ARC Review: The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin

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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: Oracle's Moon by Thea Harrison

Author: Thea Harrison

Title: Oracle's Moon

Series: Elder Races #4

He will watch over her...

In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, an untested young woman must claim her place as the Oracle—and contend with a powerful Djinn who has decided to become a part of her life...

As a second daughter, Grace Andreas never had to worry about the intrigues of the Elder Races. But when her sister, Petra, and Petra's husband are both killed, Grace inherits the Power and responsibilities of the Oracle of Louisville, as well as her sister's two young children—neither of which she is prepared for.

Yet, she is not alone. Khalil, Demonkind and Djinn prince of House Marid—driven by his genuine caring for the children—has decided to make himself a part of the household both as their guardian and as an exasperating counterpoint to Grace's impudence toward the Elder Races.

But when an attempt is made on Grace's life, she realizes that Khalil is the only one who can protect her—and offer her more than a mortal man...

My Thoughts:

Hmph.

I debated whether or not to write review for this one, considering that I was ready to write off the series after Book 3, but here I am, so what the heck.

I rated this one 3 butterflies keeping the other books in series very much in mind and not on its own merit. I am not sure the rating would be higher if considered on it's own merit.

The strongest and probably only reaction I had to this book after finishing was supreme indifference. Nothing happens in the book. Really. Nothing happens. Grace and Khalil were thrown together at the beginning and there they remained till the end (well, it's not exactly true that nothing happens - there is some drama in the final 40 pages of the book, but by then we've been through 302 pages of nothing, so those pages don't count).

There is no sense of rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, no real conflict..... nada. Zilch. That in itself isn't a bad thing. Sometimes the journey a story takes you through is the destination. This was not one of those books or stories for me.

I guess it was a good story. But it was like a beautiful mannequin as opposed to a living, breathing human being, or like a nice painting that evokes no emotion whatsoever. There was no life to it.

Khalil had some moments where he came to life, I think. But Grace remained stiff and lifeless throughout. This might just be a quirk of mine, but I also found some of the interactions of Khalil and Grace with other people rude instead of cool. I've been having that problem with several books and characters lately, so it might just be me and not them.

It has been this way for every single book.

1. I struggled to find life in book 1, Dragon Bound: I found it after 50% and it was a gushing fountain that spilled forth and colored the whole book and the characters. I ended up loving it and do reread it often.

2. The struggle began again with book 2, Storm's Heart: I guess I found some life because it evoked strong feelings of wanting to bludgeon the male lead. But there was something there.

3. The struggle was there again in book 3, Serpent's Kiss: And yet, there must have been residual traces, because I had some sort of reaction: surprised liking for Carling and huge disappointment in Rune

4. Book 4 - Dead in the water.

I read this one against my better judgment, and...my better judgment was right.

I'll read the next book in series because I hope Ms. Harrison will be able to recreate her combination of great writing with vibrancy and life in Dragos and Pia.

And after that, probably only a book that has Graydon in it, because I like him.

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:
1. Dragon Bound - Mind-Blowing
2. Storm's Heart - Meh
3. Serpent's Kiss - Good 

Review: Seduction of a Highland Lass by Maya Banks

Author: Maya Banks
Title: Seduction of a Highland Lass
Series: The McCabe Trilogy #2
Pages: 323

A warrior is caught between family loyalty and forbidden love in book two of bestselling author Maya Banks’s sensual new trilogy featuring three indomitable Highlanders.
Fiercely loyal to his elder brother, Alaric McCabe leads his clan in the fight for their birthright. Now he is prepared to wed for duty, as well. But on his way to claim the hand of Rionna McDonald, daughter of a neighboring chieftain, he is ambushed and left for dead. Miraculously, his life is saved by the soft touch of a Highland angel, a courageous beauty who will put to the test his fealty to his clan, his honor, and his deepest desires.
An outcast from her own clan, Keeley McDonald was betrayed by those she loved and trusted. When the wounded warrior falls from his horse, she is drawn to his strong, lean body. The wicked glint in his green eyes ignites a passion that will follow them back to Alaric’s keep, where their forbidden love draws them deeper into the pleasures of the flesh. But as conspiracy and danger circle closer, Alaric must make an impossible choice: Will he betray his blood ties for the woman he loves?

I'm still in the minority. I stand by my thoughts in the previous installment. This series is a fair to middling one, leaning very much on the side of middling.

Ms. Banks has written a good novel. That's not a bad thing in itself, except that there's so many stories saturating this genre that unless a story is original or very well-told, it's unremarkable. I definitely think that this one started out stronger than its predecessor, but then also floundered for a looooooooong while in the middle, and then came a passable ending. 

Alaric...well he was the hero of this story and a doofus too. I didn't care much for him. I mean, he was not stupid or annoying or anything. I just didn't think he had much honor. Alaric is betrothed to Rionna McDonald because the alliance is very favorable to his clan. Along the way, there's a series of unfortunate events and he falls for Keeley McDonald instead. And the story is about how Keeley and Alaric make their way. There's a scene at the end where Alaric waxes poetic about how you don't set aside the woman you love and want to marry because of political gain and how there is no honor in that. 

But he knew that all along. So why did he spend the whole book sleeping with Keeley and still planning to go ahead and marry Rionna? It was dishonorable then. Eh. Whatever. 

Keeley started out a strong character, and then she became as bland as all the women and other characters at the McCabe keep. I will not even go into discussing what a dumbass child Crispen is and how his death would be safer for everyone because that child is mortally idiotic like I haven't come across before. 

I will say this though. Throughout the entire series, the only people that have had some color about them, some sort of depth (whether real or imagined by me) seem to be Rionna and Caelen, so I am very interested in reading their story. We'll see how that goes. After all, I still have a whole bunch of challenges to finish, lol. Borrow this one if you must.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. In Bed With a Highlander - 3/5

 

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

Author: Jim Butcher
Title: Fool Moon
Series: Dresden Files #2
Pages: 347
Source: Library

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able to dredge up any kind of work—magical or mundane.
But just when it looks like he can't afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise.
A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses—and the first two don't count...

I'm sad to give this one a measly three stars because I was excited for this book. I was disappointed.

A lot of the plot was advanced by people who should know better being unforgivably obtuse. Take Murphy, for example, with her knee jerk reactions, arresting Harry every chance she got, when a little bit of maturity would have accomplished drastically different results. All she'd needed was a few minutes - no seconds, of clear thinking to allow Harry to talk, and a lot of misconceptions would have been cleared up. But no. She's too old to be that immature. And her job alone should preclude her from being that way, but no.

Harry himself was not much better. He acted rather immature and needlessly cruel for a good part of the novel, even if for no other reason than to show bravado to people who were on your side. He's too old for that. His mini God-complex was also rather annoying. And you would think anyone who saw himself as the only hope mere mortals had against all the dark forces would conduct himself with a modicum of common sense, but no. He's gone down in my estimation with this novel.

I so wanted to like this one. Like my friends Sans would say, Sad Panda.

★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

#1. Storm Front

 

Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

Jane Yellowrock #2
Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

★★½

The first book in this series surprised me into enjoying it and checking out the rest of the books. Unfortunately, this book is a disappointing follow up to the first book.

Jane Yellowrock is still in Louisiana, even after completing her job for the Vampire Council. It seems she has been hired on to do some more work for them: a rogue is making new vampires and must be stopped.

For a long while the story just seemed to be going nowhere, so I went back and checked the synopsis, and it was vague, much like the story itself: there was not much of a sense of the plot moving forward to some sort of culmination. It remained flat until the final few chapters, where it picked up a bit, but by then I couldn't care less about any tensions or happenings that had to be resolved, I just wanted the book to end.

I also found myself returning to my initial assessment of Jane (you know, before the turn of magic that had me change my mind about the first book) as a rather uninteresting character to get to know. The one thing that perked me up was her relationship with "Bruiser", which alas, seems to be fated to either go nowhere or be part of a love triangle/quadrangle.

I was really disappointed in this installment. I think I will go on to read the next book in series to gauge whether the first book was a fluke or if it's truly worth coming along for the ride.

And...the cover is horrible. Womp.

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In Bed With a Highlander by Maya Banks

McCabe Trilogy #1
In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks
★★★

I hope this doesn't come across as too ranty, but I am a slightly more than a a bit disgruntled.

See, the highlander historical romance genre is over-saturated. The landscape is choking with stories and heroes and heroines, some trite, some cliche, most of them entirely TSTL, and very few truly original and enjoyable treasures hidden among the dross.

Um... I did feel that this book ended up being part of the dross, even though so many loved it. It was not a bad book, but like I said, in an over-saturated field, an 'ok' book really isn't what you want. I also had so many problems with the characterization.

Mairin, the heroine of the story, comes in when the soon of Ewan, the hero, gets lost for being stupid. Now...this is the Scottish highlands at a time when clans were warring, and it was dangerous to be caught out. I would expect that people guarded their children close, especially clans that didn't have the money to pay for a ransom, if a person was caught. And I fail to understand how I'm expected to believe children can be so stupid. Children are smart, especially in dangerous times. They know what is going too far. So I failed to understand how any not-dimwitted child would have done what Crispen did, and consequently, brought our hero and heroine together. Strike one.

Mairin was also a dimwit, IMO. I mean, it was a common occurrence in those days to hang up bloodstained sheets to prove a bedding, no? And when a group of warriors intent upon kidnapping you and forcing you to marry another man is bearing down on the wedding, it is beyond obvious to me that the damn bedding had better be done in haste. No? But it seems Mairin thought that people bearing down notwithstanding, she deserved hours and hours of lovemaking. Go figure. Strike two. Another strike against her was that stupid habit of blurting any and everything and not realizing it. You would think one would notice the first two times you said something awkward and realized everyone heard you.

The final strike against this book were scenes that were very, very, reminiscent of some scenes in a Julie Garwood book I'd read - I think it was The Bride. I don't mind derivative works, but like others have said, it seemed like a blatant rip-off, :(. Strike three.


The book was a not-badly-written book, but I am pretty sure I won't continue with the remaining two. But dammit, I have had those books for so long in the waiting queue at my library!

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Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

Ill Wind by Rachel Caine
My rating: ★★★

My introduction to the Weather Warden series and Rachel Caine is not the best as new-to-me authors and series go.

Joanne is a Weather Warden on the run from the Association of Weather Wardens. Her only hope of staying alive lies with Lewis, a weather warden who disappeared some years ago. So to preserve her life, she hits the road to search for him, all the while trying to stay one step ahead of the Weather Wardens Association, because if they catch her before she gets to Lewis, she is toast.

The mythology of the world didn't catch me. Are the Weather Wardens a secret organization? No, it doesn't seem so, but normal people don't know about them.... the weather is out to get humans? Aetheric realms? Oversight? I don't know. It all seemed quite haphazard to me.

And then there was that I felt mostly indifference to mild dislike for Joanne and complete indifference toward every other character. It wasn't a bad book. It just didn't appeal to me.

I might continue on with this series, or I might not (leaning more towards the 'might not' side right now), but I think I will definitely search out a couple of other works by Rachel Caine to see if I can get another feel for her writing.

Not recommended, but then, not un-recommended either. You'd have to make your own mind up for this one.

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Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Guild Hunter #4
Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh
My rating: ★★★

Okay. I bought this immediately it came out, but it's taken me so many months to read it.

I did like the story. Ms. Singh's storytelling works for me. It was moving in parts, but fell flat in others. Most of the characters, well all the ones that mattered in this tale, anyway, fell flat for me.

I have never been fond of Dmitri. After having read his story, I'm still not fond of him. I still think he's unnecessarily cruel, and something of a bully.

Honor didn't do anything for me, and I have no feelings toward her either way (you know, like, dislike, etc).

Sorrow didn't do anything for me either. Or Venom.

Not my favorite Guild Hunter story; not my favorite hero or heroine; not my favorite love story; not my favorite story, period.

Nevertheless, it is a good tale, an intriguing and rather unusual one, with some poignant moments.

Oh, and the cover is nothing to write home about either. 

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My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
Soul Screamers, #1
My rating: ★★½



I feel duped :(

I was so excited for this book and this series because the prequel novellita Ms. Vincent wrote, My Soul to Lose, was simply awesome. Unfortunately,however, I found this book is a let-down.

Through a series of events, Kaylee finds out when she is 16 that she is a bean sidhe (known to the rest of us as banshee). She sees when people are about to die and wails/screams/sings for their souls. As if that were not enough big news to swallow, girls around her school begin to drop dead when it is obviously not their time to go. She has to find out why and put a stop to it.

The good: Firstly, the cover is amazing! I love it! More importantly, Rachel Vincent's world is so unique. I think it is so cool that she wove her tale around banshees instead of werewolves(although they are cute) or vampires (ick!). So she gets points for originality, lol. She also is a really good storyteller and kept me interested in where she was taking the story. I didn't see the ending coming at all (but I am not one of those who ever does) - the twist was really good.

Tod was a cool character, and along with Uncle Brendon the nicest/best/most likeable people in the book. It's a pity the series is not about Tod :( I'd take him over Nash and his idiocy any day.

The bad: I did feel that some scenes (well, one in particular) were just filler/plot movers. The conclusions Kaylee jumped to were ridiculous - there was no rhyme or reason to them, other than as a plot device for the big reveal (aka she is a banshee). I'm sorry, but 16-year-olds are not that dim. I felt it was unnecessary drama.

The side characters were not interesting (Sophie, Emma), and kind of annoying.

The ugly The main characters are nothing to write home about. In fact, as the story progressed more and more I found my dislike for Kaylee and Nash growing. Kaylee is rude, self-serving, obnoxious, TSTL (many times), idiotic...as you can see, my dislike for her grew from mild to rather strong by the end.

Nash is not much better. I know from reading the blurbs on the other books in the series that Tod is his brother. I could not believe how crass Nash was in how he treated Tod, especially given the relationship. A thousand strikes against him for that one. Also selfish. NO.

Kaylee's dad wins the award for selfishosity. I had no sympathy for is story arc. At all. Or maybe I am the one who's coldhearted and unsympathetic. :/

Basically, the long and short of it is this: a good story was ruined by idiot characters.

Will I continue with the series? Yes, because I enjoy Ms. Vincent's writing. Will I complete the series? I don't know. Depends on how I feel about Kaylee and Nash as I read more books.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, but with misgivings.



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Mine to Possess, by Nalini Singh

Psy-Changeling, #4
Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh

My rating: ★★½


It was aight. Just barely. I took 2 stars off for Talin and a 1/2 star off for DarkRiver :D

Ms. Singh writes excellently as always, but the heroine blew hot and cold way too much and DarkRiver doesn't interest me too much, so.....

It was aight. My least favorite so far.



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