Charmed (Fairy Tale Reform School, #2) ~ By Jen Calonita – 4.5 Stars

Tags

Fantasy, Fractured Fairy Tales, Friendship, Juvenile Fiction

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 1st, 2016

Synopsis: It takes a (mostly) reformed thief to catch a spy. Which is why Gilly Cobbler, Enchantasia’s most notorious pickpocket, volunteers to stay locked up at Fairy Tale Reform School… indefinitely. Gilly and her friends may have defeated the Evil Queen and become reluctant heroes, but the battle for Enchantasia has just begun.

Alva, aka The Wicked One who cursed Sleeping Beauty, has declared war on the Princesses, and she wants the students of Fairy Tale Reform School to join her. Gilly goes undercover as a Royal Lady in Waiting (don’t laugh) to unmask a spy…before the mole can hand Alva the keys to the kingdom.

Her parents think Gilly the Hero is completely reformed, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes it’s good to be bad…

Charmed is the second book in Jen Calonita’s Fairy Tale Reform School series and definitely lives up to the promise introduced in it’s predecessor, Flunked. Once again it turns everything you thought you knew about the fairy tale world, saving it’s most pointed barbs for the “Princesses”: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty, all who definitely are not the perfect characters that are depicted in other books and movies. The world building is just as well executed in this second book and readers are treated to even more details regarding Enchantasia and it’s history. There’s a lot of humor in this book but underneath it all is a thorough examination of the differences between being “good” and being “bad” as well as the true meaning of friendship. Gilly isn’t quite as likable as she was in the first book. She’s let her fame go to her head, and treats her friends pretty horribly. Watching her as she loses her way and then realizes that she’s nothing without her friends and her family makes her extremely relatable. The ending definitely leads one to think there will be at least one more book in the series. Elementary school and middle school-aged fans of fractured fairy tales will enjoy this funny follow-up. These two books are definite must-haves for any school library.

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Evening Wolves ~ By Luke Taylor – 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mysteries, Political Thrillers, Romance, Spy Thrillers, Techno-Thrillers

Thanks to Luke Taylor for sending me his book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Homicide detective Michael Erland passes through the gates of the opulent Fircrest Mansion to solve the murder of a woman with no fingerprints, and finds himself in the middle of a brutal struggle between Homeland Security and a domestic terrorist known as Jupiter, a hacker and criminal mastermind who steals information to sell it to the highest bidder and will stop at nothing to make the biggest transaction of his career and end the lives of those who would try to stop him. The agent who’s pursuing Jupiter, the enigmatic and stunningly beautiful Sierra Marland, conscripts Erland’s help as the only one she can trust, and as Marland and Jupiter lock wits and wills in a fiery chess game of death and consequence, Erland is forced to walk the tightrope between justice, vengeance, and love.

The man in the brown dining chair awoke from the murky depths of unconsciousness to find himself bound and gagged. Blinking sway the fog, painful shafts of light pierced his eyes. His skull echoed with the thick, dull pain of medical narcosis and felt like a blacksmith’s anvil at day’s end.

Where was he? What happened? Why was there nothing to recall but a few seconds of memory?

And with that opening, the action NEVER lets up in this first book in Luke Taylor’s Wolves and Leopards series. This has a huge cast of characters but the three major characters are Erland, Sierra, and the sinister Jupiter. I absolutely loved Sierra who’s a kickass yet vulnerable agent desperately trying to to bring down her twin sister’s murderer as well as saving the country. stymied and betrayed at every turn by traitors and bureaucrats, there’s only a handful of people she can trust, yet she never gives up. Erland is an honest and hardworking cop who gets pulled into a fight between government agencies and the terrorist organization run by Jupiter. He’s completely over his head yet he manages to not only keep up, but also to become an essential asset in stopping the terrorists. While there’s definitely some instant chemistry between them, the romance develops slowly mainly due to all the chaos around them. As they start to have feelings for one another, there are some lovely and touching scenes, which is pretty hard to do in a book such as this. Jupiter is a villain that rivals any depicted in Bond books/movies. He’s a man devoid of a conscience, only caring about power and money. Because he’s such an interesting character I wish there had been a little more of a backstory,  but with all the other characters it’s obvious why there wasn’t room. There are too many supporting characters to list, but they’re all extremely well written and fully developed. One word of warning: the author is not afraid to kill off his characters. Two of my favorites perished and it’s a credit to Luke Taylor’s talent that I got quite emotional over their deaths. But in a way, never knowing who was going to make it out alive made the reading experience even more exciting. The ending was absolutely perfect and it has me looking forward to the second book in the series Shatterpoint Alpha. 

Evening Wolves is a mammoth book clocking in at over 700 pages, and while there’s a lot of descriptive phrasing, the plot never dragged, and I found myself reluctant to put it down when real life intruded. After finishing it I wasn’t surprised that the novel was a Finalist in both the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Awards and the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Awards. The entire time I was reading I was thinking of my dreamcast if this was ever made into a movie. If you’re a fan of authors like David Baldacci, Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, and the late great Tom Clancy, and you’re looking for a new author to add to their venerated ranks, I highly recommend this.

Try Not to Breathe ~ By Holly Seddon – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Alcoholism, Mystery, Relationships, Suspense, Vegetative States

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Amy Stevenson was the biggest news story of 1995. Only fifteen years old, Amy disappeared walking home from school one day and was found in a coma three days later. Her attacker was was never identified and her angelic face was plastered across every paper and nightly news segment.

Fifteen years later, Amy lies in the hospital, surrounded by 90’s Britpop posters, forgotten by the world until reporter Alex Dale stumbles across her while researching a routine story on vegetative patients.

Remembering Amy’s story like it was yesterday, she feels compelled to solve the long-cold case.

The only problem is, Alex is just as lost as Amy–her alcoholism has cost her everything including her marriage and her professional reputation.

In the hopes that finding Amy’s attacker will be her own salvation as well,  Alex embarks on a dangerous investigation, suspecting someone close to Amy.

While not perfect, Try Not to Breathe is an impressive debut for author Holly Seddon mainly because of the two main characters — Alex and Amy — whose tragic stories are told in alternating chapters. The author really went out on a limb by making  the comatose Amy a main character and she could have failed miserably, but she not only makes her story compelling through flashbacks to fifteen years earlier, but she fully develops her by exploring the idea that people in vegetative states are cognizant of what is happening around them. While Amy is in a prison due to her condition, so is Alex. Her alcoholism which began when she was a child, has not only ruined her life, it’s now actually put it in danger. She’s only twenty-eight years old, yet her body is beginning to fail because of the ravages of the disease. There are some reviewers who have called Alex unlikable or an “anti-hero”, but I found her an incredibly sympathetic character. I’m going to be honest here and say this may be because alcoholism runs in both sides of my family, and I’ve seen first hand the effects it has on it’s victims and the people who care about them. Alcoholism and for that matter any other addiction, is not a black and white issue, and Holly Seddon illustrates this with Alex’s battle to not only save herself, but seek redemption. Perhaps because of the attention that is paid to Amy and Alex, the other characters aren’t as well written. The mystery of who attacked Amy, and why isn’t a great surprise, and the ending is a bit rushed. Yet despite these flaws, I found this not only a compelling read, but one that I think will stay with me for a while. Try Not to Breathe  may not to be for everyone. It’s not exactly what I’d call an upbeat novel although it does have its uplifting moments especially towards the end. It certainly works as a standalone, but I’m hoping that Holly Seddon will write more about these two amazing and complicated women.

 

Arcadia ~ By Iain Pears – 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Suspense

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for providing an e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Henry Lytten–a spy turned academic and writer–sits at his desk in Oxford in 1962, dreaming of other worlds.

He embarks on the story of Jay, and eleven-year-old boy who has grown up within the embrace of his family in a rural, peaceful world–a kind of Arcadia. But when a supernatural vision causes Jay to question the rules of his world, he is launched on a life-changing journey.

Lytten also imagines a different society, highly regulated and dominated by technology, which is trying to master the science of time travel. 

Meanwhile–in the real world–one of Lytten’ s former intelligence colleagues tracks him down for one last assignment.

As he and his characters struggle with questions of free will, love, duty and the power of imagination, Lytten discovers he is not sure how he wants his stories to end, nor even who is imaginary…

Iain Pears is another author who I’ve been meaning to try but never got around to until now. Arcadia is a book that shouldn’t have worked. It has a huge cast of characters and alternate timelines and storylines that go back and forth between fantasy, science fiction, and even cold war spy drama. It should have been a confusing mess, but somehow the author skillfully juggles everything for 528 pages until the stories and characters are brought together in a brilliant conclusion. The three settings are: 1960s Oxford, a Scottish island called Mull in 2200, and Anteworld, which seems for the majority of the book to be set during medieval times. There are no less than ten main characters to follow. I know. Sounds complicated, right? While the chapters alternate between these worlds and characters, I was never left feeling confused though. Everything is laid out in a comprehensive fashion, which I especially appreciated as I was reading this on my Kindle which makes it tough to turn back pages. The only story I thought was a bit superfluous was the spy mystery. I found it pretty predictable and it didn’t really add anything to the other stories. Otherwise, although it doesn’t seem like it all these characters and worlds are interconnected. I didn’t know that there’s actually an app for iPad/iPhone users where readers can choose which paths they want to follow while reading the story. You don’t need this, but it is a fun app and I wish I had known about it when I started the book.

Arcadia is a beautifully written and ingenious book whose characters and stories will mesmerize you. Iain Pears is an author that doesn’t show his cards at the very beginning. Instead he lays out a trail of breadcrumbs to follow from chapter to chapter which makes it almost impossible to stop reading. If you’re looking for a book that is different from anything you’ve previously read, I highly recommend this. 

Shades of Darkness (Ravenborn Book One) ~ By A. R. Kahler – 2.0 Stars

Tags

Boarding Schools, Norse Mythology, Rape, Suicide, YA Fiction

Thank you NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 3rd, 2016

Synopsis: Islington Arts Academy is not your average high school. Nestled in the forests of Michigan, surrounded by trees and nature and virtually no evidence of civilization, it’s an oasis for those looking to get away. Perfect for a student like Kaira Winters, who wants nothing more than to put her past behind her and focus on the present…and her looming graduation, just a few months away. But the past has a way of returning when least expected.

Kaira knows that what happened before, at her old school, wasn’t normal. She knows what happened to her ex-boyfriend wasn’t natural. But she refuses to believe that the recent death on campus, the one that has everyone on edge, has anything to do with her. She refuses to believe that she could be at fault again.  But just as the past always returns, the truth can never stay hidden for long. 

Even if Kaira didn’t cause the first death at Islington, or the second, or the third, she has the ability to find out who did. She has the obligation to stop whatever is coming to campus. To end the darkness that is falling with the same snow that once blanketed the woods in beauty.

But to embrace this power–to relinquish herself to the ancient entity that has been lurking in the corners of her mind–is to let go of her humanity…and Kaira doesn’t know how far she can go before she loses herself completely.

Shades of Darkness is one of those books that has so much potential but becomes mired in too much melodrama and confusion which makes for a frustrating read.

The first problem is how the book begins. I felt as though I was dropped in the middle of a story and it was difficult to get a grasp of what was going on. There’s multiple hints as to Kaira’s traumatic past, but nothing is really explained until the end of the book. All you know is that something terrible happened and Kaira has exiled herself as far away from her home as she can. She has so many issues and secrets she’s hiding that it makes it hard to relate to her at all. Even when the truth of what happened to her is revealed, I found myself not caring by that point. Further muddying the waters were the supernatural aspects. While from the beginning it’s obvious they have something to do with Norse mythology, it’s unclear for the majority of the book what they have to do with Kaira and the mysterious deaths that are suddenly occurring on campus. I will say the characters are diverse with Kaira describing herself as being an “unknown blend of Native American bloodlines”, but even this I felt was just dropped in there with no further explanation. Kaira’s best friend, Ethan is gay and the exchanges between him and his boyfriend Oliver, provide for the most enjoyable moments of the book. 

For being a relatively short book at 303 pages, the story dragged and I had to force myself to keep reading. While everything is explained in the end, for me it was too little, too late. This is going to be a series, but sadly I don’t think I’ll be giving it another try. It has received some good reviews though on Goodreads, so maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood. 

 

R.I.P. Harper Lee ~ 1926 – 2016

Tags

Harper Lee

Real courage is not when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

~ Harper Lee ~

Cheers! Happy National Drink Wine Day!

Tags

Humorous Quotes, National Drink Wine Day

In honor of this truly important day  – *hiccup* – here’s some funny quotes and gifs to help us celebrate.

“The doctor told me to drink more wine. Also, I’m calling myself the doctor now.”

~ Unknown ~

“Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.”

~ Benjamin Franklin ~

 

“Once we hit forty, women only have about four taste buds left: one for vodka, one for wine, one for cheese, and one for chocolate.”

~ Gina Barreca ~

“It doesn’t matter if the glass is half empty or half full. There is clearly more room for more wine.”

~ Unknown ~

“There are 13 minerals that are essential for human life, and all of them can be found in wine. Coincidence? I think not.

~ Unknown ~

 

“It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or fourteenth.”

~ George Burns ~

Northwoods ~ By Bill Schweigart – 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Adventure, Cryptozoology, Horror, Mythology, Native Americans, Science Fiction, Suspense

Thank you NetGalley and Hydra for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 1st, 2016

Synopsis: Ex-Delta Force Davis Holland, now an agent for the Customs and Border Protection, has seen it all. But nothing in his experience has prepared him for what he and the local sheriff find one freezing night in the Minnesota woods.

Investigating reports of an illegal border crossing, the two men stumble across a blood-drenched scene of mass murder, barely escaping with their lives…and a single clue to the mayhem: a small wooden chest placed at the heart of the massacre. Something deadly has entered Holland’s territory, crossing the border from nightmare into reality. 

When news of the atrocity reaches wealthy cryptozoologist Richard Severance, he sends a three-person team north to investigate. Not long ago, the members of that team–Ben McKelvie, Lindsay Clark, and Alex Standingcloud–were nearly killed by a vengeful shapeshifter. Now they are the walking wounded, haunted by gruesome memories that make normal life impossible. But there is nothing normal about the horror that awaits in the Northwoods.

Northwoods is a solid sequel to The Beast of Barcroft, that adds new characters while still managing to further developing returning favorites. While this can work as a standalone, you’ll get much more out of it if you read the first book.

Lindsay and Ben are both back, although they’re still dealing with the trauma and fallout of the previous events of last year. As in the previous book, things go better for them when they’re working together. Unfortunately for much of the book they’re separated, with Lindsay teaming up with Alex Standingcloud–also returning from the previous book–And Ben partnering with former Delta Force commando and now Customs and Border Patrol Agent Davis Holland.  Also making an appearance is charming but still untrustworthy billionaire and cryptozoologist Richard Severance. My one disappointment with this book is with the exception of a flashback to how Alex and Richard first met during a Wendigo investigation there’s not really much done with his character. I’m hoping more is revealed about the enigmatic scientist in the next book. The plot is incredibly fast paced, and although there’s many things going on such as: Native American myths, Jinn, and Ghouls, everything comes together in the final chapters. The ending perfectly sets events up for the next book which I can’t wait for.

Northwoods is an exciting tale that I finished in one sitting. Bill Schweigart is fast becoming a favorite author for me in the genres of horror and science fiction. If you’re a fan of authors like Stephen King and Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, and you’re looking for something new, try this author. I guarantee you’ll be hooked!

 

 

 

The Passenger ~ By Lisa Lutz – 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 1st, 2016

Synopsis: Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair Brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy-And dangerous-alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it…

Although The Passenger has some flaws, it’s a wild ride that is escapism at it’s best! 

I really liked Tanya despite her propensity for making truly awful decisions. She’s kind of a badass who has no problem defending herself, yet still comes across at being rather vulnerable. While the synopsis makes you think she’s some sort of professional chameleon-effortlessly changing identities from day to day-she’s not. She’s been betrayed and hurt and she’s desperate. At times she left me wondering what her true motivations were which made things even more interesting. The more she tries to run from her past, the more quickly it seems to be trying to catch up to her, until finally she decides she needs to go home and confront those who forced her to go on the run to begin with. There are other intriguing characters, particularly Blue–her temporary partner in crime who should really have her own story–and Dominic, her sort of love interest. But this is very much Tanya’s story and it’s told from her perspective which made me emphasize with her even more. The best part of the book is the mystery of who Tanya-Amelia-Debra-Jo, really is and what she is running from. The truth is ever so slowly revealed as the story unfolds. There are as many twists and turns in the plot as there are in Tanya’s crisscrossing the country which made it hard for me to tear myself away. There are some unrealistic moments such as her gaining 50 lbs in three weeks in order to change identities, and then losing the weight just as quickly. There’s also a few plot holes that are never filled, but the book is so fast-paced and exciting I found I didn’t mind these flaws as much as I ordinarily would. 

I’m a fan of Lisa Lutz’s Spellman Files series, but The Passenger is a huge departure from those humorous and light-hearted mysteries. It’s a fun, edgy, and exciting read though, which I finished in two days. I hope she writes more books like this in the future.

 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ~ By J. K. Rowling

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter fans mark your calendars! On July 31st, 2016 the eighth book in the series will be released! Here’s the official blurb:

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a new play by Jack Thorne, is the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. It will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on 30th, July 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.

So. Are you excited? Here’s how I feel:

  

And for those Harry Potter haters out there like my husband–I’ll just leave it at this: