ARC Review: The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin

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* Andy Gavin is also having an awesome giveaway to celebrate the promotion. You can join the giveaway here. *

Author: Andy Gavin

Title: The Darkening Dream

Source: Author

About the Book: Even as the modern world pushes the supernatural aside in favor of science and steel, the old ways remain. God, demon, monster, and sorcerer alike plot to regain what was theirs.

1913, Salem, Massachusetts – Sarah Engelmann’s life is full of friends, books, and avoiding the pressure to choose a husband, until an ominous vision and the haunting call of an otherworldly trumpet shake her. When she stumbles across a gruesome corpse, she fears that her vision was more of a premonition. And when she sees the murdered boy moving through the crowd at an amusement park, Sarah is thrust into a dark battle she does not understand.
With the help of Alex, an attractive Greek immigrant who knows a startling amount about the undead, Sarah sets out to uncover the truth. Their quest takes them to the factory mills of Salem, on a midnight boat ride to spy on an eerie coastal lair, and back, unexpectedly, to their own homes. What can Alex’s elderly, vampire-hunting grandfather and Sarah’s own rabbi father tell them? And what do Sarah’s continuing visions reveal?
No less than Gabriel’s Trumpet, the tool that will announce the End of Days, is at stake, and the forces that have banded to recover it include a 900 year-old vampire, a trio of disgruntled Egyptian gods, and a demon-loving Puritan minister. At the center of this swirling cast is Sarah, who must fight a millennia-old battle against unspeakable forces, knowing the ultimate prize might be herself.

 

My Thoughts: 

Too much of a good thing....

Rounded down to two stars. This book felt like a potentially delicious meal that was spoiled by having to many spices in it. It could have been very good, but there was simply too much going on for me to enjoy it very much.

Sarah Engelmann, daughter to a Jewish rabbi, is having an afternoon picnic with her Christian friends along with Greek newcomer Alex, when she sees a corpse who was tortured before he was murdered. The next day, when she sees selfsame corpse walking through the village fair, she knows something is up, because it is weird, to say the least, to have a dead body walking about in broad daylight. The book details the adventure Sarah, Alex, Sam, and Anne have in getting to the bottom of this dead-man-walking issue.

The time, effort, and research that Mr. Gavin put into his book is very evident, and so I am sorry to say that it did not work for me, but there you have it.

The characters were sensible, but they behaved completely wrongly for their setting. I could not believe these were teens from 1913, and that threw me out of the flow of the story several times. They acted like 21st-century kids, and not ones I'd expect from 1913. At all.

The writing was good, but again, there was too much going on, too many characters in the midst. Sarah's POV, Alex's POV, Emily's POV, Pastor Parris' POV, al-Nasir's POV..... too many narrators.

Additionally, the mythology didn't work very well for me. I loved the vampiric mythology, but the mix of religions just did my head in. One moment Christian thought and philosophy, the other moment, Jewish, the next, Islamic, all along with I believe, Greek mythology and ancient Egyptian religion. I think there was a succubus in there as well (at least that is what I understood Betty to be). It was just too much, and I reiterate that it did not work for me. Just one or two of the elements mentioned would have led to a much tighter story, I believe, instead of the melange we got. Getting towards the end, I did find myself skimming some parts, because I couldn't be bothered anymore. The ending threw me for a loop. The twist was brilliant, but I was not impressed with Sarah's decision  because it seemed very out-of-character.

An overabundance of good elements, brought this book down.

Too many spices messed this broth up for me big time. It could have been really awesome though. :(
I would like to know more about what happened to Sarah, but if ever there is a sequel, and if it does read like this, I might opt not to read it.

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

 

Review: The Shape of Desire by Sharon Shinn

Author: Sharon Shinn
Title: The Shape of Desire
Series: Shifting Circle #1
Pages: 336
Source: Owned

For fifteen years Maria Devane has been desperately, passionately in love with Dante Romano. But despite loving him with all of her heart and soul, Maria knows that Dante can never give all of himself back-at least not all the time.
Every month, Dante shifts shape, becoming a wild animal. During those times, he wanders far and wide, leaving Maria alone. He can't choose when he shifts, the transition is often abrupt and, as he gets older, the time he spends in human form is gradually decreasing. But Maria, who loves him without hesitation, wouldn't trade their unusual relationship for anything.
Since the beginning, she has kept his secret, knowing that their love is worth the danger. But when a string of brutal attacks occur in local parks during the times when Dante is in animal form, Maria is forced to consider whether the lies she's been telling about her life have turned into lies she's telling herself...

I am a huge fan of Sharon Shinn, and have been looking forward to this book for almost a year now. Having read it, it is different from Ms. Shinn's usual work in that it is set in the real world, in present-day Missouri, and reads more like magical realism than fantasy. I enjoyed it very much, but it was different.

Maria Devane has been in love with Dante for fifteen years. Dante is a shapeshifter, and as the years have gone by, he spends more and more time in his animal shape, so that he is human only a few days a month. Maria's whole life revolves around keeping Dante's secret and she lives for the moments she can be with him in his human form.

The story is quite slow-paced, but I think that was the point. It's not an epic tale, or one filled with adventure; not a lot of things happen. It's the simple story of Maria life, her daily routine, and the brief moments of happiness she has with Dante. It's about the strain of keeping his secret, of choosing to be in a relationship, which although it makes her happy, is not entirely healthy and balanced.

In the end, we find out it's also about Dante, his motivations, and the choices he's made; the new choices he can choose to make.

The issues that arise in Maria's life around the choices she makes concerning Dante, and how she reacts to issues in the lives of the people around her provides a lot of food for thought - both for Maria and for me as a reader. There are no easy answers.

It's a slow story. But it is also a simple and heartfelt story, told with grace and stark beauty, with complex characters who have complex motivations, who make difficult choices.

I waited a year for this, and although it was not what I expected at the end of that wait, I was not disappointed at all. Of course I recommend it - it's Sharon Shinn!!

★★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

N/A

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #1
Glass Houses by Rachel Caine
My rating: ★★★½


I don't know if my rating is fair or not, because I rated the last Rachel Caine I read 3 sars, and I enjoyed Glass Houses way more than that one. The book had some seriously good moments. But it also had seriously iffy moments, hence the 3-star rating, I guess.

Claire Danvers is a 16-year old genius who had the chance to attend any college she wanted - but her parents made her go to some backwater college in Morganville, not too far away from home. That stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Any Ghanaian parent who's child was smart enough to be accepted to some of the best universities in the world would ship them off. First. Chance. They. Got - because a good education makes all the difference. (Again, this is a story about a sheltered American kid. Not Ghanaian. I get that. But still. I was like, are you kidding me, really?)

But never mind. Rachel goes off to college and finds herself in the sights of a clique of really, really mean girls. Because of their meanness, she flees college and finds accomodation and friends at the Glass House. This one bugged me a lot. If Claire was 12 years old and going to 9th grade at Morganville High School, it would have been perfect. Not College. I mean, 18 or 19-year old girls behaving like this? No. Oh they can still be mean, but it's more innocuous and sinister than this.

Claire also behaved more like she was 10 or 12 years old than like a sensible person who's 16 years old, much less someone who's a genius.

That notwithstanding, it was a good story. I liked the inhabitants of the Glass House - Michael, Eve, and Shane. And while I did think something was weird about Oliver, I did not see that twist coming. It made for a very awesome climax.

The resolution is the final issue I had with the book. I don't like cliffhangers, especially ones that come out of nowhere. Grr. But yeah, I'll be reading the next book in series when I can get my hands on it.

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Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Study #3
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
★★★

This has been a disappointing end to what had the potential to be an awesome series. Perhaps Poison Study should have wrapped up neatly and been a stand-alone novel. After reading Magic Study and Fire Study, I feel as if they were superfluous, and actually don't add much to Yelena's character.

I was a bit tired of this long-distance 'love' between Yelena and Valek, since they almost never saw each other.

I was also not enamored of the plot, especially of this book. It felt fillerish and caused Yelena and other characters to do very stupid things you wouldn't see anyone with a modicum of intelligence doing, just so the story could be moved along.

I mean, for those who have read the books - how stupid does one have to be, to not kill Cahil after his constant foolishness which ends up putting people in mortal danger? How stupid does Cahil himself have to be, to go about every single time,hanging out with fools and murderers and doing horrible things (beating Yelena) and then realize the error of his ways and come asking for forgiveness? How stupid do you have to be not to know that the people you are hanging with are not good when they're capturing people and killing them for blood rituals, when even children are included among their captives? Just petty stupidities like that - from Yelena, Lord Marrok...just about everyone except Valek.

I felt this diluted the quality of the characters, after all, they can't be so great if they're so stupid, can they? And I do think somewhat less of Yelena now. Valek, and perhaps, Ari and Janco, are the only characters whom I felt maintained their integrity.

If Maria Snyder had stopped at book one, or come up with completely different plots for books two and three, she might have had a proper winner on her hand.

I read somewhere that someone read somewhere that Ms. Snyder had originally intended Poison study to be a stand-alone novel, and wrote it accordingly. But the publisher had wanted more than one book (prolly to make more money) and so she'd changed the ending to an open-ended one and come up with this trilogy. If that is the case (and I can certainly see how that could have been the case), then it's a major fail on Ms. Snyder's part and the part of her publishers.

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Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
★


I feel terrible writing such a review about a Robin McKinley book, but truth be told, this book was abysmal. Goodness, was it awful! Ugh!

This book is supposed to be a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The original authors, if they were alive, ought to sue for defamation of character, this book is so awful. It started of delightfully enough, with a quirky description a a land filled with magic. That is the first two pages, and the ONLY time this book feels like it will be worth reading. The remaining 427 pages are bogged down with meaningless description. I understand what Ms. McKinley was trying to do, but very few books are able to make superfluous description and unwanted narrative observations work for them - The Princess Bride is one of very few that does this excellently. Excellent, this book was not. It was a spectacular failure is what it was.

The plot of this book is the exact same as the Disney story, with the exception that if Briar Rose and her fairy godmother had been real, you could have shot them and no one would prosecute you, they were so awful. Briar rose especially.

I can't think of a single good thing to say about this book. I endured for about 60% of the 420-odd pages, skimmed some, and then skipped about 4 chapters when i couldn't take it anymore. Would that I had DNFed this after the first few page, it was so torturous.

RUN AWAY FROM THIS BOOK!! - in the other direction, as far and as fast as your legs will carry you

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Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Unbound #1
Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent
★★★★

I am giving this one 4 stars, but I might change it to 5 stars. I gotta think about it.

I told Mimi this book was "good in a bad way", and this review will be my attempt to explain it. *It might be spoilerish, so if you don't wanna read them...*

I also just saw Kristen's status update for this book, and she is like, "Oh no! This book is an emotional roller coaster already and we haven't gotten anywhere yet!" I know exactly how she feels.

Let me start with the good
1. Whatever else I might say about her, however much I can complain about some aspect of her storytelling, Rachel Vincent has mad world building skills. It is her peculiar strength. She creates these worlds that just stand out from all the worlds in the (urban?) fantasy genre.

This time around, she introduces us to a world divided along the lines of Skilled and UnSkilled people. From what I understand, there are 12 skills, among them Binders, who can seal any oath and make it binding, Trackers, who can track people by name or through blood, Seers (self-explanatory), Travelers, who can travel anywhere through shadows..... and I don't think she mentioned about the other 8. Yes - pure awesomeness. I want to know more about a world like that, don't you?

2. Her other skill is engaging the reader. I am completely focused when I pick up one of her books. I don't skim pages, And I am not impatient to get to the end (sure, I peek sometimes, but I always go back and patiently read from where I was straight through till the end).

Then the bad (or it's still more good, depending on how you look at it).
1. Her characters often make me violent - I want to slap some sense into them half the time. When I don't want to kill them, I'm rooting for them.

Olivia, Anne, Kori, and Noelle were four childhood friends fooling around who managed to bind themselves with an oath to help each other no matter what. Unbeknownst to them, they were all skilled. Anyway, Liv is a very powerful bloodhound - she can track anyone so long as she has a whiff off their blood. Anne invokes the oath when she sends Liv on a mission to track and kill her husband's murderer. Which brings me to the first person I want to smack to high heaven and beyond: Anne. Stupid. Selfish. Despicable. How in the world do you force someone into danger because of revenge for your dead husband? Emphasis on dead. If that thug had been slightly more skilled, Liv would be dead, and there would be no story. Your dead husband is not worth more than your living friend's life or your petty desire for revenge. Simple as that. Endangering Liv to track your missing daughter is understandable, but not this. Never this. Anyway. I never liked Anne, not even when she was doing her 'protective, loving mother' outbursts - it just rang hollow and selfish to me. I don't like her.

Then Liv. A prophecy that she and Cam would be the death of each other prompts her to leave him without a word. No explanation no nothing. WTH? That is not noble, or remotely okay. It is an incredibly selfish thing to do is what it is! Why would you do that to someone you claim you love? Oy.

Then Cam. the girl you loved and was going to ask to marry you ups and leaves without a word, so what do you do? Sleep with Anne, her best friend. No, he couldn't just get stupendously drunk or get into a fight. Caramba. Now you see why I say this book is good in a bad way?

The novel is told from alternating 1st person POV of Cam and Liv, and the world that is revealed through their eyes as they fight to track Anne's daughter is fascinating. It is also raw and gritty. This is a story about desperate people trying to survive in a harsh and unrelenting world. And you come to see and understand them, you understand the choices they make (except that Anne, yuck!) enough to get past their nonsense to root for them and wish for their HEA. In some respects, the ending was rather poignant (just a fancy word for sad :( )

You can bet you I will be preordering book 2 in this series, Shadow Bound. Book 1 comes highly recommended. This world is one you have to experience for yourself.

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Under Her Skin by Frost, Andrews, and Brook

Under Her Skin by Jeaniene Frost
My rating:★★★★

Pack - 3 stars
This is Jeaniene Frost's novellita, a tale of a girl bitten by a werewolf while on a hike in the park. It was a good story while it lasted, but very forgettable after that.

In Sheep's Clothing - 4 stars
Jill Myles' contribution was a rather sweet story about a werewolf who was abducted by a highway killer *shudders*. It wasn't bad at all, although I did notice that the werewolf acted more like a friendly domestic dog than like a werewolf :) Also a rather forgettable story.

Grace of Small Magics - 5 stars
Ilona Andrews' entry was the rather Stockholm Syndrome-like story about a girl bondservant to a powerful magical family. It was very interesting, packed quite a punch, and...was rather cheesy. It was also quite twisted. Loved it ^_^. 4 stars for the story, 1 more for originality.

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Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Study #2
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: ★★★½

Magic Study continues where the previous book left off. Yelena is now in Sitia and has a whole new set of issues to face and adversities to overcome. It was a good installment in the study series, I guess. I liked it and it held my attention (which is what good books are supposed to do) but I do think it fell short of Poison Study.

I enjoyed seeing Yelena's parents and how much they had loved her, even in absentia. However, I missed the old crew. I wasn't interested in Dax, or Fisk, or any of the new people Yelena came to know. When she was interacting with those people, it felt wrong to me, and so I spent that time sorely missing Ari and Janco instead. I missed Valek :(.

One thing about the book I loved was that Sitia seemed slightly familiar. Then i realized I had seen Sitia before. There were references to Touch of Power and the events that will happen in that trilogy. It seems ToP took place about a century and a half before the Study series :)

The story picked up substantially when the old crew came back into the picture, but by then, the story was too far gone to bring it to a really good level of awesomeness.




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Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: ★★★★

"I am not a fool," says Yelena, and damn straight she isn't. After all, only fools would turn down the offer of becoming the Commander's food taster in favor of the gallows.

Even so, Yelena finds that being a food taster is far more than she had bargained for. The book chronicles Yelena's life as a food taster, and how she comes into her own and finds love, friends, and alla that jazz.

I like the heroes and heroines Ms. Snyder creates. And the stories she tells. This is my second book by her, and she had me hook, line, and sinker. Never a dull moment. She had me and didn't let me go till the very end. And even there, I wanted more.

After reading about Valek, I need to go find me an assassin boyfriend who can make the wryest, funniest comments with a straight face. His lines were gold.

I knew about this book, but was dragging my feet. Thank you, Sans for reminding me to read this one ASAP.

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Gift of Magic by Lynn Kurland

Gift of Magic by Lynn Kurland
My rating:★★★

In one word, this book was a disappointing finish to the story of Ruithneadh and Sarah in particular and the tale of the Nine Kingdoms is general.

It's not that the story wasn't well told. It was. The writing was truly beautiful, and the world sprawled out like only epic fantasy can, and the names were right. It is a pet peeve of mine to read fantasy with names that sound fake - it spoils the whole story. Well, the names of people and places in this series, although unpronounceable, fit perfectly. So it was good book. It could easily have been a four or five star book, but it ended up a three because...it was just an anticlimax. Really, it was. The whole epic culmination of the novel was just blah.

In addition, the book had way too much repetition. Since book four Ruith had been whining about his magic. "Oh look at me, poor boy, I am a powerful magician, but my dad was evil. Never mind that everyone else in my family tree is a wonderful noble incorruptible person and I aspire to be like them, my dad was really evil, so I'll be evil too. Woe is me, woe is me." That was Ruith from book #4, when he was introduced, to the final 10% of this book when he realizes that he's nothing like his dad. Duh! And every 15 seconds, we were being reminded that he spent time running around with Miach of Neroche being troublesome and stealing spells when they were 10 years old. Every fifteen seconds. It happened over 20 years ago, and was repeated <i>ad nauseum</i> through the series, even from Miach's section - so that makes 6 books through which we've been hearing this. It became annoying after the 3rd mention in the first book. And we also heard way too much about Miach. This wasn't his book, and he didn't have any substantial part to play. i just didn't see the need to be reminded of him every few pages. Sarah also just spent half the book whining about not having any magic, even though she could dreamweave, and going on and on about not being princess enough for Ruith, even though her mom and dd came from distinguished royal families: every fifteen seconds too. Argh!

I think this might be the end of the <u>Nine Kingdoms</u> series, in which case I'm sad to part with a great cast of characters and a good epic story; but this ending didn't do it's characters or the series much justice at all.

ETA: No it's not the end of the series I hear tell Ms. Kurland  is working on a set of books for Runach! So we'll see them again.
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Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: ★★★★★

Wow.

Avry is a healer, a member of a profession that once once respected and revered across the 15 realms. You see, healers work their magic by absorbing other people's sicknesses into themselves, and then fighting the illness off - healers can do this because they heal ten times faster than normal people. Nowadays, healers are hunted criminals because they are thought to be responsible for the plague that spread throughout the kingdoms and killed about two-thirds of the population. So for the past three years, Avry is on the run. A decision to heal a little girl proves her undoing. She is captured and sentenced to death. But then Kerrick and his men step in and rescue her in return for her journeying with them to heal a friend of theirs. Avry later find out that this friend is Prince Ryne, the man she holds personally responsible for the hatred of healers. Touch of Power is about the journey to Prince Ryne.

This is a fantabulous story. I can't say enough good things about it - the prose, the characters..everything about this book was fantastic. I was engaged from beginning to end, from the very first word to the last. The plot twists were simple and very effective, and the prose is gold.

Avry is a wonderful character. She didn't so much as grow as blossom as the novel progresses. She is a wonderful: very self-assured and quick to remind others of her own agency. She owns her decisions and never lets others force her to do things she doesn't want to do. Even under duress, she manages to do things on her own terms. I never once felt her to be helpless, even though she found herself in helpless situations. She is smart, mature, assertive, resourceful, and able to reason, and learn to get past her prejudices; she is a stickler for doing the right thing. She is one of the best YA heroines I've ever read.

Kerrick. He didn't grow wither; or blossom. Rather, he unfolded. Watching his development was like watching a tightly coiled flower open up to the sun. And as he opens up, you see a different sort of man: not the man who backhands Avry, or is willing to forfeit his best friend's life, but the one who is strong, loyal, and wants so desperately to save the world from the horror of Tohon. I loved him too.

Belen, Quain, Vinn, and Flea were wonderful, and it was a treat to spend time with them.

Ms. Snyder also writes some great villains. I could see Tohon and Daneen and Jael in my mind's eye so clearly, essentially very spoiled brats. Well, Daneen has very extenuating circumstances to excuse her, but that doesn't change the fact that some sense ought to be severely beaten into her. Tohon sends chills down my spine. I can't wait to see how all of this will resolve and for them to get their comeuppance.

I hear tell this is the ninth novel by Ms. Snyder. If the others are anything like this one (and I have it on Sans' authority that they are), then it means eight absolute gems of books are somewhere in the world waiting for me to get my hands on them!

*I received this ebook free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent

Never to Sleep by Rachel Vincent
My rating: ★★★

It should be 2.5 stars, really.

Ms. Vincent can write some wonderfully nuanced characters. Unfortunately, she failed in this attempt. Sophie is still the self-centered jerk she has always been. Sure, she's resourceful and assertive, but that is to be expected. Most girls don't get to be one of the most popular girls in their cliques by being just a mean girl.

Luca is a new character that was introduced in this novella, and it seems he'll play some sort of role in Before I Wake. But I am glad for Sophie's little adventure in the underworld. It's about time she got introduced into the family business.

I also had to laugh when she thought Kaylee could never have handled the underworld! if only you knew, Ms. Sophia, if only you knew!

All in all, I think you can skip this novella and not be the worse off for it.

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If I Die by Rachel Vincent

Soul Screamers #5
If I Die by Rachel Vincent
My rating: ★★★★★

This is not going to end well.

You have to hand it to Rachel Vincent. She can write fabulously. I ran the gamut of emotions reading this book - from exasperation, annoyance, anger, foreboding, anticipation, triumph, sadness, defeat, expectancy, to disappointment - and it has left me exhausted. So I can't NOT give this one five stars.

This is probably the best book in the series. The story was well-told and held my attention from beginning to end. I love how consistent the rules of Ms. Vincent's world are. No second chances. You die a second time, you die. And she didn't change that for Kaylee. I loved that

I have never been a fan of Nash - right from the very beginning, I thought him shallow, rude, arrogant, spoiled and selfish, egotistical, idiotic, hypocritical, horrible, unpleasant; I see nothing redeemable in him. He had never done anything without selfish intent. Even his reactions to Kaylee choosing Tod proved me right. There was one tiny moment where I felt sympathy for him, and then he had to make a string of bad decisions that just show how selfish, uncaring, and self-centered he is. I will NEVER be TEAM NASH or support anything he does because he is such a horrible character. But even he didn't deserve this, this...triangle. Having your girlfriend break up with you because of your dead brother is just..incestuous and horrible. Ugh! I hate Nash!

Kaylee. In this book, she grew up. Finally. I guess news of your own very imminent death does that to a person. Rachel Vincent did a fantastic job of showing Kaylee's maturity here, and I was surprised to find myself rooting for her in this one.

Tod was a shining star in this one, the foil to his horrible brother. Of course he has his flaws, and his selfish motives, but he genuinely cares about his family and his friends, genuinely loves them, and genuinely wants to see them happy. Not perfect, but his heart is truly in the right place. Basically a decent human being and then some. But still, not like this. Tod! What were you thinking?!

Sabine is a witch with a capital B. Amoral. Just as horrible as Nash, and those two deserve each other.

Dammit Tod, Dammit Kaylee!!! This isn't going to end well.



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Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews

The Edge #3
Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews
My rating: ★★★★½

★★★★½


Hot Damn.

This was some pretty excellent reading, and made my day very well-spent.

Audrey and Kaldar are beyond awesome as characters - two skilled thieves trying to score one for the good guys. And as I've said elsewhere, if I wasn't too old, and if I lived in the world of The Edge, and if bigamy wasn't against the law, I'd marry them when they grew up. And if Gaston was human, him too. Yep, I want them all.

But I will say this. I defintely think FATE'S EDGE is the best of the Edge books, but ON THE EDGE REMAINS my favorite. (If you care to know, I didn't like Cerise and William's story). Fate's Edge felt a bit like theirs for me (Cerise and William, that is, not Rose and Declan's). The writing was perfect, and Kaldar and Audrey were perfect for each other. But they...didn't bring it. I don't know how to explain it, because I would be the first to say the story is excellent, the tension nearly gave me a heart attack, and I was giggling like an idiot during the moments of levity. It worked for me; it worked very well for me. But still.

The love. That was one of the factors that didn't "bring it." I mean, I felt the love, and I saw the love, but it just passed the screen. It didn't come out of the blue, but then it wasn't developed fully. Argh! This is too hard to put in words.

It's a great book. I loved it. I loved all the characters; I can't WAIT for the villains to get their comeuppance; Kaldar and Audrey are great; George and Jack and Gaston are excellent; Rose and Declan light up my life.

Highly recommended. What else can I do? It's an Ilona Andrews book. Of course it is excellent. It goes without saying.

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Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: ★★★★★

I love Neil Gaiman.

I love the animated version of Coraline
(I watched it long before I had any idea that the book existed), and let me tell you, that movie doesn't do this book any justice at all.

Well anyway, I just got around to reading it and it was fantastic, as expected.

Neil Gaiman's descriptions are gold. As I was reading it, I had the distinct feeling that this was Coraline's book, ie. that a small girl was telling her story, not an adult telling a young girl's story. It's wonderful, just like I knew it would be.

In (Gaiman's) own words, his book tells the story of Coraline, who was small for her age and who would find herself in the darkest danger. By the time it was over, she would find what lay behind mirrors, have a close call with a bad hand, and come face-to-face wither her other mother; she'd rescue her true parents from a fate worse than death and triumph against overwhelming odds.

He also says it's the weirdest book he's written and the book he's most proud of.
I say he's right.

Gaiman said he wrote a book that children would experience as an adventure and that that gave adults nightmares. He is right. It does give me the creeps (both the book and the movie). I loved it and highly recommend it!

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The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark
My rating: ★★★★
Callie McFay is hired by a college in the small town of Fairwick. While there, an incubus comes to her in her dreams at night, seducing the life out of her, literally. Incidentally, it seems to be the same incubus that tormented her dreams when she was younger. As she settles into the town she realizes that the townspeople are not your normal, run-of-the-mill townspeople. Instead they are a motley assortment of witches, vamps, demons and other otherworldly creatures. To save Callie they must banish her demon lover from her dreams before he manages to suck her life out.

The book is categorized under romance, but it didn't read like one.This book the same dark and serious tone that Rebecca has. The book is not fast paced. It is a meaty ride that takes us deep into the town of Fairwick and the lives of its ensemble characters. It got to a point I couldn't accurately remember who was who, but that didn't dampen my enjoyment. I liked seeing the lives of the other characters. The books also starts slowly, but once I acclimatized to the pace, I started to enjoy myself.

Ms. Dark's book is written in painstaking detail, with great finesse, and it shows. I found myself involved with the characters, eager to see what would happen, despite my misgivings. At the beginning, I wasn't so sure I was enjoying the book. Callie could be annoying sometimes, and I felt the whole situation with her human boyfriend Paul was extraneous and did not even need to be included. But as I plodded on, I realised I was enjoying myself, immensely so. I liked it a lot. If Ms. Dark were to write a sequel to this, I would get it.

*I received this eARC free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*


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My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

Soul Screamers #2
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent
My rating: ★★★

Sigh.
Writing a review for this series is really hard.
Because I absolutely cannot stand Kaylee and Nash, the two protagonists.
So that immediately colors whatever view I have of the book/my enjoyment of it.
So why do I continue to read this, you might ask.
Well, because Rachel Vincent has managed to combine some really excellent writing with really excellent imagination to create a fascinating mythology and tale. I want more of that. So I put up with the idiocy that are Kaylee and Nash. And almost all her other characters. I tell ya, the story would be s much more excellent without almost all of them.

Especially Nash. His selfishosity and arrogance and self-absorbance is mind-boggling. I still can't get over how crassly he treats Tod, who's his (dead) older brother. He doesn't treat Kaylee much better either. CAN'T STAND THIS DUDE! IhatehimIhatehimIhatehim!

Kaylee is not much better than Nash. Added to her usual God-complex and her selfishosity, is hypocrisy.She was horrified Tod would be so heartless as to offer another soul for Addison's body (because she'd been his girlfriend while he was alive.. Um, Hello, Ms. Kaylee - you did the exact same for your best friend Emma. And all you do is go on and on about how you don't regret replacing Emma's soul with someone else's. So what makes you so special? Or give you the right to be horrified at Tod's (rather reprehensible) actions? OMG, I don't like her either. But not as much as I hate Nash. Those two deserve each other.

Tod - my so-called favorite character in this series, was much more of an ass in this book than in the first. He was just as selfish as Kaylee, and his sneaking in on Kaylee and Nash was just icky and an a**hole move (sorry Mom :D - no other way to describe it). That and deliberately misleading Kaylee even though he knew full well she could die in the Netherworld. So yes, he grated on my nerves in this one and I dislike him as much as I do Kaylee now. But not like Nash. No one is as detestable as Nash.

I also still think Kaylee's dad is an idiot (and the person from whom Kaylee got her self-absorbance/judgmentalism/selfishosity from - in this case the apple didn't fall far from the tree. At all). But now I am beginning to believe Nash's mom is an idiot too.

So there you have it. A well-written book whose characters I absolutely dislike.
I take two stars off for that.

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Angels of Darkness (anthology)

Angels of Darkness by Ilona Andrews
My rating: ★★★★

This is one of my favorite anthologies till date, as it contains 3 of my very favorite authors.


Alphas: Origins, by Ilona Andrews - 5 stars
I loved this one. Skill and versatiity from two authors I adore. The writing is so different from the typical Ilona Andrews voice and I am excited. I am excited for a new series (fingers crossed), hopefully starring Lucas and Karina.


Nocturne, by Sharon Shinn - 5 stars
My favorite. Sharon Shinn writes with elegance and an understated beauty that drags you unawares into her stories. My favorite parts of the story was the legacy Rachel and Gabriel left Samaria, and any mentions of them made me smile.

Angel's Wolf, by Nalini Singh - 4 stars
Enjoyable story.

Ascension, by Meljean Brook - 2 stars
Now I am not familiar with Meljean's Guardians series, so it could be why I had such a problem getting into it. It was my least favorite story, and the one I thought was least well-written. I didn't enjoy either the hero or heroine, and while I felt their lust, i felt nothing else for them.

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Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews

Kinsmen #1
Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews
My rating: ★★★★

4 stars.

5 stars for the story. I took one star off for the heroine. Silent Blade is a sci-fi short story by Ilona Andrews, one of my favorite authors. As always with them, the narrative delivery is excellent, and I was intrigued by what I was reading.
I did not like Meli, the heroine. To be sure, her backstory is rather heartbreaking Due to the politics of her time/society, she’s basically left to become a spinster when her betrothed decides to break the engagement , but I did not feel that her decisions were justified. She chose to use her talents as an armed thug for her family, who I felt were bullies, notwithstanding the politics/culture of their society. So she didn’t have any sympathy from me.
The hero made some bad decisions in the past re: spurning Meli without stopping to think about the consequences for her and is not the most endearing person in the present, but I did come out with the feeling that he had more honor than Meli.
I enjoyed the story very much though, and am waiting with bated breath for the sequel, Silver Shark.


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Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

*Reviewed in July 2011*

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

My rating: ★★

This is the first Ilona Andrews book that didn't do it for me.

ON THE EDGE was their very first book I read - and it took me a while to warm up to it, but when i finally did, it was great. BAYOU MOON... not so much.

The writing was good as it always is with Ilona Andrews, but I just couldn't get into it. for one, I didn't care for/about the characters. Cerise was just there and William too. The plot was also just there. I saw it all unfolding and I just kept wondering when it would come to a resolution. I just didn't care. In the end the only saving grace of the book is that is a well-written book. However, the plot and the characters are not at all engaging.


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