Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret  Rogerson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: One rather steamy makeout scene.


All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it was delightfully fun and heartbreaking as well. The idea of living books was wonderful. Long ago books were chained up in libraries, but not for the same reason they are in this book.

 

In the great libraries in this story, books can be dangerous grimoires that have been created by sorcerers. I loved how sometimes the books would turn into giant, out of control monsters, but I also loved how some could be a bit whimsical as well.

 

“The library possessed a life of its own, had become greater than Cornelius had ever intended. For these were not ordinary books the libraries kept. They were knowledge, given life. Wisdom, given voice. They sang when starlight streamed through the library's windows. They felt pain and suffered heartbreak. Sometimes they were sinister, grotesque- but so was the world outside. And that made the world no less worth fighting for, because wherever there was darkness, there was also so much light.”

 

As far as the plot goes, it wasn't anything new. For me, it was a bit predictable, and came secondary to the characters themselves. That being said, it didn't matter much to me, because I was so entertained by this book, that I had a hard time putting it down. Elisabeth was a plucky, mischievous heroine that I liked immediately. Her relationship with Nathaniel was deliciously love-hate, and I enjoyed the way their relationship evolved in the book. It was a fun romance, without being overdone. As much as I loved these two characters, Silas was most certainly the best character in the book. Who knew I, and everyone else could come to love a demon so much?

I was sad when I got to the end of this book; not just because of certain events that take place, but because such a fun read was coming to an end. And that ending! It made me want more, but I also liked the way it ended.

A Purrfect Alibi by Leighann Dobbs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Content: Clean


 
Fortune tellers and mediums have descended on the Oyster Cove Guesthouse, determined to solve the mystery of local seafarer Jedediah Biddeford’s murder 300 years ago... especially if it leads them to the treasure he buried on the guesthouse grounds. New owner Josie Waters has suddenly got bigger problems than burning the breakfasts: she’s up to her elbows in tarot cards and tea leaves…

This was another fun addition to the Oyster Cove Guesthouse series. It wasn't as engaging to me as the two previous books, but I still liked it. It's a cozy mystery so you have to be able to suspend disbelief while reading. I think that's probably the hardest thing for me when reading books like this. How many times can murders happen at one Inn? How many times can it happen and people still want to stay there? I honestly thought just the 300 year old mystery of Jedidiah's murder would have been enough to carry this book, but of course there ends up being another murder.

Once again the cats were the best part of the book. I love reading the banter between Nero and Marlowe, but I do wonder how the ghost could understand them, I mean they're cats. There were also very, very small steps toward a possible romance for Josie. I kind of find that aspect of the series frustrating, because the romance was just too slow moving for me.

While I've enjoyed these and I am now caught up on the series, I'm not really sure how many more of these I will read. I would have preferred if this had been a trilogy, instead of a series with no end in sight. There is only so much pure fluff I can read, and then I need to move on.

Age of Death by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language

 
Winter blankets the land, and more than hope has died. Barred by the tower of Avempartha, the western army cannot invade the Fhrey homeland. So it must seek a way across the Nidwalden River before the fane obtains the secret of dragons. As time runs out for both humanity and the mystic Suri, the only chance for the living rests with the dead. Having made their fateful choice, can a handful of misfits do the impossible, or are they forever lost to an inescapable grave?

The last book in this series ended with a big cliffhanger, which is not the usual way that MJS ends his books, but the fact that the books are being released pretty rapidly helps with the anticipation after being left hanging, and this one picked up right where the last one left off. I liked that we got one continuous story without a gap in time.

While this isn't one of my favorite books in the series (I like it about the same as the previous book) it does start to weave some threads together that have been in the making for a long time. I especially enjoyed Suri's chapters as a captive of the Fhrey. I could feel all of her pain as she finally got through to the fane what it costs to make a dragon.

    "Now you know why you only face one."
 

As for the main adventure, I found the underworld to be very interesting and I liked the different characters that we met along the way. As always with Sullivan's books, the biggest strength here were the characters. I've said it in my other reviews, but I love how unlikely the heroes are in this series. I love the growth of each character, even Tressa, who at one time I hated. I love the themes of redemption, love, and sacrifice. I also need to add how much I loved the transformation of Gifford in this new place.

 
    "This war won't be won or lost by birds or dragons, nor by greed or hate, but by the courage and virtue of an unlikely few who will forfeit everything to save the future."
 

I don't have a whole lot more to add here in my review, just that I continue to enjoy this series and I'm looking forward to reading the last book soon, but at the same time I will be sad that it's over.

The Return by Rachel Harrison

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Horror
Content: Strong language; typical horror elements of blood, scary scenes, and slightly gory descriptions; flash back of past drug use.
 
 

Julie is missing, and the missing don’t often return. But Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she feels in her bones that her best friend is out there, and that one day she’ll come back. She’s right. Two years to the day that Julie went missing, she reappears with no memory of where she’s been or what happened to her.

Along with Molly and Mae, their two close friends from college, the women decide to reunite at a remote inn. But the second Elise sees Julie, she knows something is wrong—she’s emaciated, with sallow skin and odd appetites. And as the weekend unfurls, it becomes impossible to deny that the Julie who vanished two years ago is not the same Julie who came back. But then who—or what—is she? 

 

I knew from the description that this book would be creepy, but for some reason, I wasn't expecting it to be straight up horror. That being said, it really isn't what put me off this book. The unlikable characters did that. The main character, Elise was so needy and insecure. I just couldn't stand her. The rest of the characters were not great either. The whole dynamic between the friends was unlikable to me. It was almost as if they never grew out of the college phase. The only one I sort of liked was Molly, and she was supposedly the mean abrasive one. To top off my dislike of the main character, she also has done something in her past that she doesn't even seem to get was really, really wrong.

What I liked the most about this book were the creepy moments, and the mystery of what was really going on. The hotel setting was creepy, but not in the same predictable way as most horror settings. It was weird and quirky in a way that was unsettling. This part of the book delivered well. The thing that I dislike about horror, is that once the mystery behind everything is revealed, I'm usually disappointed in the explanation. It's no longer scary, and that was the case with this book as well. I felt like once the book got to the big climax, I was kind of zoning out. Even though I should have been on the edge of my seat in fear for Elise, all I could do was think of all the dumb things she was doing. And I can't say I really cared what happened to her because I didn't like her.

If your looking for creepy, this would probably work for you, but having not read a lot of horror, I can't really say how well horror aficionados will like it. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.

Mystic by Jason Denzel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language, A couple of steamy make out scenes 

 
For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst.

Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society.

Such has always been the tradition—until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager, as a candidate.

Commoners have never been welcomed among the select few given the opportunity to rise beyond even the highest nobility. So when Pomella chooses to accept the summons and journey to Kelt Apar, she knows that she will have more to contend with than the competition for the apprenticeship.

For the most part, I enjoyed reading this book. It did start out a bit slow (that seems to be the case for several of the books I've read in the past month). I thought both Pomella and Sim were a little dumb at times. Some things they didn't pick up on were obvious to me, and I thought should have been obvious to them. Pomella was also a bit fickle when it came to the two love interests. I was really surprised at how far she was willing to go with one of them. For me the book read pretty innocent up until that point, and it just bothered me that it took that turn.

I did like the world that the author created. I found the fey creatures interesting and the magical use of the myst an interesting idea, but because I found myself rolling my eyes at things the characters did, I couldn't give this more than a three star rating. I really liked the way it ended though, and the book did pack one surprise for me.

This is the first book in a trilogy, but it works well as a standalone. I think I'll leave it as one.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L.  Wang

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Some minor cursing; an off page rape; off page killing of children during a battle, their bodies are mentioned and briefly described. 

A mother struggling to repress her violent past,
A son struggling to grasp his violent future,
A father blind to the danger that threatens them all.

When the winds of war reach their peninsula, will the Matsuda family have the strength to defend their empire? Or will they tear each other apart before the true enemies even reach their shores?

Wow, just wow! This book really blew me away. I wasn't expecting to love it this much at all. It started out a little slow with some history lessons on the world, but once I hit chapter 6 it started to take off. By 30% in it was impossible to put down. Is it perfect? No. The modern day setting combined with the old world feeling of most of the book threw me a little at first, and the glimpses into Misaki's past life felt a little more urban fantasy than the rest of the book, but those were minor things compared to everything else that was so amazing.

One thing that I really loved about this book is that it delivered everything I was hoping it would deliver. Every time I wished for something it would eventually end up happening. Another thing I loved about this book was the elemental magic. It totally reminded me of Avatar, the Last Air Bender. This, combined with the sword fighting, made the battle scenes pretty epic. Those scenes also kept me on the edge of my seat.

I also love when a book gives me a perspective of a character that I did not see before, and this book did that brilliantly with one character that I really disliked. I ended up understanding that character later on, and no longer disliking them. The thing I loved the most about this book was the way the characters grew and developed.

 
    “You learn over time that the world isn’t broken. It’s just… got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young.”
 

This book packed such an emotional punch, and anytime a book makes me feel the way this one did, it's guaranteed to get 5 stars from me. I'm pretty stingy with 5 stars, so this is the first book I've given 5 stars to in over a year. If you enjoy reading epic fantasy I highly recommend this book. It will break your heart and put it back together. It will have you staying up at all hours of the night reading it. It will have you crying at 2 am. It will give you all of those feels that you have come to love from epic fantasy.

 
    “Wholeness, she had learned, was not the absence of pain but the ability to hold it.”
 

Stars Beyond by S.K. Dunstall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Space Opera, Sci-fi
Content: Strong language


 
An engineer with a fondness for weapons. A captain with no memory. An obsessive genemodder who loves to tinker. Meet the crew of Another Road.

Josune, Roystan, and Nika have escaped the company thugs trying to kill them. They've gotten a new spaceship to replace The Road (after it was blown up underneath them). And their new ship is armed to the teeth with dangerous weapons, courtesy of Josune. All that's left to do before they head out to find the legendary lode of transurides is to restore Roystan's memory. To do that, they need to collect the genemod machine Nika has ordered.

But first, they have to shake off the Justice Department agent and the Companies tracking them.

It should be easy. They've done it before. What could possibly go wrong?

This was a great sequel to Stars Uncharted. I enjoyed visiting these characters again, and going on another adventure with them. There were a lot of things wrapped up here, but not everything. There is definitely more story for future books. The world is very interesting and I really enjoyed the backstory about the Ort. I'm looking forward to reading more. Fingers crossed it doesn't take forever for the third book to get published.

The Medium by C.J. Archer

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Ghost Story
Content: Clean


Seventeen year-old spirit medium Emily Chambers has a problem. Actually, she has several. As if seeing dead people isn't a big enough social disadvantage, she also has to contend with an escaped demon and a handsome ghost with a secret past. And then there's the question of her parentage. Being born an entire year after her father's death (yes, a year) and without the pale skin of other respectable English ladies, Emily is as much a mystery as the dead boy assigned to her.

Jacob Beaufort's spirit has been unable to crossover since his death. It might have something to do with the fact he was murdered. Or it might not. All he knows is, he has been assigned by the Otherworld's administrators to a girl named Emily. A girl who can see and touch him. A girl who released a shape-shifting demon into the mortal realm. Together they must send the demon back before it wreaks havoc on London. It should be a simple assignment, but they soon learn there's nothing simple when a live girl and a dead boy fall in love.

This is the first book in a YA paranormal trilogy. I'm a sucker for stories about ghosts, so this was right up my alley. Overall I really liked this. I thought Emily was very likable, and Jacob as well, even though he got grumpy a few times.

I was a little disappointed that Emily and Jacob didn't take a more active role in chasing the demon down and finding it's victims. I was expecting more demon hunting than we got. Instead they end up investigating who summoned the demon instead of hunting it down. I guess that was a logical way to eventually find it, but it lacked the demon hunting action I was looking for.

The romance in the story was pretty good. I liked the forbidden love aspect of a living girl and a ghost falling for each other, and the fact that Emily is able to actually touch Jacob as well, worked nicely in the story, otherwise the romance would have been very limited. That being said this was a clean romance with nothing more than kissing. It is YA, so I wasn't expecting more than that.