Gypsy Madden's Blog, page 12
June 16, 2021
Book Review: Fragile Magic (Dark Forgotten novella)
Fragile Magic (Dark Forgotten novella) by Sharon Ashwood
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I obtained a free copy via Book Funnel.
Summary: Selina is a half-Fae trying to blend in with the human world. With her empathic powers being unpredictable, her family can’t rely on her for their family business, so she works for an art show company. During a quick dash into a grocery store, she encounters a baby gargoyle who had gotten entangled in fallen boxes of cereal. She rescues the poor baby, purchases it from the pet store next door that it had escaped from, and notices that it has a broken wing that needs to be looked at. The pet store had recommended Dr. Jake. The nice, sweet, and rather hot vet is also a werewolf and is very much attracted to Selina’s Fae side, as well as the hero in her that rescued the gargoyle.
Comments: While the full-sized Dark Forgotten books are serious urban paranormal fantasy adventures with the heroines risking their lives in dire world ending situations (which is more to my taste), this novella is more of a humorous Cozy, reminiscent of the later Sookie Stackhouse books that threw all the different creatures of the urban paranormal worlds into a blender together and then took everything together in stride. I didn’t really warm to Selina. Probably because she was too career driven for me to relate to (besides, I never relate to women in kitten heels). I did love the baby gargoyle, like how they had to watch him constantly for what he might put into his beak. Jake was the typical hot werewolf shifter (is there even such a thing as an average looking werewolf shifter?) and even more typically, he was alpha. (Can’t read a werewolf shifter book without there being an alpha in it). Though he didn’t really act alpha. He wasn’t the stereotypical pushy, belligerently railroading over whatever the heroine wanted, and acting like his ego was the largest thing in the room. He was kind, sweet, patient, an attentive listener, willing to give advice and suggestions, and willing to let the heroine solve her own problems (far more like a Beta than an Alpha, just saying). I did like the plot of the story, where Selina had to ask the question of whether she was actually happy working for her boss, if she was actually happy denying her Fae heritage, if she could come to terms with and embrace her Fae side, and taking joy from the new things in her life. It was very empowering.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I obtained a free copy via Book Funnel.
Summary: Selina is a half-Fae trying to blend in with the human world. With her empathic powers being unpredictable, her family can’t rely on her for their family business, so she works for an art show company. During a quick dash into a grocery store, she encounters a baby gargoyle who had gotten entangled in fallen boxes of cereal. She rescues the poor baby, purchases it from the pet store next door that it had escaped from, and notices that it has a broken wing that needs to be looked at. The pet store had recommended Dr. Jake. The nice, sweet, and rather hot vet is also a werewolf and is very much attracted to Selina’s Fae side, as well as the hero in her that rescued the gargoyle.
Comments: While the full-sized Dark Forgotten books are serious urban paranormal fantasy adventures with the heroines risking their lives in dire world ending situations (which is more to my taste), this novella is more of a humorous Cozy, reminiscent of the later Sookie Stackhouse books that threw all the different creatures of the urban paranormal worlds into a blender together and then took everything together in stride. I didn’t really warm to Selina. Probably because she was too career driven for me to relate to (besides, I never relate to women in kitten heels). I did love the baby gargoyle, like how they had to watch him constantly for what he might put into his beak. Jake was the typical hot werewolf shifter (is there even such a thing as an average looking werewolf shifter?) and even more typically, he was alpha. (Can’t read a werewolf shifter book without there being an alpha in it). Though he didn’t really act alpha. He wasn’t the stereotypical pushy, belligerently railroading over whatever the heroine wanted, and acting like his ego was the largest thing in the room. He was kind, sweet, patient, an attentive listener, willing to give advice and suggestions, and willing to let the heroine solve her own problems (far more like a Beta than an Alpha, just saying). I did like the plot of the story, where Selina had to ask the question of whether she was actually happy working for her boss, if she was actually happy denying her Fae heritage, if she could come to terms with and embrace her Fae side, and taking joy from the new things in her life. It was very empowering.
June 12, 2021
Book Review: Splintered Magic
Splintered Magic by Aileen Harkwood
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I read this as included in the Not Just Voodoo anthology.
Summary: Saige is descended from a long line of witches, but her magic hardly ever works properly. She itches to move out of her grandmother’s house since they have a very antagonistic relationship, especially after the death of her mother, but she doesn’t make enough money at the candle shop to strike out on her own. And then she finds her mother’s lap dog dead, ripped apart in the parking lot of the candle shop. The next morning she finds the candle shop ripped apart like a hurricane hit just the inside of the building and the two incidents have to be connected, magically.
Comments: Admittedly, I’m really not certain why this was in a Voodoo anthology since there really wasn’t any Voodoo in it (the description says it was in the Venom and Vampires collection too, but there weren’t any vampires in this either or anything venomous). I liked both Saige and Pluto. Granted, I’ve seen that witch and guardian idea done to death, but I liked their childhood/teenage rivalry, even if it was mostly just her perception of it because she resented that his family had money. Though it did beg the question of obviously Pluto knew what was going on, so why didn’t he address the situation years earlier? For the record, I really liked this story. I would love to see a continuing series built around these characters, fleshing out her type of witch. And I loved the relationship with her grandmother, and I loved her boss from hell and the minimum wage job. I loved the descriptions of Saige trying to describe the wounds on the what was left of the dog and what might have caused it and what whatever the monster would have to look like. And I loved the southern setting with her grandmother being such a southern belle who used her magic mostly just to look younger. And I loved the mystery with the beastie, and what it turned out to be. So, why did I give this only 4 stars? Parts of the book felt rather muddled and muddied, like the accident, and the final battle, and what the beastie looked like. Those are all key points that should be described clearly.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I read this as included in the Not Just Voodoo anthology.
Summary: Saige is descended from a long line of witches, but her magic hardly ever works properly. She itches to move out of her grandmother’s house since they have a very antagonistic relationship, especially after the death of her mother, but she doesn’t make enough money at the candle shop to strike out on her own. And then she finds her mother’s lap dog dead, ripped apart in the parking lot of the candle shop. The next morning she finds the candle shop ripped apart like a hurricane hit just the inside of the building and the two incidents have to be connected, magically.
Comments: Admittedly, I’m really not certain why this was in a Voodoo anthology since there really wasn’t any Voodoo in it (the description says it was in the Venom and Vampires collection too, but there weren’t any vampires in this either or anything venomous). I liked both Saige and Pluto. Granted, I’ve seen that witch and guardian idea done to death, but I liked their childhood/teenage rivalry, even if it was mostly just her perception of it because she resented that his family had money. Though it did beg the question of obviously Pluto knew what was going on, so why didn’t he address the situation years earlier? For the record, I really liked this story. I would love to see a continuing series built around these characters, fleshing out her type of witch. And I loved the relationship with her grandmother, and I loved her boss from hell and the minimum wage job. I loved the descriptions of Saige trying to describe the wounds on the what was left of the dog and what might have caused it and what whatever the monster would have to look like. And I loved the southern setting with her grandmother being such a southern belle who used her magic mostly just to look younger. And I loved the mystery with the beastie, and what it turned out to be. So, why did I give this only 4 stars? Parts of the book felt rather muddled and muddied, like the accident, and the final battle, and what the beastie looked like. Those are all key points that should be described clearly.
June 10, 2021
Book Review: JumpStart (Valiant - prequel)
JumpStart (Valiant – prequel) by Merrie Destefano
4 stars
Category: YA
Note: Short story length. I obtained a free copy via the author’s newsletter.
Summary: To save the world, Sara and her team have to stop the Valiant space shuttle. They have repeated time (like the movie Ground Hog’s Day) over and over again, with each time being a failure to stop the shuttle from lifting off. Each time the shuttle lifts off, the aliens notice it and invade, ending the world as we know it.
Comments: This is just one attempt by Sara and her team to stop the shuttle. And I have to say, their attempt seems rather hairbrained and suicidal, when there are much easier and effective ways to stop a shuttle than to do a Mission Impossible scale the outside of the shuttle building. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, mostly because I felt like I really didn’t know any of them. Like all I knew about Justin was that he was Sara’s best friend and she was crushing on him. All I knew about Sara was that she had a younger brother named Gabe, and that she was crushing on her best friend. And who was that guy who popped up at the end? It said he was an alien and it named the type of aliens that invaded the earth who they were attempting to stop? Also, why would the launch of this shuttle suddenly trigger an alien invasion when we have been launching shuttles for decades? Things aren’t really explained in this. I always love Ground Hog’s Day repeated stories with them trying to figure out how to get things to work out properly to escape the cycle. And I love the idea of YA sci-fi and alien invasion. But I think this really could have been fleshed out more to hook the reading audience better, because as it stands right now, it doesn’t sell me on the idea of purchasing a 6-dollar full size book.
4 stars
Category: YA
Note: Short story length. I obtained a free copy via the author’s newsletter.
Summary: To save the world, Sara and her team have to stop the Valiant space shuttle. They have repeated time (like the movie Ground Hog’s Day) over and over again, with each time being a failure to stop the shuttle from lifting off. Each time the shuttle lifts off, the aliens notice it and invade, ending the world as we know it.
Comments: This is just one attempt by Sara and her team to stop the shuttle. And I have to say, their attempt seems rather hairbrained and suicidal, when there are much easier and effective ways to stop a shuttle than to do a Mission Impossible scale the outside of the shuttle building. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, mostly because I felt like I really didn’t know any of them. Like all I knew about Justin was that he was Sara’s best friend and she was crushing on him. All I knew about Sara was that she had a younger brother named Gabe, and that she was crushing on her best friend. And who was that guy who popped up at the end? It said he was an alien and it named the type of aliens that invaded the earth who they were attempting to stop? Also, why would the launch of this shuttle suddenly trigger an alien invasion when we have been launching shuttles for decades? Things aren’t really explained in this. I always love Ground Hog’s Day repeated stories with them trying to figure out how to get things to work out properly to escape the cycle. And I love the idea of YA sci-fi and alien invasion. But I think this really could have been fleshed out more to hook the reading audience better, because as it stands right now, it doesn’t sell me on the idea of purchasing a 6-dollar full size book.
Book Review: Enemy Beloved (Ravages of Honor - novella)
Enemy Beloved (Ravages of Honor - novella) by Monalisa Foster
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Short story length. I obtained a free copy via Bookfunnel.
Summary: Ilithyia is a scavenger on the remote jungle planet of Turanna. She finds a crashed ship and a robotic being, that had been thrown from the ship. She decides to salvage it, using a blowtorch to saw through the head, but before she gets too much past the surface, it moves, and she realizes it’s not a robot but a person and he’s still alive, and her blowtorch has just destroyed where his eyes should have been. She takes him with her back to an abandoned military facility that she had been using as her base, and treats him as best as she can.
Elite soldier Dragomir knows he is in enemy hands, even though his eyes are gone. But his loss of sight as well as his ruined leg and partial arm are only temporary since the nanites running through his body will eventually rebuild everything, given time. But first, he needs to know just who Ilithyia is, who rules her planet, and he needs to evade the people who caused the crash of his ship, though her light healing touch, though unneeded is warm and inviting.
Comments: This was a bit slow to start. The beginning felt like it was bogged down in technobabble and it was difficult to wade through it. But then once she takes his helmet off, it felt like the story got easier to follow and sucked me in. I didn’t really follow all of the different factions on the planet. There was the council, her group, and at least one more group mentioned. The heart of the story is the relationship between the two leads as she tries to tend to him and heal him. While he’s trying to be patient with her outdated technology, but he’s willing to put up with it while he learns more about his captor/doctor, and finds he likes her soft touches as she tends to him. The moment when he acts on his want of her, felt rushed since he just grabs her, but then that part would appeal to the ladies who like the stereotypical alphas and dominating (I’m not one of them, but it’s still a fun romance as I patiently wait for the other shoe to drop in this Romeo and Juliet tale for her to realize that she’s tending to an enemy). I liked that there did feel like there was vulnerability on his side as well, not just because of his missing sight which didn’t seem like that much of a handicap to him, just a frustration since it meant he had to guess what she looked like. I loved that he was afraid she’d notice his fast healing or other details about him, and realize he was the enemy and turn on him, ending anything between them. After finishing this fun story, I hunted through Ms Foster’s books to see if there was any continuation to the story. Sadly, I couldn’t find one. The main book that this is a spin off novella of, picks up with a different couple. Too bad since it seemed like Ilithyia’s story wasn’t done yet.
5 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Short story length. I obtained a free copy via Bookfunnel.
Summary: Ilithyia is a scavenger on the remote jungle planet of Turanna. She finds a crashed ship and a robotic being, that had been thrown from the ship. She decides to salvage it, using a blowtorch to saw through the head, but before she gets too much past the surface, it moves, and she realizes it’s not a robot but a person and he’s still alive, and her blowtorch has just destroyed where his eyes should have been. She takes him with her back to an abandoned military facility that she had been using as her base, and treats him as best as she can.
Elite soldier Dragomir knows he is in enemy hands, even though his eyes are gone. But his loss of sight as well as his ruined leg and partial arm are only temporary since the nanites running through his body will eventually rebuild everything, given time. But first, he needs to know just who Ilithyia is, who rules her planet, and he needs to evade the people who caused the crash of his ship, though her light healing touch, though unneeded is warm and inviting.
Comments: This was a bit slow to start. The beginning felt like it was bogged down in technobabble and it was difficult to wade through it. But then once she takes his helmet off, it felt like the story got easier to follow and sucked me in. I didn’t really follow all of the different factions on the planet. There was the council, her group, and at least one more group mentioned. The heart of the story is the relationship between the two leads as she tries to tend to him and heal him. While he’s trying to be patient with her outdated technology, but he’s willing to put up with it while he learns more about his captor/doctor, and finds he likes her soft touches as she tends to him. The moment when he acts on his want of her, felt rushed since he just grabs her, but then that part would appeal to the ladies who like the stereotypical alphas and dominating (I’m not one of them, but it’s still a fun romance as I patiently wait for the other shoe to drop in this Romeo and Juliet tale for her to realize that she’s tending to an enemy). I liked that there did feel like there was vulnerability on his side as well, not just because of his missing sight which didn’t seem like that much of a handicap to him, just a frustration since it meant he had to guess what she looked like. I loved that he was afraid she’d notice his fast healing or other details about him, and realize he was the enemy and turn on him, ending anything between them. After finishing this fun story, I hunted through Ms Foster’s books to see if there was any continuation to the story. Sadly, I couldn’t find one. The main book that this is a spin off novella of, picks up with a different couple. Too bad since it seemed like Ilithyia’s story wasn’t done yet.
June 8, 2021
Book Review: The Princess and the Pawn (The Raven and the Dove - prequel)
The Princess and the Pawn (The Raven and the Dove – prequel) by Kaitlyn Davis
4 stars
Category: New Adult
Note: Novella-length. Free on Amazon.
Summary: In a world of bird-people, dove princess Lyana wants to be the best, so she’ll get her pick of suitors at the courtship trials rather than be shackled to whoever her parents pick for her. But what she really wants in life is freedom, but she knows it’s not to be with being a princess. Rafe is the son of the former ruler, and the half-brother of the crown prince. The crown prince looks so much like him, they could be twins, and with the crown prince lacking confidence, training, and one hand, Rafe knows that people didn’t argue against him accompanying the crown prince to the courtship trials for a reason.
Comments: This is basically just an introduction to the main characters, leading up to yet another competition-focused indie book. I keep wondering if the competitions have become popular because of Hunger Games or just because of one too many low-budget reality competition shows. Honestly, I thought the bird-people were rather corny. Having wings is one thing. I picked up this book via a bookfunnel giveaway and I didn’t get much of a blurb at the time, so I was assuming from their wings this would be an angel versus fallen angel romance and I did love the idea of a retelling of Tristan and Isolde. But it’s rather corny for the bird people in this book to actually have characteristics of the different types of birds. I did like the characters of Lyana and Rafe. I like that Lyana is trying to prove herself and show others that she’s not just something to be won. And I love that she wants her freedom, but realistically knows she can’t have it, at least not as much as she’d like, so she’s determined to win what she can. And I like Rafe, though for trying to not be noticed, he certainly does his best to stand out in sparring. I do love his friendship with his half-brother, and I totally root for him to help his half-brother gain confidence. But the request by his brother at the end, made me lose interest in the crown prince since it totally steamrolled over Rafe and forced him into a corner. One question: who is King Malek? It sounds like he’s supposed to be important, but I have no idea who he is since he just pops up in the final scene.
4 stars
Category: New Adult
Note: Novella-length. Free on Amazon.
Summary: In a world of bird-people, dove princess Lyana wants to be the best, so she’ll get her pick of suitors at the courtship trials rather than be shackled to whoever her parents pick for her. But what she really wants in life is freedom, but she knows it’s not to be with being a princess. Rafe is the son of the former ruler, and the half-brother of the crown prince. The crown prince looks so much like him, they could be twins, and with the crown prince lacking confidence, training, and one hand, Rafe knows that people didn’t argue against him accompanying the crown prince to the courtship trials for a reason.
Comments: This is basically just an introduction to the main characters, leading up to yet another competition-focused indie book. I keep wondering if the competitions have become popular because of Hunger Games or just because of one too many low-budget reality competition shows. Honestly, I thought the bird-people were rather corny. Having wings is one thing. I picked up this book via a bookfunnel giveaway and I didn’t get much of a blurb at the time, so I was assuming from their wings this would be an angel versus fallen angel romance and I did love the idea of a retelling of Tristan and Isolde. But it’s rather corny for the bird people in this book to actually have characteristics of the different types of birds. I did like the characters of Lyana and Rafe. I like that Lyana is trying to prove herself and show others that she’s not just something to be won. And I love that she wants her freedom, but realistically knows she can’t have it, at least not as much as she’d like, so she’s determined to win what she can. And I like Rafe, though for trying to not be noticed, he certainly does his best to stand out in sparring. I do love his friendship with his half-brother, and I totally root for him to help his half-brother gain confidence. But the request by his brother at the end, made me lose interest in the crown prince since it totally steamrolled over Rafe and forced him into a corner. One question: who is King Malek? It sounds like he’s supposed to be important, but I have no idea who he is since he just pops up in the final scene.
June 4, 2021
Book Review: First Kisses Suck (Minnie Kim: Vampire Girl - Book 1)
First Kisses Suck (Minnie Kim: Vampire Girl – Book 1) by Ali Cross
5 stars
Category: Teen
Note: I read this as included in the Sigils and Spells anthology.
Summary: Teenage Minnie Kim has never been kissed. She loves science, she gets good grades, and she was even accepted to Harvard early. Her best friend is convinced she needs to live a little and be a teenager and get that first kiss, so she encourages Minnie to dress as a slutty vampire and go to a Halloween house party. Vampires are a real thing and they have rules to being a vampire, but it doesn’t stop Ethan from draining her, panicking, and turning her into a real vampire. It’s up to Ethan’s vampire family to take Minnie in and train her in the ways of coping as a vampire in the modern world and trying to find her new place in society that still sees vampires as being monsters even if they have feelings, too.
Comments: I thought this was a fascinating story. Yes, it’s appropriate for teenagers. Minnie comes off as being a typical awkward teenager with the wanting to grow up, and then realizing she’s grown up too fast, the usual trying to fit in and deal with bullies, and trying to make friends with people. There is a fun tentative romance in this that looks mostly like a one-sided crush, and the awkward trying to guess what the guy is thinking and decode his behavior. And I loved her trying to fit back in with her school after turning into a vampire and having to navigate troubling waters as the PA system outs her as being a vampire for the entire school to know, having her favorite teachers look at her as a monster, and all of the students saying things about her, which of course is a commentary on prejudice. I loved her patience and stubbornness for them to accept her, and trying to find allies among the humans. All of the reactions of all of the people around her felt real. (I even did that same science experiment in high school). I also loved the extracts from the vampire handbook at the beginning of each chapter, which were almost always totally wrong to the point of being laughable. Where I thought the story could have used more work was in the vampire home and the other vampires, which felt like there hadn’t been enough time spent on exploring them. As in, sometimes the place is referred to as a cabin, but then it seems to be a mansion, and it seems to have multiple levels underground? It felt a bit confused in descriptions. And I never felt like I got to know the other vampires since Minnie seemed to be relatively reluctant to talk to any of them and they all seemed to be loners. Ethan, the guy who turned her, after that scene where he turns her, he basically vanishes from the story only seen in cameo for a scene or two. I thought for sure she’d at least get a confrontation closure with him, but no. Yes, I loved Philo, and I loved his background (though I still have questions about him and Diana), and his mysteriousness, and being very full of himself. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Minnie. She still has to survive high school, get that degree, and college or interning, if she’ll actually shoot for Harvard or will her plans for rights and acceptance for vampires take her in a completely different direction.
5 stars
Category: Teen
Note: I read this as included in the Sigils and Spells anthology.
Summary: Teenage Minnie Kim has never been kissed. She loves science, she gets good grades, and she was even accepted to Harvard early. Her best friend is convinced she needs to live a little and be a teenager and get that first kiss, so she encourages Minnie to dress as a slutty vampire and go to a Halloween house party. Vampires are a real thing and they have rules to being a vampire, but it doesn’t stop Ethan from draining her, panicking, and turning her into a real vampire. It’s up to Ethan’s vampire family to take Minnie in and train her in the ways of coping as a vampire in the modern world and trying to find her new place in society that still sees vampires as being monsters even if they have feelings, too.
Comments: I thought this was a fascinating story. Yes, it’s appropriate for teenagers. Minnie comes off as being a typical awkward teenager with the wanting to grow up, and then realizing she’s grown up too fast, the usual trying to fit in and deal with bullies, and trying to make friends with people. There is a fun tentative romance in this that looks mostly like a one-sided crush, and the awkward trying to guess what the guy is thinking and decode his behavior. And I loved her trying to fit back in with her school after turning into a vampire and having to navigate troubling waters as the PA system outs her as being a vampire for the entire school to know, having her favorite teachers look at her as a monster, and all of the students saying things about her, which of course is a commentary on prejudice. I loved her patience and stubbornness for them to accept her, and trying to find allies among the humans. All of the reactions of all of the people around her felt real. (I even did that same science experiment in high school). I also loved the extracts from the vampire handbook at the beginning of each chapter, which were almost always totally wrong to the point of being laughable. Where I thought the story could have used more work was in the vampire home and the other vampires, which felt like there hadn’t been enough time spent on exploring them. As in, sometimes the place is referred to as a cabin, but then it seems to be a mansion, and it seems to have multiple levels underground? It felt a bit confused in descriptions. And I never felt like I got to know the other vampires since Minnie seemed to be relatively reluctant to talk to any of them and they all seemed to be loners. Ethan, the guy who turned her, after that scene where he turns her, he basically vanishes from the story only seen in cameo for a scene or two. I thought for sure she’d at least get a confrontation closure with him, but no. Yes, I loved Philo, and I loved his background (though I still have questions about him and Diana), and his mysteriousness, and being very full of himself. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Minnie. She still has to survive high school, get that degree, and college or interning, if she’ll actually shoot for Harvard or will her plans for rights and acceptance for vampires take her in a completely different direction.
June 3, 2021
Book Review: Curse of the Witching Hour (Son of a Succubus - Book 2)
Curse of the Witching Hour (Son of a Succubus – Book 2) by Sarina Dorie
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length (serial length)
Summary: This book starts with everyone getting ready for Clarissa and Felix’s wedding. There was a tentative thought in having Lucifer stowaway with Clarissa and Felix so he could use the energy generated by their honeymoon to power his transformation from cat back into human, hopefully breaking his curse. But during the wedding, Abigail is kidnapped by the Raven Queen, the queen of the fairies. Lucifer despairs without her. The love of his life is gone. He happens upon Gertrude, the librarian at Womby’s School of Witchcraft, and she helps him with breaking his curse.
Comments: The previous book in this series was relatively standalone. All it really referenced was The Trouble with Hedge Witches series where the relationship between Abigail and Lucifer was featured in their teenage years as they learned their magic and he was turned into a cat and I was able to read it fine without having to read the other books first. This book, however, relies on the reader having read Wedding Bells and Midnight Spells (Womby Book 14) and The Joy of Hex (Womby Book 17). If you haven’t read them, you’ll be tearing your hair out at important scenes happening off camera and then things will be mentioned and you’ll be scratching your head going, wait, what? Because those were my reactions at several key points (Yeah, I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet, because the books in the main series are 300+ and this series is an enjoyable just under 100). As in, the wedding where Abigail gets abducted happens off camera because Lucifer had to be left at home. The event where Clarissa fell into a coma happens off camera. The whole final battle and Lucifer finally showing himself to Clarissa and Felix (which I was really dying to see Felix’s reaction since he hadn’t seen his brother since they were children, and with Lucifer unreasonably hating Felix, I was really itching to see the fur fly and Felix’s reaction) also all happens off camera with the author expecting the audience to have read it in the other books rather than letting us follow through the scenes from Lucifer’s point of view. The magic system in this story is overly complicated. Like Lucifer is an incubus with electrical magic, and he’s also a red affinity (whatever that is. Even in this book it still isn’t explained other than being powerful and rare, but yet there are several others in this story with that affinity as well, so it can’t be that rare). And Lucifer isn’t the only one with several unconnected powers attached to him. Like Gertrude is a siren with water affinity. She’s also a Merlin level Celestor, which apparently means magic in the moonlight. I know I said it in my review of the previous book, but it still holds true here. Just the mention of kitty sex magic is nails on chalkboard, just an uncomfortable mental image. At least he doesn’t spend his entire time as cat in this book (maybe about half of it), and we don’t have to deal with Abigail freaking out that they’ve got too much of an age difference in appearance. A lot of the book was spent with Lucifer having sex, and waiting around (but it did come off as being unreasonably difficult for a cat to wait). Admittedly, I never really connected to Abigail, though I do feel for Lucifer to have gone through all of the years as cat, finally stands a chance at being human again and yet, still be parted from Abigail, and I totally get him wanting to scratch and claw everyone around him.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length (serial length)
Summary: This book starts with everyone getting ready for Clarissa and Felix’s wedding. There was a tentative thought in having Lucifer stowaway with Clarissa and Felix so he could use the energy generated by their honeymoon to power his transformation from cat back into human, hopefully breaking his curse. But during the wedding, Abigail is kidnapped by the Raven Queen, the queen of the fairies. Lucifer despairs without her. The love of his life is gone. He happens upon Gertrude, the librarian at Womby’s School of Witchcraft, and she helps him with breaking his curse.
Comments: The previous book in this series was relatively standalone. All it really referenced was The Trouble with Hedge Witches series where the relationship between Abigail and Lucifer was featured in their teenage years as they learned their magic and he was turned into a cat and I was able to read it fine without having to read the other books first. This book, however, relies on the reader having read Wedding Bells and Midnight Spells (Womby Book 14) and The Joy of Hex (Womby Book 17). If you haven’t read them, you’ll be tearing your hair out at important scenes happening off camera and then things will be mentioned and you’ll be scratching your head going, wait, what? Because those were my reactions at several key points (Yeah, I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet, because the books in the main series are 300+ and this series is an enjoyable just under 100). As in, the wedding where Abigail gets abducted happens off camera because Lucifer had to be left at home. The event where Clarissa fell into a coma happens off camera. The whole final battle and Lucifer finally showing himself to Clarissa and Felix (which I was really dying to see Felix’s reaction since he hadn’t seen his brother since they were children, and with Lucifer unreasonably hating Felix, I was really itching to see the fur fly and Felix’s reaction) also all happens off camera with the author expecting the audience to have read it in the other books rather than letting us follow through the scenes from Lucifer’s point of view. The magic system in this story is overly complicated. Like Lucifer is an incubus with electrical magic, and he’s also a red affinity (whatever that is. Even in this book it still isn’t explained other than being powerful and rare, but yet there are several others in this story with that affinity as well, so it can’t be that rare). And Lucifer isn’t the only one with several unconnected powers attached to him. Like Gertrude is a siren with water affinity. She’s also a Merlin level Celestor, which apparently means magic in the moonlight. I know I said it in my review of the previous book, but it still holds true here. Just the mention of kitty sex magic is nails on chalkboard, just an uncomfortable mental image. At least he doesn’t spend his entire time as cat in this book (maybe about half of it), and we don’t have to deal with Abigail freaking out that they’ve got too much of an age difference in appearance. A lot of the book was spent with Lucifer having sex, and waiting around (but it did come off as being unreasonably difficult for a cat to wait). Admittedly, I never really connected to Abigail, though I do feel for Lucifer to have gone through all of the years as cat, finally stands a chance at being human again and yet, still be parted from Abigail, and I totally get him wanting to scratch and claw everyone around him.
June 2, 2021
Book Review: Shadow Academy
Shadow Academy by Jamie Campbell
5 stars
Category: Teen
Note: Novella-length
Summary: Eden is the daughter of witches, and being the child with supernatural parents, she is obligated to attend a school for supernatural creatures. But when she passes her teenage years without her witch powers activating, she is considered a roach (a non-magical, but with magical parents). Roaches, like their name suggests are abhorred and rounded up, never to be seen again. And they aren’t allowed to disappear into the basic human cities, because the supernatural community is petrified they’ll leak the existence of the supernatural. So, Eden needs to survive three years within the supernatural school, without being caught, before she will be able to live on her own. But it’s easier said than done when her roommate hates her and the admissions office refuses to let her switch rooms even with her roommate demanding that she leave, she’s expected to perform magic in her classes, there are magic hunters patrolling the campus because of a rise in the roach population this particular year, and she’s caught the interest of handsome Liam, the son of the headmaster.
Comments: Admittedly in all of these magic school books, I tend to focus on how interesting the classes are or to grade them up against the classes in Harry Potter. The classes at this school are rather boring, which seems to be the case predominantly in indie books. So, if you’re looking for an interesting magic school, it isn’t here. But that’s not to say that the story itself isn’t fun. I did love the cat and mouse situation Eden has found herself in and just how impossible of a situation she’s in. I loved her superficial, self-centered roommate, who’s determined to have a room to herself, regardless of admissions saying no room transfers, and I love that she isn’t afraid to wield power over Eden. Liam is the typical book boyfriend, who’s broody, aloof, anti-social, but is hiding a wounded, lonely soul and knows he’ll never fit in with his father being headmaster. I think I didn’t really attach to Cress. She seems a little too standard of a character without much personality outside of being friendly and bubbly. And there’s Eden. She’s out basic Mary-sue author insert character who’s as generic as you can get of a main viewpoint, but I love her reactions to things. I love her plan to just get through the school year without being noticed, even though it’s a total fool’s errand. I love that she knows that being on Liam’s radar is a death sentence, since he’ll probably leak her secret to his father without even meaning to, so she tries to put him firmly in acquaintance-zone (you know, the zone that’s further out than friend-zone) and actively avoid him. And I love that we do feel for her, worrying for her life, ostracized by her roommate, trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone in class and worrying about being called upon, and especially when her own family turns her away. I loved that this story did have plenty of magic in it, even without her being able to do any magic of her own. And I loved the magic hunters sniffing around campus. That reminded me a lot of the Dementors in Harry Potter. The only quibble I had with the book (aside from finding classes rather boring) was that she spent a lot of time reading up on a magic war in the forties just out of pure curiosity randomly, and not because it really related to anything currently happening, which as we go on, felt like the author trying to force the story into going in a certain direction and info-dumping specific things. It didn’t feel like a natural progression. In all though, I look forward to continuing Eden’s story to see if she actually survives to the end of her school years.
5 stars
Category: Teen
Note: Novella-length
Summary: Eden is the daughter of witches, and being the child with supernatural parents, she is obligated to attend a school for supernatural creatures. But when she passes her teenage years without her witch powers activating, she is considered a roach (a non-magical, but with magical parents). Roaches, like their name suggests are abhorred and rounded up, never to be seen again. And they aren’t allowed to disappear into the basic human cities, because the supernatural community is petrified they’ll leak the existence of the supernatural. So, Eden needs to survive three years within the supernatural school, without being caught, before she will be able to live on her own. But it’s easier said than done when her roommate hates her and the admissions office refuses to let her switch rooms even with her roommate demanding that she leave, she’s expected to perform magic in her classes, there are magic hunters patrolling the campus because of a rise in the roach population this particular year, and she’s caught the interest of handsome Liam, the son of the headmaster.
Comments: Admittedly in all of these magic school books, I tend to focus on how interesting the classes are or to grade them up against the classes in Harry Potter. The classes at this school are rather boring, which seems to be the case predominantly in indie books. So, if you’re looking for an interesting magic school, it isn’t here. But that’s not to say that the story itself isn’t fun. I did love the cat and mouse situation Eden has found herself in and just how impossible of a situation she’s in. I loved her superficial, self-centered roommate, who’s determined to have a room to herself, regardless of admissions saying no room transfers, and I love that she isn’t afraid to wield power over Eden. Liam is the typical book boyfriend, who’s broody, aloof, anti-social, but is hiding a wounded, lonely soul and knows he’ll never fit in with his father being headmaster. I think I didn’t really attach to Cress. She seems a little too standard of a character without much personality outside of being friendly and bubbly. And there’s Eden. She’s out basic Mary-sue author insert character who’s as generic as you can get of a main viewpoint, but I love her reactions to things. I love her plan to just get through the school year without being noticed, even though it’s a total fool’s errand. I love that she knows that being on Liam’s radar is a death sentence, since he’ll probably leak her secret to his father without even meaning to, so she tries to put him firmly in acquaintance-zone (you know, the zone that’s further out than friend-zone) and actively avoid him. And I love that we do feel for her, worrying for her life, ostracized by her roommate, trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone in class and worrying about being called upon, and especially when her own family turns her away. I loved that this story did have plenty of magic in it, even without her being able to do any magic of her own. And I loved the magic hunters sniffing around campus. That reminded me a lot of the Dementors in Harry Potter. The only quibble I had with the book (aside from finding classes rather boring) was that she spent a lot of time reading up on a magic war in the forties just out of pure curiosity randomly, and not because it really related to anything currently happening, which as we go on, felt like the author trying to force the story into going in a certain direction and info-dumping specific things. It didn’t feel like a natural progression. In all though, I look forward to continuing Eden’s story to see if she actually survives to the end of her school years.
May 31, 2021
Book Review: Lilies of Loss (Once Upon an Academy - Book 2)
Lilies of Loss (Once Upon an Academy – Book 2) by Laura Greenwood
4 stars
Category: YA
Note: Novella-length
Summary: This is a stand-alone retelling of the Frog Prince. Marigold is the princess of a wealthy kingdom. Her parents decide to send her to Grimm Academy, where the school tries to help the students break their curses, when the time of her curse nears, and to hopefully find a husband. But when she receives the message with her prophecy, while at the academy, the message is faded and illegible. She can only make out something to do with a ball, presumably the gold ball that she was given by her father, and a frog and a kiss. While at a pond in the forest on the outskirts of the Academy grounds, she meets a handsome huntsman. When she goes back the following day, she’s greeted by a mysterious frog who is under a curse and demands to kiss her.
Comments: I did like that this just took the idea of the frog prince story and changed it, allowing the princess the freedom to make her own decisions about how she would handle the curse. I also liked that since it didn’t try to force the story down the usual path, it made it unpredictable. What I didn’t much care for was that instead of framing it around the original Grimm tale, it took the underlying story from the Disney movie, even for the name of one of the main characters. I’m really getting tired of everyone using the over commercialized Disney movies rather than actually reading up on the original stories. That said, she just assumes that she’ll turn into a frog as well if she kisses the frog. I’m really unclear where she got that idea from. It just seemed like a real leap of logic, since the prophecy didn’t say anything like that, and that it felt like her logic just jumped to the Disney movie (and the only reason that Tiana turned into a frog was because she wasn’t a princess, so the logic on this wouldn’t have worked anyway). If she had just emphasized that kissing a frog would have been slimy and disgusting and over-ridden her like of the cute guy that he had presumably been, I would have bought it more. All of the girls at this school are highly superficial (though you have to love all of the name dropping of other famous fairy tales who star in other Once Upon an Academy books), none of them seem to bother to get to know each other beyond just as a friendly face and someone to be girly with. It’s like she didn’t know any of them well enough to discuss her curse with when she first got it and couldn’t read it. And the Academy itself is rather boring. The classes are just basic finishing school classes and politics with a whole lot of balls to get the students to match-make. If a school is going to be at the heart of a series of books, I expect the author to make the school something someone would actually want to attend. So, how did her parents know the curse was nearing? I was under the impression that they had just received the prophecy, but then it came out that they had it since she was a child. So, what happened to Ferdinand in the end? It was like that got entirely dropped.
4 stars
Category: YA
Note: Novella-length
Summary: This is a stand-alone retelling of the Frog Prince. Marigold is the princess of a wealthy kingdom. Her parents decide to send her to Grimm Academy, where the school tries to help the students break their curses, when the time of her curse nears, and to hopefully find a husband. But when she receives the message with her prophecy, while at the academy, the message is faded and illegible. She can only make out something to do with a ball, presumably the gold ball that she was given by her father, and a frog and a kiss. While at a pond in the forest on the outskirts of the Academy grounds, she meets a handsome huntsman. When she goes back the following day, she’s greeted by a mysterious frog who is under a curse and demands to kiss her.
Comments: I did like that this just took the idea of the frog prince story and changed it, allowing the princess the freedom to make her own decisions about how she would handle the curse. I also liked that since it didn’t try to force the story down the usual path, it made it unpredictable. What I didn’t much care for was that instead of framing it around the original Grimm tale, it took the underlying story from the Disney movie, even for the name of one of the main characters. I’m really getting tired of everyone using the over commercialized Disney movies rather than actually reading up on the original stories. That said, she just assumes that she’ll turn into a frog as well if she kisses the frog. I’m really unclear where she got that idea from. It just seemed like a real leap of logic, since the prophecy didn’t say anything like that, and that it felt like her logic just jumped to the Disney movie (and the only reason that Tiana turned into a frog was because she wasn’t a princess, so the logic on this wouldn’t have worked anyway). If she had just emphasized that kissing a frog would have been slimy and disgusting and over-ridden her like of the cute guy that he had presumably been, I would have bought it more. All of the girls at this school are highly superficial (though you have to love all of the name dropping of other famous fairy tales who star in other Once Upon an Academy books), none of them seem to bother to get to know each other beyond just as a friendly face and someone to be girly with. It’s like she didn’t know any of them well enough to discuss her curse with when she first got it and couldn’t read it. And the Academy itself is rather boring. The classes are just basic finishing school classes and politics with a whole lot of balls to get the students to match-make. If a school is going to be at the heart of a series of books, I expect the author to make the school something someone would actually want to attend. So, how did her parents know the curse was nearing? I was under the impression that they had just received the prophecy, but then it came out that they had it since she was a child. So, what happened to Ferdinand in the end? It was like that got entirely dropped.
May 30, 2021
Book Review: His Living Kiss (His Kiss - Book 2.5)
His Living Kiss (A His Kiss story) by Heather Marie Adkins
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: short story length. I read this as included in the Prophecy Fulfilled anthology
Summary: After her father’s suicide, MJ is filled with darkness, leading her on drunken nights with her best friend. On one of her usual binges, she is approached by a vampire who decides he craves the darkness inside her. They spend about a decade together before he up and vanishes, leaving her in a paralyzing depression. And it’s up to her own willpower to dig herself out and find her new place in the living world, and move on from the vampire who turned her.
Comments: This is a very deep and serious piece. It is a stand-alone. This is lighter on fantasy than I was expecting. And the vampires don’t seem to actually need blood. They seem to feed more on emotion within the blood they consume. And by the end, it was like she didn’t even need it, which was perplexing since it begged the question of what did she feed on then? This book mostly centers around the issue of dealing with loved ones’ suicides as well as the issue of abandonment and the spiraling depression from those issues (I’m usually looking for uplifting and lighter fare in my fantasy books. Escapist stuff). This did feel a lot more realistic than the first book in this series, which felt rather like a comedy or a melodramatic soap opera. I had to groan when she went to work in a bar. It’s rather cliché for a female paranormal creature to work in a bar in indie books (and I usually try to avoid books that have that when I come across them).
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: short story length. I read this as included in the Prophecy Fulfilled anthology
Summary: After her father’s suicide, MJ is filled with darkness, leading her on drunken nights with her best friend. On one of her usual binges, she is approached by a vampire who decides he craves the darkness inside her. They spend about a decade together before he up and vanishes, leaving her in a paralyzing depression. And it’s up to her own willpower to dig herself out and find her new place in the living world, and move on from the vampire who turned her.
Comments: This is a very deep and serious piece. It is a stand-alone. This is lighter on fantasy than I was expecting. And the vampires don’t seem to actually need blood. They seem to feed more on emotion within the blood they consume. And by the end, it was like she didn’t even need it, which was perplexing since it begged the question of what did she feed on then? This book mostly centers around the issue of dealing with loved ones’ suicides as well as the issue of abandonment and the spiraling depression from those issues (I’m usually looking for uplifting and lighter fare in my fantasy books. Escapist stuff). This did feel a lot more realistic than the first book in this series, which felt rather like a comedy or a melodramatic soap opera. I had to groan when she went to work in a bar. It’s rather cliché for a female paranormal creature to work in a bar in indie books (and I usually try to avoid books that have that when I come across them).
