Firebolt (The Dragonian) by Adrienne Woods Review

Series: The Dragonian #1
Publish: September 19th 2014 by Fire Quill
Format: ebook, 394 pages
Rating: 5 / 4

Synopsis: Dragons. Right. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales, and sixteen-year old Elena Watkins was no different.
Until the night a fairy tale killed her father.
Now Elena’s in a new world, and a new school. The cutest guy around may be an evil dragon, a Prince wants Elena’s heart, and a long dead sorcerer may be waking up to kill her. Oh. And the only way Elena’s going to graduate is on the back of a dragon of her own. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales. Now it’s time for Elena to believe – in herself.

Review:
  I’m not much of a fun of books about dragons, but the beautiful cover and the synopsis got my attention. The story’s not really what I was expecting, it was even better.

  I was expecting a medieval setting, instead we get world that is a more advanced but still full of magic and fairytale like creatures. It is a beautiful and colorful world, perfect for the mysteries and excitement the book presents. The author writing style is great and the story flows easily. The whole installment narrated by Elena who is new to this magical place so we experience every little detail alongside with her. Her reactions and emotions come through spectacularly. It’s strange how easily magic and technology work together in Paegeia, but if we break down the story, the bare core of it a simply fairytale where the heroic prince who saves the day is replaced with Elena.

  Beside the beautiful world the book has a fantastic cast, too. Elena, the heroine, has no clue about magic and dragons so everything is quite a shock to her. The acceptance comes slow and hard and however much hers is the most realistic reaction I ever read about, sometimes she acts so dumb and infuriatingly hysteric. Then in no time she accommodates to her new life and genuinely tries to understand her new surroundings. That is until the first hardship, when she returns to the dumb, hysteric girl from the beginning of the book, some instance she even acts as a brat. So even if she portrays the most realistic reaction from someone who just finds out about the supernatural world I was expecting a stronger and more resilient main character.
  Becky and Sam, her room-mates personalities aren’t constant trough the story. My first impression about Becky was that she is a quirky, scatter-brained, mouthy and more of a laid back person, later she shows a more badass but also entitled side of herself. Sam transforms from strong and free-spoken to a skittish and gentler character. But they have a really strong friendship and they quickly include Elena in it, too. They are also extremely loyal, understanding and have a rebel spirit. Then there is Lucian, the quintessential prince charming with more determination and stubbornness than anyone. He is a stereotype through and through. I wasn’t too happy about his advances but as my other reviews show I usually like the dark ones.
  Blake stays an enigma and acts like somebody with multiple personalities. There are also a lot of interesting secondary characters, whom add to the book complexity.

  I have two big problems with the story. One is the pacing or at least the pacing of Elena change. In the first ¾ of the book she struggles to adjust to her new life then in a blink of an eye she starts to plan her grandiose world saving mission. It’s too fast change for my taste. The other is a minor detail which is the fact that a lot of “mystery” or secret is really obvious and predictable. You can guess almost everything from the clouded stories if you play attention. Unfortunately it has the potential to ruin the further books. So I’m hoping for a twist in the installment.

  Despite the little kinks I really enjoyed the story. It is well constructed, exciting, interesting and has a little bit of everything a fantastic fairytale needs. Looking forward to Thunderlight.

By Viki

Yield the Night (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #3
Publish: March 27th 2015 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 278 pages
Rating: 5 / 5

Synopsis: After surviving a round-trip to hell, Piper figures she can survive anything. After all, she just lived through the devastating loss of her Consul apprenticeship and a torturous stint at boarding school. How much worse could it get?
Well, she wasn’t expecting a group of crazy radicals to burn her home to the ground and take her prisoner.
The Gaians, a.k.a. the crazy radicals, plan to rid Earth of daemons and they need Piper’s help. In exchange for her cooperation, they promise her the answer to all her problems: magic. With her own magic, she could reclaim her apprenticeship, the only future she’s ever wanted. But her magic comes at price — it could kill her.
With the life she’s always known crumbling around her and her future slipping from her grasp, she needs Ash’s help one more time. But the greatest danger of all lies within her, and no matter what she does, she may lose everything — including him.

Review:
  The story starts a couple of months after where Bind the soul ended and as the previous books, starts with a dose of disappointment for Piper and quite a much action.

  We know the Gaians from Chase the dark and now they are back. Let me tell you Piper didn’t luck out in the parent department. With an emotionless, workaholic dad and a mother with a childlike delusion and a naivety what leads to overly grandiose and misplaced plans of world domination, it’s a miracle Piper hasn’t got a few screw loose. Okay as Piper states in the story to the Gaians have a couple of great idea but they also portray it through notions similar to the ones that led to the Third World War in their history. They also want to squash everything they don’t know or fear, even if they don’t have a chance. This part is typical in dystopian stories and I really don’t like it, so it’s true for the Gaians too. What pissed me of even more was Piper’s mother’s willingness to sacrifice her so called ‘destined to be together’ daughter. Unfortunately their angle doesn’t get a solution so I think they going to cause more problems.
  In the story we see into the Overworld, so we get to know all the planes there are in this magical world. There are a lot of beautiful descriptions about the places our heroes visit.
  After a while our trio reunites and their dynamic is back but not as intensely as in the first book and there is a couple of reasons for that.
  Piper is more confident in herself but her life turns so complicated through the course previous installments that her emotional stability becomes questionable. There are much more emotion in this story but is works spectacularly. We find fewer action scenes but a lot of answers for unanswered questions. Again a completely different atmosphere.
  Piper and Ash relationship reaches its peak and finally blooms, not with the best conclusion but they are so cute together its melt the heart. There is still hope for their happy ending.
  Ash’s sister is the biggest obstacle between them. She is really mean, manipulative and more like Samael than Ash wants to admit. As Piper states it they don’t know each other as much as they think, at least Ash still sees the little girl she once was. I hated her especially the way she tried to chase Piper away. She usually strikes where it hurts the most, breaking Piper even more with every jab.

  There is a lot of beautiful scenarios and otherworldly being in this book what proves the author has a really colorful imagination.
  This story isn’t that fast paced and has a little less action but its emotional depth gives that little plus I was missing in the previous books, thanks to this I gave it a 5.
  Originally I thought it’s going to be the last book in the series but it quickly became obvious that it’s not. I don’t really mind that there is gonna be a fourth book but I think Ash and Piper deserve a HEA especially after how this one ended. I’m curious about the next story since we already got three books with completely different undertone but the same plot thread.

By Viki

Bind the Soul (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #2
Publish: January 9th 2015 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4

Synopsis: The most important rule for an Apprentice Consul is simple: Don't get involved with daemons. Well, Piper is planning to break that rule — big time.
After a near-deadly scandal with the Sahar Stone, she has the chance to return to the only life she's ever wanted. All she has to do to keep her Apprenticeship is forget about Ash and Lyre. Ash might be enigmatic and notoriously lethal, and Lyre might be as sinfully irresistible as he is irritating, but they’re not bad for a couple of daemons.
There's just one problem: Ash is missing.
Really, she shouldn't risk her future for him. He lied. He betrayed her. But he also saved her life, damn it. Wherever he is, he's in trouble, and if she doesn't save his sorry butt, who will? But with every dangerous secret she unravels, each one darker than the last, she slips deeper into Ash's world — a world with no escape for either of them.

Review:
  I loved the first book so I purchased the second and third installment in the series as soon as possible. The author doesn’t disappoint in this book either. However in the second story she shows us another side of the world she built. In Chase the dark we see how the Earth side of things work while Bind the soul plays mostly on the Underworld’ side. Or more like in a little pocket of it.

  The story starts with Piper and Lyre desperate search for Ash, whom wellbeing they worry about quite much. So our favorite trio is not together, what stays a common motive through the book. Actually it’s more like a Piper only mission. Sure Ash and Lyre show up here and there but until the last third of the book they don’t have much of a role. In this story there are a lot more dark elements than in the previous one. We get a glimpse how Ash grows up through Piper hardships, and thanks to this can understand a little better. Since the whole story is narrated from Piper point of view so it’s helps a lot to understand and relate to other characters.
  The story is not as fast paced either but has plenty of actions and complications enough to keep the reader’s attention. Piper is still struggling with her lack of magic and her father changed a bit either so he is no help at all. The fact that she gets a lot of new information about her dual magic and her capability to wield the Sahar stone just makes her work harder. So it’s safe to say she didn’t get more confident and content with what she has. Samael torture just gets her spirit lower and lower in a short period of time. Fortunately she is really stubborn and feels a deep loyalty toward Ash what helps her fight back. Before that in her desperation she shows her uglier and more manipulative side, too. Even her naivety shows, mainly toward daemons or mostly Mysis. However he bursts her bubble relatively fast. What I really liked were the subtle but noticeable romantic notions between Piper and Ash. These little scenes are quite cute, pure and honest but both of them try to deny them. There are still a lot of things they have to work out in that department.
  While Lyre doesn’t have a substantial role in the story, Ash is present quiet much. Although he truly feels like a secondary character some of the times. As I mentioned earlier we get an explanation about his actions and guarded personality. It also turns out that he is really honorable and would be a spectacular leader. On the other hand the connection between him and Piper that formed in the first installment starts to show more and more, you can clearly see how it gets stronger and how much trust he lies with Piper.
  There are a couple of new characters too but I don’t think either of them would be good. I had hopes for Mysis after his initial introduction but it turned out real fast how manipulative, condescending and power hungry truly is he.

  Overall this book has a completely different undertone than the first; I think it’s admirable ho the writer created an entirely different atmosphere with the same world, topic and cast. There is a lot of good, funny, heartbreaking and action packed part in it and I really liked it. I was hoping for a bit more positive or happier ending than we got. I can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki

Chase the Dark (Steel & Stone) by Annette Marie Review

Series: Steel & Stone #1
Publish: October 17th 2014 by Annette Marie
Format: ebook, 304 pages
Rating: 5 / 4.5

Synopsis: Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are precisely three obstacles in her way.
The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to get Piper into bed and otherwise annoy the crap out of her. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?
The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.
And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.
Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons... See problems one and two.

Review:
  This is the first book from the author that I read so I didn’t really know what to expect. Especially since the synopsis kind of suggests a story that starts in the middle of the action. And it’s really starts with a BANG but not like you would expect. First we get a proper introduction of the more important characters and the world.

  For one I think the slightly dystopian setting is a bit misplaced here because it hasn’t got much of an importance in regard of the story, but helps to explain the new world structure, so can be believable. And I actually liked how the author justified some elements in her story.
  It plays a bit further future from us and a lot of things could be possible she described about their history, at least the non supernatural part of it.
  The story itself quite fast paced and full of action and a bit of humor. We get to know about the structure of the society, how things work and actually it’s easy to understand and follow. Oh, also the way how the people and the government relate to daemon kind is believable. The existing hierarchy, however much it’s infuriates people, is more realistic as it is than it would be otherwise.

  To this exciting story the fantastic characters add a decidedly positive flare.
  Piper is a strong, determined and badass character, who works extra hard to satisfy others expectations, however much it is a losing battle. She has the shortcomings, mainly her blind yearning for magic. She thinks being able to wild magic would be the solution of all her problems and because of this she makes a couple of stupid mistakes and has a few self-pitying session. Those are her more pathetic moments. But I think she is extremely strong and admirable since she still can stand her own without magic. I like it about her. She is quite resourceful when it needed, not as overconfident and judgmental than other prefects and haemons. Thanks to this she forms a freaking amazing team with Ash and Lyre. I loved the dynamic and interactions between the three of them. I just hope that the budding love triangle gets nipped before it has time to really bloom. I don’t like love triangles. Her relationship with her father, who is the main source of her disappointments, is really heartbreaking. But after things she done to save and please him, he doesn’t deserve her attention anymore.
  Lyre is the team ‘peacekeeper’. He is an incubus and tries to lighten the mood in the hard moments which they have quite a lot. He is loyal to Ash but I think, he has a soft spot and feelings for Piper. Doesn’t really have a lot of chance thanks to the girl love history but certainly tries a lot. He is the light to Ash’s dark, they are like completely opposites in almost everything, in appearance and personality, but here and there we see his darker side, too. I like him but he is more like an overprotective and annoying older brother, than a love interest.
  Ash is the brooding, dark star. He is really strong, powerful and has a real understanding about how things go and what’s right but you can feel that he carries an enormous burden. The source of this however stays a mystery; it’s his upbringing, loyalties, his true form or even his past actions. We don’t really get to know. He does a lot of questionable things but doesn’t ask for permission or forgiveness, he is sure of himself and stands beside what he believes in, be it right or wrong.
  I am rooting for him in the love interest department since in this kind of books I like the brooding and dark types, the bad boys.

  After a while the bad guys’ identity becomes quite obvious. There are a lot of good scenes in the book and it flows so fluidly I couldn’t put it down, finished it in no time. I absolutely loved Piper fighting scenes in the ring and in the end of the story, too. She proves herself time and time again, it becomes obvious that she is good and stands a chance in the daemon world, even without magic, but unfortunately her hype doesn’t last long. I hope in the next book she gains a little bit of confidence. I loved the book and can’t wait to read the next installment.

By Viki

Elsker (The Elsker Saga) by S.T. Bende Review

Series: The Elsker Saga #1
Publish: May 16th 2014 by S.T. Bende
Format: ebook, 305 pages
Rating: 5 / 4

Synopsis: Kristia Tostenson prefers Earl Grey to Grey Goose and book clubs to nightclubs, but when she transfers from her one-stoplight town to Cardiff University in Wales she falls in love with Ull Myhr. Her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. He’s an honest-to-goodness Norse God — an immortal assassin fated to die at Ragnarok, the battle destined to destroy Asgard and Earth. Kristia’s crazy visions are the only thing that can save their realms. Her orderly life just got very messy.

Review:
  I love books about mythology and I found this series one day when I was browsing the realeses under the genre. I was a bit reluctant to start because the synopsis was too telling for my taste. I don't really like when I can get to know basicly the whole story beforehand. So the other day I got over myself and started it.

  The plot and the mythologycal elements of the book was actually quite interesting and enjoyable and it had a couple of original ideas, too. Sure there was some samll similarities with other popular young adult trilogy, but not too much so it wasn't annoying, yet. My main problem was that some of the scenes and interactions in the book felt forced, staged and sometimes a bit childish. Mainly when there was supposed to be a bit flirting. Fortunately, eventually these parts faded out and the story became a bit more natural.
  The author built up quite an interesting settings for her book and it was really well constructed. The flow of the story was really good if sometimes a bit erratic, but not confusing.

  I loved the characters they weren't perfect even so they were supposed to be gods. Kristia had a hard life in a remote little town where she her ability was a known fact, and I think she made it harder for herself when she titled herself crazy. She wa shy in the beginning but during the book she developed a comletly different personality. A more determined and brave one but still a bit childish. It was good to see her 'bloom'.
  Ull was a real gentleman, who treated Kristia quite good, of course just after the hard and challenging start where he tried to be act as a hard edged and unattainable person. He was a Norse god but we didn't get to see that side of him, yet. Hopefully in the next book.
  I liked the secondary characters too. They all had a uniqe personality and they played a major role in Kristia personality change, but I don't think they gonna have a bigger role in the whole Ragnarok story line. Who knows. I also loved Ull immediate family however the only appeared at the very late stage of the story.

  First I was going to give the book a lower rating but in the end things really heated up and there was a bit more action too. I hope later we get a deeper picture of the mythologycal line I missed that. Oh, and I think that the identity of the bad gus was really obvious but nobody seen it. I can't wait for the second book.

Mortal Enchantment (Mortal Enchantment) by Stacey O'Neale Review

Series: Mortal Enchantment #1
Publish: May 20th 2014 by Phoenix Reign
Format: ebook, 183 pages
Rating: 5 / 4

Synopsis: In Kalin Matthew's world, elementals control the forces of nature. They are divided into four courts: air, woodland, fire, and water. At sixteen she will leave the life she's built with her mortal mother. Kalin will move to Avalon to rule with her father—the elemental king of the air court. Along the way, she's attacked by a fire court assassin and saved by Rowan, a swoon-worthy elemental with a questionable past.
Worst of all, she learns her father is missing.
To rescue him, Kalin will have to work with a judgmental council and a system of courts too busy accusing each other of deceit to actually be able to help her. But, they aren’t her biggest challenge. With the Midwinter’s Ball only five days away, Kalin must take over her father’s duties, which includes shifting control of the elements—power Kalin has yet to realize.
As Rowan attempts to train her, a war looms between the four courts. If Kalin fails, her father will die and the courts will fall, but the betrayal she’s about to uncover may cost her even more...

Review:
  I didn't read anything from the author before so I didn't know what to expect. But since it has a beautiful cover, intresting title and an exciting synopsis it wasn't a question whether or not to read it.

  The book has an entire new picture about the fae world, characters, something quite original in parts if you ask me. Sure there are similarities with other other book worlds about the fae but still there are a lot of new motif in it and I really like it. It is rare to find a book with elements you didn't see before. My personal favourite idea is change with the seasons. Despite the fact that it is original, there are really strange things in it too. Things I couldn't understand why the characters do it or live like it. But all in all I love the world the author built for the story.

  As for the characters, Kalin wasn't my favourite in the beginning. She is really childish, whiny but she is just sixteen so it understanable. She sees sexual references in every little and innocent thing Rowan tells her, she acts like a twelve years old little girl, who just got her first kiss. After a while it became annoying mainly because even if there is an alleged attraction between the two main character I just could't feel the chemistry. So for me the romantic part was a little bit dull. And if it's not enough there is a part when she became crazy paranoid too. Fortunately, when she realized the real weigth of her actions and responsibility, she kind of grew upa and started to act more mature like and with more determination.
  And there is Rowen. First of all, I didn't read the companion novell, which is about Rowan before the first book happenings. Thanks to the fact that a didn't read it there is a couple of more surprising fact in ths story for me. There is a kind of suspense about Rowen and his secrets. Especially since thy whole story is told by Kalin viewpoint so the reader doesn't know what Rowan is thinking. Sure whe know how he looks like, that he is hot, loyal and a talented fighter. He is struggling between his responsibilities and his desires and with Kalin presence it became harder for him. But he doesn't tell anybody about his difficulties, he is a secretive person.
  We can read about a lot of other characters, and while their personalty and place in the plot is really detailed, they are not that important.

  Ultimately it is an interesting and action packed story, with unexpected turns, a little romance and a huge surprise element in the end. I liked it and can't wait to read the next installment. I hope the autor will clarify a few question I still have.

The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles) by Mary E. Pearson Review

Series: The Remnant Chronicles #1
Publish: July 8th 2014 by Henry Holt
Format: ebook, 492 pages
Rating: 5 / 3.5

Synopsis: In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.
In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

Review:
  I would start with that there are a couple of spoiler in the review. Not major ones but those who don't like any kind of reveal, do not read it.It's really rare that I would write a spoiler infested review, but in this case I felt it vital to write down exactly what's my problem with the book.

  I usually love these kind of stories, that's why this book is a huge dissapointment for me. It has everything that it needs, but there are a lot of little detail I didn't like. It spoiled the experience for me.

  I can separate the story in two part alonga really distinct line.The first two-third of the book is simply horrible (sorry but that's my opinion). Ther was quite a few time when I considered to stop reading it, especially when I realized how long it is.Why I didn't kile it?
  My biggest problem is Lia personality and actionsIn my opinion, she's a really selfish and spoiled character at least in the first part of the book. She rans away, because she don't want to live in an arranged marriage. However she doesn't even considers the impact of her actions on her kingdom and other people lifes. Especially on her subjects since her marriage would stop a war. Despite her irresponsibility, as soon as she sees the soliders behavior outside of the city walls, she starts to blame and criticize her father, and his way of ruling. Typical the pot calls the kettle black. I don't like how she acts and says that she can work like anybody else, but then whe she really has to do some hard work she complains about it through pages. Maybe a little bit too much!? In addition to this she treats people like she's still in the castle an they can't do anything she doesn't like. Her 'I ran away from my wedding and with that, my responsibilities' stunt is really chilidsh and selfish step from Lia part, mainly because of her reasons. She wants to get everything without responsibilities. And there is only two character who tells her, what she did was wrong. This sums up my problems with the book, Lia's whining without an end.

  Fortunately, there is a huge twist in the story, where Lia miraculously grows up and the plot thickens. From this point I love it and this twist saves the whole storyline. After the turning point it's exciting and adventurous and even Lia power starts to reveal itself. But honestly this part is still unclear for me.
  The story is narrated by three different people Lia, the prince and the assassin. In the beginning of every chapter the reader can see whom point of view you're reading, but in the two boys case sometimes they mentioned by name sometimes by their profession. It can be confusing. This aspect of the book's simply ingeniously written, until this part I couldn't decide which name belonged to wich boy. It's a really good surpries and I like the outcome. Oh, and I'm really relieved that there isn't a love triangle, despite what the synopsis suggested. I hate those.

  I have a little problem with the descriptions, some of them is to detailed, mostly in case of the sceneries but a couple of object, too. It wouldn't be too much of a problem if a few page later there wouldn't be a repetition of it with different words. I think it's unnecessary.
  In my opinion, the world is a little superficial, half-baked. I want to know more about it. There're a lot of thing the writer mentiond in the story but didn't exploited it. For example the little nursery rhymes, which is a constant element ofthe storyline. There is still a lot of possibility in the plot and I hope in the next book they will be used more effectively.

  All in all, if you can get through the first two-third of the book, you get an interesting and phenomenal fantasy. I don't a bit that I read it. And it ends with a cliffhanger, seriously when is the next book. Pleaseee! I really looking forward to it.