R8: Team #7 ~ Seven Deadly Speed Demons

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Well, Dr. Who 50th Anniversary viewing is done; just waiting on shelf announcement (another hour or two?) and watching the furbabies chase a diminishing sunspot.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Deadlies!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

And the shelf announcement is for demons and vampires!

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/d... for demons

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/v... for vampires

Off to check my tbr...

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

For "Vampires" I'll be reading Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

[Paris]

Thanks Sandra!

And thanks Debbie for posting the shelfs.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

For demons, since already bought and on my TBR, I'll try Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare

New to me series and author so if I don't like rightaway I'll switch over to Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer #3) or Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2).

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

D.A. - just one more game ☺ - wrote: "Well, Dr. Who 50th Anniversary viewing is done; just waiting on shelf announcement (another hour or two?) and watching the furbabies chase a diminishing sunspot."


I really enjoyed Day of the Doctor, they played it here simultaneously, for a change, but I taped it. Wasn't getting up too early on a Sunday morning. Even interrupted my viewing to post the shelves. LOL.

[Brittany Lynn]

I'm watching Day of the Doctor now! Will look for books for the new shelf calls by tomorrow night or early Monday morning. I had a friend and her family visit from out of state today.

[[deleted user]]

I have quite a bit to choose from for these shelves. Can't decide between,
and for the Demons shelf,

and , , and for the Vampires shelf.

Any suggestions?

[Paris]

Preethi wrote: "Paris, you have swapped my books. I am reading Steel's Edge for the Rewind shelf, and Always a Witch for the Witches shelf. Not the other way round."

Sorry Preethi. Thanks for letting me know. I'll get that fixed right away.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Paris, you've posted your Witches review on the discussion thread by mistake ;)

[Paris]

Sandra wrote: "Paris, you've posted your Witches review on the discussion thread by mistake ;)"

Totally noticed that just now. This is why you should do stuff while tired and have too many windows open. Deleted. Thanks!

[Paris]

Witches Shelf

by Richelle Mead
Rating: 5 stars
Finished: 11/23/13
Review:
Richelle is one of my favorite authors and when she announced this spin off of the Vampire Academy series, I wasn't sure how much I was going to like it. I knew Adrian would be a huge influence on me liking the series, but I wasn't sure that Sydney could carry a series herself. But taken out of the shadow of Rose, Sydney is amazing and she just keeps getting better in each book. And with Adrian...love them together.

This is the first time we get Adrian's POV and I loved it. We get to see an even more vulnerable side of him and really get an idea of what makes him tick. I hope that we get more of his POV in the next two books as well. Speaking of the next books...I cannot wait. July seems so far away.

[Paris]

Vampires Shelf 5/5
Stamp Received:

Brittany: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead - 5 Stars - 12/8/13 - Review
Preethi: Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson - 3.5 Stars - 12/3/13 - Review
Paris: Darkness Unmasked by Keri Arthur - 4 Stars - 11/29/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - 4 Stars - 11/27/13 - Review
Josie: Secret Unleashed by Sierra Dean - 4 Stars - 12/10/13 - Review

[Paris]

Demons Shelf 5/5
Stamp Received:

Brittany: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare - 4 Stars - 11/28/13 - Review
Preethi: The Demon's Daughter by Paula Altenburg - 4 Stars - 11/28/13 - Review
Paris: World After by Susan Ee - 4 Stars - 12/5/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare - 2.5 Stars - 11/30/13 - Review
Josie: Green-Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells - 3 Stars - 12/15/13 - Review

[Paris]

Brittany wrote: "How is everyone doing?"

Ready to start some new books. How about you Brittany? How's your son?

[Paris]

Preethi wrote: "I have quite a bit to choose from for these shelves. Can't decide between,
and for the Demons shelf,

and [bookcover..."

Preethi, I really like the Kara Gillian series so I would say Blood of the Demon for demon shelf. The vampire books, not sure, although I've heard that Wicked as They Come is great.

[Brittany Lynn]

Can't wait. Going to look today :)

He is doing much better thank you.

[Josie]

Good to hear, Brittany :)

Oh, I loved the Doctor Who special! A fab episode, and it's made me all excited for the next series :D

I've finished my book for the 'witches' shelf.



Title/Author: Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan
Date finished: 24th Nov
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review: A great series overall! Even though the pace was not particularly fast, I was never bored once.

I would have liked to see a bit more of Nastasya's power shine through, but I liked the ending. The climax was good, and it was *nice* that not everyone came out alive, (view spoiler)[strangely, I was most sad about Ott dying (hide spoiler)].

A unique series, indeed, and I'm pleased that the author has not dragged it out and kept it at three books.

[Brittany Lynn]

I will be reading ...

Demons


Vampires

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Preethi wrote: "I have quite a bit to choose from for these shelves. Can't decide between,..."

I've not read any of those, so I'm no help.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Seven Deadly Speed Demons!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'romance genre'. 

[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Deadlies!

[Paris]

Thank you Steph and Sandra!

[[deleted user]]

Shelf 4: New2You Seires



Dead Iron by Devon Monk
Finished: Nov 24
Rating: ★★★★✩

REVIEW:

Dead Iron, first book of the Age of Steam series, is a unique blend of Steampunk and Fantasy. What makes this book unique is the way the steampunk elements are handled. And of course, there are werewolves, witches and zombies too.

The names Devon Monk gives to her characters and places in her books never fails to amuse me. The town the story is set in is called 'Hallelujah'. There has been an increase in strange otherworldly nightmarish creatures, called, well, Strange in the city. When the Gregor's (the blacksmith of the town) son goes missing, Cedar Hunt offers to help search for the child. Cedar Hunt has been curse by a god to shift to a wolf during full moons, and hunt the Strange creatures.

Rose Smith is the adopted daughter of the Smith family. Rose is a strange(not the Strange) girl. The town deems her wild and unfit for marriage, as she likes to device things, an unfit activity for a young girl. Oh, and also, Rose can hear the speech of all the living things like, say, trees, plants and so on.

Mae Smith, a witch's life is turned upside down, when her husband, Jeb Lindson goes to ask for work in the rails to Mr. Shard LeFel, who has machinations of his own.When Mae realises that Jeb Lindson is killed, Mae swears vengeance for his death.

The Madder brothers seem like three bawdy miners, but that is not all. They seem to be secret devisers who can and have built all sorts of inventions.

The lives of all these people are soon mixed up in strange ways, when Shard LeFel tries to open a gate to the Strange realm.

A word of warning. This is a book that should be read slow. It is more a perfect mixture of Fantasy and Steampunk. I think I'm finally convinced that Devon Monk is more a Steampunk author than an Urban Fantasy author. I liked her other books a lot, but this book- I loved this.

This book should be read, not for the story, but for the word-building . I'll definitely be reading the next book of the series.

[Paris]

Just put in for our fifth stamp. Way to go ladies!!

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Finished my vampires book; will post review later this morning.

[Brittany Lynn]

I will have my reviews up today and tomorrow.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Vampires Shelf
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
Finished: November 27, 2013
Series: Vampire Academy #3
Rating: ★★★★☆
Number of pages: 448

Review:

Caution: if you want to avoid spoilers before reading this third in series, don't read book blurbs from the books that follow this one. And if you have not read the two previous books in the series, this post could contain spoilers for you.

Overall, this book was a grand read with edge-of-the-seat, fast-paced action and plenty of politics and twists. At least in the last two thirds. Unordinary worldbuilding so (despite cheesy series title) not the usual urban fantasy vampires nor a lot of YA angst just moved from high school setting to "special academy" tropes. Vampire Academy itself is more Westpoint military than high school or magic school. The cast of characters are still very much people you root for (although this is not a bright bubbly happily ever after fantasy with sparkly unicorns and rainbows -- don't think anyone is safe from death or harm or that bad things won't happen; nor do the surviving characters just shrug off the losses and go on with the story or blithely make plans for the next school dance).

For the most part the series so far stayed away from teenage angst-y stuff. It's a bit different for teenagers whose lives are in constant danger of attack or for being the ones who have to protect the moroi charges. This third book did not start well for me. But the last two-thirds were absolutely a hell of a ride.

Everyone was still mourning Mason's death with lots of self-blaming to go around. Then all of a sudden shrewd, clever, kickass Rose who had kept herself and Lissa alive and well in the face of danger from moroi and strigoi became a sullen defiant brat. Including slipping up on security measures that her entire life and the previous two books had engrained or trained into her. Odd things happen with her, clearly foreshadowing with a heavy hand that they were important to book plot and dangerous, but she tells no one and ignores. Yes, I know, realistic that a 17 year old has the sulks. (view spoiler)[She sees ghosts and odd shadowy things anywhere not warded including seeing Mason's ghost wandering around the supposed to be warded campus. (hide spoiler)]

Lissa and Christian are hot and heavy; Lissa and usually drunken "cousin" Adrian have been using different spirit aspects and are practising with one another; Adrian is hot and heavy for Rose (and drinking is his method, instead of Lissa's prescription drugs, of fighting off the "crazy" side of spirit use). Rose's not talking about it stuff causes disciplinary actions and meltdowns. During the adtermath of one meltdown, (view spoiler)[she and Dmitri boink and he takes her virginity (hide spoiler)].

They are not at first going to be allowed to testify at Victor's trial. Which means some evidence would not have been admitted to trial (which was already a trial by queen rather than by jury). But Adrian gets the queen to relent and off the foursome + Dmitri and other guardians go to the Royal Court. Spoilery encounters with Victor and his trial (Victor knows about Dmitri and Rose). Rose is confronted by queen who thinks she is a slut entrapping Adrian and reveals that not only is Rose forbidden to have anything to do with Adrian but that she will insist that Adrian marry Lissa (unbeknownst to either Adrian or Lissa). Queen without revealing any of this arranges that after graduation, Lissa is returning to court and attending the nearby college. Guardians of course just go where their charges do.

Then basically all hell breaks lose in all kinds of ways leading up to more abductions, deaths and shocking endings. It was just a really good book and to detail too much of the last half of the book would give too much away to potential readers.

This series is a long running one with a huge fan base (including of course teenagers), but, I'm late to the party. I kept having it recommended to me and saying "ick, teenagers at a special vampire academy not for me" but eventually waitlisted the first one at library and got hooked enough that I am going on with the series. Particularly after the ending of this one.

[Paris]

Debbie that is one of my all time favorite series. This particular book was so intense that I couldn't read book 4 until book 5 came out just in case. lol

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Paris wrote: "Debbie that is one of my all time favorite series. This particular book was so intense that I couldn't read book 4 until book 5 came out just in case. lol"

That's what I'm thinking too—that I need to have book 5 available before reading 4.

Made for a hard to review book, though, because not much you can see without giving away the whole book.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My holiday started with a pre-oder showing up on the ereader -- now that our free space has been stamped, my original free space choice has arrived. I was starting to wonder if something "eerie" was going on the way every few days the publication date changed. Any-hoo, glad I changed my free space read.

[Paris]

Happy Thanksgiving ladies! Hope you have a great day of family, food and reading...or whatever you have planned.

[[deleted user]]

Shelf 7: Demons



The Demon's Daughter by Paula Altenburg
Finished: Nov 28
Rating: ★★★★☆

REVIEW:

This is a kind of book in which one starts by not liking it all that much, but by the time it ends, you have a satisfied feeling.

Airie is the daughter of a Goddess and the Demon Lord, and contains a little of the powers of both. Hunter is the Demon Slayer, known far and beyond for his demon-hunting skills. When Hunter is recruited by Mamna, the priestess and autocratic ruler of Freetown to find, capture and bring Airie, who she calls a 'demon-spawn', Hunter is off to find her. Although Hunter initially hates Airie, he soon begins to realize she is not at all like what demons are supposed, and is conflicted as to what to do with her.

The villians of this story were .. weird. One can not really hate them, for their motives are understandable really, but their actions are despicable just the same. I can't decide who I don't like more- Mamna or the demons, or the Goddess Allia. However, Airia, and Scratch(yes, a child's name is 'Scratch'!) are interesting characters. Not much is mentioned about Scratch, though-may be in the next books?! Hunter's character is wonderfully described- how he hated Airia initially due to sheer prejudice, and the transformation of his feelings toward her.

There were certain parts in the middle that felt a bit dragged out though. And the book had a certain 'Wild-West' feel about it. I will still read the second book to see how this goes.

[[deleted user]]

I'm half way through Steel's Edge-my Rewind shelf book- I'll post the review before the shelf announcement tomorrow.

I'll read for the vampires shelf after that.

[Paris]

I'll have my vampire book done tomorrow, but I am a little behind on my demon book.

Brittany how are your rewind and witch books coming? If 2013 gets called we could win but team 6 also needs 2013 to win. They have to finish their witch shelf (1 review away) and demon shelf (2 reviews away) too though, so we look like we might be on par with them.

We should all cross our fingers that favorite series and series to read get called and then we can just skate away with the win.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Just checking in, I should have my demons book done and reviewed some time today (about 3/4 finished, the elements are all there in the book but somehow not coming together for me so slowed me down). If shelf called same time as last weekend, I'll likely be on interstate headed home but will be online very soon after.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Paris wrote: "We should all cross our fingers that favorite series and series to read get called and then we can just skate away with the win. ...

And cross fingers that favorite, shapeshifters, urban fantasy, part of a series or alpha male are not called (a win for teams 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, respectively). 2013 puts us in a race with team 6. Of those that have 4 in a row called, looks like only Team 6 has completed reading all four in a row that a call of "alpha male" wins.

ETA: kept finding potential wins I missed.

[[deleted user]]

D.A. - just one more game ☺ - wrote: "Paris wrote: "We should all cross our fingers that favorite series and series to read get called and then we can just skate away with the win. ...

And cross fingers that shapeshifters, urban fanta..."

Are there any shelves which are not winning shelves for anyone?

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Judithe posted a spreadsheet of all the cards at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/l... (click "Bingo Cards" Tab)

Getting screenshot in case link doesn't work for you:

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

It will be interesting how the three strikes rule is handled if it becomes a race—I can see where a team that only had one shelf stamped in their potential BINGO lineup could suddenly have four because a team member struck out. Probably for the full game of BINGO anyone being struck out should come as teams start getting 3 or 4 in a row instead of same week potential winning shelf call if the mods don't want to do immediately—but I obviously didn't understand what they meant by three strikes rule at game start (got yelled at by non-moderator members in main discussion thread because they were all convinced it was not a three strikes rule despite the name and that I was wrong for wanting to hear that from a moderator; maybe next round they will rename it the "three books behind" rule.)

I'm looking at the cards again to see if something other than "2013" makes it a definite race ( "alpha male" is only immediately game ending potential BINGO I see for a team as only team 6 has any 4 in a row already read). Looks like only what Preethi just posted -- that if alpha male and series to read are called then Team 6 wins and 1 & 2 fight it out for second and third place.

Screenshot of table lower right of Judithe's spreadsheet:

[Paris]

Preethi there are a couple that are non winning shelves. Supernatural is one of them, paranormal is another.

I'm leaving to go Christmas shopping with my mom. Hopefully I'll be home in time for the shelf call. if not, I'll be home shortly after that. I'm done with my vampires book but I don't have time to post the review right now.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

I'm on the cell phone app but saw the shelves. Will do the second in Kate Daniels series for 123 shelf; will post review and look at 5-star shelf when home in an hour or so.

[Josie]

Thanks for all the stats and game update Debbie! I've been really slow at reading this week but I'll try and get one done tomorrow. Then I can pick which ones I'll read this week :)

[Paris]

Small shopping trip turned into marathon shopping. Sorry ladies. Here are the shelves for this week...

Shelf #9 ~ 1/12/13: '5 Stars'

Shelf #10 ~ 1/12/13: 'First, Second or Third'
*First, Second or Third (Personal Shelf ~ book either First, Second or Third in series )

Note: that none of these shelves help any team as far as winning, but does give some four in a row. We will be playing another week! Now I'm off to dinner with a friend and then hopefully I can come home, post my vampire review and pick books for the new shelves.

[Paris]

Vampires Shelf

by Keri Arthur
Rating: 4 Stars
Finished: 11/29/13
Review:
I'm a huge fan of Keri Arthur and this world that she has created. I loved her Riley Jensen series and was so excited when she decided to continue on in that world with Risa as her heroine. Risa is just as kick ass as her Aunt Riley and just as sassy. I do feel like these books flow better together than the Riley series. Sometimes that series felt a little rough when transitioning from book to book.

Risa is probably one of my favorite urban fantasy leading ladies. A lot happens to her throughout the course of every book and she just keeps on going. This book was no exception. The last bit of the book where we finished dealing with the book baddie and went on to deal with the series arc baddie was horrifying and heartbreaking and kick ass. My emotions were all over the place and I loved every minute of it.

The book baddie this time around was sufficiently creepy. I absolutely hate spiders so I admit to skimming parts of those scenes cause I did not need the descriptions to make sure I got chills.

[Paris]

5 Stars Shelf 5/5
Stamp Received: 12/13/13

Brittany: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa - 5 Stars - 12/8/13 - Review
Preethi: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - 5 Stars - 12/8/13 - Review
Paris: The Selection by Kiera Cass - 4 Stars - 12/5/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder - 3.5 Stars - 12/6/13 - Review
Josie: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling - 5 Stars - 12/5/13 - Review

[Paris]

First, Second or Third 5/5
Stamp Received: 12/13/13

Brittany: Gabriel's Redemption by Sylvain Reynard - 5 Stars - 12/11/13 - Review
Preethi: The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams - 5 Stars - 12/12/13 - Review
Paris: The Elite by Kiera Cass - 3 Stars - 12/10/13 - Review
Debbie ~barely here~: Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn - 4 Stars - 12/3/13 - Review
Josie: How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper - 3.5 Stars - 12/6/13 - Review

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Debbie, Just one comment about being books behind. We check each week because we want to keep the game moving. Actually, I'm here doing that now. Then we contact those members (and have not had anyone behind more than two until this week) and find out what's up. Sometimes they're just finishing their review. We're trying to keep it moving along for all teams. It's a rule to keep people up-to-date, not penalize someone for the whole game. Each time you "come up to bat" (ie, every Sunday shelf call), you have a fresh slate. That's when we check. Hope that eases your mind.

[Debbie's Spurts (D.A.)]

Judithe wrote: "Debbie, Just one comment about being books behind. We check each week because we want to keep the game moving. Actually, I'm here doing that now. Then we contact those members (and have not had ..."

Oh, I know. A moderator eventually clarified in that thread that it wasn't three strikes (members could catch up) but rather three books behind and that moderators would contact affected members and discuss with them.

I just got irritated in that thread because (a) I was not the first poster asking but was somehow the one jumped on (I still don't understand that one, I only posted asking what "three strikes" meant right after others asked the same thing) and (b) I didn't care who thought what or was explaining what -- a group moderator was the only one who could set rules ( the last thing I wanted to do was make my team lose by blithely assuming anyone posting on the thread even if not playing the game was right about a rule only to find out the moderators disagreed with what they were saying). Not normally an issue but that shelf call day I had posted a review close to shelf call so could have gotten a strike by missing an exact deadline ...