Book Review-Shadowplay by Laura Lam

Title: Shadowplay

 Author:  Laura Lam

Series:   Pantomime #2

Published:  7 January 2014 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 400 pages

Source: netgalley

Other info:  I really liked Pantomime

Summary : The circus lies behind Micah Grey in dust and ashes.
He and the white clown, Drystan, take refuge with the once-great magician, Jasper Maske. When Maske agrees to teach them his trade, his embittered rival challenges them to a duel which could decide all of their fates. People also hunt both Micah and the person he was before the circus—the runaway daughter of a noble family. And Micah discovers there is magic and power in the world, far beyond the card tricks and illusions he's perfecting...

Review probably includes spoilers for book 1, Pantomime.

Review: Following the events at the circus, Micah and Drystan are on the run, wanted for murder. They end up at the Kymri Theatre, and learn magic tricks under Jaspar Maske, a  magician who lost his licence to perform after the break up of his magic act with Taliesin. While here, lots of things happen-Micah learns new things about himself, others, and what other people want with him too.

Micah is still quite angsty over the ending of Pantomime, but luckily it doesn't intrude too much on the action. He's a bit more sure of himself, and he's just as awesome as in Pantomime. Drystan's deadpan sarker comes through a lot, for comic relief-see fight with Taliesin's grandsons and .  I like him.

Shadowplay, plotwise, is very different to  Pantomime. We learn a few things about Micah that you -really- don't expect. Then there's everything about the Chimaera, which I thought would be a minor thing but are definitely aren't now.  Anisa, the Damselfly that wee didn't know much about before, is back, and I understand her a lot more now. I'd like the Penglass to be elaborated on a bit more, but I think that will happen at some point.

I'm still not entirely sure about the whole trees thing. I get there's a party  called The  Foresters who want the typical “down with the aristocracy who forget the workers thing” thing  but something makes me think there's more to them and whether or not there is is something i'd like to know or have explained.

The romance in this is nice. My OTP will --forever-- be  Micah/Aenea, but Shadowplay has made me like Micah/Drystan a lot more, because you can tell they grew closer after the last  night at the circus, putting across their romantic relationship more than in Pantomime when they were more of the best best friend type.

There’s a few infodumps at the start for backstories, but I don’t see how else you can get them in first person. Until we got to the middle where Anisa and Micah go through the  backstory of the Chimaera, which is just an amazing way of putting it through.

The thing that swayed this from a 4 to 5 was the chapter with the duel. Everything about that. The magic tricks are so beautifully described, and other things happen, and they  ending to that chapter was really nice because it showed character development and the magic tricks and...yeah. kudos for chapter

The ending was very sudden. I'm not sure where -that- came from, but I hope it gets resolved or furthered soon.

 Overall:  Strength 4.5 tea, just more a 5, to a great sequel to a magical series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review- Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve

Title: Fearsome Dreamer

 Author:  Laure Eve

Series:   Fearsome Dreamer

Published:   October 2013 by Hot Key Books

Length: 384 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary : There is a world where gods you’ve never heard of have wound themselves into hearts, and choice has led its history down a different path. This is a world where France made a small, downtrodden island called England part of its vast and bloated empire. There are people here who can cross a thousand miles with their minds. There are rarer people still who can move between continents in the blink of an eye. These people are dangerous. And wanted. Desperately wanted.

Apprentice hedgewitch Vela Rue knows that she is destined for more. She knows being whisked off from a dull country life to a city full of mystery and intrigue is meant to be. She knows she has something her government wants, a talent so rare and precious and new that they will do anything to train her in it. But she doesn’t know that she is being lied to. She doesn’t know that the man teaching her about her talent is becoming obsessed by her, and considered by some to be the most dangerous man alive.

Review: Rue is an apprentice to a Hedgewitch in technophobic Angle Tar , which stands alone against World, the merge of other nations that is reliant on the virtual reality system Life. She dreams of other places, can feel herself physically there. Then she gets taken to the city by Frith, a man who hunts down Talented fro a living, and is tutuored by White, a very powerful Talented. And then there’s a boy with silver eyes who keeps appearing in her dreams, and Rue learns how powerful said dreams can be.

I love the world of this. Laure’s English/French heritage shows through in this, as Angle Tar is quite French with language, titles and the name  (somewhere near the end, I realised Angle Tar is a derivation of Angleterre) but there’s some things that are decidedly British. World is totally different, a wonderful vision of overreliance on technology. Both worlds are excellent.

I liked Rue. She’s clever, makes realistic mistakes, talks back, sometimes to the point of annoyance , and is a very intriguing character. White, I didn’t like because of his arrogance as a teacher, but he was nice in between his first appearance and his arrival at the Capital.  Wren I didn’t mind. Frith was awesome.

I think some things at the Castle and World can be explored further. I look forwards to it.

Laure has a very distinctive writing style that’s hard to describe. If I had to put it into words, I’d say gently descriptive. It fills in all the details really well.

For something described as brimming with unresolved sexual tension, I didn’t see it. I say that as someone who’s pretty good at seeing it. That doesn’t make the book bad, in my opinion. Just the marketing. Rue and White infuriate each other to start with, and dancing a dance of intent doesn’t change it that much.  

It’s a slow book,  a lot of build up, then the end happens when everything happens,

I love the dreams and the idea of being able to jump. It’s a new take on teleportation, and this scifiy-country fantasy mix works well.

Overall:  Strength 3.5,very slightly a 4, tea to a book with a great setting and mythos.

Links: Amazon | | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-Student Bodies by Sean Cummings

Title: Student Bodies

Author: Sean Cummings

Series: Poltergeeks #2

Published: 3^rd September 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 304 pages

Source: Netgalley

Summary :
Whoever said being a teenage witch would be easy? For fifteen-year-old Julie Richardson and the city’s resident protector from supernatural evil, the Left Hand Path doesn't give a damn if you've found true love for the first time in your life. There’s someone lurking the halls of Crescent Ridge High School with enough malice to unleash an epidemic of Soul Worms – supernatural larvae that feed on the very fabric of a victim’s humanity. After witnessing the death of one of the most popular kids at school, Julie and über genius boyfriend Marcus are in a race against time to find out who is behind the attacks. All the evidence points to a horrifying plot at the City Weir during the Winter Solstice; the place where icy waters of the Bow River and a thunderous spillway will mean the deaths of more than a hundred of Julie’s classmates. If she has any hope of saving their lives, she’ll need a little help from a coven of white witches and an Aboriginal mage whose snarky attitude is matched only by her magical prowess.

Review: Julie Richardson is now a Shadowcull, the city's protector from evil, and she's needed. Because, after one classmate almost dies and another one actually does, they discover there's a plot involving Soul Worms, turning the students of the high school into hollow shells of themselves. Julie teams up with Twyla, a practicioner of ancient, Aboriginal magic, in the battle to keep everyone safe.

I really enjoyed Poltergeeks, and knew as soon as I finished it that i'd want to read the sequel.

Very quickly, it's established that this is different to Poltergeeks. There's still a bit of Julie's trademark humour in the writing, but the subject (bullying, the whole depression aspect of the soul worms) and the general tone of the thing is a lot darker than Poltergeeks.

Julie is still awesome. Marcus is pretty cool, and their relationship development was good. Twyla was really awesome (I think she might now be my favourite character), as were the Maven and Twyla's grandfather. Generally cool cast for Student Bodies.

I love the fact that family is important in Student Bodies. Both the Julie/her mother and the Twyla/her grandfather relationships are developed and important, when most of the good relationships in YA are romantic.

The inclusion of another magic system is great. It adds a good dose of diversity to the fantasy and YA selection of books, and it mixes in with the lore from Poltergeeks really well.

Unexpected ending. Be prepared for sadness on two counts. 

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a darker, but still great, book in this series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads |

Book Review-Switched by Amanda Hocking

Title: Switched

 Author: Amanda Hocking

Series:  Trylle #1

Published:  5 January 2012 by Tor

Length:335 pages

Source: bought

Other info: Other two in the series-Ascend and Torn. Amanda has also written My Blood Approves, The Hollows and Watersong.

Summary : When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.
Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…

Review: Wendy Everly has always been different, and she’s known it since she was six and her mother tried to kill her because she wasn’t her child. Eleven years later, Finn shows up at her house ,and takes her away to Forerning, the home of the Trylle (trolls, but spelt differntly because they’re special).She learns that she was switched with her mother’s real child, that she’s the princess of the Trylles and that there’ll be a lot of things resting on her in the future.

This was hailed as an ebook sucess, and noticable enough to be picked up by a major publisher. So if millions of people like it, then I should too, hopefully. On another note, I was around for Amanda’s signing and I picked up a copy and got  a hug.

Forbidden love, boring to “special”, this book takes a lot of YA paranormal romance cliches and mixes it with trolls, which I like for the differentness of the creature, but in the grip of paranormal romance, doesn’t work.

Wendy doesn’t do much. She gets pushed into a new world, and I get that she’s confused and getting used to new things, but she’s not a kickass protagonist. Finn is a bit more actiony, but of course there’s the class divides that make their romance illicit. Max and Rhys, the two human boys, are the most grounded, real, and nice characters.

The Trylle world is built up through lessons and questions. It’s interesting, with the royalty and the magic, but  I got a little bored in places.

Looking back at the blurb, there’s a bit about “the fate of Forening rests in Wendy’s hadns and the descisions she and Finn make could change all their lives”. I’m sorry, I kind of missed that. There’s a lot of Trylle-world politics and romance and building up things for further books.  

In the same way, the Vitra (evil band of trolls) make an appearnce at the start and an appearance at the end. I didn’t feel any sense of threat through them, and when I  they came back it was just a “meh. Them.”

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a paranormal book that’s a bit samey.  

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

Title: Spellbound

 Author:  Cara Lynn

Series:  Spellbound #1

Published:  

Length: 341 pages

Source: I think the publisher. Or a gift. Forgotten.

Other info: Book 2, Spellcaster, was published last year.

Summary :  What's a girl to do when meeting The One means she's cursed to die a horrible death? Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Connor, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she's irresistibly drawn to— Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight. But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can't stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma's been having the oddest dreams: visions of herself in past lives— visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.

Review:  Emma Connor moves to a fancy new school, after the latest near death experience is the last straw. Not much happens to begin with, but things start drawing her to Brendan Salinger. Such as his good looks. And his niceness. And the fact that they’re soulmates. Which shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but it is due to the fact that she’s meant to die horribly after she finds him. As they try to escape the evils of fellow   students and the while idea of the curse, Emma and Brandon realise how tightly together they are bound.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this, but it certainly wasn’t this!  It’s a nice new take on the concept, and it comes off really well.

Emma was very nice. You get into her head really well and she’s funny and real. Brandan was nice, but he has annoying habit of showing up to save Emma most of the time. I would have liked her to do a bit more, considering that she handles everything else pretty well-she shouldn’t need someone to come save her from the school bully. Angelique was my favourite character-the fact she’s a witch and also her general way of being makes me think that we’d be good friends. Anthony and Kirsten were realistic and good antagonists.

The thing I enjoyed most was the book of the legends and the stories they  tell-beautifully written and intriguing.

This is very romance, which works plotwise because of the way the legend has it all set up, but when translate into actual  happenings, it makes it all a bit instalovey, even when you know it’s all due to the legend.

Plot wise, interest levels vary. Low to medium to start with, then you get the legend, theyget higher, then it goes down a bit, then comes up for the climax.

I would have liked to see a bit more of the magic side to it all.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book for people who want a lot of romance with their magic.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Title: The Pirate’s Wish

 Author:  Cassandra Rose Clarke

Series:  The Assassin’s Curse #2

Published:  4 June 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 336 pages

Warnings: violence, fade to black sex scene

Source: netgalley

Other info: The Assassin’s Curse was reviewed here.

Summary : After setting out to break the curse that binds them together, the pirate Ananna and the assassin Naji find themselves stranded on an enchanted island in the north with nothing but a sword, their wits, and the secret to breaking the curse: complete three impossible tasks. With the help of their friend Marjani and a rather unusual ally, Ananna and Naji make their way south again, seeking what seems to be beyond their reach. Unfortunately, Naji has enemies from the shadowy world known as the Mists, and Ananna must still face the repercussions of going up against the Pirate Confederation. Together, Naji and Ananna must break the curse, escape their enemies and come to terms with their growing romantic attraction.

Review: The Pirate’s Wish picks up straight after The Assassin’s Curse. Ananna has realised her feelings for Naji, and they set about completing their three impossible tasks. After being picked up by friend Marjani and a manticore (how awesome is that?!), they travel south, trying to find ways of completing these things. As they are chased by pirates wanting vengeance and beings from the Mists,  they wonder if it’s going to be possible to break the curse, and also what they’ll do if they manage it.

I really enjoyed The Assassin’s Curse, and was looking forwards to this one. We spend a lot of time in The Pirate’s Wish in different lands to last time, with visits to manticore societies, and  to courts, and a lot of time on a pirate ship.

My favourite character was either Ananna, who was just as smart and sassy as in the  first book, and learning a little more magic and figuring out what she wants to do regarding all this,  or the manticore, who had a funny retort for everything when we first met her, often regarding eating people.

I loved the fact they just get hold of a boat and command it and the intercrew dynamics are both funny and touching as it really defines  the friendship bond between Ananna, Naji and Marjani.

The story gets resolved in an unbelievable way. Magic comes into it, and it really works for the way it was set up. The very end was a little sad, but I can see a lot of adventures in Ananna’s future.

I said in my review of The Pirate’s Wish that I think Angry Robot should do an omnibus edition of this series. I’m glad that it wasn’t cut down, because the story here is so full and the happennings so good that if we lost it, then it’d be a shame. But  it did seem like The Assassin’s  Curse was just cut off midway, and as this is a direct follow on, I think I’d prefer to read the whole story in one sitting, megabook or not.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fitting end to this series. Looking forwards to more from Cassandra!

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review-The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Title: The Assassin’s Curse

 Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke

Series:  The Assassin’s Curse #1

Published:  2 October 2012 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 320 pages

Source: netgalley

Other info: The sequel, The Pirate’s Wish, should be out this year. There’s a novella called The Witch’s Betrayal. Cassandra also wrote The Mad Scientist’s Daughter.

Summary :  Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.
And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.

Review:  Ananna’s parents have arranged a marriage to Tarrin. She’s not very happy about this. And so she steals a camel and runs away. Tarrin’s family aren’t very happy about this. They send an assassin about her. then she accidentally saves his life, binding them together. They go on a quest to sort this out.

From the first few pages, I’d decided I liked Ananna. Throughout, she’s very strong, stands up for herself, and is generally awesome and independent. Naji is really very adorable. He’s also mysterious, and there’s lots of things to learn about.

Together, they work excellently together. Their first encounter is not quiet and calm, but there’s a lot of them getting used to eachother, and also a lot of action. I like the fact that the romance is very slow-Ananna doesn’t realise she’s in love for ages.

Ananna has a really distinctive voice/dialect/way of speaking. It didn’t take me long to get used to it, and that’s part of what made me love her- I could imagine her, sitting next to me, talking at me. It’s not very often that I can literally hear a character/narration. But it happened here.

I love the mix of pirates, assassins and magic. Also, the physical/cultural setting-the mix of middle eastern culture plus the desert is a really magical place to be in. I really really loved this world.

I like where it ended. And I didn’t. It ends at a natural place, which is a good set up for The Pirate’s Wish. But at the same time, it’s sudden, it hasn’t wound down to a stopping point for one  book, and if you hadn’t decided you were going to read The Pirate’s Wish, you may be a bit let down by the ending. You’re expecting more things to happen but it just cuts off. I think Strange Chemistry should release an omnibus edition to improve the flow some day.

I’m sorry this review is so short. Actually, it's not too bad, but I feel there's more I should be able to say about this book.. You know there's just that quality to some books where it’s just “I love this because reasons which I cannot articulate?” this book has it in spades.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a magical adventure with excellent characters.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review-The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: The Demon’s Lexicon

 Author:  Sarah Rees Brennan

Series:  The Demon’s Lexicon #1

Published:  2 June 2009

Length:324 pages

Source: Bought

Other info: Sarah has also written Unspoken, Team Human, two other books in this series (The Demon’s Covenant and The Demon’s Surrender) and in anthologies.

Summary : Nick and his brother Alan are on the run with their mother, who was once the lover of a powerful magician. When she left him, she stole an important charm - and he will stop at nothing to reclaim it. Now Alan has been marked with the sign of death by the magician's demon, and only Nick can save him. But to do so he must face those he has fled from all his life - the magicians - and kill them. So the hunted becomes the hunter...but in saving his brother, Nick discovers something that will unravel his whole past.

Review: in this world, magicians are the ones who use their talents to call demons to use their powers. Nick and his brother Alan have beein on the run for years from a magician. When Alan gets marked by a demon, after other sibling set Mae and Jamie come to them asking Nick is determined to save him-and the only way for that to happen is for someone to end up dead.

I have to thank Cait and Liz for this. I picked this up ages ago when I was first getting into paranormal things but never got through it. This time, I was actually paying attention to it and really quite enjoyed it.

Nick, to start with, is not wholly likeable. He doesn’t care for anyone except his brother and he’s very sarky in a horrible way and quite a bit of an ass. As the book progresses, I likked him a bit more.

Alan is a lot more emotional, a nicer person and generally more likable.  There’s also Mae and Jamie, who I think develop more than the two brothers as they learn more about this world of magic.

The relationships are really interesting. The one between Alan and Nick is really deep, and I loved seeing them look out for eachother. Then comes Chapter 11. And aww.... Love triangles, I don’t tend to care about. But then the stakes are automatically higher when two parties involved are brothers, and if one gets her, they’ll break the other’s heart.

. the third person writing was close, so we got into his thoughts quite well. Although Nick was a bit annoying, his personality makes for some really witty conversations. I generally really liked Sarah’s writing style.

I really liked the setting. It’s multiple places in England, but the Goblin Market would officially be part of my favourite places to be if it were real. The magic system is different and original, and enjoyable.

The plot-everything happens for a good reason. The second half was very actionfilled, as was the ending. The ending and the big reveal! Yes, there were hints throughout, but when it was actually revealed it was all “seriously? That is cool.”

Overall:  Strength 4 tea for some really good urban fantasy. I’ll definitely hunt out more of this series.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle

Title: The Alchemist of Souls

 Author:  Anne Lyle

Series:  Night’s Masque #1

Published:  27 March 2012 by Angry Robot

Length: 572 pages

Warnings:  violence, semi graphic sex, 15+

Source: publishers Angry Robot Army

Summary : When Tudor explorers returned from the New World, they brought back a name out of half-forgotten Viking legend: skraylings. Red-sailed ships followed in the explorers’ wake, bringing Native American goods--and a skrayling ambassador--to London. But what do these seemingly magical beings really want in Elizabeth I’s capital?

Mal Catlyn, a down-at-heel swordsman, is seconded to the ambassador's bodyguard, but assassination attempts are the least of his problems. What he learns about the skraylings and their unholy powers could cost England her new ally--and Mal his soul.

Review: in this alternative history where the Virgin Queen has children,  Maliverny Catlyn, aka Mal, is a swordsman. Who, one day, is charged with protecting the ambassador of the Skraylings, some non-human creatures from Viking lore. Being desparate for money to pay for the treatment of his brother Sandy, he takes the jo, but soon finds out there’s more to protecting the ambassador than keeping him from killers. Along the way, Mal gets involved with the Suffolk’s Men, one of the companies performing for the ambassador, with his frend Ned Faulkner, his lover Gabriel Parrish, and Coby Hendricks, a girl in disguise as a boy.

Alternate history that doesn’t involve Victorians isn’t my normal fare, but I loved the Tudor period before and this is an excellent addition to the collection. We go to all sides of Tudor London, from the rough pubs and market, to a posh boat ride on the Thames, to  Bedlam, and the tone is captured well.

All the characters! My favourite by far was Cody-she’s independent, thinks on her feet, and clever. Close seconds and thirds were Mal and the ambassador Kiiren, the first of whom is your typical handsome, rogue swordsman and the other who has more to him than you’d first think. There’s a lot of characters in Alchemist of Souls, and it does get a bit confusing at times.

The Skraylings are a really interesting race-not your typical fantasy aliens. Through Mal’s eyes, we learn and like them more. The soul side aspect is cool.

It’s a bit slow. I get that it’s all brewing and things will come, but there were parts where I just wanted something else to happen. Finally, at the three quarter mark (and with it being on a kindle, it seems longer and further away than I’d probably find if I had the print copy) there’s a big thing and everything happens.

Anne gives us some subtle messages on gender and sexuality in the Tudor period. It’s written in fairly close third person, and when talking about Coby, there’s a nice comment about how “if her sisters knew how freeing trousers were, they’d never wear skirts again.” Coby definitely gets around a lot, and I really liked her. Also, it’s nice having openly LGBT characters, where it’s not the focus. You will find a little conflict in this area, but bonus points for putting it at a time where homosexuality was a crime. Otherwise, Ned and Gabriel are treated just as another relationship.

Anne’s writing style is beautifully descriptive. It’s  all in third person, but each section follows one character closely, letting you see things from their point of view, for example Coby being referred to as Coby, Jacob or Hendricks depending on who’s looking.

Despite the dark happenings of the book, what with soul hopping and Bedlam and plots, there’s some lighter moments too. Pretty much anything involving Mal and Coby alone. And I was shipping Mal and Coby so hard throughout.  

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to book with rich characters and tone. I’ll definitely read on in the series!

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

Title: Witch Eyes

 Author: Scott Tracey

Series:  Witch Eyes #1

Published:  8 September 2011 by Flux

Length: 322 pages

Source: bought

Summary : Braden was born with witch eyes: the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but at the cost of horrible pain.
After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden retreats to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. As rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe desperately try to use Braden's powers to unlock Belle Dam's secrets, Braden vows never to become their sacrificial pawn. But everything changes when Braden learns that Jason is his father--and Trey, the enigmatic guy he's falling for, is Catherine's son.
To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—and risk losing the one he loves.

Review: Braden has Witch Eyes-he is able to see all the magic, feelings, and generally everything in the world. After hearing Uncle John talk about Belle Dam, he is drawn there, to find out about the family he's not known. There, he finds two feuding families, the Lansings and the Thorpes, who both want him.

I've heard lots about this, and I probably got a bit hyped up over it. I like LGBT fantasy because then, sexuality isn't the focus of the story. There's some references to homophobia, but Braden and Trey are both comfortable with being gay, so there's more focus on the story.

It's a very Romeo and Juliet-y set up, with two young people from separate sides falling in love (though happily without the same ending). The romance is quite rushed, and I didn't understand the conenction between Trey and Braden. Braden should go for someone else.

The characters on their own, are good. Braden is on the very long list of characters who really needs hugs. Trey, he is very moodswingy. And quite annoying at times. Jade and Riley are really cool. Lucien, you can tell he's hiding something and  it comes to a good end. Catherine and Jason, I'd like to get to know a bit more. I didn't understand Gregory.

Plotwise, it was a bit too jumpy for me to get into it. Lots of things happen, but they don't seem to connect. It's also quite open ended, finishing off the bit with Lucien but leaving a lot of questions unanswered, and a lot of areas with more to explore.

The magic. The idea of the eyes is really cool, and quite original. This leads to some beautiful passages where we get the description of what Braden sees without his eyes being shielded. There's a lot of rich history and mystery in Belle Dam, to do with Grace, and her legacy.

Aside from the whole Romeo Juliet family feud fall in love  thing, it's definitely  original.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that I was expecting more for, but I enjoyed what I could get out of it. I'll read the sequel.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Title: Throne of Glass

 Author: Sarah J Maas

Series:  Throne of Glass #1

Published:  2 August 2012 by Bloomsbury

Length: 404 pages

Source: netgalley

Summary: Meet Celaena Sardothien. Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?

Review: After a year in the salt mines, Celaena is finally out. Once the country’s most notorious assassin, she is now offered her freedom and the position of Champion...if she can beat 23 other warriors, thieves and killers, all vying for a job. The competition takes the form of tests on getting around, shooting, poisons etc, with duels for those who remain at the end.  However, being a competition to be the national face of death, things aren’t going to be fair. Some contestants start showing up dead, so Celaena takes it upon herself to find the killer, and win the competition.

I read a lot of rave reviews about this, and I was really excited to read this. Magic, killings and assassins make a great combination on paper, and the three on their own I tend to enjoy...all three should be great, right?

Throne of Glass is one of those books I couldn’t get into. My first annoyance was Celaena. She’s cocky in the way that irritates me, and she is VERY immature and impulsive. Example: She’s playing snooker/pool/billiards with Prince Dorian. Her first shot doesn’t go in. She snaps the cue (I think) and has a fit. Or similar. This is a shame because she’s also a bit smart and talented at what she does.

The majority of the cast isn’t standout good or standout bad. Dorian was a bit boring and samey, which was a little upsetting for someone with that name, Chad is your obligatory initial arsehole, but I didn’t mind him quite as much by the end of the book.

My favourite character was Nehemia, princess of another land, because she was interesting, had depth, and was more care-worthy than the others. I also liked some of the assassins, but I can’t think of anything else to say about the.

I looked forwards to the trials, but they were a little bit disappointing. The shooting one was typical (Chad: Don’t give yourself away as great. Celaena: *gets bullseye*) and the poisons thing was a joke (Best assassin ever only stays safe because poisony guy to the left subtly indicates to her what to do). They were well described though,

The magic was done really nicely. The mystery was built up and the fantasy element was a little bit  random after the relative realisticnesss of it all, but a welcome relief. The writing quality was good, with a world built in my head very well.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a generally underwhelming book, especially after so much hype.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Title: Carnival of Souls

 Author: Melissa Marr

Series:  N/A

Published:  4 September 2012 by Harpercollins

Length: 306 pages

Warnings:  violence, kissing, prostitution

Source: Publishers

Other info: Melissa has also written the Wicked Lovely series, as well as Graveminder.

Summary : In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures--if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
 All Mallory knows of The City is that her father--and every other witch there--fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.

Review: We begin with a daimon bargaining with a  (male) witch for the safekeeping of her child. Nearly seventeen years later, this girl, Mallory, has grown up knowing the dangers of daimons, and training with her adoptive father so she will be able to fight them should they attack. Meanwhile, the majority of daimons live in the City, the only place that the witches left them with.  Here, the Carnival of Souls is  running, where assassins, prostitutes and others sell their services and goods. There is also a completion in which young daimons fight to the death in order to rule the City. Kaleb is a demon who is in the later stages of the tournament. He also  crosses over to the human world looking for Mallory.  When he finds her, she starts learning who she really is.

I’ve never read any of Melissa’s stuff before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect in terms of writing quality and such. However, the premises of this was great-how could I not love a carnival full of demons?

When we first enter, I wasn’t disappointed. The description is vivid, full of action and Melissa has created a world that I’ve always thought about and loved the idea of. The Carnival is the latest on my list of fictional places I really really want to go to.  So much is going on, and it brings to my mind a fantastical gothic Renaissance fair.

The modern world seems quite boring in contrast, with not too much going on there at the start. Things soon pick up for Mallory though. I found her a bit annoying, constantly worrying even though she had good reason to, and I felt that she didn’t really do much apart from worry about if the guy she liked would be able to find her after she moved. When he does, and he tells her how he feels, she takes it in a realistic  and funny way which made me like her a little more.

I really liked Aya. She’s strong, determined and goes against the norm by not wanting to breed (here, daimons need to breed to keep the bloodlines going), instead aiming to rule. Her willingness to kill her childhood friend and ex-betrothed made me like her a bit more. Kaleb is the main male character, and his sense of family and duty offsets the fact that he fights a lot, and fights viciously. Adam is Mallory’s father, who is ridiculously overprotective and he reminds me a little of Nathan from Repo. Zevi is my favourite character of the lot. Fiercely devoted to  Kaleb, taking care of him, they have a great relationship between them. The way he reacts when Kaleb goes off and gets himself torn up or signed up for death if something doesn’t happen is both cute and provides a little comic relief.

The whole way the daimon competition for ruling is set out is really different but intriguing. I really enjoy this world that’s been developed.

Plotwise...the Mallory and Kaleb thing is good, but not my kind of thing. The tournament is more my kind of thing as is  Aya’s manipulations of various people to try and get what she wants. It was instalove on Kaleb’s part, which I really didn’t like.   I’d like to see Mallory become more integrated with the City in the next book as she tries to learn more about her family.

 Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a novel with a rich setting and a lot of promise.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | Enter The Carnival

Book Review- Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings

Title: Poltergeeks

 Author: Sean Cummings

Series:  Poltergeeks #1

Published:  2 October 2012

Length: 320 pages

Source: Netgalley

Summary : 15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it's pretty obvious to Julie there's a supernatural connection.  In fact, there's a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie's high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it's a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won't just lose her mother's soul, she'll lose her mother's life.

Review: We start off meeting Julie, a teenage witch, and her friend Marcus as they investigate a house that’s been messed around with by a poltergeist. This isn’t the normal kind though-it’s a bit malevolent and tries to attack Marcus. After trapping it in a teddy bear, Julie goes home and shows her mother, who also doesn’t like it. Things build from there as a spirit gets loose again, and takes Julie’s mother with it. Julie is put on a mission to get her mother back, discovers her heritage and gets caught up in a hunt for a Witchfinder...

Of all the Strange Chemistry titles to start with, this was the one that I really wanted to read. Ghosts, witches and a badass heroine? My thing exactly.

From the start, it was slyly funny, with Julie calling out the poltergeist with unconventional words. She also explains her situation with humour and a voice that I knew I’d love throughout. From the writing, Julie is smart and sassy. From her actions, Julie is this and more. She takes initiative all the time, and she produces amazing comebacks. She’s a really likeable character, and you do find yourself rooting for her.

Marcus too. He’s not your average hero, “not suitable material for the cover of a romantic novel”, a bit awkward when it comes to social etiquette, taking Julie’s magic in his stride, but he’s really funny and sweet. Oh, and his text alert tone is the Doctor Who theme tune. Win! His feelings for Julie are so cute, and I really wanted them to get together. As a couple, both magically paired and otherwise paired, Julie and Marcus work excellently. Both of them are fresh, unpreoccupied with love, and the kind of characters that I really want to be real because they’d make awesome friends.

Other characters are good. Marla, school goth, is nice, and I liked seeing her try for Marcus’ attention while knowing that he was in love with Julie. Having Julie’s father be a ghost was excellent. Matthew Hopkins brings the right amount of evil to this, while still keeping it light hearted. And having magic tutor/guardian Betty changed into a talking dog...

Plot develops well, at just the right pace. Some things seem to work out a bit too well, but it’s easy to over look these as it doesn’t happen too often and you’re just so caught up in the fun. the action at the end was well written, with magic and intensity well fitting the drama.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a story that’s full of phantoms, fantasy and fun. I really really want a sequel soon, or just more from Sean! (although I think in the author’s notes, there was something about a sequel.)

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title: The Gathering Dark/Shadow and Bone

 Author: Leigh Bardugo

Series:  The Grisha Trilogy #1

Published:   7 June 2012

Length: 240 pages

Warnings: violence, romance 12+

Source: Publisher

Other info: It’s called Shadow and Bone in America. The next two will be called The Shadow Fold and The Darkest Light (I think).

Summary : The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka. Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free? The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him. But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

Review: Alina is an orphan who discovers she has a magical power-she can summon sunlight at will. Her summoning abilities mean that she is pulled into the Ravka’s Grisha-the magical elite. The leader of the Grisha is called The Darkling-amazingly powerful and more than a little seductive. He and Alina are destined to save Ravka from the Shadow Fold-the darkness where monsters live. But, while Alina’s falling for Darkling, she’s also thinking of Mal, her childhood friend who is now a soldier. Predictably, their paths cross and they go on a journey full of adventure. And danger.

I don’t  often read pure fantasy without lots of horror or sci-fi mixed in. I do enjoy them though. This is definitely a fantasy based book. It comes through in the names, the writing (it’s all very  descriptive) and the book as a whole is the kind I like when I want something between relaxing and scary.

There’s a nice little mix of characters. Alina undergoes a lot of development and learning, and I quite liked her. My favourite character was Genya-although she was horrible to start with, I ended up liking her by the end as she reveals her fun nature as you get to know her. Mal was ok. His devotion to Alina  was really nice, but he’s not the type of main male character that I really really like. And Darkling-he was just so annoying. And arrogant. And manipulative. I really didn’t like him.

The Gathering Dark is a deceptively short book. A lot happens in it though, many of which you will not see coming.

The world building is slow, subtle and full. You get a really good idea of the court, and the way the magical society works. It’s impossible to place exactly in time and location, but I still really enjoyed it.

Like many books, It would have done ok without the love triangle. I was for Mal all the way, and Alina’s feelings for The Darkling were unnecessary, especially when he wasn’t that good anyway. Oh well. What other people like. 

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a good fantasy novel that I’d really like to see what direction it goes in for the next novel, The Shadow Fold.

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

Book Review- Grave Witch by Kalayna Price

Title: Grave Witch

 Author: Kalayna Price

Series:  Alex Craft #1

Published:  5 October 2010

Length: 325 pages

Warnings: violence, sex(m/f, 4 pages, kind of graphic) 16+

Source: Spinebreakers

Other info: Book two is called Grave Mercy and book three will be called Grave Memory. She has also written the Haven series.

Summary : Not even death can save her now. As a grave witch, Alex Craft can speak to the dead-she's even on good terms with Death himself. As a consultant for the police, she's seen a lot of dark magic, but nothing has prepared her for her latest case. When she's raising a "shade" involved in a high profile murder, it attacks her, and then someone makes an attempt on her life. Someone really doesn't want her to know what the dead have to say, and she'll have to work with mysterious homicide detective Falin Andrews to figure out why...

Review: Alex Craft is a Grave Witch. Her power means she can raise shades and otherwise interact with the dead. And Death. They’re quite good friends. So she’s seen a lot of dark magic in her time-but not as dark as this. The shade she raises tries to kill her, then ends up leaving a soul-sucking charm on her, then somebody tries to kill her in the actual world. Teaming up with Falin Andrews, the new homicide detective that seems to hate her, Roy, a ghost who claims the late Governor stole his body, and some other Fae/witches,  Alex attempts to work her way through this mess, keeping her life and soul intact.

I wasn’t really expecting much because I didn’t know the author. The premises isn’t really original, but it’s the kind of stuff that I like reading about anyway to see how it’ll be worked around.

It starts off well. Alex is dealing with an angry customer, even though it isn’t her fault the shade doesn’t talk. Then the customer dies, prompting Alex to scold Death - “You could’ve waited until I got paid”. From there, they learn about the murder of the governor, and things go downhill from there.

I really liked the mix of witches and fae and ghosts. It was interesting not having the normal mix of vampires and werewolves to compliment this, but I suppose that these three creatures would fit in best to “normal” life.

Alex is a medium quality character, not amazingly strong but interesting to read about. I didn’t like Falin-he didn’t really do anything. The whole meeting boy, boy hates her, somehow they end up together is rather annoying, and features again in Grave Witch.

I never realised it was a more adult book until I got to that section. Damn. And it wasn’t even well written.

The rules surrounding  Alex’s Grave Sight were easy to pick up after a little while. The rules surrounding all of the magic in this book were clear cut. I liked the magical community and the way it all interlinked.

I really liked Roy, and the whole body swapping idea. It was something different and, in this context, unique to Kalayna’s book, and I’d like to see more of that idea. I also really liked Death and the humour that surrounded his and Alex’s relationship. I think Death and Alex should have got together. It could have worked well.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a book that is a good break from anything serious, but not much more.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website | 

Carnegie Book Review-Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans

Title: Small Change for Stuart

 Author: Lissa Evans

Series:  Stuart #1

Published:  May 2011 by Doubleday

Length: 282 pages

Warnings: None

Source: Library

Other info: This has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Shortlist. It is also published as Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure

Summary : Stuart Horten—ten years old and small for his age—moves to the dreary town of Beeton, far away from all his friends. And then he meets his new next-door neighbours, the unbearable Kingley triplets, and things get even worse. But in Beeton begins the strangest adventure of Stuart’s life as he is swept up in quest to find his great-uncle’s lost workshop—a workshop stuffed with trickery and magic. There are clues to follow and puzzles to solve, but what starts as fun ends up as danger, and Stuart begins to realize that he can’t finish the task by himself. . . .

Review: Stuart Horten is a young boy who finds something unexpected out about his family. Great uncle Tony was an inventor.  Whose workshop is packed with...well...everything. and puzzles. Lots of them. Stuart sets out on an adventure.

This definitely isn’t one of my normal reads. Once again, it’s a Carnegie book, which I’m meant to have read all of them by the first of May (I’m writing this on the 14^th of April. This will not happen.), so should be assured of it’s quality, even if it’s not my type.

­­I  really can’t reveal the plot. I’ll just end up telling you everything that happens, because there isn’t really anywhere you can stop describing it. So much happens for such a short book and it’s really fun seeing the plot develop.

Lissa has managed to work in a lot of puzzles, which were good fun to figure out along with Stuart. A nice thing about Small Change for  Stuart was that each chapter ended on a cliffhanger, something vital just being revealed so that you have to read on and find out how that is important, what will come of it and such.

The characters really made this one for me. Stuart is very well developed, inquisitive and clever. April is one of three identical triplets, who doesn’t get on with Stuart to start with. However, they soon get to be good friends, and work well together. The baddies in this one weren’t as strong as the others, but were still good characters. Stuart’s dad was very funny with his overuse of long words, and Stuart’s blind grand-aunt (or something) was just really really cool. They all were. I also liked the way something we learn about them ties in by the end of it all with what we learnt earlier on, but didn’t think about to start with. Amazing how that happens.

This is definitely a heartwarming book. Seeing Stuart and April overcome puzzles, infiltrate museums and such really can’t fail  to make you smile.

 Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a book that is part magic, part mystery, and full of fun.

Links: Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads

Book Review- Raven by Nuayma Jeggels

Title: Raven

 Author: Nuayma Jeggels

Series:  The Violet Jewels Series #1

Published:  13 July 2011

Length: 190 pages

Source: Author in exchange review.

((which is very late. I read this around September and meant to review it and forgot. So I re-read it so I oculd write a review. Sorry for the wait!!))

Summary :A girl, a coma, a Plague, and an empty grave. 
When Shardaie wakes up, she doesn’t know who she is, why she can’t understand emotions, why she has been unconscious for nearly nine of her thirteen years, or why the dead just won’t stay dead. The only clue to her past is a locket, but the Plague, which finally stretches its unnatural hand to her village, forces her to leave and to learn to protect herself. But everything has a cost: the protection against the undead reveals a secret that Shardaie and her classmates just don’t want to accept, and at the end, Shardaie realises that some secrets shouldn’t be revealed. Secrets have the power to destroy, and the power to change her view on humanity for ever. 

Review: Raven has woken up from a coma. Of eight years. The world she wakes up in is one with zombies, infected, so the dead rose again. From then on, we get the story of her at the Temple, learning how to protect herself, and finding out secrets that maybe should be kept quiet.

The world building was very good. The planets we learnt about were all distinctly different, yet familiar-the Cantchi people, for example Chiyo, was what you’d get if the Japanese all emigrated to this new planet. It added a little familiar touch to a brand new world.

We got a really clear account of the magic and the magical laws surrounding it. And the zombies....i love the take on them in this book. It’s original,  and with a cool twist on them.

At the start we got bogged down quite a bit with the world building. We needed to be introduced to the characters and the context, which I find is good, but as we kept switching places from chapter to chapter it was  a little confusing.

Shardaie/Raven(I only figured this out halfway through)was an interesting character. As interesting as you can get for a character who’s been asleep for more of her life than awake. But I think the mystery surrounding her added quite a lot to it, making you want to read on and see if you can work things out about her life.

We got a nice lot of character development, from Chiyo especially. The interaction between the students and teachers was realistic and friendly, and it was easy to follow.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a good story with good characters and a great fantasy new world.