Tag Archives: diverse books

Book Review: Blaze Of Memory and Bonds Of Justice by Nalini Singh

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Book: Blaze Of Memory by Nalini Singh

Published November 2009 by Berkley|373 pages

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

Series: Psy-Changeling #7

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

A woman without a past becomes the pawn of the man who controls her future…

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might prove to be the enemy’s most insidious weapon yet.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

I’ve really enjoyed this series, and this book is no exception.  I’m actually kind of in the middle for this one- I liked it a lot but I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it.

I think the thing that surprised me the most was how much the romance took a backseat to everything else that was going on.  I didn’t care for Katya and Dev as a couple, and there was a lot we learned about Silence and the Forgotten in this book.  I thought it overshadowed the romance, which made me a little sad because partially why I like this series is the romance.

Okay, I haven’t loved every couple, and Katya and Dev are not one of my favorites.  But I really felt like the romance was secondary to the world-building.  That’s the other thing that keeps me going with the series, and that really stood out in this book.  We learned a lot about Dev’s family, and I liked seeing the letters written by one of his relatives to another relative.

I really liked seeing those letters, because you really see how implementing Silence changed things for all Psy.  You really see how it affected those who didn’t want to be part of it, and how they were cut off from those they loved because they didn’t believe in it.  We also learn a lot about the abilities that died out when the Forgotten defected.  I’m curious to see if we’ll learn more about those long-lost abilities, and if they’ll start popping up again.

I also liked seeing the Sunshine station or whatever you want to call it.  It makes me wonder where Singh is going with it, and if we’ll learn what’s going on there.  I’m sure we will, because I feel like Singh introduces characters and concepts long before we actually learn what’s going on.

Also…I’m starting to wonder if the Ghost is an Arrow.  I was pleasantly surprised by what we see in regards to the Arrows, and I’m curious to see who the Ghost is.  I know I mention in every single review I’ve done for this series, but this is the first time where I’ve really felt like I could even begin to come up with some possibilities.

My Rating: 4 stars.  I really liked what we learned about the Forgotten and Silence, but I wish I liked the romance more.

Book: Bonds Of Justice by Nalini Singh

Published July 2010 by Berkley|348 pages

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

Series: Psy-Changeling #8

Genre: Adult Romance/Adult Paranormal Romance

Max Shannon is a good cop, one of the best in New York Enforcement. Born with a natural shield that protects him against Psy mental invasions, he knows he has little chance of advancement within the Psy-dominated power structure. The last case he expects to be assigned is that of a murderer targeting a Psy Councilor’s closest advisors. And the last woman he expects to compel him in the most sensual of ways is a Psy on the verge of a catastrophic mental fracture…

Sophia Russo is a Justice-Psy, cursed with the ability to retrieve memories from men and women so twisted even veteran cops keep their distance. Appointed as Max’s liaison with the Psy, she finds herself fascinated by this human, her frozen heart threatening to thaw with forbidden emotion. But, her mind filled with other people’s nightmares, other people’s evil, she’s standing on the border between sanity and a silken darkness that urges her to take justice into her own hands, to become judge, jury…and executioner…

I really liked this one!  I particularly liked the romance in this one, which was a nice change after reading Blaze Of Memory, and finding that the romance took a backseat to the world-building.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the world-building in this book.  We learn about the J-Psy, and that was cool.  I mean, they can retrieve memories from people, and eventually, they’re rehabilitated so much that they go insane or die.  I am curious to see how her abilities are used in the future.  Even though she’s perfectly fine at the end of the book, I still want to know if her continued use of her ability will eventually damage her shields, and if everything going on with PsyNet will do some damage.

As for the romance, I really liked Max and Sophia together.  I think, with her abilities and his work in Enforcement, they really understand what the other has to deal with at work, and they really balance each other out.  I know Enforcement has come up in this series, but even after finishing Bonds Of Justice, I’m still not clear what they do.  Still, I’m hoping we’ll see more of Max and Sophia in some of the other books.

I really liked seeing the Council, and how they split.  I do like seeing them fight for control and power, and with the Council being so divided, it’s going to be very interesting to see how that will tie into everything going on with the PsyNet, and how it’ll affect not just the Psy, but the humans and changelings as well.

This book seemed more grounded in reality than a lot of the other books in the series.  I am particularly fond of the psy-changeling romances we’ve seen, and overall, I prefer those romances to all of the non-psy-changeling romances we’ve seen.  I think I expected more paranormal elements, and this book didn’t really have it.  Paranormal elements or not, I really did like this one.

My Rating: 4 stars.  I really liked Bonds Of Justice, and I liked Max and Sophia together.

Audio Book Review: The Book Of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor, Narrated by Robin Miles

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Book: The Book Of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor, Narrated by Robin Miles

Published September 2015 by Audible Studios|Length: 8 hours, 50 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Who Fears Death #0.1

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Dystopia

A fiery spirit dances from the pages of the Great Book. She brings the aroma of scorched sand and ozone. She has a story to tell….

The Book of Phoenix is a unique work of magical futurism. A prequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award-winning novel Who Fears Death, it features the rise of another of Nnedi Okorafor’s powerful, memorable, superhuman women.

Phoenix was grown and raised among other genetic experiments in New York’s Tower 7. She is an “accelerated woman” – only two years old but with the body and mind of an adult, Phoenix’s abilities far exceed those of a normal human. Still innocent and inexperienced in the ways of the world, she is content living in her room speed reading ebooks, running on her treadmill, and basking in the love of Saeed, another biologically altered human of Tower 7. Then one evening Saeed witnesses something so terrible that he takes his own life.

Devastated by his death and Tower 7’s refusal to answer her questions, Phoenix finally begins to realize that her home is really her prison, and she becomes desperate to escape. But Phoenix’s escape, and her destruction of Tower 7, is just the beginning of her story. Before her story ends, Phoenix will travel from the United States to Africa and back, changing the entire course of humanity’s future. 

I really liked The Book Of Phoenix!  Nnedi Okorafor always writes really interesting books, and this one was no exception.

This one is a prequel to Who Fears Death, and I kind of wish I had re-read that one first, just to get back into this world.  Also, I couldn’t begin to tell you how the two books are connected, but maybe I’ll re-read Who Fears Death just to see.

I did like Phoenix, and I thought it was horrible what people were doing to the biologically altered.  I do remember wondering how we got to the future we saw in Who Fears Death, and I am thinking that maybe everything we see in this book is what leads to that future.  I could be wrong, and I really am wishing I had re-read Who Fears Death.  But that is what I get for randomly deciding to read a book without re-reading any of the other books in that series.

That being said, I thought the book stood on its own really well, and I don’t think the order in which you read the books matters.  Also, you could probably read just this one, and be fine.  It is its own story, and I liked seeing Phoenix try to take down the towers and fight back against her controllers.

The Book Of Phoenix worked really well as an audio book.  It’s an oral history, told by Phoenix herself, and I felt like Phoenix was telling me her own story, which really worked.  Also, it’s narrated by Robin Miles, who is a fantastic narrator.  I’ve really liked the books I’ve listened to that have been narrated by her, and this one was no exception.  I’m really glad I went with the audio, and I wholeheartedly recommend the audio book.

4 stars.  I wish I had more to say about this book, but I don’t.  I really liked it, and I love how Okorafor blends fantasy and sci-fi.

Book Review: Flygirl by Sherri L Smith

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Book: Flygirl by Sherri L Smith

Published January 2009 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers|288 pages

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

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn’t stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy’s gone now, and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her.

When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots – and Ida suddenly sees a way to fly as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed in the Pacific. But even the WASP won’t accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make a difficult choice of “passing,” of pretending to be white to be accepted into the program. Hiding one’s racial heritage, denying one’s family, denying one’s self is a heavy burden. And while Ida Mae chases her dream, she must also decide who it is she really wants to be.

I liked Flygirl!  It’s definitely worth checking out, and I really liked reading Ida Mae’s story.

So one thing I didn’t particularly like was how old Ida Mae was.  It’s mentioned in the book that she’s 20, which I thought was really strange.  I mean, it reads as YA, and I thought Ida Mae was a lot younger than she really was.  That didn’t particularly work for me, but it is what it is.

I did like the friendships she formed with some of her fellow WASP’s, and being a WASP really brought them together.  You really saw how Ida just wanted to be a pilot, like her dad was.  You see her struggle with her fellow WASP’s finding out she’s black, and you see what it’s like for her to be a pilot in a man’s world.  One scene that was really heartbreaking was when her mom came to Ida’s flight school, pretending to be the family maid so people wouldn’t know that Ida was passing as white.

There is some conflict with her family and friends back home about passing for white, but it’s not something that really comes up in her time as WASP.  I think I thought (based on the summary) that it would play more of a part than it really did.  I’m white, though, so I could be completely wrong about that.

The book ended with a lot of things being pretty open-ended.  You’re not sure if Ida Mae goes back home to her family, or if she tries to make it as a pilot once the WASP program ended.  I don’t mind it when books have an open ending, but in this case, I wanted to know more about Ida Mae’s future.

3 stars.  I liked Flygirl, and how Ida Mae was caught between two different worlds.  It’s a great book if you want World War II historical fiction about a part of history that doesn’t come up in your average history class.  I didn’t love it, but it was an interesting read.

Audio Book Review: My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma, Narrated by Priya Ayyar

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Book: My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma, Narrated by Priya Ayyar

Published May 2018 by Listening Library|Length: 7 hours, 7 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

Winnie Mehta was never really convinced that Raj was her soulmate, but their love was written in the stars. Literally, a pandit predicted Winnie would find the love of her life before her 18th birthday, and Raj meets all of the qualifications. Which is why Winnie is shocked to return from her summer at film camp to find her boyfriend of three years hooking up with Jenny Dickens. Worse, Raj is crowned chair of the student film festival, a spot Winnie was counting on for her film school applications. As a self-proclaimed Bollywood expert, Winnie knows this is not how her perfect ending is scripted.

Then there’s Dev, a fellow film geek, and one of the few people Winnie can count on to help her reclaim control of her story. Dev is smart charming, and challenges Winnie to look beyond her horoscope to find someone she’d pick for herself. But does falling for Dev mean giving up on her prophecy, and her chance to live happily ever after? To get her Bollywood-like life on track, Winnie will need a little bit of help from fate, family, and of course, a Bollywood movie star. 

Like an expertly choreographed Bollywood dance scene, Nisha Sharma’s off-beat love story dazzles in the lime light. 

I really liked My So-Called Bollywood Life!  It’s really cute, and I think it’s a good read-alike if you like When Dimple Met Rishi and Anna And The French Kiss.

There were times when I really liked Winnie, but there were times when I didn’t like her at all.  I liked that she did question the prophecy, especially with how things with Raj turned out.  It was clear that the prophecy was a big part of her life, and though I don’t put a lot of emphasis on prophecies, I did like seeing how important it was to her family, and how astrology did play a big part in their lives.

I also liked how she a blog where she reviewed Bollywood movies.  Film was really important to her, and it’s what she wants to do career-wise.  I think it was that part of that made me think of Anna And The French Kiss.  It’s really cool to see books where the main character is into movies and wants to be a film critic, instead of an actor or director.

It was cool to see how much she loved Bollywood movies, and how it’s something she shares with her dad.  It’s interesting, because I feel like it doesn’t happen a lot in YA.  Of course, that would require parents to be around in YA, and that’s something that doesn’t happen often.  It’s nice to see her relationship with her family, and it was clear that family is important to all of them.

Wanting love and a happy ending was important for Raj, Dev, and Winnie.  In the case of Raj and Dev, it didn’t feel fake, and it’s nice to see a book where guys believe in love.

One thing that I thought was interesting was how each chapter started off with a rating of a Bollywood movie.  It was different, but I thought it really worked.  At the end of book, we also get Winnie’s reviews of each of the movies mentioned in the book.  I don’t know if it’s different in the print version, since I went with the audio book, but it was fun to hear her actual reviews.  I thought it worked well at the end of the audio, especially because I don’t know that it would have worked at the beginning of each chapter.  It would be cool to see it worked into each chapter in the print version.

Speaking of the audio book, I really liked the narrator!  I felt like she really captured who Winnie is as a person.  I’m glad I went with audio for this one.  Looking back, I don’t know if I would have liked nearly as much if I read it, but it worked really well on audio.

4 stars.  I really liked My So-Called Bollywood Life.  It’s a really cute contemporary romance, and worth reading!

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 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.

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: Mine To Possess by Nalini Singh

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Book: Mine To Possess by Nalini Singh

Published February 2008 by Berkley|328 pages

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

Series: Psy-Changling #4

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

Clay Bennett is a powerful DarkRiver sentinel, but he grew up in the slums with his human mother, never knowing his changeling father. As a young boy without the bonds of Pack, he tried to stifle his animal nature. He failed…and committed the most extreme act of violence, killing a man and losing his best friend, Talin, in the bloody aftermath. Everything good in him died the day he was told that she, too, was dead.

Talin McKade barely survived a childhood drenched in bloodshed and terror. Now a new nightmare is stalking her life–the street children she works to protect are disappearing and turning up dead. Determined to keep them safe, she unlocks the darkest secret in her heart and returns to ask the help of the strongest man she knows…

Clay lost Talin once. He will not let her go again, his hunger to possess her, a clawing need born of the leopard within. As they race to save the innocent, Clay and Talin must face the violent truths of their past…or lose everything that ever mattered.

I liked Mine To Possess!  I think it’s my least favorite book so far, though there were things that I liked as well.

I really liked learning more about the Silence and the Psy-Net.  With each book, we’re learning more and more about the world, and while each book is relatively contained, and is a mostly complete story, we’re also getting more about the world they live in, and how much history there is.  There’s a larger picture that you wouldn’t see if you didn’t read each book.

The overall story gets moved along a lot in this book and that was nice to see.  We get more behind the scenes with the Council, and though there was something that I figured out early on in the book, I was surprised at some of the details.  It makes sense, but I had never thought about it before, and I’m really curious to see where it will go.

As for Talin and Clay…I didn’t particularly care for them as a couple.  I mean they make sense in terms of the story, and they have a history.  I get why Talin acted the way she did, and I felt for her.  There were a couple of time Clay was really frustrating, but for the most part, I liked Clay a lot more than Tally.  I wish I rooted for the romance more, because with romance, I want to love the characters together, and I just didn’t.  Hopefully, I’ll have better luck with the next book.

3 stars.  I didn’t like it as much as the previous books because of the couple but I did like learning more about the Silence and the Psy Net.  And I’m really curious to see where things go.

Book Review: Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova

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Book: Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova

Published June 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire|336 pages

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

Series: Brooklyn Brujas #2

Genre: YA

Three sisters. One spell. Countless dead.

Lula Mortiz feels like an outsider. Her sister’s newfound Encantrix powers have wounded her in ways that Lula’s bruja healing powers can’t fix, and she longs for the comfort her family once brought her. Thank the Deos for Maks, her sweet, steady boyfriend who sees the beauty within her and brings light to her life.

Then a bus crash turns Lula’s world upside down. Her classmates are all dead, including Maks. But Lula was born to heal, to fix. She can bring Maks back, even if it means seeking help from her sisters and defying Death herself. But magic that defies the laws of the deos is dangerous. Unpredictable. And when the dust settles, Maks isn’t the only one who’s been brought back…

I really liked Bruja Born!  I admit, I was nervous going into it, because it’s been a while since I read the first book, and I was sure I was going to regret that.  I mean, how many times have I read the second book in the series without re-reading the first, and then been really confused about what was going on?  Too many times to count.

That was not the case with this book.  Thankfully.  While it’s set in the same world, has the same characters, and takes place after the events of the first book, it’s a completely different story focusing on a different character.  Reading the first book would be a good idea, so you know what the characters are referencing, but I think you’d be fine if you didn’t.  It’s one of those series where you don’t need to read them in order, and each one stands on its own pretty well, but reading all of them gives a larger picture you wouldn’t get if you didn’t read all of them.

Bruja Born is a lot creepier than I expected it to be, but I liked it.  I liked that there were very real (and very serious) consequences to Lula’s actions.  What happened in Los Lagos really affected her, and you really see that in this book. There are definitely checks and balances and you see what happens when Lula is unable to let go.

I particularly loved the bond that Lula and her sisters had.  They are in it together, particularly Alex and Lula, and there’s a lot both girls have to deal with.  It’s nice to see a family that is actually around and supportive.  Yes, Rose, Lula and Alex fight, but they’re also there for each other.  I feel like we don’t see it enough in YA.  The magical world they live in really opens up in this book, and there are some things we have not seen the last of.  Hopefully, we’ll get more of it in the next book.

I loved the magic and mythology, and it’s nice to see something that’s not the typical Greek mythology or magic you’d see in most fantasy.  There are so many different mythologies and magic systems out there, and it’s nice to see something different.

And this is a random change of topic, but I liked seeing accept the scars on her face.  I think it’s understandable she’d want to glamour them.  It’s your face, and it’s something people notice.  But over the course of the book, you see her be more okay with it.  She really changes a lot, and it felt very real and very relatable.

One thing I couldn’t quite figure out was the timeline.  It seems like it takes place over a longer period of time, at least from what the characters say, and yet, it seems like it happens over the course of a few days.  I’m not sure if I just wasn’t paying attention, or if it was action-packed enough that it seemed like it happened faster than it really did.  Obviously, I kept reading, and I did really enjoy it, so while it was odd, it wasn’t a huge factor in my enjoyment of the book.

4 stars.  I really liked Bruja Born!  I liked Lula and her relationship with her sisters, and I really liked the mythology and magic in the book.