Book Review: Ever Shade, by Alexia Purdy

Ever Shade
Alexia Purdy

Initial Thoughts: Likeable Book

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Summary:
For Shade, a chance meeting with a powerful Teleen faery warrior who wields electrical currents and blue fires along his skin, has her joining him on a treacherous mission for the good Seelie Faerie Court across the land of Faerie. Magic and malice abound and nothing is what it really seems to be. The evil Unseelie Queen and her treacherous allies are around every corner as Shade makes her way across the breathtaking landscapes of the world of Faerie, which exists alongside the mundane human world.

Shade discovers her own uncharted magic and meets some of the most powerful warriors in Faerie while battling evil dryads, conniving Teleen guards and challenges on her life with every step in a world where nothing can be taken for granted.

My Thoughts:

Okay, there are some things I really liked about this book, and some things I didn't like so much. Eventually, the good out-ranked the bad, which made this an enjoyable read that toward the end, I discovered that I was looking forward to picking it up again to see how it all turned out. Good thing, yes? Yes.

So, I'm liking the faeries here. Faeries interest me because they seem so sweet and beautiful but they have these dark sides. Or, many of them do, not all. What I especially like about this ensemble cast is that as I was reading, I was never really sure if everyone was as good as they seemed. While in the end it appears to be the case, I think there's room in future books to prove me wrong. And maybe I'm just suspicious by nature. Maybe I was a little disappointed to *not* find evil in the midst of this adventure. :)

I thought the plot moved fairly well, though the ending came a little quick. The world-building was pretty good, too. I could easily picture everything through the descriptive writing.

I love the name Shade. However, I found her crying annoying at the end. I wanted to yell, "Buck up and got on with it already!" I liked who she was paired up with, because to be honest, it was *not* who I was expecting. I like being proved wrong when I'm reading. I like saying, "Huh, didn't see that one coming."

The dialogue throughout was not convincing. To be honest, I thought much of it sounded a little childish, especially with faeries who are centuries old, to me their speech should be distinct and elegant and wise, but it fell very short of that. Jack, one of faery warriors, is probably the most believable as far as dialogue. He was pretty well drawn.

All in all, despite some of the setbacks (this could really use a good editing scrub), I found myself eager to find out what was going to happen in the end, so the book did pick up in the home stretch. I would have liked a little more wrap-up with all the characters, and after all the trials Shade goes through on her quest, the end seemed a little easy and quick. The book had that "first book" feel to it, so I'm planning on picking up the 2nd and see how much the author has grown in her writing, as I found a lot of potential in the story.

Book Review: Dead Radiance, by T.G. Ayer

Dead Radiance
T.G. Ayer

Initial Thoughts: Got me going!!!

My Rating: 4 Stars!

Summary:
Bryn Halbrook had always seen the glow. But it is only when her best friend dies that she discovers the meaning of those beautiful golden auras — Death. Alone, lost in the foster system, she struggles to understand who she is and why she was cursed with the ability to see the soon-to-be-dead.

The new foster kid, Aidan, isn’t helping any. Mr. Perfect seems to fit in no matter what, making her feel even more pathetic. But when his affections turn to her, Bryn finds him hard to resist. Impossible actually. A mystery himself, Aidan disappears, leaving behind a broken heart and a mysterious book that suggests Bryn might not be entirely human.

Bryn stands at the threshold of a journey of discovery. Will destiny help her find herself, find her purpose and her place in a world in which she’d never belonged?

My Thoughts:

Okay, so I admit, when I first started the book, I didn't think I was going to like it. I was a bit confused with some of the present/past bouncing, and sometimes I didn't know if we were in the present or the past or a flashback or what, and all I could think was, "Oh boy, is the whole book gonna be like this?"

Well, it wasn't. And it was well worth getting through that rocky start.

So you have Bryn, a likeable foster kid robotically moseying through her days, watching her best friend, Josh, glow and then die, and then dealing with the brunt of the other girls who blame her for (a) being Josh's friend and (b) being alive. 

Those bitches! 

Anyhoo, along comes Aiden, sexily dark and mysterious with an obvious Einstein-sized brain and a seeming attraction to Bryn. Gotta love these 2 characters.

Gotta love the plot, too. So Bryn's life becomes inter-woven with Norse mythology. Valkryies. Asgard. Valhalla. King Odin. His wife, Frigga. Freya. And not let's forget that little devil, Loki. I'm not all familiar with Norse mythology, so this as all very interesting to me, and fresh. If there are boo boo's in the interweaving and retelling, I wouldn't know. And I certainly don't care. I was so caught up in the plot and the betrayals and the sniping and the mischievous antics that it was all good fun.

The end is cliff-hanger worthy. Definitely makes you want to pick up the next book and continue the story, which I shall do!