Book Review: Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #1)

Release Date: December 4, 2018
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Length: 912 pages
Source: Purchased Book/eBook

Dark secrets and forbidden love threaten the very survival of the Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare’s Queen of Air and Darkness, the final novel in the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The Dark Artifices trilogy.

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the blight that is destroying the race of warlocks.

Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

    

Review:

Characters: This story begins right after the end of Lord of Shadows, meaning most of our protagonists are in mourning after the tragic murders of Robert Lightwood and Livia Blackthorn. Much of this story deals with loss and how our protagonists cope with their grief. In fact, a lot of the choices that these characters make going forward has the tragedy of Livvy's death in mind, whether consciously or not. Losing someone like that, and the fear of losing someone else can make people do crazy things. I loved seeing how all our protagonists faced their struggles, even if I didn't agree with how they chose to handle their grief, and the journey that they all take, whether alone or together, in this story is fantastic. Since this is an insanely long book, there's so much that these characters go through, so many trials and tribulations, yet every choice they make, every step they take, feels organic and authentic to who they are as characters and even when I don't agree with their choices, if they were to make "the right" choice, it wouldn't feel as realistic as them making "the wrong" choice.

Romances: This series focuses on two main romances, that of Julian and Emma, the parabatai that were never meant to fall in love, and Kieran/Cristina/Mark the "love triangle" of this series. When I first started this series I wasn't expecting to get as swept away by the romances in this series as I did, and this installment brings everything to an amazing head and the complications of these romances aren't small little things that are easily dealt with, there are real stakes in this story that extend to the romance as well, partially because in Emma and Julian's case their romance is one of the main plot points of this entire series. I love how everything comes together and even the smaller romances in this series, the ones featured in the past, or will be featured more heavily in the future, despite the heartaches, there's always hope, and that's always something I've loved about Cassie's works, there's always hope.

World-Building: Ohmigosh! Seriously this installment cranks everything up to 11 and doesn't exactly stop. This is a story where things are going to get worse before they get better, which is mainly why it took me so dang long to finish this story. In addition to all the assholery (yes, that's a word) that goes on from the members of the Cohort, there are quite a few scenes that brought back memories from the other final installments in The Shadowhunter Chronicles so far. I can't talk really talk about them in anything other than very vague terms as they're huge spoilers, but even though I wasn't a huge fan of one of the aspects to the story at first, as I felt it was TOO reminiscent of a previous finale, by the time that aspect was finished, it felt so immensely important that I didn't mind it anymore and in fact I'm hoping to see more in the future. This is also an installment where big changes come, and the Shadow World may never be the same after this installment.

Predictability: Holy Crap. I'll admit it's been a couple of weeks since I finished this book, but looking back I can't pick out a single moment that I saw coming in advance. On the contrary, there were so many moments that completely blew me away and the twists and turns this story takes will keep you gasping until the very end of the book.

Ending: What a phenomenal final climax. I mean, I wasn't expecting such a phenomenal action sequence full of heartache, heartbreak, and just heart. So much goes down in the final climax of the story, but that's not the end. Even though there are a few moments of high tension after the final climax, including something that left me stunned speechless, I think it's more than safe to refer to the "final battle" of this book as the final climax. After all, is said and done and all the crazy insane stuff goes down, there are a couple of chapters that show the characters that are left and what they're up to and there's one scene that had me bawling like a baby and I'm not even ashamed.

Rating:

It's no surprise to me that I love this final conclusion to The Dark Artifices. This series is so tense and exciting and overall amazing. There's so much more I could say about this story and how much I love it, but I feel if I go on too much longer I won't be able to censor myself from spoilers.

Book Review: Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1)

Release Date: October 1, 2002
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Length: 310 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces the sixteen-year-old back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms -- a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Newcomer Holly Black's enormously powerful voice weaves teen angst, riveting romance, and capriciously diabolical faerie folk into an enthralling, engaging, altogether original reading experience.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Kaye has lived most of her life moving from place to place with her less than stable mother. When she and her mother have to move back in with Kaye's grandmother, Kaye finds herself sucked (not literally) into the land of Faeries, when she saves a Faerie Knight one night. Soon she's in too deep, discovering secrets about herself that not even the rest of her family knows and putting her life on the line in a struggle between the Seelie and Unseelie fae. One of the things I love most about Kaye is that she's not your typical YA heroine. She smokes, she shoplifts, and she'll do something wrong even if she knows it's wrong. Granted, I don't want to "become" Kaye, but the flaws and complexities to her character really make her stand out, while not making her so unlikable that I don't want to root for her. In fact despite her flaws I wanted her to succeed every step of the way in this book, and regardless of where she ends up, she does not succeed at every step along the way.

Romance: Another thing that was pleasantly surprising to me is the romance in this story. It's not all consuming like the YA books published around this time always seemed to be. Instead it burns at a constant, but slow, rate that I ended up really enjoying. While Roiben isn't the perfect love interest, he comes pretty darn close and the chemistry that he and Kaye have is undeniable. These two characters start off fairly counterpointed as Roiben is much more formal and polite while Kaye... isn't. She's got a sharp tongue and she doesn't care who she stabs with it, while Roiben uses words like a fencer uses a saber, graceful and elegant. It wasn't hard to start rooting for them even before they actually started to truly tolerate each other.

World Building: FAERIES!!!! So, while I haven't been reading a lot of Faerie stories lately, I loved falling back into a world governed by dark tricksters and mischievous gremlins. While this story does begin in the modern world, and by all appearances, "our" world, it doesn't take too long for the magical mayhem to begin. This version of Faerie, as there are so many different kinds, i divided into the Seelie, Unseelie, and Solitary Fae. Considering this series is canonically part of the "Folk of the Air" trilogy, the first book of which is The Cruel Prince, I'll have to reread that book to remember how all the different parts of faerie connect. Anyway, the world Holly Black creates in this book is breathtaking, I mean, I couldn't stop wanting to see more and more of what this world held. This world is as wondrous as faerie fruit, sweet and addictive, but have too much and you may go mad!

Predictability: I was completely blown away at how unpredictable this story is. I mean, considering this book isn't exactly a spring chicken in the YA world, the fact that its story doesn't feel full of stale and thrown out tropes years later, and can still knock me off my feet at some of the twists and turns this story holds, is magnificent. Looking back I'm trying to see if there was any time when I knew for sure what would happen, and maybe it's because I haven't read very much in a while, but nothing felt obvious about this book, even when I tried to predict something, nothing felt certain.

Ending: This story has a more wrapped up ending that I expected for a trilogy. Though, that's because the next book in this series is a companion, while the "technical" sequel to this book is actually book 3. On the whole though, you could read this story as a standalone, there's enough closure to the story that I don't need to come back, though I will because I love this book and why not, but everything wraps up well for now, and I could see how waiting a while between installments could have really hurt if there wasn't as much closure as there is in this story. As for the final climax, well I'll just say that things didn't unfold how I expected them to. This isn't your typical YA final climax and the diversity in storytelling with it was a treat to behold.

Rating:

Yeah, it's hard to deny that I love this book! It holds up incredibly well after sixteen years and I practically devoured every word of this brilliantly crafted tale. Honestly, I thought Holly Black grew into her writing over time, but no, she's always been this good!

Book Review: The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1)

Release Date: October 1, 1996
Author: Megan Whalen Turner
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Length: 279 pages
Source: Audible Audiobook

Nothing is overdone and not a word is out of place in this auspicious debut," wrote Kirkus in a starred review of Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise.

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Megan Whalen Turner weaves Gen's stories and Gen's story together with style and verve in a novel that is filled with intrigue, adventure, and surprise.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Once claiming to be a thief who can steal anything Gen is now rotting in prison in Sounis when the King's magus comes to retrieve him for a mission where he could gain fame and fortune or a knife in the back. Joining Gen and the magus on their journey are the magus's apprentices Sophos and Ambiades, as well as a soldier and bodyguard named Pol. On this journey, Gen often butts heads with his companions, but along the adventure, he proves to be a capable and cunning thief. I love that Gen's flaws don't come from his profession, something that has been established he excels at, instead, his faults come in his pride and, like most fantasy heroes, his stubbornness. Over the course of the story, I loved seeing Gen come out of his shell as well as learn more about where his true motives lie.

World Building: My favorite thing about this story is that throughout their journey the magus and Gen trade stories about the gods of this world, gods that are very obviously inspired by the Greco-Roman pantheon of gods. The stories are a joy to behold in this tale, while I was a little anxious as I wasn't sure if the stories would be based on Greek and Roman myths or if the stories would be brand new, while most of the stories are original there are of course bits and pieces that are pulled from Greek myths. The stories in this book deal mostly with the creation of the world as well as tales relating to a specific god and the item that our group seeks. There isn't a whole lot of development of this world in the story beyond setting up the three kingdoms that we see, however, there are five more books in this series so there's a whole lot more to explore in the future. As for any romance in this story, well, there isn't any, however, I did think that Gen and one of his traveling companions had slow-burning romance, but by the time the story was over, I realized just how wrong I was.

Predictability: This story isn't particularly long and while there are a fair number of twists, I felt like the characters pointing said twists out in the book lessened some of that gut punch that a good twist will give you. For most of the story, I had a vague idea of where everything was headed but was stumped on how it would end, which we'll get to in a second, the end had the most twists and turns and it was during the cooldown period where I was the most blown away with how everything ended up.

Ending: The final climax of this story is excellent. As the story winds to close things get crazy as our group of adventurers and treasure seekers find themselves in a few sticky situations and they are forced to navigate their way out. I don't want to say too much but there is at least one action scene and there may have been a plethora of emotions unleashed on me as this story not only overcame the final climax but came to a close during the "cooldown" period, I put cooldown in quotes because there are plenty of twists during this point and they didn't exactly cool down the story. The story doesn't end with a cliffhanger, and in fact, you could probably read this as a standalone if you didn't enjoy it, but for me, I can't wait to explore more of this world and the mythology the pulled me in in the first place.

Rating:

I loved this story and the only thing I feel I can complain about is that it's too short, but again, there are more books and more to explore and when I can I'll be diving right back in!

Book Review: Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron #1)

Release Date: February 27, 2018
Author: Ashley Poston
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 480 pages
Source: OwlCrate Book/Audible Audiobook

Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him.

Ana’s desperate effort to save D09 leads her on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship that could offer all the answers. But at the last moment, a spoiled Ironblood boy beats Ana to her prize. He has his own reasons for taking the coordinates, and he doesn’t care what he’ll sacrifice to keep them.

When everything goes wrong, she and the Ironblood end up as fugitives on the run. Now their entire kingdom is after them—and the coordinates—and not everyone wants them captured alive.

What they find in a lost corner of the universe will change all their lives—and unearth dangerous secrets. But when a darkness from Ana’s past returns, she must face an impossible choice: does she protect a kingdom that wants her dead or save the Metal boy she loves?

    

Review:

Protagonists: This story is told from four, third-person, POVs. We have Ana, the orphan girl raised by a crew of outlaws, Robb, the screw-up son of a noble family with a mission, Di, the Metal boy who's Ana's best friend and medic, and Jax, the best pilot in the galaxy with a tragic past, I quickly came to love most of these characters, though I have to say that I felt we didn't get a lot of time to truly know Di, and while I care for him because Ana and the others care for him, I couldn't really get invested in his character all that much. Ana is a fantastic heroine, sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, she's a force to be reckoned with, Robb has a deep sense of loyalty to those who deserve it, and Jax is pretty much the personification of my favorite character trope, the cocky yet damaged character. None of these characters are perfect, they each have their flaws, whether it be poor impulse control or an inability to move on, they're flawed, but each has the potential to grow.

Romances: So, I wasn't a huge fan of one of the biggest romances in this story. See, Ana has feelings for Di, or D09 as he's sometimes referred to as, and whether it was the fact that Ana has these feelings from the beginning of the story, Di's appearance not being very humanoid, the fact that he's a fairly emotionless robot, or some combination of the three, I just couldn't get into their romance. Eventually, it gets to a point where there's hope that I might get invested in their romance, but things happen and the book ends before I can really get invested. The other main romance in this story though, I did really enjoy. Robb, a cocky and rogueish noble, and Jax, the pilot with a dark past, have some really great moments in this story. There's one scene, that kind of reminds me of Star Wars, but their dialogue during that scene was fantastic and I felt there are so many fantastic moments between them in this story, yet not really enough. For what there is, it's fantastic, and it doesn't affect my rating that I want more, I just want more.

World Building: The world building in this story is fantastic, from the history to the mythology of this world everything was captivating. I don't read too much sci-fi, but this is the sci-fi that I love, space battles, outlaws flying through space, lost royalty, mysteries, I love it all. This story also has major Cinder by Marissa Meyer vibes, mixed with a little Star Wars. This is also an Anastasia story after all and while I think this story did a pretty good job in that area, it was how things diverged from the story being retold that really fascinated me. There are some fantasy elements mixed with the sci-fi in some of the best ways I've ever seen and the royal angle of this story and the secrets hidden in Ana's family history are astounding. There's a lot built out in just this one installment, so much that I'm wondering if this might be a duology.

Predictability: This story is on the predictable side of things, not only with it being a retelling but the foreshadowing was pretty obvious as well. Take, for example, there's something in this story that could have been a truly amazing twist, I mean mind-blowing, but I felt like I got all of the pieces to that puzzle quite a while before it was revealed, there are quite a few twists that went that way, though there were a few times, particularly toward the end where things were more shocking.

Ending: The final climax of this story is fantastic, it's intense and chaotic. There's a lot that goes into setting it up and everything leading to this final mix of scenes was fantastic. As I said earlier, there are a lot of shocking, and some not so shocking, moments in the end and I pretty much raced through this story until the ending because I could hardly stop. There is a bit of a breath after the final climax but still as things unravel and even though there wasn't really a cliffhanger, the ending does feel too soon, and I'm excited to see where things go.

Rating:

Even though I had a few problems with one of the characters and one of the romances, I still really love this story and cannot wait to dive into the next (and final?) installment!

Book Review: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Siblings #1)

Release Date: June 27, 2017
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Length: 513 pages
Source: OwlCrate Book

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

    

Review:

Protagonist: After getting thrown out of boarding school, Henry "Monty" Montague is preparing to go on his Tour of the Continent. When he comes home his life will be different, he'll have to take over the estate from his abusive father, his best friend who he might love will be going to Holland for Law School, and even his sister who he doesn't always get along with won't be there to pester him since she's off to finishing school. Monty hopes this tour will be a yearlong journey of debauchery before his life changes, but when Monty stumbles into some trouble, everything snowballs out of control. I love Monty so much, so many times in this story I just wanted to hold him and tell him he's worthy of happiness, his father has messed him up so much, and he does so much to hide it. Monty is by no means perfect, he's selfish and entitled, he's reckless and a bit of an alcoholic, but the best thing about this story is how he changes and at what rate. All the character development for not only Monty but all of the characters felt very natural and authentic, and the authenticity really lends itself to telling this complex tale.

Romance: As I mentioned above, Monty feels he's in love with his best friend, Percy, and while the romance didn't progress as quickly as I'd like the pacing does fit well with the overall tale so I'm not upset. I really love how Monty's sexuality was explored. At the start of this story, Monty knows he's bisexual, though they didn't have a word for that in the 1700s, and I love how well that's established, as someone who's bisexual, I love seeing that represented so wholly, we see Monty flirt and canoodle with both men and women and how he explains his feeling to his sister later in the book felt so freaking relateable I almost cried. Then there's the Percy of it all. From the start, Percy is the light of Monty's life, though since Monty's not so great with feelings or expressing them, Percy is unaware. They're best friends who've known each other since they were young and with that comes a very special relationship that I love seeing evolve into a romance. While Monty and Percy's romance comes with a whole lot of drama and a little miscommunication, I just love it and really enjoyed the ride.

World Building: First off, I love that this story doesn't take place during a specific year, it just takes place in 17--, which for someone like me who isn't all that interested in history and specific dates but gets swept away by romanticized historic time periods, this was perfect, and the time period isn't even romanticized, well maybe a little bit, but this story shows a harsher side of history, there's racism in this book, slavery, abuse, homophobia, etc. This isn't a story where the setting is perfect and beautiful, but as with great characters, I'd rather have realistic over idealistic. The settings are fantastic, as our group travels across Europe we see a variety of settings and I was swept away but the imagery and locales, I've always wanted to travel around Europe so I loved doing it vicariously, even if it's 1700s Europe. Going into this book I had thought there were no speculative fiction elements and I guess to some degree this isn't speculative fiction depending on what you believe, but when the story gets started the plot seems to move in a bit of a speculative direction and while I wasn't prepared for that, I ended up really enjoying the plot and how it fed into the subplots of this book.

Predictability: When it comes to the story on the whole, since I pretty much read this book in one sitting, there wasn't a whole lot of time for me to do speculating beyond what I pretty much go into any book understanding, characters are introduced, shenanigans happen, it ends happily. I did do some speculating about the spot of trouble our Touring group finds themselves in, and I was way off, I was also trying to figure out how this story will end, besides happily, and I'll get to the ending in a second, but pretty much right up until the end of this story, I had no idea how everything would play out. This book caught me off guard so many times and I loved mostly just following the story along as we Toured Europe.

Ending: I have so many favorite scenes from this book, but one of them is how this story comes to a close. The final climax is awash with action, adventure, shocking revelations, and devastating choices. As I said I wasn't sure how this story was going to end, but how everything is resolved blew me away, and there's something a bit poetic about something specific that happens to Monty that I'm still a little shook by. There is also a bit of an epilogue portion of this book that gives a small view into the future of our heroes, one of whom has an adventure of her own coming soon, and wraps the story up very nicely.

Rating:

As you can no doubt tell by my gushing, I love this book so much, from the bisexual representation to the fact of a male protagonist, something that's a bit rare in YA stories, to the dazzling settings and the complex characters, I love this story so much and cannot wait to read Felicity's adventure soon!

Book Review: A Crown of Wishes (The Star-Touched Queen #2)

Release Date: March 28, 2017
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Length: 369 pages
Source: NetGalley eGalley/Purchased Audiobook

From the author of The Star-Touched Queen comes a beautiful lush fantasy, Roshani Chokshi's A Crown of Wishes.

Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom's enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they'll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes - a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.

Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Once they arrive, danger takes on new shapes: poisonous courtesans and mischievous story birds, a feast of fears and twisted fairy revels.

Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram will soon discover is that there's nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.

    

Review:

Protagonists: Vikram is the crown prince of his empire, unfortunately since he is not the emperor's son by blood his father's council plans on making him a puppet king once he ascends the throne. When a sage tells him he's been invited to a tournament where he could win a wish, a wish to be a real king, he leaps at the chance, the only problem is that he needs to take someone else along. Enter Gauri, a princess turned prisoner of war after her brother squashed her rebellion. These characters are fantastic, I love that since I read the first installment in this companion novel duology I know these characters to some extent and I loved watching them shine in their own story. Gauri is a strong warrior, but she doesn't trust easily and can be a bit prone to paranoia, Vikram is sharp minded but feels held back by the matter of his blood. I can't express how amazing it was to watch these characters grow over their journey and grow into even stronger characters by the end. There is a third main character, but I'll let her be a surprise since she was one for me, suffice it to say though I really enjoyed her story as well.

Romance: I'm a sucker for a good "hate to love" romance and this story has a great one. Gauri and Vikram have a great combative aspect to their relationship and over the course of this story they get closer, and their walls come down. Now, usually I'm the kind of person that doesn't want to see a romance fully blossom in just one novel, I like seeing it drawn out a bit over the course of a series, but here, and with the first installment as well, their entire romantic journey feels earned and right, nothing ever felt forced or out of place. I will say though, that if you're expecting a passionate and electric romance, that's not going to be found here, the romance in this book is lighter and more emotional than it is physical.

World Building: I only have one problem with the world building in this book, and why that is, is that there are a few lines of dialogue in this story that seems to make it incredibly clear that there will be no more stories set in this world, at least no more novels set in this world, which is fine, but I wish that it didn't feel so final after only two books. Everything else was fantastic though. I'm still pretty new to Hindu mythology, but just working off what was established in the first installment, this story blew me away. I loved getting to see more from the Otherworld and learning more about the beings that inhabit it. Also, it's made clear early on that what happened to Maya in the first installment still weighs very heavily on Gauri's mind, so we do see Maya again, though not nearly as long as I had hoped we would. The world is built out so much and has so much richness to it that I was completely blown away.

Predictability: Going into this story I had only a few things on my wish list that I wanted to see and while I saw them all, they all unfolded differently than I had expected. That's kind of the general feeling for many of the twists in this story. I was able to figure out most of the more obvious plot points, but it was in how they were executed that really caught me off guard, though there were a few twists that completely blew me away they were the rare exception.

Ending: So, funny story, I experienced most of this story as an audiobook from Audible, and unbeknownst to me said audiobook also included the first Star Touched Novella in there as well, so when the final climaxes were going down, I had no idea that's what they were as there was still a whole lot more audiobook left. Still, the final climaxes were perfect for these characters as it really showed off how far they had come in this story and what they wanted for their future. Then there's a bit of an epilogue to fully tie the story of these characters up and if you've read some of my reviews in the past you know how much I love an epilogue!

Rating:

I love this story so much, I may even love it more than the first one, and that's saying something. It's a fun and exciting adventure in a lush and vibrant world, and while I wish things didn't seem so close ended with this story, that doesn't stop me from loving it as much as I did.

Book Review: Oath of Deception (Reign of Secrets #4)

Release Date: June 5, 2018
Author: Jennifer Anne Davis
Publisher: Reign Publishing
Length: 300 pages
Source: Electronic Review Copy from Author

For Savenek, there is no greater honor than protecting Emperion. While other young men his age study a trade, he attends a secret, elite military academy where he has been honed into a lethal asset for his kingdom. He can gather information without detection and kill from the shadows. Savenek’s own father is the schoolmaster, and he forces Savenek to train harder than any other student. As graduation draws near, Savenek eagerly awaits the vows inducting him into the Brotherhood of the Crown.

When a messenger arrives with news of war brewing on the horizon, the Brotherhood is called into action. Eager to prove himself, Savenek goes on his first mission alone. He doesn’t expect to uncover a treacherous plot to destroy Emperion. He doesn’t expect to join forces with someone outside the Brotherhood, let alone a woman. He certainly doesn’t expect to fail.

But then again, his father taught him nothing ever goes as planned.

Political intrigue clashes with romance in this thrilling story that continues the Reign of Secrets saga.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Savenek, has trained since he was seven years old to join The Brotherhood of the Crown, a secret spy network that dedicates themselves to protecting Emperion, no matter what. Ven is set to take his vows and become a full-fledged brother, but first, he is sent on a dangerous mission alone to a neighboring kingdom, or at least alone in the sense that another member of the Brotherhood will not be with him, instead he finds himself in the company of Ari, a whip-smart girl who may just be too much for Ven to handle, and who may be harboring secrets of her own. Together they venture into the neighboring kingdom of Apethaga in order to secure a weapons deal and snoop around for any pertinent information. I love Ven so much, he's a bit of an incorrigible flirt, using his charm to get him out of a few sticky situations, he's confident and while he can slip up from time to time, he's a capable spy and assassin, his development is mostly internal as he needs to learn to work with somebody rather than alone, and he has a hard time getting close to people, which with his line of work makes a lot of sense.

Romance: The romance in this story starts off a bit combative, though nothing close to a hate to love relationship. While Ven has had some experience with women, in fact, he has a kind of, sort of, girlfriend back home, but from the moment he meets Ari, not only does she challenge him, but she's plenty capable at taking care of herself. I really loved the balance between these two characters, how even though they didn't get off on the best foot, they still find a way to work together without either being held back due to the other. I don't know if I can put it in any better terms than that they just fit together. I do wish that Savenek wasn't held back by his feelings for another girl towards the beginning, but I do understand and appreciate why it's there.

World Building: So, I didn't expect to go as far back in time as we do in this installment. I knew that we would skip back quite a bit to learn more about Savenek's life prior to Cage of Darkness, and to see another aspect of the war with Russek, an aspect that I have to say was absolutely fantastic, but I didn't quite account for how early in the timeline it would take place. In this story, we see more kingdoms on the mainland and learn about how some of these kingdoms approached the upcoming war between Russek and Emperion. This story is about our heroes going into a foreign kingdom, where they are almost completely at the mercy of their hosts, and finding the information they need before escaping, which is pretty much easier said than done. The author does a phenomenal job of expanding the story of this series to see the broader scope of this war and see how those on the sidelines reacted to what was brewing. It's almost impossible not to get sucked into this world as nearly every facet of this world is brilliantly detailed,

Predictability: Given that I've read the rest of the Reign of Secrets books, there wasn't all that much about this story that I found unpredictable, at least when it came to larger issues in the story. There were a few moments here and there where I would be surprised by what was going on, and even though I knew more or less how things would turn out, that didn't stop the tension from rising in certain scenes, especially certain scenes toward the end. In the end, I do have to say I was a bit bummed by the fact that there weren't any huge twists, though I'm hoping that with the biggest stuff out of the way things will get a lot more mysterious for the next installment.

Ending: As this story came crashing to a close there were so many intense scenes with barely a breather in between, once the ending starts it really doesn't stop. I freaking loved every minute of this story as it winds to a close and some pretty kick-ass scenes. After all of the excitement is over there is a pretty sizable cooldown period where lingering questions from this story were more or less tied up for now, all leading to yet another cliffhanger from this author, a cliffhanger by the way, that I know more or less how it pans out, yet I'm still chomping at the bit to see what happens next.

Rating:

It's not really much of a surprise that I gave this book 5 stars, I mean it did take a second to adjust to the shift in narrators and the fact that this doesn't start where Book 3 ends, but after that I just got sucked in and could hardly put the book down!

Blog Tour Book Review: The Outcast (Summoner Prequel)

Release Date: May 1, 2018
Author: Taran Matharu
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Length: 400 pages
Source: Thanks to Fantastic Flying Book Club Tours for including me on their tour, click the banner above to see the full schedule!

Enter an immersive world where the chosen few have the ability to summon demons...

Arcturus is just an orphaned stable boy when he discovers he has the ability to summon demons from another world. He is sent to Vocans Academy where the lost arts of summoning, spell craft and demonology are taught to the noble children of the Empire. As the first commoner gifted with this ability, his discovery challenges the nobility and the powers that be and Arcturus soon makes enemies. With no one but his demon Sacharissa by his side, Arcturus must prove himself as a worthy Summoner...

Set before the events of SUMMONER: The Novice this is the perfect introduction to the New York Times bestselling SUMMONER series

    

Review:

Protagonist: Arcturus was just a common stable boy, with dreams of leaving and forging his own destiny, he never could have dreamed he was a Summoner, an elite group of fighters who can summon demon companions and work magic, a group believed to only be among the nobility of Hominum. As the first common Summoner in history, Arcturus finds a lot of disdain at Vocans Academy where he is sent to train his summoning skills, however, there are a few friendly faces among the stuck-up nobles. With tensions mounting between the common folk and the nobility, Arcturus may just get caught in the middle. Of course, I love Arcturus from the main series and seeing this adventure from when he was young is a lot of fun. Honestly, Arcturus felt very much like Fletcher in terms of his personality, I mean he's a brave, moral, and kind person, just like Fletcher, though their adventures are very different.

World Building: Going into this book I wasn't sure what to expect, I've never read the previous Arcturus story, entitled Origins, though from my research I'd say the first sixteen or so chapters of this book ARE Origins, with the rest being an expansion on that story and really the main plot of this book. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to not only see familiar characters from the series, just younger and less experienced, but we also get to see characters that are only mentioned in the main trilogy. I loved seeing the familiar characters and loved getting to know the ones I only knew by name. Still, there were a few characters I wasn't so happy to see, characters who believe if you aren't a human noble that somehow you're beneath them. While this book focused more on the class divide in Hominum from the King's heavy taxes, there is still obviously a racial divide between humans and dwarves as well, even worse so than the main trilogy. If I had one complaint about this book, it would be that there was a tad too much fan service, characters involved in the story who felt sort of crammed into the story or put in the story, just for that feeling readers sometimes get when they recognize a name or a place from the series they know and love. In the end, it was really only one bit of fan service that really bothered me, something that truly felt as if it added nothing to the overall story and felt like it served no purpose other than to be recognized.

Predictability: Even though this is a trilogy, and I know the fate of all of the main characters, not to mention the state of the kingdom at the start of the main trilogy, so I wasn't expecting to be surprised very often in this book and in all honesty that was true. That isn't to say I was never surprised, I mean this story does have a few fantastic twists that really kept me on the edge of my seat. There wasn't anything too mind-blowing if you've read the main series, but the story is still exciting nonetheless.

Ending: For some reason, I was expecting a larger final climax that we got, but honestly once it came it felt like everything fit perfectly. I mean, I couldn't see this adventure ending any other way and while we didn't get a pulse-pounding one on one action scene, the ending still has some action and again, how everything is resolved, for better or worse, makes sense, again especially if you've already read the main trilogy. The final chapter feels like an epilogue of sorts and it's a great one, you can see where things are going, but nothing it too defined, it perfectly ties up this story in a way that only really leaves open things resolved in the main trilogy.

Rating:

This prequel was (nearly) everything I hoped for and more, while I could have done with a tad less fan service, particularly in one area, I still loved this book so much and hope that the author won't leave this world forever, it's just too rich to leave alone.

About the Author:

Taran Matharu is a New York Times bestselling author. He was born in London in 1990 and found a passion for reading at a very early age. His love for stories developed into a desire to create his own during early adolescence, beginning his first book at 9 years old.

Straight after graduating with a First Class degree in Business Administration, Taran was keen to explore a new avenue and get inside the publishing world, landing an internship in Digital Sales at Penguin Random House, from June to September 2013.

Thereafter, while taking time off to travel, Taran began to write ‘Summoner’ in November 2013 at the age of 22, taking part in ‘Nanowrimo 2013’.

Thanks to Wattpad.com and updating daily, its popularity dramatically increased, reaching over 3 million reads in less than six months.

After being featured by NBC News, Taran decided to launch his professional writing career and has never looked back.

His SUMMONER series is published by Hodder Children’s (Hachette) in the UK, Australia and Commonwealth, Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan) in the US and Canada, Hachette Jeunesse in France, Heyne in Germany, Planeta in Spain, Crown in Taiwan, Record in Brazil, EKSMO in Russia, Jaguar in Poland, Ecliptic in Bulgaria, Alpress in the Czech Republic, Ithaki in Turkey and Unieboek in the Netherlands.