as being a fiercely loyal second for Eric. It has been nice to see her friendship evolve with Sookie, but even more so it was great to see her in this book be in love. The toll of her heart break is obvious as the story progresses. It really humanizes Pam more than she has ever been in any of the stories up to this point.

While there are most definitely have my bones to pick about certain elements of this book, I still liked the overall book as a whole. Once again it was a book I read in one sitting over a couple of hours. Overall the books fits in great with the series, progresses the series the perfect amount, and leaves the reader with a curiosity about what is going to happen next for Sookie and Eric with the cliff hanger. In the end I want to know how things with Sookie and Eric work out or if they work out, and I am most interested in getting more of a glimpse into the world of the fae. Harris does a great job of peeling the layers back slowly concerning the world of the fae, giving just enough to keep the reader wanting more but still enough to keep the reader interested. Can't wait for the next book.

Buy Dead Reckoning on Amazon!