by Kay | Apr 4, 2010 | Reviews |
Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson #2
Published by Orbit
Pages: 336
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased myself
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Also in this series: Moon Called, River MarkedUnder the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...
Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places - and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.
But this new vampire is hardly ordinary - and neither is the demon inside of him...
Thoughts: I absolutely loved Blood Bound. It had everything I could want in a good book – a great plot, a kick-ass heroine, a believable love triangle, and wolves.
But what makes the Mercy series so amazing is Mercy herself. Unlike a lot of protagonists – both male and female – she shows a fair amount of common sense. She doesn’t run in looking for trouble, errs on the side of caution, and refuses to sit around whining about her problems. Not to mention she has a work ethic I would pay good money for. Just because she was almost killed the night before is no excuse for not turning up to work the next day! Seriously. Mercy is one of the few characters whose judgement I trust implicitly.
Blood Bound focusses on the vampires in Briggs’ world – meaning Mystery-Machine-driving!vampire Stefan played a much bigger role than he had in Moon Called. Vampires are never good news in Briggs’ world, and Mercy finds herself thrown into the middle of yet another muddle she desperately wants to avoid. We learn so much about the verse in this book – and Mercy learns an awful lot about herself.
On the romance front, the triangle gets a bit of play while still remaining only a sub-plot. What I was most impressed at was Briggs’ ability to actually make me like Samuel. Even though I had long ago made my mind up that Adam was the one for Mercy, Briggs manages to make me understand Mercy’s hesitation in choosing. For me, this is pretty much a miracle (usually authors who mess with my OTP usually make me want to throw things.) The action in this book would have gotten it a 4.5 stars – but the romantic tension brought it up to the bloody spectacular level!
Bottom line? There is a reason this series is so damn popular. You need to start reading it… now.
by Kay | Apr 2, 2010 | Reviews |
Halfway to the Grave (DNF) by Jeaniene Frost
Series: Night Huntress #1
Published by Gollancz
Genres: Urban Fantasy
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Rating: Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father--the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.
In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner--are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.
I don’t like reviewing books that I haven’t finished – after all, how can I judge a whole book by only looking at part of it? But sometimes there are books that people love, while I had to struggle to get through 50 pages (which is when I allow myself to give up). So, I thought I would share my misery – a books that I was excited to read, have great reviews on goodreads, but I found utterly unendurable.
Feel free to snark back at me, as I haven’t been all that kind.
Average goodreads rating for Halfway to the Grave: 4.26
My rating: I could have bought Buffy DVDs with this money.
I was crazy excited to start this book. There must be a few hundred praising reviews about Cat and Bones and their epic hotness. What did I get from it? Buffy fanfiction. Now, Frost says that her character Bones is of absolutely no relation to Spike from BtVS. Well, even if that is the case, Bones is still his literary twin. People can come up with similar concepts independent from each other – I know. But seriously? A bleached, accented, cocky, luv’-and-darlin’-saying vampire? One was enough.
Besides my issues with Bones, I had also not been so crazy about Cat. She seemed angry at the world – especially vamps – when really she should have been pissed about her mother’s crappy parenting. But that wasn’t enough for me to even dislike her. Zero personality.
by Kay | Apr 1, 2010 | Reviews |
Fade Out (The Morganville Vampires, Book 7) by Rachel Caine
Bookdepository / Amazon UK / Amazon US
Librarything / Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 348
Summary: Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville, the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again…
Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve’s castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger—and way more dangerous—than anyone suspected.
Thoughts: I had been saving Fade Out because it was my last MV book until Kiss of Death comes out – I finally cracked and read it in a single go! Best 4 hours I’ve had in quite a while!
The book picks up a few months after the chaos of Carpe Corpus – and Morganville is living in relative peace. In fact, this book has less action than is typical for a Morganville book – which is still an awful lot! Caine’s books always pack a punch, and Fade Out is no exception.
A new girl throws all the group dynamics off balance, and it was great to watch how the characters dealt with a less violent disruption to their status quo. Especially Shane and Claire (bless them – I love these two) who are both desperately trying to be grown ups for each other – and not always succeeding. We also got some amazing insight into Myrinn, his relationship with Ada, and the mostly!platonic love between him and Claire. The Myrinn/Claire dynamic is probably my favourite in the series, and Caine really pushes it to its limits. We get a much clearer picture about how Myrinn feels about Claire – and up to what point Claire will have his back. I’ll stop there, because I don’t want to give anything away. Let’s just say that I love their interaction, and there is plenty of it in Fade Out!
Bottom line? Yet another amazing installation in the Morganville Series. A definite must!
by Kay | Mar 25, 2010 | Reviews |
Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires, Book 6) by Rachel Caine
Bookdepository / Amazon UK / Amazon US
Librarything / Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 384
Summary: In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace – until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He’s kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths.
He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants – the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?
Thoughts: Claire and co. are thrown through the wringer – again – in Carpe Corpus. This is Morganville as we have never seen it before – everything that was once only very dangerous becomes terrifyingly so. It seems even worse for poor Claire, as her parents decide that this book will be the perfect opportunity for them to visit their daughter! I loved seeing Claire deal with her parents on top of all the chaos – which makes me sound rather sadistic… hmm.
Carpe Corpus is probably the darkest of the Morganville books so far. There were a lot of game-changing events that will have long reaching consequences for both humans an vampires. It was also the first book where the group dynamics have not been solid. Because of the events in Lord of Misrule, Claire is all on her own at the start of the book – and this time it is not simply The Glass House vs. The World.
Bottom line? Yet again, you NEED to read this series. It is an action packed roller coaster ride of pure genius. Not to mention it is one of the few YA books out there totally dominated by the romance!
by Kay | Mar 20, 2010 | Reviews |
Untamed (House of Night, Book 4) by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Bookdepository / Amazon UK / Amazon US
Librarything / Goodreads
A word of WARNING: Although I do read the HoN books – I don’t actually think I could recommend them. They are filled with immature characters who aren’t all that bright and are my definition of the anti-role model. For some reason, I read them despite the fact I occasionally want to set them on fire.
Rating: 3 stars
Pages: 411
Summary: Life sucks when your friends are pissed at you. Just ask Zoey Redbird – she’s become an expert on suckiness. In one week she has gone from having three boyfriends to having none, and from having a close group of friends who trusted and supported her, to being an outcast. Speaking of friends, the only two Zoey has left are undead and unMarked. And Neferet has declared war on humans, which Zoey knows in her heart is wrong. But will anyone listen to her? Zoey’s adventures at vampyre finishing school take a wild and dangerous turn as loyalties are tested, shocking true intentions come to light, and an ancient evil is awakened in PC and Kristin Cast’s spellbinding fourth House of Night novel.
Review: Untamed is a huge improvement from the car-wreck that was Chosen. For once, Zoey starts out with zero boyfriends – and zero friends, for that matter. A lot of the book is spent with Zoey trying to make amends – not sure whether or not she succeeds, to be honest – and introducing the new Big Bad.
On that front, Big!Bad!Kalona gets an intresting introduction in Untamed – but he will unfortunately become a real pain in the later books. One thing I did like was the character Stark – who has definitely become my front runner on the future-boyfriends-of-Zoey front. He’s an archer that can never miss, and he’s the only character in the book with a dog. *hugs* Aphrodite is as enjoyable as always – uber-bitch with a secret good streak – and gosh, don’t I wish the latter HoN books were in her POV…
Bottom line? Big improvement from Chosen, Untamed was really quite enjoyable. If you’ve made it this far, it’s a must.
by Kay | Mar 15, 2010 | Reviews |
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Series: Study #2on 2012-08-15
Pages: 400
Genres: High Fantasy
Source: Purchased myself
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Also in this series: Poison Study, Shadow StudyYelena is a survivor. Kidnapped as a child, held prisoner as a teen, then released to act as a poison taster, she is now a student of magic. But these magic skills place her in imminent danger, and with an execution order on her head, she has no choice but to escape to Sitia, the land of her birth.
But nothing in Sitia is familiar. As she struggles to understand where she belongs and how to control her powers, a rogue magician emerges and Yelena catches his eye. Suddenly she is embroiled in a situation not of her making. And once again her magical abilities will either save her life or be her downfall.
Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.
If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies.
Thoughts: I absolutely adored Magic Study – this series is definite must!
We are introduced to the diverse, magical world of Sitia – and God is it an amazing place! I am not usually a verse-lover, but Snyder has a way of changing my mind. She also manages to incorporate a few subtle messages about poverty in a capitalist society – there’s no preaching, but she does use the fantasy world to make a point or two about our own society. It’s old school and totally made me smile.
Snyder manages to introduce a variety of different cultures and locations without bogging the book down with information. Same goes for the characters – although there were a lot of new faces, it was never overwhelming.
Luckily, Valek did manage to make his way into the book. I’d been worried about him, and although he is not as central to the plot as he was in Poison Study, he was equally as amazing. Seriously, this man gives me tingles. *sighs* As for Yelena, she now officially joins Mercy (from the Patricia Briggs Series) as a female lead whose judgement I actually trust. And that I like her is a lovely bonus.
Bottom line? The Study Series is a must read! The quality has been consistent as the series goes on – which is a rare gift nowadays. I’d recommend this to everyone I know – romance readers, literary fiction readers, mystery lovers, fantasy addicts… anyone and everyone!
Cover note: The US have stunning adult trade paperbacks – which I have included in my reviews, even though I can’t seem to get my hands on any of them. The series has quite a few editions, and Snyder has conveniently
posted all the covers on her site so that you can choose your favourite. ♥
