Review - Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

Series: Kate Daniels #9 

Genre: Urban Fantasy 

Age Group: Adult

Hardcover - 328 pgs

Ace - September 2016

Source: Christmas Gift

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Rating - 4.5/5

Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar…

Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in his never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead.

The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules… 

In this novel we address many issues that have arisen since Kate claimed Atlanta, namely that Kate now has a ton of power and has to deal with how it is changing her. Also her father's continuous attempts to challenge or provoke her. Kate has a lot on her plate even before the Witch Oracle gives her dire news that puts her upcoming nuptials on the back burner. We have been working up to many of these problems for several books and I feel that drive towards the finish line. It is time clear up lingering problems and questions before the big finale which I think is coming (maybe) in book ten. 

We get a lot of answers in this book which I really appreciated. A lot of my favorite characters were back in the picture. (It would be nice to see even more of them.) Kate and Curran's relationship is still a sticky point for me. I find it frustrating that they constantly take action and ask for forgiveness after the fact. It seems to work for them, but the whole trust issue has been there since Magic Rises so I won't keep griping about it. (Well I will but in my own head) 

There is a lot going on in this book and I do want to read it again before the next book is released. Kate does what she does best in this installment. She uses her mental database of knowledge on myths and legends to come up with a plan to save her own skin. It is epic and just what I want from these novels. Kate kicks ass and is smart about the choices in front of her. I love it. I love her and I'm very very curious about where we go from here.

My Last Review ---> Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

#TomeTopple TBR (Round 3)

It is time, once again, for Tome Topple! This readathon doesn't always work out for me, but I still enjoy the community and the amazing books I hear about during it. This time I've picked just two books and we shall see how the reading goes!

Review - Letters from the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Standalone

Age Group: Young Adult

Published: April 4th, 2016 (Bloomsbury)

Source: Won from Author 

Hardcover - 400pgs

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Rating 5/5

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. 

This book walked into my life at just the right time. I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on Brigid Kemmerer's Facebook and this title arrived on my doorstep in the middle of a reading rut. I've loved Kemmerer's books in the past, and opened this book when it arrived to sneak a peak at the first few chapters. I read a lot more than a few chapters that first day and, in general, had a hard time putting this book down.

The letters at the beginning of most chapters take up a lot of space so you move through the chapters quickly and get a lot of insight into each character from them. Kemmerer didn't shy away from tough topics like loss, abuse, and guilt. I enjoyed how she tackled all these topics and her writing tugged at my heartstrings. I was deeply invested in these two characters.

Throughout the book I enjoyed how Declan and Juliet played into some stereotypes but defied others.  This kept my interest piqued for the whole book and made the characters much more interesting. The two of them grew and changed throughout this book and their growth felt very organic. I liked how romance wasn't the cure-all for these characters problems. They had to continue to battle their demons while romance was blossoming in the background. I also really liked how the physical side of the relationship took a back seat to their problems both in the writing and their minds.

I highly recommend this contemporary and bet this will be on my list of top books for 2017. It was excellent.

Final Thoughts: This story is for fans of You've Got Mail and The Shop Around the Corner.

Fairyloot Unboxing Fail + Haul

My attempt at a Fairyloot Unboxing went a little awry when the footage disappeared! So I improvised and added a couple of books to the end.

Happy Reading!

Review - Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Series: Lux #4

Genre: Paranormal

Age Group

Paperback - 364 pgs

Entangled Publishing - August 2013

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Rating: 4/5

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything. 

This year is apparently the year I tackle the oldest books on my TBR shelf. First came Across a Star-Swept Sea; now I've taken on the fourth Lux book. I adore the first three books in this series. They are fantastic. The world is solid. I love the characters and the romance. I've put off this installment for literal years. 

Origin is packed with action, adventure and swoon-worthy moments. My favorite alien couple is holding their own again government agencies and doing their best to keep themselves safe. Though this isn't my favorite in the series, we get more answers in this installment which I appreciated. This does take the series to a whole new level of weird, but nothing Armentrout hasn't already laid the groundwork for or I considered out of the realm of possibilities. 

After the events of Opal Katy and Daemon are separated. Neither is handling it well, but I thought the author did a good job of creating the duel perspective in these first few chapters. The first three books are in Katy's POV (if you want Deamon's POV check out Origin) so this the first time we hear Deamon's opinions about anything that is going on. I enjoyed this immensely. 

I will say I was disappointed about where we left off. A few decisions at the end of the book grated on my nerves, but I am still invested and want to find out what happens next. (Because I have no idea where this is going!) Can't wait for more and now that I have a copy of Opposition that matches the rest of the books, I am highly motivated to pick it up. 

My Last Review ---> Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

March Wrap Up (2017)

Hey everyone! This month has been a little slow, but I did enjoy the books I read. Let me know the books you read in March and what you think of my recent reads.

End of Winter Favorites

Recently (i.e. the last six months) I haven't been doing many favorites posts or videos. I did make a Top Five Non-Bookish Favorites video for the recent Top Five Wednesday topic. However, I didn't cover all my normal topics and I still have a few new things I want to cover. I love a lot of things!

Book Favorite - 

 

So far in 2017 I can say with confidence my favorite book has been The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. This delightful middle-grade novel has stolen my heart after it took me by surprise in January. Obviously I've been pushing it on my friends ever since then and trying to get as many people as possible to read it. Check out my review! 

Description:

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule--but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her--even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known. 

Blog/Video Favorite
These last few months have been a bit slower on the blog front, but I like it this way. My brain isn't as scattered. I do a better job reading and writing about what I read. Anyway I do have a favorite post and video I've made recently. The first is my Valentine's Day post about my Top Ten Tuesday post on my Top Ten Couples/Ships. I really enjoyed writing this post and seeing the comments about those couples.

This month I've embarked on a mission to do a bookshelf tour of my TBR Bookshelf. I'm also hoping to do my regular bookshelf at some point. However, I've only posted one of the three videos so far. I am working on getting the other two posted A.S.A.P.

Random Favorite - Podcasts! 

 Throughout March I've barely read any books, but I have listened to a lot of podcasts. There are two I've been listening to the most. Stuff You Missed in History is a fascinating podcast about lesser know events and people in history. Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig is hilarious though I do pick and choose which guests I listen to.

My Favorite Podcasts (TryPod)

This month I've been listening to a lot of podcasts. I've been neglecting my reading and listened to SO MANY podcasts. I'm hoping things will balance out in the future but I've been doing a lot of listening this month. These are my three favorites and I'd love to hear any suggestions you may have.

Stuff You Missed in History Class: 

NPR Politics: 

Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig: 

Review - Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

Series: Kate Daniels #8

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Age Group: Adult

Source: Purchased used
Hardcover - 342 pgs

Ace Books - 2015

Add it // Buy it 

Rating - 4.5/5

After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters.

So when the Pack offers him its stake in the Mercenary Guild, Curran seizes the opportunity—too bad the Guild wants nothing to do with him and Kate. Luckily, as a veteran merc, Kate can take over any of the Guild’s unfinished jobs in order to bring in money and build their reputation. But what Kate and Curran don’t realize is that the odd jobs they’ve been working are all connected.

After Magic Breaks I was really excited for this series to shake things up a bit. I was tired of the Pack and I was tired of Roland. I wanted something different and the Andrews answered my prayers. While Roland and Pack business are involved in this book, we go back to basics. Kate and Curran hunt down something weird in Post-Shift Atlanta. I LOVED it. 

While most of my favorite side characters were missing from this installment, I liked spending time with just Kate and Curran. Obviously we had to lose some of the pack because Kate and Curran left. They needed it. Their relationship has been strained and, honestly after reading the description of the next book, I'm worried this is the calm before the storm. I just loved that we had a filler book here. After so much build up in previous books to meet the (anticlimactic) villain of the series, it was nice to spend time in Atlanta. 

Overall this book was just what the series needed in my opinion and I've already started the next book. This series is one of my favorites.

February/March Book Haul

Should I just stop pretending I'll slow down my book buying? It seems I can get it down to four or five books each month, but if I dip below that my book buying surges back with a vengeance. Maybe I'll just stop fighting and stick with my lower than last year numbers. I'm still trying to lower that TBR though!

Books Mentioned:

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhonda Bellza

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skruskie

Review- Spider Gwen Vol. 0 - Most Wanted?

 

Series: Spider Gwen Issues #1-5

Genre: Superhero Comics

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Library

Marvel - 2015

Paperback - 112 pgs

Add it // Buy it

Rating - 2/5

IN ONE UNIVERSE, it wasn't Peter Parker who was bitten by the radioactive spider, but Gwen Stacy! She's smart, charming and can lift a car ... just don't tell her father, the police chief. Now, in the wake of Spider-Verse, Gwen swings into her own solo adventures! And she soon finds herself between a rock and a hard place when the Vulture attacks, and NYPD Lieutenant Frank Castle sets his sights on bringing her down. Then, still haunted by Peter's death, Gwen visits his only family: Ben and May Parker. But what really happened the day Peter died? Find out right here as the spectacular Spider-Gwen steals not only the spotlight, but also the hearts of comic fans worldwide!

Well, I can say I enjoyed the art, and I liked Gwen's outfit.

The rest was not so good. I am so disappointed by this. It sounded cool. It looked cool! UGH! Overall, this lacked focus and context. I expected some confusion. I knew I was jumping into the middle of a story. However, I think it was a mistake to throw readers into the middle of 50 different plot lines without an origin story. #confusing

Also as I mentioned in my February Wrap Up, because the authors named this collection Volume 0. It made me think this would be a precursor for things to come. I believe, incorrectly, this would be an origin story or introduction. Instead, we are plopped in the middle of a lot of plot lines. #NotAFan

I did like Gwen and her band is kickass. I am going to continue the series, but I was less than impressed with these first few issues.