Review: A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: The war with Hybern may be over, but Feyre and Rhys’s work to rebuild their court has only just begun. There’s also growing concern over discontent among the Illyrians, who fought alongside Feyre, Rhys, and their friends, as well as unease about the border between the human and Fae lands being unguarded. The Winter Solstice is approaching, though, and with it the opportunity for everyone to join in the celebrations and take a much-needed break from their worries.

Review: With A Court of Wings and Ruin supposedly concluding Feyre and Rhys’s arc, I was very intrigued to see what awaited in A Court of Frost and Starlight. I was particularly curious about which characters would be the main focus and where the future books might be headed.

Well, this novella didn’t quite turn out to be what I’d anticipated. Feyre and Rhys still feature very prominently here, and I really feel that their story ended with A Court of Wings and Ruin. While we get third person POVs in A Court of Frost and Starlight from Cassian and Mor, this is still very much Feyre and Rhys’s show, and, I don’t know . . . it’s time for them to take a backseat to other characters at this point?

The Feyre of A Court of Frost and Starlight spends her days shopping, painting, and pushing paperwork around. I have to say, the shopping killed me. Not just Feyre plunking down serious cash for everyone’s Winter Solstice gifts, but the details of other characters’ purchases, too. I really started to miss the days when Hybern could launch an attack at any moment and Feyre and co. were ready to kick some Hybern ass.

If you’re looking for action in this novella, you’re not going to find it. The closest A Court of Frost and Starlight gets to battle is some disgruntled Illyrians and Nesta death glares. There’s really not much of a plot here, either. I realize this is a bridge novella between the two halves of the series, but I still expected some kind of anchoring story line. Instead this reads more like a series of vignettes until you reach the sneak peek of the next full-length novel, which for an excerpt, felt more cohesive.

I never imagined myself saying this, but I think I’m officially tired of Feysand. There are so many times when all they can think about is how hot they are for each other, and ughhhh—the number of times they refer to each other as “my mate.” Although I noticed this in the previous books as well, it was a lot more pronounced and annoying here because with fewer pages than a regular novel, there are a lot of instances of “mate” crammed into the 200-plus pages of this novella.

It pains me to mention all these issues I had with A Court of Frost and Starlight when I enjoyed the first three books so much, but this was definitely not on the same level as the novels. As much as I was still invested in characters like Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Amren, the Feyre/Rhys saturation was too much. I’m a bit wary about reading the next novel when it’s released, although I must say that the excerpt was quite interesting.

All in All: I’d seen some pretty savage reviews of A Court of Frost and Starlight prior to reading it, and sadly, they do make some valid points. This novella just didn’t add anything to the series, at least for me, and I would have been fine with the series just picking up again with the next full-length novel.

Review: The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green

The Smoke Thieves (The Smoke Thieves #1)
By Sally Green
Publisher: Viking
Format: eARC
Source: First to Read

To Sum It Up: Catherine, Ambrose, Tash, Edyon, and March could not lead more different lives, but they are all about to be affected by the looming war that Catherine’s ruthless father, the King of Brigant, seems to be preparing to wage. In a kingdom where women have no power, Catherine is a political pawn, about to enter in to a marriage arranged by her father. Meanwhile, Ambrose, one of Catherine’s guards, has just witnessed the execution of one of his family members for treason and knows that he could be targeted next. Thief Edyon is wandering through a fairly aimless life until he suddenly becomes of great importance to some very interested parties, one of whom is royal servant March. All demon hunter Tash is concerned about is collecting very valuable—and illegal—demon smoke with her partner Gravell, but it appears that even Tash cannot avoid the turmoil that is about to sweep across multiple lands.

Review: Having enjoyed Sally Green’s Half Bad and Half Wild, I was excited to see that she was venturing into fantasy with her new novel, The Smoke Thieves. My curiosity was particularly piqued by the comparisons being made between The Smoke Thieves and George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. Like Martin’s ubiquitous tome, Green’s book is set in a medieval world with multiple POVs. There’s even a bastard!

I try especially hard NOT to keep a running side-by-side comparison in my head between AGoT and books billed as the next AGoT. Reading Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire (at least what’s been published so far, haha) has been one of those life-changing reading experiences for me. What I attempt to avoid is reading every subsequent fantasy through the lens of ASoIaF. So here goes with what I hope is an impartial-ish take on The Smoke Thieves.

The novel follows five characters: Princess Catherine of Brigant, her guard Sir Ambrose, thief Edyon, servant March, and demon hunter Tash. Green does a good job of keeping the storylines tidy and tying them together, but at the same time, the short chapters often seem . . . well, short. The frequent POV shifts give the pacing a choppy feel. I also think they inhibit character development; just when you’re on the brink of spending some quality time getting to know a character, bam—chapter over and it’s on to a different POV.

In general, I found the character development rather lacking. For example, while I love how Catherine tries to find any way she can to undermine a patriarchal society, overall her arc feels a bit too cliché. Along the same lines, Edyon plays the thief with a heart of gold a little too well. March was my least favorite of the MCs for not realizing how blatantly another character was manipulating him. Young Tash the demon hunter was the standout here, thanks to her mettle and sass.

The most disappointing aspect of The Smoke Thieves was how light it was on the fantasy. The titular smoke refers to the substance released by demons when they die. It’s usually inhaled as a drug, but our motley crew of protagonists discovers another effect that could endanger them all. That’s not until late in the book, though. In the meantime, the demon smoke (and the demons, for that matter) is just hanging around, waiting to come off the bench and step up to the plate as a major plot point. I was definitely expecting more of a role for the demons and the smoke, and I suppose that was my overall issue with the book: the need for more. More depth to the characters, more substance to the plot, more fantasy elements. This isn’t a bad story by any means, and Green is a solid storyteller. It just wasn’t my type of fantasy read.

All in All: I love reading fantasy for mythical creatures, complex and often morally ambiguous characters, and richly drawn worlds that completely immerse you. Unfortunately, The Smoke Thieves didn’t quite deliver on those things for me.

ARC Review: S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett

S.T.A.G.S.
By M.A. Bennett
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest
Publication Date: January 30, 2018

To Sum It Up: Greer MacDonald has become the new scholarship student at a highly prestigious boarding school. However, the excitement of her new school quickly wears off as Greer is treated like an outsider by most of her wealthy classmates. When Greer is invited to Henry de Warlencourt’s estate for the weekend, she eagerly accepts, excited by the prospect of forming connections with her peers. But the weekend takes a turn for the sinister, and Greer must face some shocking truths.

Melissa's Review: The premise of this story was fascinating to me. I mean, who doesn’t love stories about elite boarding schools with a dark twist?! M.A. Bennett does an excellent job of immersing the reader in the setting of her story by providing interesting, but not an excessive amount of detail. I thought the most intriguing part of the book was Bennett’s ability to set such a gripping and continuous pace. I read this book in only two sittings!

I felt as though the characters were not fully developed, and they seemed somewhat one-dimensional. Additionally, the relationships between characters were weak and not quite believable. This lack of development made the characters unrelatable and the reader unsympathetic to their plights. While there certainly was an interesting ideology behind the motives of the antagonists, there was a serious lack of relatability, making it hard for the reader to suspend their disbelief.

The ending was, unfortunately, very dissatisfying. There seemed to be a forced sense of the story coming full circle. It was boring in its predictability. I think if the book had ended a chapter or two sooner, the ending would have been more fitting for the rest of the story.

All in All: S.T.A.G.S. was certainly a quick read, and Bennett has a talent for pace within her writing. The downfall of this book was ultimately a lack of character development. It was enjoyable all the same.

Lee's Review: Given my ongoing struggle with reading for any extended length of time, it’s pretty amazing that I finished S.T.A.G.S. in a single weekend. That is entirely due to the book’s absolutely brilliant pacing; once I began reading, I could. Not. Stop. S.T.A.G.S. actually brought me back to my Twilight days, when I spent every available minute buried in the book because I needed to know what happened next.

It quickly becomes clear that there’s a “The Most Dangerous Game” type element going on here, but it’s not the “what” that spurs you on reading. It’s the “how” and the “why.” While both are eventually revealed, the motivation behind the actions of the Medievals, a clique of students at St. Aidan the Great School (the titular S.T.A.G.S.), fell short for me. I expected something more complex than what the book offers, and this was quite disappointing considering how solid the build-up was.

I still would have given S.T.A.G.S. at least three stars if the ending hadn’t also fallen flat. It seemed both rushed and anti-climactic, and it even annoyed me a bit because the previous three-quarters of the book had been so compulsively readable. Although the insight into the mindset of the Medievals’ leader, Henry de Warlencourt, wasn’t wholly satisfying, I would’ve been fine with the story ending there instead of trying to set up a possible sequel.

I also wasn’t really impressed with the main character, Greer. She’s named after actress Greer Garson and is a film buff, and she drops a lot of film references, so much so that it feels heavy-handed sometimes. What bothered me most about Greer, though, was how oblivious she could be to what was really going on around her. Overall, Greer’s character development never quite took off, and none of the secondary characters, particularly all of the Medievals except Henry, was especially memorable.

S.T.A.G.S. was an odd read of sorts for me because I tore through it despite having a few big issues with it. If the book had ended as strongly as it started, this would have been a fantastic read.

All in All: S.T.A.G.S. boasts some impressive pacing, but unfortunately, the book loses the momentum it builds up so brilliantly in the beginning and ends without fully delivering on what drives some of the characters to act as they do.

ARC Review: Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1)
By Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Format: eARC
Source: First to Read
Publication Date: May 16, 2017

To Sum It Up: Hattori Mariko has grown up in a privileged world and is about to fulfill her family duty by marrying the son of the emperor. As she and her convoy travel to the imperial city, they are ambushed, leaving Mariko as the lone survivor. She suspects that a band of mercenaries known as the Black Clan is behind the attack, and Mariko sets out to track them and discover who ordered them to kill her. Meanwhile, Mariko’s twin brother Kenshin, a renowned samurai, refuses to believe that his sister is gone and is determined to find her. As Mariko, disguised as a boy, goes on her own dangerous search for answers, she begins to realize that the truth behind the attempt on her life is much more complicated than she first thought.

Review: Having heard so much about Renée Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn (which, alas, I still have not read), I jumped at the opportunity to read Flame in the Mist. I was even more thrilled to find out that the book is set in feudal Japan and is loosely based on the story of Mulan.

Ahdieh builds the world very well, really making you feel as though you’ve been transported to another time and place. The eARC has a glossary of Japanese words at the end, but I never really felt the need to consult it because the context clues were often enough to glean the meaning of any unfamiliar terms.

Where the book faltered for me, and it always pains me to say this, was with its protagonist. Mariko is the type of heroine who makes a lot of epic statements about how much ass she’s going to kick but doesn’t really follow through. She talks about female empowerment and becoming more than the dutiful daughter marrying to elevate her family’s status, but by the end of the book, I wasn’t quite convinced that Mariko had transformed into the fierce warrior she thought she was. I found her decision-making skills lacking, despite the frequent mentions of her keen mind. I wish that there had been more demonstrations of Mariko’s keen mind to back up the references to it.

I also expected a bit more to the plot than just Mariko’s quest to worm her way into the Black Clan, the group of bandits she believes tried to kill her, in order to learn who hired them. The novel occasionally cuts away to follow Mariko’s twin brother Kenshin, the famed samurai known as the Dragon of Kai, as he searches for his sister. As with Mariko’s arc, there wasn’t a whole lot more to Kenshin’s than finding his sister.

Flame in the Mist features some hints of magic that definitely left me looking for more than hints. What is this magic? How does it work? Why can certain characters wield it? I felt as though the details weren’t all filled in so that readers would be eager to find out more about the magic in the sequel. I needed answers to at least a few questions with this book, though.

Another underwhelming aspect of the novel for me was the romance. Most of the time, I absolutely adore romances that start out rocky but do a slow burn into swoon-ville. I just wasn’t swept away by the love story here; the relationship didn’t develop gradually enough for me. I thought the two characters involved went from loathing to love without much of a transition in between.

Aside from the setting, I couldn’t find a lot to get invested in. Mariko didn’t quite fit my notion of a badass heroine, and the magic wasn’t explained adequately. The next book might provide the details, but I’m not curious enough to read it for that reason alone.

All in All: I loved the setting, but everything else was pretty meh.

Review: These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas

These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks #1)
By Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: In Victorian England, Evelyn Wyndham longs to travel and see the world rather than constantly attend local social gatherings in the hopes of fulfilling her mother’s wish to see Evelyn marry well. The sudden disappearance of Evelyn’s sister, Rose, however, pushes all other matters aside. Evelyn’s sole focus becomes finding Rose, even if she has to break social propriety to do so. Evelyn’s search uncovers a startling discovery—that some individuals develop special abilities, and this may be precisely why her sister has been taken.

Review: Hmm . . . it seems we have another case of It’s Not This Book, It’s Me here because a ton of readers enjoyed These Vicious Masks. Going into the book, I had been all set to be one of those readers because These Vicious Masks was being touted as a mashup of Jane Austen and the X-Men. I also went into this right on the heels of the incredible Vicious by V.E. Schwab, another novel about extraordinary beings. I very much wanted to make it 2 for 2 with the superhero reads, but alas, it was not meant to be.

These Vicious Masks left me with an overall feeling of needing more: more depth to the characters and the plot, more world-building, and more urgency to the conflict. The novel begins on a promising enough note, with protagonist Evelyn quickly establishing that she has a sassy side to her and isn’t afraid to say what she’s thinking. Later, though, as she searches for her missing sister, Rose, in London, Evelyn also shows a more reckless side, one that had me shaking my head at the danger she threw herself into. I’m not saying that she should have played the damsel in distress; rather, she took her thinking too far to the other extreme at times, believing that she needed zero help.

There’s a strong scent of a love triangle here, and I can’t say that I found either Mr. Kent or Mr. Braddock particularly intriguing. Mr. Kent is quite the wit and Mr. Braddock quite the brooder, but like most of the characters in this book, there’s not much more to them than a singular, defining personality trait. I definitely wanted to know the history between Evelyn and Mr. Kent, as they already seem very well acquainted in their first scene together on the page. I never felt that those details were satisfactorily filled in, though. While I thought that Mr. Braddock was a slightly better developed character than Mr. Kent because at least we get some backstory for Braddock, it’s still not quite enough to make him seem like a fully fleshed out character.

The world-building felt similarly light and didn’t create the immersive experience that reading, say, Gail Carriger’s Victorian steampunk novels does. These Vicious Masks is also a bit light on the plot elements; Evelyn is on a mission to find her sister, and that pretty much sums up the book. The superhero aspect was a letdown, too; I picked this book up specifically because of the combination of the superpowers plus the historical period, but these characters and their abilities could have been transplanted to any era. Nothing made them unique to this one.

Unfortunately, I was not the right reader for These Vicious Masks. There are plenty of other readers who did find it to be their cup of tea, though. It might be yours as well, but it just wasn’t mine.

All in All: More of a sense of being in Victorian England and more character/plot complexity were what I was looking for here. There are some very clever lines of dialogue to be sure, but the book’s wit couldn’t quite make up for what it lacked in other aspects.

Review: For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows the Stars (For Darkness Shows the Stars #1)
By Diana Peterfreund
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Elliot and Kai were born on the same day, but in vastly different spheres. Elliot is a Luddite, part of the wealthy landowning class that shunned technology and avoided the disastrous consequences of the Reduction, a catastrophic event that resulted from genetic over-experimentation. Kai is a Post, a laborer on Elliot’s family’s estate and seen as nothing more by the Luddites—except for Elliot. Over the years, Elliot and Kai’s friendship grows into something more, but when the two are older and Kai wants Elliot to leave the North estate with him, she chooses her responsibilities to the estate and its workers. A heartbroken Elliot never expects to see Kai again, so his reappearance a few years later, now as Captain Malakai Wentforth, stuns her. Not only does Kai still harbor all of his anger at her, but there’s something fundamentally different about him that makes him practically a stranger to Elliot.

Review: For Darkness Shows the Stars is a sci-fi-ish retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, which happens to be my favorite book EVER. I’m not usually drawn to alternate takes on Austen novels out of wariness that they just won’t measure up to the originals. The novelty of a YA story based on Persuasion, however, proved too difficult to resist, and my curiosity won out.

Even if Persuasion wasn’t so beloved to me, I think I’d still have the same issues with For Darkness Shows the Stars. While it’s evident that Jane Austen’s novel is held in high regard and her original work is rather successfully transplanted to a new setting, I just didn’t care for the new setting. The world gives the impression of being futuristic, yet some of the clothing descriptions hint at the past. I definitely needed more details about the history within this story. The explanation of the Reduction, the apocalyptic event that resulted in the Reduced, individuals with limited intelligence who’ve essentially become slave labor for the landowning Luddites, came in dragged out dribs and drabs. I still don’t feel that all of the blanks were filled in, and my struggle to totally understand how this world came to be put a big damper on my reading experience.

Science vs. religion factors heavily in this book. The Luddites believe that the Reduction was God’s punishment for science proponents pushing genetic experimentation too far. Because they rejected technology, the Luddites were spared. Although this is an interesting and thought-provoking debate, it’s not one that I’m personally passionate about or find page-turning to read about, and so there were stretches of the book that moved very slowly for me.

The main character, Elliot North, has a lot of internal monologues and the subjects became repetitive after a while. Elliot loves Kai, but he no longer loves her. Someone is going to find out about the genetically modified wheat that Elliot has created, which goes against the Luddite protocols meant to keep another Reduction from occurring. Elliot needs to protect the North estate’s workers, both the Reduced and the Posts (children of the Reduced born with normal reasoning abilities but still given the same social status as the Reduced). Elliot’s troubles are made very clear early on and don’t require all of the rehashing they receive throughout the book.

Unfortunately, the romance in For Darkness Shows the Stars did not work for me, either. Kai can’t forgive Elliot for choosing what she felt were her duties to the North estate over running away with him. I’ll give Kai some leeway for his broken heart, but I also feel that he often makes it his business to be cruel to Elliot. It got to the point where I just didn’t understand why she would want this guy back anyway. On top of that, I never sensed the chemistry between these two. They’re supposed to have been in love with each other for forever, and their letters to each other over the years are weaved throughout the novel (but not in chronological order). Even with this correspondence, I felt meh about Elliot and Kai as a couple.

What kept me invested in this book was finding nods to Persuasion, and I do think that For Darkness Shows the Stars does a solid job of telling its own story while still broadly following the main plot of the material on which it’s based. I just wish that the story and the characters here had been as compelling as their Austen counterparts and that the world-building had gone into greater detail.

All in All: I’d really, really hoped that this book would click with me, but sadly, it didn’t. I had too many unanswered questions about the world, and the love story, which I’d been looking to be swept away by, fell flat.

Review: The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater's Daughter #1)
By Melinda Salisbury
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Twylla has always had a destiny. First, she was the Sin Eater’s daughter, who would one day carry on the family tradition of atoning for the sins of the dead so that they may rest in peace. Then, Twylla became daughter of the gods with the ability to kill traitors of the kingdom with one touch. She lives in the castle with a cruel and unforgiving queen. W hen the lines between truth and legend become blurred, Twylla must seek out the truth in order to save the kingdom and herself.

Review: My sister Allison actually tried to pry my hands off this book in the library, and after a silent and intense struggle, I was the champion. My triumph was short-lived. Despite the stunning cover and super alluring blurb, the book did not live up to my expectations. To be fair, my expectations were quite high, but there were issues with this book that I had a hard time getting past. The characters were inconsistent and not very likeable and the plotline was smushed into the last thirty pages of the book.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the characters. Let’s start off with our “heroine” Twylla. She was way too self-pitying, and too much of a coward to do anything to help herself. Twylla spent nearly the entire book letting things just happen, neglecting what she knew to be right in order to stay safe. This was extremely annoying as a reader. Additionally, I thought she was quite dimwitted and too easily manipulated. Next, love triangles often annoy me and this book was no exception. At first, I thought the Prince was okay, and that slowly turned into utter annoyance. I thought he was a melodramatic brat. Then we have Leif, who I grew to like during the duration of the book. The friendship that developed between Leif and Twylla was really nice, but then out of nowhere it turned into something else. The transition between friendship to romance was awkward. And the end. Don’t get me started. I had a moment of extreme outrage. All I can say without completely ruining the whole book is that some things were completely out of character. It seemed like certain things were thrown in for extra drama and to make the love triangle more of a triangle.

As I said earlier, Twylla did absolutely nothing until the last thirty or so pages of the book. This resulted in a rushed feeling to have a climax and resolution despite the lack of action throughout the rest of the book. Also, the end seemed a bit of a stretch and somewhat unrelated to the rest of the book. I felt as though the book was 80% exposition. If the first chunk of the book were condensed to the last chunk of the book and vice versa, I think everything could have worked out a lot better.

All in All: This book was a pretty quick and easy read, but I was far from lovestruck with it. I don’t see myself continuing on with this series.

Review: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars (Starbound #1)
By Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Hyperion
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: A chance encounter on board the spaceliner the Icarus puts military hero Tarver Merendsen in the path of Lilac LaRoux, the daughter of the ship’s builder and a man with wealth that Tarver can only dream of. Lilac, so accustomed to people trying to use her as a means to get to her father, makes it blatantly clear to Tarver that she wants nothing to do with someone like him. That’s unavoidable, however, when disaster strikes the Icarus and Tarver and Lilac’s escape pod crash lands on a planet with no apparent signs of other humans. Stranded for what may very well be the rest of their lives, Tarver and Lilac are forced to work together in order to survive on a planet where no one else seems to have been able to do so.

Review: Count These Broken Stars among the numerous books I decided to read because I’d seen it everywhere. I can’t help the curiosity that accompanies much buzzed about titles, and sometimes they work out. Sometimes they don’t, though, and I’m sorry to say that These Broken Stars falls into this category.

I feel like this book took forever to read. It would seem like I’d read a good number of pages, but when I checked, I’d discover that I hadn’t gotten very far at all. I kept waiting for the magic that had enthralled so many readers to kick in, but alas, I couldn’t find it.

These Broken Stars is told from the perspectives of its two main characters, Tarver and Lilac. He’s from humble roots and made a name for himself as a war hero; she’s known everywhere thanks to her incredibly rich and powerful father. So we have a guy and a girl from polar social classes who are passengers on a spaceship headed for catastrophe. I would have been all right with the very familiar ring of this story if only the book had not employed other tropes as well. First Tarver and Lilac barely tolerate each other, then they gradually warm up to each other, being the only two people on the planet and all. Normally I love slow-building relationships, but like so many other aspects of the novel, this one felt too formulaic. Just about everything that could have happened to characters in this disaster scenario happened to our two protagonists here and without really making me feel that their experience was unique.

Finding an investment in Tarver and Lilac as characters was also a struggle. There’s a lot of, “Someone like him/her doesn’t go for someone like me” and, “I wouldn’t be alive without you” followed by, “No, I wouldn’t be alive without you.” I will give Lilac credit for growing up significantly by the end of the book, though I wasn’t as enthusiastic about how she kept mentioning that her father would be apoplectic to find her with a commoner like Tarver. Tarver’s chapters echoed Lilac’s frequent thoughts about the class difference between them, and I became rather weary of hearing it from both of them.

The most attention grabbing element of this book for me was figuring out what was going on with the planet that Tarver and Lilac found themselves on. The mystery is subtle at first and builds at a nice pace as the novel moves along. The promise of learning about the planet’s secrets is what motivated me to hang in there with These Broken Stars; otherwise, seeing it through to the end would have been even more challenging.

Because the book is so focused on two characters and they didn’t stand out much for me, I never really got into this book. Plenty of other readers loved it immensely, however, so I encourage you to check it out for yourself.

All in All: I feel like I jumped too hastily on the hype train with this one, and I really can’t picture myself going on with the series.

Review: The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer

The Water Mirror (Dark Reflections #1)
By Kai Meyer
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Venice has been under siege by the Egyptian Empire for many years, and the only thing keeping the mummy warriors at bay is the Flowing Queen. But when the Queen is bested by the clever Egyptians and traitors within her own city, Merle, the young apprentice to the magic mirror maker, is the city's only hope.

Review: The title and the artwork on the cover grabbed my attention and the blurb sealed the deal. Who doesn't love magic and mermaids?!

The setting and plot were innovative and eclectic. You have magic mirrors, Hell, stone lions, mermaids, mummies, and Venice all crammed into one story. It was incredibly original and creative. So, it's quite a surprise that this book really didn't do anything for me.

Usually, this would be exactly my kind of read. However, I couldn't make an emotional connection with the characters or their story line. It's not that I hated the characters, but I found them rather flat and hard to empathize with. Additionally, I felt like it was too predictable. I never found myself surprised or getting really invested in what might happen next. I was waiting for it to get better and it never did. The plot felt like it was moving too quickly without ever really explaining anything fully enough for me to latch onto. I'm a really open and go-with-the-flow reader, but it was a bit hard for me to keep up.

I was disappointed because this book had the potential to be great. The biggest flaw for me was the lack of emotional investment.

All in All: I kind of enjoyed this book, but I won't be reading the sequel.

Review: My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century #1)
By Rachel Harris
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: As the daughter of both a famous actress and director, Cat Crawford has grown up amidst the glamour of Hollywood. She hates the spotlight, however, which makes Cat dread her upcoming sweet sixteen bash even more. But first Cat is off for a vacation in Italy with her father and future stepmother, a trip that finds Cat traveling back in time to the Renaissance. She is now Patience D’Angeli, who is not supposed to use modern slang or technology. As Cat tries to blend in with the era, she’s also on a quest to discover why she’s been sent back to the past.

Review: I’d seen My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century quite a bit around the blogosphere, and the positive buzz landed it on my to-read list. The time travel element of the novel also intrigued me; a Renaissance Italy setting? Yes, please! Once the novelty of our protagonist, Cat, finding herself zapped back to the past to sixteenth century Florence wore off, however, I found it rather hard to stay focused on the book. Both the characters and the plot fell flat for me; I just didn’t feel the need to know what happened next.

By far my favorite aspect of My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century was the attention to period detail. The time travel was an immersive experience thanks to the vivid imagery that really brought the Florence that Michelangelo knew to life. Cat happens to be an art aficionado, and she could not have asked for a more perfect era to be sent back to. Her attempts not to get caught using her iPod or modern lingo are pretty amusing at times. Everyone thinks she’s Patience D’Angeli, who has arrived in Florence from London to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Luckily for Cat, Patience’s social gaffes, of which there are quite a few, are attributed to her unfamiliarity with Florentine culture.

What I found most difficult to get used to was Cat’s narrative voice. Her mom is a famous actress whose romantic exploits are constant tabloid fodder. Her dad is a famous director and the parent Cat is closest to, but his bubbly fiancée, Jenna, is a rather unwelcome addition to the family. While Cat tolerates her stepmother-to-be, she’s totally averse to Jenna’s plans to throw Cat a monstrous sweet sixteen party in her honor. Cat is not one for the Hollywood spotlight and doesn’t want that kind of attention. She tends to keep to herself because she never knows who’s just being nice to her because of who her parents are. All of the above are recurring thoughts of Cat’s throughout the novel, and I just didn’t think her problems were all that bad. She wasn’t a character I could relate to, and that’s what makes me hesitant to continue with this series.

The ending features a very interesting twist that does pique my curiosity about the sequel, but again, I’m not sure that’s enough of a draw for me. Curiosity might win out eventually, but for the moment I’m in no rush to sate it.

All in All: The time travel was well done, and I did enjoy watching Cat explore sixteenth century Florence. I wasn’t as enthused with her as a main character, though; her life sounded pretty privileged to me, so I couldn’t drum up a whole lot of sympathy for her.

Review: Tower of Obsidian by L. T. Getty

Tower of Obsidian
By L. T. Getty
Publisher: Burst Books
Format: eBook
Source: Author

To Sum It Up: Friends since childhood and now engaged to be married, Aoife and Kale’s future together is put on hold when Kale must answer the call to battle. His return quickly becomes bittersweet when duty requires him to break the betrothal and marry a woman of higher rank. Not everyone in the court is pleased with this turn of events, and some underhanded plotting results in Kale’s capture first by corsairs and then by a cursed people in need of a hero to slay the witch responsible for their fate. As Kale embarks on this quest, Aoife has set out on one of her own—to bring Kale home.

Ally's Review: A book where the maiden has to rescue her warrior—sounds promising, right? The prologue of Tower of Obsidian made a very good first impression. I was excited to start reading, but the more I read, the more I disliked.

The premise of the book was great. I was all for a female protagonist who could take charge and lead a rescue mission. I was not expecting the whiny, annoying, red-headed Aoife. She was a huge disappointment. There I was, expecting a likeable female character only to be stuck with some bossy lady. I definitely admired her love and loyalty to Kale (her betrothed who managed to get himself kidnapped). I did not, however, particularly enjoy her lack of appreciation for the people who actually cared for her. Poor Aaron was pining over Aoife for the better half of the book. Aoife treated her “friends” like crap. She didn't think twice about leaving Aaron or Naguset behind. I can kind of excuse her abandonment of Aaron, seeing that he's a big boy and can handle himself, but Aoife was responsible for Naguset. It really upset me how Aoife treated her; she was too blinded by her love for Kale.

Another disappointment was Aoife's sister Fianait. It wasn't Fianait herself who was the disappointment; she was one of my favorite characters and an actual badass. Fianait didn't care about what others thought of her. She was definitely one of the most interesting characters. Her POVs were the only motivation for me to keep reading. And then she dropped off the face of the earth. About a quarter of the way through the book, Fianait disappeared. There were no more chapters with her point of view; she wasn't even mentioned. It wasn't like something happened to her to excuse her absence and it wasn't like she didn't have an interesting story line or anything. She was just forgotten. That royally peeved me off.

An aspect of the book that I did enjoy was the plot centering around the sorceress in the tower. That was cool. The book would have been much better off if it was based solely on that. There were dragons, magic, and other cool stuff. I just wish they would have been more prevalent in the story from the very beginning.

I honestly found Tower of Obsidian kind of boring. I don't want to say that I had to force myself to continue reading the book, but I wasn't looking forward to sitting down with it, either. It's kind of sad because it had so much potential.

All in All: Tower of Obsidian sounded so promising, but it definitely fell short of my expectations.

Lee's Review: Tower of Obsidian is the sort of book that neither blew me away nor inspired intense feelings of dislike toward it. The world is a creative mix of both Celtic and Norse myths and also features dragons (yay!). While there are some solid epic fantasy elements here, I couldn’t get into the story like I’d hoped to.

The novel’s pacing was the primary issue. I realize that quest-driven fantasy is almost always a slow build, but I need some kind of stepping stone points of interest to hold my, er, interest. I struggled here to stay focused on the story; not all of the subplots leading up to the scenes in the titular tower carried equal intrigue. For me, the novel finally got going once Kale, one of our heroes, began unraveling the mysteries of the tower and its resident witch, Aurore. In fact, I found myself wishing for the book to remain on his story line instead of continuing to check in on the other characters, like Aoife, the young woman who’s searching for him. While the narrative remains in the third person, you view the story from the perspective of multiple characters, a technique that varies in success depending on the character being followed. This echoes my feelings toward the subplots, in that some were better developed than others.

I thought it was a nice change to see the maiden dash off to save the knightly-type guy. I couldn’t help wishing, however, that Lady Aoife had put a tad of forethought into her rescue mission. Sure, she’s acting on a ton of impulse to find the man she loves, but once she gets out into the world, she has a tough time roughing it. She knew heading into her adventure that Kale had been taken captive by corsairs, so I didn’t have much sympathy for her upon discovering that life on the road/high seas was harsh. The thing about Aoife that frayed a nerve or two was that she possessed the initiative to take charge of Kale’s rescue, but she was prone to damsel in distress moments. Much better equipped to cope with Aoife’s situation are her sister, Fianait, and Naguset, her guide on her journey. Both are strong female characters whom I think would have made compelling leads instead of Aoife. As for the male characters, Kale was all right, but it was his friend, Aaron, who proved quite the hero. I love a good underdog story, and Aaron, the son of a smith, plays a huge role in saving the day.

By far the best scenes take place in the tower, which is guarded by some very special dragons. The book really hits its stride here as you await the fate of its heroes/heroines. Reaching this point, though, does take time and requires patience. I didn’t always find myself up to this challenge, which in turn affected my reading experience. Tower of Obsidian has its moments, but I needed them to be spaced closer together.

All in All: I love fantasy and am extra scrutinizing whenever I read it, so maybe the things that didn’t quite work for me in this book wouldn’t be of consequence to another reader.

ARC Review: The Tyrant's Daughter by J. C. Carleson

The Tyrant’s Daughter
By J. C. Carleson
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: February 11, 2014

To Sum It Up: Following the assassination of her father by her uncle, fifteen-year-old Laila, along with her mother and younger brother, suddenly finds herself adapting to a new life in the United States. Not only must she grapple with a complete change in cultures, but for the first time, Laila gets a hard look at the perception of her father outside of her homeland. As she struggles to cope with everything that’s happened, her mother pursues her own agenda—one that involves making deals with the CIA.

Review: I rarely read current events-related books, but I couldn’t help being intrigued by the synopsis for The Tyrant’s Daughter. The fact that the author is a former CIA officer also piqued my interest in a title that otherwise would not have caught my eye. The expectations that I formed in my head based on the blurb and the author’s background didn’t quite line up with how the story actually played out, though.

The narrative is told from the perspective of fifteen-year-old Laila, who was until very recently a princess, the daughter of the ruler of a Middle Eastern country that is never named. Laila’s royal world came crashing down the day her uncle killed her father and seized power. Laila, her mother, and little brother, Bastien, have fled to America, where the family is living in drastically reduced circumstances. Although Laila comes across as a fairly sympathetic character who’s caught between her past and present lives, I found her narrative voice detached for the most part. I couldn’t muster much emotional investment in her story, not because there was anything blatantly wrong with the prose, but it just didn’t jump off the page at me.

I read a little too much into the part of the book’s summary that references Laila’s mother, Yasmin, negotiating with the CIA to put her son on the throne. I was hoping to see the author’s personal experience with the agency lend a unique angle to the novel, but the events in the book don’t venture too far from what you’d find in a collection of news stories. Yasmin does engage in some slick maneuvering to get what she wants, but the results, while not completely lacking surprise, aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, either. There’s also a bit of an info dump toward the end of the book.

This review has been a challenge to write because although I didn’t have any particularly salient issues with The Tyrant’s Daughter, it also wasn’t a page-turner for me. It’s equally difficult to rate this type of book, where you’re not really leaning toward liking it or disliking it. My rating reflects being unable to get into the story more than anything, so if this sounds like a book that interests you, I urge you to give it a read for yourself.

All in All: The Tyrant’s Daughter features a fairly fresh premise among YA contemporary novels, and that alone may make this worth checking out. Unfortunately, the book didn’t work out for me, but then books in this genre tend to be hit or miss for me.

Review: Temptation by Karen Ann Hopkins

Temptation (Temptation #1)
By Karen Ann Hopkins
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

To Sum It Up: Rose Cameron is about to make a fresh start with her father and brothers in rural Meadow View, Ohio, which is a big change from the city life she knew in Cincinnati. The move almost instantly begins looking better for Rose when she meets her new neighbor, Noah Miller. She’s taken with him at once, and the attraction is mutual. The catch is, Noah is Amish, so a potential relationship between him and Rose is basically impossible. That does not stop them from trying to see other, despite the consequences they’ll face if either of their families finds out about them.

Review: A toughie to review, this one. I found the premise extremely interesting, and that’s what drew me to this book. I think it had a great deal of potential to tell a very unique story, but unfortunately, insta-love and two main characters whom I just could not root for, individually or as a couple, worked against it. And yet this book still managed to leave me curious about what happens next to these characters. See my dilemma?

Insta-love is a shaky foundation on which to build a “romance,” and Rose and Noah are practically professing their eternal love for each other after one meeting. Unless we’re talking about a Reese’s Peanut Butter product, I don’t believe in love at first sight. I do think it’s possible to feel an instant attraction to someone, but attraction does not equal love. When the plot revolves around a relationship that you struggle to find plausible because the couple in question barely knows each other, it’s really difficult to buy into the plot. Had the romance been a slow build, I think that would have made a huge difference here. I needed a lot more convincing that Rose and Noah had more than infatuation between them.

Rose didn’t make a very favorable impression on me from the book’s outset, and I failed to warm up to her. I thought she held a rather high opinion of herself. In the first chapter, she notes that she’s used to guys checking her out and launches into a detailed description of her appearance. From the nanosecond she meets Noah, he’s all Rose thinks about. Is Noah looking at her? If he’s not looking at her, then why isn’t he? When is Noah going to kiss her (uh, because he’s Amish and he’s not even supposed to be getting friendly with an English, i.e. non-Amish, girl?)? Why won’t he hurry up and kiss her? This latter question especially drove me crazy because Rose’s attitude made it sound as though she were entitled to a kiss or something. I also really didn’t like the way she acted toward her brothers, Sam and Justin. Rose has a hard time talking about them without using words like “bozo,” “buffoon,” and “barbarian.” I think she was supposed to come across as endearing, as in, “Look at what I have to put up with from my siblings,” but I often felt there was a mean-spiritedness to her comments, too. Overall, I found her lacking in maturity and certainly not equipped to consider the consequences of falling for an Amish guy. All that matters to Rose is her looove for Noah, and since I didn’t find that believable to begin with, I couldn’t muster much sympathy for her—or for him.

As much as I wasn’t a fan of Rose’s, I didn’t like how quickly Noah presumed that she was going to become Amish in order to be with him. He entertains the notion of becoming English for about five seconds before concluding that it couldn’t work. After all, he’d be giving up so much, including his family, and doesn’t know how to earn a living in the English world. Apparently, though, it’s okay for Rose to leave her life behind. Noah also takes issue with the clothes and makeup Rose wears but has no objection to a secret kissing session with her in his buggy. I call that hypocrisy, sir, and I find it rather irksome. Okay—very irksome.

If this had been any other contemporary novel, I would be quitting the series here. Rose and Noah do, however, face challenges that are a bit different from those of your average YA couple, and I’m oddly fascinated by that aspect of the series. It’s probably enough to get me to pick up the sequel, just to see where this story goes.

All in All: This isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, with the insta-love and all. It really wasn’t mine, but I couldn’t help being intrigued by the book’s concept and how it ended.

Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous books, Obsidian and Onyx. *

Opal (Lux #3)
By Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen

To Sum It Up:

Daemon and Dee have their brother, Dawson, back, but they’ve also suffered a loss that Katy blames herself for. Dawson is determined to rescue his girlfriend from the Department of Defense’s clutches—with or without anyone’s help. No one wants him to get taken by the DoD again, either, so Katy, Daemon, and the rest of their group begin planning a rescue operation. They wind up having to rely on information from one of the last people they’d ever trust, but they have no other options if they even hope to break into the DoD’s secret facility.

Review:

I believe that the novelty of the Lux series has officially worn off for me. Opal was a long, slow read that I never thought I’d finish. I really had to push myself through some parts where it seemed like absolutely nothing was happening.

So much of this book felt repetitive to me, as though the series has settled into a fixed pattern. Katy worries about something. Daemon assures her that everything is going to be all right. Katy gets distracted by Daemon’s hotness. Katy and Daemon commence extended smooching session then return to matters at hand, like dealing with the evil Department of Defense. Start all over again with Katy stressing out. I’ve always thought the aliens vs. the government story line was cool, and Dawson was a welcome addition; his despair over being separated from his girlfriend, Beth, was so sad. At this point, though, I need more than that to remain invested in the series.

Opal seemed overly long to me, and I even lost track of how much time had passed in the book once or twice. There’s a big build-up to the big break-in at the DoD’s top secret facility where Beth is being held, but the emphasis is all on the training and the planning, which I didn’t find all that interesting. After a while, I just wanted Katy, Daemon, Dawson, and everybody else to just storm the place and get it over with.

In my review of Onyx, I went on a mini-rant about one Blake Saunders. It was too much to hope that he had disappeared for good at the end of that book. I knew he’d return, because Blake has the persistence of a bedbug infestation. Ugh, and he’s got the gall to act all arrogant! What I didn’t expect was the new low to which he took creepiness; seriously, Blake is a real piece of work.

While there’s a lot of tension to the story in Opal, the novel’s unhurried pace tends to knock the punch out of it. This book really dragged for me, and I couldn’t shake a sense of déjà vu that a lot of scenes and dialogue were very familiar. I do have to say, the ending was such a shocker that even though I’d thought perhaps this series and I were going to part ways, we can’t now. I may regret it afterwards, but I feel obligated to hang in there for one more book because I need to know what happens after a jaw-dropping ending like this one.

All in All:

There’s finding a comforting familiarity when you read the sequels in a series, and then there’s feeling like you’re reading the same thing over and over again. Unfortunately, Opal leaned toward the latter for me. I hope the series regains its footing with the next book because Obsidian was such a fun read.

Review: James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra

James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra
By Colm McElwain
Publisher: Matador

* A copy was provided by the author for review.

To Sum It Up:

Eleven-year-old James Clyde has no memories of his parents. As far as he knows, his grandfather, Wilmore, is his only living relative. James and his friends, Mary and Ben Forester, are off to spend their Christmas vacation at Wilmore’s mansion in the country when a shadowy figure from Wilmore’s past comes after him and poses a threat to James, too. The three children flee to the mystical land of Orchestra, which has been waiting all these years for the return of its hero, James, to save his people and to keep Orchestra’s three precious diamonds from falling into the wrong hands.

Review:

At first glance, James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra has all the right ingredients for a middle grade fantasy: knights, magical creatures, an evil queen, and an eleven-year-old boy prophesied to rescue the kingdom. James and his friends, siblings Ben and Mary, have a series of exciting adventures that are sure to thrill younger readers. For me, though, the book was missing that sense of whimsy that pulls you into a fantasy world and makes you feel like you’re a part of it as opposed to just reading about it and following along. I couldn’t quite find that connection to the book or the characters here.

One of the obstacles I encountered when trying to immerse myself in the story was how identical the characters’ voices sounded to me. Whether it was an adult or a child who was speaking, the dialogue didn’t provide much insight into their personalities. On the whole, I didn’t get much of an idea of who these characters were, other than some were clearly good and some were clearly evil. It was hard taking a particular interest in most of them because I felt as though I’d barely gotten to know them. The exception was Kila, one of the knights on the side of good. He embodies chivalry with his bravery, dedication to his duty, and, of course, his masterful skill with a sword. I’ve always loved tales of knights saving the day, and my favorite part of the book was reading about the exploits of Kila and his brothers-in-arms.

I also thought that exposition could have used some more detail. There are references to stories about the land of Orchestra and its magical diamonds that Wilmore, James’s grandfather, has apparently told the three children. I would have liked to have heard one of these stories myself to gain a deeper understanding of the lore, but you have to wait until the trio actually journeys to Orchestra to learn more about Orchestra. As I read the book, I had the overall impression that the characters were in on information of which only bits and pieces were shared with the reader. Several later chapters are devoted to recounting how James ended up an orphan, and they filled in a lot of the blanks, but I wouldn’t have minded learning a few of these things a little earlier.

Younger readers will probably take to the quest aspect of the novel, but I needed some additional backstory and depth to the characters for this to be a page turner. I did enjoy reading about anything that had to do with the knights of Zara, and the action sequences were pretty intense. I just wish I’d connected better with James and his friends.

All in All:

I think some fine tuning of the character development and the dialogue were what would have made this a solid read for me. I liked its quest-driven premise, and I’m always happy to see knights make an appearance in a fantasy novel.

Review: You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

You Are Mine (Mine #1)
By Janeal Falor

* A copy was provided by the author for review.

To Sum It Up:

Serena has reached her seventeenth birthday, an event that she’s been dreading. It means that she’s old enough to have her blood tested to see how much magic it contains. The more magic within it, the higher the price her father will be able to demand for her hand in marriage. For Serena, marriage doesn’t mean escape from her father’s house and his cruel punishments; instead, she’ll just become the property of her new husband. A surprise turn of events leads to Serena being contracted to marry a warlock who’s an outsider to her country, and therefore, the subject of much suspicion. The last thing Serena expects from him is kindness, but Zade is not at all like the other warlocks she’s known. For once, Serena dares to hope that she might find some freedom in her life.

Review:

You Are Mine takes place in a world where only males are able to use magic. Females carry magic in their blood, but they cannot wield it, only pass it on to the male children they’re expected to provide for their husbands. Women have no rights, and those who are not submissive face severe punishment, including being tarnished—shunned by the rest of society.

The novel opens with this terribly bleak outlook for its female characters, including the protagonist, Serena. As the story unfolds, though, there’s a nicely built and gradual shift in the situation. From the outset, you get the impression that Serena has a rebellious side that’s clamoring to run free. She occasionally slips and says exactly what she’s thinking, but she can only do so much while still living under her father’s roof. He’s only too happy to punish not only Serena but any of his daughters who misbehaves. To spare her younger sisters from his cruelty, Serena takes the blame for any wrongdoing as often as she can. Once she’s out of his house, however, Serena slowly starts taking control of her life. She stops wearing the face paint that women are supposed to use and has clothes made to suit her tastes for once. These may seem like small things, but merely having a choice in these matters is a huge gain.

I thought the strongest story line belonged to Katherine, a tarnished dressmaker who befriends Serena. Despite her social status, Katherine leads a life that is on her own terms. Her friendship with Serena is mutually beneficial, with both women inspiring strength in each other.

Where the novel didn’t work for me was in how delineated the characters were: the good ones were really good, and the bad ones were really bad. I tend to be drawn to morally ambiguous characters, particularly when I read fantasy. Here there’s hardly any middle ground. Serena’s father, Stephen, was just loathsome, and I felt like her fiancé, Zade, was depicted in an extra heroic light to make up for how horrible Stephen was. I didn’t have a problem with Zade being a good guy. He was so wholly noble, though, that he came off as too perfect to me, even as Serena feared that he was putting on an act. I was never convinced that Zade was going to turn out to be like Serena’s father; in fact, I got a bit annoyed with her for continuing to doubt Zade’s kindness. I understood where her wariness came from, but it was already apparent to me that he wasn’t going to hurt her, and I wanted her to realize it, too.

The magical element of You Are Mine is weaved well into the story, but I would have liked to have seen it utilized even more. It sometimes takes a secondary role to whatever is going on in Serena’s everyday life, like going dress shopping. I like fantasy that’s a little more action-oriented and has characters with an edge to them, and this didn’t quite line up with what I look for in the genre.

All in All:

This was a little too light on the fantasy elements for me, but I would suggest trying it to anyone who’s been looking for a starting point into the genre. The plot is straightforward and the world easy to jump into.