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Reviews

Review: Wolves and Daggers by Melanie Karsak

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Review

Wolves and Daggers
Wolves and Daggers
by Melanie Karsak
Fantasy, Retelling, Steampunk
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Synopsis
Who’s afraid of the big, bad werewolf?

When London’s brightest tinkers and alchemists come up missing, Red Cape Society Agent Clemeny Louvel is on the case.

To help her get the problem in hand, Queen Victoria assigns her a temporary partner—a werewolf with a knightly history and a tendency to be far too flirtatious for either of their good. Can she trust him to help her chase down the monsters they’re hunting?

Wolves and Daggers is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale set in Melanie Karsak’s bestselling steampunk universe.

What I thought
Okay, so, a few years ago I picked up my very first steampunk book. I had no idea what steampunk was but it sounded cool so I gave it a shot. From there I fell in love, the book I picked up was Melanie Karsak’s first book in her Airship chronicles series. Now, why does this matter, you might be asking since this is clearly not apart of that series. Well, it’s in the same world!

So now with what drew me to this series I now can begin to tell you that I loved it. This is a novella series so all of the books are short which is really nice. However, that is also why I knocked off one star even though I know this London and how things are supposed to go someone just picking it up may not feel as connected to it since there is not a lot of world building. Don’t get me wrong things are laid out well and this twist on red riding hood is amazing. Hey, I’m biased because I love the world and want more of it. Due to the length of this book (122 pages), I do not feel that I can really go into it too much without spoiling something. I can say that I ordered the next two books as soon as I was done with this one.

So if you like retellings at all I say pick up this first book. You will love it!

My Rating: /54 StarsFollow me on other platforms:
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New Releases · Reviews

Review: The Witch’s Tower by Tamara Grantham

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Review

witches tower
The Witch’s Tower
by Tamara Grantham
Young Adult, Retelling, Fantasy
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Synopsis
Gothel is a witch. Punished for the actions of her mother, her choice is simple: either she stands guard over Princess Rapunzel — or she dies. But just because a choice is easy doesn’t mean it’s pleasant. Protecting Rapunzel means watching as the princess lays trapped in a tower, bedridden by hair that is so long and heavy it’s slowly driving her insane. Gothel’s life has become one of imprisonment and solitude as well — until a prince and his handsome squire appear at the tower.

Only one object can cut Rapunzel’s hair and end the curse: a pair of magical shears. But the shears are guarded by the most terrifying witches in the land, who also happen to be Gothel’s aunts. As Gothel and the prince’s squire, Raj Talmund, work to form a plan, she finds herself more and more drawn to the mysterious young man from the Outerlands. Unfortunately, his destiny is far more dangerous than she wants to admit: to save a princess, he must kill the witch who’s been forced to guard her.

What I thought
I was gifted a copy of this book by the author for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tamara Grantham does it again! It’s no secret that I am a fan of her Fairy World MD series. So when she reached out about this book I couldn’t say no.

Now let’s be honest here I surprisingly love re-tellings. I say this because a year ago I didn’t think they were something I would ever enjoy. Also, to be completely honest going into this I knew nothing of Rapunzel except she has long hair. I mean I still haven’t even seen Tangled before picking up this book.

I really like how this story is focused on Gothel, who is living out a punishment due to her mother’s actions. In this story you see her grow so much. One of my favorite things is how she gains self-respect and self-worth throughout the story. I also love the fact this book points out that you shouldn’t stereotype people. Yes, Gothel is a witch but Raj refuses to judge her based on that.  Long story short I adored Gothel and Raj and I really loved how this story ended. The story as a whole wrapped up all of the loose ends wonderfully and I felt satisfied with this being only one book (and that does not happen often).

If you like retellings you really should pick this one up!!

My Rating: /55 StarsFollow me on other platforms:
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Reviews

Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

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Review

a discovery of witches
A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)
by Deborah Harkness
Fantasy, Paranormal
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Synopsis
Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

What I thought
Well, I finally picked this one up, it has been sitting on my shelves since 2011 when it came out. Yes, I do know how that sounds.  Feel free to shame me now.

There for a long time I felt guilty reading new books because I have so many other books just sitting on my shelf not read. Well, that has changed as you can see in my last months wrap up I read more books that I bought this year than my backlist books…Oops. 

So how did I feel after letting this sit on my shelf for 8 years? I enjoyed it. Funny enough I don’t think I would have liked it back then so it sat there for a reason.

Now before you go and pick up this book, let me warn you its a long one and the first 2/3 of this book is slow. At one point I really considered DNF’ing it due to the slowness but when I thought about it I really liked it and just sat it down for a few days and came back to it. I believe that the slowness is due to the author trying to lay out so much at one time. This book gives a lot of backstory and history that I am really hoping was needed for the next book in the series.

I will be picking up the next book in this series because I really did like it and my only drawback was the pacing in the first 2/3 of the book and that is a lot of pages when the book is 579 pages long.  If you don’t mind a slow story then this is for you!

My Rating: /53.5 starsFollow me on other platforms:
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Read Along · Reviews

Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger

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Review

Changeless
Changeless by Gail Carriger
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Synopsis
Alexia Tarabotti, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears – leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria.

But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can.

She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

Read-along
Midway through 2018, I decided that I wanted to read the books from Gail Carriger’s Parasolverse in chronological order. This led me to start the journey of the Parasolverse Read-Along in August 2018. If you would like more information about the read-along please visit my post about it here. At the beginning of each month, I will have a brief read-along post go up letting you know what the book for that month is.

What I thought
So let’s start by saying that these books are a re-read for me.  So there were no big surprises for me but I still loved it.

This book just jumps right into the story shortly where the first book leaves off.  Alexia now settled in Woolsey Castle wakes to find regiment making camp on her front lawn. As you can imagine this does not go well.

Some of my favorite characters in this series begin to appear in this book.  I love watching them grow throughout the series and I can’t wait to begin the next book. It’s really hard to give a review and not potentially spoil anything. So I will leave you with my feeling at the end…

Ohhh Alexia

Lord Maccon

Madame Lefoux

Ivy

So much I want to say but I really want you to read it too!!  If you have read this book let me know what you thought down below!

My Rating: /54.5 starsFollow me on other platforms:
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Reviews

Review: Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

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Review

girl, wash your face
Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be
by Rachel Hollis
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Synopsis
Do you ever suspect that everyone else has life figured out and you don’t have a clue? If so, Rachel Hollis has something to tell you: that’s a lie.

As the founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Rachel Hollis developed an immense online community by sharing tips for better living while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own life. Now, in this challenging and inspiring new book, Rachel exposes the twenty lies and misconceptions that too often hold us back from living joyfully and productively, lies we’ve told ourselves so often we don’t even hear them anymore.

With painful honesty and fearless humor, Rachel unpacks and examines the falsehoods that once left her feeling overwhelmed and unworthy, and reveals the specific practical strategies that helped her move past them. In the process, she encourages, entertains, and even kicks a little butt, all to convince you to do whatever it takes to get real and become the joyous, confident woman you were meant to be.

With unflinching faith and rock-hard tenacity, Girl, Wash Your Face shows you how to live with passion and hustle–and how to give yourself grace without giving up.

What I thought
Okay, guys I really went back and forth on if I should review this one because I really do not want to get super personal. So this may be short. 

Anyone that has been following me for a little while would have noticed that this was not my typical read. I don’t find anything wrong with “self-help” books, I just don’t go out of my way to pick them up, in my early 20s I picked up a few and none of them were done in a way that I could get anything from. So with that being my history, I would not have picked up this book had it not been for my sister. I mean she raved about this book all over social media. I don’t mean one post or 10 I mean this went on for weeks to the point that Rachel Hollis really should have added her to the marketing team.

So I walked into the book store and saw it sitting there and opened it up and began reading the introduction letter to the reader. I don’t know why or what part of it made me begin to get emotional.  One thing that I really don’t like is when a book makes me cry so I promptly put the book down. Let me just say here that I did not finish the intro at that time. But I left the store without the book. I read to escape not to get upset. So I go to target so that I can get my shopping done and something just kept nagging at me, something in me really wanted to read that book. So I get back to the book section of the store and there is the book again not just on one endcap but two. So we are going to go with fate.

Reading this book was an experience that I did not expect. To be perfectly honest with you I have never had an experience like this with a book. It was like it was written for me granted somethings didn’t apply but the ones that did I don’t have words for how much I got out of this.  The most amazing part is how it has helped me and I noticed the change in me that I never expected to happen. Really my sister wasn’t kidding for me this book was really life-changing and I still can’t believe some of the changes that I have made by just accepting and being myself.

The basis of the book is 20 lies we tell ourselves. This book is written in the way that she has overcome/working on each one of these. I marked so many things that I had to buy more book darts. I know that may sound silly but I don’t mark a whole lot of things when I read books usually maybe a couple quotes but I used half a tin on this book and was worried I wouldn’t have enough.

I suggest this book for any woman out there something in this book will speak to you!

Oh, yea she has another book coming out in March and I have already preordered it. if you want to look at that one too here is the link to Goodreads

My Rating: /55 StarsFollow me on other platforms:
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Reviews

Review: The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

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Review

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm


The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
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Synopsis
A wanderer and a cursed child. Spells and magic. And dragons, of course. Welcome back to the world of Alagaësia.

It’s been a year since Eragon departed Alagaësia in search of the perfect home to train a new generation of Dragon Riders. Now he is struggling with an endless sea of tasks: constructing a vast dragonhold, wrangling with suppliers, guarding dragon eggs, and dealing with belligerent Urgals and haughty elves. Then a vision from the Eldunarí, unexpected visitors, and an exciting Urgal legend offer a much-needed distraction and a new perspective.

This volume features three original stories set in Alagaësia, interspersed with scenes from Eragon’s own unfolding adventure. Included is an excerpt from the memoir of the unforgettable witch and fortune-teller Angela the herbalist . . . penned by Angela Paolini, the inspiration for the character, herself!

Relish the incomparable imagination of Christopher Paolini in this thrilling new collection of stories based in the world of the Inheritance Cycle. Includes four new pieces of original art by the author.

What I thought
Okay, guys, this is going to be short and sweet. First Yes you need to have read The Inheritance Cycle series before you pick up this book. Your knowledge does not need to be recent but you will be lost if you do not know who the main characters were. 

In this book, you get three short stories that all take place after Inheritance. One involves Murtagh, the next is about Angela and Elva and the last is an old story told from one of the races. Haha, you have to read it to find out, I can’t give everything away.

All in all, I feel that this was a bridge book to the next series that he writes in this world. The ending set that up very nicely for that. If you enjoyed the series and want to see what is going on with those characters you should definitely pick this up. I do warn you I thought that the last story was too long but that is just me.

My Rating: /54 Stars

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Reviews

Review: Fire Falling by Elise Kova

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Review

Fire Falling
Fire Falling by Elise Kova
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Synopsis
Soldier… Sorcerer… Savior… Who is Vhalla Yarl?

Vhalla Yarl marches to war as property of the Solaris Empire. The Emperor counts on her to bring victory, the Senate counts on her death, and the only thing Vhalla can count on is the fight of her life. As she grapples with the ghosts of her past, new challenges in the present threaten to shatter the remnants of her fragile sanity. Will she maintain her humanity? Or will she truly become the Empire’s monster?

What I thought
This is the second book in the Air Awakens series. This book begins just 5 days after the trial in the first book. I really like how the author handles the emotional trauma is from the first book, it is not glossed over like nothing ever happened. I love how Vhalla comes out so much stronger in the end. As a whole, this book was an emotional rollercoaster ride with an angst level of 10. I spent the majority of the book in this state.

No character is safe the author has no issues toying/destroying them all in one way or another.  As much as it wrecks me I have to say I love the way she does it.

I can’t wait to pick up the next book in this series and I promised myself that I would get to read it in February. I waited way too many months between the first and the second one and I just can not do that to myself after that ending.

I know that this is a very vague review, but that is because I want to say so many things that I have thoughts on and they are all spoilers and I think that you just need to pick this up yourself without knowing how this begins coming together.

If you enjoy angst, having your emotions toyed with. or your heart ripped out you should read this series.

My Rating: /5

5 Stars


Elise Kova is the USA Today bestselling author of fantasy stories filled with magic and romance.

In her past lives, she has graduated from an MBA program, lived in Japan for a bit, and worked for a Fortune 500 technology company. However, she finds herself much happier in her current reincarnation as a full-time author. When not writing, she can usually be found playing video games, drawing, watching anime, or talking with readers on social media. She’s happy to call Saint Petersburg, Florida, her home, but is always looking forward to her next trip.

Her debut series was Air Awakens. Since then she’s penned the dark fantasy, the Loom Saga. As well as a co-authored paranormal romance, the Wish Quartet.

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