Currently reading
A Clash of Kings
Found
Monsters
Detroit: An American Autopsy
Emilie and the Hollow World
Fuse
The Crown of Embers
Rebel Heart
The Future of Us
Sweethearts
Untamed City: Carnival of Secrets
Two things: 1) this book is a combination of The Demon's Lexicon, Strange Angels and Girl in the Arena--though, I'm willing to admit some of this story is uniquely Marr's--and 2) this book ends in what should, in my opinion, be the end of the first or second part of a book--not enough happens to justify ending this story where it ends; I feel as though the third section of this book is missing. Somewhat frustrating. That said, I do like this book enough to read the next book in the series. Whenever that comes out. 3-stars.
(Full review to be posted soon...?)
The Night Eternal
Not my favorite but still a decent wrap-up of the series. Love me some Guillermo del Toro. 3 stars.
Shadows
*sigh* Who is this book written for? It can't be for the female population, at least, not the vast majority of females. I mean, sure, I like violence and gore but I'm an exception. Most women will cringe away from the blood and guts violence-pa-looza within the pages of this book. And because the first book in this series does pander to the female population, albeit in a bloody valentine type way, it is clearly more for teh ladies. This second book? I can't say. And honestly I don't want to know. 2 stars.
Mockingbird
Never heard of Chuck Wendig until I received a copy of Mockingbird from Netgalley. He's on my radar now, not likely to fall off of it, honestly. What can I say, I was hooked on page one. Lilith Saintcrow said it right, Mr. Wendig's writing, this series is chalk full of "trailer-park tension, horrified hilarity, and sheer terror mixed with deft characterization". I too could literally not put it down even though there were a few things within the story that didn't quite work for me—I stayed up all night finishing Mockingbird. I plan on getting a copy of Blackbird as soon as I finish typing this up. In a nutshell, I really like this book, nitpicky issues and all. 4 stars.
(I really hope to write a full review of Mockingbird soon. I mean it this time. It's just I'm still on the road—summer Roadtrip 2012 will be wrapping up by this comig Monday, I swear. So you're all just going to have to wait.)
Katya's World
I had a difficult time rating this book. It's good. I like it. ...BUT it's lacking.
What is it lacking? More. It's lacking more. This story could be the beginning of an epic sci-fi series--for all I know it actually is--but from what I can gather it is a standalone. A frakking standalone! I find this frustrating because there is so much here, so much meaty goodness. There's enough here for a series and a couple different spinoff series, at least.
I want to know more! I want more!
One thing. I'm a little disappointed in some of the characterization and—okay make that a couple things—some of the convienient events that took place in order for the author to wrap things up sooner rather than later. I was fully expecting for this book to end with some sort of cliffhanger, something to indicate this story would definitely be continuing. But, no, that did not happen.
Also, not that I mind it, this book has no romance of any sort. Again, this doesn't bother me because I'm not a fan of romantic plot lines, especially when a romance overshadows everything else. But I know the lack of romance will cause many a reader to pass up on this little piece of awesomeness.
It's unfortunate because there is an amazing universe laying within the pages of this book. It has a lot going for it. 3 stars.
A e-galley of this book was provided by Netgalley. My views are my own.
Update: since writing this review I have learned from Goodreader, Amanda, that this is the first book in a trilogy. I am so excited to read the next book, Katya's War.
A copy of this review is posted at my blog.
Throne of Glass
Before I actually review this book, I need to say one thing: frakking love triangles! Bah! I'm so over them. Love triangles are the laziest form of conflict in a relationshippy storyline. The main character can either love one guy or love the other. It really is that simple, none of this confusion crap. Unless the main character is not self-aware I'd say it's impossible for them to NOT know which love interest is preferred. Moving on...
The main character, Celaena, is a trained assassin. That's the cool part. The part that gets to me is we're never really told how she feels about that. We get a brief--very, very brief--description about how she felt after killing her first victim, way back when she was a kid, but never do we get more than that. It's irritating to say he least. I want to know what goes through this girl's head before she murders someone. Does she feel remorse? Anxiety? Sadness? Does she feel anything at all?
I mean, we get way more descriptions of Celaena's stupid gowns than anything she's actually feeling. Though the few times she does go there, actually trying to describe her feelings, all we get is a bunch of similes and metaphors that do not make any sense. Like this: "Celaena's blood turned into shooting stars"
What does that even mean?
Because of this and other ridiculous/nonsensical descriptions of the MC's feelings I can't even begin to relate to her. Let's not even get started on the fact that she comes across as a sociopath, which I'm pretty sure was not the author's intent.
That said, I did like this book well enough to give this book 3 stars out of 5, which means I liked it.
***An e-galley of this book was provided by Netgalley. My views are my own.***
Seraphina
Draaaaaagons! This book has dragons. A very interesting take on them at that. I really adore this book and am anxiously awaiting the next in the series. 4 stars.
Steelflower (Steelflower Chronicles Series #1)
So. Much. Potential. This book had do much of it. Unfortunately Saintcrow took an interesting and original idea and mucked it up. Also, she's pretty much abandoned this series--something I didn't know when I purchased Steelflower--so I guess I'll never know what happens to any of the characters. While there is much that just didn't work for me, I still liked the story enough to want to continue reading it. I'm irritated. 2 stars.
 - Lilith Saintcrow)
Blood on the Bayou
In all honesty, this book deserves 1.5 stars. Barely. But I'm felling generous today so 2 stars it is. Where to start? It feels like Ms Jay wasn't even trying, like she didn't care about the characters and the series anymore. Almost like she phoned it in, drunk. There are so many typos it got my eye twitching right off. There's even a 'your're' where a 'your' should be, I kid you not. And our little MC, Anna-Belle Lee, is so inconsistent, so bi-polar, she's not even recognizable. One minute she loves this guy then she hates him then she loves two other guys and hates another. Then she's making out with the guy she really hates because he's so totally hot and she thinks he's the one she really likes, until five minutes later she doesn't. Then she knows she loves her not-quite-boyfriend and wants to commit to him always and forever. Until suddenly she doesn't and she's lusting after the guy she loathes, and wishing for her ex-boyfriend too. By the way, if you didn't notice there are three love interests in this book. Really.
Don't even get me started on the fairy lore. It's a disaster. Which is odd because I felt as though I had a fairly decent grasp on all that when reading the last novel. And it's impossible to descern who the bad guy is because everything we're told is a lie. Everything. Even at the end of the book I have no idea why any of what happened had to happen. There was no point, seriously. When all was said and done I had nothing left to do but count all the gigantic plot holes.
Lots more I want to say on this, and I may do so later, but I'm going to have to wrap this up since it's not so much fun typing this whole thing up while peddling away on a stationary bike.
I don't recommend this book to anyone.
Shadows on the Moon
Probably deserves four stars because it is a clever retelling of Cinderella. That said, my total enjoyment of it was almost three stars worth. I didn't really care for the main character nor, after a while, did I care about her unfortunate circumstances. At one point I was sort of hoping she'd die. Not the response the author was hoping for, I'm sure, but I'm not really your average female. That said, I'm 95% positive every romance fan will love this book. So, check it out.
P.S. This is more like the T.V. show Revenge than it is like Cinderella, except not as good. Not by a long shot. Watch Revenge.
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
I like this book. Genuinely, I do. It has so much going for it, somany elements I absolutely adore. That said, there is a particular plot hole--several plot holes, actually--that just, for whatever reason, I could not overlook. Even now, that all is said and done, it still irks me. There are other elements, other storylines that got under my skin, especially since some just petered out, all pointless and useless like. Right now I'm goIng to have to give this three stars. I wish I could give it more. I tend to think most people will like this book much more than I did, so I will be recommending it to anyone looking for an exciting, original fantasy with a strong female protagonist.
Deadlocked
Three stars because Charlaine Harris actually got the nerve to jump start the story, move things forward. But just barely. That said, I imagine she'll write at least three more filler books before she moves the plot forward again.
Fall for Anything
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book yet. I mean, yeah, it's beautifully written--Courtney Summers wrote it--but it's missing something. Like a satisfying ending. And yeah, I know that's the whole point of this book. But still...Okay, so I feel (more than a little) screwed over. I need some sort of closure, people! Bah!
Just so everyone knows, I'd totally lose it just like Eddie does in this book. I'm that kind of person. I mean, you can't just off yourself without leaving some sort of explanation as to why! People who love you deserve answers!
Whatever. Four stars, I guess.
