REVIEW: Madly by Amy Alward

A royal mess.

Samantha Kemi comes from a long line of old-school alchemists, which has fallen on hard times.

When thoroughly modern Princess Evelyn is poisoned by a positively ancient love potion, a hunt is called to find an antidote.

Winning this hunt will revive Sam’s family’s reputation. And soon Sam is traveling the world for the rarest ingredients, venturing deep into magical forests and frozen tundras, facing death at every turn.

Sam’s greatest threat? Zain Aster, her foremost opponent on the hunt. Rumor has it he was the intended recipient of the princess’s love potion. With that smile, it’s not hard to see why…

Falling for Zain is a terrible idea. So why can’t Sam get him out of her mind? Is this magic at work?

This book was laden with tropes and clichés, and not all of them good. Amy Alward, because of her job, knows exactly what a proper young adult book needs. She had an interesting premise, a plot that moves, characters with drive and goals, and a nicely built world. That being said, the story was in no way riveting. I enjoyed it, but I enjoy a lot of books that don’t necessarily receive/deserve high ratings.

The book started with a great trope: modern fairytale. I don’t think I’ve read any stories that are clearly a fairytale such as this, but set in a super digital age. It was an interesting mix that hooked me from the beginning. However, the story was Ella Enchanted but less riveting and entertaining. The characters had wants but no real developed pasts. Sam is destined to be a great alchemist (the only thing I loved from her was reading her alchemical knowledge when she listed qualities off for different ingredients), and Zain is destined to take over ZoroCorp. Neither of them thinks that’s what they want, but they know it’s what they’ll do in the end. Boring. Bad cliché. And don’t get me wrong, I love when families are happy and whole, but it’s like nothing bad has ever happened in Nova and everyone has such an easy life. None of the characters had the depth of a hard life or lost parents. The characters were all flat.

The plot, in turn, was flat. Even when Kirsty takes someone close to Sam into the Wilds, I felt nothing. I was just, “thank you, finally we have some tragic action”. I mean, the plot was good and there. The big plot moments happened, and the hero fell in love with a boy supposedly in love with another. Such a bad cliché.

The whole book just fell short because of rotten clichés, and pacing of all things. The book wasn’t super short, but everything felt so rushed. It was all the exciting plot humps you’d expect out of a trilogy, but rolled into one book. It was such a rushed pace, and nothing bad happened! A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing dire. Nobody died, and that’s a problem for me, because nothing heightened the adventure for me. The stakes weren’t raised enough. Emilia ended up fizzing out as a threat. Evelyn fizzed out too, and she never did any real harm. Everything was so vanilla and boring. I enjoyed the book, but I don’t need to read the rest of the series because as far as I can see, the series is done. She did her thing and got the guy. Hooray, but I don’t feel any need whatsoever to continue reading. Sure, some books are still missing, but I’m utterly unconcerned.

Bad pacing and even worse clichés have turned this play on a modernized fairytale into a womp-zone. Amy Alward’s Madly is a cheesy, easy read with zero depth, and that’s disappointing. Also, I still have no idea how Zain didn’t get the love potion. I read Princess Evelyn’s chapters, and I don’t understand how she mixed them up. Is she just dumb or what? And when there’s a fundamental error like that, we’ve got a problem for sure.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

            Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours. But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. So much for normal.

            While I really enjoyed Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, the book also kind of irked me toward the end. Evie’s character just seemed to wear me down after a while. I thought the book was fun and quirky for sure, but I could only read it in short bursts every couple days. This is not the kind of book I could ever read all through the night without stopping. I would lose all my brain cells and desire to ever read again.

            That being said, I want to mention again that I did enjoy the book, but it’s not one I ever care to read again. Evie is the platinum blond, pink loving, high school obsessed girl, Lend is the mysterious boy, and Reth is the mysterious boy with an ulterior motive. There wasn’t a lot of depth to the story. Sure, Evie was raised to be a supernatural snatcher who always thought she was human until learning otherwise, but her character was so stereotypical. The only way this story deviates from normal teenybopper stories is that Evie wants to be “normal” instead of “special”. Plus, I just can’t take a protagonist very seriously when they are infatuated with the color pink.

            The plot wasn’t awful. I actually enjoyed getting to learn new supernaturals, and seeing them in different ways. However, this book is literally all about Evie getting to a normal life and that’s insanely boring. I want to delve further into the supernatural realms! I read paranormal YA for the paranormal aspect. If I wanted to read a high school story, then I would stick to a contemporary YA. I loved that Evie was strong and independent, but she was so blinded by her need to be normal that she never even bothered to learn everything she could about the supernaturals she dealt with every day.

            My favorite part of the story was honestly the writing. Not what was written necessarily, but just Kiersten White’s writing. I think she did exceptionally well with her pacing of the story and there were a lot of spots where I laughed and even one where I cried. For a debut, White did great. However, it was a debut and there were flaws in the characters, plot and premise that lowered the rating of this book significantly. I will definitely be giving White another chance though, because debuts will always falter in some ways, but I did love her writing style.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

            Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met…a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

            But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

            The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown—in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?

There are 99 reasons to love Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan, and most of them revolve around the protagonist, Kami Glass. Not only is Kami a strong, independent girl who don’t need no man, but she’s the knight in shining armor to not one but two damsels in distress. She’s a sass-a-frass of a girl with the wit repertoire of Loki from Supernatural. She’s a badass girl, and her best friends are too.

Angela and her brother, Rusty are the new kids to town. They’re not let in on town secrets, but they’re fine with that. They don’t care for gossip or social interaction. They like naps, and Rusty teaches self-defense. Rusty has taught Angela and Kami to be the badass girls they are today. Holly, on the other hand, is a bit of a natural badass. She drives a motorcycle and all the boys flock to her like bees to honey. Angela and Holly bond over their mutual distaste for boys and their boyish ways. It’s clear that they are absolutely in love with each other!

Along with her two best friends, Kami’s gang includes two damsels in distress. These damsels are none other than Jared and Ash Lynburn of the infamous Lynburns. I mention the gang members because they really make the story interesting. I love the cast of characters in Unspoken. I didn’t know a supernatural, gothic romance would have such a great cast, but it really does! I really didn’t know that it was going to be such a powerful and savvy females novel.

Aside from the characters and roles they had, the plot was amazing as well. There aren’t a lot of stories in YA that I’ve seen that involve imaginary friends. I think that’s probably something more prevalent in middle grade where kids are actually shifting out of having imaginary friends. It was great to get to read something dealing with such a theme. I loved it, and I think Brennan really handled the problems that would arise from finding out your imaginary friend is real quite well.

I’m incredibly excited to sink my fangs into the rest of the Lynburn Legacy. I can’t say that I found too many cons in the first book of the series. I really hated Jared’s mother, but I think that was the point. The one thing that stuck out to me as odd was how much Jared and Kami were one. Now, let me get to the point before you tell me how that’s the point.

Kami is such a strong character and Jared is too. Clearly there was the question throughout the book about where one person ended and the other began. Jared knew everything about Kami, but Kami really never knew a lot about Jared, and it felt obvious how different they were. Yet, Uncle Rob kept mentioning how their bond made them basically the same in a way. It might have just been something Rob had to say to get his way, but it’s odd to think that some of Kami’s personality is there because of Jared. I wonder if that will make Kami’s character read a little differently in the next book, and I don’t really know if I want that but shouldn’t that be the case? Odd.

That’s the only con I have, but it could just be my imagination.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

            Danica Shardae is an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, she’ll do anything in her power to stop this war—even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one.

            Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica—and all they ask of their people—but it may be more than she can give.

            Along with Tithe by Holly Black, Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes prove to be my all-time favorite books. I don’t reread a lot of books (I find the act silly when there are so many new books that come out every day and plenty more old ones I have yet to read), but I do reread these ones and have many times.

            The thing that draws me back to Hawksong time and time again is partly the characters and partly the premise. Danica is a strong princess not afraid to get her gown a little bloodstained and her crown a little bent. She’s determined to stop the war between her people and her rival, at any cost. This is a characteristic that I absolutely admire. It’s a simple betrothal sort of tale which was really popular back in the early 2000s, but there’s so much more depth because of the premise and the characters.

            At its core, Hawksong is a love story, and getting to see the development of that pure love between the main characters is really what sets this story apart from others in the young adult world. A lot of YA books rely on love of the star-crossed destiny sort, but this book offers up something much more real with a slow burn. Danica never really sees when she falls in love with Zane and neither does the reader. Its just a natural love story set in the middle of a war-ravaged world where two nations have very little trust in the other. But they trust their leaders, and its very interesting to see two nations try to mend after being at war with each other for so long.

            This book is definitely underrated. There are so many great things in this book that really pertain to our world now. We are currently at war with another nation and that has caused much distrust, and I think this book really sheds a lot of real-world lessons that were pertinent in 2004 and still are twelve years later. So yes, it may appear to be a silly love story to some, but it is way more than that. This book will always be one of my favorites and I encourage everyone to read it.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve. Either you’re his true love…or you killed him.”

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them—until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, and he’s a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn’t believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

What I really loved about this book was basically everything. I actually checked out the book from the library a month ago and tried to read it, but ended up just having to return it. I checked it out again and began anew with new eyes. I must have just not been in the supernatural niche a month ago or something because I was totally hooked.

The book sort of had a slow burn, with a lot of pages dedicated to really defining the characters’ motives, thoughts, and actions. By the time the boys and Blue finally joined, I knew everything I needed to know about what made everybody tick.

In a way, this detailing of the characters bothered me somewhat. It was mainly Adam and Noah that bothered me the most. Now don’t get me wrong, I love them both, but one of them got too much emphasis and the other received little to none.

Starting with Adam, his character development keeps bringing up his resentment toward Gansey’s background and money and upbringing. It comes up time and time again and it really irks me how often it comes up. I understand the juxtaposition of Adam and Whelk, and I understand that Adam’s resentment paves the way for the ending of the book. Do I still wish there was less emphasis on this part of his character and maybe just a little more air time for the rest of his personality? Yes.

As for Noah, he’s a smudgy guy and reasonably so considering his history. The thing that bothered me was not so much how little we learn about him, but rather how much he and Blue seemingly bond in no time at all. There’s the time they meet, and then the next time we see them together they’re all BFFs. He pets her hair like she’s his own Blue-pet. I understand the contact thing, I do, but it was just a little odd. And I like odd. Blue just seems to adore Noah as much as he adores her, and I wish I had gotten to know more about the guy that is easily adorable.

I think this book is very unique, and that’s what sort of turned me off the first time but reeled and hooked me the second time. Quest books of this caliber in young adult are an easy find, especially if you were to look in the middle grade section. Love and supernatural are an easy find as well. What’s unique, however, is the merging of the two. The book, and ultimately the series I presume, is a bit of a witch’s cauldron. A little bit of contemporary issues, a dash of love and supernatural, a bug dollop of quest, a pitch of magic and mystery, a hint of chaos and whimsy. It’s got a little bit of everything.

The character I’ve fallen the most in love with would have to be Gansey, which is already a bad move on my part since he’s going to die by the end of series. He’s like an eagle willingly surrounded by broken canaries. He’s got such a depth of character that I haven’t quite experienced with any of the other characters. Ronan is my second favorite for this reason as well, and he might inch forward in the coming books. Blue was a fine character, but I much preferred reading about her when she was with the Raven Boys or her family. Her family was great, and I wish my own were that exciting.

All-in-all, I think the plot was incredibly well developed, and I love that I’ve finished the book and there’s still a lot of mystery. In some books there’s only one mystery that links the series, but there are already so many for this one. I think this series is going to do me in emotionally. I can’t wait!

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Tithe by Holly Black

            Sixteen-year-old Kaye is modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms—a struggle that could very well mean her death.

            First off, Merry Early Christmas everybody! Second, Tithe by Holly Black is hands down one of my all-time favorite books ever. That being said, there are still a few things that could have been better, favorite author/book or not.

            The first thing that still jars me a little to this day, even after many a reread, is the awkward continuation of the book after the tithe ceremony. It was just such a good time to end the book but then it weirdly continued on. Sure, there was still more of the story to be told, but it just felt like the end of book one.

            Granted, I totally understand book deals and all that mumbo jumbo so there probably wasn’t a potential two-book deal or anything even though there needed to be one. The rest of the story had to be told, but with it came an uncomfortable hump in the story.

            Another thing that bugged me was the very end of the book. Seriously, Kaye? If you’ve read the story, you’ll understand my frustrations with her.

            Aside from that, there’s only praise from me. However, if this were any other book, that hump in the middle would have docked the book at least one whole star. It’s that awkward.

            Let’s get to the characters: they’re grungy and flawed and totally real. A lot of people will call these urban characters too over the top and unreal, but hellooooo it’s a book and I’m not entirely unconvinced that urban teens aren’t identical to those in the book.

            I think Kaye is an awesome protagonist. She’s lived her whole life on the move and not only has this made her fiercely independent, but also quite sassy. And I love sassy. She straight up commands a faerie knight to kiss her ass. Lovely.

            Corny is also a great character, mainly because he’s such a raw character. He’s homosexual, but not in the overly effeminine sort of way that is way overused. Corny is such a ****ed up character (excuse my wingding), and that’s refreshing. You don’t get to read a lot of characters like Corny, especially not in YA.

            Then there’s Roiben, with whom I am completely in love. Sure, it’s a little unreasonable. I’m a piddly blogger, and he’s a sexy faerie knight in love with a pixie. It could still happen!

            All of the characters were great though, and that definitely helped my eyes glaze over the awkward plot humps and hurries. It’s Black’s first solo book, so there’s obviously going to be a few mistakes. The fact of the matter, however, is that this book is dark and gritty when not so many are in the YA world (at least not back when Tithe was published). It really opened not only my eyes, but also those of the YA readership to the dark potential of faerie tales, and that’s a rather amazing accomplishment.

            There are plenty of people either on the love side of the Tithe fence or the hate side. Not many dare to sit on top of the fence, including myself. I’m clearly living in a condo on the love side, and that’s not likely ever going to change. Tithe is definitely a great book to check out if you love stories involving dark matter and faeries. Happy Holidays and Happy Reading. May your presents be plentiful with books.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

            Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave. Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word…especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction.

            Desperate to find alternative to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra. If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

            I really did not think I was going to like this book, but it just goes to show that my love of witchery reigns true and forevermore. Why didn’t I think I was going to like this book? Two words: historical fiction. Granted, it’s actually a historical alternate universe so I don’t think I’ve conquered my fears and hatred for history just yet. The whole historical alternate universe thing was incredibly abrupt and jarring. I had no idea what I was getting into with this one apparently, and I was not let into the world gently. Once I got through the first few chapters of bad introduction to alternate history, I was rather hooked.

            I’ve never fancied myself a lover of religious tones or of British historical tones. With Born Wicked, it really worked. And well. What tied everything together so perfect weren’t so much the witches but what they represented: feminism. In a book so laden with power solely in the religious sect, there had to be oppression and a sort of historical dystopian feel.

            Interesting? I certainly thought so. Plus, I’m a sucker for a book with a good level of oppression. Everything in the world was perfectly cast under the light of this oppressive religious sect. The more unorthodox places overseas where women wear pants and live with other women, and the fact that being a lesbian or someone against the Brotherhood is almost treasonous. This could have just been a historical alternate world where the women’s suffragette begins before the twentieth century. But then Jessica Spotswood went and threw in one of my all-time favorite tropes: witches.

            Witches are not a bad addition to this world though. They give sense to the story. This is a time when witches were already persecuted in real history, so just buffed up that and added some depth created, literally, a whole world of writing possibilities.

            All in all, I can go ahead and just say that the world of this book is amazingly succinct with the tropes utilized. I really loved the world even though it was difficult to get in to (but I don’t think I particularly enjoyed the first chapter and how the book got started). Another thing I loved were the characters. They were amazing and completely real.

            An important trope in this story is family, or better yet sisters. The conversations and quarrels between the three sisters in the book are so real, I could see it happening between my own sister and I, only with less magic (though I not saying we wouldn’t try). Each sister was incredibly different in her own way, but you could still tell they were related. And not just because they all lived in the same house.

            I hated whom I was supposed to hate, and loved who I was supposed to love, which is really what good stories are supposed to do. Now to the love triangle. I know, love triangles really need to stop already. They are the most overused trope ever, but we keep reading them. While this story did have a love triangle, it never really felt like one.

            There was Paul, the boy from Cate’s childhood who understood her past and has recently come home from school in New England. I just want to throw in that I hated him right when he mentioned he courted others girls before her. Rude! But he came back to Chatham to ask Cate to marry him. He didn’t even have the gall to come home after Cate’s mother died. If anyone was unsuitable for Cate, it was Paul.

            Finn, on the other hand, is there for her. He’s rather like the Darcy to her Elizabeth in a way. Sure, they don’t seem to get along when first introduced together to us readers, but love and feelings still develop. Here’s why there’s not really a love triangle and Cate belongs with Finn:

            When Cate and Paul were together, Cate was young and spirited. She was wild and adventurous. Once her mother died, Cate had to step into her mother’s shoes in you will. She became less of an out-spoken spirited and more mentally spirited. Paul wanted to marry the girl who used to do dares and climb trees recklessly. Cate is no longer that girl and she knows it even though Paul is too dull. Stepping into her mothers’ shoes, Cate has become a reserved spirited, or rather just incredibly similar to her mother. Stepping into someone’s shoes has a funny way of turning you into that person as we’ve learned from Adam Sandler The Cobbler.

            Cate’s mother was the spirited and reckless type, and was a pawn for the Sisterhood. She had to become more reserved and married a quietly reckless man who fought the Brotherhood secretly. When Cate stepped into her mother’s shoes, she too needed to follow in her mothers’ footsteps and fall for a man that was a quiet fighter and that was not Paul. It was Finn Belastra, the boy whose mother owned a bookstore (outrageous!) with banned books hidden inside!

            So to me, there was never a love triangle. It was always clear to me at least that Paul was never a contender, but books will be books and triangles will always be drawn in the sand.

            In the end, this book was great. The feminism, the oppression, the witchcraft, the secrecy, the tea parties, the forbidden love. It was all for me, and I loved it all. The only issue I had was the beginning of the book. The first few chapters almost turned this book into a DF, but I trudged through and thank goodness I did! I was seriously really worried I was going to hate this one, but the feminism and witches won me over.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

            I am where dead children go.
            Okiku is a lonely soul. She has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the spirits of the murdered dead. Once a victim herself, she now takes the lives of killers with the vengeance they’re due. But releasing innocent ghosts from their ethereal tethers does not bring Okiku peace. Still she drifts on.
            Such is her existence, until she meets Tark. Evil writhes beneath the moody teen’s skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. While the neighbors fear him, Okiku knows the boy is not a monster. Tark needs to be freed from the malevolence that clings to him. There’s just one problem: if the demon dies, so does its host.

            There aren’t a lot of books that come around with fresh writing in the young adult world. The young adult world is largely controlled by trends. Rin Chupeco’s The Girl from the Well brings a lot of things into the genre that had not previously been there.
            The Girl from the Well reads like a horror film, which is reasonable since the legend Okiku belongs to be the same legend from which the film The Ring was born. I knew from the first chapter, when I was introduced to Okiku and her spine-tingling profession that I was going to love the book. Girl who hangs upside down and kills murderers? Sign me up! But not only are there a lot of really spooky scares, but the writing is superb. Plus, the Japanese lore shined through beautifully, as did all of the characters.
            There weren’t a lot of things I thought could have been done better, honestly. The only thing that stuck out to me as annoying was the lack of emphasis on the fact that if the demon inside Tarquin dies, he dies too. This wasn’t really showcased well; only in tiny little actions do we see it. I definitely think the ending could have used a little more build up in this department to make the ending pop better. Then there was the awkward shift between the U.S. and Japan that was obvious. There was just too much of a lapse in time between leaving the U.S. and finally going to Yagen Valley, and it was awkward.
            But that’s pretty much it for the cons. The characters were all amazingly well rounded, and the method of making Okiku the narrator/protagonist/omniscient POV was perfect. There were so many places that we as the readers needed to be, and Okiku being the main character provided for that.
            This might be my shortest review because the book was just brilliant. The lore, the horror, the characters, the plot. I loved it all. Plus, it’s still NaNoWriMo while I’m writing up this review, and that means I’m a little busy. But at least I’m not neglecting my other duties. Seriously, though, check out this book if you love horror even slightly as much as I do. I think this book could bring some great new ideas and stories to the young adult genre.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

            Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

            So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. They follow legends and local lore, destroy the murderous dead, and keep pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

            Searching for a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas expects the usual: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

            Yet she spares Cas’s life.

            So I’ve been meaning to read this book forever now, and honestly it didn’t live up to my expectations. The excitement level and romance level were not as high as I was anticipating. Sure, I loved the book because hello, homicidal, cursed ghost and a cute hunter boy? It was like a love letter to Supernatural and Ghostbusters and I’m totally okay with that.

            The big thing that spoke to me was the characters. They were so well developed and dynamic. Cas and his mom were a great family duo, and their relationship was so great. It’s lovely to see such a strong, open relationship between a YA protagonist and his family.  Speaking of family, I loved Thomas and his grandfather! They were so eclectic and interesting. I could have read a whole series of books from them! Thomas was definitely my favorite character. I loved that he was a male witch with obvious wants (the girl) and a strong loyalty streak (which I adore in characters).The characters I wasn’t overly in love with were Anna and anyone else at Cas’s school.

            I know. Shoot me in the face, how could I not love Anna? I liked her well enough, she just wasn’t as strong of a character as I thought she was going to be. And I think certain plot points weakened her character for me. Like how easy it was to sap her power and release her from that house? The fact that there wasn’t a lot of love development between Cas and Anna, they just liked each other out of the blue? I get that Anna is the only one Cas could really talk to, but it just seemed like they had one long conversation and they liked each other. Don’t get me wrong, I love a forbidden romance but it was just a little to sudden for me.

            I just had so many hopes and wants for this book and while I really enjoyed it, some things definitely could have been better. I really think there could have been a better link or transition between saving Anna and killing the voodoo demon that killed Cas’s father. It was an abrupt shift and I just wish there’d been a little more lead in or more of a link between the killer and Anna’s past. Like maybe the voodoo man and Anna’s mother were more similar or linked in a way. Or maybe if Anna’s mother was someone Cas’s father killed way back when. It just needed something. But none of these “issues” (if you can even call it that) hindered my complete enjoyment of the book.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong

            Sisters Moria and Ashyn are the Keeper and Seeker of Edgewood. Or at least, they were.

            Their village is gone. Their friends have betrayed them. And now, the emperor has sent them on a mission to rescue the children of Edgewood—accompanied by Prince Tyrus and a small band of imperial warriors. But the journey proves more perilous than they could have imagined. With treachery and unrest mounting in the empire, Moria and Ashyn will have to draw on all their influence and power to overcome deadly enemies—not all of them human—and then avert an all-out war.

            Sadly I must first mention that this book did not, in any way whatsoever, live up to it’s predecessor. While I still enjoyed Empire of Night, I can honestly say it was not as good as Sea of Shadows. The problem with this book was that it read like a filler book. It felt like the first book happened and then this one was only written to move the characters to their final positions for the big finale. It felt like Kelley Armstrong wrote the first book, then the third book, and finally the second book. Clearly there were characters in the third book that weren’t in the first so she had to jam all of that into this second “filler” book. Of course, I’m not sure if this is true, it is just how it felt.

            One of my main questions is where did Tyrus even come from? He wasn’t in the first book, and then suddenly he’s Moria’s love interest and BFF in the second? Did I miss a chapter? While I loved Tyrus, I just didn’t see the point of introducing him so out of the blue. His and Moria’s friendship and relationship could have developing throughout this book instead of just existing on page one. Oh my gosh, a plotline that could have been used? Well I never. Besides, Moria and Gavriel belong together (no matter how perfect Tyrus and Moria seem!).

            Some of the things I really loved about Sea of Shadows just didn’t happen in Empire of Night. I loved the apparent personalities of Tova and DAIKO (???), but they were lost in this book. Then there was Moria’s likening to a bard what with her wide knowledge of lore and stories. I didn’t get that too much in this book. Sure there were the hellhounds, but those are nothing new and exciting like Thunderhawks and Shadow Stalkers! It was just a disappointment. All the things I wanted to see again didn’t happen. I get that due to the events of the last book the main characters have changed, but they shouldn’t be that different.

            One thing I actually hated was the fact that I had to wait for Ashyn’s POV in chapter seven to get even an inkling of a recap for the first book. It was so confusing jumping into Moria’s character with all these new people and no recap. I seriously thought I was missing chapters. And then when Ashyn ended up with her birth tribe of sorts, I was all who are these people? I couldn’t remember anything other that her living in Edgewood, so there really needed to be more of a lead in for the introduction of that tribe. The last thing I hated was how annoying Moria was with her sexual escapading. She was all “Oh it’s fine, we can just have sex because that’s normal for me and I can have as many sex partners as I want”. It was so weird and awkward to read about.

            As for what I loved…there’s of course Ronan and Ashyn. I was so sad to see them not together but of course the plot must go on. I really enjoyed learning more about Ronan’s background and the fact that he’s casteless. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Emperor and his slight deviousness. I even relished finally getting to truly meet Gavriel’s father! So good! The way this book played out just makes me want a lot of things for the final book.

            Now that Ashyn is with her birth tribe of sorts, I want to become a fighter. While Moria is stuck in enemy’s territory, I want her to become reserved. I want what their roles have been so far in the series to just swap completely. Ashyn becomes a fighter, and Moria becomes engrossed in politics and has to use her head more. I think their strengths work brilliantly but they need to become more well rounded if they’re going to save the empire and I think they’re in the perfect positions to do so.

XOXO Tia

REVIEW: Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

            Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

            Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live.

            So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

            Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia.

            Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming, Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And is Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

            I am actually astonished by how much I ended up enjoying Magonia. When the book initially began, I thought it was going to be one of those stories that have way too much extra fluff. A few chapters in, however, and I realized it was fluff but rather voice. Maria Dahvana Headley created such a unique and raw voice in this story that roped me in and didn’t let me go. The premise was gorgeous and ne: a girl drowning on Earth from the air because she belongs in the sky with a race of birdlike creatures straight out of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. It was beautiful and poignant and I’m gasping for breath waiting for the next book.

            While the voice and imagery was brilliant, the story did go off on some tangents a little too much. While I loved Aza and Jason (actually just all of the characters and creatures), I thought there could have been a little less randomness and a little more plot. I think more could have been done with the development of Aza’s life in Magonia. It just felt like she accepted the world too quickly. I would have liked for her to try and escape or plot her return to Jason somehow.

            While I loved the addition of Aza’s Magonian love interest, there was nothing there. It felt like there should have been a little more chemistry between them or just something. I felt him change, but I didn’t feel anything from Aza. Also, Aza welcomed her birth mother back into her heart way too easily. For a smart girl, Aza was not nearly suspicious enough about Magonia and this war brewing between it and Earth. While the synopsis told me of a war in Aza’s heart over which side of this war to be on, the book didn’t give me any of that tension.

            The last thing that saddened me was the lack of emphasis and beautiful writing on Aza’s ability to finally breathe again. I expected that moment to be lush and vivid considering the beauty of the rest of the book, but I was a little let down. She’s down on Earth, drowning, and then she’s in Magonia, breathing. There was not excitement and that’s what I wanted for our previously dying protagonist.

            Yes, I can go on and on like so many other reviewers about the amazingly fresh history and mythology of this book, but I won’t. Anybody who has read this can tell you it was an amazing book (me being one of them), but you’ll just have to read it for yourself. Now excuse me while I go find my heart, because some bird just gobbled it up and flew away.

XOXO Tia