Book: How To Fall: A Novel by Jane Casey

Expected Publication is August 26, 2014 by St. Martin’s Press|Expected Number Of Pages: 225

Where I Got It: From netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Jess Tennant #1

Genre: YA Mystery

You can find How To Fall on goodreads & Jane Casey on Twitter & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Sixteen-year-old Jess Tennant has never met any of her relatives, until her mother suddenly takes her to spend the summer in the tiny English town where she grew up. Her mom’s decision is surprising, but even more surprising is the town’s reaction to Jess. Everywhere she goes, people look at her like they’ve seen a ghost. In a way, they have—she looks just like her cousin Freya, who died shortly before Jess came to town.

Jess immediately feels a strange connection to Freya, whom she never got to meet alive. But the more she learns about Freya’s life, the more suspicious the circumstances of her death start to look. One thing is for sure: this will be anything but the safe, boring summer in the country Jess was expecting.

Beloved author Jane Casey breaks new ground with How to Fall, a cleverly plotted and remarkably written young adult mystery.

What I Thought:

I liked How To Fall!  I wasn’t sure what to expect with How To Fall, but…I didn’t like it as much as I was hoping but I also liked it more than I was expecting.  I know that sounds weird, but it really describes how I feel about How To Fall.

How To Fall is definitely a mystery, as Jess tries to figure out what happened to her cousin Freya after Freya’s very mysterious death.  What really happened was not what I expected AT ALL, and given everyone has a different idea of what happened to Freya and what was going through her mind when she died and what could have resulted in her death.  It just goes to show that some people are just so terribly cruel, and I hate that people are like that.

I like that Jess and her mom go back to where her mom grew up, and that Jess gets to see that part of her mom’s life.  I know the story is more about Jess trying to figure out what happened to her cousin, but there’s still part of me that wishes we knew more about why her mom didn’t talk to anyone in her family until recently, and what got her mom to change her mind.  And part of me still feels like there’s more to the story.

Speaking of Jess and her mom…I felt like Dan, who her mom was interested in as a teenager and reconnects with was really odd, and for a while, I thought maybe he was the one behind Freya’s mysterious death.  I feel like he’s up to something and while I don’t know why I feel this way about him, I just get this vibe that Jess and her mom need to stay far, far away from him.

I don’t really have strong feelings about the characters either way, and I thought Jess’ fixation on Freya’s death to be a little weird, considering she didn’t know Freya at all.  I wish we got to know Freya a little bit better, but I also understand why we don’t.  We do learn a little bit about Freya throughout the book, but it was still hard for me to get into the mystery of her death…especially when we learn what really happened the night she died.

Still, I liked Jess, who’s pretty sarcastic.  I’m definitely interested in reading more of her story, and I’m glad there’s another book in this series, because her story is far from over.  I’m also really curious about what other mysteries she comes across and solves, because Port Sentinel seems like a place full of secrets!

Let’s Rate It:

I liked How To Fall, and while there are some things I’m curious about because they seem a little strange to me, I’m still interested enough to keep reading this series.  How To Fall gets 3 stars.

Book: The Kiss Of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

Published July 8, 2014 by Henry Holt & Co.|339 pages

Where I Got It: netgalley.com., which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

You can find The Kiss Of Deception on goodreads & Mary E. Pearson on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

What I Thought:

I’m so glad I read The Kiss Of Deception!  I don’t read a lot of fantasy, but The Kiss Of Deception seemed too interesting to pass up.

I thought that Lia not having the abilities she’s supposed to have as First Daughter were really interesting.  I can’t even begin to imagine having to pretend having the gift of sight.  I really felt for Lia as she started a new life and ended up places she never expected.  Lia narrates most of the book, but there is the occassional chapter narrated by both the jilted prince and the assassin, which really added to the book.  I think it’s because you get a slightly different perspective on what’s going on. And I thought the love triangle to be really interesting and well-done.  Things could go either way, and I’m really curious as to who Lia will fall for. They’re both mysterious in a good way, and I like that you’re not sure if they’re a good guy or a bad guy.

I loved that you had songs and stories scattered throughout the book, because they really added something to the different groups in the book.  It added something special to this world, and I can’t wait to learn more about the world Lia lives in. I felt like we could have known more about Lia’s world, but at the same time, I feel like there’s more to come.  And it really did feel like Pearson put a lot of work into creating Lia’s world, even if we don’t know every single little detail.  Come to think of it, I actually like that we aren’t overloaded with details of what every tree, flower and shrub looks like.  The details we have are necessary to what’s going on, and what will happen in the rest of the series.

I’m hoping the magic in this book is explored a little more in the rest of the series, because I found Lia’s lack of sight to be interesting.  And if maybe she has another ability- because there is definitely something special about her, and for some reason, I just think it would be interesting for her to have something different.  Maybe because First Daughters are supposed to have one ability, and her having something different would be an interesting twist.

Let’s Rate It:

There is so much more to The Kiss Of Deception than the summary would lead you to believe.  The hinted at love triangle is interesting, and I can’t wait to see how that develops.  I’m definitely looking forward to reading the sequel, which is going to be a long wait, since the sequel comes out next year.  The Kiss Of Deception gets 4 stars.

Book: Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

Published May 2014 by Little, Brown Books For Young Readers|200 pages

Where I Got It: I got a digital advanced copy from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Torn Away on goodreads & Jennifer Brown on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Born and raised in the Midwest, Jersey Cameron knows all about tornadoes. Or so she thinks. When her town is devastated by a twister, Jersey survives — but loses her mother, her young sister, and her home. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she’s sent to live with her only surviving relatives: first her biological father, then her estranged grandparents.

In an unfamiliar place, Jersey faces a reality she’s never considered before — one in which her mother wasn’t perfect, and neither were her grandparents, but they all loved her just the same. Together, they create a new definition of family. And that’s something no tornado can touch.

What I Thought:

After loving Hate List to pieces, I’ve been meaning to read everything else Jennifer Brown has written, and decided to start off with Torn Away.  Which I liked, but not as much as I was expecting or hoping to.

I think part of why I didn’t love it the way I expected to was that I love Hate List so much that it was going to take an amazing book to meet the really high expectations that Hate List set.

I liked that Jersey has to deal with people who are strangers to her, and that she starts to question the definition of family and who her parents really are.  I also liked seeing her deal with her step-father sending her to live with her only remaining biological family, because he’s grieving as well, and seeing her deal with the aftermath of the tornado.  How she was treated by some of the people in her life…they were so horrible to treat her the way they did, and she didn’t do a thing to deserve it, but I’m also glad that she found people who loved her and made an effort to be there for her.

Brown does such a great job at writing characters that you sympathasize with (like Jersey) and characters that make you really angry (like most of her remaining family).  That part was what I’ve come to expect in a Jennifer Brown novel.

There were other things I was expecting, but didn’t see in Torn Away.  I just needed more from Torn Away- more of the rebuilding and exploration of loss and grief in the wake of something that’s just HORRIBLE to deal with.  More about what her mom was like when she was younger, and more connection to her mother’s parents.  She did it so well in Hate List, and I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t there for me in Torn Away.  Torn Away felt really short to me, and I wish it had been longer- which might be why I feel like something was missing.  I was fully expecting to get emotional, and I definitely didn’t cry even though I was expecting to (and probably should have) at times.

Let’s Rate It:

I did like Torn Away, and how Jersey had to come to terms with everything that’s happened.  But I also wish there were to Torn Away, because things weren’t explored as much as I had hoped.  Torn Away gets 3 stars. 

Book: Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

Expected Publication is June 17, 2014 by Month9Books|Expected Number Of Pages: 345

Where I Got It: I got a digital review copy directly from Month9Books, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None that I’m aware of (but I’m hoping there’s a sequel coming)

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

You can find Boneseeker on goodreads & Brynn Chapman on Twitter, Facebook & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Arabella Holmes was born different and raised different. After it became apparent she wouldn’t fit the role of a proper 1900’s lady, her father, Sherlock, called in some lingering favors, and landed her a position at the Mutter Museum. The museum was Arabella’s dream; she was to become a purveyor of abnormal science. What her father called a BoneSeeker.

Henry Watson arrives at the Mutter Museum with a double assignment–to become a finder of abnormal antiquities and to watch over and keep Arabella Holmes. An easy task, if he could only get her to speak to him instead of throwing knives in his general direction.

But this is no time for child’s play. The two teens are assigned to a most secret exploration, when the hand of a Nephilim is unearthed in upstate New York. Soon, Arabella and Henry are caught in a fight for their lives as scientific debate swirls around them. Are the bones from a Neanderthal … or are they living proof of fallen angels, who supposedly mated with humans according to ancient scrolls?

Sent to recover the skeleton, they discover they are the second team to have been deployed and the entire first team is dead. And now they must trust their instincts and rely on one another in order to survive and uncover the truth.

What I Thought:

I really enjoyed Boneseeker!  It’s different, but different in a good way.

It’s definitely a different take on Sherlock Holmes, and there’s something very philosophical about the book.  I definitely can’t wait to read it again, because I feel like it’s a book that needs at least a couple reads for everything to sink in.

I have to admit that I’ve never read Sherlock Holmes, and after reading Boneseeker, I’m a little inspired to read Sherlock Holmes now.  But I liked that Boneseeker followed the story of Arabella and Henry, and their friendship/relationship.  And I love the historical feel of the book, and how odd Arabella seemed.  Yet her personality worked so well for the book.  She really is spirited and adventurous and smart and I loved that about her.  She and Henry are a great team, and they really balanced each other out.

Arabella really is the kind of person I could working at a museum, and working at the Mutter Museum seems to fit her too. A museum of strange things seems to fit her curious nature.  And with people following her in order to keep her from the expedition so she doesn’t discover Nephilim bones made it more interesting. Especially given that Arabella very much believes in science, and thinks the bones found are human ones. Searching for these bones at a time when the science of studying bones seemed relatively new is different, but a different I like because the book was set during a time when things like phrenology (measurements of the skull that told you about a person’s personality) were popular.  Science really has come a long way, and the different areas of science in Boneseeker do a great job of showing that.

Let’s Rate It:

Boneseeker is really different but in a good way!  I loved Arabella, and I wish we saw more of her in Boneseeker.  And I’m also hoping that there’s a sequel, because I’d love to see where things go for both Arabella and Henry.  Boneseeker gets 4 stars.

Book: My Best Friend, Maybe by Caela Carter

Expected Publication is June 3, 2014 by Bloomsbury Children’s|Expected Number Of Pages: 355

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find My Best Friend, Maybe on goodreads & Caela Carter on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Colette has been bored and lonely ever since her best friend, Sadie, dumped her the summer before they stared high school. She tries to be perfect for everyone left in her life: her parents, her younger brothers, her church youth group, even her boyfriend, Mark. But Colette is restless. And she misses Sadie.

When Sadie tells Colette that she needs her old friend to join her on a family vacation to the Greek Islands, one that leaves in only a few days, Colette is shocked to hear their old magic word: need. And she finds herself agreeing.

Colette tries to relax and enjoy her Grecian surroundings but it’s not easy to go on vacation with the person who hurt you most in the world. When the reason for the trip finally surfaces, Colette finds out this is not only a fun vacation. Sadie has kept an enormous secret from Colette for years…forever. It’s a summer full of surprises, but that might be what Colette needs.

What I Thought:

I enjoyed My Best Friend, Maybe so much!  I really liked the friendship between Colette and Sadie, and how complicated things were for them.  The entire book, I was wondering what drove these two girls apart, and I liked that it slowly unraveled over the course of the book.  I really liked how it came together, and I was surprised (in a good way!) by the secret that Sadie kept.  I liked that we slowly learned Sadie’s side of the story.

I will say that I didn’t quite understand Mark (Colette’s ex-boyfriend) and his issues with Sadie, and why he doesn’t want Colette to be around Sadie.  Other than Sadie not being a part of the church youth group and no longer being friends with Colette, I’m not really sure where his feeling are coming from.  It did become grating after a little bit.  While Mark’s feeling did get slightly irritating, I found myself confused- and then angry- at why Colette’s mom didn’t like Sadie and why she didn’t want Colette to go on a vacation with Sadie.

I really liked how Sadie and Colette were trying to figure things out after several years, and that maybe they could be friends, but not best friends.  Everything really is a big misunderstanding- Sadie thought Colette knew but Colette didn’t because Sadie never told her.  I’m glad they finally figured out what went wrong and it’s such a complex, layered look at friendship.

Let’s Rate It:

My Best Friend, Maybe is such a great story about friendship!  I liked how complicated things were between Sadie and Colette and how Colette was there for Sadie because she promised she would be, no matter what. There are some really great moments between the two girls.  I feel like a tough issue was handled really well and very realistically, and I liked that Colette was never sure of her decisions.  And that she started to question everything.  My Best Friend, Maybe gets 4 stars.

Book: We Are The Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

Expected Publication is May 27, 2014 by Wendy Lamb Books|Expected Number Of Pages: 138

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find We Are The Goldens on goodreads & Dan Reinhardt on her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Nell knows a secret about her perfect, beautiful sister Layla. If she tells, it could blow their world apart.

When Nell and Layla were little, Nell used to call them Nellaya. Because to Nell, there was no difference between where she started and her adored big sister ended. They’re a unit; divorce made them rely on each other early on, so when one pulls away, what is the other to do? But now, Nell’s a freshman in high school and Layla is changing, secretive. And then Nell discovers why. Layla is involved with one of their teachers. And even though Nell tries to support Layla, to understand that she’s happy and in love, Nell struggles with her true feelings: it’s wrong, and she must do something about it.

What I Thought:

We Are The Goldens seemed really interesting just looking at the summary, and I really wanted to like it…but I found that I just couldn’t get into the book at all.

My biggest issue with the book- which kind of leads to most everything else I didn’t like- is how it’s narrated. It’s narrated by Nell, who is Layla’s younger sister.  It’s like you’re reading a letter that Nell wrote to Layla about everything that happened when Nell started high school.

This didn’t work (for me) for several reasons.

One: It made it feel like Layla had died and Nell was telling her what was going on.  I was definitely surprised that Layla, in fact, lived through the entire book…and it was not a good surprise.  It just felt like Nell was talking to her sister who had died. And there was definitely this feel of how Nell felt about the events that led to Layla’s death, so I spent almost the entire book waiting for Layla to die.

Two: I felt like I didn’t get how close/intertwined they were…because all we see is Layla ignoring her older sister.  I didn’t understand why Nell worshiped the ground Layla walked on, because Layla seemed like a horrible sister who didn’t care about Nell.  We see very little (if anything, because I honestly can’t remember) of what their relationship was like before the events of the book started unfolding.  It was also hard to understand how much Layla had changed because you didn’t get a sense of who she was before.  I’m not the biggest fan of multiple narrators, but I think this is a case where I would have loved some chapters from Layla’s perspective, to have what was really going on with her.  It also would have put her relationship with Nell in perspective because you’d see it from a different angle.

Three: Nell came across as a whiny brat who couldn’t survive life without her sister.  I felt like Nell was all “poor me, high school isn’t as magical and awesome as I was hoping because my sister isn’t paying that much attention to me anymore.”  I would have liked for Nell to come into her own, and step out of her sister’s shadow.  And be less dependent on her sister.  It felt like Nell needed Layla more than Layla needed Nell.

And so when we find out Layla’s secret…it felt random, and it wasn’t what I was expecting, given how the book started off. Mostly because the way it was narrated made it seem like something horribly tragic happened, like suicide (or even something else, like a tragic accident).  Not that what Layla’s secret wasn’t horrible, because it was, but…still unexpected given how it starts, and how Nell thinks that she could have prevented it if she had been a sophomore instead of a freshman. I also wish that Nell had said something sooner, instead of spending a lot of the book trying to decide what to do.  I get that she feels like she’s betraying her sister if she says something, but her indecision just really irritated me.

Speaking of death: why was she talking to the Creed brothers?  Especially since her only connection to them seemed to be the annual Creed holiday party that Nell went to with her parents.  Not only that, but the Creed brothers are dead.  And her conversations with them really had no relevance to everything else that happened.  I just don’t understand why the Creed brothers were written into the book.

Another reason why I didn’t like We Are The Goldens is the ending, which is way too open-ended for my liking.  I don’t mind open-ended books, but with this one?  I wanted so much more resolution than what we got.  I wanted to see what happened after the book ended.  It ended a little too abruptly for me, and I couldn’t believe that the way ended was…well, how it ended. I feel like the book could have been a lot longer, considering it’s not much over 100 pages.

Let’s Rate It:

I just couldn’t get into We Are The Goldens, which left me really frustrated!  I wish we saw more of Layla and the close relationship she and Nell supposedly had before Layla started going through some stuff.  The bond between these two sisters could have been explored a lot better, in my opinion.  We Are The Goldens gets 1 star.

Book: Camelot Burning by Kathryn Rose

Expected Publication is May 8, 2014 by Flux|Expected Number Of Pages: 397

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Metal & Lace #1

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy Steampunk Re-Telling Of King Arthur

You can find Camelot Burning on goodreads & Kathryn Rose on twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

By day, Vivienne is Guinevere’s lady-in-waiting. By night, she’s Merlin’s secret apprentice, indulging in the new mechanical arts and science of alchemy. It’s a preferred distraction from Camelot’s gossipy nobility, roguish knights, and Lancelot’s athletic new squire, Marcus, who will follow in all knights’ footsteps by taking a rather inconvenient vow of chastity.

More than anything, Vivienne longs to escape Camelot for a future that wouldn’t include needlework or marriage to a boorish lord or dandy. But when King Arthur’s sorceress sister, Morgan le Fay, threatens Camelot, Vivienne must stay to help Merlin build a steam-powered weapon to defeat the dark magic machine Morgan will set upon the castle. Because if Camelot falls, Morgan would be that much closer to finding the elusive Holy Grail. Time is running out and Morgan draws near, and if Vivienne doesn’t have Merlin’s weapon ready soon, lives would pay the price, including that of Marcus, the only one fast enough to activate it on the battlefield.

What I Thought:

When I first heard about Camelot Burning, I was really intrigued.  A steampunk re-telling of King Arthur is definitely different and unique, and I really like the idea of steampunk and magic colliding.  I didn’t like it as much as I was expecting, but it did more interesting in the last chapter or two.

I think my biggest issue is that I felt like I knew nothing about this Camelot and what it looked like.  Camelot is barely described, and even though Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot and crew are figures I know, but I feel like I didn’t really get to know any of them at all.  I did feel like I knew a little bit about the world, but even though, it didn’t feel like much.  In comparison to what else we know about about the characters and Camelot, however, it felt like a lot.

I couldn’t tell you anything about what Camelot looks like, and I couldn’t tell you anything about the characters.  But I like that Merlin turned away from magic to mechanical arts and had an apprentice or two. I liked that there were protection spells for Camelot and I liked how the Holy Grail and Avalon were incorporated.

I was slightly disappointed that I truly didn’t get interested until the last chapter or two.  It was a hard book to get through, and I think a lot of it is because there’s no description, which made it hard to picture everything, especially the really cool inventions we saw throughout the book.

I also couldn’t get into the romance.  I just didn’t care about Vivienne or Marcus, and I didn’t particularly if they had their own obstacles to overcome.

Let’s Rate It:

I LOVE the idea of a steampunk version of King Arthur, but Camelot Burning was a hard book to get into.  I felt like everything could have been described so much better, because I felt like I didn’t get to know the characters and I feel like I didn’t really get to know Camelot as a place.  Camelot Burning turned out to be a book that isn’t my cup of  tea, but I may be interested enough to keep reading the rest of the series.  Camelot Burning gets 2 stars.

Book: The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

Expected Publication is April 15, 2014 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 408

Where I Got It: I got the digital advanced copy from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Blood Of Eden #3

Genre: YA Dystopic/Post-Apocalyptic with some vampires

You can find The Forever Song on goodreads & Julie Kagawa on Twitter, Facebook and her blog

Goodreads Summary: 

VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS 

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? 

With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer. 

MONSTER 

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie. 

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

What I Thought:

I can’t believe The Forever Song is the last book in the series!  I’ve really enjoyed this series, and The Forever Song is such a good wrap-up to the series!

I’ve always liked Allie and her struggle to figure out this whole vampire thing, but I’ve never completely warmed up to her. I was hoping I finally love Allie in The Forever Song, but sadly, it didn’t happen.  Still, she is an interesting character, and there were certain things that happened in The Forever Song that were interesting.  One was her reaction to finally learning something that happened in The Eternity Cure, and the other was finally realizing what was needed for the cure we learned about in the last book…and what needed to happen for the cure to work.  It was definitely sad and a bit heart-breaking.

I thought Zeke was really interesting in The Forever Song, given everything that happened in the previous books.  He’s definitely a lot more interesting than he was before.  Granted, he did whine a bit, but who wouldn’t?

Jackal…I just love the guy!  I liked him when we first met him, and while he knows who he is and all that, he still was the same Jackal we knew from before.  Still, I like that he’s so consistent and that he’s not all over the place.  As for Kanin, he did surprise me in the end, but I’m still not completely sure about him.  I felt like we never got to know him, but I can definitely appreciate him and understand where he’s coming from.

Everything was wrapped up really well, and I liked how everything worked out!  I’m also glad things ended up on a happy/more positive note, because it’s much deserved in such a bleak world.  It’s good that things are looking up.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked The Forever Song!  It’s a solid series-ender, and I’m glad things were resolved the way they were.  I never completely warmed up to some of the characters, but they were still interesting characters.  The Forever Song gets 4 stars.

Book: Witchfall by Victoria Lamb

Expected publication is March 25, 2014 by Harlequin Teen|Expected Number Of Pages: 328

Where I Got It: From netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Tudor Witch Trilogy #2

Genre: YA Historical Fiction With A Bit Of Fantasy

You can find Witchfall on goodreads & Victoria Lamb on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Her darkest dreams are coming true…

In Tudor England, 1555, Meg Lytton has learned how powerful her magick gift can be. But danger surrounds her and her mistress, the outcast Princess Elizabeth. Nowhere is safe in the court of Elizabeth’s fanatical sister, Queen Mary. And as the Spanish Inquisition’s merciless priests slowly tighten their grip on the court, Meg’s very dreams are disturbed by the ever-vengeful witchfinder Marcus Dent.

Even as Meg tries to use her powers to find guidance, something evil arises, impervious to Meg’s spells and hungry to control England’s fate. As Meg desperately tries to keep her secret betrothed, the Spanish priest Alejandro de Castillo, out of harm’s way, caution wars with their forbidden desire. And with her most powerful enemy poised to strike, Meg’s only chance is a heartbreaking sacrifice.

What I Thought:

I’m really enjoying this series!  It’s such a refreshing take on the time period, and I love reading about Meg and Alejandro. Witchfall is such a good continuation of the series, and it’s such a good middle book!

Everything I loved about Witchstruck is why I loved Witchfall.  I thought Meg’s abilities in Witchfall were even more interesting in Witchfall, especially given some of the things that happen in the book.  Like, Meg’s been having some problems with her powers because of things that happened in Witchstruck.  And I like Meg’s relationship with Alejandro and how different they are (but also how much I want things to work out for them).

There’s a lot of mystery and intrigue as Meg deals with Marcus Dent and John Dee and his apprentice, Richard.  Meg and Richard working together seems to make Alejandro uncomfortable- and I don’t blame him at all- but it did make me wonder if a love triangle is going to pop up at all, because Meg and Richard do have things in common.  It doesn’t seem headed in a love triangle sort of direction, so I think I’d be slightly surprised if it did happen…things are still very much the same between Meg and Alejandro, but I’m hoping that the events of Witchfall will change things between them.

I’m really looking forward to seeing if Meg really does marry Alejandro and how she’ll defeat Marcus Dent.  I have quite a few questions I’m hoping are answered in the last book besides the two things I just mentioned.  Like, whether Elizabeth will be queen by the end of the series and what her relationship with Meg will be like, and if Meg keeps her magic or gives it up. And if she’ll be caught using her magic, resulting in something really bad for her.

I really like how everything comes together, and Meg being a witch in service to Elizabeth, while Mary is queen, works so well for this time period, and really makes the Inquisition come alive because it’s like you’re seeing what could happen first hand.

Let’s Rate It: 

I really liked Witchfall!  I love how well the magical elements blend with the historical elements, and the magical elements work really well with what’s going on during this time.  Witchfall gets 4 stars.