Category: Book Review
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
(Cover courtesy of Flying With Books…)
Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don’t kill him first, that is.
At first I was unsure how to feel about this book. On one hand, the banter between Daemon and Katy was hilarious and overall I like the idea of aliens because it’s so different. On the other hand, why do we have yet another girl moving to a small town who meets a hot guy? Hasn’t that been done a million times already? To deal with this cognitive dissonance I took the path of least resistance and accepted the book for what it is: an entertaining read. Guilty pleasure, really.
I don’t usually like the bad boys, but I liked Daemon in this book. He knows he’s being a jerk as we find out later but he actually has his sister’s best interests at heart. He’s not just good-looking; he actually has a brain in his head and really does learn to care about Katy. (I personally picture him more attractive than the cover model here, but that’s more personal preference.) Even if he won’t admit it, you know he really does care for her and saves her from everything from a drunk jock that didn’t know what consent was to evil aliens who really wanted to kill her.
Katy herself was an interesting character. She won me over partly because she’s a book blogger (yay!) but also because she falls in love but remains a strong character. At times you can tell she’s falling for Daemon and other times she really hates him. Quite understandable given his actions at times. Yes, she does do stupid things even when people warn her not to, but haven’t we all done something that stupid because of scorned love?
I could start drawing so many parallels to Twilight, but I won’t. This is a much better written version and the characters have depth. It’s not just wish fulfillment on the author’s part, but it’s not exactly deep literature either. Instead it’s a funny thrill ride with lots of action, banter and plenty of steam. Jennifer Armentrout’s world-building was good, but I’ll definitely reserve judgment until the next book before I say it’s either ‘great’ or ‘bad’. There’s a lot of room for expansion so I guess we’ll see soon.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
(Cover picture courtesy of Stephanie Dray’s website.)
With her parents both dead, the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is left at the mercy of her Roman captors. Heir to one empire and prisoner of another, it falls to Princess Selene to save her brothers and reclaim what’s rightfully hers.
In the aftermath of Alexandria’s tragic fall, Princess Selene is taken from Egypt, the only home she’s ever known. Along with her two surviving brothers, she’s put on display as a war trophy in Rome. Selene’s captors mock her royalty and drag her through the streets in chains, but on the brink of death, the children are spared as a favor to the emperor’s sister, who takes them to live as hostages in the so-called lamentable embassy of royal orphans…
Now trapped in a Roman court of intrigue that reviles her heritage and suspects her faith, Selene can’t hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her flesh. Nor can she stop the emperor from using her for his own political ends. But faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined honor her mother’s lost legacy. The magic of Egypt and Isis remain within her. But can she succeed where her mother failed? And what will it cost her in a political game where the only rule is win or die?
I’ve read many, many takes on Cleopatra Selene. The historically accurate one from Michelle Moran, the more character based one of Vicky Alvear Shecter as well as a couple combinations of the two approaches. But this magic infused take of Stephanie Dray’s is definitely unique.
Cleopatra Selene is a fascinating character. She’s a princess, but she’s wise beyond her years as her mother likely would have raised her. Her twin brother, Alexander Helios is a proud young man raised in the mold of his father, Mark Antony. Selene is sort of the one that takes care of her two brothers, not allowing her pride to get in the way of their survival. She has to make such hard choices and her brothers shun her for them, but they’re always made with the best intentions: to help the family survive.
Even in Rome with the dangerously ruthless Octavian and the always-scheming Livia, Selene manages to survive and even thrive. For someone who goes through so much at a young age, Selene isn’t very trusting and when the schemes of the cult of Isis start to interfere with the careful walls she’s built around her surviving family she does everything she can to protect them. Even if it means losing their only chance to escape.
I like how Stephanie Dray focused not only on making these historical figures into relatable characters, but also on the magical aspect of her novel. We really feel Selene’s panic as the words of Isis are written into her skin and the reactions of the characters around her are varied and realistic. Octavian’s reaction to a particular message near the end of the book seems quite in character, knowing what I know about the real Octavian. Stephanie Dray doesn’t go too far into the magical aspect, but she gives us enough of a taste so we know Selene is in for big things in the sequel, Song of the Nile.
Some may find the plot a little slow and, well, fair enough. I, however, enjoyed the slower pace as Selene adjusted to life in Rome and tried to make a new home for herself and her brothers there. It really allowed Stephanie Dray to focus in on the characters as well as throw in some plot twists near the end. As for the historical accuracy, many of the details have been carefully researched but as she says in her author’s note, Stephanie Dray did take liberties with history.
In short, if you’re looking for a refreshing take on Cleopatra Selene with some fantastical elements, you’ll love Lily of the Nile.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Disarming by Alexia Purdy
(Cover picture courtesy of Kristina’s Books & More.)
The world has changed. One must adapt to survive or hold on to the crumbling shards of humanity.
April continues to hold her fragile world together, but the ties that hold her family together are quickly unraveling. Rumors of a massive human underground settlement draw her to the shadows of the city once more in search of other survivors more like her, even with the hybrid vampires opposing her every move.
The darkness hides secrets along with the continued threat the Feral Vampires create, but a greater evil hides within the city. Something tells April that the humans will be less than welcoming of her, and that’s if she can find them before the Vampires do. Joining sides with the enemy might be the only choice she has left.
[Full disclosure: Alexia Purdy provided me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
And April’s back, this time with more romance, more blood and more excitement than the first book!
Remember how the only thing I really had to criticize in Reign of Blood was the unrealistic dialogue? Well, that’s mostly resolved in Disarming, thank goodness. We get a lot more character interaction so good dialogue is essential and although it’s far from perfect, it’s so much better. As for the plot, it’s just as fast-paced as ever. We start out with April and the lovesick Rye trying to solve the mystery of a large colony of humans still living in the city and once we learn the truth of their colony everything spirals out of control.
I don’t think I’m spoiling too much when I say that yes, there’s a love triangle in Disarming. Is it annoying? No. Is it believable and does it develop organically? Absolutely! I love that huge twist Alexia Purdy used the love triangle to create because heaven forbid love triangles have a purpose in the plot other than to create needless drama. Just when you think everything will develop perfectly between April and Rye despite April’s reluctance, an old friend from the first book pops up and we have ourselves the first good love triangle in a long time.
April and Rye are still awesome characters and I have to say that April really did a lot more maturing in Disarming. She was already mature, but she becomes even more like an adult in this book because so much happens to her and her poor little brother. Some of the choices April has to make in the last part of the book show how much she’s changed and they definitely make me eager for the third book, Amplified.
Aside from the crazy fast plot, my favourite element of the book is the actual vampires. You have your feral vampires, your traditional sane vampires, humans and then there are hybrids like April. I don’t want to give too much away, but you’ll discover a terrifying new type of vampire by the end of the book. It just goes to show that not everything is as it seems and like all species, vampires also evolve as time goes on. Truly, even if you aren’t a big vampire fan you’ll love Disarming.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
V-Wars by Jonathon Maberry
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
A sweeping, threaded narrative of the global phenomenon known as the Vampire Wars! Mankind is silently infected by a millennia-old bacteria unknowingly exhumed by a scientific expedition in Antarctica. Now, in some rare cases, a person’s so-called “junk DNA” becomes activated, and depending on their racial and ethnic heritage they begin to manifest one of the many diverse forms of the “others” that are the true basis for the legends of supernatural creatures. These aren’t your usual vampires and werewolves – it goes much deeper than that. Conceived by Jonathan Maberry, V Wars features stories from various “frontlines” as reported by such contributors as Nancy Holder, Yvonne Navarro, James A. Moore, Gregory Frost, John Everson, Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Scott Nicholson (as well as Maberry himself, of course). The result is a compelling series of tales that create a unique chronicle of mankind’s response to this sudden, hidden threat to humanity.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
As much as I hate to compare the two books, there really is only one way to describe V-Wars: a poorly done vampire version of World War Z.
At first I absolutely loved the idea of Jonathon Maberry compiling stories from other authors and weaving them together to create a narrative of a vampire outbreak. I mean, it’s Jonathon Maberry! He did zombies so well in Dust & Decay that I was sure V-Wars was going to be a hit. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, the main thing that frustrated me was not so much the premise but the fact that I kept asking myself while reading: Could there possibly be a more complicated way to tell this story?! We actually follow the stories of quite a few characters but the table of contents seems to have been drawn up by a child picking story names randomly out of a hat. The vampire virus came out of Antarctica from a scientific expedition but we only actually meet the people who started the outbreak at the end of the novel. There is neither rhyme nor reason to the chronology or when a new character would pop up to tell their story. Or their stories would end randomly and we never heard from them again.
This lack of a logical timeline certainly affected my enjoyment of the story. Sure, some of the characters were compelling, but others were just plain boring. Besides, it’s hard to actually connect with characters when they randomly disappear, are forgotten, or barely get any page time at all. Michael Fayne would have been interesting if his story was told in a more linear fashion and I suppose Ruksana was compelling, but again there’s the seemingly random order of the stories messing everything up. This book is only 384 pages and yet I felt like I was reading a 1000+ page book where the novelist has decided to include the viewpoints of a cast of characters worthy of George R. R. Martin.
Due to the illogical ordering, I really had a hard time getting into V-Wars. Some stories were fast-paced and others were unbearably dull. It was sort of like getting an old car to start on a cold morning: just when you think you’re ready to go it dies on you. There is no real climax, no peak of the vampire war that makes you think humanity is doomed. Instead, the ending is ambiguous with Luther Swann basically saying that there are more vampires out there not declaring themselves and that humanity is probably in trouble if they keep persecuting them.
Overall, as much as I hate to say it, V-Wars was a flop for me. I wouldn’t recommend it; you’re better off reading World War Z, which is at least told in a logical order.
I give this book 1.5/5 stars.
Red Dragon – White Dragon by Gary Dolman
(Cover picture courtesy of Gary Dolman’s website.)
Commissioned Investigators Atticus and Lucie Fox are summoned by the bombastic Sir Hugh Lowther to his estate in remote Northumberland to investigate a series of bizarre, grisly deaths. These appear to centre on the delusions of a madman who lives alone at the edge of the moors. Close-by is the long-vanished castle of Sewingshields where local legends say King Arthur still lies in an enchanted sleep, waiting to be awoken at a time of great need.
The killings have all been committed using the Hallows of Arthur, artefacts thought to have been lost in history, and the locals swear that they have seen a ghostly knight in armour roaming the moors for months. But how can that be? This is 1890 and King Arthur died over thirteen-hundred years before.
There are seven artefacts in total, and Atticus and Lucie must find the killer before each is used in turn. To do so, they must journey through the very darkest places of the mind of a madman.
[Full disclosure: The publisher of this book, Thames River Press, contacted me and provided me with a free print book in exchange for an honest review.]
When I first started Red Dragon – White Dragon I was a little skeptical. I mean, gothic mysteries are not and weren’t really ever my thing. They all seemed so predictable that there was no point in reading them anyway. Heck, I’ve never even read a Sherlock Holmes book from cover to cover. You could say I’m not a mystery person in general. But wow, I was impressed with Red Dragon – White Dragon.
Gary Dolman’s novel had just the right mixture of realism and Arthurian legend to keep me guessing at every turn. And the ending—amazing! Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, even if you’ve guessed the villain already, there is a huge twist that completely blindsides you. That twist is what makes me classify this as a gothic mystery because it was so dark and disturbing. In truth, it really goes along with the whole dark, dreary setting as well.
Lucie and Atticus Fox weren’t your typical detectives, believe me. Although they seem like stereotypical gothic investigators at the beginning of the novel, you realize they do have a lot more depth as their characters are allowed to develop a little more. Lucie in particular really shone through when at the beginning I had completely discounted her. She has some very modern sensibilities when it comes to mental illnesses and homosexuality, but they’re actually explained sufficiently by her experiences as a nurse. Atticus does not share some of her sensibilities and Sir Hugh is pretty much the exact opposite.
Red Dragon – White Dragon is one of my favourite mysteries right now not only because of the plot, but because of Gary Dolman’s writing. He has a way of describing things that makes you feel like you’re really there in the dreary English countryside with Lucie and Atticus. The castle, the landscape, everything is described vividly without being too boring. I can’t comment on the historical accuracy of this novel, but it does seem like Gary Dolman did his research for this.
I would definitely recommend this book to both old mystery lovers and people who don’t read many mysteries like myself.
I give this book 5/5 stars.