Book Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

TITLE: Down Among the Sticks and Bones
Book 2 in the Wayward Children series
AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire
PUBLISHED: June 13th, 2017
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: In a companion to Every Heart a Doorway, we get to learn about the twins' past.
MY REVIEW: Every Heart a Doorway was a favorite of mine last year, so I've been looking forward to the sequel since I heard about it. I'm happy to say, it did not disappoint. It's more of a companion then a sequel. This one goes into the sisters Jack and Jill and their story. We got hints of it in the first book, but this one gives us full details and it's great.
As with Every Heart a Doorway, my one complaint about this series is that the books are too short. I'm selfish and want longer books. But I am impressed with how tightly McGuire weaves the story and it never actually feels rushed, despite it being under two hundred pages.
If you were like me, you'll no doubt love this second book. It looks like we're getting a third book in January, that promises to be a direct sequel to Every Heart a Doorway and I cannot wait.
WHO SHOULD READ: Those that have read Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five creepy fantasy worlds

Book Review: Let the Right One In

TITLE: Let the Right One In
AUTHOR: John Ajvide Lindqvist
PUBLISHED: 2007 (in the US)
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Horror, Vampires
PREMISE: In a small suburb, a bullied boy makes friends with a strange girl while people are getting murdered in his town.
MY REVIEW: So, technically, this book should be with the L authors and it should have been awhile for me to get to it. However, my library for some reason, had it with the A authors. Someone must have made a shelving mistake or something. But I've been meaning to read it anyway, so here we are.
First, I'm going to give a warning: this is straight up horror. If you want some creepy stuff and not a whole lot of gore then...this book probably will not be for you. There's some sick stuff happening in it. It's not just limited to the murders either. Some of the bullying that Oskar goes through is horrific and I imagine might be triggering for some. If you're looking for happy sexy vampire times...this book ain't it.
But if you're a Stephen King fan who loves that sort of thing. Come on in, friend. This is super creepy, is well written, and has some good psychological horror going on in it. It's good, it's just not for the faint of heart.
WHO SHOULD READ: horror fans, Stephen King fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five creepy vampire girls

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: The Forever Song

TITLE: The Forever Song
Book 3 in the Blood of Eden Trilogy
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
PUBLISHED: April 15th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, Vampires
PREMISE: Allison travels with Jackel and Kanin to take down Sarren forever...
MY REVIEW: If I ever want books that are great entertainment without making me feel like I'm losing IQ points, I pick up Kagawa. Her stuff is what I call smart pop culture. It's self aware and plays on that. The result is entertainment that is just plain fun and yet has some bite to it (yeah, I went there).
Blood of Eden is a perfect example. It plays on the Walking Dead scenario but with vampires. The result is a refreshing dystopian that doesn't feel old. True, several things here happened like I thought they would. But the journey is fun enough that I don't mind.
Maybe not the most mentally challenging read in the universe, but the Blood of Eden is definitely a solid series that flows well and is great ride all the way through. Can't wait to see what Kagawa comes up with next.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the first two books, Walking Dead fans, Vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of FIve vampires kicking butt.
RATING FOR TRILOGY: Four out of Five

Book Review: The Fiery Heart

TITLE: The Fiery Heart
Book 4 in the Bloodlines series
AUTHOR: Richelle Mead
PUBLISHED: 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Vampires
PREMISE: Sydney and Adrian try to navigate being in a relationship.
MY REVIEW: At this point in time, there's probably not much I can say about Bloodlines/Vampire Academy that I haven't already said or that you haven't already heard. Just know, I'm very much a fan, so this review is biased.
As an installment this one...stalled a little. Honestly, not a lot happens till the last fifty or so pages which leave you on a rotten cliff hanger (evil, Mead, EVIL). So I advise patience while reading it. Although, if you're into this series for the Adrian/Sydney, you'll probably love all the couple moments.
So, a slow installment till the very cliff hanger like end. Good for fans of the series. Everyone else has probably already made up their mind if they want to bother with this or not.
WHO SHOULD READ: Bloodlines fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five tatoos

Book Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

TITLE: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
AUTHOR: Holly Black
PUBLISHED: September 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Vampires
PREMISE: In a world where vampires are very much a reality, Tana wakes up and realizes she's been bitten. She goes to a coldtown in the hopes of finding a cure.
MY REVIEW: I'll be the first to admit it: there are certain authors out there whose books I will always buy no matter what because it's always pretty much a given that I'll enjoy said book. Black is one such author, so be warned: this review has positive bias.
Honestly though, I probably would have love this no matter who wrote it. It has a well developed world. It has interesting characters. It has vampires who are actually dark and not your friend/would-be-lover. It's also wonderfully written. Also: vampire meta. You all know how much I love my meta books.
Yes, this was a bit slow, here and there. But overall, I loved this book to pieces. Black has said she's probably not going to do a sequel and I'm honestly okay with that. But if she does do one in the future, I'll be first in line to buy.
WHO SHOULD READ: Holly Black fans, Vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five fangs

Book Review: Stolen Nights

TITLE: Stolen Nights
Book 2 in the Vampire Queen series
AUTHOR: Rebecca Maizel
PUBLISHED: January 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Vampires
PREMISE: Lenah deals with the consequences of her actions in book one.
MY REVIEW: I liked Infinite Days a lot better then I thought I would. At the time I was a bit burned out on Vampire books, and it was like a breathe of fresh air in a stale genre. So I was really looking forward to this sequel.
Unfortunately I wasn't really that into it when I actually got my hands on it. I don't know if I fault the author here for taking it in slightly lackluster directions, or if I just had unrealistic expectations, or what. I just know I wasn't as fond of this as I was of the first book.
So this was a case of, I kind of wish they'd left it alone instead of writing a sequel. Because the sequel disappointed me. Oh well.
WHO SHOULD READ: Twilight fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five I expected better reactions

Book Review: God Save the Queen

TITLE: God Save the Queen
Book 1 in The Immortal Empire series
AUTHOR: Kate Locke
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Steampunk, Werewolves, Vampires, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: In a alternate history where vampires and werewolves rule England and the world is used to the supernatural, Xandra starts poking around when her sister goes missing and winds up with more then she bargained for...
MY REVIEW: So I picked this one on a whim when Amazon had it as one of their daily deals and I'm not sorry I did. As you guys know, I've begun a long love affair with the Steampunk genre (we're very happy together, thanks for asking), and so it's probably not a surprise to most of you that I liked this.
I will admit, Xandra is probably one of those characters readers will either love or hate. She's flawed. She's got prejudices and she admits it and doesn't go out of her way to correct them. Most of my love for this book comes from the great world-building. This is a well thought out steampunk world that is interesting and exciting and I want to spend more time in it. The mystery and twists and turns in it are also some good stuff.
So I give this one a thumbs up. Sure, there's not much originality. A lot of it reminds me of Parasol Protectorate and every other Steampunk mystery series out there. But it's entertaining as hell with a interesting protagonist who makes me want to come back for more.
WHO SHOULD READ: Parasol Protectorate fans, Steampunk fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five goblins

Book Review: Black City

TITLE: Black City
Book 1 in the Black City series
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Richards
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance, Vampires
PREMISE: Natalie and Ash do the unthinkable: they fall in love even though she is human and he is a darkling...
MY REVIEW: Apologies for my absence last week. I had a heavy work schedule again and it cut into reading time a lot so I didn't have any books to review. Good news is though, it looks like my work load is getting back to normal next week so hopefully I won't be neglecting this blog as much.
So Black City was one of those books from last year that I made a note of but didn't really go out of my way to read. Part of it was honestly I wasn't very interested in the idea. Romeo and Juliet stories are a dime a dozen in YA and honestly the summary made it sound pretty cheesy. But people kept giving it good reviews so I thought I'd check it out. I was pleasantly surprised. I won't lie to you: it IS cheesy. But it's sort of well done cheese? To me there are three levels of cheesy in entertainment. There's the bad cheese: stuff that tries so hard that it just misses the mark entirely and comes off as a unintentional parody (aka Twilight). There's the medium cheese: which is stuff that tends to be self aware and makes in jokes but in the end doesn't really care about quality as long as it entertains (aka Mortal Instruments, anything on SyFy). Then there is good cheese: the stuff that uses its cheese to do meta commentary (aka Star Trek). Black City falls somewhere around medium cheese but does have moments where it goes into good cheese. The romance stuff is business as usual but the world building/plot are some pretty entertaining stuff and there are some good character things going on here and I love Richard's writing.
So this one was a pleasant surprise. There is way more going on in this series then the summary (and cover/packaging) would suggest.
WHO SHOULD READ: Immortal Rules fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five surprise reads

Book Review: Dead Ever After

TITLE: Dead Ever After
Book 13 in the Sookie Stackhouse series
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
PUBLISHED: May 2013
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves
PREMISE: Sookie's enemies conspire to destroy her as her life becomes even more difficult.
MY REVIEW: Oh Sookie. You were one of the first series I started when I began this blog (wow, has it been that long? Time flies). You were my first Charlaine Harris book. You were my first foray into the large world of adult urban fantasy (I don't know whether to love you or hate you for that...). As a result of all these firsts, I will forever have a fondness for this series and Sookie herself because Sookie is awesome.
So I'm probably in the minority, where I liked this book and this ending. It brought Sookie full circle. She found a place where she wanted to be and was happy with that. I see all you Eric fans going "but she didn't end up with Eric!" and while I'm sorry for the death of your ship, that pairing was never the point of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Hell, who Sookie ended up with period, was never the point of this series. FANS made it the point of this series because that's what fans do (look at Hunger Games/Harry Potter for example). I get it (I am a multi-shipper, believe me I get it), but I get super annoyed when people act like just because Sookie didn't end up with a/b/c suitor of their choice, that somehow makes it a horrible ending. The point is that Sookie was finally happy with herself and where she was. She's comfortable in her own skin. She's found someone who's willing to accept her as is, human/strange gift and all (did I call the Sam thing or what?). That was the point of this series: Sookie's character growth. Her character grew. She's happy. I'm satisfied.
Honestly the only thing I was upset here about was the Claude thing (not giving it away because spoilers) but that was because I liked Claude and it felt weird to me. But it made for a wrap-up ending so I can't complain too loudly. So I'm satisfied with this ending. I will be looking forward to the wrap-up book and this new Harris series I've been hearing about. Farewell, Sookie, I will miss you.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sookie Stackhouse fans, True Blood fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five tissues because it's over

Book Review: The Eternity Cure

TITLE: The Eternity Cure
Book 2 in the Blood of Eden series
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
PUBLISHED: April 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Vampires, Dystopian
PREMISE: Allison goes to rescue her creator, Kamin and along the way has to enlist the help of her enemy Jackal and the human she fell in love with who now knows what she is: Zeke.
MY REVIEW: The best thing about Kagawa's writing is, she knows how to spin a story. She keeps you turning the pages, she knows how to get you to pick up the next book, in short she's smart about her writing. Sometimes smart writing is what it takes to become a bestseller.
Yes, she still has the problem with cliche dialogue (So. Many. Monologueing villains/heroes). Yes, I still don't see why Allison/Zeke are THE it couple and why I should root for them to be together. Honest? I actually saw more chemistry between Allison and Jackal but Jackal's the villain so....But despite flaws, this series is still entertaining as hell.
This was very much a second book (that had a very evil cliffhanger) so much of it is mostly exposition. If you're a fan of the first one, you won't be disappointed. Unless, like me, you just don't find Zeke all that interesting and kind of want him to go away.
WHO SHOULD READ: Iron Fey fans, Julie Kagawa fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five boring love interests

Many thanks to Harlequin Teen for the Net Galley

Book Review: A Conspiracy of Alchemists

TITLE: A Conspiracy of Alchemists
Book 1 in The Chronicles of Light and Shadow series
AUTHOR: Liesel Schwarz
PUBLISHED: March 2013 (in the US)
CATEGORY: Adult Fiction
GENRE: Steampunk, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Vampires
PREMISE: When Elle agrees to a job she meets Marsh and is given more than she bargained for.
MY REVIEW: Sometimes books are written for pure entertainment purposes. Especially nowadays with books being such the large market they've become. And you know what? I have no problem with this. I know some have lamented about the decline in good books and have blamed this, but really good books have always been hard to come by and there have always been things that were written just for entertainment long before Fifty Shades of Gray came along or genre fiction became popular.
A Conspiracy of Alchemists is one of those books that was written mainly to entertain and it does indeed do that. Elle is a fun character and I really do love this world Schwarz created. It's large and creative. Could the story be more original? Sure. But the author isn't trying to write the best book in the world here and that's perfectly fine. There are some things that could be worked on (Marsh's sexism I didn't particularly care for even if I get that it's 1903).
But for the most part, this was a fun book that did it's main job: to entertain. If you are into the steampunk genre/vampire urban fantasy stuff. This book will be fun for you as it was for me. Look forward to the next adventure which is scheduled for a August release in the US.
WHO SHOULD READ: Steampunk fans, Paranormal Protectorate fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five durigibles

Many thanks to Del Ray for the Netgalley ebook ARC.

Book Review: The Indigo Spell

TITLE: The Indigo Spell
Book 3 in the Bloodlines series
AUTHOR: Richelle Mead
PUBLISHED: February 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Drama
PREMISE: Sydney gets pulled further into the world of magic and deals with her Adrian situation.
MY REVIEW: What can one say about Bloodlines? This series is one of those that people probably know if they like it by now. I'm under no illusion that anything I say will change people's minds about this series. You either like it or you don't. You either have an interest in checking it out or you've made up your mind that you don't want too. Series like these honestly probably don't even need bloggers like us writing reviews about it. They'll sale on the basis that it's Richelle Mead and she has a loyal following who will buy her books no matter what (I'm one of them when it comes to this series anyway).
But I'm going to go ahead and give it a thumbs up anyway. Spin-off series don't always work and in many cases aren't needed ;looks pointedly at Mortal Instruments;. But this is one of the few out there that manages to work. I will say though that I wish Mead would drop the eating problem thing with Sydney. It's poorly handled/not researched well and frankly doesn't even make sense for Sydney's character in the first place. Having Adrian take over on her diet stuff is also highly problematic message wise. Please Mead: stop it.
Other then that annoyance this series remains entertaining and decently written. I give there are some issues with this series (not just the diet issue) but the good far out weigh the bad in it.
WHO SHOULD READ: Vampire Academy fans, those that have read books 1 and 2, Twilight fans, vampire fans, House of Night fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five sleek cars

Ditched Books for January

TITLE: Undeadly
Book 1 in the Reaper Diaries
AUTHOR: Michele Vail
PUBLISHED: November 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban fantasy, zombies
PREMISE: Molly tries to be normal despite being a reaper.
WHY I DITCHED IT: So. Much. Forced. Teen speak. Like, OMG you guys. Seriously authors, quit this habit. NOW. Liked the premise of it, didn't care for everything else. By page sixty I was bored to death and annoyed at the same time. I think this is one for younger teens but anyone past middle school will probably feel like they're being talked down too by a author who thinks they're eleven.

TITLE: Blood Song
Book 1 in the Blood Singer series
AUTHOR: Cat Adams
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, vampires
PREMISE: A body guard becomes a vampire.
WHY I DITCHED IT: Was bored within a hundred pages. Was the basic UF tropes all in one.

TITLE: Delusion
AUTHOR: Laura L. Sullivan
PUBLISHED: January 2013 (us release anyway)
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical fantasy, romance
PREMISE: Two sisters who are bored being stuck during the London blitz try to talk two magicians into helping out the war effort.
WHY I DITCHED IT: Honest to god this was a case of "it's not you, it's me". There probably isn't anything really wrong with this book. I just couldn't get into it for some reason.

Book Review: The Golden Lily

TITLE: The Golden Lily
Book 2 in the Bloodlines series
AUTHOR: Richelle Mead
PUBLISHED: June 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, vampires
PREMISE: Sydney is doing her duty as a alchemist but is slowly starting to wonder if she's getting too attached to her charges...
MY REVIEW: I have the utmost fondness for the Vampire Academy series. These books are my crack and I have no apologies about it. Are they original? No. Are they groundbreaking? Not really. But they are entertaining as hell and Mead knows how to keep you addicted and weave a good story at the same time.
Yes, she is somewhat formulaic at times but the formulas work for her and she does switch it up so it doesn't get boring. But her strong suit are characters. Archtypes they may be, these are FUN archtypes who manage to get you attached. I am super attached to Sydney. I dare say I like her more then Rose. Because at least Sydney isn't dating a guy when she knows she's in love with someone else. I know Rose had her reasons but I still don't care for how she handled that at all. Sydney is a tad more mature and I frankly love her. She's still got the sass that I loved in Rose but with more level headeness that Rose didn't gain till the end. I also much prefer the relationship developement here over Dimitri/Rose as much as I did love that pairing.
If you loved Vampire Academy I have no doubt you'll like Bloodlines as well and the second book continues the series fun addictive quality. If you must read vampires, I suggest you read these.
WHO SHOULD READ: Vampire Academy fans, fans of Bloodlines, Richelle Mead fans, UF fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five sassy blondes

Book Review: Deadlocked

TITLE: Deadlocked
Book 12 in the Sookie Stackhouse series
AUTHOR: Charlaine Harris
PUBLISHED: May 2012
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, southern, mystery, vampires, werewolves, faeries
PREMISE: Sookie deals with her distant husband, her faerie relatives, as well as the usual murder mystery in Bon Temps.
MY REVIEW: Long series like Sookie Stackhouse are hard for me to review because really not all books in long series are going to be action packed with reveals a minute. For me the key is to make sure all books build on the story slowly but surely and lead into a ending eventually. So I'm probably in the minority where I think Harris does well with Sookie in that aspect. I certainly prefer her thoughtful character developement over the sloppyness that True Blood has become that's for sure.
For me, this one was all about leading up to the ending of the series because guys? The next book is apparently the last one! No more Sookie! Can you believe it? So really, I think this was all about bringing about change in the Eric/Sookie relationship (not for the better, sorry Team Eric) and bringing the ending that I've always sort of thought was coming: Sookie is going to wind up either a-strong and independant on her own (possibly leaving Bon Temps?) or b-She and Sam are going to be the end game. Which, considering I adore book!Sam is perfectly fine by me (FYI, not nearly as fond of TrueBlood!Sam even if the guy who plays him is seriously hot).
So basically this is more Sookie. I haven't noticed a drop in quality or a gain in quality. Probably by now people have figured out if this series is for them so if you're still a Sookie fan, go for it and gear yourself up for the end. Which is near my friends. Very very near ;sad face;
WHO SHOULD READ: Sookie fans who've read books 1 through 12, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five half naked werewolves

Book Review: Some Girls Bite

TITLE: Some Girls Bite
Book 1 in the Chicogoland Vampires series
AUTHOR: Chloe Neil
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: vampires, urban fantasy
PREMISE: Merit gets made into a vampire against her will but she's not going to let the vampires rule her life.
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing about Urban Fantasy. Specifically adult urban fantasy: there's a LOT of it. Most of it tends to look alike. Some will be about vampires, some about werewolves. Some may have a kick butt heroine, some will....try to have a kick butt heroine. The frank truth of the matter is a lot of urban fantasy has the same tropes, same ideas, same sort of characters etc. You have to have a lot of patience and just read the series one by one to find the ones that appeal to you specifically because honestly for me, it's hard to review urban fantasy because I find it silly to whine about the same tropes when the main point of the genre is mostly familiar formulas for the average reader to consume. It would be like complaining about the mystery part in police procedural shows.
So once again I'm sorry to say: not much to say about this one either. It has plenty of familiar adult UF tropes: tough girl with parent issues becomes vamp, somehow kicks butt despite no previous training, promise of lots of love triangle loving in the future books, sassy best friend/sidekick who is basically the best thing about it (seriously, I love Mallory), okay writing, average plot.
So once again I will say your enjoyment of this will probably depend on whatever you like in your books. I'm sort of indifferent to it but I can see why this has become popular. Merit is at least a likeable heroine. It's a decent library read for sure.
WHO SHOULD READ: Urban fantasy fans who love the genre no matter what.
MY RATING: Three out of Five sassy vampires



Book Review: A Discovery of Witches

TITLE: A Discovery of Witches
Book 1 in the All Souls Trilogy
AUTHOR: Deborah Harkness
PUBLISHED: 2011
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Urban fantasy, witches, vampires, romance
PREMISE: Diana Bishop discovers a book deep in the archives of the Oxford library and soon comes under the attention of the supernatural.
MY REVIEW: Sigh. I really wanted to like this. By all means I should: I mean witches! In Oxford! That's a awesome premise, right? But no, the author didn't focus on that. Instead apparently I'm supposed to care more about the oh so predictable and boring romance between "I'm plain, really" Diana and "I'm Edward Cullen minus the sparkles" Matthew. UGH. Once again, I blame Twilight.
This started out so promising too. I loved the idea when it first started out. Diana seemed to have SOME common sense. But then Matthew appeared and it quickly went downhill after he decided he was in love after one dinner with Diana (that I'm not even sure counts as a date). And then Diana gains her magic but still somehow always needs to be rescued and coddled by Matthew despite the author insisting to us over and over again how powerful she supposingly is. Oh, and Matthew is basically Edward Cullen only a thousand years older (which makes the relationship with Diana kind of creepy when one thinks about it) and minus the sparkles.
I will say Harkness has some lovely writing and I give her points for being SOMEWHAT more creative than Twilight and hey, look lesbians! But that doesn't change the slightly sexist tone of this story and huge problamatic love interest that is Matthew who is just as bad as Edward Cullen when it comes to stalking/taking away choices from the woman he supposingly loves etc. I feel like the author was trying to make this the intellectual Twilight but I'm sorry...she failed. Spectacularly.
WHO SHOULD READ: Twilight fans
MY RATING: Two out of Five facepalms

Book Review: The Immortal Rules

TITLE: The Immortal Rules
Book 1 in the Blood of Eden series
AUTHOR: Julie Kagawa
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, vampires, adventure
PREMISE: In a world where vampires have taken over, Allie fears and hates them. But then one night she is forced to turn into the very thing she hates...
MY REVIEW: If there is one thing I love about Julie Kagawa's books that keep me coming back for more: it is her creativity. She manages to take somewhat tired trends (in this case vampires and dystopians) and makes them feel shiny and new by using new ideas. I mean blending vampires with dystopia? Brilliant. Sure, the romance is a little lackluster for my taste (sorry, I found Zeke to be kind of boring), there are one or two world building issues I have, and the ending wasn't much of a surprise but it's a good ending and a great lead in for book 2.
Kagawa's writing is also just lovely. She manages to get you to picture these fantastic worlds she creates without going overboard with purple prose and she creates interesting characters that you root for in the process. Boring Zeke aside, Allie was interesting to me. I do sort of wish other female characters had been just as well portrayed as her though. The whole treatment of Ruth and the obvious intentional bashing of her just made me roll my eyes and I will say a giant flaw in this book is that Allie literally is the only strong female shown. It's the one thing that annoyed me in this because I don't like it when authors obviously make other female characters weak to make their main character look badass/strong. I also remember this being a thing with the Iron Fey series. It's something I wish Kagawa would work on. What, is female friendship dead in this future or something? Male friendship seems to be doing okay so I don't see why female friendship is no where to be found.
But other then that personal annoyance this was a great start to a fabulous new series and proves that Kagawa is here to stay. Iron Fey was not just a fluke. I'm always pleased when authors do something other then their popular series and take chances like this because this is actually quite different from Iron Fey. I can't wait to read book 2.
WHO SHOULD READ: Iron Fey fans, dystopian fans, Hunger Games fans, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five samurai swords

Book Review: Team Human

TITLE: Team Human
AUTHOR: Justine Larbelestier and Sarah Rees Brennan
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Vampires, urban fantasy, parody/humor
PREMISE: Mel is not a fan of vampires. When a vampire starts going to her high school and her friend falls for him, she knows she has a big problem on her hands.
MY REVIEW: This my friends is the book I've been wanting since vampires became a thing in YA. First off, I will do a disclaimer: this is a parody. Book parodies are apparently not everyone's thing for some odd reason so there is a good chance you won't be a fan of it or of the humor (and admittedly some of the humor did wear thin at times). Luckily for the authors I adore book parodies. It's totally Terry Pratchett's fault. I've been waiting for a vampire parody since forever and here's one and it's glorious.
Okay yes, Mel can be annoying. Also some of the jokes did fall flat as they sometimes can in these types of books. But for the most part, this gave me a major happy. I think it's clever how it handles the vampire subject. It does mock it yes, but it does so lovingly and actually has arguements for both sides of the vampire arguement. Surprisingly it doesn't just bash vampire books for kicks (although there are one or two mocking grins Twilight's way but c'mon. It's TWILIGHT. If one does a vampire parody then one must include Twilight. It's like an unspoken rule) Also for a parody I thought the plot and the characters were pretty well done. There's diversity in the characters, Mel is called out on her flaws and she actually grows as a character, there's actual female friendship and the interaction/dialogue between the characters is fabulous.
So this is pretty much a personal favorite of mine. I loved it so much I'm thinking of giving Justine Larbelestier another chance despite being less then impressed with the one book of hers I've read. Perhaps Liar is better. But again, I must point out: parody. So I write this knowing there is about a fifty percent chance people who read this review may not love it as much as I did.
WHO SHOULD READ: Parody fans, Twilight fans with a sense of humor about the series, vampire fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five Team Human shirts because there need to be some.