Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

I was so lost for so much of this book. I read Wicked Lovely last year and I guess it didn't really impact me. I spent much of the book trying to remember these characters, and whether or not I should like them.

I didn't like any of them.

The protagonist is in a HORRIFIC life situation, with an absentee dad who can't even manage to pay the power bill and a recent sexual assault and a drug dealer brother. She makes this great ( <-- sarcasm) life choice to get a big tattoo and it manages to wreck her life further by putting her squarely in the middle of a big faery court battle. The guy who gives her the tattoo doesn't warn her and doesn't help her and never falls under any retribution for what he's done. The protagonist's best friend is a queen of a faery court, but she's very laissez-afire about the whole thing and tries to avoid getting involved and helping her friend.

The whole book is so freaking dark and depressing!

But that's just my singular impression.  This series is wide-read and loved by some.  It does have faeries, which I usually love.  These faeries are on the darker side of magic, though.  I could totally see if you like bad-boy romance, you'd like these books.  Also, while not a book series I'd hand to younger teens, I would hand it to an older teen who is looking for edgy romance.  So while I did not get into this book, others may.  Sometimes you just have to be in the right mood.

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by Tynga at Thursday, January 21, 2016

 Faeries, Fairies, Fairy Tales amp; Folklore, Library, Love amp; Romance, Melissa Marr, Recorded Books, Review, Wicked Lovely, young adult  2 People left their mark

✎

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Only a flimsy magical barrier and an old as dirt treaty 'protects' the human world (Feyre's world) from the wicked Faeries. Legends are full of warnings about the fey, but none helped her when one came to her home to drag her back to his. Everything is more beautiful, deceptive and cruel than she was ever taught, but she will also discover a brighter side to this foreign world. One she will start to appreciate. It might even have something to do with a certain masked fey lord...

A Court of Thorns and Roses is another awesome faerie world created by Sarah J.Maas, one with a completely (yet, as mesmerizing) different world than the Throne of Glass world. Faeries used to rule the world and after a savage war they retreated to their own territory, forced to release their human slaves. Their world is now split in 7 courts, each ruled by a Lord. Some aren't happy about their predicament and are just waiting the right opportunity to take over the human world once more. Things of nightmare but also terrible (and sometimes deceptive) beauty mingle in this enchanted world beyond human reach.

I really, really liked the colorful and dangerous world Maas created and the rich story line to accompany it. Feyre is taken from her family, and treated as an esteemed guest in Tamlin's manor. He is a bit awkard, but he is making efforts to be nice to her and eventually she will warm to his presence. I couldn't help it, my mind kept screaming 'Stockholm syndrome' but at least the whole thing wasn't creepy! He was actually courting her, for reasons we don't know, but the whole thing is kinda sweet. She's not any swooning girl though and she keeps her foul mouth and attitude at least until half the book. Her witty comments were great, and I LOVED her banter with Lucien. There were many great characters in this novel, but he was definitely my favorite. He is though, secretive, smart, has a shit attitude but he is as loyal as it gets. From beginning to end, he lived up to my expectations.

I find it super hard to talk about the plot without giving anything away... The novel is kind of split in two parts, Tamlin's courting of Feyre and Feyre's hopeless mission. The atmosphere in both part is soooo different you could almost believe it's two different books. Feyre goes from lost girl in search of a purpose to a girl with a purpose that will most likely get her killed, yet she won't give up. I really admired her strength and determination in this second part and I have to command her for it. Tamlin went from shy and flirty, yet mighty powerful, to groveling mute eye-candy. In the second Part, Feyre must complete three tasks to reach her goal and will gain unlikely allies along the way, and ohh were these task stress-inducing! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The conclusion is a complete game changer and I was holding my breath during the final battle. I just couldn't believe what I was reading! I really can't wait for the next novel to discover the fallback of these events and where each character now stands. I haven't mentioned Rhysand yet, but he was one of the great and surprising characters and I can't wait to see the part he will play in the next installment.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is another amazing book by miss Maas and I strongly suggest you read it!

Read an excerpt

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by Tynga at Friday, June 19, 2015

 A Court of Thorns and Roses, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, Faeries, Fantasy, Fantasy amp; Magic, Magic, Publisher, Review, Sarah J Maas, young adult  6 People left their mark

✎

The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan

Let me start off by saying that this series is fast becoming a favorite of mine. This sequel has surpassed my expectations with all its twists and turn. When I thought things couldn’t get any crazier, they did. Personally, I think if a book has the ability to surprise me like this one did, the author must be doing something right. Add to the fact that it’s well written, I would definitely recommend the book to any fans of the genre.

Violet, or V to her friends, is the main character and narrator of the story. As the protagonist in a young adult book, she’s definitely up there will all the great strong female characters we’ve seen over the years. She might be a little naive about some aspects of the world, and she does have her little moments of insecurity, but when it comes to kicking butt, she can totally keep up. There aren’t as many fight/action scenes in this book because it concentrates a little more on story building compared to book 1, but it really was thrilling. The slow build up in the relationship between V and Ryn couldn’t have been done any better and I’m really curious to see where it will go. It seemed inevitable that the two characters would end up liking each other, but I love the way the author kept the suspense by not pushing things too fast.

There are so many surprises in THE FAERIE PRINCE that I can’t really list them all. Plus, if I were to list them all, it would be major spoilers and that’s not my intention. One thing I really didn’t expect is the story behind Violet’s father’s death. I almost didn’t believe it at first and I still question it, after learning the truth. I think knowing the truth will change V’s perspective on life and will definitely impact the development of the series.

I think I mentioned it in my review of book 1, but it’s hard to believe that this series is self-published. Personally, I find it’s so well written that it could have been published by any of the major publishers. I’ve been looking at the covers because they reminded me of a series, but I just couldn’t think of which one. It finally hit me that visually they look like Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series. They are very similar, and I think fans of one series, will definitely enjoy the other. The esthetics of the Creepy Hollow covers are very pleasing and initially, it’s one of the first things that grabbed my attention.

If it weren’t enough that the story and the characters are original, the scenery and the faerie world illustrated in the book will sweep you off your feet. I mean, not only does the book have pegasi(!), it’s the little things that amaze me like, the ambers that replace the smart phones of our world and the way the characters travel by faerie paths. And Filigree! Violet’s “pet” is a shape-changing being that I would love to have as my own. One moment he’ll be a pig, literally pigging out, then he’ll curl up on Violets lap as a cat. It would be wonderful to have a pet that changes shape according to its mood and its owner’s mood.

This book was flipping amazing and I can’t wait to get to book 3! If you haven’t already checked out this series, I highly recommend that you do. Inexpensive as eBooks, they are definitely worth the read.

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by Tynga at Sunday, May 11, 2014

 Author, Creepy Hollow, Faeries, Magic, pagasus, Paranormal, Rachel Morgan, Review, Self Published, young adult  7 People left their mark

✎

The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan

For some reason, I have a soft spot when it comes to faeries. Probably because when I was younger, I was intrigued by their history, and finding out more about them nearly became an obsession at one point. Now, every time I come across a fiction novel about faeries, and it has an original premise, I jump at the chance to read it. Personally, I think Rachel Morgan has created a wonderful and original faerie world, and THE FAERIE GUARDIAN is a great start to what might be an epic series.

Violet, or Vi to her friends, is training to become a guardian, a sort of police for the faeries. Guarding humans and fae beings alike, a guardian's purpose is to either chase away or kill their mark, although Vi much prefers not to kill anyone. When she is assigned to protect Nate, a young boy, she's surprised he can see past her glamour, something humans are not supposed to be able to do. She breaks the two biggest faerie rules by letting Nate see her, and inadvertently bringing him into Creepy Hollow. The mystery that is Nate, almost becomes an obsession for her, not only because he's good looking, but something curious is unfolding in Nate's life.

What's amazing is how many bad guys we encounter throughout the book. I think it's what's most appealing about THE FAERIE GUARDIAN. You really don't know who the main antagonist is and they keep coming at Vi and Nate for one reason or another. Whether it's a duo kidnapping Nate, a centaur chasing them in faerie Underground,  Nate's supposed mother that attacks Vi for some odd and unknown reason or another duo tracking Nate with a strange eye tattoo on his back, they keep coming at our protagonists, even if they are more or less in the dark about what's really going on. It's the mystery and the intrigue that keeps this book going and the fast pace of the story is definitively an advantage. It's paced so fast, sometime I wish that author might have slowed down a little and described her faerie world, just a little bit more. Sometimes it's those little extra thing that makes a book "exceptional", rather than "very good", and this book lacked a bit of it.

The banter between the characters  is also pretty amazing. Vi is a high-spirited character and when you throw in Nate that is curious about everything and likes to talk, you get some pretty great conversations. I especially liked this one exchange, which came early in the book when Vi and Nate first met.

"You can't be a faerie. You're way too big."

I lower my hands. "Excuse me?" I've been called many things in my seventeen years, but 'big' has never been one of them. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Aren't faeries supposed to be, like, really tiny? With wings and a wand and faerie dust?"

"I'm not Tinker Bell!"

A character that I'm not sure what to make of is Ryn. As fellow student guardians, Vi and Ryn are competing to be the best of their graduating class and their feud has them squabble throughout the book. Their rivalry is really fun to read, and you keep wondering if there's something more than feud behind their bickering.

For a self-published book, I'm really satisfied with THE FAERIE GUARDIAN. It doesn't read like a self-published book because it's very well written, well edited and the flow of the book is quite perfect. I haven't read the other two books of the trilogy so I can't speak for the whole series, but if the rest of the books are as stunning as this one, I'm anticipating an epic continuation and conclusion. I really enjoyed reading this introduction to Morgan's faerie world, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. So many things happened in this story that I can't wait to see how it all unfolds.

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by Tynga at Sunday, April 06, 2014

 Creepy Hollow, Faeries, Fey/Faeries, Magic, Paranormal, Rachel Morgan, Review, Self Published, Xpresso Book Tours, young adult  4 People left their mark

✎

Iced by Karen Marie Moning

I was actually a little bit anxious to read this book. Published over a year ago, I wanted to buy the paperback anyways to match my other books, so even if the hardcover was available at my local library, I kept putting it off. To be honest, as a huge fan of the Fever series, I didn't want to read this first book of the spin-off series and be disappointed. In the other books, the main character of this spin-off series, Dani, wasn't really my favorite person and I didn't know how I felt about leaving Mac behind as the main character for the first time. Despite my apprehension, I ended it up really enjoying ICED, and to my surprise, I even started to like Dani, even with all her faults.

I think my major issue with Dani is the fact that she's a fourteen year old, playing the role of main character in an adult series. Her teenage ramblings and immature stunts can get a little annoying but I think I've started to look past that because she's actually a really funny character. Her spunk and her courage make her a true hero, in the real sense of the word, because with her super-strength, super-hearing, super-vision and super-speed, it makes her look almost invincible. Like any super-hero, she has her faults and vulnerabilities, and one of them is the fact that she's always putting others before herself, and she's always trying to save the world, one person at a time. Going back to the fact that she's fourteen years old, I don't think this book is appropriate for young adults with all the sexual references and the naked men. Sure, some young adults might end up reading it, but I'm just saying.

One issue I had with the book is its pace. The story felt slow at times and the build up seemed very gradual. To be honest, I think some scenes could have been cut out or at least edited without the teenage ramblings that were quite repetitive at times. Despite this, the anticipation was definitely there, and even if it was slow, the story still kept me interested. Sometimes I really appreciate a slow build up because it keeps me in the story that much longer, and in this case, I really didn't mind.

The writing was your typical Karen Marie Moning, with all the humour and sarcasm from her previous books. Dani is like Mac (from the original series) in so many ways, and I think that is a reflection from Moning's writing. I was surprised on how much I enjoyed reading about Ryodan, the mystery man (or whatever he is...) that owns the only bar worth visiting in post-apocalyptic Dublin. Ever since the wall between the human world and the fae world collapsed, everyone has been flocking his club called Chester's; humans for the thrill of interacting with the fae, and the fae to prey off humans.

Dani and Ryodan make an unlikely team and together they investigate the mysterious "ice" attacks that have been killing both fae and humans. And since these icey attacks could be one of the few things that can kill Ryodan, he wants as much help as possible to get to the bottom of it. Even if it means he has to endure Dani's antics. You can really feel the tension between these characters and I think Moning is a pro at describing feelings and developing these scenes, without really naming what's going on between the characters. Obviously a romantic relationship between a fourteen year old and an ancient being (who knows how old Ryodan really is...) would be a little weird but you can definitely tell there's something there. It's actually kind of funny to see how jealous Ryodan can get about Dani being friends with the teenage boy-genius, Dancer, and how he refuses that the half Unseelie Prince/half highlander, Christian be anywhere near Dani. This makes for a complicated love triangle/love-square but oh so interesting.

With everything I've said, it might sound like I didn't enjoy this book, but on the contrary, I think ICED is a great addition to the Fever world. This is just me being critical about something I really liked. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to newcomers, but it's a definite must for all fans of the Fever series. Usually, I'm a huge fan of spin-off series because it's a way to explore a literary world you love, through a different point of view and with new characters. In this case, the story is completely different from the original series, while still keeping true to the original world. Moning fans, add this one to your list!

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by Tynga at Sunday, March 02, 2014

 Adult, Apocalypse, Dani O'Malley, Dell, Faeries, Fever, Karen Marie Moning, Paranormal, Purchased, Random House, Review  3 People left their mark

✎