R14: Team #5 ~ Read4Speed

[Dragana]

For series-to-start I might pick (16 times shelved) if my mood does not change until I finish the book for the fae shelf.

[Dragana]

Read: 23. May 2017.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Spot: Steampunk
How it fits: shelved 21 times as steampunk

Electric Empire series is inspired by the classic novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and feature's Dr. Eliza Jekyll aka. Miss Lizzie Hyde (their daughter). Previous two books in the series very refreshing spin of the steampunk genre featuring dark gritty Victorian London that you don't encounter often in novels. The setting didn't change for this book, but I was constantly bored because after two books it seems nothing changed and it all starts to feel the same.
- Murder mystery felt the same. They are again chasing some serial killer and I had to find and check in The Devious Dr. Jekyll to see if it's the same or different one.
- Eliza was annoying. While I was completely team Eliza in the first book, now I felt sorry for poor Lizzie most of the time.
- Plot was scattered. A lot of pages dragged on and they felt like pure filler with already seen doubts and inner monologues.
- The plot holes. (view spoiler)[You have to use time travel very carefully. I felt like there were a lot of things left unresolved and that it was used to patch up the book quickly because there was no other option how to fix the conundrum. (hide spoiler)]
After two very good books, The Dastardly Miss Lizzie was pale and confusing ending to a great series. What a shame. :(

[Monica]

Read: 6/2/17
Rating: 4 stars
Spot: Steampunk
How it fits: shelved 61 times as steampunk
Review: This is my first steampunk book. I enjoyed this story. And I love the fact that it was a freebie. I love when a free book is actually one that is interesting.

The Kaiser Affair starts with two detectives being assigned to capture an escaped thief, Ranulf Kaiser, who also happens to be the brother of The Minister. Bettina and Arjuna are the detectives given the task of finding Ranulf and bringing him back in without letting others know.

Bettina and Arjuna are married and I found them very entertaining. They go through a lot of trouble trying to capture Ranulf. They travel through their city and also to the floating isle and discover a lot about the isle while there.

I did learn that this series is not written by just one author but different authors which will be quite different from other series I have read before.

[Jennifer H]

Just an update...I hope to have my "Fae" book done either late tonight or tomorrow.

[Monica]

If I'm able to read non stop this weekend I am hoping to have my Fae book completed along with my shifters book.

[Dragana]

Thatćs great news! I am also almost half way trough my fae book and will be able to finish it in a day or two. :)

[Linda C]

Good going team!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Read4Speed!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'kickass heroine' and 'owned, not yet read'. 

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamps R4S!

And yay more books for the stats, thanks Ladies :)

[Monica]

Shelf: Fae

Book: The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan
Date read: 6/4/2017
Rating: 5 stars
How it fits: shelved 72 times as fae
Review:
Wow!! Another free book that I loved!! I didn't want to put the book down. I love it when a book captures my interest from the beginning.

In this book we have Violet who is a Faerie Guardian Trainee who accidentally brings a human into Creepy Hollow after doing her assignment. The human, Nate is not supposed to be able to see past the glamour but for some reason he is able to. He also survived the faerie paths.

Ryn is also another Faerie Guardian Trainee and has a history with Violet and a bit of a rival to be the top in their class. I loved all the characters. Even when they were being mean to each other.

Ryn and Violet put their history behind to search for Ryn's half sister after she is kidnapped. Violet doesn't know why Calla was kidnapped but when she finds out where she is being kept Violet finally finds out that Calla has some unique powers just like Violet does. Violet is able to find people just by touching something that belongs to them.

Now I can't wait to read the next book in the series to see what happens.

[Jennifer H]

Shelf: Fae


Blade Bound by Chloe Neill
Read: 6/3/17
Rating: ♥♥♥♥
How it fits: Tagged 6 times as Fae

Nice ending for our couple, but definitely will be expecting spin-offs with secondary characters. Ending did seem a little rushed, but overall story as usual kept me interested. Time line always throws me off since I've been reading series for years and yet everything supposedly happened within a year unless I misunderstood something. In any case, it was an enjoyable ride.

[Monica]

Shelf: Shifter


Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
Read: 6/5/17
Rating: 5 stars
How it fits: shelved 84 times as shifter
Review:
WOW!! I loved this book. Deadlocked had me enthralled from the beginning. I didn't know what to expect with this book but I was surprised by the plot this time.

As usual Sookie's life is in danger. She just doesn't know it yet. There is a murder at Eric's home during a gathering for King Felipe. Everything points to Eric possibly being the murderer. Sookie even wonders if it could be him, or Pam or one of the other visiting vampires.

As the story progresses Sookie starts learning things about the fae object she found in her grandmother's piece of furniture. She sees Niall again and learns that one of her so called cousins isn't all that good like he pretends to be.

The ending was and wasn't surprising. Surprising in who gets injured during a duel among the Were's but not surprising about what Sookie does. I am pleased with the ending and can't wait to read the next book!!

[Monica]

For the series to start I will be reading: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray shelved 47 times as series to start

[Dragana]

Updated master list up to this post. And we now have another shelf complete:

SHELF #17 ~ STEAMPUNK
Linda: The Iron Wyrm Affair read on 20-May ~ review
Jennifer: Prudence red on 17-May ~ review
Dragana: The Dastardly Miss Lizzie read on 23-May ~ review
Monica: The Kaiser Affair read on 2-Jun ~ review

[Dragana]

Read: 28. May 2017.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Spot: Shifters
How it fits: shelved 8 times as shifters

Who could ever resist an urban fantasy series with kick-ass heroine and a lot of growly shifters? Not me. :)
Shadowed Blade follows the usual path like the rest of the books in this series.
# Kit solves different cases that somehow tie together in the end.
# We get one step closer to solving the big mystery that looms from the beginning of this series.
# Kit heals a bit more from trauma she got in Night Blade

There was only one unpleasant surprise for me: I thought this was the last book in the series and expected a resolution. But it's not. There will be a sequel Haunted Blade in September.

Another thing that bothered me is that I read too many books from this series in a row and by book #5 it all started to feel bit the same. But I've got only me to blame.

In the end, after five books Colbana Files stays solid urban fantasy series. Recommended for the fans of the genre.

[Dragana]

And another shelf completed:

SHELF #18 ~ SHIFTERS
Linda: Magic Burns read on 28-May ~ review
Jennifer: Etched in Bone read on 27-May ~ review
Dragana: Shadowed Blade read on 28-May ~ review
Monica: Deadlocked read on 3-Jun ~ review

[Dragana]

Read: June 4, 2017
Rating: 2.5 stars
Spot: Fae
How it fits: shelved 211 times as fae

After reading Throne of Glass I thought that Sarah J. Maas is an debut author who has potential and forgave her some cliches in the story.
After Heir of Fire and A Court of Thorns and Roses I declared her a fully developed fantasy author who is shifting her focus to more mature fantasy audience.
But it all goes downhill after that.

A Court of Wings and Ruin is yet another proof that something somewhere got terribly wrong. this book was:
- Too long. it dragged on and meandered and lost direction too many times.
- Secondary characters were neglected and we only got hints of their personalities.
- Cheap surprises and drama that I expect from a tele-novella not from a good novel.
- Whenever things got too tough, there was some convenient easy solution to help Fayre be badass who saves the day.
- Sex scenes. Too many. They get it on dirty, bloodied, in public, ... Just too much sex for a A Court of Wings and Ruin to be labeled as anything else then cheap-thrill.
- No banter. Some mild attempts but nothing good, like before.

Some would argue with me that this book is not that bad. And there are for sure those who adore Feyre and Rhys as a couple and who will adore this book. But I just can't.
Such a shame that an author who had so much promise ended up writing Fifty Shades of Grey of fantasy romance genre. :(

[Dragana]

And that makes another shelf complete:

SHELF #19 ~ FAE
Linda: Blood Bound read on 30-May ~ review
Jennifer: Blade Bound read on 3-Jun ~ review
Dragana: A Court of Wings and Ruin read on 4-Jun ~ review
Monica: The Faerie Guardian read on 4-Jun ~ review

[Jennifer H]

wow! So, all we've got left is "Series to Start"?? I should be done with my book later tonight :)

[Dragana]

Jennifer H wrote: "wow! So, all we've got left is "Series to Start"?? I should be done with my book later tonight :)"

Yeah if we manage to finish/read it before the shelf call that should be it. I am not sure if they call a new shelf do we have to read that one for a Bingo to be valid or not. I'll have to check the rules.

[Dragana]

I am switching my book for series-to-start to . It's tagged 8 times.
I am already half way through and I hope to finish tonight or tomorrow.

[Linda C]

I should have my series to start book done today also

[Monica]

Okay so speed reading again! When does the new shelf get called?

[Dragana]

Monica wrote: "Okay so speed reading again! When does the new shelf get called?"

Tomorrow night around 9:30 CET I think.

ETA That's Wednesday on/around 12:30p (Pacific Standard Time) = 7:30a Thursday (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)

[Dragana]

I just checked the rules and yes to achieve a Bingo we have to read books for all shelves: "Each member of a team read a book found on all of the announced shelves..."

But don't worry. Because the rules applies to other teams so they will have to read one more book too...

[Monica]

If you guys are going to have your books finished tonight I will do nothing but read tonight and I should be able to finish my book.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Ah guys, Team #8 won Bingo last week.

I posted on the discussion thread back then that everyone had a week to finish up their books, to get any outstanding stamps, and so all books read for Bingo get included in the humungous stats.

I'm extending it to the weekend just cause its taking a fair while to do said Stats. So read your books, post your reviews, but unfortunately Team #8 Vertical Infinity read all their books last week and won. No new shelf tomorrow.

[Dragana]

Awww bummer. We got so carried away with reading, no one checked the discussion thread. :)

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

LOL If you're gonna get carried away - reading is the best thing to do!!

[Linda C]

Here's my last book for the stats

shelf: series to start

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
Read: 6/7/17
Rating: 3 stars
How it fits: #55 on the series to start list

Review: Jacob Portman grew up hearing his grandfather's fantastic stories of peculiar children and monsters. As he grew he put them aside a fairy tales. However, when at 16 his grandfather is brutally killed, his dying words send Jake looking for the source of the stories. In Wales where his grandfather was sent as a refugee, Jacob looks for the home only to find a bombed out ruins. But a fleeting glimpse of a running girl leads him to wonder if they are still alive in hiding and he follows. So begins a whole new part of his life and the answers to the questions he has about his grandfather. Interesting premise and story especially with the old photographs used to highlight the story.

[Monica]

My Last book:

Shelf: Series to start
book: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Read: 6/7/17
Rating: 5 stars
How it fits: shelved 47 times as series to start
Review: I didn't know what this story was about before reading it. I must have been interested in it when I purchased it. I am glad I took the time to read it.

The book has magic in it. Gemma is a girl who lives in India with her parents. She wants to go to London but her mother won't let her. After Gemma's mother dies she does get to go to London and now she doesn't want to be there.

Gemma attends Spence an all girls school on how to become a proper lady. I loved how Gemma would think to herself and not really want to act all proper. It made me think about how we all can be at times.

Gemma meets Felicity, Ann, Pipa and a few other girls. Of course Ann is not like the rest because she doesn't come from money. She is at the school on scholarship and she is an orphan, so of course Ann is not at Spence to become a lady but a governess.

I loved how all the girls had secrets that made them not so perfect. The girls become friends and soon discover a power that they have. Gemma has power but denies it to the other girls at first. Gemma is the one that has the power to open the realms again and yet is she prepared to take on the power and control the magic?

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Read4Speed!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'steampunk', 'shifters' and 'fae'. 

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on your stamps R4S!