Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest

TITLE: The Darkest Part of the Forest
AUTHOR: Holly Black
PUBLISHED: January 6th, 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Faeries
PREMISE: A faerie prince wakes up after a long slumber, causing trouble for Hazel, Ben, and their small town.
MY REVIEW: If your first instinct is to compare this to the author's more well-known book: Tithe...you wouldn't be that far off. This has a lot of echoes of the Tithe trilogy. It has faeries, it has a female character who gets stuff done, and an overall dark tone to it.
But plot wise, it is quite different from Tithe and is Black's usual great mixture of entertaining and great world-building. I just love the way this author does the fae and this book is no exception to her creativity. It's a pretty straight-forward tale and so I don't feel a need for a sequel (though I wouldn't say no to one).
This is much of what I've come to expect from Black: solid writing, complex but engaging characters, a not-so black and white world, and overall a creative setting with wonderful world-building. If you're a Holly Black fan like I am, you will not be disappointed in this.
WHO SHOULD READ: Holly Black fans, Tithe Trilogy fans, Faerie fans, Lost Girl fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five coffins

Book Review: Mortal Gods

TITLE: Mortal Gods
Book 2 in the Goddess War series
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake
PUBLISHED: October 14th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mythology twists
PREMISE: The war between the gods continues and alliances are tested...
MY REVIEW: Kendare Blake is an extremely underrated author. Sometimes the book world is unfair that way. I'm not saying things are bad. Not at all. In fact I think the flood of new books we get every year is fantastic. Every year we get new voices and new ideas and there are a TON of options out there for people to read. If anything, I think we're kind of in the golden age of publishing. Especially where YA is concerned. It's just that with all this new stuff sometimes really good authors like Blake get overlooked because people just have so much to pay attention too.
But seriously YA readers, pay attention to this author. Her books are entertaining as hell. True, this is sort of like the Starcrossed Trilogy by Josephine Angelini, but I personally think it's a tad better (and definitely not as problematic as that series could sometimes be).
This sequel did a great job of furthering the story while adding new elements and new character development. It's actually a very good middle book, which is no easy feat. I can't wait for the next one which promises Demeter getting in on the action.
WHO SHOULD READ: Antigoddess fans, Anna Dressed in Blood fans, Percy Jackson fans, Starcrossed Trilogy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five prophets

Book Review: Mortal Heart

TITLE: Mortal Heart
Book 3 in the His Fair Assassin Trilogy
AUTHOR: Robin LaFevers
PUBLISHED: November 4th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical fiction (though considering things, I think it now falls more into historical fantasy)
PREMISE: The historical romance trilogy draws to a close as Annith gets her chance to shine.
MY REVIEW: If you've been a fan of this trilogy then you probably already have an idea of what's in store here. Girl trained as an assassin goes off on a mission. Finds beau to flirt with. Solves political messes along the way.
These books have been pretty standard formula I admit. But I also don't care. It's fun historical romance that doesn't make me want to scream at all the sexism. I'll take it. This one also drew the trilogy to a close in a satisfactory way. We get to find out what happens to the other girls along with Annith and some of the loose ends left in the other series are solved.
So formula it may be, but if you're going to do formula, this is the way to do it. As a fan of this series, I for one was totally satisfied. Can't wait to see what LaFevers comes up with next.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the other two books, Outlander fans, historical romance fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five archer bows

Book Review: Neverhome

TITLE: Neverhome
AUTHOR: Laird Hunt
PUBLISHED: September 9th, 2014
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fiction
PREMISE: A woman goes off to fight in the civil war, disguising herself as a man.
MY REVIEW: I wanted to read this the moment I heard the premise. I LOVE books about women disguising themselves as men and doing badass things. I personally blame the Mulan movie for my love of this trope. That and the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce.
While I will say the writing here is beautiful, the story is kind of dull. Which is weird because the way he tells it makes it absorbing. But ultimately...it is a slow book, despite being less then two hundred and fifty pages and despite the awesome premise. The book really shines when it comes to historical details though. Everything was very vivid.
So, I'm kind of torn. On one hand, it was beautifully told and a great premise. On the other hand...it was slow. I just honestly don't know how I feel about this one I guess.
WHO SHOULD READ: Historical Fiction fans, civil war buffs
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five Union Soldiers

Book Review: The Cure for Dreaming

TITLE: The Cure for Dreaming
AUTHOR: Cat Winters
PUBLISHED: October 14th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Paranormal
PREMISE: A girl living under the thumb of her father gets hypnotized to be obedient, but instead gets visions of what people are really like underneath.
MY REVIEW: I actually think I like this one more then A Shadow of Blackbirds. Not that Shadow of Blackbirds wasn't good, it was. I just liked this one better. It felt more...polished if you will. There was more focus and that helped the story along.
Like Shadow of Blackbirds, the best parts of this are the historical notes. This author nails settings. I can picture everything. I honestly didn't even need the archive photos to help me, but they did enhance it because it showed she wasn't making this stuff up. I tell you, Victorian times were nutty man. There's reason a lot of people write about it.
Thanks to a more focused plot line, I think this was an improvement over Shadow of Blackbirds and once again, am eager to see what Winters cooks up for us next. She has such interesting ideas, I want to read them all.
WHO SHOULD READ: In the Shadow of Blackbirds fans, Gemma Doyle fans, historical fiction fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five hypnotists

Many thanks to the publishers for the Galley. Sorry this is late, I'm behind on my galley reading.

Book Review: Salt and Storm

TITLE: Salt and Storm
AUTHOR: Kendall Kulper
PUBLISHED: September 23rd, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy
PREMISE: A young witch tries to embrace her destiny against her mother's wishes.
MY REVIEW: This was such a good debut. In fact, I think it's among my top ten of the year. It helped that the author did historical fantasy. My favorite sub-genre, because there's so much you can do with it.
It also did not follow all the typical YA rules. There's no love triangle, the main character goes through actual development, it doesn't make everything black and white and there's a dark twist at the end that I think took some guts to do, but the author stuck to it and that impressed me. Since it's not the typical YA, I imagine this won't be everyone's favorite and that's why there are such mixed reviews on Goodreads.
But personally, I thought this was a pretty solid and very creative debut. Kulper is one to keep an eye on in the future, if this her debut, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
WHO SHOULD READ: historical fantasy fans, Gemma Doyle Trilogy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five ships gone to sea

Note to readers: There will be quite a few reviews over the next few days as I'm playing review catch-up till the end of the year. Along with that, I'll be doing my favorites of the year lists from Christmas on until New Years Eve, where I'll finish off with my book goals for 2015. Then it's on to a new book year! Always exciting. I already have a few Galleys waiting to be read on my Kindle.

Book Review: Unmade

TITLE: Unmade
Book 3 in the Lynburn Legacy Trilogy
AUTHOR: Sarah Rees Brennan
PUBLISHED: September 23rd, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Witches
PREMISE: Kami and the gang take a final stand against Rob, but not without consequences.
MY REVIEW: Warning: I have extreme bias when it comes to this series. Pretty much, I adore anything Brennan writes. This book is no exception. It's not often I can say I loved a trilogy the whole through, but with this one, I can honestly say that.
As a conclusion, it did it all. It solved lingering questions, it solved plot lines, had a epic conclusion where Rob finally got his and that conclusion was not without sacrifice (RUSTY! ;gross sobbing;). It did it all through the trademark humor this series always had. I'm honestly hard pressed to find things I didn't like about this series. I don't know...maybe if you don't like snark? Or sassy characters? I'm sure such readers like that exist some where (and I feel very sorry for them).
Basically, I loved the hell out of this. Just as I've loved the hell out of this whole trilogy. I can't wait to see whatever Brennan has up her sleeve next. Whatever it is, I'm game.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sarah Rees Brennan fans, fans of the first two books,
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five (would be full five stars, but I'm feeling a bit vindictive about Rusty ;never forget;)

Book Review: The Infinite Sea

TITLE: The Infinite Sea
Book 2 in the Fifth Wave Trilogy
AUTHOR: Rick Yancey
CATEGORY: YA
PUBLISHED: September 16th, 2014
GENRE: Science-Fiction
PREMISE: Cassie and Ringer try to survive in a world where aliens want all the humans dead.
MY REVIEW: For some reason, I couldn't get into this one as much as I got into the Fifth Wave. Part of it was that it suffered from major second book syndrome.
Another part is that it didn't seem to have any focus. POVs jumped around, which did not happen in the first book. The plot went all over the place. It just kept going back and forth between focus and it was startling when that happened. It didn't help that all the characters sounded alike, so I was busy trying to figure out who was speaking all the time. It made for a far less enjoyable reading experience then my experience with the first book.
I concede that it moved the plot forward and gave character development. It just...wasn't as focused as I would have liked. It actually sort of felt like a stall book. Like the author meant to have this be two books, instead of three. It wasn't bad or anything...it just wasn't as good as Fifth Wave.
WHO SHOULD READ: The Fifth Wave fans, sci-fi/dystopian fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five alien spaceships

Book Review: Killer Instinct

TITLE: Killer Instinct
Book 2 in the Naturals series
AUTHOR: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
PUBLISHED: November 4rth, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Mystery
PREMISE: The group, still dealing with the consequences of the last book, embarks on a new mystery. This one dealing with a serial killer who is copying the work of Dean's serial killer father.
MY REVIEW: Ever wonder what CSI/NCIS shows would possibly be like if the characters were teenagers with baggage and powers? Well, it would probably look something like this series. Which would mean I would actually watch it and not get bored after two episodes (I have nothing against these franchises...I just find them really boring and repetitive).
Barnes takes the CSI set up and does it more along the lines of shows like Bones/Castle/Elementary (shout out to my favs) where there's more character development along with the progression of the mystery. It pays off too, because the result is an engrossing mystery series with characters I actually want to spend time with. I don't even mind the love triangle in this (which I think was basically resolved in this book, thank goodness), it's that fun. Honestly, my only wish is that we get more time with Sloane. But that's mostly because she's my favorite and I feel like she's not as developed as the rest of the group and I would like more info on her.
This did everything second books should do. It progressed the characters, solved lingering issues, and created new ones for future purposes. Honestly, if Barnes wanted, I can see this becoming a long running series. I would be all for it.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of The Naturals, mystery show fans, Barnes fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five serial killers

Many thanks to Disney-Hyperian for the Net Galley of this book.

Book Review: Queen of the Tearling

TITLE: The Queen of the Tearling
Book 1 in Queen of the Tearling series
AUTHOR: Erika Johansen
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A young woman is brought out of seclusion to finally reclaim her throne.
MY REVIEW: Loved Game of Thrones, but wish it was only about Dany? Also wish it had far better treatment of females in society? Well...this book is for you.
This book is focused on a young queen who wrestles with the kingdom she was left in the wake of her mother's murder. It is more character study/politics then fantasy, which is why I recommend it for Game of Thrones fans. It's not as dark as GoT can get but it does have some interesting food for thought in it. Honestly, most of the weak points for me was the romantic factor. Thankfully the author didn't seem as concerned about that plot line. I kind of think that, like what happened in Hunger Games, she was told to put SOME romance in there to generate interest.
Other then weak romance, this was a well done book. The writing is wonderful, the characters are interesting, and it's a good lead into what looks to be an interesting series. I can't wait for the next one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Game of Thrones fans, fantasy fans who like character focus
MY RATING: Four out of Five badass queens getting shit done

Book Review: Silver Shadows

TITLE: Silver Shadows
Book 5 in the Bloodlines series
AUTHOR: Richelle Mead
PUBLISHED: July 29th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, YA
PREMISE: Sydney and Adrian have to break Sydney out of the prison that the Alchemists sent her too.
MY REVIEW: This review is going to be short because honestly at this point, I don't have much to say about the series.
At over ten books, you probably know whether or not the Vampire Academy books are for you. If you're a vampire fan and have not checked this series out yet, I strongly urge you too. This book is what I've come to expect from this series and Mead. It's fast-paced, it's got fun dialogue, and a good cliffhanger at the end to make you read the next book.
So if you're a Bloodlines fan, go forth and continue.
WHO SHOULD READ: Bloodlines fans, Mead fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five surprise weddings

Book Review: City of Stairs

TITLE: City of Stairs
AUTHOR: Robert Jackson Bennett
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Mystery
PUBLISHED: September 9th, 2014
PREMISE: In a fantasy world where a country is controlled by another country after defeating their gods, a prime figure is murdered and a woman is sent over to investigate his death.
MY REVIEW: May I just say, fantasy murder mysteries is starting to become my new favorite thing? It's sort of like historical fantasy where it's a blending of two of my favorite genres and it just makes me sigh with happiness.
This one is no exception. It's such an interesting premise that goes into slight social commentary without hitting over the head with the message. If you pay attention to the political scene and what's going on in other countries, you can get what the author is getting at here. That, along with wonderfully complicated characters, make this a very intriguing mystery/action thriller.
Possibly this is one of my favorites of the year. I'm definitely going to have to look into the author's other work now.
WHO SHOULD READ: fantasy fans, mystery fans, Inheritance Trilogy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five angry gods

Book Review: The Girl With All the Gifts

TITLE: The Girl With All the Gifts
AUTHOR: M. R. Carey
PUBLISHED: June 19th, 2014
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Dystopians, Zombies
PREMISE: A young zombie is held with other zombie children and experimented on.
MY REVIEW: This was definitely an interesting one. It is what you could call a thought provoking zombie book. It actually reminds me a lot of The Walking Dead so if you're a Walking Dead fan I highly recommend it.
The thing I loved most about it was the writing. This guy can WRITE. He knows how to build suspense, and create atmosphere without info-dumping you all over the place. Such good prose too. Now plot wise...it does slow down a bit in the middle, I'm also still not sure how I feel about the ending. But it was fitting for the story so I'm not complaining about it too loudly.
If you're looking for a zombie thriller to read this Halloween, I highly recommend this one.
WHO SHOULD READ: The Walking Dead fans, The Forest of Hands and Teeth Fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five zombies taking over

Book Review: Chasing Power

TITLE: Chasing Power
AUTHOR: Sarah Beth Durst
PUBLISHED: October 14, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Witches/Wizards
PREMISE: A girl gets blackmailed into helping a boy find his mother which unearths a ton of family secrets...
MY REVIEW: I've said it before and I'll say it again: Durst is a seriously underrated author. Like all of her books, I didn't quite know what I was getting when I got this. But like all of her books, it turned out to be a creative treat to read.
This time, Durst went in for urban fantasy. As always, her heroine gets swept up into an epic adventure where she has to use her wits to survive. That is the only thing her books tend to have in common: her heroines aren't fools and I love that so much. The real shine in this book for me though was the dialogue. The dialogue between Kayla and Selena and Daniel is fabulous. I can't go on enough about how much I adored Selena. I adored her to the point where I want her to have her own book.
So after a slight slump with Conjured, Durst is back on the awesome list. I can't wait to see what her brain comes up with next. I do have one complaint though and that is the cover. This lightbulb here has NOTHING to do with the plot. Maybe it was supposed to be a pun. I don't know. I do know it's not a good cover. I can take funky covers if they actually have something to do with the plot. This one doesn't have anything to do with the plot. Bad cover artist. Bad.
WHO SHOULD READ: Durst fans, adventure book fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five bad covers hiding a good book

Book Review: Ruin and Rising

TITLE: Ruin and Rising
Book 3 in the Grisha Trilogy
AUTHOR: Leigh Bardugo
PUBLISHED: June 17th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Alina and her crew gather all the strength they can to defeat the Darkling.
MY REVIEW: This is one of those rare trilogies that have actually gotten better as it's progressed. Usually it's either it gets worse, or it's good, has a ho hum middle book, and then gets good again at the end. Then there's the last option where it's good, get's a strong sequel, and then gets a ho hum ending.
Given my choice, I like this progression, where it starts off kind of good, gets kind of awesome in the middle, and by the last is pretty damn awesome.
Ruin and Rising was just satisfying. Which is how ending should be. I'm probably in the minority where I wish what happened to Mal had stuck, because I think that would have been more powerful. But I'm also happy with how it turned out so...oh well. I'm just a little tired of books temporarily doing damage to characters and then going ha! never mind, they're okay! It's been happening a lot lately in the series I read and it's honestly starting to feel like a cheap tactic. I have lots of problems with Allegiant, but at least Roth had the guts to keep Tris dead.
But for the most part, this was a satisfying end to a great trilogy. Luckily for us there is apparently more coming from this universe. While I am usually weary of spin-offs, this one sounds promising as it deals with completely new characters and new locations. The characters also all sound completely different from Alina and co. so hopefully it won't develop into a Mortal Instruments situation.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of the first two books, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five

Book Review: Dreams of Gods and Monsters

TITLE: Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Book 3 in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy
AUTHOR: Laini Taylor
PUBLISHED: April 8th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy/Angels-demons
PREMISE: The final battle begins...
MY REVIEW: Another awesome trilogy that I'm sorry to see go comes to a close.
I really don't have much to say about this one that isn't just plain gushing and begging of Laini Taylor to please write more books stat. I'll literally take anything. But I've pretty much been in love with this one since the beginning so this review should probably be taken with a grain of salt because I am a big fangirl of it.
In short, I loved this one. It ended it perfectly. A little predictable...perhaps. But the ending suited the trilogy and there were things I wasn't expecting. The writing was lovely as always. I am on board for any future books/book series that this author does in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that have read the first two books, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five squees of delight
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four and a half out of Five

Book Review: Sister's Fate

TITLE: Sister's Fate
Book 3 in the Cahill Witch Chronicles
AUTHOR: Jessica Spotswood
PUBLISHED: August 14th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy, Witches
PREMISE: Cate's world unravels slowly around her bringing everything to a final confrontation with the Brotherhood.
MY REVIEW: It's not often I can say I've loved a trilogy all the way through. So I'm very happy when it does happen. Sister's Fate delivered and made me wish once again that this trilogy got more attention because it really is fantastic.
The plot proceeds right where it left off and the author doesn't waste your time trying to catch you up. I love when authors give their readers credit and assume they remember about character b or c. The twists keep coming, there's great commentary on sisterhood/feminism throughout. The sister dynamic remains extremely complicated and fascinating to watch unfold in ways I didn't expect.
Basically, I loved this one and still adore this criminally underrated trilogy. If you were a fan of the Gemma Doyle series, seriously check this one out.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fans of the first two books, Gemma Doyle fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five witch rebellions
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four and a half out of Five satisfied happy sighs

Book Review: Midnight Thief

TITLE: Midnight Thief
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Livia Blackburne
PUBLISHED: July 8th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A thief gets more then she bargained for when she joins an assassins guild.
MY REVIEW: The YA fantasy scene has been pretty awesome this summer. This is yet another highly entertaining and enjoyable fantasy that was just a delight to read.
I will say though, that the summary the publishers give...isn't really what's going on here. Because they try to make it sound like Kyra joins the guild because sexy guy in charge and oh...love triangle shenanigans. Now, I get why they would try to go with that angle. For all that YA readers whine and moan about love triangles, that is what sells. Whenever a book comes along that DOESN'T focus on romance...it's usually pretty much ignored unless book critics get a hold of it. So...I see why they would try to hint at a love triangle that's not really there. But I personally feel that does the book a disservice. Because this is a pretty awesome enough story that you don't need to focus on the romance factor in order to sell it (there is a romance factor...a teeny weeny one that doesn't come into play until the last couple of chapters).
So please, don't judge this book by its poor summary. It's much better then it sounds. The ending was a bit rushed, but overall, this was a very solid and entertaining debut. I can't wait to read the next one.
WHO SHOULD READ: Tamora Pierce fans, fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five thieves in the night

Book Review: Gates of Thread and Stone

TITLE: Gates of Thread and Stone
Book 1 in the Gates of Thread and Stone series
AUTHOR: Lori M. Lee
PUBLISHED: April 5th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: A girl with the ability to bend time goes on an adventure when her brother disappears.
MY REVIEW: Has there been a lot of new YA fantasy books this year or is that just me? I am in no way complaining. Fantasy is my first love always. I'm all for some new blood in fantasy. Especially if it's books like this.
This one was just full of all sorts of things I love. Interesting world-building (some of it was a little wacky, but it never got out of control wacky, so we're good), complicated heroine, no forced love triangle, and plot twists at the end. I wanted a fun adventure when I picked it up, and it delivered.
This was a all around solid debut. True, the romance was a little blah as it usually is in these things, but it's tolerable at least. What makes this book is the plot twists, the enjoyable spunky main character, and the interesting world.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fantasy fans, Tamora Pierce fans,
MY RATING: Four out of Five time loops

Book Review: Strange and Ever After

TITLE: Strange and Ever After
Book 3 in the Something Strange and Deadly Trilogy
AUTHOR: Susan Dennard
PUBLISHED: July 22nd, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Steampunk, Zombies
PREMISE: Eleanor, Daniel and co. face off one last time against Marcus...
MY REVIEW: It's not often that I can honestly say I enjoyed a trilogy the whole way through. Either the second book was slow, or the ending was predictable as all get out. But this trilogy, I honestly can say, I've loved the whole ride. In fact, I think it's one of the few that got better as it went along.
One of the main reasons for that is, that it doesn't try to fill in time by focusing on too many characters at once or giving a boring love triangle when one isn't needed. Those two things are pretty much the downfall of most YA series. This series focuses on Eleanor and her character journey. That's it. It makes for a very satisfying read because you get to see her grow and become stronger and more settled into herself. Yes, along the way, she gets a love interest. But it's pretty incidental and not the whole damn point of the story. Also...there's a twist with Daniel that I honestly didn't see coming and was pleasantly surprised by. It was sad, but it was nice to see a YA trilogy be realistic about things for a change.
This is one of my personal favorite underrated books. I highly recommend the whole trilogy, especially if you're into the historical fantasy scene. I seriously can't wait for whatever Dennard has in store for us next. Word on the street is, she already has a new series coming out next year. Bring it on, is all I can say.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the first two books, Dearly Departed fans, zombie fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five satisfying endings
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four and a half out of Five really good trilogy