A Merry Christmas to you all!
It's pretty late but Merry Christmas you guys.
I'm hoping in the coming year RL won't get in the way and I'll be able to do some reviews so woo for that.
Enjoy the holidays!!!
Endless Knight by Kresley Cole - Review
I shall put my disclaimer. This is not everyone's cup of tea, in some aspects it's slightly better than Poison Princess, in others I think it's worse -the not-everyones-cup-of-tea aspect.
I'm not so much going to review the writing, because really it's Kresley Cole and I love her writing. So it's more about the characters.
I found Endless Knight a lot much better than Poison Princess in terms of Jack being more tolerable (*gasp* I know right?). Why would I start off the review with speaking about Jack? Well because he was a main point of contention for many readers in the last book. And while I don't think that his personality has changed I think the focus was more on his nicer(?) qualities, so it made him more tolerable. What is his good quality? At the end of the day, he does care about Evie and will move the earth just to help her, despite, you know...him being mortal (or is he?) and she being more powerful than him. Even if he doesn't want to, he can't help it (<--Don't go blaming Evie for that Jack, you are master of your own actions), Jack didn't tick me off as much as he did in the last book.
Do you know who ticked me off? And yes this may come as a surprise to many of you, especially those who are swooning over him, but Death ticked me off. Evie ticked me off because of how she was getting mixed feelings about Death when the guy [spoiler] Had her in, if memory serves right, BARBED HANDCUFFS. not exactly but they were digging into her skin. She was basically his prisoner. He kept her weak and at the same time she'd get googly-eyed at him, really?!
[/spoiler] And I don't know if it was some stockholm syndrome or maybe past lives creeping in(because from the summary we all know Death and the Empress had a little thing going on), but I can't wrap my head around someone being sympathetic to him in this life. Yes he got dealt a bad hand before, which does explain his rather extreme measures, but there comes a time when a girl has got to take a stand. Granted Evie had done that at the end of the day, but it's the wavering I couldn't stand. I've determined it to be a character flaw. There are times when Evie is just too soft-hearted.
That being said, when she goes in to Empress mode....there will be blood. She's pretty vicious, her powers can be very underhanded when you think about it. It probably explains her soft-heart because she doesn't *want* to be the Big Bad. Still she stepped up her game in this one (well considering all that she's coming from and what she's been through it's expected). We see that despite being known as the Empress, she is different that her previous incarnations, whether this was because her upbringing was different who's to say. In any case it's because of this, that she ends up being able to form more allies.
Plot-wise there were some twists and turns that you could've seen coming, but enjoyable none-the-less. It still remains a very interesting book, hence the reason why I haven't given up. I'm not usually a fan of dystopia (unless there's some really cool elements, or it's by a writer I really love) but the Tarot Cards aspect is I actually didn't mind the pacing despite it being somewhat of a filler, and I say this loosely because so much happens for it to be considered a filler, but it's definitely setting up for bigger things.
There's also been talk about that card that will not be revealed until he/she makes their first kill. Well golly gee I wonder who that might be? Of course we could all be completely wrong in our assumptions that it's...you-know-who.
Again, if it weren't for Death, I'd give this four stars. Needless to say, these love interests need some serious work. There are some other little nitpicks, which, I really wish I had written the review right after I read the book, and not a month later XD, because I cannot remember the points.
So I mostly recommend it for those who loved the first book, and those who are on the fence. One way or another this book should make up your mind as to whether or not you'd continue. Honestly it all depends on your threshold for love interests that aren't so lovely >.>
Oh another note, there are betrayals...everywhere.
(pssssst. the steam factor just got pushed up a lot in this book)
Why oh why did it take me so long to read this.Action packed, mystery packed, great banter? really? what is there not to love.
(warning, more a babble of incoherent thought than a review)This book pulled at my heartstrings, as in I cried, yes...and you know why, stinking, dirty Curran (mind you there was a reasonable explanation, and I still love him) To be fair he was put between a rock and a hard place. There wasn't much of an option.
Anywho, now that I've gotten that out of the way, the writing team that is Ilona Andrews definitely outdid themselves. This story is top-notch, and we're at the 6th book! Kate shows no sign of stopping, she's that badass chick that we all love, and Curran is Curran. (lol)
So for major part of this book Kate and Curran and the gang, were somewhere on the European continent due to some crazy politics and manipulation by - nope I won't tell you, but let's just say Voron's replacement was there- and they're guarding Dessandra who's near to giving birth to twins -from different fathers...cue the crazy politics.
They're basically in a den of cut-throat people that want them dead at any given time, and the gang can't go in guns blazing because, they're stuck between a rock and a hard place, and of course tension runs high. Tension that ends up causing drama, that may cause a few tears for you the reader. Of course we have the crazy action too, the crazy characters and just the crazy goodness that is the Kate Daniels series.
Did i mention the feels? Oh my gosh the feeels, the book will put you through the ringer..but you know...It's worth it..
SO guys, get off your butts and buy this book! READ IT!
What kind of ending was that?! You do not end with a cliffy like that!lol...now I have a next pairing to wait for before Nix's book, although chances are Nix's book will be the last in the series. Anywho onto the review :)
Can I just say I really like the heroine? I think Chloe's tied with Ellie from Lothaire, and they're alike too in terms of spunk. Though Chloe's got a higher dose on account of being a soccer (football) player. Even so, she can balance it with tenderness and fun, so yeah..she's cute :) And I feel for her because she was basically thrown into the Lore, and for those of you who have read the 3 chapter excerpt: you know that her father is Webb So it's a lot to take in.
But then there's Macrieve and though everything is going way too fast with him, he's essentially like a safe harbour...buuut, and you know there's a but in there, things come crashing to a head when Chloe makes her transition into an immortal and guess what kind it was? You remember the 3 chpt excerpt? you remember Ruelle? Needless to Macrieve (ullieam, will -a man of many an alias-) flips out and well things aren't pretty, and there are times when Macrieve does some really, stupid things. But Chloe doesn't take that crap ^_^ she gives as good as she gets, and well she was tough when she was mortal, and when she immortal whoo boy MacRieve, I suggest you protect your crown jewels *snickers*
They get everything sorted out and this book made it to my favourites in the IAD series, mostly because of before the revelation and after when they got everything sorted out. You see a man who would protect his mate, who's happy with his mate, and just plain loves and enjoys her company (not to say that this doesn't happen in the other books, but it's really more pronounced here) and in that way, this book reminded me of Sebastian's and Kaderin's book. Otherwise this book more reminded me of Lothaire's in terms of what the Hero [heh..lothaire a hero] believes ought to happen, as opposed to will happen versus what has happened.
As for the steam, it's Kresley Cole, of course you're in for a hot treat. Still, I do believe that Lothaire has been the hottest book in the series so far, not to mention that pairing was fun.
All in all this was a pretty solid read from KC.
2.5 stars - not my cuppa teaWell I liked the (apparently) ongoing plot in the books. I haven't read the previous ones, but the underlying story seems interesting, and the world rich. However, this was one of the most difficult books for me to read.
Why?
The total and complete angst-fest in this book. The main characters have angst, the side characters have angst, heck, even one of the villains suffers from bouts of angst. Now I know some people love angst, which is why I say this is not my cup of tea. I can handle it, in small to moderate doses, not in liberal amounts, and then some.
Then there's the relationship between the H/H every time we think okay, they're moving ahead in their relationship, oh no. Instead we find them moving, two steps backward. It got to the point where I was glazing over the words and waiting for the book to finish. This could have been remedied with a swift kick in the head to the Hero and Heroine of the story.
It should also be noted that this book is a part of a series and I would suggest that if you want to read this series, start from the first book. There's an ongoing story and as such, you may find yourself stumbling a bit, trying to figure out what's going on.
As I said before, the book isn't completely hopeless, I didn't feel a disconnect with the characters (despite wanting to throttle them), and I like the world building was good. I liked the parallel story of Cass and Maximus in ancient Rome. (See those two know how to work a relationship without the buckets of angst :P) Which can account for me rounding up to 3 stars.
Also I believe the reader would've benefited from a glossary of terms. just sayin'.
So generally I'm not much of a contemporary romance reader. I usually stick to historical romance, urban-fantasy, or paranormal romance, but the reviews were good and I decided to take a chance.I don't regret it.
This was such a heartwarming and man if I didn't feel my throat clogging up a couple of times.
Joe Lawson is a single dad whose wife, whom he loved very, died two years prior to the book. He's not looking for love, he's not thinking of finding a new love. Not when everywhere he turns he finds a memory of his dead wife. So he and his family moves elsewhere, in a bid for Joe to not be surrounded so much by his memories.
Then he meets Hannah. Motorcycle riding, car fixing, straight shooter Hannah. She's sure as hell not looking for love either, not with what happened to her before, but you know how these things go. You can't fight love.
The two meet and...well it wasn't off to a good start, but you through a series of events their relationship grows into something that can be. Their relationship felt real, and it wasn't insta-lust, nor was it insta-love, which is always a plus, there wasn't any contrived drama but rather real issues that they dealt with, and are stronger for it.
Now kids in a romance is never an easy thing to do (personally I love it when it's done right) but I think Ms. Mayberry captured them perfectly. They're not syrupy sweet, and neither are they obnoxious and my heart goes out to the kids for what they went through. It can't be easy.
All in all, the writing was well done, characterizations were real, and the relationship was beautiful.
Now can I huggles them all?
4.5 star ratingThis will be a spoiler-free review.
What can I say about dear Heart of Obsidian, on which I have been waiting for a very long time?
I'll just start off with this, I was not disappointed.
And I have to take a moment to gather my thoughts because really, Heart of Obsidian was amazing and in some ways it reminded me of Kiss of Snow; one of the major difference was that although like the latter, Heart of Obsidian had a lot going on, HoO was more internally focused, the couple being the major focus of the story.
and boy do I love this couple. They reminded me of coming home. Their bond that was formed from before this book, is one that withstands Silence. I really can't say anymore on that term lest I spoil anything, but I absolutely loved this relationship, and I loved how we got so much focus on it.
That being said, this book is also a major game changer, because while we had so much focus on the hero and heroine of this book, Pure Psy also made some critical moves which caused chaos and devastation. This causes a ripple effect, and like KoS I believe we'll see more of its effects in the following book.
Which brings me to why I rated it 4.5 stars. I wasn't ready for it being finished, I need more, not necessarily on the main pairing - although I really do love them. It's more of I felt that there was so much more to be told. Still this is a ongoing series, and the plot cannot be wrapped up with one book.
One thing that I will say though, I am eager for the next book in this series.
Well, I do believe this was a satisfying end to a pretty good series ^_^It was a bit slow in starting, kind of reminiscent of the first book. Not completely, but it took a while to pick up - pace-wise, but once the ball got rolling it got going. This book, well series really (starting from the Darkest Powers) has been a good mix of suspense, action and romance.
And I really do like how the author handled the romance. It was very smart and mature in my opinion. The parties involved obviously do care for each other and there is respect there, it may not have been an easy decision but it was smart and well done. That's all I will say to that.
As for the characters, well I think I've already gushed enough about them throughout the series. They're real, they have a bond forged between them that will stay through thick and thin, and the feels, they keep coming and won't stop..
Did I mention Chloe and the gang were there too? Granted, it was only for around the last quarter of the book, but that was fine, because the Darkness Rising Trilogy wasn't about them, we already know them and the resolution, while it may not have been wrapped in a shiny new bow, was smart. I keep using that word right? But it's true. There are still some issues that will need to be worked out, but for the most part, it's decent deal.
pssst... I'm really happy who Maya ended up with.
Here there be spoilers as to who Maya ended up with ---> I still do love Rafe (really, boy's heart is golden). I really do like how both he and Maya handle the end of their relationship. Maya understood that it wouldn't be fair to him, and he understood, that right then and there, may have not been the best of times for their relationship, and because they cared and respected each other they made the smart decision, and I love how that was handled.
On another note Maya and Daniel have always had that certain chemistry between them, and it's even better that they are best friends ^_^