R16: Team #1 ~ One and Done

[Eldarwen]

Noo, the first books are really quite good! They start getting annoying after book 7, I think? Then you push through until 9. 9 is good! :-) And then you stop ;-)

[Tatenisha]

LOL, but she is annoying in them all!!

[Eldarwen]

Less annoying in the first few? ;-)

Just wait for it. As soon as sex comes into play, she'll get worse haha.

Honestly though, the idea behind her character, the necromancing powers, as well as some of the plots are quite well done. The main character herself is another matter.

[Allison Ann]

I'm sorry!!! Keep reading Tatenisha. #10 was just the last nail in the coffin for me. I am angry with LKH for the cheap trick she added in this novel, but before this they were fairly interesting stories. #9 was good. #7 and 8 were a little bit annoying sex wise, but bearable. Before that they were good.

If Anita annoys you now, you're not going to like her any better as the series progresses, but I don't want my review to be the reason anyone stops. :D We all have our own breaking point. Clearly some people are still enjoying Anita, there are 26 books for ardeur's sake. ;)

[Tatenisha]

I'm going to continue until I reach my breaking point but I don't think I will complete this series.

[Eldarwen]

That's the spirit! :-)

[Allison Ann]

Happy Wednesday team. I'll be out until later tonight, so I'll miss shelf call but I'll pick my book by tomorrow morning. Hope you all have a great day.

[Victoria]

I think I'm going to stay clear of Anita Blake. I've considered reading it a few times, but based on what I've heard I don't think I'll like it and there are too many other series out there I'd rather read.

[Victoria]

I've finished my shift book and will (hopefully) post a review later today.

And I started my necromancer book, Luck in the Shadows, but I think I'm going to put it on hold for a little to focus my efforts on UNO since it's ending soon. Plus, I don't think my book has anything to do with necromancy... will look into it more. If I can, I'll switch it to something that works for the UNO mini

[Eldarwen]

I'll keep my fingers crossed you'll find something that fits both shelves!

If you still need a scientist character then The Last Necromancer fits - and the book should still be free for Kindle on Amazon.

[Eldarwen]

Completion Post
Necromancers
Book: The Last Necromancer by C.J. Archer

How it fits: tagged 4 times as "necromancers"
Date Read: April 25th 2018
Rating: 4 stars
Review
I love going into books not knowing what to expect and then being pleasantly surprised by the characters and the story.

Charlie was a main character I can definitely get on board with. She's strong-willed and knows how to fend for herself, yet at the same time she is vulnerable and realises that she needs to do something about her weaknesses. Her further development will be fun to follow and already the second book is promising to be just as entertaining as the first one.

Seth, Gus and Lincoln were great components to the story surrounding the necromancer girl who is only slowly learning that there can be more to life than thieving and keeping to oneself as much as possible. All three men have a history that will certainly prove interesting once more of it is revealed in the next books in the series.

While artistic freedom is nice, it was a little surprising to have a technically much older persona appear on the pages of this book. However, it made for an interesting story so I'm definitely not one to begrudge the author for it.

[Eldarwen]

I'm nearing the half-way point in my shifters book so should be done with that one soon.

I'm curious to see what the next shelf call will bring tonight! :-)

[Allison Ann]

Shelf #8 ~ 4/25/18: Hunter
DIRECT LINK - https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

[Allison Ann]

I'll decide tomorrow. I want to try and find something that fits the UNO mini-challenge. Since we are basically a team of three, every book really counts. :D

[Eldarwen]

You're one of those teams with the many flakes? :-/

[Eldarwen]

Hmm, I can't quite decide what to read yet, but it might be one of these:

- tagged 2 times

- tagged 1 time

[Eldarwen]

I read through Sam's fabulous update and most of the teams are two away from Bingo with several options.

One team is only one away from Bingo. So, the shelf we absolutely DO NOT want is Guilty Pleasures!

You have a week to pray to the Bingo gods that they grant our request for a different shelf call ;-)

[Allison Ann]

Eldarwen wrote: "You're one of those teams with the many flakes? :-/"

Captain, co-captain and three others have vanished completely. Then we have three others who post their book once or twice a month but make no effort to understand the mini-challenge or respond to questions about the book that would allow us to figure it out for the mini-challenge. One who at least answers my questions. Two who are great and me. I have read 37 books so far this month, aiming at 10 more and I probably will read nothing in May but whatever we need for BSB. :D

I'm trying to psych myself up to read Graceling for this shelf because it takes place in a different world. But I don't think I can handle YA at this point in time, so if I hate the beginning I will switch to Skinwalker or Angels' Blood.

I have somehow ended up super busy all this week, when the end of April is usually my last quiet time before I start working all the time. Oh well. Sleep is for amateurs. :)

[Eldarwen]

Eurgh.... I hate it when they don't actually participate. I know that Uno is set up as a "read what you want" challenge for the most part, but when people won't even make the effort to look at the mini-challenge, it frustrates me to no end.

Not to mention the flakers. There were so so many this year!

Woah! 37 books already and 10 more on the menu?! That is an incredible amount of books!

Both your fall-back books are really good! The Guild Hunter series is what made me fall in love with Nalini Singh. I love those characters to bits :-) And the next book will be released in September. Jane Yellowrock is a great lead and a very interesting character. Definitely something different in the UF/PNR genre - in my opinion anyway.

[Tatenisha]

Completion Post
Necromancers
Book: The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K Hamilton

How it fits: Shelved 10 times
Date Read 4-23-18
Rating: 3 stars
Review:
Anita is helping the police and shifters. Someone is killing shifters and they want to know why. She is dating a werewolf shifter and her vampire also wants to date her. Anita still is only thinking of herself and everyone else is an afterthought. This book is one of the better ones and I enjoyed this story.

[Allison Ann]

Glad you enjoyed it Tatenisha!

I've decided to go with by Nalini Singh - shelved 14 times as hunter. I read the first chapter and it really caught my interest. Also, my co-captain stepped up and read a different world book, so I could take Graceling off the table for now. :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I love that book Allison Ann, hope you enjoy it.

[Tatenisha]

Selection:
Shelf: Hunter
Books: Bloody Bones by: Laurell K Hamilton

Shelved 4 times

[Eldarwen]

Sandra wrote: "I love that book Allison Ann, hope you enjoy it."

Seconded! :-)

[Victoria]

I forgot to write my review... oops...

Completion Post
Shifters

Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop
How it fits: tagged 116x
Date Read: 24 April
Rating: 2.5 stars
Review:

2.5 stars - I'm so disappointed

If this were just any other book in the series I probably would have rated it 3.5/4 stars, but as the conclusion of the Meg. Simon, and Lakeside story it was shit.

The story had a much smaller scope than the last one, which wasn't a bad thing, focusing almost solely on Lakeside and its inhabitants. The involvement of the humans, including the police, into the Lakeside Courtyard is at it's highest and I loved seeing the almost seamless cooperation between the two factions. The Elders also had a presence and were shown to be actively studying the humans, learning what they need to keep and get rid of. None of these things were bad and I enjoyed reading about them, though it was a bit boring at times. The main problems with this book arises with the villain.

The big bad guy in this book is Montgomery's brother, Cyrus. Cyrus is a glorified, narcissistic bully. He's not especially smart and gets away with most of his shit thanks to pure luck. He's also written as an over-the-top villain which was beyond annoying. To make matters worse everyone know he's bad news - EVERYONE! Shifter, humans, elementals, elders, etc, etc. The only reason he gets to stick around Lakeside is because the Elders are curious and want to learn what makes him 'bad'. That's fine and all, but how is it that all these powerful beings are unable to stop this not so intelligent guy from causing trouble, especially when they all know he's evil! Ugh, it was so annoying!

So that combined with it being a bit boring and the romance being a let down. That's right the romantic conclusion was also shit. I don't need romance to appear everywhere in a book - I like it, but don't like it when it detracts from the main plot, but I feel as though I was teased with a Meg/Simon relationship and the conclusion, while sweet, was unsatisfactory.

Overall, I still enjoyed it, but as the conclusion of an arc I was beyond disappointed.

And I decided to round it up to 3 stars because Twyla, Montgomery's mom, was amazing!

[Victoria]

Eldarwen wrote: "I'll keep my fingers crossed you'll find something that fits both shelves!

If you still need a scientist character then The Last Necromancer fits - and the book should still be fre..."

Thanks for the rec! Although, I think i'm going to stick with Luck in the Shadows since I have it on audio and haven't finished my print book yet. I just realized it has the word "fun" in it so I'm able to use it for UNO as well.

[Victoria]

Allison Ann wrote: "Eldarwen wrote: "You're one of those teams with the many flakes? :-/"

Captain, co-captain and three others have vanished completely. Then we have three others who post their book once or twice a m..."

Wow, just, wow. It's one thing to have player vanish, but another for it to be the captain and co-capitan! Why would you volunteer for that role if you aren't going to participate!

Now that I think of it, my co-capitan is also MIA, she reads and posts in the spreadsheet, but completely absent from the thread - so not too terrible. And I was worried about my team in the beginning, but about half of us have gotten pretty chatty and posting regularly. Although, I've been a bit flaky lately...

Good luck!

[Victoria]

Eldarwen wrote: "I read through Sam's fabulous update and most of the teams are two away from Bingo with several options.

One team is only one away from Bingo. So, the shelf we absolutely DO NOT want is Guilty Ple..."

what! no! More than winning I don't want to stop playing!

[Eldarwen]

Nooooo, only 2.5 stars?? :-(

Not going to read the review though as I haven't read books #4 and #5 yet.

[Allison Ann]

Sandra wrote: "I love that book Allison Ann, hope you enjoy it."

Eldarwen wrote: "Sandra wrote: "I love that book Allison Ann, hope you enjoy it."

Seconded! :-)"

It's teetering on the edge for me right now. I love Elena and I love that so far she's basically telling the vampires and archangels to go fuck themselves and stop trying to rape her, but I can't help but worry that there's a rehabilitation coming up and really Raphael and Dmitri aren't sooooo bad. And although they feel nothing but contempt for the human race, Elena is the special snowflake that can make them feel. And then I will be angry and spew venom in my review and never read another book in this series. I am really hoping I am wrong, but I have read a lot of books and they don't call them cliches for nothing. :D

[Allison Ann]

Victoria wrote: "I forgot to write my review... oops...

Completion Post
Shifters

Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop
How it fits: tagged 116x
Date Read..."

I didn't read the review either, because I haven't gotten to this point in the series, but that's a sad rating. :(

[Allison Ann]

Victoria wrote: "Allison Ann wrote: "Eldarwen wrote: "You're one of those teams with the many flakes? :-/"

Captain, co-captain and three others have vanished completely. Then we have three others who post their bo..."

Apparently this team is the one they made up of the people who joined after the signup ended, so I suspect that's why we had so many newbies and non-enthusiastic players. I prefer the challenges where they don't make up the teams until the signups end, they seem more balanced on the whole. But I'm glad some of your team is chatty. Always more fun if you're not just talking to yourself. :D

[Eldarwen]

If it's a consolation, here's a hint. Dimitri will stay an ass ;-)

Eta: As for the clichés, well, they'll still be there, but it works for this series. The world and the characters make up for a lot of that. Even if you might end up not liking the first book to bits because of certain things, don't give up on the series after the first book. Lots of good stuff to come!

[Eldarwen]

Allison Ann wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Allison Ann wrote: "Eldarwen wrote: "You're one of those teams with the many flakes? :-/"

Captain, co-captain and three others have vanished completely. Then we have three others ..."

Problem was that we had so many eager players and too many sign-ups, which is why they were cut off fairly soon, that we had to come up with something. Unfortunately not enough known/trusted captains were around for all the teams.

We're keeping track of the flakers at least.

[Eldarwen]

Completion Post
Shifters
Book: Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh

How it fits: tagged 187 times as "shifters"
Date Read: April 28th 2018
Rating: 4 stars
Review
Sophia was a different kind of character, with an almost innate darkness to her that is barely present in any of the other characters of the series. Of course, it was downplayed more and more during her growing romance with Max but nonetheless, it was nice to come across a not quite so "clean" person.

I'm usually not fond of too many clichés and I like not always knowing exactly where things are going, but with this series, I really do not mind. I was a little stuck on the investigation Max and Sophia were leading, wondering what the result was going to be until my brain told me at some point that it was pretty obvious if I'd actually use my brain haha. It was nicely done though.

That red thread leading through the entire series with the development of the PsyNet and all those connected directly or indirectly to it is fascinating to follow. And I still don't know what Kaleb is up to and I really want to know!

[Eldarwen]

Shifters stamp requested! :-)

[Allison Ann]

Yay!

I have a ton of baking to do today. I'm going to attempt an audiobook while I cook. Wish me luck.

[Eldarwen]

Fingers crossed!

What are you baking? :-)

[Allison Ann]

Catering the library open house tomorrow, so baking pretty things with lots of sugar. :D

Finished my Hunter book today. Really don't know how to rate it. So I'm just going to think on it for a day or so before I review.

Also failed quite miserably with my audiobook. Listened to about half of it, but then had to switch to a hardcover. My mother loves the In Death books on CD, so I borrowed the last one. Because J.D. Robb has two Bs in her name. :D But still didn't hold my interest, and her Peabody voice still makes me homicidal.

[Victoria]

Eldarwen wrote: "Nooooo, only 2.5 stars?? :-(

Not going to read the review though as I haven't read books #4 and #5 yet."

It wasn't bad, just not a good conclusion to the Meg/Simon/Lakeside story. If it had just been any book in the series I would have probably have rated it higher. That and the villain was terrible (imo). But still definetly worth the read and scrolling through the reviews it seems others really liked it so you may as well!

[Victoria]

Allison Ann wrote: "Catering the library open house tomorrow, so baking pretty things with lots of sugar. :D

Finished my Hunter book today. Really don't know how to rate it. So I'm just going to think on it for a day..."

ooo I love baked goods that are pretty with lots of sugar lol

and yeah, her Peabody voice is terrible

[Eldarwen]

Victoria wrote: "ooo I love baked goods that are pretty with lots of sugar lol

and yeah, her Peabody voice is terrible "

Basically seconding this!!

I listened to the audio a little bit but that is one of the series I prefer to just dive in myself without somebody else's voice in my head.

And I really hope you didn't hate the Hunter book!

[Eldarwen]

Victoria wrote: "Eldarwen wrote: "Nooooo, only 2.5 stars?? :-(

Not going to read the review though as I haven't read books #4 and #5 yet."

It wasn't bad, just not a good conclusion to the Meg/Simon/Lakeside story..."

Hmmm... it's a shame that the conclusion wasn't the best then. To be fair, there were previous villains that weren't all that great either, but then, they were mini-villains so not quite the same. I assume this was the big reveal with the master villain since it's the last book in the series, even if there is now a "world of the others" book out.

Sooner or later in the next year or so I'll read the remaining books and then we'll see.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I wouldn't consider him a "master villain" I don't think this series really has that. It's just nasty stupid humans against the others.

I gave it 4 stars even though I was disappointed in the Meg/Simon situation. I could understand it but I wanted more ...........

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, One and Done!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'shifters'. 

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

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp O&D!

[Eldarwen]

Thanks, ladies! :-)

[Eldarwen]

Sandra wrote: "I wouldn't consider him a "master villain" I don't think this series really has that. It's just nasty stupid humans against the others.

I gave it 4 stars even though I was disappointed in the Meg/..."

Guess I'll have to be quick about getting me some copies of these books so I can continue with the series! I really want to figure out what I'm going to think of it all. And I'm very curious now to see how it all ends.

[Allison Ann]

Eldarwen wrote: "And I really hope you didn't hate the Hunter book!"

I answered this question so much, it turned into my review. :D

Completion Post

Week: Eight
Shelf: Hunter
How The Book Fits: Shelved 14 times as hunter


Book: Angels' Blood
Author: Nalini Singh
Date Read: 4/28/18
Rating: 3 stars - but it is really just an average as I went from 1 to 4 throughout the run of the book
Review: Sadly I did hate parts of it. I also really enjoyed parts of it and I definitely want to see what happens. But I don't ever enjoy or want to read the "asshole redemption" arc. I try to tell myself it is fantasy, but I just don't understand romanticizing abuse and rape. Guess what, people don't change. Maybe archangels do, but I don't know any angels so I can only go by humans. :D And they generally don't. And Elena justifying Raphael's behaviour because she is hot for him, is classic abuse victim. I worry about young people reading these types of books. Too many of them don't have a strong sense of self and if enough books tell you it's okay for someone to cut you with a knife if they say they love you, you might believe that. To continue with this series, I am going to have to forget about the first half of this first book. I suspect the author will probably do the same thing though, so I'll give the next one a shot.

[Eldarwen]

At least you're giving it another shot :-)

The knife scene... yeah... that was not all that brilliant but at the same time, Elena isn't exactly the weak victim who will let anyone do whatever they want with her, which probably helped a lot with my view on the book.