Saturday 30 September 2017

Frost

****
4/5



Frost is a very enjoyable paranormal novel which is fast paced. It is set in the same world as the midnight fire series, I have not read them yet but it did not impact the story or my enjoyment of it. However, what stopped this book from getting a higher rating was that the story was predictable and not all that original.

Pandora is sassy and independent but is also hurting and is running from her past and while she is a thief, she is ultimately battling wrongs. Jax has good banter with Pandora and is protective but he is suffering from guilt. Sam is very mysterious and I felt I did not get to know him very well but I guess we will discover more in the next book.


This book ends on a cliff-hanger and I am looking forward to reading the next book Freeze. I would recommend Frost to fans of YA paranormal books.

Thursday 28 September 2017

Wintersong

***
2/5



Wintersong is a OK book, which I think I would have liked it better if I had watched Labyrinth. The first half of the book was fast paced but it slowed down in the second half, however, it was well written.

I did not get on with Leisl as while we are often told how selfless she is, she is actually very whinny, self-centred and jealous. The Goblin King was OK but nothing like I expected him to be, instead of charming and manipulating he is insecure. The romance was unsettling from both Elizabeth and The Goblin King. The Goblin King kidnapping your sister to get you is a big turn off, and Elizabeth pressuring The King for sex all the time was repelling as would we be comfortable and accepting of this behaviour if the genders were switched.


Ultimately, I could not get on with Wintersong and DNF at 75%

Monday 25 September 2017

Mask of Shadows

***
3/5


Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for giving me this book to review.

Mask of Shadows is a likeable dark fantasy book. Slow paced and I would have liked more world building and a cast of characters I could relate to more. Apart from the gender fluid protagonist, it felt like I had read this story before. Also with the war and the magic being gone from the world, this book felt like a new story but in a world that had already been established in previous books. While I liked that this book added some unique diversity to the YA fantasy genre, I wish that Sal being gender fluid was either given more or less importance in the story. This is because I felt most of the characters understood and accepted Sal but Sal acted as if this was unusual and got very emotional when people did accept them. Also, I will admit that I do not fully understand gender fluidity but one thing that bothered me was that it was Maud who was choosing Sal’s clothing, therefore I felt like it was Maud who was deciding Sal’s gender not Sal.

Sal was determined, hell bent on vengeance and rough around the edges but I just did not connect to them. Maud was my favourite character as she was honest and did not mince her words but as we got to know her better we got to see how caring she is and how much she has struggled. Elise is an OK scholarly character who is kind and intelligent.

This book has an interesting concept but ultimately it did not grab me as much as I hoped. I would recommend Mask of Shadows to fans of Throne of Glass.

Saturday 16 September 2017

Death's Queen

****
4/5



Death’s Queen is a new novel by Janeal Falor which is fast paced and predictable but I never found it boring. There was action, politics and some romance but I felt that this part was a bit too rushed. I really liked this world and the idea of a drink deciding who the next Queen is. I can understand the comparison to the Throne of Glass series but as I found that series to be underwhelming, this book is much better in my opinion.

The Queen (who has no name which makes it difficult to talk about her in this review) has so many walls around herself, which makes it hard for her to open up but she is very strong, does not care about other people’s negative opinions of her which shows in her lack of social skills, but during this book has a good development arc. There are a few secondary characters but my favourite is Nash as he is loyal, intelligent and protective but is also not afraid to speak his mind.


I really enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to reading the next book Death’s Betrayal. I would recommend this book to fans of YA fantasy books with magic, royalty and assassins.

Tuesday 5 September 2017

Redux

****
4/5



Redux is a really great second book in the Tricksters series with lots of twists. It was fast paced, with good world building. This book was more intense than the last as it is set in the real world and when the characters die, they actually die, but I did miss the fantasy element of the Nexis. While I am not a fan of love triangles or squares, I found this one interesting as it did not go on too long and it had the extra element of who was in the Nexis with Ella.

Ella is intelligent but also wracked with guilt, and she is willing to do anything to fix her mistakes. I wish we got to see more of Gus but he is loyal, resourceful, conflicted and daring. We got to learn more about Quentin, how persuasive he is and how much responsibility was on his shoulders, which made me like his character as he was so interesting. I enjoyed how we got to know new characters as well as established ones becoming more developed.


Like the last book I was a bit confused at the ending but I also enjoyed it as all of the main questions were answered but it was also left open enough for another book, which I would enjoy as I liked reading about this world. I would recommend Redux to fans of the first book Nexis.