Book Review: The Angel Gift (Dark Word: The Angel Trials #4)

Release Date: September 30, 2018
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 270 pages
Source: Review Copy from the Author

Everyone is separated, and no one is safe.

Raven Danvers didn’t think her life could get any crazier since the night a demon attacked her in an alley and abducted her mom.

She was wrong.

Because now that same demon has abducted her too. He’s thrown her into a secret bunker with a group of humans who have unique abilities that make them “gifted.” They don’t know what the demons want with them, and the bunker is impossible to escape.

Her only hope is Noah—the wolf shifter she’s imprinted upon. She just needs to let him know where she is. But she can’t do it alone. Her only way to get a message to him is to team up with the other humans by making use of their unique gifts.

But they have to do it fast. Because their time in the bunker is temporary. The demons are prepping them to go somewhere else… somewhere far worse than where they are now.

They don’t know what this place is.

They just know they really, really don’t want to find out.

Get ready for a magical, twist-filled ride in the fourth installment of The Angel Trials series, a fast-paced urban fantasy adventure that will leave you on the edge of your seat wanting more!

  

Review:

Protagonists: In this installment, the POV characters are switched up a bit. There’s a greater focus on Noah and Thomas, specifically Noah as I think he has the most chapters out of anyone, even Raven, in this book. We do get to see quite a bit of Raven though, as she learns more about both her captivity and her “gifted” human status. Interestingly, Sage does not narrate any chapters in this book, which makes sense due to her being forced into the blood bond at the end of the previous installment and this story does go into why her having a POV chapter wouldn’t be so interesting without actually addressing it head-on. Finally there is a new POV, or at least I think her POV is new, and that’s Mara, Azazel’s daughter, I was extremely surprised at how much I liked her chapters, sure her character arc does feel a bit tropey, but it’s a trope that I like so I’m completely on board. I really loved reading from all these characters POVs, each one (apart from the last chapter POV) had something to learn and experience over the course of this tale, except maybe Noah, which is a little disappointing, I mean there are plenty of other characters that had phenomenal development in this story, but since he has the majority of POV chapters, not to mention that he’s my favorite character, I would have liked to see some more development from him in this story and more of a purpose in this installment than just the guy who wants to get Raven back.

Romance: There was actually very little romance in this story, I mean it’s not surprising as our two main romantic couples have been separated, not to mention the fact that an individual in one of those couples, Sage, has been so fundamentally changed that she’s pretty much not the same person anymore. There is some romance in this story, though there isn’t much romantic development, and certainly no romantic development with our two main couples as they need to overcome a few obstacles before those relationships can continue to develop. The romantic development that is in this story is more laying the groundwork for another couple, Flint and Mara, finally showing Mara’s side of things and her feelings about her imprinting bond with Flint after the blood bonding ritual.

World Building: How the world Building unfolds in this installment feels a bit different than the previous installments in the series, I mean, there is expansion to the world, we start to get a better idea about what the demons are planning, in fact, I’m pretty sure I know what their endgame is, but I did leave this story with more questions than answers as to HOW they will accomplish this feat. Still, in many ways this story feels like filler, pretty open and shut in terms of the amount of story progress this installment will have, and while we have some new information and we’ve met some new people, this felt like more of an unplanned pit stop (or kidnapping, whichever you prefer) on their way to Avalon and while I didn’t expect they’d reach Avalon in this story, which they didn’t, and even though I told myself to view this story as an episode of a TV drama which helped immensely in the previous installment, this story just felt like it was missing something, maybe more about the “gifted” humans, though I suspect we’ll get more on that later, maybe another Mara chapter, maybe even an Azazel chapter, I’m not sure all I know is it feels like it’s missing SOMETHING. (Edit: About a day after writing this review I realized what that SOMETHING was, I talk about it in the conclusion.)

Predictability: Overall this installment did feel very by the numbers, there were, of course, a few moments over the course of the book that caught me off guard, such as what I think Azazel’s, and by extension many if not all of the demons’, plans are, but even then, when I’m caught off guard like that, I’m not surprised, in fact, I was only surprised two times and they were both towards the end. Also, I will say that there are a couple moments in this tale that seem a bit too easy and a bit too constructed which pulled me out of the story a few times, so I do wish things were a bit harder on our protagonists, that way they feel like they’ve really earned their victory, should they have one.

Ending: Again, as it seems the theme of this review is, the ending was pretty predictable, and while this was the only time in the entire story that I was truly surprised, that only applies to two moments in the last few chapters. The final climax is great and included one of the shocking and surprising moments, but it did play out mostly how I expected. There was also only one point during this story that I was at all confused, and that was the final chapter. In Madow’s typical Dark World form we have a final chapter from the POV of someone new, but unlike past, let’s just call them epilogues, unlike past epilogues this one didn’t have the same cliffhanger gut punch for me that it usually does, I feel like I missed some subtext or just plain text because while I felt I understood what was going on, I just didn’t feel that signature Madow stomach dropping cliffhanger, but then again, I’d rather have a calmer ending than that torture-fest and the end of the last installment.

Rating:

While I did utterly devour this installment, as I said numerous times in this review, it’s missing something, everything that’s in the book is fantastic, except for maybe the epilogue, but it's been about a day since I wrote this review and upon reflection I realized what it was missing, it was missing all of the great character interactions from the previous installments, while I love seeing our main characters interacting with newer and returning characters, because everyone's split up, there's sort of a hole left in the story that not even a fantastic story like this could fill in.

Book Review: The Angel Trap (Dark World: The Angel Trials #3)

Release Date: July 31, 2018
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 195 pages
Source: Review Copy from Author

Be careful who you trust, or you might walk into a trap.

After putting her neck on the line to save Noah and Sage’s lives, Raven is on the brink of death. The only thing that might save her? Vampire blood.

The problem is, no one’s supposed to know that vampire blood can heal humans. Anyone who finds out will be silenced. Which means Sage and Noah need to take Raven to a vampire they can trust. But shifters don’t normally trust vampires, so they only know one vampire who fits that category.

Thomas Bettencourt is a vampire prince who rules an elite coven in Chicago. And thanks to his secret history with Sage, he might be willing to save Raven’s life. But only if they agree to his conditions.

Now they have two choices—accept Thomas’s demands, or let Raven die. And after imprinting on Raven, Noah will do anything to ensure she survives.

Even if that means making a deal with a vampire.

Get ready for more romance, adventure, and twists in The Angel Trap, the shocking third installment in The Angel Trials series!

  

Review:

Protagonists: YES!!!! I can finally call this section "Protagonists" again! Seriously though, as much as I love Raven and enjoyed seeing from her POV, her total domination of the books so far did bug me considering that The Vampire Wish series always felt more balanced when it came to other characters' POVs. Anyway, in this installment, a lot of the story is devoted to Sage, and I loved every minute of it. Sage has always been a character that I liked, but I never felt we knew all that well. We know she's a bit rebellious, okay a lot rebellious, and that she comes from the Montgomery pack, but in this story, we learn more about her past and her relationship with a certain vampire named Thomas. I loved getting to know more of Sage's backstory and the hardships she's had to endure in her life. We do finally get a few more chapters from my personal favorite character, Noah, and for those who haven't read The Vampire Wish series, we learn more about who he is and his backstory as well as what Raven may have been doing during the time her memory was most likely erased and replaced. The character development in this book, heck, this series, is fantastic, it's subtle and nothing feels like it's coming out of the blue or that it's out of character.

Romance: I've said before that the romance in this series is probably my favorite part, and that still remains true in this installment, and it's not just because there's twice the romance. While Raven and Noah are still dealing with their seemingly impossible imprint, an imprint that Raven doesn't even know about at the start of this book, Sage has some romantic drama of her own. See she has a romantic past with Thomas, it didn't end well. I wasn't sure if I would like a romance between Thomas and Sage, mainly because I didn't know much about Thomas before this book, and I have to say, even though there's one thing about him, okay maybe a couple of things, that seems sketchy about him, I actually grew to like him as a character and I really like his connection with Sage and learning more about their past together. Of course, there's more Raven/Noah romance and I lapped it up like a parched dog. I don't know why, but I really love the connection between Raven and Noah, probably because she calls him on all his crap and really, what's not to love there?

World Building: So, I've been pretty critical of the plot progression in this series, but that was before two revelations. One, that each installment in this series feels more like an episode of a series, or mini-series to be more precise (this revelation I came to on my own after reading the second installment), and two, that there will be anywhere from seven to nine installments in this series. Because of these revelations, I tempered my expectations going into this installment, and I have to say, not only was I not left disappointed, but I was actually surprised at how much plot progression there actually was in this installment. Like I've mentioned before, a lot of this installment focuses on the past, Sage's past with Thomas, Raven's missing time in "Europe," and even Noah's past. In fact, while we do get to see more of this world, and learn more of its secrets, this installment feels very character focused.

Predictability: Going into this book, as I've said before, my expectations were tempered and I thought I had a good grasp on how this would unfold, and until a certain point I was right. See, after the story moves beyond where I thought it would, I was completely caught off guard and the story just sort of went in a direction I wasn't planning on. I have to say, I love where the author is taking this story and I love how even though I knew something was going to happen, I wasn't prepared for the surprises that awaited in this book.

Ending: So, like I said, until a certain point I knew what would happen and then all hell broke loose. The final climax of this book pretty much makes up everything after where I thought the story would go. The final climax honestly just blew me away, it's not a big action scene, but I was sort of in shock from the twists and turns that were happening, the places that this story is going were shocking the heck out of me, and the tension built up never dissipated, even when the story reached the cliffhanger I'm sure many people know was coming. I mean, this might have been the most crippling cliffhanger I've read from this author yet.

Rating:

I wasn't sure I was going to give this book 5 stars until I wrote the review, because even though the author's writing isn't perfect, she tends to over explain things in the exposition a lot, the story was everything I was hoping for and more and now I'm kicking myself for reading this installment so soon, because even if she writes these books rather quickly, it's going to feel like agony waiting to see what's coming next.

Book Review: The Angel Hunt (Dark World: The Angel Trials #2)

Release Date: May 17, 2018
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 266 pages
Source: Review Copy

The hunt for demons is about to heat up.

Somehow Raven has convinced Noah and Sage—the two wolf shifters who saved her from a demon attack—to let her tag along on their quest to kill ten demons. The payoff for completing the mission? Entrance to the mystical island of Avalon, where Raven will go through trials to gain the strength she needs to save her mom’s life.

Raven wants to help the shifters on their quest. But Noah refuses to put her in any danger—which makes no sense, since he hates her. At least she thinks he hates her… until he catches her off guard and kisses her. Suddenly they’re connected in ways she doesn’t understand, and she feels closer to him than ever.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d think they imprinted on each other. But that’s impossible. Because shifters can’t imprint on humans.

And if they did imprint on each other, then the supernatural world is changing—and Raven’s right in the center of it.

Emotions will flare between Raven and Noah in the second book in The Angel Trials series, an urban fantasy adventure with romance, magic, and twists that will keep you reading long into the night!

  

Review:

Protagonist: Once again I wish I could add an "s" to the end of this section and talk about seeing various POVs in this series, but alas Raven, again, has the vast majority of the story to tell. It's not that I dislike Raven in any way, I really love how she grows and changes over the course of this book, she's still a stubborn spitfire, but in this installment, she really starts to find her groove with her demon hunter companions and starts to feel necessary to their plans of finally getting to Avalon. Raven really starts to take more control of her destiny and pushes herself further in this book. However, I still really wish that we could see from more characters' perspectives, like Noah and Sage, particularly Sage as we learn a little bit more about her and the little that we get seems like it could snowball into something great.

Romance: This is definitely where most of the attention in this installment is placed. In the first installment, the romance between Raven and Noah was merely set up, where here things are turned up to a whole new level. The romance was what really intrigued me most about the first installment, apart from the main plot, I was so interested in seeing how a relationship between Raven and Noah might work if they could never imprint (which is a word I'm not particularly a fan of as it has too many Twilight connotations for my liking, but since it's based on how many animals find a mate, I've sorta let it go.) Then I read the synopsis, and I sort of felt all my interest leave for the romance in this series, I mean, if they can just imprint anyway, where's the struggle, where's the fight to be with each other if their only known roadblock isn't actually a roadblock. All I'll say on the matter is that after reading this book, I might be even more into the romance than ever, I really like the connection between Raven and Noah, even if Noah can be a grumpy little tool sometimes, and I really enjoyed how the author chose to handle their feelings for one another, seriously it's taking so much in me to not gush out spoilers when talking about this.

World Building: Honestly, I don't even know what to write here. There is a decent amount of plot progression and world building in this book, but much like the first installment in this series, I never felt there was enough for a full installment, even by Michelle Madow standards, while we do learn quite a bit more about shifters, and we see more about how the supernatural world works outside of Vampire Kingdoms. Since a large portion of this book is much more about character development and romance, there isn't a whole lot of time to move things along, which kind of bugged me at times as I'm itching to really get things started in this series. There are so many questions hanging in the air going into this book, and I honestly aside from some romance related ones, we don't get a whole lot of answers. In a lot of ways, this felt like the second third of a book, full of action, adventure, and romance, but while the main plot and world building are not forgotten, they're more pushed off to the side for a while, only to spring up when absolutely necessary.

Predictability: There wasn't a single thing in this book that surprised me. Now, that's not the same thing as being able to predict everything, which I was pretty much able to do, but more that when there was something revealed that I didn't know, it didn't shock me in any way. I was really hoping to be surprised by something in this book, even something small, but aside from the synopsis giving a little too much detail and the things I know from the previous series, nothing here took me by surprise.

Ending: So, this was a really great ending. I mean, sure, the final climax could have been better, much like the final climax in the previous installment I felt no real emotional investment on the part of our heroes that would make it special, I mean sure they have their lives to protect and they want to make it to Avalon, both very good driving forces, but for a final climax I feel it should have more depth and mean something more to the characters, now the outcome of the final climax, there's your emotional investment, and it's a really intese few chapters leading to the end of this installment, but since I wouldn't consider that part of the final climax, even though it was to some extent, or really all extent, a byproduct of the final climax, I just wish there was more at stake before the final climax starts than after it's over. Much like nearly all of Madow's previous Dark World books, this story ends with an epilogue chapter of sorts that seems to tee up not only where Book 3 will begin but also introduces a rather interesting new character.

Rating:

So, I did like this book better than the first in this series, but it also suffers from a few of the same problems as the first one, mainly that even for a Michelle Madow book, the pacing is just off and it doesn't quite feel like a full installment, nor does it feel like the second half of an installment. I am still very invested in this series and cannot wait for the next book, I'm just hoping for something a bit more than what we have been getting.

Book Review: The Angel Trials (Dark World: The Angel Trials #1)

Release Date: March 19, 2018
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 266 pages
Source: Review Copy From Author

She thought magic didn’t exist. She was so, so wrong.

Raven Danvers is a typical college student… until she’s attacked by a demon on the night of her twenty-first birthday. Luckily, she’s saved by Noah—a mysterious, sexy wolf shifter who appears and disappears in the blink of an eye.

When Raven returns home, she discovers her mom has been abducted by the same demon who came after her. And who turns up at the scene of the crime again? Noah. He’s hunting the demons who are taking humans, and he’s ultimately heading to the place where Raven needs to go to save her mom—the mystical island of Avalon.

Now Raven’s tagging along on Noah’s demon hunting mission whether he wants her there or not. And he makes it no secret that his journey would be a lot easier without her dragging him down. But Raven isn’t going anywhere, so she and Noah will have to learn to work together—if they don’t kill each other first.

  

Review:

Protagonists: Really, this section should be called Protagonist, as Raven's POV chapters take up nearly 90% of this book, I did the math, and worst of all after chapter fourteen it's only Raven's POV until the final chapter, but we'll get to that later. It isn't like I hate Raven, I don't, I like her no-nonsense, straightforward personality and she's a great character to read from, especially if you're new to The Dark World Saga, but at the same time, one of the selling points for me was getting to see more Noah who I was really intrigued by during the Vampire Wish season. We do get to see a lot of Noah, as not only does he have a few chapters in this book, but he's Raven's main love interest, but I really wish we got to see more from his POV as this is technically his series too and it would have shaken things up more after it became all Raven all the time.

Romance: Going into this story I was a bit skeptical about the romance of this series, but I was optimistic since I really want to see Noah end up happy (can you tell which character I favor?). Raven is a fantastic counterpart to Noah and I really like their dynamic together. While we don't get too much development towards a relationship between these two, the situation they're in, in regards to their feelings, is very exciting and I can't wait to see how it will progress in future installments.

World Building: So, this is totally and completely a setup book, in fact, I'll go one step farther and say that this really felt like only half of a book. Much like the second book of The Vampire Wish season, this installment felt like a whole lot of setup and zero actual pay off. I mean, it's called The Angel Trials and there aren't any actual Angels or Nephilim in this book. With this being the first book in the series, and since the author is usually very quick and turning out new installments, It's not a HUGE problem, but with how excited I was for this book I was hoping the story would develop further. I did really enjoy the additional world building in this story, most of the world building is a retread of what we learn in The Vampire Wish season, but there's a lot of new stuff about shifters that are revealed in this story that I was practically captivated by. Oh, and let's not forget a cameo appearance from one of my favorite characters, Rosella, which, I won't say how she's involved, but I nearly exploded with joy from seeing her return.

Predictability: I mean look, this book isn't that hard to figure out. While it's definitely an enjoyable adventure, or partial adventure, there isn't all much that I felt was surprising because honestly, I can only think of a couple of twists in this book at most, and they weren't all that hard to figure out. Since this book has so much set up in it, I'm sure the next installment with have a lot more twists and turns, but this book just sort of felt rather unsurprising. Scratch, that, there were two twists in this book that caught me off guard, but they were more detail based and came in the final chapter so I'll talk about that then.

Ending: Much like some of the books in The Vampire Wish season, this book ends with a new POV, who narrates the last chapter, and boy is this chapter a doozy, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Before that final chapter, we have a final climax... sort of. Honestly, the final climax of this book, while interesting, wasn't much of a final climax since it more felt like a climactic moment in the middle of a book rather than the end of one. The final chapter though, that was pretty interesting, while I figured out the gist of what was going on before this chapter, the specifics are really interesting and while it's not the same as a cliffhanger, I am left wanting more.

Rating:

When I read this book I couldn't help but draw parallels to The Vampire Prince, which I had a lot of the same problems with, but this is a promising start, and while there's really only set up in this story, at least it didn't feel like filler like The Vampire Prince nearly did.

Book Review: The Vampire War (Dark World: The Vampire Wish #5)

Release Date: December 22, 2017
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 217 pages
Source: Review Copy from Author

Find the Holy Grail. Win the war. Save the world.

A lot has changed for Annika since being kidnapped by vampires to become a blood slave in their hidden kingdom of the Vale. Not only has she learned she’s a Nephilim—a race that’s supposedly extinct—but she’s found herself on a dangerous quest for the Holy Grail. Luckily, she has the vampire Prince Jacen by her side, and the two of them feel ready for anything—especially now that they trust each other more than ever.

But finding the Grail is only the beginning. Because when Annika learns that a demon is leading a pack of wolves to war against the vampires, she must stop him before it’s too late. If she can’t, he’ll open a Gate to Hell… and the world as she knows it will be lost forever.

Get ready for an action-packed, adventure-filled ride in the EPIC conclusion to The Vampire Wish series!

  

Review:

Characters: Does anyone recognize these characters from when they were first introduced because honestly, I don't. Don't get me wrong, everything that led here has felt more or less in character and the development of each of these characters has felt realistic and deserved, but in truth, these characters have developed more than almost any I've read before. Annika is a prime example of this. She went from being a blood slave, wishing for the strength to protect herself to impersonating a vampire princess to an activated Nephilim to the potential savior of the world. To say she's been on a wild ride is a severe understatement and there's still more development for her in this book. While these characters are recognizable, their motivations and their goals have constantly shifted throughout the series and it's a joy to see how the change and develop over time. My personal favorite character to watch grow has been Camelia, previously a Jafar-type advisor, her humanity has leaked out at moments and I've really grown to root for her success, maybe not with her more duplicitous actions, but I wanted her to find a happiness that didn't conflict with characters I cared more about.

Romance: So, there really isn't much more to say about the romances in this book than I've already said before. I really do enjoy seeing Jacen and Annika work together in this story and their bond is stronger than ever as they race to save the world from near-certain doom. I love how the author never treated their romance like a race to the finish and has really developed and established their bond and chemistry before rushing into anything with them. Next, there's Karina who's soul mate comes back from the dead, the same soul mate she can't remember, and to make things even more complicated, without her memories of Peter she rushes off to tell Noah that she wants to be with him. Okay, here's my biggest problem with this book, and in all honesty, it's a very small problem, but this subplot wasn't touched on all that much. It is resolved by the end of the book, but without any real focus on it, it just sort of fell flat and I kind of lost interest.

World Building: So, wow, does this book go into the world building. It's not nearly as informative as the previous installment but there's a lot going on. Annika's quest for the Holy Grail leads to some very interesting information and everything that's been building since, well to be honest the second installment, but was truly established at the very end of book 3, finally comes to a head and we learn just what that demon has been doing in Marigold and where it came from. It's so weird to connect this book with the first because while this story started off as Aladdin with vampires and other supernatural creatures, it's turned into something else entirely unrecognizable by the time this installment rolls around, and much like the characters, everything feels both very different, but natural as well.

Predictability: Honestly I'm not sure why I'm keeping this in here I mean, there were quite a few twists and turns in the story and there were also a few things I was able to predict, but on the whole I didn't pay that much attention to how predictable or not this story was. I was just so swept away by it that I never had time to theorize and catch on to the foreshadowing, not that really was any. In fact, I've never really noticed this before but Madow's writing doesn't leave time for a lot of foreshadowing, I mean, some things make sense because they fit into a certain formula, but most of the reveals come nearly out of nowhere.

Ending: The final climax happened a lot sooner than I was expecting it to. I mean it's not like it happens in the middle of the story, but there's definitely a lot of time after the final climax to cool down and set up the next adventure. The final climax though was a lot of fun, I mean there's a war going on but the scenes were really nice and fast-paced and there was a lot of good action to soak up. The cooldown period, as I like to call it, really was all about moving forward and setting up the next series in this world, which I don't mind at all because it also helped tie up Annika and Jacen's story as well a few others for now. There is a sort of epilogue to this book that honestly does the most to set up at least one character's role in the next series, and that's all I feel comfortable saying.

Rating:

Is this book perfect, no there are honestly a few flaws with it, but in the end, I'm giving it 5 stars because it's a highly addicting story with fun and exciting characters and even though it's not perfect I enjoyed every minute of this book, well except for some of the Karina/Peter/Noah stuff but again, a very small issue.

Book Review: The Vampire Fate (Dark World: The Vampire Wish #4)

Release Date: October 5, 2017
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: TBA
Source: ARC from Author

The vampire queen is dead.

Annika shouldn’t have been able to kill the vampire queen Laila—such a task can only be done by the Nephilim, whose race is extinct. But somehow, she did kill the queen. Now she’s the number one target on multiple hit lists, and she’s only alive because she’s a fugitive at the neutral kingdom of the Haven.

As if that weren’t enough to deal with, the world is in danger and she’s the one prophesied to save it. But she doesn’t have to do it alone. When fate brings her and Prince Jacen together again, they team up on a quest to find the only object that can save the world as they know it—the Holy Grail itself.

The adventure continues in the fourth book of The Vampire Wish series, and get ready to brace yourselves, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

  

Review:

Characters: I seriously love the characters in this story. I mean, as much of an ax wound as Camelia is, there's a small part of me that really and truly wants her to have a happy ending, one that doesn't conflict with the more heroic characters that is. While for the most part, this is still Annika's story, and boy what a story it is, Karina definitely rules the second half of this book and the lengths that she'll go to to get her soulmate Peter back are staggering. Her mission takes a few twists and turns in this story and where it ended up had me gasping for air. Annika, after kind of, sort of, accidentally killing Queen Laila flees to the Haven where she learns of her Nephilim blood and what that means for her fate. She embarks on a dangerous quest that will determine the fate of the world and I loved every minute of it. Annika is a strong and capable character and watching her adjust to her newfound abilities, and her reactions to said abilities, is fantastic.

Romance: After the end of the previous installment, where Jacen learns that not only did Annika not die as he thought, but she deceived him for reasons he doesn't quite know or understand, their romance is sort of left up in the air. It doesn't take too long to know where things lie with these characters. The romance in this book isn't the building of relationships, in fact, all in all, most of the romances in this series have already been established and now they just get the chance to evolve and strengthen, or weaken should that be the case. I liked seeing Annika and Jacen interact truly as each other, and there were a few moments that really solidified why I root for them as a couple. As I said above, Karina will stop at next to nothing to be reunited with her soulmate, but she's bonded with Noah, the First Prophet, and that bond may or may not be romantic, throwing a possible wrench into her plans. Will she drop her mission to try and find love again, or will she risk it all for the smallest of chances to raise the dead?

World Building: So, I'll say that this story doesn't feel as much like filler (without actually being filler) as The Vampire Prince did, and honestly there is enough of a story for me to not even think of describing it as anything even adjacent to filler, but I did feel like there was something in this book. I think because I still feel like there's more to tell for just one more book, as this series is tentatively a five book series, and soon the whole it feels like it's missing something. As for what is in this story though, there's quite a bit. We learn a whole lot more about the Nephilim and the supernatural community at large. We learn more about the origins of certain supernatural(s) and there's some serious magic in this tale. Things are definitely coming to a head, though I was sad that there was no more plot progression on the cliffhanger twist at the end of the previous installment... maybe that's what was missing.

Predictability: In terms of things with actual foreshadowing to them, I pretty much nailed those "twists," I mean part of me doesn't even want to call them twists since the author's biggest twists don't usually have that much, if any, foreshadowing to them, and, well, this book had a few great twists. There are a few really interesting twists in this story that will be interesting to see explored as this series comes to a close and I can already see some seeds for the extensions to this world.

Ending: So, this ending is neither as anticlimactic as the previous one, nor does it have as mind-shattering of a cliffhanger. There is a cliffhanger, as this author loves to torture her readers, though she writes books quickly so it's not like there's a long wait, and this cliffhanger is more of one to really ponder on the ramifications rather than freak out over some big reveal. The final climax of this story is fantastic, and while I would have liked a bit less of a straight up cliffhanger on one character's story, overall I'm excited to see where this all leads.

Rating:

I'm honestly shocked I'm giving this book 5 stars, but looking back on it, even if there feels like something's off, it's not a big enough thing to get annoyed over since it probably won't be that long of a wait for the next (final?) book, and even though sometimes elements of this story might feel a tad derivative (something I didn't go into in this review to avoid spoilers) it's still a fun adventure and an exciting ride!

Book Review: The Vampire Trick (Dark World: The Vampire Wish #3)

Release Date: September 7, 2017
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 242 pages
Source: Review Copy from Author

In a kingdom full of secrets, no one can be trusted.

Annika’s life was flipped upside down when she was kidnapped by vampires to become a blood slave in their hidden kingdom of the Vale. Now, the powerful witch Geneva has disguised her as a vampire princess, and Annika’s living in the palace to compete for Prince Jacen’s hand in marriage. But her quest to become his bride is just a facade. Her real goal? Kill the vampire queen Laila so the kingdom crumbles and she can set the human blood slaves free. 

When rebellious wolves attack the town, they leave a trail of vampire corpses in their wake, declaring war upon the Vale. But the wolves didn’t act alone. Someone on the inside is helping them, making everyone a suspect. And one major player won’t make it out alive.

Return to the mysterious, magical world of the Vale in The Vampire Trick and get ready for a major twist you’ll never see coming!

  

Review:

Characters: As the selection for Jacen's hand heats up these characters are in for a wild ride. Karina, still helping the wolves drive away the vampires on the Vale, wants nothing more than to be reunited with her one true love Peter, not knowing that Geneva's ring can never bring him back. Annika's life has been upended by vampires and she's still out for revenge but things are moving quickly and she might miss her one opening. Jacen doesn't really want this selection, he's just looking for someone who might help him take down Laila and bring a modicum of peace the Vale, but ousting Laila will be harder than he ever imagined. Finally, there's Camelia, still, on the path to immortality she prepares to meet with the fae, but what if they ask too much of her? I can't believe I'm saying this but I really love all of these characters, now that doesn't mean that some of these characters aren't evil and deserve to meet their end(s), but they are all written pretty well, and there's even a scene or two where I felt some modicum of sympathy for Camelia.

Romance: Another thing I wasn't quite expecting was for there to be some real romance between Annika and Jacen in this book. There's obviously the tricky aspect of Anikka's true identity to deal with, but I feel as though the author did a fantastic job with making me start rooting for this couple all over again. Now there are parts of this romance that did grate on me quite a bit, mainly that these two characters are pretty much the densest beings when it comes to each other. I mean Jacen keeps seeing bits of Annika in the alluring Princess Ana and even after he notes that their kiss felt familiar he still doesn't get it, and Annika doesn't realize that Jacen's cold demeanor is all an act, even when given nearly every shred of evidence needed. Even still they have a great chemistry and I'll be interested to see how much that will develop before the end of the series.

World-Building: Now this is what I'm talking about! After the previous installment, I was a bit worried going into this story. The Vampire Prince is almost entirely set up for the rest of (I assume) the series, and so not all that much happened in that book, but this book has all of the needed pay off of the previous installment. If it weren't for the fact that some of the stuff that happens in this book would feel too soon in the second book, I'd say that books 2 & 3 should have been combined. In this story, there's a lot that not only moves the plot of this story along further but also reveals a great deal about the world and still finds time to set up some pretty incredible stuff for the final installments. I really want to talk more and go into what about the world building was amazing and why, but to avoid spoilers I can't all I'll say is that if you thought about abandoning the series after the previous book, this book makes up for it and more.

Predictability: I honestly thought I knew what was going to happen in this book. I thought I knew how it would end, and a good idea of how it would be resolved, but nope. While I was able to predict a good chunk of this story it was mainly the obvious parts where the author never even attempted to be subtle with the foreshadowing. No, the really big stuff comes later, however, while I'll agree there is a twist I never saw coming, I don't think it's the twist the author was thinking of when writing the synopsis.

Ending: As much as I love this book and, in all honesty, the ending, it was a bit anticlimactic. There's something that happens at the end that while I wouldn't call it foreshadowing, practically gives arguably the biggest twist of this book away. Now, everything that happens after that anticlimactic climax is pretty fast paced and there's a definite cliffhanger here. I mean, the cliffhanger is the twist I never saw coming because there's never really any foreshadowing for it, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Book 4 can't come soon enough!

Rating:

Don't get me wrong, there's a part of me that really wants to give this book 5 stars. I mean it's so good and in comparison to book 2 it's astronomically better, but I just can't get over how, as much as I love them, these characters can be really dumb sometimes, and how the ending just fell flat and anticlimactic for me.

Book Review: The Vampire Prince (Dark World: The Vampire Wish #2)

Release Date: August 3, 2017
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 186 pages
Source: Review Copy from Author

To destroy the enemy, she will become the enemy.

Everything has been taken from Annika — her family, her friends, and even her freedom — by the vampires who enslaved her in the hidden kingdom of The Vale. But now she possesses a magical ring that contains Geneva, the most powerful witch in the world, and she’s ready for revenge.

When Prince Jacen invites vampire princesses from all over the world to the palace to compete for his hand in marriage, Annika finds her chance. By commanding Geneva to turn her into a vampire princess, she can try to win the cold heart of the prince who betrayed her and left her for dead. Can she keep the emotions she used to feel for Jacen in check? Because if her deception works and she becomes his bride, she’ll have full access to the palace... and she can destroy The Vale from the inside.

But with powerful players vying for control of the ring, and a dark magic rising outside the kingdom, there’s far more at stake than just the crown.

Return to the magical world of the Vale in the second book of The Vampire Wish series and get ready for twists and turns that you’ll never see coming!

  

Review:

Characters: So, while the first book in this series had three points of view this installment introduces another main character to its ranks. I'll get to her in a minute but first, let's talk about Annika and Jacen. Honestly, I didn't feel like they did a whole lot in this book. I mean, technically they did quite a bit, but in terms of character development, they didn't develop all that much, if at all, over the course of this story. This book mainly serves to introduce some new elements to this world, that I'll get to later, so Annika and Jacen pretty much spend the whole book sulking over the other. Camelia also doesn't do much in this book. I mean, she gets some advice on what to do next, but we don't get all that many chapters from her perspective. Finally, we have our newcomer, Karina, and since she's new she's instantly the most appealing character in this book. Don't get me wrong I love (or love to hate) the other POV characters, but honestly, while they do things they don't really do anything. Karina has a bit of a tragic backstory and I'll be interested to see how she'll fit into everyone else's plans.

World Building: The majority of this book is world building and set up. I hesitate using the term filler to describe this book since technically you can't completely cut it out of the series and have it change nothing. Things do happen in this story, it's just that they're spread a bit thin. There are a lot of new elements brought into this world in this book, and at times it could get a bit confusing figuring out how everything lined up. There's a bunch of setup and world building in this book, but as I said, the plot doesn't progress very far, pretty much the author just adds a bit of thinly veiled The Selection flair into her book and adds quite a few new topics and elements into the story to sort of steer it away from the Aladdin retelling that was so integral to book one's plot.

Predictability: Okay, so this book doesn't exactly deliver on the "twists and turns you'll never see coming" that the synopsis promises. Don't get me wrong there were a great handful of times that this book surprised me, but nothing really shocked me to my very core. Again, as I said before, not much really happens in this book I guess that's the theme of this review, so there's not all that much that happens to shock me.

Ending: So, there's not final climax to this book. I mean, again, this book is mostly an excuse to introduce new elements of this world to the reader, and so there wasn't really any climactic moments in this story. Sure, the ending is kind of cliffhanger-y, but since these books come out so close to one another it's not as if it'll be that long before there's more story, so the ending wasn't all that devastating, there are some things I'd like to know but honestly, I can wait.

Rating:

So yeah, nothing really happens in this book. If you loved the first one and want to continue, should you read this book? Hell yes. It probably introduces huge elements that will come into play later. Is it as thrilling a ride as Book 1? No, not at all. In fact, the only reason I'm not giving this book a lower rating is that the story is so short and the time between books is very quick that it's not as if it'll take that long for things to heat up again. P.S. Despite giving this book a low rating, I am still highly anticipating the next installment, I still love the world, this book just sort of felt next to pointless for me.

Book Review: The Vampire Wish (Dark World: The Vampire Wish #1)

Release Date: June 1, 2017
Author: Michelle Madow
Publisher: Dreamscape Publishing
Length: 204 pages
Source: Review Copy via Author

TWILIGHT MEETS ALADDIN in this hot new fantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Michelle Madow!

He’s a vampire prince. She’s a human blood slave. They should be enemies… but uniting might be their only hope to prevent a supernatural war.

Annika never thought of herself as weak—until the day vampires murdered her parents and kidnapped her from our world to the hidden vampire kingdom of the Vale.

As a brand new blood slave, Annika must learn to survive her dangerous new circumstances… or face imminent death from the monstrous wolves prowling outside the Vale’s enchanted walls. But not all in the kingdom is as it appears, and when a handsome vampire disguised as a human steps into her life, Annika discovers that falling for the enemy is sometimes too tempting to resist.

Especially when becoming a vampire might be her only chance to gain the strength she needs to escape the Vale.

Enter the magical world of the Vale in The Vampire Wish, the first book in an addictive new series that fans of The Vampire Diaries and A Shade of Vampire will love!

  

Review:

Protagonists: This story follows three characters' points of view. While there are only two characters that I would deem protagonists, with the other coming off as an antagonist, I want to talk about all three of them. First, we have Annika, a normal human girl enjoying Spring Break with her family when tragedy strikes and her parents, along with her brother, are murdered by vampires. Now she's a blood slave in the hidden Kingdom of the Vale. Wanting to no longer be helpless and a victim, Annika rebels against the vampires by stealing the food not meant for human blood slaves. Jacen is a newly turned vampire prince who wasn't able to control his bloodlust soon after turning and is now confined to the palace. Every day he practices his control and he feels he's ready to be around humans but his sire, the vampire queen, disagrees. Forcing him to sneak out of the palace, posing as a human, and entering the human village where he has a chance meeting with Annika. Camelia is a powerful witch with grander ambitions that just being Queen Laila's advisor. No, she wants to become an immortal vampire, and, more than that wishes to marry Jacen and secure her place in the hierarchy of the Vale. From a narrative standpoint, I love all of these characters. Annika is a great, and strong protagonist who is willing to fight for what she wants but she isn't as rash as some other female heroines. She understands her limitations all too well, but that doesn't stop her from doing what she knows she can do, and dreaming of a better life. Jacen is tormented by his bloodlust and while he has it mostly under control, much like Annika, he understands where to draw the line so he's rarely impulsive. He never wanted this life and he struggles with feeling like a monster. Camelia is a cold and calculating witch, she has ambitions that are within her grasp, but somehow cannot fully come to fruition without annoying trials and tribulations getting in the way.

Romance: I've had some difficult experiences with Madow's romances in her other books, and while I eventually came around to the main romance in the Elementals series, it did take a couple of books for me to get there. However, while I do feel the romance between Jacen and Annika is a bit fast-tracked, it's nowhere near as speedy as the source material, and I'll get to the source material in a bit. While there isn't all that much substance to their relationship yet, Annika and Jacen seem to be a great foil for one another. Annika has a desire to become a vampire and gain the strength, abilities, and freedoms that come with it, while Jacen is disgusted by what he's become and wishes to just live a normal life once more. They also share related interests and you can see some great chemistry that's not quite fully embraced in this story yet, but holds great potential. Another aspect I like is that Annika's desire to become a vampire doesn't stem from wanting to be with Jacen forever, though that would be a great plus, it's a more personal reason which adds some depth to her character.

World Building: Going into this story, and reading the synopsis I didn't quite see how this story could be anything meets Aladdin, but as the story unfolds I was shocked to discover that in many ways this story is a retelling of Disney's Aladdin but with vampires, witches, and shifters. I mean, it's a story that has to have been originally thought of to be a retelling, rather than a story simply borrowing elements of a classic tale. Though, it's not quite a strict retelling as the supernatural world building elements as well as the fact that this isn't a kid's book but a Young Adult one, seem to have lead the author to subvert some of the source material to match the tone and feel of the world and story she's created. One of my biggest grievances with this story is how much info-dumping there is in the beginning. I'm not opposed to learning more about this world, but it was that not only was it so dense in the beginning, but it was almost, if not, all told in first person exposition and so instead of learning about it organically, which for some of the world building would have been hard, if not impossible, to do so I would have forgiven it there, but for a lot of the exposition it would have been easy to add a few chapters before the post-prologue time jump and seen Annika or even Jacen learn about some of this world in a more organic way.

Predictability: During the exposition portion of this book as I've decided to call it before the Aladdin parallels fully kick in, this story was fairly unpredictable. I wasn't quite sure where the story would go, the synopsis does a good job to tease readers but not give them a good understanding of what they're in for, at least not in my experience. However, once the Aladdin story starts to get retold, while the author does subvert some of the plot points, it's pretty straight forward how things will progress. Don't get me wrong the author does still manage to have a bit of shock and awe in the story leading up to the rather interesting ending, but in all honestly, I was never really blown away by anything meant to be a twist after a certain point. I would just get a feeling of understanding rather than surprise.

Ending: After a certain point in the story it was obvious that the entirety of the story of Disney's Aladdin wasn't going to get told in just this one book, which makes sense as this is a series and there are more books yet to come. However, I was really interested in seeing where along the story it would end up and how certain plot points of the movie would play out with the world building established in this story. This story does end on a cliffhanger because of course, it does, and what's great about the cliffhanger here is that it isn't a huge "What's going to happen next?" question. It's obvious what'll happen next, but, at least for me, that knowing makes me all the more excited to read the next book. It's how that next chapter will unfold that has me chomping at the bit to read the next installment.

Rating:

On the whole, I loved this story. It was a fun variation on the Aladdin tale, specifically the Disney version, and I felt that Madow did a fantastic job of bringing various supernatural races into this story. However, with huge info-dumping portions in the beginning of the book and the fact that the retelling aspect was a bit too heavy-handed at times, I wouldn't feel that this book deserved five stars even though I enjoyed it so much. Also, I wouldn't call it Twilight meets Aladdin, as the world building is next to nothing like Twilight, and that characters are much stronger, at least in terms of their characterization, I would liken it more to The Vampire Diaries than Twilight.

Collide by Michelle Madow (WOW #24)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

I should have died when I was shot at the Halloween dance. 

Instead, I woke up—one week earlier, in a parallel universe where my mom's fatal car accident six months ago never happened. 

A world with my mom still in it was all I ever wanted. But in this timeline, everything is different—my grades, my friends, and even my boyfriend. I'm a stranger in my own body, and I don’t like who I’ve become. 

But one thing is the same—that shooting will still happen at the end of the week. 

I'm the only one who knows. Which means I'm the only one who can stop it. 

But first I need to convince someone—anyone—that I’m telling the truth... and then get them to help me. 

Collide releases on February 9, 2017, from Dreamscape Publishing

Ooooooh, you guys this sounds good. Okay, so Madow's books in the past for me have been kind of hit or miss, granted they were mostly hits, and I am a tad hesitant about this one, but it does sound really interesting and the cover is just visually stunning. Plus I'm a sucker for time-travel/alternate universe fiction!

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Top 10 Books of 2016!

It's time once again for the obligatory Top Books of the year. This year I decided to stick with a Top 10 since I felt like 16 best books of the year was too much. The rules are pretty much the same as last year. All of these books I read, reviewed and were released in the year 2016. All of these books I gave 5 stars, to be as fair as possible only one book per author, and since it was really hard to rate them in a particular order, THESE BOOKS ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. Now, without further ado on to my Top 10 Books of 2016! (As always you can click on the book covers to read my full reviews of these books!)

1. The Darkest Magic (Spirits and Thieves #2) by Morgan Rhodes

Starting off this list is a book that either I don't think a lot of people have heard of or were turned off by because of the first book in this series. I'll be the first to say that while I enjoyed A Book of Spirits and Thieves immensely, I was pretty annoyed with the fact that most of it takes place in modern day Toronto and not in Ancient Mytica, which was pretty much the stronger storyline anyway. That being said, this second book more than makes up for it. It brings together the two plot lines wonderfully as well as gives a much more expansive look into the Ancient Mytican storyline. While I'm saddened to hear that book 3 has been postponed so the author can finish writing the Falling Kingdoms series, I'm still waiting with bated breath to find out what happens next.

2. Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) by William Ritter

When I first heard that the third Jackaby book would be delving into one of the more anticipated mysteries of the series, the death of Jenny Cavanaugh, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it, and this was before Beastly Bones was even released. So when I got my hands on a sneak peek of the first six chapters or so I thought I'd be taken with it right away, however, I became concerned when I wasn't swept away by the free preview I got. I shouldn't have worried though because once I got the full book in my hands it became my favorite Jackaby mystery yet, I'm both highly anticipated and secretly mourning the release of the final book in this series, however after this series is complete I can't wait to see what Ritter will come up with next.

3. The Head of Medusa (Elementals #3) by Michelle Madow

When I first began the Elementals series by Michelle Madow, I thought it was a fun, almost guilty pleasure-like series. However, as the story developed I really grew attached to the world and it's characters and by the time I got to this third book, The Head of Medusa, I was fully invested in what was going on. I was so excited to find that I genuinely loved this installment, the pacing is a bit weird, with almost two parts to the story, but that's really easy to get over and this makes for one of, if not the most, intense installments in this series.

4. Traveler (World of Warcraft: Traveler #1) by Greg Weisman

If you told me at the beginning of 2016 that I'd give a spot on my Top Books list to a branded book like World of Warcraft: Traveler, I would have said you were crazy. It's not that branded books can't be good, it's just that usually they aren't. However, earlier this year my cousin, who's a big WoW nerd, found out about this series and asked me to read it. It's written by a producer and writer of one of our favorite shows, Young Justice, and so I decided to give it a try. While I would say some remedial knowledge of Warcraft lore is preferable, this book does do a lot to make sure you understand what's going on without holding your hand through it. The story is completely engrossing and I'm bummed that more people aren't reading it because it's truly phenomenal. I can't wait until the next installment comes out.

5. The Inquisition (Summoner #2) by Taran Matharu

Even though the beginning of this book made me sick with disgust at how the villains of this series behaved as they ganged up on our hero, in a way that perfectly showed off what bigoted and spiteful demons they truly are, I can't fault this book for that. In fact, I commend this author for not holding back on the trials and tribulations that our "good" main characters have to go through. After the extreme trials Fletcher has to go through, in the beginning, we see this world open up so much more than we got to see in book one, and led to one of the best cliffhanger endings I've ever read.

6. Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Going into 2016 I wasn't as excited for Lady Midnight as most of my friends were. Granted I hadn't read City of Heavenly Fire yet and I barely remembered the plotline of City of Lost Souls, however after getting those two books read this year my curiosity was piqued for this first book in a new Shadowhunters series. I was not let down when I started this book and I ended up devouring it in just a couple of days. I can't wait to continue this series in Lord of Shadows, and while it's still a bit more than a year away, I'm greatly looking forward to the start of the Last Hours series. 

7. The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1) by Rick Riordan

After a slightly disappointing, although still thoroughly entertaining, start to the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, I was pretty apprehensive thinking that if a new series was far too reminiscent of Percy Jackson for my liking that a new Camp Half-Blood series might just be too much. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I loved nearly every minute of this adventure. Apollo is a hysterical narrator and I was excited to find that Riordan didn't lean too much on old characters, but instead seem to be using them as cameos and guest appearances as necessary which leave the series still feeling new and fresh.

8. Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den (Simon Thorn #1)

I picked up a copy of Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den at BEA 2015 and because I'd read some of Carter's previous works I thought I'd try her first foray into the world of Middle-Grade lit. I was not fully prepared for what I read. This book has a remarkably similar feeling to a Percy Jackson adventure, but instead with shapeshifting animals instead of Greek demigods. The world building of the series is phenomenal and I didn't expect a Middle-Grade book to keep me on my toes as much as this one did, but there were twists that shocked me to my core in this adventure. I can't wait for the sequel and in fact, I'll be reading it here shortly but first I want to give this installment a quick reread!

9. Dawn of Ash (Imdalind #6) by Rebecca Ethington

There were two Imdalind books that came out in 2016, this one, Dawn of Ash, and the conclusion to the entire series, Crown of Cinders, why I chose to include this one, other than simply enjoying it more, is how much was packed into it and how much it impacted the entire series. There are things that go down in this installment that I would never have expected. This book definitely derails the series in a fantastic way and if you haven't begun the Imdalind series by now you really should it's inexplicably amazing.

10. Burning Shadows (The Order of the Krigers #2) by Jennifer Anne Davis

Much like the Imdalind series, there were two Order of the Krigers books published this year, though both met the criteria to be included on this list. In fact, if I wasn't able to finish Burning Shadows by the end of the year, or if I didn't like it as much, the first book, Rise, would have taken its place on this list. Without giving away the plot of Rise I have to say that this installment takes this series to a whole new level. There were a few things I was worried about going into this installment, and yet I shouldn't have feared, Davis does and expert job and manipulating her characters and their predicaments to feel relatable and entertaining. I'm chomping at the bit to find out what happens at the end of this trilogy.

Honorable Mentions:

      

            

Final Bits: Much like last year I've left decided to keep the Honorable Mentions category for books that I read this year that probably would have made the main list had they been published in 2016. Each of these books was special in their own way, and each of the had a rather large impact on my year. I loved the messages about the consequences of spreading rumors and the power of lies seen in The Truth About Alice. Hidden Huntress led to some of the most intense world building I've read all year. The Exiled Queen led to a tipping point and compelled me to binge read the rest of the Seven Realms series as soon as I could. Finally, All In was one of the most shocking and unpredictable books I've ever read. Anyway, those are my top books that I read and reviewed over the last year. What books made your list? Leave a comment or link to your list below! Happy New Year everyone!