Book Review: Branded By Fire by Nalini Singh

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Book: Branded By Fire by Nalini Singh

Published July 2009 by Berkley|345 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #6

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

Though DarkRiver sentinel Mercy is feeling the pressure to mate, she savagely resists when Riley Kincaid, a lieutenant from the SnowDancer pack, tries to possess her. The problem is not simply that he pushes her buttons; the problem is that he’s a wolf, she’s a cat, and they’re both used to being on top.

But when a brilliant changeling researcher is kidnapped from DarkRiver territory, Mercy and Riley must work together to track the young man – before his shadowy captors decide he’s no longer useful. Along the way, the two dominants may find that submitting to one another uncovers not just a deadly conspiracy, but a passion so raw that it’ll leave them both branded by fire…

I really liked this one!  It probably falls somewhere in the middle for me- it’s not one of my favorites, but it’s not one of my least favorites either.

We get a lot of different perspectives in this book, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I mean, we do get other perspectives in the other books in this series, but with this one, it seems like we’re getting a lot more than we usually would.  For some reason, I had a hard time keeping up with everyone, and I had the worst time remembering if some of the characters already had their book or if maybe their book was yet to come.  I’m hoping this isn’t going to worse in the books to come, but we shall see.

On the one hand, it really adds to whats going on, and I liked seeing what was going in the human world, and how what was going on with the Psy and the Changelings were affecting things.  It does add to the overall story, but I found it took away from the romance, and I really liked Mercy and Riley together.  I like them as a couple, and I really liked the conflict of them being in two different packs.  I also liked how that was resolved, and hopefully it will mean the alliance between the packs will stay in place.  I think I just wanted a little bit more on how things would work pack-wise if they did mate, but maybe that will pop up in some of the other books.

One perspective we see is the Ghost!  We still don’t know who it is, and I couldn’t even begin to guess who it is, but they’re obviously really powerful, and they are known to a couple of characters.  I’m curious to see who it is, but at the same time, I’m worried I’m going to be let down by the reveal.  I’m hoping we’ll learn more about them as the series goes on.  I do have the feeling that it’ll be a while before that happens.  Still, the more we learn about the Ghost, the more I want to know who it is.

Also, what is going on with Kaleb?  And Tatianna.  I mean, I’ve been wondering about Kaleb for a while, and I’m curious to see what he’s really up to.  I was surprised by Tatianna in this one, so I’m hoping we’ll see more of her because I really want to know what’s going on with her.

4 stars.  I really liked Branded By Fire, and I really want to know what’s going to happen next.

Audio Book Review: Sorcerer To The Crown by Zen Cho, Narrated By Jenny Sterlin

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Book: Sorcerer To The Crown by Zen Cho, Narrated by Jenny Sterlin

Published September 2015 by Recorded Books|13 hours, 9 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Sorcerer Royal #1

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

I really liked Sorcerer To The Crown.  It was hard to get into, especially at the beginning, but by the end of the book, I was really glad I stuck with it.  I loved Prunella, and she was such a cool character.  It’s interesting, because you’d think she wouldn’t have a huge role in the book, but she turns out to be pretty important.  I’m hoping there’s more of her in the next book.

I think the one thing that kept me going with this book was the fact that I listened to.  I originally tried to read it in print, got a few pages in, and decided to give the audio book a try.  I’m glad I did, because I really liked the narrator.  She really brought the humor and time period to life, and I think if you like Gail Carriger’s books, you’ll really like this one.  There’s something something about the history and magic and humor, though her books are quite different from this one.

There were times where I wasn’t paying attention, but I suppose that’s what happens when I’m listening at home while I’m cooking or something.  At least it didn’t fade into the background the way The Reader did when I listened to that recently.

Still, it was fun to listen to, and there were quite a few times when I couldn’t help but laugh.  And there were some really interesting things about the book as well- Zacharias has a lot of enemies, and there are a lot of people who don’t think he should be in the position he’s in, just because he was a former slave, and because of the color of skin.  And when you add in Prunella, who’s at a school because women are seen as unsuitable for magic.  I think some of that got lost in the audio book, though maybe those were the points where I wasn’t completely paying attention.

I like that it’s set in an alternate Regency England.  Can this type of fantasy stay around for a while?  It’s a nice change from the medieval Europe fantasy that seems pretty normal for fantasy, and it’s nice reading something different.  I think that might be why I liked it so much.  Plus, even though there is a sequel (which needs more Prunella, because she is absolutely amazing), it’s pretty self-contained.  It makes me curious to see where things are going to go, but there is enough going on in the book that there’s so much she could do with another book.

I also really liked the narrator.  I liked her enough that I think I want to at least see what else she’s narrated.  Her narration, like I mentioned earlier, is what kept me going with the audio book, especially since I struggled with the beginning.

4 stars.  I really liked Sorcerer To The Crown, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Book Review: The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford

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Book: The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford

Published September 2017 by St. Martin’s Press|176 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperbook

Series: None

Genre: Adult Fiction/Horror

Three friends go looking for treasure and find horror in Jeffrey Ford’s The Twilight Pariah.

All Maggie, Russell, and Henry wanted out of their last college vacation was to get drunk and play archaeologist in an old house in the woods outside of town. When they excavate the mansion’s outhouse they find way more than they bargained for: a sealed bottle filled with a red liquid, along with the bizarre skeleton of a horned child

Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. They feel followed wherever they go, their homes are ransacked by unknown intruders, and people they care about are brutally, horribly dismembered. The three friends awakened something, a creature that will stop at nothing to retrieve its child.

The Twilight Pariah was another one from the PageHabit horror box that I’m just now getting to.  This one, like The Murders Of Molly Southbourne, was also okay, and didn’t really work for me.

The Twilight Pariah is your typical story where people disturb a skeleton and get haunted.  Obviously, characters in stories like these don’t know that you don’t disturb skeletons and graveyards, because bad things happen when you do.

It wasn’t as eerie and creepy as I thought it would be and there were times when the book was funny…but unintentionally.  It’s more comedy-horror than true horror or ghost story.  For some reason bizarre reason, Horrorstor is coming to mind, but maybe it’s the sometimes intentionally funny moments, sometimes unintentionally moments that is bringing the two together.

It was definitely too short, and I felt like there could have been more in terms of what was going on, and how disturbing the skeleton really upset the balance of things.  I like the idea behind it, and I could picture everything really well, but it just needed more to it.  It could be an entertaining tv or straight to DVD movie, especially around Halloween.  It’s short enough that it felt rushed and lacking in detail, so it could be interesting if the author decided to expand on it, and write a full-length novel, instead of a novella.

2 stars.  The Twilight Pariah was okay, and not as scary or creepy as I thought it would be.  I wish I had more to say about it, but I don’t.

Book Review: The Murders Of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

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Book: The Murders Of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

Published October 2017 by St Martin’s Press|117 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperback

Series: Molly Southbourne #1

Genre: Adult Fiction/Horror

Every time she bleeds a murderer is born. Experience the horror of Tade Thompson’s The Murders of Molly Southbourne.

The rule is simple: don’t bleed.

For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she’s been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.

Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she’ll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her? 

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did.  This isn’t a book I normally would have picked up, but it was the pick for one of the PageHabit horror boxes, back when I was getting it.

It’s a cool idea though- I mean, can you imagine trying not to bleed because it means that another one of you is created?  And can you imagine the doppelgangers running around when you’re on your period?  I have to admit, that was one thing I was really curious about.  Is it constant doppelgangers running around for a week straight?  Does it depend on the flow too, or is it the same no matter what?  I’m not sure why this particular thing is standing out, but I am really curious.

Overall, I think it could have been expanded a lot more.  It was really short, and I wanted more from it.  I mean, we do get an explanation of what’s going on with her, but it didn’t do anything for me.  I also couldn’t connect with Molly, and I didn’t feel anything- there wasn’t any emotion to it, and it wasn’t creepy or scary or terrifying the way I thought it would be.

It’s a shame, because the idea is really cool, and it had a lot of potential to be absolutely terrifying but that wasn’t something I felt when I was reading it.  Obviously, it wasn’t the right fit for me, and while I don’t really get what the author was going for with this story, it could be a better fit for someone else.  It has been a really long time since I read horror so maybe it’s not really my thing anymore.

2 stars.  It was okay, and obviously, this book and I were not meant to be.  It is a really cool idea, even though I wish there had been more to it.

Book Review: A Reaper At The Gates by Sabaa Tahir

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Book: A Reaper At The Gates by Sabaa Tahir

Published June 2018 by Razorbill|464 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: An Ember In The Ashes #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

The highly anticipated third book in Sabaa Tahir’s New York Times bestselling EMBER QUARTET.

Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister’s life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she’d have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias’s devotion–even at the cost of his humanity.

I’ve really liked this series, so I was really excited to pick this book up!  I liked it a lot, and I’m curious to see where things are headed, especially since we’re closing in on the last book.

We have a few different narrators in this book, and I actually like it because you see what’s going on in the Empire.  With Helene, Laia, Elias, and even the Nightbringer, you see how much things are affecting everyone, and what everyone is up against.

I think I liked Helene’s chapters the most- I don’t know why, but her chapters seemed to get me more interested in what was going on.  At this point, I could care less about Elias, which is a little disappointing, because the whole Soul Catcher thing could have been a lot more interesting.  And I really liked seeing his side of things, which also made it disappointing.  I didn’t particularly for Laia’s story, which has been the case for pretty much the entire series, but there were some…interesting developments in her story that was a little bit of too little too late.  I am kicking myself for not seeing it before, and I feel like I should have.  It took me for surprise but it was a good surprise.  I still can’t believe I didn’t put it together, but it sort of makes sense now.

It is interesting because I felt like in this book, it really became Helene’s story.  The three characters have their own journey, but this book felt like it was more about Helene than Elias or Laia.  Her story felt like the strongest of the three we see, and I really want more of her story in the next one.  Just…the whole thing with her family and Marcus…I desperately want to know how that’s going to turn, especially with her sister.  Is it just me, or did her sister seem more calculating in this book?  I feel like there’s more to what’s going on than what we saw.

This book is probably my least favorite so far.  I don’t know if I’m feeling burnt out on series a little bit, or if it’s me.  I have been in a weird mood for the last month or so, so it could be that.  Either way, I did like it, just not as much as I thought.  It seemed slower, but maybe we’re just building up to the next (and last) book.

3 stars.  Helene’s story was really strong, and easily my favorite chapters of this book.  I didn’t particularly care for Laia or Elias, but I am curious to see how everything gets wrapped up.

Book Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

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Book: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Published September 2016 by HarperTeen|398 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Three Dark Crowns #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

I feel like I’ve heard a lot about this series, so when I saw it at the library, I thought I’d check it out and see what it’s about.  Even though I didn’t love it, I still liked it!

It’s a really cool idea, and I like the idea of a set of triplets fighting for their crown.  It’s interesting that it’s every generation, and the impression I got was that they’re only born so people can see them fight for the crown, but I could be wrong.  I mean, I’ve only read the first book, so there could be a lot more about this world that we didn’t get in the book.

It seems like there are a lot of different kinds of magic, even though the book only focuses on a few.  I’d be curious to see what other kind of magic there is, and if we’ll see what there is beyond what the girls can do.

I’m not sure how I feel about three different narrators, though.  Usually, I read books with 2, and it’s pretty rare that I’ll pick up a book with more than that- An Ember In The Ashes series is the only other one I can think of, but that’s only because I read the third one pretty recently.

I mean, each girl was different, and each one had their own voice.  It was pretty easy to distinguish between the three but it also made it seem like there was too much going on.  It’s not that it was hard to keep track of what was going on, but it made things seem more complicated than they were.  Maybe the amount of narrators will narrow down as characters die, and that Blake won’t add in other perspectives.  I think maybe 3 narrators (each queen) didn’t work for me was because it seemed like a lot of other characters popped up.  I did have some trouble remembering who those characters were, and sometimes, it seemed like it was more about them than the three queens.

It was pretty slow for most of the book, but it does pick up towards the end.  It’s sad it did take so long for it to pick up, because I did like the end and I wanted more action.

I do have some unanswered questions- there are some odd rules in place.  Like, they can’t kill each other until they’re 16, which is strange.  I know 16-ish seems to be the age when people come into their powers and whatnot, and maybe it’s the age where these queens are considered old enough to fight for their crown and know what’s going on.

Also odd was the fact that they were raised separately.  I guess I don’t completely understand why they needed to be raised separately, since it was never explained.  It also seemed useless to me because they all seemed to have one ability, only for some to have a completely different ability.  Said character was seen as pretty useless as far as abilities go, and maybe she would have been seen differently had they figured out what her abilities really were.  Do they not test that, or do they try to shove an ability onto someone in the hopes it will stick?

Maybe I just wanted more with how the magic works, because I’m not remembering if it was really explained.  And I read this book recently enough that it should be on my mind.  I guess it’s pretty forgettable if it was mentioned at all.

Looking back (and after reading some other reviews of the book), I think what I thought would happen will probably be one of the other books in the series.  I wasn’t expecting so much set up to three girls fighting to the death for the crown.

It wasn’t as dark and twisty as I thought it would, at least for most of the book.  Maybe we’ll see that later on in the series?  All I know is I was expecting something more dark and evil than what we got for most of the book.

3 stars.  I liked Three Dark Crowns, but I have a lot of questions about why things are the way they are.

Book Review: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

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Book: Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

Published July 2018 by Thomas Nelson|448 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Alternate History/Fantasy

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.

Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.

But what if death finds him first?

Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

I really liked Fawkes!  There’s a lot I really liked about the book, and I’m glad I read it.

For starters, I liked that cover.  It’s different, and it definitely got my attention.  I definitely wanted to know what was going to happen, though I probably could have solved that simply by reading the book jacket.  I did like how it connected to the story.

I also liked how Brandes mixed history and fantasy.  It’s the Gunpowder Plot, but with color magic.  There’s a plague that turns people to stone.  How can you not like that?  It’s not completely factual, of course, so if you like your historical fiction accurate, this is not the book for you, since this is more of an alternate history than anything else.

I liked that it focused on something I wasn’t too familiar with.  I had heard of Guy Fawkes (in relation to Guy Fawkes Day), and I had heard of the Gunpowder Plot, but wasn’t too familiar with the details.  So I liked reading about something I wasn’t too familiar with.

And when you add in magic and masks, and control of color, it becomes even more cool.  So instead of Catholics versus Protestants, you have Keepers (control over one color) and Igniters (control over all colors using White Light).  And there are masks they wear, and it shows the color that’s most dominant for you, plus there’s a school and testing.  Oh, and masks are made by their parents, so if your parent doesn’t make you one, you’re out of luck.  Which means Thomas has to go to his father in order to get a mask, since his dad didn’t make him one.  I like the idea that it’s the only way to connect to the magic, and to be able to use it.

I did wish that we saw more of how the magic worked.  What is it’s place in society, and how does it make society better (or worse)?  Clearly, magical factions replaced religion, but what do each of the colors represent?  Only a few colors are mentioned, and it could be interesting to see how different shades affected things.  Like, is there a different between ruby red and cherry red, or is it all the same, regardless of shade?

I mean, I know that book is the Gunpowder Plot with magic instead of religion, so it’s only going to be a stand-alone (and not a series).  There’s only so far you can take it.  There’s no way to stretch it out, especially if you’re sticking with history.  It would have been cool if the king had been assassinated, and there were more books that could go into detail about the history.

Still, I get (and appreciate) that maybe the author was trying to keep things simple.  Especially if magic is a stand-in for religion.  Generally, I don’t read past Elizabeth I, so I’m not too familiar with her successor, but just based off of that, there was a lot of back-and-forth on religion, so I can see wanting to have a basic structure in place.

I did get a pretty good sense of what was going on, and the disagreements on color magic, so it did its job pretty well.  I think I just wanted a little more detail than what we’d get in a stand-alone.

4 stars.  Overall, I really liked it, but I wish there was a little more with the magic system.

Audio Book Review: The Reader by Traci Chee, Narrated by Kim Mai Guest

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Book: The Reader by Traci Chee, Narrated By Kim Mai Guest

Published September 2016 by Listening Library|12 hours 31 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Sea Of Ink And Gold #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

A stunning debut set in a world where reading is unheard-of, perfect for fans of Inkheart and Shadow and Bone

Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed—and punish the people responsible.

With overlapping stories of swashbuckling pirates and merciless assassins, The Reader is a brilliantly told adventure from an extraordinary new talent.

I’m honestly not sure what to think of The Reader.  Here’s the thing with this book- I tried reading it ages ago, found it didn’t work in print, so I switched to the audio book, thinking that would work better.  I ended up finishing the audio recently, only to find that I wasn’t paying attention to it, and that it pretty much faded into the background.

That’s not what you want with an audio book, especially because I couldn’t even begin to tell you what had happened.  Instead of listening to it again (for fear the same thing would happen), I decided to borrow it from the library when I happened to be wandering around in the YA section and saw it sitting on the shelf.

It turned out to be okay for me.  I didn’t particularly care for the stories of the pirates and assassins- especially the assassins.  It made things more muddled and confusing, and it didn’t feel personal.  At least the assassins related to the story.  As for the pirates, I liked that they were clearly stories, and I found that when I went to it in print, it was clearly distinguished from the rest of the book.

That part was nice, but I vaguely remember that it wasn’t clear when you switched perspectives in the audio book.

The story itself was interesting, and I really liked the idea.  It was hard to believe that Sefia was able to figure out how to read, especially in a society that’s illiterate.  Especially since they seemed to be advanced in other ways.  Do they have some sort of record-keeping system?  That’s what I want to know, but I don’t know if I’m interested enough to keep reading to find out.

One that I also didn’t like was how some people were referred to- The Arbitrator, the Assassin, the Second.  It didn’t work for me, and it made me not care.  I felt distanced from what was going on, even there were other characters, like Sefia and Archer involved.  It tended to happen in the assassin chapters, but you saw it at other times too.

Everything did come together in the end, but by then, I didn’t particularly care about what was going on.

I will say that I did like Kim Mai Guest’s narration.  While I ended up re-reading it because I wasn’t paying attention, I did like her as the narrator, and me not paying attention is nothing against her at all.  She’s good at what she does, at least in the couple of books I’ve listened to that she’s narrated.

2 stars.  The story was okay, and I had a hard time paying attention to the story.  Chee’s writing was lovely, but I had a hard time getting into the story.

Book Review: Renegades by Marissa Meyer, Narrated by Rebecca Soler And Dan Bittner

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Book: Renegades by Marissa Meyer, Narrated by Rebecca Soler and Dan Bittner

Published November 2017 by MacMillan Audio|Length 16 hours, 58 minutes

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Renegades #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

From #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer, comes a high-stakes world of adventure, passion, danger, and betrayal.

Secret Identities.
Extraordinary Powers.
She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

I really liked Renegades.  It’s odd, because it’s a mix of dystopia and fantasy, but I thought I worked really well.

I really liked Nova and I felt really bad for her.  The book is narrated by both Nova and Adrian, and I found I cared for Nova’s story more than Adrian’s.  Since I listened to it on audio, there was no skimming over Adrian’s sections, and I did notice that it wasn’t the typical alternating chapters- it was sections.  They each got a few chapters where one would narrate, and than it would switch to the other one.

I was more bored with Adrian’s, like I mentioned, and I think it’s because he’s one of the “good guys.”  By the end of the book, I thought the Renegades were a lot worse than the villains.  There’s one moment in particular that made me hate them, and I hate both what they were doing, and how they went about it.  And people think they’re the good guys?  Never have I so badly wanted them to be taken down, and I need Nova to be the one to do it.

I think part of why the Renegades seemed horrible was perspective.  Especially when Nova was narrating.  She has every reason to hate them, and with everything she’s learning about them, it’s hard to like them.  You do see that at least some of them have the best of intentions, and maybe that was the Renegades at the very beginning, when they first came into power.  But as they are in the book?  They are not the good guys they think they are.

One thing I thought was frustrating was the secret identity thing.  I thought it should have been a lot more obvious to the characters, but maybe that’s because I knew things the characters didn’t.  That was something that kept me from loving it, and I kept waiting for them to figure it out.  Maybe in the next one?

And the ending!  I’m curious to see how things go in the next one with how things ended.  I’m not going to say what happened, but because I was listening to it in my car, I was yelling at the audio book.  It’s not bad, but…it’s a cliffhanger?  Which I kind of expected, but not like that.  It really took me off guard, but in a good way so I’m anxiously awaiting the next one to see what happens next.

Since I mentioned I listened to it on audio, I should probably talk about the narration!  I really liked Nova, and I liked Rebecca Soler as her narrator.  I thought Dan Bittner did a great job narrated Adrian, but I did like Soler’s narration more.  I don’t think I’m completely used to male narrators, and it’s pretty rare that I’ll listen to a book narrated by a guy.  Still, he did do a great job as Adrian, and I could picture both of them as the characters.  I’m also glad they went with two different narrators, because it really helped distinguish between the two characters and what was going on, especially when they were in the same scenes, and you;d switch from Nova to Adrian, or Adrian to Nova.

It’s also pretty long, so it took me a while to get through it.  I definitely had to take a break and listen to the radio every once in a while.  Not being it was boring, because it wasn’t!  I just need to have something fade in the background every once in a while.

4 stars,  I really liked Renegades, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Book Review: Legendary by Stephanie Garber

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Book: Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Published May 2018 by Flatiron Books|451 books

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Caraval #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…the games have only just begun.

After reading Caraval last year, and really liking it, I knew I had to pick up Legendary.  I was so curious about where things were headed, especially after how things ended.  Unfortunately, I didn’t like this book as much as I wanted to, which is a shame, because I liked the first book so much.

A lot of the questions I had at the end of Caraval were actually answered.  That surprised me, because I tend to have a lot of questions that are not never answered, and things don’t always go where I think they’re going to.  This book does focus more on Tella and her mom, and I did like that Legendary focused on that.

I didn’t like Tella’s story as much as I thought I would.  Don’t get me wrong, everything that happened to their mom was sort of interesting, and I’m glad we learn what happened to her, and why she disappeared.  I still think there’s more to it than what we got in the book, but at least we got the gist of what happened, and what Tella did during Caraval.

I didn’t like Tella, and though she admits to not being perfect and to making mistakes, I also wish we had Scarlett back.  She was a lot slower to figure things out, and…I don’t know.  As much as I wanted to know what she did at the end of Caraval, I kind of wish it had been in a different way or with a different character.  Or maybe it’s just Tella.

The magic was gone from this one, and it wasn’t the game I was expecting it to be.  I know the rules of this particular game are different than the previous one- it would be boring if it were- but it was not the magical game I thought it would be.  It was boring and I had expectations that were not met.

I hate that I wasn’t into this one, because the world of Caraval is so cool and unique.  This book had the power to be really cool and magical, like Caraval.  I don’t know if the world is better suited to one book, or if it’s because this one was narrated by a character I wasn’t into, but I do know it could have been more magical.

I still want to read the next one, because I do like the world just enough that I want to keep going.  I’m hoping this is a case of middle book syndrome, and the next one will be better.  I don’t think I’ll being going into it with the high expectations that I had with this one, especially since it seems like it might focus more on Tella, and she isn’t exactly my favorite, but maybe we’ll get more of Scarlett, and that will help.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that.

There were some things that came up in this book that were never mentioned in the previous book.  Looking back, maybe it didn’t have a place in the first book, but had more of a place in this one.  I wish the deck of fates had more explanation, and I wish it had somehow been introduced in the first one, but there’s nothing we can do about that.  There were some interesting things about this world, and while it wasn’t really expanded on in this book, there’s still part of me that hopes we’ll see more it in the next one.

2 stars.  I didn’t like it as much as Caraval, but I can see why so many people love it.  I wish it were for me, but I am curious to see what happens next.