Fantasy is More Fun

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My Initial Reaction... 
Well I just got stranded on a major cliff :( But it was worth it! I loved the characters in Dissonance, the world building was great and I didn't see most the twists coming - but looking back I really should have, which makes Dissonance even more excellent! 

The Characters... 
I really loved the characters in Dissonance and got to know quite a few of them really well. Del - the main character from whose point of view Dissonance is told - is a Walker, like everyone in her family. But she's a natural and having that natural ability has made her a reckless rule breaker. But she always has good intentions and, what I loved most about her, she has a deep respect for life (even the echoes, which I'll explain later). She's one of those beautifully flawed characters that's has the best intentions and you like, but makes loads of mistakes that makes you cringe for them. Or want to slap them. 

Her sister, Addie, is a character I'm really on the fence about. She's the polar opposite of Del. She doesn't break the rules at all, and while she doesn't have Del's natural ability, she has skill from dedication and hard work. She can be incredibly annoying, but I loved the sisterly interactions and the feeling that she's wrestling with a lot of big decisions deep down that Del just can't fully see or understand. 

Then there's Elliot - Del's walker best friend, who totally saves her butt over and over. He's a bit of a technological genius it seems and definitely a nice guy - but I really wish we got to know him a little bit better. I think we would, except that Del doesn't fully appreciate him, so we don't get to either. Her loss is our loss. 

The love interest - Simon - is particularly hard to describe because we see him in so many different echoes. But I think it says something that no matter where we see him he's incredibly devoted to his mom and has a dog he loves. And the real Simon shows himself to be a lot more complex than the jock he appears to be on the surface, which was a nice surprise. 

The final character I got to know and love was Del & Addie's grandfather Monty. He lost their grandmother Rose years ago and has never fully recovered. You spend a good portion ofDissonance fluctuating between loving his crazy, senile behavior and wondering how much he's there. He has a great relationship with Del and I don't think you can help but love him throughout most of Dissonance. 

The Story... 
There's two things I loved about Dissonance and one thing that kind of bothered me. 

I loved the world building in Dissonance. It was unique, creative and fresh - not to mention speaking to a question I think we've all asked many times. "What if?" What if I had made a different decision - where would I be now? In this world, Walkers (like Del) know the answer because every time an Original (a person in the main world) makes a decision, another version of the world splits off into an Echo, where they made the other decision. It's complex, but really well explained and you easily pick up the terms and details. 

What bothered me was that Del starts traveling through the different Echoes and hooking up with (on a PG-13 level) Simon's Echoes (so the versions of him that made other choices). On some level this just didn't work for me - either they're real and she's cheating on so many Simons or they aren't real and then, well, EWWW. 

But in the end, that was really a small piece of the puzzle for me. The plot was twisted enough that I always had multiple guesses for what was going to happen and there were plenty of questions floating around - but I didn't call a single one. Looking back I realize I should have. To me, that's a great plot.

Concluding Sentiments... 
Just when I felt like Dissonance was starting to wrap up, bam! I got hit with another twist and then there was no more book. I felt satisfied with the main story arcs resolution, but I promise you, I will be stalking Erica O'Rourke to see what comes next!

My Initial Reaction... 
I was so relieved that Unravel Me didn't go down the path I worried it would after finishing Shatter Me. Overall I'm loving this series, though Juliette is driving me a bit crazy!

Note:Some minor series spoilers. 

The Narration... 
I think Kate Simses is a perfect narrator for this series. As I already said in my review for Shatter Me, there's a poetic sound to Unravel Me that I feel needs to be read aloud and read aloud well. Kate Simses nails it for me. 

The Characters... 
I've had a real reversal in how I feel about Juliette with Unravel Me. In Shatter Me I loved her. But she's just so wishy-washy, "poor me" in Unravel Me that I got tired of her. I understand she's had a hard life, but she's surrounded now by people who've also had a hard life, who also have had to deal with these disturbing differences about themselves and all she can think about is how bad her situation is! 

And the relationship between her and Adam is so frustrating. She let's it consume her - and I get that it's different than just a first teenage relationship... this is the first person who's ever been able to even TOUCH her. But come on girl, don't let that cloud your ability to think for yourself and make decisions. Surprisingly, Adam grew on my with Unravel Me. I think because he's having to face some pretty rough realizations and I think he's dealing better than Juliette. But he's still not my favorite. 

My favorite is tied - for two entirely different reasons and roles - between Warner and Kenji. Kenji is the friend that Juliette really needs. The person who cares for her but doesn't want to BE With her. I feel like she really needed a non-romantic relationship like this. Because not only does Kenji show her she can have friends, but like a true friend - HE TELLS HER HOW IT IS. I can't tell you how much I liked his willingness to tell her off. And I really want to know him better. I loved hearing about him as a kid through Castle's eyes. 

And then there's Warner. God, he's still such a mess. And still playing the role of villain in a lot of ways. And yet I adore him. I think him and Juliette are perfect for each other because they've both been told their whole lives they are monsters. Juliette because of what she can't help but do. Warner because that's who he thinks he has to be. Both are trying to tell the other they can be so much more. Both are right. And both are stubbornly not hearing the other. Can't wait to see where that goes. 

The Story... 
I had been super worried that Unravel Me would go all X-Men after the first book. I'm so glad it didn't - I like X-Men but I wanted this to be more unique. And it is.

The basic story line for Unravel Me revolves around the resistance group at Omega Point that Juliette and Adam joined at the end of Shatter Me. They are training, learning more about themselves and preparing to fight the Reestablishment. Things aren't quite as perfect as they might have seemed at first glance, not to mention Warner's diligently seeking them out. I loved every twist Tahreh Mafi threw into Unravel Me - there's lots of unexpected challenges and lots of personal development. I'm actually torn a bit about the Resistance now - nothing is black and white, which I love. We got some SERIOUS, kick-butt action in Unravel Me, complete with superpowers galore! A really great balance between the conflict with the Reestablishment and the internal conflicts. 

Also - as a note, I seriously recommend reading the novellaDestroy Me before reading Unravel Me. The two overlap for the first bit of Unravel Me and it really changes your perception of the events in a great, exciting way.

Concluding Sentiments... 
I'm thrilled I found this series and am really invested in the characters and can't wait to see where it goes. Unravel Me ended on a bit of cliff hanger (not a bad one) so I'm thankful that the next book is out already!

My Initial Reaction... 
I really enjoyed The Assassin and the Pirate Lord - it was neat to see Caelena before the events of Throne of Glass.

The Good... 
I feel like The Assassin and the Pirate Lord was just a great way to get to know Caelena better. You definitely are fine jumping into The Throne of Glass without reading this, but you get a much better sense of who she is here. You also get a sense of how she's changed. I mean, I remember her being an arrogant girl - but I feel like it's tempered a bit between The Assassin and the Pirate Lord and The Throne of Glass and I can only imagine that the events inbetween the two books had something to do with that.

I'm also enjoying getting to see a bit of the Assassin's Guild that she belonged to and especially the other people. I'm pretty sure that the character I just got to know in The Assassin and the Pirate Lord - Sam - was the person she talks about a lot in The Throne of Glass, I just have to wait and see how the rest of the novellas unfold to be sure.

The story for The Assassin and the Pirate Lord was really good too - it's a novella and yet it managed to have a lot of action, great dialogue, and character building.

The Bad... 
If I were to have any complaints about The Assassin and the Pirate Lord - and I really don't have many, this was a solid novella - it would be that I don't like Caelena as much at this point in her life as I did in The Throne of Glass. The mask/hood getup was ridiculous and her attitude was a little over the top. But she redeems herself for me because she cared so much about the slaves. 

Also could it have gone on just a little longer, please? I wanted to know what happened when they went back home!

Concluding Sentiments... 
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord was a solid novella and amps up my anticipation to read more of the series.

4.5 stars 
Note: The Cipher was recently re-released with some changes. This review is of the version released June 30, 2014

My Initial Reaction... 
It's been a little bit since I read Diana Pharaoh Francis and I'd sort of forgotten her incredible ability to weave fantasy worlds that blow my mind with their originality, to torture her characters in ways that make me cringe in pain and despair of hope, all while enticing me to not let the book go. The Cipher delivered all that and reminded me why she's one of my favorite authors. 

The Characters... 
The characters in The Cipher are beautifully complex and flawed. The Cipher is told from the point of view of the two main characters - Lucy Trenton and Marten Thorpe. 

I loved everything about Lucy. She's a customs inspector - sounds boring, right? Nope! In this world - which I will gush about thoroughly in the next section - it's anything but boring. It's a position of authority and, as we see right away, requiring some serious cojones! She has to deal with consequences of this serious magical storm that not only wrecks pretty much every ship trying to make its way to her port, but devours - Yes DEVOURS - the people on board and transforms them into dangerous, hideous scary creatures. In just the first few chapters my stomach dropped out numerous times at these horrific descriptions, but Lucy not only had to deal with it - she had to take command of it. And she did so in an admirable way. Sure she has nightmares about it later, but who wouldn't? 

So Lucy's kick ass. She's also got quite a mouth on her, refuses to be made into the proper lady her mother wishes she'd be, has no qualms about taking a lover, and tells it how it is - even when talking about herself. She repeatedly says she's rude, insensitive, and not very beautiful - but not in the "feel sorry for me" way. Nope, she takes ownership of who she is and makes no apology. Except on one major issue. She's been committing a serious offense - the kind that will take down not just her but everyone she knows - and in The Cipher it's about to catch up to her. And that's when we saw the other part about her I loved - she owns her mistakes, is willing to face them dead on and take responsibility for them, all while trying to protect others from the possible fall out. And did I mention she won't go down without a fight? Yeah, I seriously love this girl. 

And then there's Marten. Oh man I just got so frustrated with him, felt so sorry for him, and fell in love with him - in a pretty fluid circle. Marten's got this really great heart deep down, but he has one major flaw. He's a gambler. Not a "I like to gamble from time to time" kind of gambler. A "I'm going to ruin my life because I can't live without it" kind of gambler. Watching him try to deal with the draw and repercussions of that addiction was painful and brutal in a way only Diana Pharaoh Francis can write. And when his gambling tangles him up with Lucy - things get really messy, he starts to have some serious crises of conscience, and things get really messy again. Marten Thorpe is the walking disaster you can't help but love. 

There are some seriously brilliant secondary characters in The Cipher as well. I've gone on and on already though, so I'll just say that from good guy to bad guy, they're all marvelously written and complex. 

The Story... 
Oh gosh, this review is already so long and I have so much to say about the world in The Cipher! If you've read Diana Pharaoh Francis you know she's incredibly creative and knows how to build a world. I knew all that going in and still The Cipher's world building blew me away. We've got this island world that felt a bit like Victorian England - strong sea kingdom, corsets, balls, wash basins, quarters within the city, etc - and yet was nothing like it. For one, it's clear that men and women aren't divided along ridiculous gender lines - entire ship crews are made up of men or women, women own businesses, women and men have similar sexual freedoms, etc. She changes all these little details too - not even the same units of measurement for time. Days of the week aren't Monday, Tuesday, etc - they have different names that fit a sea culture. They measure time by the glass. It's different and yet familiar enough that you understand it. 

And then there's the magic! I have to admit, this was the one area I would have liked things better explained. Like most high fantasy, in The Cipher you get all these new words that you aren't familiar with and sometimes I got confused about what meant what. But on the whole, it was still brilliant. You've got this whole class of people who practice magic and there supposed to be registered when they have that ability. They are generally healers but they also create magical objects and there's even this magical forcefield (for lack of a better world) protecting the kingdom. 

I was gripped by the world & characters from the start - and then the plot was equally awesome. Lucy's being blackmailed and you just know shit's going to hit the fan. Except your really hope it won't. And the beautiful agony of waiting to see what would happen and never being able to know just how far Diana Pharaoh Francis is going to torture these poor people just kept me glued to The Cipher.

Concluding Sentiments... 
If you can handle some serious pain and chilling descriptions and a bit of agony for your characters, I seriously recommendThe Cipher!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My Initial Reaction... 
I LOVED the narration. I REALLY LIKED the parts in our world. I was SO BORED in Wonderland. :( After all the hype surrounding Splintered I had high hopes and even got started off on a great note. But Wonderland just didn't do it for me. 

The Narration... 
Rebecca Gibel's narration was fantastic. I thought she brought the characters to life extremely well and she nailed some pretty difficult accents to boot. I wonder if I would have made it through Splintered without her reading it to me, honestly. Probably not. 

The Characters... 
Alyssa - the main character from whose point of view Splinteredis told- drove me nuts. At first I really liked her. I mean she was a little creepy with the way she killed bugs for her art projects, but when I understood that it was because it was the only way to keep herself from going crazy because the bugs talked to her, it was ok. I mean, it's a Wonderland retelling. I expected nuts. I also felt sorry for her because of the situation with her mom - who's been in a mental institution for years - but I also didn't love the way she acted towards her mom. 

What I didn't expect was indecisive, wishy-washy, and sometimes plain old mean. IDK how everyone who loved this book felt about Alyssa (I'm purposefully not looking at reviews until this is written), but her indecisiveness really drove me batty. She has this really good guy friend that she likes as more than a friend, but she goes back and forth from wanting him to wanting Morpheus (who I can't for the life of me understand why she'd like him). And there came a point, for me, where her indecision was just cruel. 

The guys in this cruel triangle - Jeb & Morpheous - were polar opposites to me. Jeb OBVIOUSLY cares about Alyssa and she keeps lashing out at him (sorry to beat a dead horse, but it annoyed me). The things he's willing to do and go through for her should really spell it out for her. Morpheous, on the other hand, was a total dick IMHO. IDK how I was supposed to feel about him because I only really got glimpses. He's a very main character - but for the Wonderland part where I was so bored my attention drifted a lot. So who knows, maybe I would have seen moments about him that I liked more, to be fair. But from what I saw, not a fan.

The Story... 
So here's the deal with Splintered I really enjoyed it whenever the characters were in our world. I know this for a certainty because there was a moment after my ennui had really set in that I found myself super engaged with the book again. Guess what? They weren't in Wonderland. 

I think the problem was that I have never read Alice in Wonderland, nor do I have any desire to. I've seen the movies like one time each. And I enjoyed them. I watched the miniseries as a kid and loved it. But in no way can I call myself a true Wonderland fan. I don't know all the elements and it's not a place I've ever fantasized going to. This is a book for the people who are die-hard fans and would jump on an opportunity to visit Wonderland - at least IMHO. Because there's no doubt in my mind that the places that bored me to tears were moments that played off the original story and would probably get true fans super excited. And I even suspect it was done well. 

The story revolves around the mental illness that runs in Alyssa's family - or supposed mental illness. Her great grandmother was THE Alice of Alice in Wonderland and ever since her, the women of the family have been a bit off their rocker. Alyssa unlocks the secret as to why and sets off on an epic adventure to save the women of her family. It has the makings of greatness and I can understand what people saw in it, that's for sure. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
So if you're a Wonderland fan, I'd say give Splintered a shot, you'll probably like it a lot more than I did. If you're not, I'd stay clear or you may emerge from it bored and a wee-bit crazier than you went in :)

My Initial Reaction... 
Death of a Mad Hatter surprised me! I'm not a big Wonderland fan, but I was told that I just HAD to read it and I'm really glad I did. The characters were fantastic and Wonderland had just enough to entertain without overwhelming those of us who aren't die hard Wonderland fans. 

The Characters... 
I can't express how much I loved Alice Mae, sometimes called Al so that she would be a girl with a boy's name. See there's this prophecy and part of it had to be fulfilled by a girl with a boy's name and ta-da, Alice Mae gets renamed. She's a really great character - very multifaceted. When I first met her I thought, "man, this girl's nuts" but I quickly grew to like her quirky personality. Quirky's the word too - see that cover? That's Alice Mae - you see some weirdness and some fierceness all bundled up in that picture and it totally nails her. The story is told only half from her point of view, but I loved getting to see how she got into her current situation and the marvelous way that she's so conflicted and confused about things. And with that prophecy you totally understand why... I'd be messed up too. 

The other half is told from the point of view of Ryley - the boy with a girl's name. And yep, that's significant too. And yes, because of a prophecy. Prophecies play a big part in Death of the Mad Hatter, but in a marvelous, you want to figure out what's going to happen way, not in a man that prophecy is annoying way (you've read those books too, right? not just me?). Anyway, Ryley was an okay character. He was well-written, but seriously got on my nerves. He's so all over the place with his feelings and the way he acted toward several of the girls - including Alice Mae - really annoyed me because it was just WRONG. Sometimes the reasons worked for me, but most the time it made him just not very likeable (for me). And yet, I found myself totally swept away with his and Alice Mae's relationship - I WANTED them together, I liked them as a couple and I liked him better when he wasn't fighting his feelings for her. 

The Story... 
I think for any fairy tale retelling you're looking for the ways that the author took the original story and made it their own. In a fairy tale retelling I expect: 
1. References to the original the make me go, "Oh! I recognize that!" and maybe get a little giddy
2. Details that a die-hard fan of the original will appreciate, but won't bog down someone who just vaguely knows the story
3. Inventive reinterpretation through a totally original story and characters

Let me start with #3 - because with a retelling it seems that's the hardest to achieve. Death of the Mad Hatter totally did that for me. With the exception of some really key, gotta have 'em elements, this was totally original. You did not go into this story knowing what to expect. I didn't know what to expect ever quite frankly - I was always guessing. 

#2 - I honestly can't say for sure on this one because I'm not a die hard fan, and yet I feel like some elements were familiar and yet I didn't have a clue what they referred to. So I'm guessing those are the elements a die-hard would get giddy over. But I can say, I was never ever bogged down. I never felt like not knowing Wonderland really well was a handicap, because this world worked on it's own without any necessary love for or knowledge of Wonderland. 

#1 - It totally had the Mad Hatter (duh!), Red Queen, Playing Cards, White Rabbit, etc. It was all there and yet they were fresh and new. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
So yeah - I loved this retelling and definitely recommend it. I also have to say - without spoiling - that I loved this ending. It was a really good fit for Wonderland. And I'll leave it at that!

My Initial Reaction... 
I really enjoyed this new series from Robin D. Owens. Ghost Seerprovided a fresh new fantasy world and fun characters that I look forward to exploring in the future. 

The Narration... 
Coleen Marlo was a solid narrator. She delivered solid voices for each of the characters and the real treat, for me at least, was the voice she gave to Enzo. Enzo is a ghost dog who becomes Claire's guide and Coleen Marlo nailed his voice. I SAW a dog everytime he spoke because it was just so spot on. I'm definitely adding her to my list of approved narrators. 

The Characters... 
Ghost Seer is told from two perspectives - Claire Cermac and Zach Slade. I loved the parts from Claire's perspective, but Zach could be annoying. I wonder if I wouldn't have enjoyed Ghost Seer more if it had been told entirely from Claire's point of view. 

Claire's aunt has just died, leaving her a massive inheritance. But it came with strings - Claire has the family gift, she can see ghosts and help them "move on." Up until this point, Claire was a successful accountant, but she felt it would be wrong to keep a good job someone else might really need - so she quit. That little detail spoke volumes about her character, which was reinforced for me as the story went on. Claire is a good, decent person who really thinks about the consequences of what she does for others. I loved the little details that Owens included about Claire paying percentages for tips and the way she organized and detailed things - it felt like the sort of details you'd expect an accountant to care about and it really made Claire real. And then there was the way she handled seeing ghosts - she went through a real struggle to accept what she was seeing, even hiring a top-of-the line psychiatrist to help her. 

Zach is also going through a big life change - though I can't hardly see how it compares to what Claire is going through. When the book opens, he's a cop who's been shot and can no longer work in the field because of a drop ankle. He moves to Denver CO (which is where Claire already lives) and gets started at a PI firm. I do feel bad for him that he can't be a cop anymore - it's obvious that he loved what he did and it's where he feels best. But the man just wouldn't stop complaining about having to go private. Ex-cops and Ex-military make that move all the time - yet somehow he had a harder time dealing with what was happening to him than Claire did with her life changes. I guess further proof that women are tougher then men ;) But I did still like Zach - he's a good person, has good intentions, and I liked the way he dealt with his elderly client. Very respectful and caring. So I hope he just stops complaining, accepts the changes around him and then I'll love him too. 

My absolute FAVORITE character was Enzo. I love animal companions in books - especially ones like Enzo that are a BIG part of the book. He talks to Claire, guides her and runs around acting like a dog. He has some other - somewhat malevolent seeming (to me) - spirit attached to him though and that totally creeped me out. Sometimes that voice would take over and give Claire instructions and I hope we'll get a better idea of what/who that spirit is in future books. 

The Story... 
The world build in The Ghost Seer was great too. We're basically in our world and there are some people - like Claire and, to some extent, Zach - who have an extra sense for the "other worldly things." Zach has this rhyme he learned as a kid about crows and apparently if you see x number of crows it means something different than xy number of crows. It was really neat - though Zach tried really hard to not accept his ability, so that was frustrating, much like his whining about his situation. 

The really really cool part, though, was Claire's gift. I might better call it a curse, though, because it comes with some serious baggage. There are so many rules about her ability - the biggest one being that if she doesn't accept her gift, she will go crazy and die. And Claire's struggle to deal with her gift starts taking a serious toll - she's always freezing, she can't eat, sleep -- she was literally dying slowly as the book progressed. Yikes! See what I mean about her having it worse than Zach? Another cool aspect was that she can see ghosts - but not all ghosts. She has the ability to see a specific time period - roughly 1850 - 1900 if I remember correctly. This worried me because her ghosts are kind of western and that's not really my thing. But it never went too far down that path and really just through in a bit of fun history to a very modern plot and world. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
Ghost Seer is a really inventive twist on your standard clairvoyant story and, with characters that I love, I plan to read the next one when it comes out.

My Initial Reaction... 
I've been really curious about this series for a while, so when it was one of the books on the list for book club, I decided to give it a go. I really enjoyed the sisterly interactions in Sealed With A Curse, but I never really got that invested in the plot or characters. It was an okay, quick read. 

The Narration... 
Renée Chambliss was a B, B+ narrator for me. Her voices worked really well for the female characters and, generally speaking, really well for the male characters as well. There were a few moments where she gave the "villains" these really weird voices that I did not like at all. I think I would give her another shot to see if she's a better narrator with a book that I get into more. 

The Characters... 
The Wird Sisters worked for me as a group - when they were interacting as sisters, but I don't think I was crazy about them as individuals.They each had a very dominant, over-the-top quality and never really seemed like complete individuals. Sealed With A Curse is told from the point of view of Celia, the eldest Wird sister and she's a bit more complete than the others. I loved her magical ability - she's a Tigress, sort of - and I liked the way she was the super protective older sister. But that really loops back around to me liking her in her role as sister, not individual. She's not very experienced romantically because she's given up a lot to care for her sisters. This works as a trait, but it was pounded into me over and over. 

Her other sisters were even less complete. Taran, the second eldest Wird sister, is loud, pushy, and resembles a powder keg. Emme Wird is sweet, timid and shy. Finally there's Shayna Wird who is basically your surfer girl - hyper, fun-loving, and calls everyone dude. Their magical abilities were also pretty great, but their personalities were just one-dimensional. As sisters, though, they worked. I loved seeing their interactions and the way the teased or looked after each other, whatever the case may be. 

I also really didn't get into the male characters that were supposed to make me weak in the knees. Aric, the local sexy full-blooded Were was fine. He didn't get me all excited and he didn't bother me. He just was. Same thing with Mircea, the local vampire lord that Celia and her sisters are helping. His sexiness and the way his vampires dressed/behaved (girls in school uniforms, nurse outfits...) was just too in your face for me. 

So the characters were like the book... ok. 

The Story... 
Like the characters, the story for Sealed With A Curse worked for me in some ways and really fell flat in others. I liked the magical world that Cecy Robson developed and I absolutely loved the unique magical characteristics of the Wird sisters - who get their powers not because they were born from magical parents or turned or something, but because they were part of a curse gone wrong. So they really don't have names for what they are. That was cool. And led to some pretty cool action sequences. 

What didn't work was the mystery itself. Someone within the vampire community made a bid for power by infecting vampires with the blood lust virus (think current season of True Blood and the Hepatitis V). Mircea's vampires are the first being attacked and he calls on the Wird sisters for help. That in itself was fine. What blew was that I knew from the very first instance who was responsible. It was so incredibly obvious! I think Sealed With A Curse depends so much on stereotypes and one dimensional characteristics that picking out who done it was equally stereotypical. Oh well, I still enjoyed the action and the world. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
In the end, I did enjoy the sisterly elements, the world and the action in Sealed With A Curse. I probably won't be rushing to read the next book in the series anytime soon, but I'm glad I finally got a chance to see what's up with the Wird Sisters.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My Initial Reaction... 
I LOVED this retelling of the classic Cinderella story. The Stepsister's Tale was the perfect balance of the familiar and new! A quick, fun read, I gobbled it up in just one day!

The Characters... 
What I loved most about The Stepsister's Tale was the characters! The story is told from the point of view of the eldest stepsister, Jane Montjoy, and she's nothing like the stepsister that you've come to expect. Her father abandoned her sister Maude, her mother, and Jane -- drinking away their wealth and then dying leaving them with nothing but an aristocratic name. They live in this big house, with a mother who clings to memories rather than reality and Jane has the task of trying to put food on the table and kindling in the fireplace. She doesn't have the resources or energy to worry about being the lady her mother still thinks her daughters should be. She runs around barefooted and in rags, focused on taking care of what has to be done. You can't help but admire the way she cares for her little sister and, when the time comes, her spoiled new step-sister Isabella. 

Maude is a sweet little girl and, like her sister, is more focused on survival than being a lady. When her mother comes home with a new father and sister for her, she feels awkward and uncomfortable. The two girls are very close in age and there's some childhood squabbles. And some misunderstandings that get thrown way out of proportion as things tend to when in situations of increased stress. Isabella (called Ella for short... you see where that's going right?) comes off very bratty - she's been spoiled and she's understandably not too happy with her sudden change of living situations. She's come from the city and suddenly she's living in a broken down home where she's expected to do things she doesn't know how to do. I admit to being very frustrated with her attitude at times and at other times really feeling for her - especially when (as you knew would happen because this is Cinderella after all) her father dies. 

I loved seeing the three girls dealing with situations thrust upon them by their parents and with the struggle to survive with no money and no resources through the harsh winter. They start getting to know neighbors and I loved Jane's interactions with them. It was a really great spin on the story. 

The Story... 
In describing the characters, I've pretty much outlined the story for The Stepsister's Tale already - it's your classic Cinderella story, with a really creative adjustment to the characters and their situation. Misunderstandings not mistreatment lead to problems between the Cinderella and her stepsisters. Hardship and the struggle to survive gives the story a whole different life. 

For me, what made the retelling so great was the way it managed to hold on to so much of what you'd expect in the Cinderella story. And those of you - like me - familiar with the original Grimm won't be disappointed. The Stepsister's Tale has some really great ways of alluding to that original telling of the story, before Disney reshaped it. 

I also really loved that there's a new romance built into this story - you do have the Cinderella & the Prince story (although that's QUITE a bit different - in pretty great ways that I LOVED), but since we're looking at everything form Jane's point of view, we also get her romance - and it was a fun feeling cheering the ugly, wicked stepsister to her HEA. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
If you enjoy fairy tale retellings, I really recommend The Stepsister's Tale. Honestly, I'm not as a big a fan of retellings as some people, but I loved this - so really if you just like a good story about hardship, family, sisterhood, and love, this is a good read too!

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My Initial Reaction... 
When I put Awakening Foster Kelly down I had no idea what to think. As I read I felt myself writing my review, knowing what I liked and what I didn't. In then it has a twist so colossal in the last 2% of the book that blew me away. I laughed and cried. And I had no idea what to rate it or how to review it. But now that I've stepped away I know that the last 2% will influence the review - but I'm reviewing the whole book, not just the last two percent. So here goes!

The Characters... 
It was most definitely the characters that kept me glued toAwakening Foster Kelly. They are incredibly well written - so complete and complex I feel as if I know them. 

The main character is 17 year old Foster Kelly - and the story is told from her perspective. I couldn't help but love her and yearn for that moment where she realized she deserved to be loved. She's a bit different from her peers - very timid, shy, EXTREMELY clumsy (something I totally related to), and self-depreciating. She doesn't even begin to see herself clearly. She's brilliant, a bit of a musical prodigy, and incredibly giving. The highlight of her week? The six hours every Sunday that she spends volunteering at a local home for abandoned kids. She's THAT kind of wonderful person. And yet, somehow, she doesn't believe that she's worthy of love. Yep, she totally broke my heart. 

And then enters Dominic. He's the boy that SEES her. I have to admit Dominic was a puzzle for me for a good part of the book. I couldn't understand some of his very intense reactions - and I wasn't supposed to. But it really nagged at me - it took way too long for the explanations to come. I felt like I waited and waited and when they did come, it was a bit anti-climatic. I think they would have worked better for me if they hadn't taken quite so long. Anyway - his role is really loving Foster. As he gets to know her and fall in love with her, he helps her fall in love with herself. It's called Awakening Foster Kelly and Dominic is the boy saying "Wake up!"

There's also a lot of time spent with Foster's friends - a couple of twins that have very strong personalities and, like Dominic, love Foster, despite her inability to see it. I loved every moment with them. Emily is seriously intense and a bit over the top, and yet I wanted to be her a little bit. And her brother, Jake, was hilarious. He's constantly eating and I couldn't help but see my own teenage boy in him. 

Foster's parents are incredible too. I loved them and yet I have to say I felt they were way too big a part of Awakening Foster Kelly. Don't get me wrong - I don't think they should have been absentee or ill defined. But we spent so much time with details about them that had no real impact on the story. I have no problem with a book being almost 700 pages. But if I can clearly pick out entire scenes that did nothing for the progression of the book, I have a problem with it being so long. And in this case her parents were one of those problems, as much as I did love them. 

The Story... 
Gosh, the story of Awakening Foster Kelly is a tough point for me. It took a really long time to get going. At 15% things started to happen and then they quickly detoured and came to a pit stop. Once again at about 34% they picked up again... and detoured again. There's just so much there that didn't do anything for me. We have these really long, extremely detailed dream sequences that I started skimming because they just didn't move the story forward and I really wanted to get to the main plot. 

The other problem? It felt really familiar until like 50% of the way in... maybe later. It felt a LOT like Twilight, which I MUST point out I actually enjoyed quite a lot. Now let me explain- this is not at all about vampires and not really paranormal at all. There's plenty that's different. And yet it FELT similar. You've got a shy, awkward, clumsy girl who doesn't see herself clearly. She has an initial encounter with a gorgeous guy that goes terribly - he pretty much doesn't speak to her at all, clearly hates her and actually refuses to be her partner in music class. He storms out and disappears for a little over week - having such an intense, inexplicable dislike of her that he has to run away. I swear, I started wondering if I WAS going to find out Dominic was a vampire. And then he comes back and they get thrown together because of a car accident! And he suddenly wants to be her friend and has this big secret... I could go on. The point is, their relationship had so many similarities to Twilight that I was a bit bored with it until it grew a life of it's own and focused less on them and more on the Awakening part of Awakening Foster Kelly.

And then there's the great part though - the seeing this girl come to life - that's NOTHING like Twilight. She's not coming to life through romance. She's coming to life through a new ability to see herself clearly, to do things she never dreamed she could do. I loved seeing that. And there's the twist that you so will not see coming! I had such intense emotions at moments in Awakening Foster Kelly mixed in with the the waiting for things to happen. It's definitely got a solid core in there!

Concluding Sentiments... 
I wish I could pull out the book buried within Awakening Foster Kelly - which sits at almost 700 pages - and review just that. There's a solid - fairly incredibly book buried in there. But the problem is that it's buried and you have to be willing to dig through to get there. 

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars
My Initial Reaction... 
Deadly Curiosities was super spooky and lots of fun! I wish I'd gotten to know the characters better, but I see real potential for the series. 

The Characters... 
Deadly Curiosities is told from the point of view of Cassidy Kincaide. Cassidy owns an antique store called Trifles & Folly that has been passed down through her family for centuries - passed down to family members with the same gift she has. See, Cassidy has a psychic gift that lets her touch objects and see their history. I have to say, this was a super cool way to tell a story. I loved the flashbacks through all different periods of history and the creepy factor was sometimes through the roof. I loved Cassidy too - she's got a penchant for history (a plus in my book), a streak for a adventure, and a huge heart. She's doing a job that puts her life on the line everyday and the only real reward is protecting her community. And she's a dog lover, so I know she's a good person :)

Teag works for Cassidy and he is just discovering his magical abilities - he's a Weaver. This was a brand new magical concept for me, so that alone made it super cool! This gives him the ability to dig up information on the web really well and as he's learning, gives him some cool knitting abilities too. I really wish we'd gotten to know Teag a bit better. I mean we know that his partner, Anthony, is a lawyer and you get a glimpse of him through that relationship, but since we aren't in his head at all and this book is more story, less character building, I left feeling like I don't really know him much beyond the job. Too bad. 

There's a whole bunch of other characters that I loved and their magic was unique and fun. But I'll let you read it to get to know them :)

The Story... 
The story for Deadly Curiosities revolved around Cassidy's talent, honestly. Mundane objects that Cassidy and Teag already cleared as being not dangerous are suddenly starting to transform into potentially dangerous objects. And they don't know why. And at the same time, there have been an worrisome streak of gruesome murders. So any good detective knows there's probably a connection there - and they get to work figuring things out. 

The main reason I'm giving Deadly Curiosities 3.5 stars instead of 4 is the pace. It would have this incredibly interesting, spooky segment and then we'd fall into a bit of a lull and I got bored. I suspect that this has something to do with the way I tend to get bored in procedurals - I wouldn't straight up call this a procedural, but it definitely revolved around solving a mystery and those moments inbetween the action where it's all detective work were slow for me. 

The two things I loved most were 1 - the ghost/spooky elements. They gave me just the right amount of goosebumps every single time. And 2 - the setting/historical elements. Martin made this Charleston, SC setting come to life and she throws you into the history - both mundane and magical in such interesting and culturally diverse ways. It made the book a real treat for me! 

Concluding Sentiments... 
If you're looking for a nice summer ghost mystery, Deadly Curiosities is a great book for you. And if you like procedural type books, you may even love it more than I did!

My Initial Reaction... 
I loved getting to know Warren better - just wish there were more! Destroy Me definitely filled in some details about my favorite guy in the series!

The Good... 
One of the best things about Destroy Me is that it let me pat myself on the shoulder a little bit. After reading Shatter Me I said (quote from my review...) "What can I say? Sometimes the bad guys steal the show – and in the Adam vs. Warren scenario, he totally did for me." I saw him as a much more complex character and even did he did some seriously horrible things that I could in no way pretend made him the GOOD GUY, I just liked him better. And now after reading Destroy Me I feel so much more justified in feeling that way. Warren is ONE COMPLEX DUDE and understandably so. I loved getting inside his head! 

The Bad... 
So in Destroy Me Warren finds Juliette's journal. I LOVED this and thought it was cool to see his reactions to what he read. But then the chapters started beginning with a random excerpt from her journal without his reaction to them. It felt out of place and I didn't like Juliette taking over Warren's book. You have your series, let him have his novella! LOL! Yeah, it's not a big point at all, but I could have done without those (or even better, would have liked them to involve Warren's reactions!)

Concluding Sentiments... 
I loved reading Destroy Me and I think it's an absolute must for anyone who's reading the series!

My Initial Reaction... 
I have to admit, I really missed Eve and Cian... I just didn't fall for Frenzy and Mila as easily. But Death's Redemption was very compelling, HOT (as I've come to expect from Marie Hall) and I'm increasingly curious about what Lise has up her sleeves. 

The Characters... 
It took me a little bit longer to get into the characters in Death's Redemption than I would have liked - but I did eventually come to love them... once they got over their hangups. 

See, you've got Mila who's a seer. In this world (which I'm addicted to, BTW), that's an extremely rare and coveted trait. But when Mila gets attacked by a group of vampires seeking to control her powers, she knows that she can't let them get that control. So she seeks the only other alternative she can think of - death. Now on a level, you've got to admire a girl who's that determined. But - when Frenzy and Lise step in and change the course of things, Mila takes WAY TOO LONG to get a clue. Yes, this isn't what you wanted. It's a hard adjustment. I get it. Really I do. But come on! Would you stop trying to kill yourself and realize that something much bigger is going on? Oh - and have you really not noticed that you've got this incredibly gorgeous fae/reaper trying to help you? GET A CLUE! That being said, when she finally did get a clue - I grew to love her. I just wished it hadn't taken so long. 

And then there's Frenzy, who has his own hangup - he loved a woman once and it went really badly. And he hasn't gotten over it. Just as I grew tired of Mila's incessant desire to die, I got over Frenzy's internal "poor me, I've loved and I can't love again." But once that passed - and it did, I think quicker than Mila's longing for death - I loved him too. And their romance really worked for me - it took them quite a while to figure it out and there was an awkwardness that was very believable. And they're both kinda messed up, so they just fit. I think I would have liked for them to get over themselves more quickly, since there was a lot of repetition of the same sentiments over and over, but by the last 60% things started to flow really well. 

The Story... 
For me the strength in Death's Redemption and this series in general is the world. I LOVE the fantasy world Marie Hall has built - it has so many layers and there's still so much to learn. She's given us enough to understand what's going on, but there's a lot of mystery and it's all bound up in Lise for me. She's one of the fates and she's constantly interfering. She's got an agenda and I'm not 100% sure I understand it (I don't think I'm supposed to yet) but I'm so curious to understand what this chic has up her sleeve. First she meddled with Eve and Cian. Now Mila and Frenzy. What's next?

The plot for Death's Redemption is all bound up in Mila and her powers as a seer. She's one of the last remaining seer's in the world and everyone - EVERYTHING - powerful wants to control her. She's hunted - most worryingly by the Shadow. I loved the story behind the shadow and everything surrounding it. Terrific evil and lots of twists to go with that element. I loved the glimpses we got of the fae world and only wish there were more of that too!

Concluding Sentiments... 
Although I had some issues with the characters to begin with, they grew on me and I'm still totally enthralled by the world inDeath's Redemption. I look forward to seeing more of it and especially Lise in the next book! 

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

My Initial Reaction... 
Stacia Kane sure knows how to put you through an emotional ringer! By the time I was done with Chasing Magic I'm pretty sure I'd experienced every single emotion possible - happiness, frustration, anger, fear, sadness, disappointment, arousal, surprise, excitement, and for the first time in this series a bit of hope. 

The Narration... 
I've said it with every single book in this series and Chasing Magic is no different - Bahni Turpin nails it! At this point, I don't know if I could even finish the series if they changed narrators because Bahni Turpin IS Chess, she IS Terrible, she IS Lex and every other character I've come to know and love (or hate). She's definitely an A++ narrator!

The Characters... 
Oh Chess! Why must you be so colossally damaged? She does things that make you want to just reach into the book and shake her - her using continues to be a problem in Chasing Magic and then there's her extremely complicated relationship with Terrible. You can't help but worry she's going to ruin it - ruin HIM - because she's just so screwed up. But I can't hate her. Can't even begin to hate her because she's so incredibly down on herself. She breaks my heart over and over - yes, she's screwed up, but so much of that is BECAUSE she doesn't love herself. This fact was made so incredibly vivid in Chasing Magic - and it was so hard to see happening. Chess takes some hard hits inChasing Magic, one in particular that I did NOT see coming and am still a bit wounded from myself. Poor Chess! But, for the first time ever in this series, I really do think something has changed and Chess FINALLY has a chance. FINALLY I actually have hope for her to have some sort of HEA in this messed up world. 

And then there's Terrible. I guess we all love him right? So what else is there to say - except that you'll love him 100 times more my time you finish Chasing Magic? I wish he saw himself more clearly - saw what we see, what Chess sees, because even though he's way more together than Chess, way stronger, he's got a whole ton of insecurities and they break my heart all over again. He sure knows how to love with 100% of himself though and if anyone can bring Chess out of her cycle it's gonna be Terrible. 

Then there's Lex. I don't know how most people feel about Lex in this series - but I like him... and damn it! I feel sorry for him too! (Why must I feel so badly for every character I love in this series?) The thing about Lex is - he jokes around and womanizes (is that a word?) - but I don't believe it for one minute. Just like Chess uses her drugs to shield herself, and Terrible his fierce strength, Lex uses his could-give-a-care attitude. Stacia hasn't confirmed it for us yet in so many words - but I JUST KNOW that poor boy loves Chess and it's killing him to see her with Terrible. Is he right for Chess? No. But do I wish he could find happiness - and that somehow that could involve not destroying Chess's world? Yes please. Please?

The Story... 
Although the story in Chasing Magic, like in all the Downside Ghosts books is fantastic, it's not memorable for me because I'm just so caught up in the characters. I feel like you could replace the story I just read with any other mystery (and it could be crap, honestly) and if the characters were still having the same interactions they had, I would probably still love Chasing Magic. So it's really just a bonus that the story is pretty fantastic. 

Unlike most Downside Ghosts stories - there's really just one big bad magical problem. Chess isn't working a case for the Church (all though things are definitely happening there - but I'll leave it at that). All over Downside people are going crazy - like they're being possessed and they can't be killed. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Magical Zombies!! So it wasn't quite zombies in the technical sense - no brain eating... but the concept is there. And of course, Chess has to figure it out and try to save the day. The other BIG, HUGE THING going down is Lex... he's got plans and step one involves Terrible. I'll leave it at that, but I have to say - Lex's plans caused me more anxiety than all the magic because it involved Terrible and I care way more about him than hordes of faceless people. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
As usual Chasing Magic was an emotional roller coaster, spiced up with loads of magic, action, and sex. The only bad thing? I'm now officially caught up on this series and have NO IDEA when then next book is coming!! 

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

My Initial Reaction... 
I wish I'd known about Never to Sleep back when I first read the Soul Screamers Series. It was a really enjoyable quick read and gave a lot of background on Sophie, a character I always wished I'd known better. 

Note: There are spoilers for book 1 in the series in this review. 

The Good... 
Getting into the head of Sophie, Kaylee's cousin, was great! She's not anyone's favorite character I imagine, because she's fairly shallow and really mean to Kaylee. But I know that by this point in the series, I also felt kind of bad for her. Her mother died extremely suspiciously and all kinds of crazy things are constantly happening around her and to her - but no one has deigned to explain to her why. She may not be a banshee, but she deserves to know what's going on IMHO!

Well, just like Kaylee - no one's going to tell Sophie until she gets herself into heaps of trouble and finds a cute boy to spill the beans. In this case it's necromancer Luca - who you'll get to know better in book 6. I found that Never to Sleep explained so much about their relationship and some of the changes you'll see in Sophie in upcoming books - I really think it's a must read for fans of the series. I loved seeing Sophie confront this world she's been teetering on discovering for so long, and to face it with the same kind of strength that I've come to admire in Kaylee. And she had a great sense of humor that made reading Never to Sleep lots of fun. 

The Bad... 
Well, the only thing I have a problem with in Never to Sleep, I had a problem with in the series in general. Sophie is not a Banshee. Her scream is not a Banshee's scream. This has been firmly established. She's not the first daughter of a Banshee and human ever - so why is she the first one we've ever heard of that can scream and end up in the Netherworld? It just doesn't work for me at all, even if I do like the changes it brings about in Sophie and the story. It just doesn't jive with the mythology already established in the series. 

Concluding Sentiments... 
I really enjoyed Never to Sleep and definitely recommend you read it if you're reading the Soul Screamers Series - or if you're a fan that missed it like I did the first time around!