Book Review: Dead of Eve, by Pam Godwin

Dead of Eve
Pam Godwin

Initial Thoughts: Riveting, horrifying, and chilling!

My Rating: 4.5 Stars!!!

Summary (from Good reads):
A virus devastates humanity. Few men survive. The rest are monsters. The women are dead, except Evie. Through a quirk in her genetics, she survives. When her physiology begins to evolve, she must come to terms with what she is and accept her role in finding a cure.

The mutated hunt her. The men brutalize her…except three. Cryptic warrior, contrite lover, caring enemy; they are fiercely protective of the last living woman, but divided in their own agendas. Can they come together to protect the only hope for humanity?

Evie must survive.

Content advisory: Guns. Gore. Sex.

My thoughts:

Okay, take a minute to think about this: There is only one woman left on earth. One. Woman. Seriously. Take a minute and think about it.

Done?

Okay, now every thought that ran through your head about what life would be like for this one sole-surviving woman, is in this book. If you're a woman, the thought is chilling. You should have chills running down your arms right about now.

The story is gritty and real, devastatingly sad yet profoundly happy. You love the characters; Evie is strong and tough and loving and kinda bad-ass. You can't help but love the 3 men who come into her life, her 3 guardians. Each one serves a clear-cut purpose, and it all ties together in the end. They are there to help guide her through her trials and tribulations, help her become the woman she needs to be...for all of humanity.

I have to say, I wasn't down with the whole aphid/bug thing. Ew, ick and gross. I'm going to throw a little girly thought out there but, could the plague have not been so, I don't know, yuck? LOL

Highly recommend this read.

Book Review: Obsidian, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Obsidian
Jennifer L. Armentrout

Initial Thoughts: Kept tabling the read because the cover didn't grab me, but I'm sorry I did. Loved it!

My Rating: 4 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):
Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

My thoughts:

Loved the characters, loved the writing, loved the friction between Katy and Daemon, loved the story! The voice in the book just pulls you in. Katy is a nice character, a good girl who's also spunky and alive and doesn't take any lip...she also doesn't like being told what to do. My kind of girl!

Daemon is hot, and a dick, while at the same time there's just something nice about him. Like he's a nice guy in dick's clothing. He's a really great character, and the back-and-forth between him and Katy just leaves you wanting more, more, more.

So what pulled down the rating for me? Well, there were a couple of Twilighty moments. I mean, you hear the old saying that there are no new stories, right? But there were enough similarities that every now and then I'd say to myself, "Humh, this is sounding a little like Twilight." But, no offense to Stephanie, this is much better written.

Definitely recommend this to YA fantasy readers. One of the best I've read this year.

Book Review: Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy
Robin LaFevers

Initial Thoughts: Clever, well-written, loved it.

My Rating: 4 stars

Summary (from Goodreads):
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

My thoughts:

This is a world that the author animatedly brings to life, with vibrant characters, a detailed world, and a solid plot-line. Ismae is a strong character, not prone to trust easily (and with good reason), and has no issue seeing the fall of man (again, with good reason). This is a world where women are property--animate objects with no rights--and Ismae is given the opportunity to take control of her life. She also learns to control her life, and never uses death as a weapon or to avenge the wrongs done to her.

The plot is full of royal intrigue and deception and betrayal and lust for power. And while Ismae believes the convent's every word is gospel, there is a man, Duvall, who makes her question those in authority. He makes her question the direction of her life. And once again, Ismae takes control of her own life.

It's a good thing.

What the novel lacked, for me, was some kind of spark. It's weird, as much as I loved the concept and the writing and the story, there are others I like more. While I felt Ismae's drive for control and change, and I didn't quite feel her desire for Duvall. And I knew all along who the betrayer to the royal family was. 

Despite this, I would highly recommend.

Book Review: The Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Knight
Julie Kagawa

My Rating: 4 Stars

Initial Thoughts: Hated the cover! It ruined it for me.



Summary (from Goodreads):
"My name--my True Name--is Ashallayn' darkmyr Tallyn. I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl..."To cold faery prince Ash, love was a weakness for mortals and fools. His own love had died a horrible death, killing any gentler feelings the Winter prince might have had. Or so he thought.

Then Meghan Chase--a half human, half fey slip of a girl--smashed through his barricades, binding him to her irrevocably with his oath to be her knight. And when all of Faery nearly fell to the Iron fey, she severed their bond to save his life. Meghan is now the Iron Queen, ruler of a realm where no Winter or Summer fey can survive.

With the unwelcome company of his archrival, Summer Court prankster Puck, and the infuriating cait sith Grimalkin, Ash begins a journey he is bound to see through to its end--a quest to find a way to honor his vow to stand by Meghan's side.

To survive in the Iron Realm, Ash must have a soul and a mortal body. But the tests he must face to earn these things are impossible. And along the way Ash learns something that changes everything. A truth that challenges his darkest beliefs and shows him that, sometimes, it takes more than courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

My Thoughts:
OK, so I hate the cover. This is book 4 in the Iron Fey series, and I have always loved Ash. I've been team Ash all the way. I've had 3 books to develop the perfect Ash-image...and this cover totally failed. It kinda ruined it for me, you know? So every time I went to open the book, there was that blasted cover full-in-the-face over-powering *my* fantasy Ash! That blows!

So that's how it started.

I found the first 1/3 of the book moving rather slowly. I just wasn't caught up in it, and I can't really say for sure if that was the cover talking, or whether it was truly the plot. Maybe it was just all set-up. There's a few flash-backs as well, because someone from the past is resurrected. Contrived? Maybe. It seems perhaps a new love triangle was being forced.

Anyhoo.

Once we get to the 2nd half of the book, the pace picks up. I loved the whole gauntlet section, where Ash has to go through these trials. We really get a look into his past and see an Ash who we can't like...quite frankly, Ash was a dick in his younger days. But he's foxy, so I forgive him. And he's learned to become a better man, so there's always that, of course.

I do like the way the novel/series wrapped up. The ending makes up for the beginning, and overall, I really enjoyed it.

Book Review: Frey, by Melissa Wright

Frey
Melissa Wright

Initial Thoughts: Pretty good book, starts off well but then hits a few bumps in the road.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars....

Summary (from Goodreads):

Unaware she's been bound from using magic, Frey leads a small, miserable life in the village where she's sent after the death of her mother. But a tiny spark starts a fury of changes and she finds hersef running from everything she's ever known.

Hunted by council for practicing dark magic, she is certain she's been wrongfully accused. She flees, and is forced to rely on strangers for protection. But the farther she strays from home, the more her magic and forgotten memories return and she begins to suspect all is not as it seems.

My thoughts:I was grabbed from the concept right from the start. And it starts off really well. You understand Frey, her motivations, her world, and you have to love the mysterious, yummy Chevelle. Dark, mysterious, powerful...dudes don't get better than Chevelle as a drool-worthy character. 

You follow Frey on her journey to discovery: who she is, who her family is, where her magic is, and who her protectors are. Because it's told in first person, you learn these things with Frey.

For me, in this book, that was a problem. Unfortunately, especially toward the end, things get fuzzy and confused...probably because Frey is fuzzy and confused. I don't like how she constantly passes out, and she seems to spend more time in bed recovering than really doing anything.

It seems ironic that her protectors both train (work) her to death to strengthen her, and yet seem to think she's so fragile that she can't handle knowing anything about herself or her past. She has a dark past, and I especially loved how that mystery unfolded.

But the ending. Oh. My. God. I have never been so confused at the ending of a book! I actually went back several pages to re-read to see if I'd missed something. Don't think I did. To me, the ending was a bit muddled and lacked clarity.

Overall, I liked the read, and will continue reading the series to see how it turns out (good thing Chevelle is so damn sexy-I'm left wanting more!)

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Laini Taylor

My Initial Thoughts: Very intriguing, with descriptive and engaging characters.

My Rating: 4 Solid Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Thoughts:

I really, really liked this book about 3/4's of the way through. Karou is a great character, vivid, real, like-able. What I liked about her the most was her acceptance of her lot in life. Orphaned, raised by some epicly weird dudes (creatures) that she keeps secret, doing the little deeds demanded by her guardian, Brimstone, which she doesn't always enjoy but seem exciting none-the-less, and doing a wee bit o' wishing magic here and there with some help from Brimstone.

The author weaves in such a creative, imaginative world right alongside our own. You can feel, hear and see things seeping from the pages. The creatures in her house love Karou.

And there's Akiva. Mm mm mm. Beautiful angel, in all the right ways except his personality. He's hard and cold and distant and absolutely yum. It's wonderful to see that exterior begin to crack as he clashes with Karou.

The ending is epic. A twisted betrayal that unfurls like the sails of a boat as the wind picks up. The story follows a strong undercurrent of secrets and lies of a past that isn't what it seemed, and that comes back to haunt both Karou and Akiva. It's an ending that will have your mouth dropping open.

Here's what I didn't like. While I enjoyed the unfolding of the past story immensely and loved how it tied in to the huge epic twisted ending, I thought it went on too long...and the writing of the past romance was a tad bit too flowery for my tastes. I found myself raising an eyebrow and saying, "Really?"

The book is a solid 'yes' in the recommendation department.

Friday Funnies!

It's Friday. It's spring. And I have a day off! Yippee!

So, let's chuckle....

An elderly couple, Betty and James, were recently attending a church service at their retirement village.

About halfway through the service Betty took a pen and paper out of her purse,and wrote a note and handed it to James.

The note said:" I just let out a silent fart, what do you think I should do?"

James scribbled back: "Put a new battery in your hearing aid."