Review: Debris (The Veiled Worlds #1) by Jo Anderton

Debris by Jo Anderton

Copy Courtesy of Angry Robot
Already Released

Summary
Tanyana is one of the best architects in a city where everything is basically built out of things called pions or rather she was until one day she has an accident and wakes up unable to see the pions which used to follow her beck and call. Instead she must collect debris, which is a destroyer of pions. In order to find out what happens to her, she may have to find the truth behind debris.

Commentary
This novel might actually fall into a category called science-fantasy since it has the feel of a science fiction novel, but it's not based on the science of this world so it's therefore fantasy as such. I'm going to classify it as fantasy for now.

This book moves from the gorgeous creation of a statue out of pions to the filth of the living conditions of those who must collect debris. In some ways this felt really surreal as you get acclimated to this future world yet magical feeling place. I think I enjoyed the sensation though.

It managed to hit just the right combination of weirdly interesting that despite the main character being annoyingly clueless (or perhaps arrogant?) at points I ended up liking the story. I'm looking forward to more details about the world being fleshed since I feel like I have a sketch of the world that isn't quite colored in at this point.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Song of the Nile (Cleopatra's Daughter #2) by Stephanie Dray

Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray

Copy Courtesy of Penguin and Stephanie Dray
Already Released

This is the second book in the series, and you should definitely check out the first - Lily of the Nile - if you haven't read it yet. This review may contain some spoilers if you haven't read the first yet.

Summary
Selene Cleopatra is now a young woman and about to be married off to a man not of her own choosing. The marriage means a throne of her own in Africa, but she still yearns for the throne of Egypt. What price will she be willing to pay to gain it?

Commentary
Banish any doubts you may have had about the sequel. It takes the momentum Dray built up in the second half of the last book, and continues it. What we end up with is a powerful and magical story that will grip you from beginning to end.

Selene comes into her own as she discovers her own powers, and living through her joys, failures, and numerous sorrows is so vivid that I forgot about this time and place while reading. The supporting characters are very well fleshed out and added much to the story. The backdrop is well, stunning.

I highly recommend Song of the Nile to you. It's a wonderful second book, and as I hear that there will be a third one, am eagerly awaiting it.

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Mastiff (Beka Cooper #3) by Tamora Pierce

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

Copy Courtesy of Random House
Release Date: TODAY!!!

This is the third book in this series and there may be some spoilers if you haven't read the previous 2 books (Terrier and Bloodhound), but honestly these stories are pretty standalone so you shouldn't worry too much.

Summary
The ultimate task for the best tracker team in the kingdom: Beka and her dog Achoo. The prince has disappeared, and the kingdom is in grave danger unless Beka can track him down. The trail though is a treacherous one, and there will be many twists, turns, and surprises.

Commentary
I'm still squee-ing over having gotten my hands on this book. I may in fact be a bit of a fangirl... tiny teeny HUGE bit. As was decided when I featured this for a Third Sentence Thursday, this series is grittier than some of Pierce's other works, but it's still got the Pierce touch.

I took this book with me on my trip to Taiwan, and I kept wanting to read instead of going off and doing things. I was definitely surprised by how the hunt for the prince turned out, which was yay ^.^ and filled with lots of tense moments. I was able to slide into this story faster than the others perhaps because I've gotten used to the slang of Beka's day.

I think this was a great last book for this trilogy, and it satisfies much better than the Protector of the Small series (in my opinion anyway). I also love how this story wraps back around to George Cooper since we started with a small vignette from his home life at the beginning of the series. So, what are you waiting for? Go get it ^.^

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Witchlanders (Witchlanders #1) by Lena Coakley

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Coy Courtesy of Simon and Schuster and Lena Coakley
Already Released

Summary
Ryder doesn't believe that the witches really have any magic. After all his mother always said so, and she used to to be a witch. Now though, she may be changing her story, and Ryder is about to be caught up in a terrible prophecy.

Commentary
Why aren't there more books like this in YA right now? WHY?! I would read them; I would read all of them. I want to thank Lena for writing this, and then persevering to get it published because this is the epic fantasy YA I've been waiting for.

Ryder is a somewhat selfish at times teenage boy who is really trying to do his best for his family while things fall apart, and he feels real. It also helps that there's magic being thrown around as well as an age old feud between countries thrown in for good measure. I also feel like we've only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of what this magic system can do, and I'm really excited to see what else there is to it.

Witchlanders is epic while maintaining a feeling of a personal journey. I can see some of you thinking that this book moves a bit slowly, but it shouldn't all just be about action, there's a great story being told here so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Star Rating: 4.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Copy Courtesy of Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Already Released

Summary
Three people are brought together to save Montagne from certain destruction.

Commentary
The writing shifted through multiple different formats (3rd person omni prose, letters, play, 3rd limited prose) which made reading very choppy. I read through about the first 100 pages and really had no sense of the characters or what was happening because of the constant shifting so I stopped reading it.

All told, supposedly there are 7 viewpoints although because I never knew who was who because they also seemed to all have nicknames which were used inconsistently. The characters might have been interesting for all that I couldn't tell them apart.

Honestly, there are better and easier to read books out there.

Star Rating: 0/5.0 - Mostly Structural

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Iron Witch (The Iron Witch #1) by Karen Mahoney

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Copy Courtesy of Flux
Already Published

Summary
Donna has iron tattoos all over her hands that she keeps covered with gloves so that no one else sees them. Her former classmates thinks she's a freak, but when the evil wood elves appear in the city, she may have to accept what she is and face them.

Commentary
There are books that tuck in pieces of world-building here and there, that weave the history of a place beautifully into the story, this is not one of those books. Donna has a best friend who is her very bestest friend, but his place in the story is really as a prop for Donna to tell the history of the story and for her to have someone to rescue.

There is never a sense that Donna has any idea what she is doing despite being trained in this mythical world for the last seven or eight years. There is all too much time spent telling the reader how Donna is and not enough time by far showing the reader. I think this is probably the biggest failing of this book.

I had really hoped this book would be good, but it seems that is not the case. Perhaps others will think differently, but I can't recommend this book.

Star Rating: 1.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The High Lord (Black Magician Trilogy #1) by Trudi Canavan

The High Lord by Trudi Canavan

This is the third book in the trilogy, and the review may contain some spoilers if you haven't read book one and two. You should check out my review of The Magicians' Guild (book one) and my review of The Novice (book two).

Summary
As Sonea gets to know the High Lord better, she learns that the evil he is dabbling with may be related to an ancient enemy just waiting its chance to take over. Can Sonea navigate these treacherous plans and survive?

Commentary
If nothing else, Trudi is completely willing to do evil things to her characters. Did I mention the tension these books have. Yikes! Every time I hope it breaks, I just get wound up even tighter.

We get to spend more time with Cery in this one, which was kind of fun although I wish we had seen more of him in the last book since it feels like we didn't get to see his character development. He's kind of badass now, and I really like the trap things that he sets up (yes, I know you have no idea what I'm talking about). Trust me they're pretty cool.

I do wish it had ended on a different note because as I've mentioned before, I like my satisfying happy endings, but it is in the style of writing throughout this trilogy so I won't say that it wasn't fitting.

Star Rating: 3.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Novice (Black Magician Trilogy #2) by Trudi Canavan

The Novice by Trudi Canavan

This is the second book in the trilogy, and the review may contain some spoilers if you haven't read book one. You should check out my review of The Magicians' Guild (book one).

Summary
Sonea is the only member of the Magicians' Guild who is not a noble. This, unfortunately, means just about everyone is really mean to her until the High Lord intervenes. His intervention though isn't all it's cracked up to be though.

Commentary
This book, as with the first, is filled with a lot of tense scenes and not a whole lot of comedic relief which wears on me a bit although plot wise I am sucked in. I want to know what happens although we keep getting pulled off to follow Dannyl who is off being an ambassador.

It feels like there are two main characters in this book because we spend so much time with Dannyl, and while his story is interesting, I'm not as invested in his character because the first book was all about Sonea. I also want to punch every single person who is mean to Sonea. The author steals your hope little by little that things will turn out ok for Sonea, which was different and interesting but made me like the book less at the same time.

Again, not a happy book, so don't expect it. It's still an interesting read with characters that I care about, but a little too much meandering off on Dannyl's journey.

Star Rating: 3.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Curse of the Bane (The Last Apprentice #2) by Joseph Delaney

Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney

This is an audiobook review.

*Note this is the second book in the series. You can take a gander at the review for the first book Revenge of the Witch.

Summary
Thomas is learning more about being a spook, and now he's accompanying the Spook to Priest town where they are really not welcome. He and the Spook are going to try to take care of a monster called The Bane which has poisoned the minds of the priests in Priest Town, but of course, that's easier said than done. Also, we get to see Alice again.

Commentary
The second book in this series also had it's slightly comical moments although I think the first book did it better. There are still the elements of a horror story here so some gruesome images although toned down for a younger audience.

Delaney manages the expectations of the reader really well yet again. I love the way he builds tension for the most part. I do think some of the moments could have been a bit faster, but I think my feelings may have more to do with my impatience with listening to an audiobook though although the narrator really does a great job with the voices again. I hope he continues to voice the other books.

At this point, I am still happy with this series although I can see the style losing its luster for me. You should definitely give this series a try though.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Blood Rights (House of Comarré #1) by Kristen Painter

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Copy Courtesy of Orbit Books
Release Date September 27, 2011

Summary
Chrysabelle is a Comarre, and that basically means she is really tasty blood for rich vampires. Now though, her patron (well owner more like) is dead, and she runs away unfortunately straight into the lair of another vampire, Malkolm. Unbeknownst to either of them, the death of Chrysabelle's master has set off a chain of events that will threaten the balance between the supernatural and the mortal worlds.

Commentary
The gold on the cover really made me want to stroke it, not that this really has to do with the content of the book. Anyway, Painter has built an interesting vampire society around these Comarré, and while it's not as elegant as I might wish, there turns out to be a surprising amount of depth to the world.

This story takes place in 2067 although for a good deal of it, the technology doesn't seem to reflect that since the supernatural set doesn't seem to like modern tech. I'm not entirely sure why the author chose the future as a setting if it doesn't play much of a role although there were modern-ish night clubs, which I guess required a less historical setting.

I think in some ways, Malkolm is the more interesting character although Chrysabelle also has some revelations, but she has a tad too much damsel in distress vibe for my taste. This was a political intrigue driven novel (in many respects), and well that's right up my alley, so I enjoyed this ^.^ I hope the next book is as good.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Magicians' Guild (Black Magician Trilogy #1) by Trudi Canavan

The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan

Summary
Sonea throws a rock that changes her life when it pentrates a magical shield. Soon the Magicians' Guild hunt for this new untrained girl whose power when it gets beyond her control could destroy the city.

Commentary
The basic idea behind this book isn't new, you have a girl who is not from the nobility developing magic powers, and now the magicians who are nobles must find her. Usually though, the finding of the girl/boy is quick, but this time the chase is the main focus of the book. This felt much more realistic to me although I almost couldn't take the tension of it.

This is not much for a happy book because of the tension with very few downtime moments for Sonea. I do wish that had been broken up a bit more, however, Sonea was well developed, and there was a realistic gamut of reactions from those within the Guild as well as political maneuvering throughout the Guild as well as the seedy underworld of the city.

If you're looking for a fluffy read, this is not for you. If you want tense action, high fantasy, and realism though this might just be the book for you. I really liked it, and I hope you will too.

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Summary
Meghan suddenly becomes a daughter of a Fae King, and her best friend turns out to be one of them too. Suddenly she is caught up with a Prince of the Winter court, and needs to stop an evil faery that every other faery is scared of.

Commentary
I heard many good things about this, and I thought this might be the book that turned around my dislike of Fae focused books. Unfortunately, it really didn't so my search for a good Fae book will have to continue with another book that is hopefully highly recommended.

I think my problem is that Fae are never very varied. Yes, there are different types of faeries, but the attitudes of faeries are always cookie cutter, and this book was no exception. Meghan is a forgettable main character, and the attraction with no real reason is prominent in this story. Granted, that seems to be very Harlequin so I shouldn't be surprised.

I imagine this would appeal to the crowd that liked the Wicked Lovely series. I do not belong to that crowd though so it is what it is.

Star Rating: 2.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville #2) by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn

This is book 2 but there may be minor spoilers if you haven't read book 1. You should read my review of Kitty and the Midnight Hour which is book 1!

Summary
Kitty is off to Washington (as the title implies) to speak on the existence of supernatural creatures. Of course, this can't be just a simple congressional hearing because where the supernatural are involved, simple is simply not in the vocabulary.

Commentary
I think I liked this book slightly less than in the first one since there didn't seem to be much character growth for Kitty although it was fun to get to know Ben and his relationship with Cormac more. There were still the Dj shows although I think there were fewer of them, but I guess there were a lot of other things happening.

This book had more of a villain from the beginning although there were some mysteries to be discovered along the way, which made this book different since it didn't follow the formula of the first one. While not following the formula was good, I'm not sure I was as emotionally invested in this one as the first one.

So, not a bad second book although I think it could have been executed better. I'm still going to read the next book to see what happens.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville #1) by Carrie Vaughn

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

Summary
Kitty is a DJ on the midnight shift, and well she's also a werewolf. One day she gives some advice to someone else who is supernatural on the show, and ratings shoot through the roof. Now though, the rest of her pack and at least the local vampires don't like her, and Kitty must learn to find her own way.

Commentary
I've been having a streak of pretty good urban fantasy novels, which makes me happy since I had begun to have a dim view of this genre before. I'm still a bit wary, but Kitty is another big plus for UF especially because she doesn't start out as any sort of ass-kicking super-heroine. In fact, she's bottom of the pack, which is something I hadn't read yet (well I guess there was Alpha and Omega, but that was a bit different in nature).

I definitely liked the backdrop of a DJ show, and the callers were lots of fun to read about. Granted I really don't know how authentic it was. Also, as the show grows, Kitty grows as well which I really liked.

There was only a tiny bit of romance in this book although there may be more development in the next book. I quite enjoy the slow pacing of the romance, which is somewhat reminiscent of the pacing in the Mercy Thompson series. Even though Kitty is not quite as kick-butt as some of the other UF heroines, I think you guys will still enjoy following her.

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Hard Spell (Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #1) by Justin Gustainis

Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis

Copy Courtesy of Justin Gustanis and Angry Robot Books
Already Released

Summary
Stan works for the Supernatural Division of the Scranton Police Department. Scranton, it would seem, is very attractive to the supernatural set. When vampires start turning up dead though, it's Stan's job to figure it all out even if he doesn't like vampires all that much.

Commentary
This book delivers exactly what it promised - a gritty story about supernatural folk as seen by one mundane cop. It pulls on many existing beliefs about the paranormal especially as it pertains to the undead varieties, but it's almost refreshing to find a story where all the pre-existing rules such as sunrise, silver, holy water, garlic, and wooden stakes apply since so many books throw one or more of them out the window.

You can sense the demons that haunt Stan throughout the book, and the revelations of his background come in piecemeal although the one big revelation does seem a bit forced. He was a realistic and interesting if not particularly happy character to follow.

This will likely appeal to Jim Butcher type fans, and I definitely like the re-purposing that Gustainis has done with a lot of historical events as well as modern-day stuff. All in all, a good and engaging story.

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Wish List by Eoin Colfer

The Wish List by Eoin Colfer

This is an audiobook review!

Summary
Meg hasn't been a saint for most of her life, but when she dies unexpectedly, she finds out that she hovers right between god and bad. Now, in order to try to get into heaven instead of hell, she must help an old man finish his final wishes. Hell, though really wants her and is trying their very best to thwart her.

Commentary
This book had a lot of fun light moments, and while the subject of going to Heaven or Hell is a heavy subject, this is definitely a comedic treatment of the whole thing. I really liked the little touches of modernization of the afterlife which were sprinkled in.

The audiobook narrator did a pretty good job of using a variety of different voices for the various characters although one or two of the voices were hard to understand. There are a lot of different viewpoints so the voices helped a lot.

In general this is a feel good sort of book, and while it's not all that heavy on substance, it's still a fun read when you're not looking to think too much. If you enjoy Colfer's other YA books, this is very similar in tone and style.

Star Rating: 3.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Copy Courtesy of Spencer Hill Press
Release Date: October 18, 2011

Summary
Half-bloods have 2 futures: slave or daimon killer (Sentinels). Alexandria (Alex for short) has been on the run for the last 3 years since leaving the Sentinel training academy. Now though, she is back, and she must prove herself or risk becoming a slave.

Commentary
At first I wasn't all that into this book because Alex mouths off to her 'betters' (the Pure Bloods) in a rather annoying fashion. In a society where the half-bloods are supposed to be downtrodden, this struck me as unrealistic. There is lots of talk about the danger of offending Pures, but the actions and talking back from Alex without any punishment contradicted any sense that there were punishments.

But ok, I pretend that these are normal-ish modern teenagers in a high school setting, and the story that followed was actually pretty good. There were edge of the seat action scenes, decent character development, and a satisfying ending.

It was really the second half of the book that saved it since I spent the first half in lack of suspension of disbelief mode. Basically if you don't have problems with the first half, this is a pretty good book.

Star Rating: 3.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: The Urban Fantasy Anthology edited by Peter S. Beagle

The Urban Fantasy Anthology edited by Peter S. Beagle

Copy Courtesy of Tachyon Publications
Release Date: August 15, 2011

Summary
Urban fantasy is an umbrella for books of several different flavors, and this anthology will give you a taste of stories from all over the spectrum.

Commentary
I didn't realize until I read this anthology how many kinda of stories fall under the umbrella of urban fantasy, and I really enjoyed the essays at the beginning of each section which introduced the 3 broad categories. A note to the reader, some of these stories are disturbing and not just in a violent way.

There were definitely stories I really liked (The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories, Julie's Unicorn, Hit, and A Haunted House of Her Own). They hit (no pun intended) just the right notes of fantastic and good storytelling. There were several that were just plain weird especially in the noir section (although that was to be expected), and I'm not sure I understood what was going on.

All in all, it was definitely an interesting sampler of stories, and I have some authors that I want to check out novels for. As an overview of what you might encounter in Urban Fantasy, this definitely achieved that although I didn't enjoy every story within.

Star Rating: 3.5/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice #1) by Joseph Delaney

Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

This is an audiobook review!

Summary
Tom is apprenticed to the county Spook, who helps to keep the evil away. Unfortunately, Spooks are also feared by many so Tom may not have many friends, and well, there may be some witches to content with. Witches are dangerous they are.

Commentary
Girls with pointy shoes are dangerous! This is somewhat classified as horror (perhaps because it's scary feeling?), which is usually not a genre that particularly interests me, but I did enjoy this one especially because of statements like the previous one.

The narrator did an excellent job with the different voices, and he brought the lighthearted, scary, and all the other parts to life. I was a bit annoyed by Tom's continual insistence that he had no choice for things, but other than that he was an interesting character to follow.

If you like audiobooks, I suggest you try this one in audio. Otherwise, I still suggest you give it a read because the author does a great job of knowing what readers expect and not always following that expectation so there is a real element of suspense.

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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Review: Heartless (The Parasol Protectorate #4) by Gail Carriger

Heartless by Gail Carriger

This is the 4th book in the series, and there may be some spoilers in the Summary if you haven't read the previous books yet. (Soulless #1, Changeless #2, and Blameless #3)

Summary
Alexia's pregnancy is making the vampires very very unhappy, and there is a warning of an assassination attempt on the Queen from a mad ghost. Alexia certainly has her hands full.

Commentary
Heartless was witty as ever, and I had forgotten how much I missed the banter between Alexia and her husband. You would think that there wasn't as much story with a couple that was well established with all the YA books which deal with boy and girl meeting, but that is certainly not a problem with The Parasol Protectorate series. I have yet to get tired of the characters.

I do admit that the enjoyment of this book had less to do with the plot on the Queen and a whole lot more on all the dialogue, which I think is perhaps rare for me as I usually talk about world-building and character development. I definitely giggled my way through this book.

So, if you enjoyed the previous books in the series (I really do suggest you read these books in order as the relationships are built up over the course of the series) you should enjoy this one as well. I am definitely looking forward to the next book - Timeless ^.^

Star Rating: 4.0/5.0

For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.

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