Book Review: Chasing Impossible (Pushing the Limits #5)

Release Date: July 1, 2016
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Length: 298 pages
Source: Nowhere But Here Pre-Order Bonus

Tough and independent, 17-year-old Abby lets very few people into her inner circle. It’s common knowledge in her Kentucky town that she deals drugs, but not even her closest friends know why. But when a deal goes south and Abby’s suddenly in danger, she finds herself reluctantly forced to lean on daredevil Logan—a boy whose restless spirit matches her own.

Logan has his own reasons for wanting to keep Abby at arms’ length. But he never expected to find in her the one person who might help him face the demons he’s tried so hard to run from.

Together, Abby and Logan will have to make a decision: let their current circumstances weigh them down forever…or fight for the future they both thought was impossible.

    

Review:

Protagonists: Abby sells drugs, it's the way things have to be and she can see no way out. There are reasons she does what she does, and until recently she's been very closed off, only allowing one friend, and even then the relationship has been strained. Now her attempt at a normal life has interfered with her darker side and those she's come to care about are in danger by being near her. Logan is a daredevil who won't back down from a challenge, but he has something to hide, something he's kept secret from even his best friends, something that may just kill him. Together they navigate their lives as well as Abby's difficult situation. I love these characters. I've loved these characters since we first met them. They're the type of broken that make you want to hug and hold them tight and to tell them that everything's going to be okay. I love that they had great development, both separately as well as together. Every character that McGarry writes has so many layers, secrets they keep from the world, from themselves, and they are characters that you just grow to love if you don't already love them right away.

Romance: This is something that hasn't been done in a McGarry book yet. We have two characters that we already know, normally at most we know one character from previous books, not this time though. The chemistry between Abby and Logan is electric, it begins with flirtation, nothing they take seriously because neither of them "do feelings," however when you play with fire you're going to get burned, and this romance was smoking hot. Besides the crazy chemistry physically they also have a deep emotional connection. I've said this before, but Katie McGarry can write some of the best romances I've ever read. Everything just fits so perfectly, even if it doesn't look like it will from the start. I loved this romance and loved these characters together. At first I thought Abby and Ethan might be a thing but after reading this I can't see Abby with anyone else but Logan.

World-Building: The hook for this book is learning about Abby's past and present. There's a lot in the third and fourth PTL books that have remained mysterious surrounding Abby and in this book the walls come down and the mystery is revealed. We learn why Abby sells drugs, and why she can't easily stop. We learn why she keeps her walls up, and where she comes from. Going into this book I knew that while future PTL books aren't ruled out, that this would be the last one for a while and it really felt like a finale. There are so many characters we see again, and really see how large this group has grown since the beginning. These books are extremely character driven and since it's a contemporary there's not too much world building in the sense of being introduced to a new world. This world is ever expanding however, and seeing all these stories, these friendships and romances that have survived for so long is just spectacular.

Predictability: On the whole this book wasn't all that predictable. As always McGarry plays the foreshadowing game well. She gives enough of a hint at what's to come so that nothing will blindside you or feel forced, but still keep quite a few surprises up her sleeves. There are some great twists in this book, things I didn't see coming and things that I had only toyed with being true. Even the stuff I could predict was fine by me because it felt orchestrated that way, as if you were supposed to know all along.

Ending: One of my favorite things McGarry does is make sure the ending is realistic and not too idealistic. An ending with happy joy and rainbows and no consequences can really kill a good story. Don't get me wrong I love a happy ending, I just don't like when it comes too easily or without a cost. I won't say if this book ends happily, but if you've read a Katie McGarry book before you won't be disappointed. As I said, this felt like a final book to this companion novel series, everything wraps up nice and neatly, and while I could live in this world for years on end just watching these characters interact, I'm satisfied with how everything ended and don't feel a deep ache for more.

Rating:

Oh My God! I loved this book so much, I can't even properly put into words how much. This is most definitely both my favorite Katie McGarry book (Sorry Dare You To) and so far my favorite book I read this year. Seriously I'm so bummed that I can't get a physical hardcover of this book to put with the rest of the series because to me this book is an essential read for any Katie McGarry fan. P.S. if Katie does write more PTL books seriously all I need is for Ethan to find his HEA, and as long as she doesn't introduce any more super compelling characters I'd be good with her putting this world to bed on the full length novel front at least.

Book Review: The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1)

Release Date: February 16, 2016
Author: C. J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 400 pages
Source: eGalley via Edelweiss

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

    

Review:

Protagonists: This book is told from at least three different third person points of view. but for the most part it's told from the point of view of Lorelai and Kol. Lorelai is the princess of Ravenspire forced to flee after a failed attempt to show her kingdom the cruelty of her step-mother, Irina. At the beginning of the book Lorelai is training to try and grow her magic enough to face Irina, she starts off very serious and a bit timid, but as the story continues she starts to come out of her shell and become more and more confident. Kol on the other hand has always been the ne'er-do-well second prince, but after a tragedy forces to crown of his kingdom on his head he has find a way to save his people, even if that means making a deal with the devil. Both these characters are very fleshed out, and have great character arcs over the course of this book.

Romance: I was really surprised at how well the romance was written. Not necessarily because I doubted the skill of the author, but more because this is in many senses a standalone, and normally standalones tend to speed up the romance so that when the characters say "I love you" it doesn't seem forced or rushed (ironically it rarely works) in this book though, had the characters said "I love you" to each other, regardless of the fairly light amount of romance, or maybe because of it, I would have felt that they earned it, but these characters keep their heads and take a more realistic view of their romance. Which, of course, I really enjoyed.

World-Building: So going into this I expected a full on fairy-tale retelling, however while this is undeniably a Snow White retelling, other than a few moments that mirrored the original tale, and a few things that eluded to the story, this wasn't a paint by numbers retelling which I found very refreshing. I think the only bad thing I have to say about the world-building in this book was that not long after the book started we were treated to some intense info-dumping that was kind of hard to grasp at first but as the book went on things made more and more sense.

Predictability: So I have to say that since I was expecting a closer retelling to the Snow White tale there wasn't all that much that I was able to predict about this book. Because of that I was able to experience some crazy twists, thing that made me yell, cry, jump for joy, etc. just, not usually all at the same time. There were quite a lot of the usual things that I was able to predict. The bigger picture, YA formula type of stuff, but the more in depth detailed points were what really made this adventure great.

Ending: You know how in a lot of book to movie adaptations they sometimes add in a battle scene to appeal to a larger audience, well, if this were to ever be made into a movie they wouldn't have to do that. There's a fantastic battle full of action and everything Hollywood movie producers would want from a final confrontation. That's just the first half, the second more intense half of the battle was just perfect, it made me genuinely worried for some of the more important characters in this book. Then there's the epilogue, and while the epilogue didn't focus on what I thought it would, I was happy about that, it felt more real and while there are a few things not completely tied up by the end of this book, there's more than enough to make for a satisfying conclusion to this story.

Rating:

So this was a very hard book to rate, there was a large part of me saying that this should get five stars, but unfortunately there was a larger part that couldn't get over the info-dumping near the beginning of this book. Regardless this is a fantastic fantasy adventure and I cannot wait to see what fairy-tale this author decides to tackle in this world next!

Book Review: Rise of the Wolf (Mark of the Thief #2)

Release Date: January 26, 2016
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Length: 352 pages
Source: Gifted ARC

Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War--the battle to destroy Rome from within--is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet--one sure to bring the empire to its knees. Worse, the Praetors believe Nic holds the key to finding this amulet, and they will stop at nothing to steal it, even if that means harming the people Nic holds most dear.

When the Praetors capture Nic's mother, Nic knows he must do anything to save her. He challenges the Praetors to a chariot race. If he wins, they will release his mother. But if he loses, he must hand over a magic that will certainly destroy Rome and end his own life. Can Nic once again harness his magic and gather the strength to defeat his enemies? Or will he lose his mother and bear witness to Rome's destruction?

    

Review:

Protagonist: Nic is once again a prisoner, a well fed and pampered one, but a prisoner nonetheless. He now lives in his newly discovered grandfather's house and is training his chariot riding skills as he tries to think of a way for his sister Livia and him to escape and leave the Roman Empire behind, and with any luck take some friends along. Nic is still the cunning and defiant boy we met in the first installment, but he's grown and changed since then, his instincts are sharper, his judgement, while still not the best, is better. He's still cares very deeply for his friends and family, almost to a fault. Over the course of this book he learns some hard lessons, and grows and matures even more. I love the character of Nic so much, he's relateable and real, he has flaws, makes mistakes, but learns from them to better himself for the future.

Romance: Unlike the previous installment, the romance in this book is much more prevalent. I was actually shocked by how much romance is in this book, and it's done so well. I really root for Nic and Aurelia to be together and I understand completely why they don't just get together right away. It's amazing how this author writes romance, it's not the "can't eat, can't sleep," near obsessive love of some YA books, it's realistic, wholesome, and it's paced perfectly in this series.

World-Building: So, if you thought Radulf was a bad guy, you ain't seen nothing yet. There are far fiercer enemies in this world and some have more power than you can imagine. The world-building really grows exponentially in this book. The consequences of Nic's actions in the first book are really clearly drawn out here and it's not hard at all to see where this series will probably end. The divine power of the gods isn't just something talked about and seen through the bulla or divine star in this book, no, in this book the power of the gods is a real threat. I can't believe how much this world gets expanded in this book, it's amazing and I loved every second of it.

Predictability: The most surprising thing about this book was how predictable it was, maybe I'm just wising up to Nielsen's foreshadowing but even so I loved every twist and turn even if I saw it from a mile away. There are plans once again that Nic tries to keep from the reader, until that moment where he can reveal it for the maximum effect. However, there was a lot of foreshadowing so even though there were times when I was genuinely surprised by what happens, there were probably just as many times, if not more, where I knew exactly what he was going to do, but I didn't care, everything was just as entertaining and I never felt a groan even begin to form in my throat as this book twisted and turned.

Ending: For those hoping for a happy or plateaued ending that lead into an easy to foresee happy future for all our main characters, well I have some bad news. This book ends with an epic final battle that's half combat and magic and half strategy and debate. There are bits of foreshadowing of things to come that all lead to an epic and heart-wrenching cliffhanger that only went to prove my prediction that the wait for the third and final book in this epic trilogy will be agony!

Rating:

Was this really a surprise? Probably not. I loved this book for so many reasons, it was near impossible to put down and I was excited to see that even if Nielsen isn't all that unpredictable I still love her stories and I seriously cannot wait until I have book 3 in my hands!