Review: The Secret Fire by C.J. Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld

Title: The Secret Fire
Authors: C.J. Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld
Series: The Alchemist Chronicles, #1
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 3 / 5

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French teen Sacha Winters can't die. He can throw himself off a roof, be stabbed, even shot, and he will always survive. Until the day when history and ancient enmities dictate that he must die. Worse still, his death will trigger something awful. Something deadly. And that day is closing in.

Taylor Montclair is a normal English girl, hanging out with her friends and studying for exams, until she starts shorting out the lights with her brain. She’s also the only person on earth who can save Sacha.

There’s only one problem: the two of them have never met. They live hundreds of miles apart and powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.

They have eight weeks to find each other.

Will they survive long enough to save the world?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Being a huge fan of the Night School series, I was really looking forward to reading more of CJ Daugherty’s works. I knew that her new series was going to be more fantasy focused, and I was so happy about this. Fantasy is my all-time favourite genre, so combining one of my favourite authors with my favourite genre seemed like it would be a win-win scenario. By contrast, this was my first time reading any of Carina Rozenfeld’s works, and I was intrigued to see how both authors would collaborate and how the story would develop.

Well… it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. When I began reading I quickly realised my fantasy expectations might be a little off. I kept reading and realised it felt like I had unexpectedly picked up a YA Contemporary novel that just happened to have a few paranormal and supernatural threads woven in. Now, here’s where I need to clarify something. All of this is not necessarily a bad thing… however, I’ve read dozens and dozens of Urban Fantasy books over the years and I’ve seen all these tropes many times before. Combine all this with lots of familiar YA Contemporary tropes and the story just wasn’t that unique to me, and I found my interest in the story wandering more than once.

The narration is split into two separate points-of-view. Taylor is an English teen and Sasha is French, and over the course of the book both characters stories become intertwined and they need to work together despite various outside groups trying to keep them apart. Each character had their own distinct voice throughout the book which was awesome to see and I always knew which character was narrating throughout. Out of the two main characters, Sasha was the one I was intrigued by the most. He does have a cheeky-chappy kind of personality, and they’re usually the most entertaining characters to read about! Taylor, on the other hand, I wasn’t that connected to. She was Little Miss Perfect incarnated, and to be honest, I find perfect characters to be very unappealing. Give me flaws and questionable morals in my characters any and every day! Personally, I find them more fun to read about.

I absolutely loved the family dynamic that both Taylor and Sasha had in their own respective homes. Absentee parentism is a plague that haunts Young Adult literature, and to see that both teens had a parent that was present in their lives, cared for them and took an interest in their wellbeing was EXCELLENT to see.

Now I move onto something that didn’t work for me. On the back cover of my book it says three sentences in lovely sparkly golden font: “A Battle Against Fate. A Race Against Time. The Clock Starts NOW” So after reading this I expected a blisteringly fast paced plot with the constant threat of impending doom as each day ticks by until death, destruction and despair. I hate to say it, but I never got any sense of fear, or desperation, or that time was actually running out. Everything felt very slow and cushy and cozy for well over half the book, and it didn’t match the sense of urgency that the synopsis on the back cover was promising right from the beginning.

I was really hoping to love The Secret Fire more than I did. Maybe my expectations were too high? Or maybe it was bad timing? I did begin reading it straight after reading A Torch Against the Night and Crooked Kingdom, and they were my two most anticipated releases of 2016! Yeah, okay, looking back on that decision, it probably wasn’t the best timing, was it?! Maybe it did have more of an influence that I thought, but I’ll never know for sure. Personally, I think this book would be a perfect fit for any contemporary readers that are looking to branch out and explore some new genres – Urban Fantasy in particular. Overall, I thought it was a good read, but didn’t quite live up to all my expectations.

Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Title: The Wrath and the Dawn
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn, #1
Format: Hardback, bought
My rating: 3 / 5

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A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

How in the world can a book be both awesome and underwhelming at the same time?! I have so many conflicting feelings about The Wrath and the Dawn, and I’m not really sure where to begin this review. How about with the positives?

The story itself was actually really gripping and held my attention pretty consistently throughout. It’s a One Thousand and One Nights retelling, and if you’ve visited my blog before, you know how obsessed I can be about retellings! It’s written in the third person with multiple POV’s used, and I absolutely LOVED the writing style. The pacing flowed so beautifully, and the descriptions, wow! It really felt like I had been transported to the Middle East and was walking through the halls of beautiful buildings and towns. And the food, oh so yum! The only possible down side to vividly described food is being constantly hungry while you’re reading.

Technically – for writing style, imagery, atmosphere, pacing etc., – I want to give all the stars under the sun to The Wrath and the Dawn. But, something is holding me back, and it’s a pretty big something. I knew going into this book that it would be romance-heavy, and I was completely okay with that. But, you see, here’s where my problem lies. The romance left me feeling ice cold. I didn’t feel any emotion or passion between Shahrzad and Khalid – all the words are there, but the emotions and feelings that should have been evoked didn’t translate over to me. I love romances where I’m practically climbing through the pages of the book to mush the characters faces together. That tension and the not knowing if they’re going to give into their feelings is half the fun! I was hoping for something along those lines here, but the romance developed a LOT sooner than I had expected.

Shahrzad – or Shazi – is a character I wanted to love, but unfortunately I struggled to care what happened to her. She certainly makes lots of threats, but in actuality she did next to nothing to back up her words. I was also very surprised at how quickly Shazi developed feelings for Khalid. Last time I checked, rage, resentment, hatred and a desire for vengeance are all pretty strong emotions. Add them together and I really doubt they’ll disappear within two days. Also, I don’t understand why Shazi is the one to have 'changed’ things for Khalid… and how is she not dead?! Just because of a few half-heartedly told stories? If I was Khalid with a penchant for killing his wives the morning after he marries them, Shazi would have been dead long ago. I don’t see what’s so special about her, nor do I see what all the other characters keep harping on about. So, she’s a good archer… well, so is the vast majority other YA fantasy heroines these days. We’re continually being told that Shazi is an amazing girl – fearsome, headstrong, opinionated, cunning, intelligent etc. – yet, I didn’t see any of this in practice at any stage. If anything, what we were shown completely contradicted all of these claims!

I wish I could talk to you about my feelings toward Khalid, but I felt absolutely nothing toward him. Logically, I guess I’m supposed to feel repulsion toward him at first, and that slowly transforms into sympathy… but, sorry, I got nothing.

Here’s the thing, I pretty much loved everything about The Wrath and the Dawn, bar the main characters and the romance. Yes, it’s unfortunate that both of these things take up the vast majority of the book, but despite all of this, I’m still really curious to see where the story goes next! As far as I know this is a duology, and I’ll definitely consider picking up The Rose and the Dagger when it’s released, and I really hope my opinions will change when I read it.

Review: Winter by Marissa Meyer

Title: Winter
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #4
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 3 / 5

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Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Reading the final book in a series is a bitter-sweet moment. I always hope for a satisfying conclusion, and while WINTER did deliver this to a certain level, I can’t help feeling it was missing so many of the elements that made this series awesome in the first place. And, oh boy do I feel like the odd one out saying this! Looking at the sea of 5 star reviews before I began reading set me up for quite a bit of disappointment. I don’t know if I read a completely different book, but personally, I thought WINTER was the weakest book in the series.

Putting this bluntly, the book was far too long and drawn out. We get hundreds of pages of unnecessary build-up and not enough pages dedicated to any sort of concrete or epic conclusion. If the book had been condensed by a few hundred pages, I doubt we would have missed out on anything important. I was expecting so much more than what we got, but the biggest surprise I had was being bored out of my mind for well over half of the book! By the time I got to the 500 page mark I was wishing for the book to end. Let me tell you, that definitely was NOT the reaction I was expecting to have while reading the conclusion to this series!

In the previous books, I thought the author did an excellent job point-of-view-juggling between all the main characters. But for me, WINTER is the book where all the POV-juggling fell completely flat. I remember counting 10 different POV’s over the course of this book – Winter, Cinder, Jacin, Kai, Levana, Cress, Iko, Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf – and there could have been more I’ve forgotten about – and for me, this was a bit overkill. Now, granted, this could be a personal taste thing as I greatly prefer books with fewer POV’s in general … but I did think CRESS was handled excellently, and comparing WINTER to its immediate predecessor, this book didn’t deliver to the level already set.

With so many dominant characters introduced over the course of the series, it was difficult for each voice to shine through clearly without drowning out someone else. Considering each of the previous books in the series has been dedicated to one of the main characters, I was very surprised that Cinder took up the majority of the spotlight in Winter’s book. Personally, I thought there was far too much Cinder and not enough everyone else and I know that’ll be an unpopular opinion. I’m also a bit shocked that Winter didn’t have a much bigger role to play in the finale than she did. Also, there was something a bit… off… about the relationship between Winter and Jacin. Now, I get that they have a past and their relationship was already formed before we get to see their story, but I didn’t really feel any bond of love or affection between either of them.

It’s no secret that Scarlet is my favourite character, and once again she proved what a smart, ballsy, sassy badass she truly is. I absolutely LOVE her character, and I’m so thankful she was introduced into the series. Cress is another character I adore, and she comes in a very close second to Scarlet. Now, here comes my problem: Wolf and Thorne. Thorne didn’t seem like the same person as he was in the previous books, and Wolf… oh where do I even begin? Purely to avoid spoilers I won’t mention anything more, but if you’ve read the book, you might be able to guess what I’m saying.

Oh, and just for the record? I still haven’t clicked with either Cinder or Kai. It always sucks when you don’t click with the main characters in a series, and it’s even more unfortunate when the vast majority of an 800+ page multi-POV book revolves around the characters you have no feelings for.

I’ve always classed The Lunar Chronicles as being one of the more unique YA series of recent years, so I was quite shocked to see your standard tried-and-true-been-there-done-that dystopian ending emerge. Add in the similarities to Mockingjay (and The Hunger Games trilogy in general) – the ‘districts’ disguised by other names, the Capitol, the Lunar’s crazy fashion sense, Levana turning into Snow... I don’t know, I guess I had hoped for a truly unique ending to do this series justice, and I just don’t feel we got that.

I’m very conflicted right now. Overall, I did like WINTER, but the ending wasn’t as strong or impactful I had anticipated. I guess my real rating would be closer to 2.5 stars, but I’m rounding up to 3 as I can’t bear rating a book in this series lower than that! And also it’s for Scarlet’s sake. As I mentioned earlier, she’s my favourite character and her book still remains my favourite in the series. I do wish I had a better reaction to reading WINTER, but The Lunar Chronicles as a whole will always remain beloved series in my heart, even if the ending wasn’t as strong as I had hoped it would be.

Review: The Hidden Twin by Adi Rule

Title: The Hidden Twin
Author: Adi Rule
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC, kindly provided by
the publishers via NetGalley for
review. (Thank you!!)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
My rating: 3 / 5

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For eighteen years a girl with no name, a Redwing, has been hidden away in a small attic room within a city of hissing pipes and curving temples perched on the side of the great volcano, Mol, while her sister, Jey-identical except for her eyes-has lived her life in public as an only child. Their father had hoped the hidden girl would one day grow up to be a normal human girl and not the wicked creature mythology has promised, so he secretly spared her life as an infant.

But when she switches places with her sister, striking up a flirtation with the son of the Empress while working in the royal gardens and gets attacks by two suspicious priests on her journey home, she is forced to call forth fire to protect herself, unleashing her previously dormant powers and letting her secret out. She soon catches the attention of a cult with a thousand year old grudge as well as a group of underground rebels, both seeking her for their own gain. But when her sister goes missing and the Redwing uncovers a great plot to awaken Mol and bring fiery destruction upon them all, she is forced to embrace her powers.

In Adi Rule's stunning new novel, The Hidden Twin, the girl with no name, must finally choose a name and a path for herself, drawing a line between myth and history to prove herself more than a monster if she is to save both her sister and her home.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received an eARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

You know those books where you instantly fall in love with the synopsis, but when you finishing reading the book you feel… underwhelmed? Well, that’s how I feel about The Hidden Twin. I absolutely adore everything about the concept of this world – the Redwing mythology, Caldaras City, the volcano (Mol), and everything else. There were some steampunk elements mixed in with some mythology, fantasy and sci-fi, and all of this blended together, in theory, should create the most fascinating whimsical world. Yet, right now, I don’t feel like I know anything about it!

This really is my biggest issue with the book, and why I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have done: the world-building. We were given the bare-bones and the general gist of everything that's happening, but it wasn't fleshed out or explained with enough detail to create a clear picture. It’s a pity actually, as I was really intrigued by what was presented but I really struggled to keep everything straight in my head. Everything was explained so quickly! There were lots of little things mentioned, but before we got the chance to find out about them, we’d fly off to something new without really finding out how it relates to the overall world. It made everything seem disjointed and a bit all over the place, if I'm honest. Now, it is a fast paced book, but I’d kind of prefer a slightly slower pace where enough detail was provided to get a clear picture of the world being described.

I read an eARC, so I’m not too sure what the finished physical book looks like, but it would be SO AWESOME (and helpful!) if it contained a map of Caldaras City and the surrounding areas. With all the street names and other places that crop up, having a map to keep them all in order and to help see where things are situated in relation to everything else would have been a huge help.

I thought the characters were good, but none of them really held my attention for too long. Redwing, for lack of a given name, is our narrator, and as the book went along I did end up really liking her narrative. She can be quite snarky and sarcastic, and she’s got some really funny one-liners, yet, I didn’t really care about her or what she was going through. See, she was meant to have been locked up in a tower for eighteen years, right? Well, she sure had a lot of freedom for someone trapped in a tower! Maybe this is where the Rapunzel-vibes I got from the synopsis got in the way and influenced my expectations? Also, she didn’t seem as socially awkward as I would have expected someone in her situation to be. I felt this issue was glossed over a little too quickly, personally. Or maybe I just didn’t ‘get’ her?

I’m really on the fence with this one. On one hand, the concept of The Hidden Twin is awesome! Yet, I though the lack of world building really let the story down. I really wish I could have given more than a 3 star rating. You don’t come across that many standalone fantasy books, and I was really looking forward to finding one I could love and recommend. The mythology created around Redwings is awesome and so intriguing, yet I don’t feel I got to experience the world clearly enough to fully appreciate it. Oh well, maybe next time!

Review: The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian

Title: The Guest Room
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Doubleday
Format: eARC, kindly provided
by the publishers for review.
(Thank you!!)
My rating: 2.5 - 3 / 5

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From the New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls comes the spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: two men lie dead in a suburban living room, two women are on the run from police, and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams.

When Kristin Chapman agrees to let her husband, Richard, host his brother’s bachelor party, she expects a certain amount of debauchery. She brings their young daughter to Manhattan for the evening, leaving her Westchester home to the men and their hired entertainment. What she does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, her husband sharing a dangerously intimate moment in the guest room, and two women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night.

In the aftermath, Kristin and Richard’s life rapidly spirals into nightmare. The police throw them out of their home, now a crime scene, Richard’s investment banking firm puts him on indefinite leave, and Kristin is unsure if she can forgive her husband for the moment he shared with a dark-haired girl in the guest room. But the dark-haired girl, Alexandra, faces a much graver danger. In one breathless, violent night, she is free, running to escape the police who will arrest her and the gangsters who will kill her in a heartbeat. A captivating, chilling story about shame and scandal, The Guest Room is a riveting novel from one of our greatest storytellers.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

The Guest Room has all the ingredients for a fabulous fast-paced mystery/thriller while shedding light on sex slavery and the devastation it causes to those unfortunate enough to be caught up in its web. Instead of feeling like I read something enlightening and enthralling, I feel a bit underwhelmed and disappointed. It sucks that I feel this way, as in theory, I should love this book! It took me a lot longer than I expected to get my thoughts in order to write this review properly, and it’s mainly due to being very conflicted about how I feel about the book overall. (Just for clarity sake, this is the first book I’ve read by Chris Bohjalian, and I have next to no knowledge about any of his previous works.)

I’m not going into specifics of what happens in the story – I think the synopsis covers it perfectly. The book begins with a bang, and the first 25-30ish% was completely awesome. It was vibrant, action packed and fast paced, and I had started to think I’d found a new favourite read. Shortly after the 30% mark, though, the pacing took a severe nosedive, and my interest and connection to the story went along with it. Actually, all the issues I had stem from the middle of the book, up to about the 92% mark. Honestly, I found it dull, boring, and repetitive with the story dragging on for far too long. I understand the slower pace is needed to help build up some tension and suspense, but for me, it only caused my attention span to completely wither, and I found myself wishing for the story to hurry up and get on with the action.

The narration shifts mainly between two characters: Richard, and one of the sex slaves, Alexandra. If we were reading the book entirely from Alexandra’s POV, I could see myself rating this book a lot higher. However, the majority of the story revolves around Richard and his family woes. See, I have a problem with this. I thought this was supposed to be a thriller. Aren’t thrillers supposed to be, well, thrilling? I don’t suppose it helped that I’d branded Richard an idiot from very early on in the book, did it? I mean, he brought all of this on himself. He knew his brother was an unreliable sexist twat and that Phillip’s friends were even worse, yet he still thinks it’s a great idea to host a bachelor party in his own home. Yep, only rainbows, kittens and unicorns can come from that decision. Also, some of my disappointment could stem from my expectations going into the book. Like, you tell me a book has Russian human traffickers, and two of the sex slaves manage to escape by attacking their captors and hacking one of them to bits, right? Just based on this, my expectations are on a different level. Exploring family issues being the dominating focus of the book doesn’t really come anywhere near my thought process! For my tastes, the focus was on the wrong characters. I had zero sympathy toward Richard, so personally I wouldn’t have minded him disappearing into the background and the focus of the story being solely on Alexandra, Sonja and Crystal – the real victims in this tale.

I have to address the elephant in the room, and that’s human trafficking and sex slavery. While Alexandra’s POV helped to create a lot of sympathy within me for her cause, I feel these very important issues were brushed aside far too flippantly in favour of Richard’s family problems. While I’m sure he’s suffering for causing his marital issues, he had a choice. He made the wrong choice. Alexandra and every other girl in the story that was beaten, raped, sold, used and discarded never have one single choice. Their voices were not fully heard. And that doesn’t sit very well with me.

I’ve been hovering back and forth between a 2.5 or 3 star rating, and I really think my true feelings lie somewhere in the middle. I’m going with the full 3 stars, as I did genuinely like the first chunk of the book, and it was those moments that kept me going right to the end. Overall, yes, I did like The Guest Room, but I do feel it missed quite a few vital opportunities that left me frustrated and disappointed.

Mini-Reviews: Lord of Misrule and Curio

Lord of Misrule

Author: Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires, #5
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 3 / 5

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In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then along comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn't the only threat.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Lord of Misrule is the fifth book in the Morganville Vampire series, and I’ve got to be honest, it wasn’t quite what I had expected. It continues right after the events in Feast of Fools and an all-out war is brewing between Amelie and Bishop, with Claire and Co. caught in the crossfire. I love how much Claire has grown over the past couple of books, and I’m really starting to like her character. Shane is still Shane, and I doubt he’ll change that much, in honesty. Myrnin, though, has become one of my favourite characters in the series. I love how unpredictable he is, and he’s added an extra vibrancy to the series that was missing. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of Eve and Michael: it felt like they’ve been pushed aside and the focus is turning toward other characters.

With all the characters developing so much since the first book, I’m a bit concerned that the plot seems to be all over the place. I was struggling to see where the series is going at the end of the last book, and after the cliff-hanger ending here I’m even more confused! While I did enjoy the story overall, I though it took far too long to get to the point. Considering I flew through each of the previous books in the series in a couple of days a piece, it was a bit of a surprised that it took me over a week to get through 348 pages. I haven’t a clue what went wrong, but that addictiveness that made me want to keep reading has disappeared. The second book, The Dead Girls’ Dance, still remains my favourite in the series, and I really hope that Lord of Misrule was just a bump in the road and not a sign of things to come. I do own Carpe Corpus, so I’ll be continuing on with all my fingers crossed that I’ll enjoy it!

Curio

Author: Evangeline Denmark
Series: Curio, #1
Released: January 5th, 2016
Publisher: Zonderkids Books
Format: eARC, kindly provided by the
publishers via Netgalley (Thank you!!)
My rating: DNF

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Grey Haward has always detested the Chemists, the magicians-come-scientists who rule her small western town. But she has always followed the rules, taking the potion the Chemists ration out that helps the town’s people survive. A potion that Grey suspects she—like her grandfather and father—may not actually need.

By working at her grandfather’s repair shop, sorting the small gears and dusting the curio cabinet inside, Grey has tried to stay unnoticed—or as unnoticed as a tall, strong girl can in a town of diminutive, underdeveloped citizens. Then her best friend, Whit, is caught by the Chemists’ enforcers after trying to protect Grey one night, and after seeing the extent of his punishment, suddenly taking risks seems the only decision she can make.

But with the risk comes the reality that the Chemists know her family’s secret, and the Chemists soon decide to use her for their own purposes. Panicked, Grey retreats to the only safe place she knows—her grandfather’s shop. There, however, a larger secret confronts her when her touch unlocks the old curio cabinet in the corner and reveals a world where porcelain and clockwork people are real. There, she could find the key that may save Whit’s life and also end the Chemists’ dark rule forever.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

DNF @ 26%

*I received an ARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

Sadly, Curio and I weren’t meant to be. Despite being drawn in by both the intriguing synopsis and gorgeous cover, I couldn’t get into the story. I really like the concept, but I felt the world-building was too unclear and I wasn’t a fan of how it was presented. My reaction after reading the first couple of chapters was ‘what the HECK is going on?!’ Quite frankly, I was lost. The book begins on a fast-paced note and we get a lot of information very quickly, but I don’t feel that information was clearly explained before we’ve zoomed on ahead to learning about something else. I felt like I was continually playing catch-up and only managing to glean half the story. Also, I felt the timing in action sequences (or any time there was a change of setting, really) was quite choppy and didn’t flow naturally. It felt more like a summary of an action sequence, and I had difficulty building up a clear picture of what was occurring. (As I mentioned earlier, I’ve read an ARC copy of the book so much of this choppiness may have been rectified in the finished product.)

The characters are usually my make-or-break point when I haven’t settled into a story, and sadly I didn’t click with them, either. Grey isn’t a heroine I could easily click with. While a lot of effort was put into convincing me she was a strong, capable and gutsy protagonist, I wasn’t able to believe it. Once Whit came on the scene, she acted like a love sick puppy (and this was within the first few pages), and it set my expectations for her character on the wrong footing right from the outset. Unfortunately, Curio just wasn’t the right book for me. I read the first quarter of the story, and I felt it best to walk away rather than continuing on reading and ending up resenting it completely.

Review: Tell the Story to Its End by Simon P. Clark

Title: Tell the Story to Its End
Author: Simon P. Clark
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC, kindly
provided by St Martin's Press
to review. (Thank you!!)
My rating: 3 / 5

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In this beautiful, haunting debut, a boy is whisked away to the country in the wake of a scandal, and finds a captivating creature in the attic whose attention comes at a sinister price.


"Tell the story to its end," says Eren with a grin.
His yellow eyes are glowing like embers in the night.
"When I reach the end," I say, "what happens? You'll have the whole story."
"Hmm," he says, looking at me and licking his lips with a dry, grey tongue. "What happens then? Why don't we find out?"

People are keeping secrets from Oli. His mum has brought him to stay with his aunt and uncle in the countryside, but nobody will tell him why his dad where his father is. Why isn't he with them? Has something happened? Oli has a hundred questions, and only an old, empty house in the middle of an ancient forest for answers. But then he finds a secret of his own: there is a creature that lives in the attic…

Eren is not human.
Eren is hungry for stories.
Eren has been waiting for him.

Sharing his stories with Eren, Oli starts to make sense of what’s happening downstairs with his family. But what if it’s a trap? Soon, Oli must make a choice: learn the truth—or abandon himself to Eren’s world, forever.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received an eARC from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. This didn’t influence my opinion in any way.*

Right after I finished reading Tell the Story to Its End, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Even now, a couple of days later, I still can’t quite figure out how I feel. My feelings and opinions are sort of stuck on the fence, and I keep swaying back and forth between things I enjoyed and the things I didn’t enjoy quite as much.

Twelve year old Oliver – Oli – is our main character. His mum whisks him off unexpectedly to the small country village where she grew up called Coxborough over the summer holidays to stay with an aunt and uncle he’s never met. His dad hasn’t come with them, and he’s told his father will follow soon when he has finished up some business in London. Oli begins reading between the lines and noticing that things aren’t adding up, but the adults he’s surrounded with won’t give him any answers, and will brush his questions to the side. He’s encouraged to explore the local village where he meets Emma and Takeru, and quickly becomes friends with both. His uncle encourages him to explore the house, and while Oli is exploring the attic, he meets Eren, a creature who survives on stories.

Firstly, I really like the overall concept of Tell the Story to Its End, and how stories never really end, and that they continue on long after they’ve been told as long as someone is there to tell them. The writing style is lovely, and some of the descriptions and imagery is fabulous. I really liked the stories and fables that were told throughout the book. They were beautifully described and so easy to imagine, and being honest, these little stories were my favourite parts of the book.

The characters are usually what I connect with first when I read, and sadly I didn’t connect with Oli. Maybe I’m looking at things without removing my adult eyes, but Oli grated on my patience quite a few times. I could understand why he was frustrated with being kept in the dark about where his father was, but it wasn’t enough to make me empathise or care for his character. I thought Oli’s friends, Em and Takeru, were more interesting overall, and I would have liked to have known more about them. In general, though, I don’t feel I really clicked with any of the characters, and I think this is the main reason why I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I had hoped. The characters are a huge reason why I read, and to not click with them on some level is always a disappointment.

This leads onto the biggest sticking point I had: I don’t really see where the author was going with the story. Considering this is quite a short book, I was expecting quite a lot of action to happen very early on, and for the atmosphere to build up quite quickly. I didn’t feel any of the build-up or atmosphere I was hoping to experience and it was a bit surprising that nothing much happened for well over 55–60% of the book. I really liked trying to figure out just what Eren was, and I really wish we got more concrete answers, but the mystery surrounding Oli’s father didn’t hold my attention, and it felt a little half-hearted rather than a vital part of the story.

I can’t help wishing this book wasn’t middle grade and that the characters were a little bit older, and more themes that were briefly touched on were explored in more detail. I don’t mind open endings, providing the most important story arcs are satisfactorily explained and wrapped up. This ending wasn’t one I liked, though, and I did feel it was a bit of a let-down. Overall, I did like and enjoy Tell the Story to Its End, but it didn’t end up being quite as captivating as I was hoping it would be. I do seem to be in the minority with my feelings, so don’t let my opinions stop you from picking up the book and giving it a chance!

Mini-Reviews: City of Ashes and If I Should Die

Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments, #1
Format: Paperback, #2
My rating: 3 / 5

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Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

It’s been almost two years since I read City of Bones, and I’ll hold my hand up and admit that I should have read the sequel a lot sooner. I don’t have an excuse, really – City of Ashes has been sitting on my shelves for well over eighteen months, and I kept overlooking it in favour of the new shiny sparkly books that I’m addicted to buying. I remembered a few things about the series, most notably the Clary/Jace thing, but most of what happened previously was completely unfamiliar. I’d like to say a huge thanks to Recaptains, as without their lovely series re-caps I would have been quite lost!

It did take a while to click with the characters again, but I have to say that Jace is currently my favourite. There’s something about him I can’t help but like, and yeah, it’s probably all down to the witty comebacks, but he is hilarious. Simon, on the other hand, I didn’t warm to at all. He was just sort of… dull. There wasn’t anything to like, and it was quite annoying that Clary kept fawning over him. And speaking of Clary, I’m not too sure how I feel about her at this stage. She’s the main female lead, yet I don’t feel I’ve got to know her personality at all yet, apart from her jumping to silly conclusions and thinking running toward a vampire that’s just clawed its way out of the grave without a stake at the ready is a good idea. (Thanks for your eternal wisdom, Buffy.)

The writing style was something I remembered not clicking with from the first book, and I’m glad to say I thought it was a lot better here. It was a lot subtler and toned down than City of Bones, and I really hope the rest of the series continues in this direction. The pacing was a little inconsistent, though, and the middle of the book was a bit of an unexpected slog to get through. The ending was pretty good, but not as jaw-dropping as I was hoping for. I don’t thing enough things were resolved, i.e. the Clary/Jace thing. Come on, we know what’ll be revealed, it’s fairly obvious!

Overall, I liked City of Ashes a lot more than I was expecting. I’m still on the fence whether The Mortal Instruments series is for me, but I really hope City of Glass will be the book to make me fall in love once and for all.

Title: If I Should Die
Author: Amy Plum
Series: The Revenants Trilogy, #3
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 4 / 5

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I will not lose another person I love. I will not let history repeat itself.

Vincent waited lifetimes to find me, but in an instant our future together was shattered. He was betrayed by someone we both called a friend, and I lost him. Now our enemy is determined to rule over France’s immortals, and willing to wage a war to get what they want.

It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be, but this is my reality. I know Vincent is somewhere out there, I know he’s not completely gone, and I will do anything to save him.

After what we’ve already fought to achieve, a life without Vincent is unimaginable. He once swore to avoid dying—to go against his nature and forsake sacrificing himself for others—so that we could be together. How can I not risk everything to bring my love back to me?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

I already know before I begin typing that this will be a mini-review – I don’t really have a whole lot to say other than I really enjoyed If I Should Die. It’s another book that’s been sitting on my to-read shelves for far too long and I only had a few fuzzy recollections about the previous two books when I began reading. Thankfully, the more I read, the more I remembered, and I got back into the flow of the story quite quickly.

I would have rated the book higher if it wasn’t for one issue: Jules. He’s the one thing I did remember from the previous books! I’ve championed him since the beginning of the series, and while I knew he was never an option to be Kate’s other half, I thought he deserved a solid conclusion to his character arc. I thought it was pretty obvious that he had feelings for a cartain character, and I think the whole situation was brushed aside far, far too easily. The way it’s done feels like there should be a fourth book – or a spin-off from Jules perspective. Time will tell if it happens, I guess.

Overall though, setting the Jules-hiccup aside for a second, I thought the ending was really good. There’s a good deal of anticipation built up, and I’m glad it wasn’t in vain. (*cough* Like Breaking Dawn *cough*) There were a few little twists that I didn’t see coming – one huge benefit of being fuzzy about previous books in the series! Hopefully there will be a spin-off book/series in the future, and it’ll provide some closure for Jules, otherwise, I really enjoyed If I Should Die.

Mini-Reviews: We Were Liars, Ticker and How I Live Now

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Series: Standalone
Format: Kindle, owned
My rating: 3 / 5

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A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.


We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

This is a tough review to write. Anything I could discuss would edge into unintentional spoiler territory, so I’m going to refrain from saying too much. The advice that’s been floating around is 1000% correct: go into this book with as little prior knowledge as possible, it’ll be a huge benefit. I had HUGE expectations for We Were Liars, but I think I was bitten by the dreaded hype bug. I enjoyed the book, but not nearly as much as I had expected to. The story itself is fascinating, and I was hooked very quickly and flew through the pages. While I love fast paced books, I think a lot of necessary detail was skimmed over here, making things seem a little more simplistic than they should have been. My biggest issue was the book lacked any sort of feeling. I wasn’t attached to the characters, and any hiccups along the way didn’t cause much of a reaction in me. I did enjoy We Were Liars overall, and I’d definitely recommend reading it, but when I consider the hype surrounding it, I was expecting so much more.

Ticker by Lisa Mantchev

Title: Ticker
Author: Lisa Mantchev
Series: Standalone
Format: eARC, kindly
provided by the publisher
via Netgalley (Thank you!!)
My rating: DNF

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A girl with a clockwork heart must make every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.

On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings...or is the motive more sinister?

Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

*I received an eARC from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.*

DNF @ 32%

I had started reading Ticker a couple of times since I downloaded it from Netgalley a while back, and I struggled to get into the story after the first few percent and I kept setting it aside, thinking it was just my mood not matching the story. So, I finally got in a steampunkish kind of mood recently, and I decided to just sit down and plough through. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t do it. The characters felt very distant and sort of… unapproachable, if that makes sense. Also, I thought the steampunk elements were a little over the top. The continual mentions of machines and other gadgets didn’t really set the atmosphere enough – it’s one thing to be told something, it’s a complete different thing to actually feel something and to believe it. I really like the concept of Ticker, but sadly I just couldn’t get into the story.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Title: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 4 / 5

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“Every war has turning points and every person too.”

Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary.

But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

I bought How I Live Now quite a while ago on a whim, and it’s been sitting gathering dust on my to-read shelves ever since. It has been probably two years since I read the synopsis, and when I picked it up recently I was under the impression it would be a quick contemporary YA read. Well, I was right about the quick read part, but it was such a pleasant surprise to find it was a Dystopian. I swear, it was like a gift from the Gods!

The narrative and writing style did take a little getting used to, but once I settled in after a chapter or two, I really enjoyed it. With the way the story is written, it’s very hard to feel anything toward all the other characters beyond Elizabeth (Daisy), the narrator. Daisy isn’t the most likeable character in the world, but I couldn’t help rooting for her and I ended up with a weird sort of grudging respect for her as the story unfolded. Right, I have to mention the cousin-on-cousin action. If you’re not comfortable with underage-sex or even discussing incest/cousins-falling-in-love, then this book is probably best avoided. Personally, I’ve read other books that I thought handled the topic of incest better and in a more thought-provoking way. Having said that, I didn’t have any real problems with the way Daisy and Edmund’s relationship progressed (apart from it being a tad insta-lovey.) The survival portions of the book were by far my favourite themes. I loved how brutal, honest and compelling it was during this chunk of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed How I Live Now, and I’d highly recommend giving it a chance. It looks at a very stark, dark and brutal battle for survival when your country is invaded and occupied by the enemy, and how the scars never leave. Brilliant.

Review: End of Days by Susan Ee

Title: End of Days
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn and the End of Days, #3
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 3 / 5

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End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee’s bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy.

After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They’re both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn’s sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all.

When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

I read End of Days back in May, and it’s taken me until the end of July to figure out how I feel about the conclusion to one of my favourite series. I guess it could be summed up in one sentence: I liked how the story concluded, but I was expecting so much more. I was truly gutted when I found out End of Days would be the final book in the series. Like everybody, I had been looking forward to five glorious book of Penryn, Raffe and their plight to survive the angel apocalypse. I thought I’d have years of awesomeness to come, so it came as a big shock when I found out that the third book is actually the end. (I can’t help wondering if this disappointment has clouded my overall enjoyment of the ending.)

Ok, I have to say this: four books would have made this series perfection – namely, a book in-between World After and End of Days. Why? So much was condensed into this one book and lots of little events were skimmed over, and quite a few things were left either unanswered or rushed. If everything that happened was expanded on, slowed down and developed even more than it was and split between two books… it really would have been epic.

Penryn: Angelfall Penryn is one of my all-time favourite characters, but End of Days Penryn… gosh, I don’t know what happened, but she didn’t really seem like the Penryn I remembered at all. I didn’t connect with her that much and it really breaks my heart. In the first book, the majority of her focus was on protecting her mother and sister, and while this still applies in End of Days, those intentions didn’t seem as genuine anymore. It felt like she was going through the motions of caring for her sister, but if I’m honest, most of her focus is on Raffe. Now, I love Raffe, but what made this series awesome was Penryn not letting the gorgeous hunk of angel distract her from her own goals. I feel this side of her personality shrivelled away a bit too much, and a bit too quickly. I’m also a bit surprised with Penryn’s attitude toward her sister. I don’t want to say too much, but I was expecting her to be more… open… to Paige’s new needs.

Raffe: Most of what I mentioned about Penryn can apply to Raffe, too. I liked him in this book, but he wasn’t quite the same. While the swoony and humours words are there, a lot of the feelings and emotions behind them have disappeared. I think back to Angelfall, and even to World After, and every sentence and interaction made an impact. Here though, his personality felt a little flat at times. Smart-mouth, humorous, badass Raffe is adorable, but indecisive Raffe isn’t that appealing, if I’m honest.

I felt Penryn and Raffe’s relationship was a little bit too convenient at times. We went from one book (WA) with very little Penryn and Raffe, to a book with LOTS of Penryn and Raffe. While the banter is present, the emotion behind it was lacking and all the tension I remember from the first two books was skimmed over. It wasn’t just their relationship that felt a bit a bit rushed: I would have loved to know more about The Watchers and Hell! And I can’t forget about the ending and the epilogue. It was a weird combination of satisfying and disappointing. I have a love/hate relationship with epilogues in general, and this one leans into the hate side. I can only describe it as feeling out of place, and not as impactful as I had hoped for.

Overall, I really enjoyed Penryn’s story and I’m satisfied with the conclusion, but I can’t help feeling that the ending to the trilogy had the potential to be so much better. While I might have been a bit disappointed, I highly recommend starting this series. Angelfall still remains one of my favourite books, and that will never change.

Mini-Reviews: Midnight Alley and Give up the Ghost

Title: Midnight Alley
Author: Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires, #3
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: 3 / 5

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When Claire Danvers learned that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving freshman would do: She applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but that garlic may come in handy.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

Midnight Alley is the third book in the Morganville Vampire series, and I’ll admit I’m starting to like this series despite its flaws. They’re quick and entertaining reads, and I really enjoy that the vampires are more blood thirsty than some of their YA counter parts of recent years.

I really liked that we got to learn more about why Morganville exists, and how the vampires came to inhabit the town. But this is the height of what I can take away from the book, and I can’t get away from feeling that Midnight Alley was all over the place. We have lots of Shane and Claire together. Roommate problems. A sprinkling of Amelie drama. Myrnin. Monica being… nice? Lots of random little things happened, but I don’t really see how they collectively came together to move the story forward.

While I like Claire, Shane, Michael and Eve in general, I don’t feel they’ve progressed or developed a whole lot since the beginning of the series. Claire, the genius that got into college at sixteen, continually makes stupid and irrational decisions. Shane is getting even more hot-headed and in honestly, it’s getting very frustrating to read. He needs to cop onto himself already! Both Eve and Michael sort of faded into the background despite having pretty big roles in the book, and it’s a shame as I felt they were two of the more memorable characters from the first two books. I don’t know what it is that’s addicting me to this series, but I need to know what happens next. Yes, maybe the cliff-hanger ending has a little something to do with it, but it’s more than that… that certain something I can’t put my finger on, but it’s got me hooked! I know it’s a long series and I’m really, really late starting it, so I think I’ll take it book-by-book, and see how far I get.

Title: Give up the Ghost
Author: Megan Crewe
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, owned
My rating: DNF

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Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance….

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

DNF’d @ page 51

I might come back to Give up the Ghost at some stage in the future, but for now, it’s a DNF. I was under the impression that it was something along the lines of The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade – which I absolutely adored – but this wasn’t the case. I tried to stick it out as it’s a short read, but from the first chapter I could tell the book wasn’t for me. I didn’t click with the writing style, and I didn’t feel any sympathy or connection toward Cass. She came across as vengeful and bitchy and it became off-putting very quickly. Not my cuppa, unfortunately.