Book Review: The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo #3)

Release Date: May 1, 2018
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 442 pages
Source: Review Copy from Publisher

The formerly glorious god Apollo, cast down to earth in punishment by Zeus, is now an awkward mortal teenager named Lester Papadopoulos. In order to regain his place on Mount Olympus, Lester must restore five Oracles that have gone dark. But he has to achieve this impossible task without having any godly powers and while being duty-bound to a confounding young daughter of Demeter named Meg. Thanks a lot, Dad.

With the help of some demigod friends, Lester managed to survive his first two trials, one at Camp Half-Blood, and one in Indianapolis, where Meg received the Dark Prophecy. The words she uttered while seated on the Throne of Memory revealed that an evil triumvirate of Roman emperors plans to attack Camp Jupiter. While Leo flies ahead on Festus to warn the Roman camp, Lester and Meg must go through the Labyrinth to find the third emperor—and an Oracle who speaks in word puzzles—somewhere in the American Southwest. There is one glimmer of hope in the gloom-filled prophecy: The cloven guide alone the way does know. They will have a satyr companion, and Meg knows just who to call upon....

    

Review:

Protagonist: After two adventures Apollo and Meg are joined by Grover as they take the Labyrinth west to Southern California and the next Oracle. When they arrive at their destination they find out that a massive heat wave is affecting the area, and the only way to disperse it is to find a specific part of the Labyrinth, defeat the evil growing there, and free the Oracle. Which of course is easier said than done. As always I loved reading more from Apollo's POV, though in this book things really start to get serious as the dangers they face are greater than they have before. Apollo's humor is sort of tempered in this installment, that humorous ego is still there, but Apollo is also growing after millennia of living and learning what it means to be human, and what mortality really means.

World Building: Once again our heroes, Apollo and Meg, are joined by some of your favorite (or maybe not so favorite) characters from Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series, and again Apollo's (immortal and godly) life touches every little aspect of the story as we're introduced to our villainous new emperor, who, unlike Commodus, I have actually heard of and when his name is revealed it sent shivers down my spine. This book is by far the darkest installment in this series so far, seemingly matching up with the third installments from the other Camp Half-Blood series, The Titan's Curse and The Mark of Athena, which isn't a spoiler to tell you as Apollo pretty much tells you exactly that at the beginning of the book. This book also delves into Meg's backstory quite a bit and I loved learning more about where she came from and her "ancient roots." Honestly, there's a whole freaking lot packed into this book and by the end of it, you may be an emotional wreck waiting for the next book.

Predictability: Like I said, this book is the darkest installment so far, full of twists and turns I didn't see coming. Honestly, I'm not sure if I should even write more than that. Riordan has done an amazing job with his foreshadowing in recent years and this installment really proves that as I can't think of a single twist or turn I saw coming, yet when they happened, everything made sense, everything just fit.

Ending: So, much like the previous installments in this series, there isn't really a cliffhanger for this installment, mainly there is a fantastic and intense final climax, that in all honesty may have made me shed a tear or two, once the dust settles, then it's time to set up the next installment, though there are clues all throughout the final chapters, including the final climax, but it's when almost all is said and done that we get some crucial intel on what's coming next and more importantly, who will make an appearance in the next installment, well, it's pretty freaking amazing. The cooldown period really just ties up most of the lingering threads of this installment while showing that there is more to come and more challenges to face head-on.

Rating:

Yeah, like this rating is much of a shock. I love this book so much, even though it hurt me in irreparable ways, but still, I cannot wait to continue Apollo's tale and hopefully, he'll catch a lucky break one of these days, I doubt it though.

Book Review: The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2)

Release Date: May 2, 2017
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 432 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Zeus has punished his son Apollo—god of the sun, music, archery, poetry, and more—by casting him down to earth in the form of a gawky, acne-covered sixteen-year-old mortal named Lester. The only way Apollo can reclaim his rightful place on Mount Olympus is by restoring several Oracles that have gone dark. What is affecting the Oracles, and how can Apollo do anything about them without his powers?

After experiencing a series of dangerous—and frankly, humiliating—trials at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships—with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Come along for what promises to be a harrowing, hilarious, and haiku-filled ride. . . .

    

Review:

Protagonist: Apollo has overcome his trial at Camp Half-Blood and restored the Grove of Dodonna, now he and his new companions Leo and Calypso head to Indianapolis to restore another Oracle to help restore Apollo's god-deficiency problem. Honestly, out of all the first person POVs that Riordan has written, I have to love Apollo the best. That juxtaposition between his hubris and reality is hysterical and yet, it's that cold harsh reality that lets this newly mortal god have some real character development for probably the first time in four thousand years. What makes these moments of humility so great is that usually, it's because of the choices Apollo made as a deity, not his fragility as a mortal which adds some great depth and empathy to his character that doesn't seem like it would just all go away once, or if, he should ever regain his divinity.

World Building: Out of the two Trials of Apollo books, I'd have to say that the first one is better. It's not that this story isn't great, but the first installment had all of the things I was looking for, classic Greek myths that were recognizable to me, checking in with some of my favorite characters from the previous series, and seeing it all from the perspective of one of the most iconic Greek gods. Now this book technically hit all of those marks, but just not as well. The myths and history to this story were far more obscure and while I loved learning about new myths, there wasn't enough that I recognized to invest me in the story even more. Though I have to say that at least on the history aspect and the Roman Emperor we meet in this story I do like that Apollo had a more personal connection with him. As for checking in with old characters, this story, obviously, includes fan favorite character Leo Valdez, and his newly mortal girlfriend Calypso, as well as one other old character that I'll not disclose to keep their appearance more of a surprise. While Leo and Calypso did help out Apollo quite a bit, I felt that their role was more of an epilogue to their story than an actual contribution to the narrative of Apollo's trials. Plus, in the previous story, it was exciting to see a teenage mortal Apollo hanging out with his kids which didn't really happen here. Overall though it was still an exhilarating story set in a world of rich classic stories, myths, and history so it was still a home run, just not a grand slam.

Predictability: Since the influence for this tale; the myths, and history, is so obscure it was hard to find enough of a theme to see where things were going. In fact, even when I caught on to the main themes of this adventure, it the author does a fantastic job of subverting expectations to provide a wild and crazy ride filled with twists and turns that I wasn't really expecting at all. Now, there were still, of course, basic and grand vague things that I could pretty much count on happening or in some cases, not happening, that it wasn't like this story completely dumped all modern storytelling conventions and formulas in favor of a story that while shocking wouldn't be satisfying. I have to hand it to Riordan, he's been writing these books for a while and he really knows just which tropes and expectations need a bit of a twist to keep things interesting.

Ending: The ending this story is really where a lot of the subversion of tropes comes into play. Don't get me wrong, it's not an insane roller coaster ride, well not really, but it's more that after the first book in this series I had a set idea about how this story would end, on a grand vague scale at least, and while there were quite a few things that I was able to guess right, things still didn't go quite the way I had expected. The final climax was really amazing and had a ton of fabulous tension building everything up to a great head. Then we're treated to some foreshadowing of upcoming events and see just where this story will be going next and some clues to who we'll come upon in the next adventure.

Rating:

So, I know I kind of ragged on this book for not being as good as the first, but it's still a stellar addition to this series. Apollo's character development alone deserves the five stars, but with an author that knows just how to formulate a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat without things becoming too chaotic, I mean, what more is there to ask for, plus the next book seems to have a huge load of potential.

Blog Tour Book Review: The Sky Throne

Release Date: April 17, 2017
Author: Chris Ledbetter
Publisher: Month9Books
Length: 300 pages
Source: Ebook for Blog Tour Review

Duality dwells at every turn, and an adolescent Zeus will learn that all too well when Hyperion attacks his family on Crete.

When the dust settles, his mother is unconscious and his best friend left for dead.

Stacking epic insult upon fatal injury, Zeus discovers the woman who raised him is not his biological mother. But to ensure her safety while she recovers, a heavy-hearted Zeus leaves her behind to seek answers at Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia.

Zeus embarks on a quest to discover who ordered the attack on his home, avenge the death of his friend, and find his birth mother. When some of his new schoolmates vanish, Zeus's quest is turned upside down, and the only way to make things right is to access the power of The Sky Throne, confront a most dangerous enemy, and take his life back.

On his way to becoming king of the Greek gods, Zeus will learn to seize power, neutralize his enemies, and fall in love.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Zeus, supreme ruler of the gods, started out as a prankster mortal, or at least that's how this story goes. After an attack on his family, Zeus learns some harsh truths about his life, and the only way he can be safe is by going to Mount Olympus Prep. There he hopes to discover more about who he is and why his family was attacked. Gah, I feel that this author did a spectacular job at showing off a young Zeus. I mean, don't get me wrong, in mythology Zeus isn't a hero, in fact, most of Greek Mythology's problem could have been solved if Zeus just kept it in his pants, but for a book that shows off a heroic Zeus, this was a fantastic job. First off are his flaws, Zeus has a great many and while they are shown a bit softer here, I do like the little references to the Zeus I'm most familiar with. Then we have his strengths, this Zeus is much more compassionate than the one we normally see in Greek Myths, but I like it, it humanizes his character a bit more in ways other than flaws.

Romance: Another large characteristic is Zeus's lust for women. Granted, since this is a YA book, that lust is dampened quite a bit, but there are quite a few women that catch Zeus's eye. Now, honestly, I'm not quite sure where I stand on the romance in this book, because of how things ended up. Obviously, I won't give away spoilers, but for most of the book there seemed to be a love triangle blooming, and since I know my Greek Myths I knew more or less how it should end up, but how it did is another story. I guess all I'll say is that for the most part I really enjoyed the romance in this book. Zeus's bond with the women he romances is really strong and while I was a bit too distracted by how things end up in the myths, I can appreciate how they ended up in the story.

World Building: My biggest annoyance with this book was how it's presented. I mean, I should have known what I was getting into when the synopsis talked about Zeus going to a prep school, but I wasn't prepared for just how much mix between modern day and Ancient Greece there would be. The thing is, mixing modern day ideals and colloquial themes into an Ancient Greek or fantasy setting is something that shouldn't bleed into YA, at least in my opinion. I loved that sort of thing as a kid, but as I grew up it all felt very cheesy and kind of lazy. This story could have been one of two things, a modern day story about an underdog sports team facing up against their fierce rivals, in a loose retelling of the Titanomachy, or a high fantasy retelling of the Titanomachy. However, even though I wasn't a fan of the mixing, it did kind of get to me and the plot of this story, maybe because of the weird mixing or maybe in spite of that, was super addicting, I read nearly all of the book in one sitting, which I hadn't planned on doing, because I needed to know what happened next. This isn't a by the books retelling on any level and so getting to a much broader and interesting take on a classic myth was exciting.

Predictability: As I said this is by no means a by the numbers retelling. While I thought many times I would know where this story was going to go, with how this story is set up there were quite a few twists that I didn't see coming, mostly because I was clinging to what I know about Greek Mythology and didn't leave room in my brain to cover more creative ways this story could go. There was a fair bit of foreshadowing on a few things though and so while there was a great deal I couldn't predict, there were also some things that we very easy to predict.

Ending: Another concern I have with this story was how rushed the ending was. I mean, this is a standalone, but there were ways I could have easily seen it become a series or even just a duology. While the real final climax of this story was great and had a lot of great action and tension, I didn't think it was the actual final climax until what I thought would be the final battle was kind of just swept away at the end.

Rating:

This was probably the review I've debated about the most. I mean, I stand by my rating, but there's a lot to this book that bothered me, but at the end of the day despite all that I really did enjoy this story and I actually loved the changes from the myths.

About the Author:

Chris Ledbetter grew up in Durham, NC before moving to Charlottesville, VA in 11th grade. After high school, he attended Hampton University where he promptly “walked-on” to the best drum line in the conference without any prior percussion experience. He carried the bass drum for four years, something his back is not very happy about now.

After a change of heart and major, he enrolled in Old Dominion University and

earned his degree in Business Administration. He’s worked in various managerial and marketing capacities throughout his life. He taught high school for six years in Culpeper, VA, and also coached football.

He has walked the streets of Los Angeles and New York City, waded in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and climbed Diamond Head crater on Hawaii and rang in the New Year in Tokyo, Japan. But he dreams of one day visiting Greece and Italy.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | YouTube |  Goodreads

Giveaway!

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a 1-month subscription to Owl Crate, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: The Hands of Time (Elementals #5)

Release Date: November 25, 2016
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 190 pages
Source: Review Copy from the Author

Time is running out. War will be waged. Sacrifices will be made.

Months ago, Nicole Cassidy’s life was turned upside-down when she discovered that she was a witch descended from the Greek gods. She and the four other witches gifted with elemental powers fought all over the world—and in another dimension—to battle the supporters of the Titans and fight for the people they love.

Now the Elementals must stop Typhon—the most dangerous monster in the world—from rising, and seal the portal to the dangerous prison world of Kerberos. But they won’t be able to do that without facing their hardest decision yet… a sacrifice so great that it may be one they’re not willing to make.

Get ready for the stunning, action-packed conclusion to the bestselling Elementals series, with twists and turns that you’ll never see coming!

  

Review:

Protagonist: Nicole Cassidy has just braved the prison world of Kerberos to save the boy she loves from the megalomaniacal demigod, Ethan, only to find him dead and her and the only other Elementals' only chance at stopping the Titan Typhon from rising, the Head of Medusa, destroyed. Now she's given the chance to go back in time and write her wrongs. After traveling back in time with fellow Elemental, Danielle, they save Blake in a matter of minutes, but that doesn't mean their work isn't over. There are still many things to do, and sacrifices to make before the Earth can be safe. I'm not quite sure what to say about the development of Nichole, or really any of the main characters in this story. They aren't perfect, far from it actually, but that's something that makes them very human and realistic characters. There is some development that they all go through in this book, there are tough and heartbreaking decisions that have to be made that really show off how far these characters have come since the first book in this series.

Romance: I almost feel like I need to cut this part out. Romance isn't one of the main themes of this book. The love, both platonic and romantic, that these characters have for one another does drive the story, and there is a sizable section of the book that is completely driven by one character's romantic love for another character, but other than these two characters working through whatever issues are currently plaguing them and growing stronger as a couple there isn't really any progression or super exciting instances of romance in this book. Don't get me wrong, despite not being super excited about this couple at the beginning of the series, I have really started to root for them and wish them the best, but once a couple reaches a certain point in stories there isn't all that much to get excited about.

World Building: I think this section is where I had the most trouble with this story. At the beginning of this book, there was so much still left to do, and given how short this story was I wasn't sure how the author was going to fit so much in such a small space. While I enjoyed the new elements of the world that this installment introduced, because of the limited space it felt like things were not only going by too fast but that things were going just a bit too easily. That's not to say that there weren't consequences for certain actions, but rather that in the long run there was a feeling of convenience to certain things, that lasted for about half the book, then things sort of flipped. If things were easy in the first half of this story, then in the second half they were far more arduous. I'm not going to reveal what happens obviously, but there is such a contrast with two halves of this book that I'm not sure how I feel, it's uneven and yet it is technically balanced out pretty well.

Predictability: Going into this book I had a few ideas about how I thought this story was going to conclude, that being said I was totally caught off guard by how everything went down. Not only was I, at least before starting this story, unable to see how certain things would go about but given how quickly the second half escalates my vision for how I thought this series would end was just completely off the mark. I don't want to spoil anything which always makes this section the hardest to write, but I'll say this, Madow provides just enough foreshadowing so that you won't see a twist coming, but when it happens you'll understand the steps that led up to it.

Ending: The ending of a book is important, but the ending of a series is the most important. In my experience, how a series ends can affect how I feel about the entire series. That being said I was pleasantly surprised by how this series ended. As you all may know I'm not a huge fan of idyllic ending where there's no real fall out or consequence from the entire series and everyone gets to live happily ever after like it never happened, or that things were even better than before it happened. This book doesn't have an idealistic ending like that. Again, I'm not going to spoil how this story ends, but I'll say that there is an epilogue that is told from a character other than Nicole, and even when I finished the book there were still a few questions I had. I'm not sure if the author will ever write a companion or spin-off series that will answer, quite literally, the one question I have about how this story ends, but if she did you should know that I'm sure it would be amazing.

Rating:

I have to say this was a great ending to a vastly entertaining series. Other than the sort of uneven pacing and stark contrast in the two halves of this book, I loved it and am excited to see what this author will put out next!

Cover Reveal: The Hands of Time (Elementals #5)

So I've been trying to figure out what to say before this awesome cover reveal that I haven't said before. If you haven't yet read the Elementals series yet, you really should. While the first book does set up this world really well, the romance is a bit rushed. However, in the second book, there is not only some fantastic world building you'd expect from this series, but some of the things that were hard for me to love were made much more palatable. By the third book I was hooked, well technically I think I was hooked long before that, but the third book was definitely the best of the bunch so far and really showed off how far this author was willing to go. The fourth book, which comes out in just a week, Builds up the suspense even more and while I wasn't wild about the near ease in which the ending went, I am extremely pumped to see what will happen in this final installment of the series. Now without further ado, I give you the cover for Elementals 5: The Hands of Time.

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

SYNOPSIS:

Time is running out. War will be waged. Sacrifices will be made.

Months ago, Nicole Cassidy’s life was turned upside-down when she discovered that she was a witch descended from the Greek gods. She and the four other witches gifted with elemental powers fought all over the world—and in another dimension—to battle the supporters of the Titans and fight for the people they love.

Now the Elementals must stop Typhon—the most dangerous monster in the world—from rising, and seal the portal to the dangerous prison world of Kerberos. But they won’t be able to do that without facing their hardest decision yet… a sacrifice so great that it may be one they’re not willing to make.

Get ready for the stunning, action-packed conclusion to the bestselling Elementals series, with twists and turns that you’ll never see coming!

The Portal to Kerberos comes out on September 20, 2016

Pre-Order Now!

The adventure began in the first book in the series, Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows. To grab a copy of the first book for free, visit www.michellemadow.com or the bottom of this blog post. 

The Elementals series is available on Kindle Unlimited, so subscribers can read it for free!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Madow writes fast-paced YA (young adult) fiction that will leave you turning the pages wanting more!

She grew up in Baltimore, and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where she writes books for young adults. Some of her favorite things are: reading, pizza, traveling, shopping, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle went on a cross-country road trip from Florida to California and back to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship.

Want all three parts of the Transcend Time Saga—Michelle’s first YA romance series—for FREE? Click here to learn about the series and claim your books

To get instant updates about Michelle’s new books, follow her on Amazon!

Author Links:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Website

Get Elementals 1 for FREE

Nicole Cassidy is a witch descended from the Greek gods… but she doesn’t know it until she moves to a new town and discovers a dangerous world of magic and monsters that she never knew existed.

Fill out the form below and then click the blue button to get your free book!

Thanks! Now check your email to grab your free book :)

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

First Name

Email Address

Powered by ConvertKit

Book Review: The Portal to Kerberos (Elementals #4)

Release Date: September 10, 2016
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 141 pages
Source: Review Copy From Author

She will venture into hell to save the one she loves.

After being betrayed by one of their own, Nicole watches helplessly as Blake is snatched into the prison world of Kerberos—along with Medusa’s head, which is the one item they need to stop the Titans from rising again. Now Nicole and the other Elementals must enter the portal, find Blake, and bring him and Medusa’s head back to Earth before the deadly monster Typhon returns and wreaks havoc on the world. But there’s one catch—their elemental powers don’t work in Kerberos. In a dimension designed to make those within it lose touch with reality, and that’s filled with dangerous creatures who want to stop them from completing their task, will they make it out alive?

In this penultimate book of Nicole’s story, join the Elementals as they journey through hell to save the world… before it’s too late.

A thrilling fantasy adventure in a contemporary setting with Greek mythology and sweet romance, Elementals is a YA series that will keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more!

  

Review:

Protagonist: After watching the boy she loves get dragged into a hellish prison world, Nicole will do just about anything to get him back. With one member of their team already lost and the Head of Medusa on the line, the Elementals brave the world of Kerberos to try and set things right in order to save the world. Things in Kerberos aren't like Earth, this is a world designed for torture and difficulties and the quest to save Blake isn't going to be an easy grab and go mission. One of the interesting things about this story is seeing how, with Blake on the line, how impulsive Nicole becomes. She becomes more of a shoot first ask questions later type of girl which adds an interesting dynamic to this quest where Danielle becomes the more level headed one. Of course, all these characters have some sort of development over the course of this quest that strengthens them as heroes of this series.

World-Building: This is actually a very hard section to write because the only real world building is showing readers the world of Kerberos, and while it's definitely a terrifying place to be and our heroes don't go through it totally unscathed they do have a bit of help getting through which I feel sort of negates how terrifying this torturous prison world seem to the reader quite a bit. It is interesting to see the Greek Mythological influence of the world grow. We get to see some of the baddies in Kerberos and learn a bit more about the Second Rebellion and the forming of this prison world and its ultimate punishments. There is a tiny bit of romance to this book as well, though it's mostly seen in Nicole's constant urgency to get to Blake, there is a possible new romance blooming for one Elemental in particular.

Predictability: Looking back on this adventure I'd have to say that, on the whole, it wasn't that predictable. There are a few reasons for this, firstly is the length of the story and speed of the pacing. With this not only being such a short book, but a fast paced one as well it didn't give me a lot of time to speculate on what would happen next other than the vaguer big picture stuff, and even then I was sorely mistaken. Then there's the fact that this is an author gone rogue, for lack of a better term, she doesn't play by the rules and formulas and that leads to some great twists in this book.

Ending: I'm still not sure if I've properly digested this ending, but here's my unfiltered and spoiler-free thoughts. I heard a lot about this ending, all spoiler free other than the intense feelings, and going in I didn't quite know what to expect, I wasn't ready for another crazy dramatic ending like the previous one, and while the final climax of this book is pretty intense, the actual ending of this book is kind of idealistic. I mean it's not a solve every problem with the blink of an eye idealistic, but it's idealistic enough to make me a bit uncomfortable at what was going on. There is a bit of a cliffhanger but it's a lot less stressful than the one at the end of The Head of Medusa.

Rating:

So, I did really enjoy this book, but I have to say that even though our heroes do face some challenges and go through some really intense stuff, I felt like they could have worked harder and had a tougher time getting through this mess, and the ending was a little too idealistic for my taste.

Cover Reveal: The Portal to Kerberos (Elementals #4) + Giveaway!

Last time a reviewed a cover for this series I'd only read the first book in the series. Now I've got three books under my belt and I've officially become obsessed with this series. I will admit the first book gets off to a bumpy start. It feels very much like an introduction to this world and these characters. The second book is better, but there were still a few flaws in the writing and a rather weak ending. However by the third book I was all in! I was fully on board with the main romance, I loved all the action scenes, and ate up the story like it was cheesecake (my favorite type of cake)! I'm so excited to see where this story will go after the, shall I say, semi-unexpected ending of the third book! Without further ado, here's the cover the book 4, The Portal to Kerberos

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

↓

SYNOPSIS:

She will venture into hell to save the one she loves.

After being betrayed by one of their own, Nicole watches helplessly as Blake is snatched into the prison world of Kerberos—along with Medusa’s head, which is the one item they need to stop the Titans from rising again. Now Nicole and the other Elementals must enter the portal, find Blake, and bring him and Medusa’s head back to Earth before the deadly monster Typhon returns and wreaks havoc on the world. But there’s one catch—their elemental powers don’t work in Kerberos. In a dimension designed to make those within it lose touch with reality, and that's filled with dangerous creatures who want to stop them from completing their task, will they make it out alive?

In this penultimate book of Nicole’s story, join the Elementals as they journey through hell to save the world… before it’s too late.

The Portal to Kerberos comes out on September 20, 2016

Pre-Order Now!

The adventure began in the first book in the series, Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows. To grab a copy of the first book for free, visit www.michellemadow.com. 

The Elementals series is available on Kindle Unlimited, so subscribers can read it for free!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michelle Madow writes fast-paced YA (young adult) fiction that will leave you turning the pages wanting more!

She grew up in Baltimore, and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where she writes books for young adults. Some of her favorite things are: reading, pizza, traveling, shopping, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle went on a cross-country road trip from Florida to California and back to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship.

Want all three parts of the Transcend Time Saga—Michelle’s first YA romance series—for FREE? Click here to learn about the series and claim your books

To get instant updates about Michelle’s new books, follow her on Amazon!

Author Links:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Website

Giveaway:

Michelle is hosting a giveaway for a Kindle Fire! To enter the giveaway click here!

Book Review: The Head of Medusa (Elementals #3)

Release Date: June 29, 2016
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 190 pages
Source: Review Copy from the Author

The epic story of witches, gods, and monsters that USA Today called a "must read" continues in the third book of the Elementals series!

When Nicole Cassidy moved to a new town, she discovered that she was a witch descended from gods. But that was nothing compared to learning that it was up to her and four others with mysterious elemental powers to help save the world from the Titans, who would soon return to Earth.

Now her relationship with Blake -- the fire Elemental -- is finally heating up. But she must remain focused, because Typhon, one of the deadliest creatures in history, has escaped from the weakening prison world. Only one object can destroy him -- the head of Medusa herself.

Follow the Elementals as they journey to the end of the Earth, facing choices that will put their lives and the entire world at risk. Will they all survive the mission? Find out in the riveting third book in the Elementals series, The Head of Medusa.

  

Review:

Protagonist: After the end of the previous installment in this series Nicole has never felt more free, she can date Blake without upsetting the dynamic of the Elementals group, they know about her ability to use black energy to kill, and now they all have a way to keep monsters from constantly coming back from Kerberos. Things couldn't get much better. That is, until she and her team find out that the deadliest Titan Typhon is rising and they don't have much time to gather the things necessary to defeat him before all is lost. Nicole does have development in this book, but it's more directly related to her romance, which I'll get to in a bit, and while I don't mind that she doesn't grow too much individually, at least not noticeably, she's still a character that has a good variety of strengths and weaknesses that are tested in this book, she still has some growing to do, but with any luck she's got plenty of time to do it.

Romance: There really isn't too much of a focus on the romance in this book. It's there sure, the first chapter is even Nicole and Blake's first official date, but as a sub-plot it's very small. They're there for each other, and for the most part the romantic sub-plot revolves around Nicole's ever growing feelings for Blake and her pondering over whether or not to tell him she loves him. Now, that's not a spoiler because it's in the first chapter. I really enjoyed that the author chose to really have her main character debate over whether or not saying that would be too soon. Too often these days YA love interests say "I love you" within days, sometimes even hours, of knowing each other, and while it's only been a couple of months with these two, that's where the whole "we've been through a lot with each other" thing actually feels realistic and not just some contrived way to get these two characters to say the "L" word to each other at a break neck pace. Overall, I really enjoyed the romance and after two books I'm actually rooting for these two all the way and actually really love them together.

World-Building: Even though our heroes now have weapons that can send monster to limbo for a year until the Portal to Kerberos is closed, that doesn't mean it will work on all monsters, especially not a Titan like Typhon. For that job, the only possible defeat is the Head of Medusa. However slicing off Medusa's head isn't going to be super easy, This adventure takes our heroes to new places and has them fight for their lives nearly every step of the way. One of the things I've really come to enjoy about this series is how tightly all these installments fit together. I mean, most series have great continuity and will bring back characters, or dole out the consequences of a past book well, but for some reason, that really stuck out to me in this book. Everything works so well together and this author does a fantastic job of leaving noticeable threads that you just know will be picked up later.

Predictability: Here's something weird. I honestly don't know how to describe what I was and was not able to predict. Let me try to explain. I would be able to predict one or two aspects of what was to come, but the specifics would be wrong, or the timing would be off. There are some pretty big twists in here and the author does a good job of mixing foreshadowing with misdirection. Sometimes I would think I predicted something big, only to be wrong, and vice versa. Sometimes I thought I'd have the perfect idea of what's going to happen, only for the details to all get switched around and for it to turn out much more hopeless than I planned.

Ending: I thought I had more time. That's really all I can think to say, at least the only thing spoiler free I could think  to say after finishing this book. As things just hit a high point of tension, the highest for the entire book to be honest. I expected things to wind down, for there to be a cooldown period of some sort. Nope it ends, it ends with literally one of the most infuriating cliffhangers I've ever read. Michelle Madow, you are evil and I'm okay with that, and I am not okay with that. There is a final confrontation I guess, but that's a bit too far from the end, and not nearly final enough to be the final climax. The final climax was intense and crazy and if I wasn't in a hurry to read the first two chapters of the next book (which are at the end of this book) I could probably sit here and rant about it all day!

Rating:

Finally a five star book for me in this series. It's not even that the other books were bad, they were great, even though the first book felt a bit too much like and introduction and not enough like a solid first installment, however I'm completely addicted to this series and am totally chomping at the bit for book four! Bring it on!!!

Blog Tour Book Review: Empire of Dust (Blood of Gods and Royals #2) + GIVEAWAY!!!

Release Date: June 28, 2016
Author: Eleanor Herman
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Length: 432 pages
Source: Review Copy for Tour

In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat.

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt.

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing.

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor.

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

    

Review:

Characters: Once again this book takes us through this story through many different points of view, but for the purpose of this review I'll stick with the main characters. First we have Kat, who has recently found out that she's the twin sister of Alexander, the prince of Macedon, but her birth mother still hunts her for unknown reasons, to keep her safe Alex sends her and his friend Hephaestion, on an adventure to help protect Macedon from further threats. Alex is still trying to figure out his role as Prince Regent while his father is off fighting a war in Byzantium, will he rule with an iron fist, or with cunning and wit? Then there's Jacob, who bored me to tears in the last book, given that literally his only character motvation was how he could get Kat to fall in love with him, this time however, while his motivations are still in some way still ties to Kat, he's off on his own path, a path of glory and for himself. However, under his careful watch is the princess, Cynane, Alex's half sister who will stop at nothing to hold her own kingdom and lead her own army. Finally, far removed from this story for now, is Princess Zofia, who longs to find the Spirit Eaters and change her destiny to be with the one she loves, but now held captive and led on what she believes to be a wild goose chase for the last pegasus, she begins to wonder if finding the Spirit Eaters is still what she truly desires. Going into this book, I loved most of the characters, even the characters who hate other characters I love. I did not, however, love the character of Jacob, that being said I actually enjoyed him in this book and after a few chapters actually found myself excited for his next chapter. I'm still not sure about a romance between him and Kat, but on his own he's actually not a half bad character anymore. Another character I love, Zo, again doesn't have all that many chapters, and with her story being so far removed from the rest it's hard to get a good chunk of her story each book, hopefully she'll meet up with some of our other heroes in the future. Overall, all these characters are fantastic, the heroic ones, the villainous ones, and the ones in between are all so richly fleshed out and described.

Romance: So if Eleanor Herman had one flaw I'd say it's romance. Now, not all her romance was negative, in fact in the first book I only really wanted Kat and Heph to get together because I despised Jacob so much, but after this book I actually really and truly wanted them together. There is one other romance, one I'm not going to divulge too much of due to spoilers, but suffice it to say that these two romantic interests grow close in this book sure, but the fact of romance comes out of nowhere, and suddenly the person who's perspective we're reading from is all, "Yes! I do love *spoiler*. How did I not see it before?" and with it coming out of the blue like that, without any real romantic tension between the two or really anything pointing toward affection of that nature on either side, really kind of bugged me.

World Building: There is so much world building in this book. One of the things I find really interesting about this book are all of the legends that don't quite exist in our world, but are still tied to the mythology of our world in some way. If you've read the prequel to this series, you may know that there is a god called Riel mentioned in it, and if memory serves he may have even been mentioned in the first novel as well, anyway, since reading about him I had thought that the name "Riel" was a false name for some other god, but in this story not only do we learn more about Riel, but about where Snake and Earth Blood Magic comes from, about the mythical events that have shaped this world at a tipping point, a bit about what to expect in the future. Another thing we see in this book are two character venturing to Egypt on an important mission and making even more discoveries along the way. The way this author describes the landscapes of Egypt is so wildly different to that of Macedon. In fact it's evident that the author really wants the reader to feel that they aren't in Macedon anymore, and really feel this new part of the world. I love the mix of different mythologies and how this world has grown, the author does take some liberties with history, beyond just the magic stuff, but nothing that would cloud the core feel and purpose of the story and world at large.

Predictability: This series as a whole hasn't been all that predictable, if memory serves, and this book is no exception. As always there are a few things that are easier to predict, though more specific things foreshadowed than just vague normally guaranteed things. Then there were the big twists, and one of the big twists is pretty predictable, though I never felt like it was supposed to be this big shocking twist, it was more that the characters finally caught on to what's been going on. There were a couple fairly large twists though that knocked me off my feet and had my mind reeling. With how this world is constantly evolving I can't wait to see what's next!

Ending: This ending was rather strange. Not in a bad way at all, it's just when the first book ended with a large battle, I had assumed that this book would as well, but the final climax, or should I say climaxes, were much more subtle and really drove home where this series is going. I've heard rumors, or possibly just straight up fact, that this is a trilogy, and I sincerely hope it isn't. With how this book ends and everything it's hard to even think that this book could end in just one more installment, it wouldn't be unheard of, but it would be pretty disappointing. Oh, yeah, and this book does end with a pretty huge cliffhanger.

Rating:

I loved this book so much. While there is both not that much, and a whole lot, going on in this book due to the shear number of perspectives, it's such a gripping story and it was hard to put down for too long because I found myself itching to find out what happens next, as I said above I hope this has more than just one installment left because I feel there's much more story to tell!

About the Author:

Before the Game of Thrones craze swept the nation, Eleanor Herman was hard at work entertaining readers with her extensive research on courtly intrigue and romance. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings, as well as three other works of nonfiction: Sex with the Queen, Mistress of the Vatican, and King Peggy.

Obsessed by all things royal and historical, she lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and four extremely dignified cats. Legacy of Kings is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Giveaway!

2 winners will receive a paperback of LEGACY OF KINGS & a hardcover of EMPIRE OF DUST, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway