Book Review: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

TITLE: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall
AUTHOR: Katie Alender
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: 2015
GENRE: Paranormal
PREMISE: A girl inherits a mansion full of secrets, and ghosts.
MY REVIEW: This was a random pick up from the library for me. At the time I was craving ghost stories. I tend to do this when it gets hot and muggy outside. I crave a weird combination of ghost stories, gothic historical fiction, and then cute and fluffy contemporaries. I don't get it either, but it is what it is.
Alender is always good for a fun ghost story so I picked this slightly older book up that I meant to read awhile ago. It was a fun time. It's not a must read or anything like that. But if you're in the mood for ghosts, this should give you your fix. It's a nice and fast-paced plot, the characters are interesting, the atmosphere is great. It's exactly what I wanted at the time I picked it up.
This is a very quick read and was very nicely done. Again, not exactly a must read. But if you want a fun story with ghosts, this should do the trick.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that want ghost stories, Katie Alender fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five decent reads

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

TITLE: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Book 1 in the Thorns and Roses series
AUTHOR: Sarah J. Maas
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Faeries, Retellings
PREMISE: In a loosely inspired retelling of Beauty and the Beast, a girl agrees to go to a kingdom of faeries where she is the only human after killing a fae...
MY REVIEW: I know what you all are thinking: you haven't read this yet????!!!! No. I didn't until now. See, I had read Throne of Glass way back when it first came out. I...was frankly not very impressed. Other people did not feel the same and it's a big hit. What can you do? So I never really had any desire to read this series. But....I saw this in the library and...I don't know I just felt a sudden desire to read it. So I did.
I have...mixed feelings. Much like I did with Throne of Glass. On one hand, I do definitely see improvement from Throne of Glass. I like when authors improve. It is actually a different series so she's trying new stuff, which is another thing I like. On the other hand....like Throne of Glass...I find it a bit generic. Beauty and the Beast fantasy retellings have been done. Lots of times. I can name you several of my favorites. This didn't really do anything unique or original with the fae. I didn't particularly see anything mind-blowing to be honest. The characters were okay, the romance....didn't really blow me away to be honest, and the plot was average.
I don't think it's bad. I'm just...puzzled about the attachment people seem to have with this series, because to me it was the same old, same old. But....I also thought that about Throne of Glass so who knows? The hype machine is weird about what it attaches itself too. I did kind of at least like this though. I'm not in love with it, like others are...but unlike Throne of Glass, there's a good chance I'll continue on with this series.
WHO SHOULD READ: Throne of Glass fans, faerie fans, retelling fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five sexy fae

Gif summary of feelings:

Review Catch-up: Four mini-reviews of books I've Read Recently:

Okay, I"m way behind on book reviews. I meant to have more this past week, but time got away from me. So here are five quick reviews of some books I've read in the past two months:

TITLE: Lady Midnight
Book 1 in the Dark Artifices series
AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare
PUBLISHED: 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
THOUGHTS: Same old, same old from Cassandra Clare. Sorry guys, I don't see this amazing breakthrough people on YouTube kept saying this book was. This had literally the same plot points as Mortal Instruments had, down too beloved adult figure turning around and betraying them all.
But, we've established I'm trash for this series, so despite issues I have with it...I'll still read the next one. Curse my weakness.
WHO SHOULD READ: Die-hard Cassandra Clare fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: The Refugees
AUTHOR: Viet Thanh Nguyen
PUBLISHED: February 7th, 2017
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Contemporary/Short Stories
THOUGHTS: Typical short story collection. Some better then others. I suspect there was some nuance in these stories that was lost on me though, because a lot of it focuses on issues in Vietnam and I don't particularly know much about that country (other then we had a war there, and whole lot of issues sprung up from that war). It has made me interested in picking up The Sympathizer though.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the author's book The Sympathizer
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: Madly (called The Potions Diaries in the UK)
Book 1 in the Potions series
AUTHOR: Amy Alward
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
THOUGHTS: Cute fantasy about a girl entering a potions contest. The writing is a bit juvenile so this probably geared more towards the younger YA crowd, rather then the older one. So if you know any tweens who love Descendants and are looking for something to read, I would absolutely give them this.
WHO SHOULD READ: younger teens, Descendents fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five

TITLE: My Life, My Love, My Legacy
 AUTHOR: Coretta Scott King
PUBLISHED: January 17th, 2017
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Biography
THOUGHTS: Pretty typical biography. What was most interesting to me, was the peeks into the Civil Rights movement that we don't often see. Since she was the wife of MLK, King did get a front row seat into the planning that went on and in many cases during and after her husband's death, often organized things like marches and many other things she didn't get enough credit for.
WHO SHOULD READ: those interested in learning about civil rights history
MY RATING: Four out of Five

Book Review: Wolf by Wolf

TITLE: Wolf by Wolf
Book 1 in the Wolf by Wolf Duology
AUTHOR: Ryan Graudin
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian/Alternate History
PREMISE: In a world where Hitler won WWII, a girl joins a dangerous race so she can dance with Hitler...and then kill him.
MY REVIEW: I can't believe I took this long to get to this book. It's one of those series I've been meaning to read for awhile because the premise just sounds amazing. But things happen, you know? But I'm getting to it now and I'm happy to say: it did not disappoint.
Graudin's writing is as fabulous as I remember it being in The Walled City. There is more then a bit of a Hunger Games-esque set-up, but the author makes it her own. I do wish we hadn't had the forced romance bit, but it's YA, what can you do? The ending is also a bit of a random cliff-hanger but it's a fitting sort of cliff-hanger if that makes sense...it probably doesn't. Sorry.
I personally, really loved this one. There are some issues, as there always are in YA, but for the most part, this book is a very strong and solid action-packed book. Will definitely be reading book 2 sometime in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Hunger Games fans, fans of The Walled City, fans of alternate history
MY RATING: Four out of Five motorcycles

Series Review: Flavia de Luce

SERIES: Flavia de Luce
ORDER OF BOOKS IN SERIES:
1) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
2) The Weed That Strings the Handman's Bag
3) A Red Herring Without Mustard
4) I Am Half Sick of Shadows
5) Speaking From Among the Bones
6) The Dead and Their Vaulted Arches
7) As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
8) Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd
AUTHOR: Alan Bradley
PUBLISHED: between 2009-present
CATEGORY: Packaged and sold as adult fiction, I say it's middle-grade but what can you do?
PREMISE: In 1950s England, in a small town, a precocious girl solves mysteries using logic and a love of science.
MY REVIEW: So last year I finally sat down and read the first book of this series and promptly fell in love. Since then I've been playing catch up and after getting to the eighth book last month, I finally am caught up. I'm still very much in love with it too.
Flavia de Luce is sort of a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Fisher pushed into the body of a tween. The result is a delightful main character. On top of Flavia is a colorful cast of family members, and small town characters, who are all very entertaining. Basically, it's like one of those BBC mystery shows in book form, starring a awesome little girl.
The last book left off at quite a place so I'm very eager to get my hands on the next book which is coming out in September.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sherlock Holmes fans, BBC mystery show fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five awesome main characters

Book Review: Between the World and Me

TITLE: Between the World and Me
AUTHOR: Ta-Nehisi Coates
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: Non-Fiction
GENRE: Essays/Letters
PREMISE: A man talks about things like race in a series of essays written as letters to his son.
MY REVIEW: When it comes to books like this one or Letters to a Young Muslim and whatnot, I'm never really sure how to go about reviewing them. These are books that need to be read by people regardless of how good I or anyone else actually thinks they are. Plus, I'm still very new to essays so I'm still not exactly sure about what qualifies as a good essay or not. I just tend to judge them based on whether or not it made me think. Pretty much all of them tend to do that to some extent.
This one especially did. I'm slightly familiar with Coates from his appearances on various things. Plus, I've been reading the Black Panther comic run he's been writing. This goes into his life and his own various experiences with race and race relations. There is a lot of food for thought in this one. I can't say I related to any of it. I am a white woman, I will never experience things like this. But I'm of the firm opinion that you don't have to relate to every piece of writing out there, and just because you don't relate to it, doesn't mean the piece of writing isn't good or important.
This is a very quick book. I read it in an afternoon. But the things it talks about will stay with you for quite a bit.
WHO SHOULD READ: Essay fans, Letters to a Young Muslim fans, those looking for books that talk about race
MY RATING: Four out of Five essays to make you think

Book Review: Ink and Bone

TITLE: Ink and Bone
Book 1 in The Great Library series
AUTHOR: Rachel Caine
PUBLISHED: July 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Alternate history, Dystopianish
PREMISE: In a world where the Library of Alexandria never burned but lived on to become a world dominating power, a boy is sent to the library for training...
MY REVIEW: I've been meaning to read this series forever because the premise sounds so amazing and Caine is one of those authors who has great premises, even if her plots are usually average. This one though...I actually think this one might be her best series yet. It not only lived up to its awesome premise, but it exceeded my expectations.
This has a lot of what made Morganville Vampires so entertaining: interesting variety of characters, different premise that you don't see everyday, fast pace with lots of things going on, and snappy dialogue. But it's also much better in that there's not lots of focus on love drama. There's romance but that is secondary to this big plot with the library.
Honestly, I'm hard-pressed to find anything really bad about it. About all I can say is the writing is average. But the quality of the story is very very high. I really wish I'd gotten to this one much sooner. But now that means I don't have to wait long to get to the end so, best laid plans.
WHO SHOULD READ: Rachel Caine fans, those who like alternate histories/dystopians
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five scary librarians

Book Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger

TITLE: Walk on Earth a Stranger
Book 1 in the Gold Seers Trilogyy
AUTHOR: Rae Carson
PUBLISHED: 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Magical Realism, Historical Fiction
PREMISE: A girl with a gift to sense gold goes on a journey to the west during the gold rush.
MY REVIEW: So I read the first book in Rae Carson's debut trilogy way back when I first started this blog. I...didn't care for it. I wanted too, but...just didn't. People assured me it got better and I believe in giving second chances, so I picked this up in the library last time I was there.
It's....okay. Like most magical realism, I just am frustrated that the author takes this awesome premise: a girl able to sense gold during the gold rush years....and barely uses it. It's even more annoying because the summary made it sound like that was the focus and this was full on historical fantasy. It is not. The gift just barely features in it. A majority of this is basically Little House on the Prairie, they're just going west.
As an historical fiction novel...it's decent. I do see a step up in writing from that long ago first book. The research the author clearly did shows through. I like the main character. I'm just not sure if I care enough to continue. I felt like the ending was a good place to leave off. Maybe I'll pick it up if I find myself in the mood for historical fiction. Maybe the magical part actually gets used in the second book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Magical realism fans, historical fiction fans, Little House on the Prairie fans, Rae Carson fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five mining picks

Book Review: Kate Daniels series books 7-9

TITLE: Kate Daniels series
Book 7: Magic Breaks
Book 8: Magic Shifts
Book 9: Magic Binds
AUTHOR: Ilona Andrews
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: 2014, 2015, 2016
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Kate continues her relationship with Curran despite things such as the return of her father.
MY REVIEW: So the past year or so, I've been playing catch up with the Kate Daniels series. There was no particular reason I stopped keeping up with it. Things just sort of happened that way. Too many books on the TBR list.
But this past year, I've been catching up on series, and this is one of the series I was determined to catch up on and I'm so happy I did. Because, wow, have things gone down in these past few books. I can't help but compare this series to Mercy Thompson, where after her getting together with Adam, things have gotten boring. That is not so in the Kate Daniels series. Things are still happening, and Kate's character continues to develop beautifully. Thank you authors for remembering that character development doesn't just magically stop when people get together. So many long series tend to forget that little detail.
If you have read the first few Kate Daniels books, absolutely continue the series. Even if you've gotten to Curran and Kate getting together. I promise, the fun doesn't just stop because they're together now. The chemistry is still there, and plot is still there. I can't wait for the next book as always.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read the rest of the Kate Daniels books, Mercy Thompson series fans, Urban Fantasy series fans
MY RATING (for series): Four out of Five bad-ass women leads

Book Review: Winter

TITLE: Winter
Book 4 in the Lunar Chronicles series
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: November 2015
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Fairy-Tale Retelling Mash-up
PREMISE: Cinder and her friends get a rebellion going against the evil Queen of Lunar.
MY REVIEW: I meant to get to this a lot sooner then I actually did. But real life happened. Then there's the fact that this book was long. It looks the same size as the others, but is in fact about three hundred pages or so more then the other books. For good reason. There's a lot going on in this book.
The way it goes about bringing down the queen is actually quite unexpected. I love how the author did it. It was hard, the characters had to work for it, but they got their happy ending of sorts. All the story lines are tied up in a satisfactory way. There's some hints of more that I suspect will be tied up in the short story collection, which I grabbed last week. I'm hopefully going to get to that one next month.
This does everything an ending to a series should. I was very satisfied with it. I can't wait to get my hands on Heartless, whenever that happens.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read the first 3 books, fairy-tale retelling fans, Once Upon a Time fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five rebellions
RATING FOR SERIES: Four and a half out of Five

Book Review:

TITLE: Flunked
Book 1 in the Fairy Tale Reform School
AUTHOR: Jen Calonita
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/Childrens
PUBLISHED: March 2015
GENRE: Fantasy/Fairy-Tale Referencing
PREMISE: A young thief gets caught stealing from royals and is sent to fairy tale reform school: a place designed to redeem villains.
MY REVIEW: I have very mixed feelings about this one. It is a lot of fun. It's clearly mostly there to entertain the tweens who fell in love with things like Descendants and what-not. If you have a Descendants fan in your household, I highly recommend giving them this.
With that in mind...it's not terribly original. There's lots of stuff here that I've seen done before. But Calonita does manage to keep it engaging with a fun main character. I wish it wasn't bogged down by usual tropes like the villianization of the feminine girl. Literally every girly type girl in here was mean or made fun of. I'm sorry, I'm over this trope.
So...I don't know about this one. On one hand: I'm really not the audience for it. It's for the younger crowd and I'm sure younger readers will get a kick out of it. On the other hand...there's not much in here that's groundbreaking or new. It makes for a nice library read, but that's about it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Tweens, fans of Descendants, fairy-tale mash-up fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five fairy tale schools

Book Review: The Walls Around Us

TITLE: The Walls Around Us
AUTHOR: Nova Ren Suma
PUBLISHED: March 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Magical Realism, paranormal
PREMISE: Um...it's really hard to explain. There's a magical jail?
MY REVIEW: I've read quite a few Nova Ren Suma books over the years and I've discovered there are two kinds of books from her. There is one that is beautifully written that ties together wonderfully from beginning to end. and there is the one that is beautifully written but confusing for awhile until it ties together beautifully at the end. In short: her books take patience.
But if you stick with them, you get very interesting and clever ideas. Some of her books have been better then others. But they are all very unique. This latest one is no exception. But it is one of the confusing for awhile but ties together by the end ones. So I advise a lot of patience with it.
As with most of Suma's work, if you don't like metaphor-heavy and slow stories, then you might not like this very much. This one actually isn't my favorite of hers (that one is still 17 and Gone), but as with all her work: it's beautifully written. I think Suma's books are for a certain taste. You either really like her stuff, or you're just confused by it. As always with her books, I suggest checking out the book before buying.
WHO SHOULD READ: literature fans, magical realism fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five creepy jails

Book Review: Their Fractured Light

TITLE: Their Fractured Light
Starbound Book 3
AUTHOR: Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: December 2015
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Romance
PREMISE: Sofia and Gideon meet and set off a end to the story that started in These Broken Stars.
MY REVIEW: I meant to read this a long time ago. It's just that so many books have come out since then, it's hard to keep up on the releases. The Starbound trilogy has been a favorite of mine and I think this was a nice satisfying end to it.
I will say, the romance this time...not as great as the others. But I think that's because they only got to star in half a book while the other couples got a whole book. Half of this book is dedicated to telling their story and the other half to bringing about the conclusion. I think it would have been a better idea to have four books. One for each couple and then the conclusion where they all interact. Because the consequence was I cared very little for these two as I was more worried about the other characters.
Other then that issue, this was a well done ending. Everything is tied up nicely and in a plausible way. This trilogy was a fun ride from beginning to end. Definitely recommend it for those looking for some light sci-fi.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sci-fi fans, romance fans, For Darkness Shows the Stars fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five alien lifeforms
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four out of Five

Book Review: Library of Souls

TITLE Library of Souls
Book 3 of Miss Peregrine
AUTHOR: Ransom Riggs
PUBLISHED: September 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: Jacob and his friends travel all over London searching for their friends and Miss Peregrine...
MY REVIEW: I have racked my brain trying to figure out why it is that I'm just not as enamored with this series as everyone else seems to be. It wasn't the writing. I actually quite like Riggs' writing style. I love the concept. It's not a terribly original concept (it's basically a redux of the X-Men) but it's still well done. The photographs are great, so why is it that I just can't get into this?
It finally hit me about halfway through: I care about none of these characters. Mostly because they're just all so bland. They are stereotypical characters who never veer out of the strict box they're put in. About the only character I semi care about is Miss Peregrine because she's the most entertaining. But she was barely in this book, which made getting through this book somewhat of a chore. Don't get me started on how few female characters there are here and how poorly developed they are.
Plot wise it's also a bit average and lack luster. Nothing happened here that shocked me. No side character even died! It was honestly a ho hum end to a average at best trilogy. I honestly just don't get the hype surrounding this one, sorry. Should make for a pretty movie though. I might see it because Eva Green as Miss Peregrine will be perfect.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that enjoyed the first two books, X-Men fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five shrugs
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Three and a half out of Five

Book Review: P. S. I Still Love You

TITLE: P. S. I Still Love You
Book 2 in the To All The Boys I Loved Before series
AUTHOR: Jenny Han
PUBLISHED: May 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Romance, Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: Lara Jean tries to navigate having a real relationship with Peter.
MY REVIEW: Jenny Han is my favorite late discovery this year. It's probably between her and Sarah MacLean to be honest. I finally read To All the Boys I Loved Before a few months ago and adored it. This book has cemented this author as a personal favorite. Now I definitely need to get to The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy.
This was a good sequel and actually one of the most realistic handleings of a high school romance I've seen in YA for awhile now. The characters act like teenagers. With all the drama and misunderstandings that implies. Also I adore the relationship between Lara Jean and her two sisters. Also a parent who's actually present in their kid's life! It is a thing.
Honestly, I can probably go on forever about why I adore this series. It's cute, it just puts you in a good mood. It's just well done contemporary romance. As someone who is picky about her contemporary romance, the fact that I like this series, is honestly pretty big.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jenny Han fans, Morgan Matson fans, Realistic Fiction fans, contemporary romance fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five hand written letters

Book Review: My Heart and Other Black Holes

TITLE: My Heart and Other Black Holes
AUTHOR: Jasmine Warga
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: February 2015
GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Romance
PREMISE: A suicidal girl and boy meet up online and make a pact to end their lives....
MY REVIEW: First off, I feel like I should put a trigger warning for this book in this review. If you are depressed or suicidal....I really would not read this. It will probably trigger something. If I could rate this book on the talking about depression in a frank manner, it would get high ratings. But...I am looking at the book as a whole and...it honestly, kind of falls apart at the end.
If one goes by the ending of this book, all you need to get over being suicidal is to just decide to live your life and boom, you'll be happy. It probably helps if you decide you're in love. I could practically hear the song "all you need is love" playing at the end. Sigh. This started off so well too. Look, I'm sorry, but depression does not work that way. You suddenly don't just decide "okay, I'm not going to be depressed anymore" and then everything magically works out for you. I won't even go into how I personally found the romantic relationship to be rather unhealthy. We'd be here all day.
There are some good things in this book. As I said, the discussion in the beginning about depression is good, the author clearly did her research. Which makes the ending so darn puzzling. I get it's a YA romance and thus a happy ending is to be expected but...not that happy, after all the MC went through. I just...yeah. This book is okay, but I've got issues with it and its ending.
WHO SHOULD READ: All the Bright Places fans, contemporary romance fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five not well thought out endings

Book Review: Serafina and the Black Cloak

TITLE: Serafina and the Black Cloak
Book 1 from the Serafina series
AUTHOR: Robert Beatty
PUBLISHED: July 2015
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade/Childrens (leaning more towards childrens)
GENRE: Historical Fantasyish
PREMISE: A girl living in secret under a manor goes on the case as children start disappearing after a man in a black cloak takes them.,.
MY REVIEW: Middle-grade can go one of two ways: it can be just books that happen to have middle-grade characters but is written with a larger audience in mind. Or it can really be intended for younger children. This one is the latter, I suspect. Which is okay, tweens need things to read! They can certainly do worse then this charming book.
The thing I liked most about this was the atmosphere and the dreamy-like writing. Other then that...it was a pretty typical spunky kid goes on adventures book. The world building is...a bit funky. I'm personally kind of confused about a lot of the details. For instance, I'm not entirely sure if this even IS historical fantasy. For all I know, it could be present day. The world building was that vague.
But tweens should enjoy this. It's fast-paced, with lots of actions. Serafina is a delightful main character, and it's just fun.
WHO SHOULD READ: tweens/younger teenagers, those who enjoy adventure books
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five spunky girls

Book Review: A Wicked Thing

TITLE: A Wicked Thing
Book 1 in the A Wicked Thing series
AUTHOR: Rhiannon Thomas
PUBLISHED: February 2015
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling
PREMISE: A retelling of sleeping beauty where Aurora wakes up to a completely changed world and a prince she doesn't know and doesn't want to marry.
MY REVIEW: This was one of the many of 2015 I said I was going to read and never got around to reading. But I finally got to it and...it was okay. It was a bit bland for my taste, but ultimately it was an okay read.
There were makings for a great series here. I do love how the author really does try to world build...a little. Not enough, but it is there. There were some neat twists I wasn't expecting, particularly at the end that may make me read the second book. But this is yet another fantasy that is hindered by trying to focus too much on romance/love triangles rather then actual plot which was the far more interesting part.
As I said, there some interesting things going on, so I may pick up the next book. But ultimately...this was just an okay read.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sleeping Beauty fans, romance fans, Once Upon a Time fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five princesses who get raw deals

Book Review: Lair of Dreams

TITLE: Lair of Dreams
Book 2 in the Diviners series
AUTHOR: Libba Bray
PUBLISHED: August 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasyish/Paranormal
PREMISE: Everyone is dealing with the fallout of their showdown in the last book. Some better then others. Meanwhile Henry meets Ling, a Diviner with powers of her own and they dreamwalk trying to find his lost love as a dangerous man lurks in the city while a sickness spreads through NYC...
MY REVIEW: I meant to read this ages ago when it first came out. But it was awhile before I could get my hands on it and I had a lot of books I needed to read before I could get to it. Getting to books I own always takes longer then with my library books, that's just the way it is. Then when I finally got to it...well...it's long okay?
But it was definitely worth the wait. I love what Bray did with this sequel. I can sort of see where she struggled with the story, hence the delays and honestly, I'm fine with her delaying it. I'd rather a book be great and what the author wanted it to be, then have a rushed mediocre sequel. I kind of feel more authors/publishers need to do this more if I'm honest. It did drag in parts. Especially around the middle, but overall I loved this just as much as I loved the first book. And I loved the first book quite a lot.
So, despite maybe needing a few parts cut, I think this was a well done sequel. I can't wait until we get the next book which so far, has been promised for next year. ;crosses fingers and hopes the date sticks;
WHO SHOULD READ: Libba Bray fans, fans of The Diviners, Historical Fiction fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five It Girls

Series Review: The Others

SERIES: The Others
Books in Order: Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh
AUTHOR: Anne Bishop
PUBLISHED: 2013-2016
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: A seer escapes from her prison and finds a new life among The Others, beings like shape-shifters, vampires, and so on.
MY REVIEW: Last year I read the first book in this series and basically fell in love. This year, I've been going through all the available books and am now fully caught up. I am still very much in love. The world-building in this series is phenomenal. I love the complicated dynamics going on between the characters. I love the slow burn of the conflict between The Others and humans. It's just so well done.
My only complaint is honestly, as much as I love all the detail...these books are really slow. I'm not kidding about this being a slow burn of a series. It's not totally boring or anything. There are things happening and they're important. But if you're someone who likes fast-paced plots...this might not be your thing.
Overall however, this series is great. It's one of my top urban fantasy series out there. I can't wait to read the next book next year now that I'm all caught up.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sookie Stackhouse fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING FOR SERIES: Four out of Five seers