Tagged: masq1
A Dangerous Madness by Michelle Diener
(Cover picture courtesy of Michelle Diener’s site.)
The Duke of Wittaker has been living a lie…
He’s been spying on the dissolute, discontented noblemen of the ton, pretending to share their views. Now he’s ready to step out of the shadows and start living a real life…but when the prime minister of England is assassinated, he’s asked to go back to being the rake-hell duke everyone believes he still is to find out more.
Miss Phoebe Hillier has been living a lie, too…
All her life she’s played by society’s rules, hiding her fierce intelligence and love of life behind a docile and decorous mask. All it’s gotten her is jilted by her betrothed, a man she thought a fool, though a harmless one. But when she discovers her former fiancé was involved in the plot against the prime minister, and that he’s been murdered, she realizes he wasn’t so harmless after all.
And now the killers have set their sights on her…
The only man who can help her is the Duke of Wittaker–a man she knows she shouldn’t trust. And she soon realizes he’s hiding behind a mask as careful as her own. As the clock ticks down to the assassin’s trial, the pair scramble to uncover the real conspiracy behind the prime minister’s death. And as the pressure and the danger mounts, Phoebe and Wittaker shed their disguises, layer by layer, to discover something more precious than either imagined–something that could last forever. Unless the conspirators desperate to hide their tracks get to them first.
[Full disclosure: Michelle Diener invited me to review her book and I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
For all that I’m a history buff, I knew absolutely nothing about the period that A Dangerous Madness is set in. I really hardly know anything about England in the 1800s so after finishing Michelle Diener’s latest release I can very honestly say that I learned something.
Phoebe, the main character, is my type of woman. She’s strong and feisty but at the same time is actually aware of social norms and generally tries to follow them. Sure, she gets fed up with them and ends up not caring about certain ones but at least she isn’t your stereotypical total outcast of a heroine. James, the Duke of Wittaker is a good male lead. He’s not your perfect knight in shining armor but he does his best to improve his character when he starts to fall in love. In the past he’s done things he deeply regrets and you can tell that his guilt for some of the things weighs on him but he’s also done quite a bit of good.
The story begins with Phoebe’s fiancé dumping her and fleeing the country and it only heats up from there. Soon the prime minister is shot (which actually happened) and there’s a conspiracy that goes to the highest levels of the country behind the assassination. There are so many twists and turns you can’t tell how things are going to end up because Michelle Diener is so good at writing tales of political intrigue.
I’m not qualified to speak to the historical accuracy of A Dangerous Madness, but as Michelle Diener writes in her historical note, many of the events really did happen as she described them. The conspiracy is pure speculation but at the same time when you look at the real people involved it might not be all that far off from the truth. Perceval had many powerful enemies, that’s for sure! And that’s how historical fiction is best done: mostly history with a little bit of fiction in to spice things up.
Even if you haven’t read the first two books in the Regency London series, you can certainly start with A Dangerous Madness just like I did. They don’t have to be read in any particular order but I still can’t wait to read the first two books because I loved this one so much.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Legend of the Blue Eyes by B. Kristin McMichael
(Cover picture courtesy of My Book Addiction.)
Arianna Grace liked her boring, Midwestern, teenage life where she ignored the many unanswered questions of her childhood. Why were her parents dead? Why did she not have family? Where was she raised until she was five? When someone offers to explain it all, Arianna thinks she’s just getting answers. Instead, she is thrown into a world of night humans who drink blood.
On Arianna’s sixteenth birthday, her world is thrown upside down when she changes into a vampire. Night humans, or demons, as some call them, live in normal society. Learning all of the new rules of a world she didn’t know existed might be hard enough, but it’s further complicated by two former-friends that now want to help her take her role as the successor to her grandfather.
There is a war going on between the night humans. Sides have been taken and lines are not crossed. Four main clans of night humans are struggling for control of the night. Divided into two sides, clans Baku and Tengu have been at war for centuries with the clans Dearg-dul and Lycan. That is, until Arianna Grace finds out the truth; she’s the bridge of peace between the two sides. But not everyone wants peace. With the night humans divided, Arianna is now a pawn in the war between them. She must choose a side—her mother’s family or her father’s—and for once in her life, decide her own fate.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Unfortunately, The Legend of the Blue Eyes is an example of how a good premise can be ruined by mediocre writing.
The premise of B. Kristin McMichael’s world is not a new one but she puts such an unique spin on things that you can’t help but fall in love with it. She goes back to the origins of vampires and incorporates some of the old myths into a modern, sophisticated type of vampire called a Dearg-dul. The Baku and Tengu are sort of vampire/incubus/succubus combination while Lycans are quite obviously werewolves. They aren’t the typical sort of creatures you find in urban fantasy, particularly YA, because McMichael actually took the time to make her creatures unique. I honestly can’t fault any aspect of her world-building because it really is fantastic.
Her writing is not, however. It’s by no means bad but it’s not up to the quality of her world-building. She spends pages and pages on Arianna’s boy-craziness until it crosses the line from typical boy-crazy teenager to the realm of “make up your mind already!”. I’m not a big fan of romance but when done right it’s great. But it really was just not done right in The Legend of the Blue Eyes. The male leads are kind of stereotypes, one dimensional people designed to exist for the gratification of the female protagonist. While it’s sadly refreshing to see men objectified for once in fiction it doesn’t make it enjoyable or right.
I really couldn’t connect with Arianna. She’s just such a walking cliché of pretty much every YA heroine in popular fiction. Arianna can’t make up her mind about which boy she even likes, she’s a small town sort of girl thrust into the middle of a rich urban world, she’s special even amongst her own people, etc. It would have been different had McMichael put some twists on these clichés but she really didn’t.
Instead, the wasted potential of this book makes me sad. The world-building is absolutely fantastic and could be a model for pretty much every author out there, but the rest of the novel is lackluster at best. If it sounds interesting to you I’d say go ahead but I’m not going to go out of my way to recommend this one.
I give this book 2.5/5 stars.
Daughter of the Gods by Stephanie Thornton
(Cover picture courtesy of Stephanie Thornton’s website.)
Egypt, 1400s BC. The pharaoh’s pampered second daughter, lively, intelligent Hatshepsut, delights in racing her chariot through the marketplace and testing her archery skills in the Nile’s marshlands. But the death of her elder sister, Neferubity, in a gruesome accident arising from Hatshepsut’s games forces her to confront her guilt…and sets her on a profoundly changed course.
Hatshepsut enters a loveless marriage with her half brother, Thut, to secure his claim to the Horus Throne and produce a male heir. But it is another of Thut’s wives, the commoner Aset, who bears him a son, while Hatshepsut develops a searing attraction for his brilliant adviser Senenmut. And when Thut suddenly dies, Hatshepsut becomes de facto ruler, as regent to her two-year-old nephew.
Once, Hatshepsut anticipated being free to live and love as she chose. Now she must put Egypt first. Ever daring, she will lead a vast army and build great temples, but always she will be torn between the demands of leadership and the desires of her heart. And even as she makes her boldest move of all, her enemies will plot her downfall….
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley for the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
There are very few books that literally take my breath away when I finish reading them but Daughter of the Gods is one of them.
One of the things that struck me most about this book was Stephanie Thornton’s amazing writing style. She can do the big dramatic scenes without making them seem forced. She can also slow down and describe things so the reader truly feels like they’re transported back in time. And most importantly of all, she can actually hold the reader’s attention for nearly 500 pages because she slowly builds up tension throughout the novel. It’s not the fastest-paced novel ever but her writing is so compelling that you won’t want to put it down.
Stephanie Thornton’s portrayal of Hatshepsut is pretty much how I imagined the real person. She’s strong and willful but fiercely devoted to her people and preserving the welfare of Egypt even at a cost to herself. Her love for Senenmut develops slowly but once she realizes she loves him she does so with all of her heart. Senenmut himself is also an interesting character, but Hatshepsut tends to steal the scene for most of the novel. Of course she can be stubborn on occasion and her stubbornness costs her dearly sometimes, but that flaw only makes her more human. Hatshepsut is a character even modern readers can relate with despite the huge cultural differences like the fact she marries her half-brother and worships many different gods and goddesses.
We don’t know much about Hatshepsut’s reign because her monuments and writings were destroyed in a systematic campaign to squash the idea that a woman could ever be Pharaoh. But where the facts are known, Stephanie Thornton generally sticks to them and fills in the gaps in our knowledge of her reign with believable events. Even when she does deviate from the historical record (which was rare) she is able to justify it within the context of the story as well as in her historical note. The changes she made were to improve the story and that’s why Daughter of the Gods is now one of my favourite historical fiction novels.
Even if you’re not a huge fan of ancient Egypt, I can’t recommend Daughter of the Gods enough. Stephanie Thornton is able to bring ancient Egypt to life for novices and experts alike. You’ll fall in love with her characters and experience their triumphs and heartaches right alongside them. And you definitely won’t be able to put the book down.
Seriously, just go buy this book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Curse by Jennifer Brassel
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
His search for her has been timeless, eternal, and ultimately thwarted. Until now…
Seth Almose has spent countless lives trying to break the curse that robs him of his soul mate. Each time the cycle begins anew, he meets it with hope, and each time he is left with heartbreak. But as the cycle dawns again, with yet another incarnation, Seth can’t help himself. She is extraordinary; is she the one?
Julia Morrow has reason to be wary of men. After restarting her life to escape an increasingly dangerous stalker, she has no reason to believe Seth and his stories of reincarnation and curses. But his face haunts her dreams, and her canvasses. He claims that it is a matter of life and death — her death. Can she find it in herself to trust again, or will the cycle turn once again, leaving them both broken and alone?
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I really debated requesting The Curse on NetGalley but in the end my curiosity got the better of me. Despite the cliché-filled blurb I thought I’d give this one a chance and approach it with an open mind. After all, I did the same thing to Echo Prophecy by Lindsey Fairleigh and it turned out to be a great book. The Curse isn’t a great book, though. Don’t get me wrong—it’s far from a bad book. It’s simply an average novel with nothing really to distinguish it from similar reincarnation curse stories.
The characters were very well developed. I really felt for Julia having to move and change her name after being stalked for months before the story started. Her behaviour is obviously affected by this incident but with the help of Seth she does seem to recover at a natural pace. She’s strong and brave but at the same time isn’t an unrealistically kick-butt protagonist. Seth was surprising for a male lead in that he isn’t the type of guy to rush out immediately when his beloved is kidnapped. No, he called the police, something that normal human beings would do in that circumstance. That was probably the biggest surprise of the whole novel but in hindsight it fits with his character.
Other than some surprises with the characters, there weren’t really all that many plot surprises. The Curse followed a pretty typical reincarnation story arc where girl starts having dreams, meets boy, they get together after some initial misunderstandings and circumstances or evil forces try to pull them apart. I wish Jennifer Brassel had put more of a spin on the old story arc but she really didn’t. Her story is well-paced and the world-building is relatively good but it’s really just the same old thing I’ve read before.
I would have liked far more backstory not only for the villains of the story but also for Seth and Julia’s past lives. We get flashes of it so we know the basic sketch of the story but I personally would have liked more details. That’s probably just me so I can’t really fault the author for that, though. The only real criticism I have about the backstory is that we didn’t really know very much about the villains and their motivations. I wish the villains had more complex motives than they were presented as having because it would have made the climax far more exciting. Oh well.
So like I said this isn’t a great book but it’s not a bad book either. It’s somewhere in between and if you generally like this kind of stuff I’d recommend The Curse. It’s just that it’s not all that unique.
I give this book 3/5 stars.
Shattered Secrets by Krystal Wade
(Cover picture courtesy of Functioning Insanity.)
After being kidnapped, hogtied, and stuffed in the trunk of a car, seventeen-year-old Abigail Nichols’ boy problems seem unimportant.
She couldn’t be more wrong.The boy who saves her holds her heart.
But Derick Crawford also holds secrets.
Magical beings who guide human emotions are fighting an invisible war dating back to the dawn of time, and Abigail’s one of them. The more she learns of her heritage, the less she wants to know. Armed with a very old, very massive book to teach them about their history, Abigail and Derick run away to a place where they think they can be safe and happy, only to have their troubles secretly hitch a ride.
Her history book is in a sharing mood, and it tells her to keep a secret of her own.
But has she put her trust in the wrong place?
And will the world survive if she has?
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Way back I reviewed Krystal Wade’s debut trilogy Darkness Falls. I fell in love with her style of writing and have been eagerly awaiting her next work. Shattered Secrets didn’t really sound like what I’d normally pick up but since I enjoyed her previous work I requested it on NetGalley anyway. The world-building was just as good, the characters were reasonably well fleshed-out and the plot was very fast-paced but in the end I just didn’t like this one as much. It’s still good, mind you. But it’s not as good as the first series.
My only real ‘problem’ with the story was Abigail, the narrator. She’s rather naive and constantly screwing up her own life. She tends to run headfirst into danger and although she can be intelligent at times (observing her surroundings when she was kidnapped) there are times I wanted to slap her. To be fair she does get better as the book progresses but because of her early behaviour I wasn’t quite able to connect as well emotionally. I wasn’t a huge fan of either male lead or the love triangle but at least both characters were well fleshed-out. The love triangle is generally well done but I would have liked to see something different.
The plot was incredibly fast-paced, though. There were twists and turns around every corner as more and more information was revealed. What is Abigail really? And how can she stop an impending apocalypse when everyone is telling her to do something different? There are a fair amount of subplots that add tension to the main plot but it never really gets confusing. That’s good because if it was confusing you’d be totally lost by the time you got to the end of the book.
Since most of the book is about Derick and Abigail discovering who they are I can’t give a solid judgment on the world-building but so far it’s really good. Krystal Wade has actually thought up some unique ideas for her magical beings and mixed them in with existing ideas to create the type of rich fantasy world I’ve come to expect from her. You really can’t fault her world-building.
All in all, this book was pretty good. I’m definitely interested to see what happens next in the Book of Red series.
I give this book 4/5 stars.