Fate's Edge

The third book in Ilona Andrews' The Edge series in Fate's Edge.  This book follows the previously introduced Kaldar Mar and the debut of Audrey Callahan.

Audrey is a from a family of grifters, but several years ago she left and now is living a straight life.  That is until her father shows up and pulls her back in, promising it will be their last score.  Audrey agrees with one condition, she no longer has contact with the family when this is done.  The score ends up leading to big trouble and soon she finds out that the cost is more than she could have imagined.

Kaldar is the jack of all trades, and for years he help his family survive on the Edge.  Now living in the Weird, he is working for the Mirror, in hopes of one day getting his revenge against the Hand.  He is sent on mission, in which the Hand has dealing with, and gets more than he bargained for with two stowaways and Audrey, a woman after his own heart.

I really liked Kaldar as a character in Bayou Moon.  He was charming and smart, and the way he goads William is hilarious at times.  I was so glad he got his own book, which was fantastic.   Plus the cons they run together fix a need that has been empty since TNT cancelled Leverage.

Kaldar and Audrey fit so well together as a couple.  She can see through his BS and he helps her to for fill her potential and talents.  Of course, they have their rough spots, like her in decision what to do about him because she is unsure if he is running a con on her or not.

One of my favorite things about this book is that Andrews brings back George and Jack as major players in the book.  We get to see how they are doing, and how becoming Weird Bluebloods has effected them.  I love these two characters, especially Jack. George has really grown into his power, and he is incredibly smart and perceptive.  Jack embraces his changling nature, and at times pretends to be less human than he really is to get away with things.

This was a wonderful addition to the series.  I cannot wait to see where the last books goes with Richard Mar as the lead.

Currently Reading:
Pretties
by Scott Westerfeld

Cursed is Right

Tiger's Curse is the first book in Colleen Houck's Tiger Saga.

Dhiren is a prince of an ancient Indian kingdom, who was betrayed by his brother, and both brothers end up cursed by a rival kingdom's king to live their lives mostly as tigers.

Kesley has just finished high school and needs a summer job to help pay for college.  She ends up a circus helping with the animals.  Their white tiger fascinated her, and she feels drawn to him.  When a man shows up and wants to take the tiger, Ren, back to India and ask Kesley for her help, she jumps at the chance.

She soon discovers the tiger is more than he seems.  Ren is a cursed prince who can only be human for 24 minutes a day.  She embarks on a quest to help him break the curse.

The concept of this book had so much promise, and even the prologue kept up the promise.  Too bad once the book became Kesley's book it fell flat. The writing had such a young teenage girl diary feel to it that is was hard to really get into it.  It felt like a play by play of Kesley's day, and the amount of description she gave of every food she ate was totally unnecessary.

Then there is Kesley, who is suppose to be this seventeen year old girl who has finished high school, but she really feels much younger in the book. Plus the fact that her parents died a few years ago, the author seems to totally gloss over that fact.  Then there is the the fact that about a third of the way into the book, Kesley suddenly wants Ren to call her Kells, and that she describes her growing feelings for Ren as her love plant.

The interactions between Ren and Kesley were painful at times. The conversations bounced all over the place with no rhyme or reason.  Then Kesley starts to push him away because she is afraid of what was happening between them.  She compares him to Adonis but says she is no Helen of Troy, way to mix your Greek mythology totally up.  FYI Adonis was only in love with himself, and Helen of Troy was in love with Paris.

I am sad that this book was so badly written.  I really wanted to like it, but the writing was hard to stomach.  I can't even image forcing my way through the rest of the series.

Currently Reading:
Fate's Edge
by Ilona Andrews

Siege and Storm

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo is the second book in her The Grisha trilogy.  If you have not read the first book, Shadow and Bone, do not read this review.

After unleashing her power on the Darkling in the Shadow Fold, Alina and Mal escape across the True Sea in an effort to leave her past behind.  Too bad, the Darkling did not die in the Shadow Fold and tracked them down in their new home.

The Darkling has developed a dark new power that is unlike anything that has been seen before.  He drags Alina and Mal with him in search of a new amplifier for Alina. The ship's captain is a notorious privateer, who is more than what he seems.

With the privateer's help, Alina and Mal escape the Darkling's grasp, but the privateer has his own motives.  He convinces Alina to go back to Os Alta and help save Ravka.  While Alina's power grows, her relationship with Mal suffers, and she might be losing her sanity.

Great news, this book does not suffer from the sophomore slump.  Ms. Bardugo brings the the action, the twist, and some great character development.  She also brings a health dose of political intrigue.

Alina is still struggling with the power she has and what it means, and then she is thrust into not only an important position in the Second Army, but she is now seen as a living saint among the common people.  The struggles she has in her new roles, and with her relationships make her very human feeling.  Who has not been there having trouble explaining your feelings and worries to the one you love, or struggled with the role you need to feel?

The downside to this book is that I have to wait until June for the final installment.  The way it ended sets up the final book for some amazing possibilities.

Currently Reading:
Tiger's Curse
by Colleen Houck

Not Your Mom's Zombies

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter is the first of her White Rabbit Chronicles.

Monsters are real, too bad for Alice Bell that she never believed until her whole family was dead.  She always thought her dad was just paranoid.  Her whole world has crumbled and she would give anything to go back to the way it was, to tell her dad she believes, tell her mother she loves her, and to hug her sister again.

Now she has moved in with her grandparents, and started a new school, and dealing with the fact that the monster really do exist. At school, she is drawn to bad boy Cole Holland.  When their eyes meet, she is drawn into strange visions with him.  His gruff bad boy demeanor is hiding a secret, and Alice is sure he knows about the monster.

With Cole's help, Alice learns how to fight the monster, who he calls Zombies.  Together they try to solve why the Zombies are so drawn to Alice.

I liked this spin on Zombies.  They were not the traditional flesh eating, brains zombies.  Rather they are beings of the spirit world who feed on human spirits.  The only way to fight them is in the spirit.  Not everyone can see them, but for those that can the zombies are drawn to them.  I thought the idea was fresh, but still was true to the heart of the idea of zombies.

I really enjoyed the character of Alice.  She is feisty, and holds her own against uber bad boy Cole. I like that she can throw Cole off balance when he is so used to being in control.  She finds good things to enjoy, like her friends, even after she thought her world had ended.

Her best friend, Kat, was fantastic.  She is funny and loyal to Alice even when it cost her social status. She keeps a bright outlook on life, which is amazing after you learn what all she is dealing with personally.  She is one of my favorite sidekicks.

Cole has the quite the bad boy image, right down to the tattoos, but there are times when his softer side shines through.  When that happens, I like him the best.  The dynamic between him and Alice is great, and their banter is highly entertaining.

It will definitely be interesting to see where Ms. Showalter takes this series. There a few hints she drops that could bring about some interesting developments and relationships in future books.

Currently Reading:
Siege and Storm
by Leigh Bardugo

Ugly is the New Pretty

Scott Westerfeld's Uglies is the first book in the series of the same name. I am a big fan of Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy, so I was very interested to see how these books were.  Set in a society where everyone is an Ugly until their sixteenth birthday when they undergo procedures to make them into a Pretty.  Pretties are those who are the ideal beauty that fit into the model of perfection in human form .

Tally is just three short months away from becoming a Pretty.  She has been lonely since her best friend, Peris, has been made into a Pretty.  It over this summer that she meets Shay, who has some different views about becoming a Pretty.  When Shay runs away a week before her procedures, Tally is giving an ultimatum, find where Shay went or remain an Ugly forever.

Tally finds Shay, but more than that, she finds a whole town of Uglies.  She learns that there is more to becoming Pretty than what everyone is told.  Tally must make some hard decisions, betray her new friends and become Pretty or stay Ugly forever.

I heart me some dystopian society books, and I can't believe that I have not read this book before now.  It like an interesting mix Aldous Huxley's Brave New World with elements like Lauren Oliver's Delirium.  A society that is all about living in the moment, and that everyone undergoes a change a certain point in their lifetime. Who knew that Pretty could be such a scary concept?

Tally is one of the best written heroines I have read.  She makes a fantastic journey from an Ugly who only dream is to be a Pretty to someone who is seeing beyond the blinders that her society placed on her and wants to make a difference.

Can't wait to see how the rest of the series plays out, especially after the choice that Tally makes at the end.  If you are like me and love dystopian society books, this is a must read book.

Currently Reading:
Alice in Zombieland
by Gena Showalter

Assassins and Intrigue

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas is the first in the series of the same name.  It takes places in the kingdom of Adarlan where the king has outlawed all magic, and it systematically taking over all the surrounding lands so that he can rule all of Erilea.

Celaena Sardothien is the Adarlan's Assassin, and when she was betrayed, she was sent to the brutal work prison of Endovier.  To her surprise,  Crown Prince Dorian  comes and offers her freedom if she will be his champion in the king's contest to find one.

When Celaena arrives at the glass castle, she finds not all is what it seems.  The prince, and the Captain of the Guard, Choal, are more than what she expected.  She befriends the Princess from Eyllwe, Nehemia.  As she trains for the Test in the contest, someone or something is picking off the other champions one by one. Not only must Celaena win her freedom, but she must fight for her life and unravel who is behind the mysterious happenings in the castle.

I found the style and characters of this book reminded me a lot of Kristin Cashore's Graceling, which I adore.  This has a lovely mix of action, intrigue, and just a touch of romance.  The character of Celaena is just the right mix of a harden assassin and a vulnerable heart, plus there is the added mystery of her past.  I have some theories on who she is, but I would love to hear from others on their thoughts about that.

The whole love triangle between Celaena, Dorian, and Choal does feel a little forced at times, and think that is because it really does not seem her and Dorian fit.  Choal appears to understand her more than Dorian, even if he the more standoffish of the two.  Just based on her actions in the book, I feel if she had been forced to chose now, it would have been Choal.

I liked the friendship between Celaena and Nehemia.  I think it is important to have strong friends in books, because for me, it is friends more than lovers that see you through the rough patches.  While Celaena and Nehemia have a few ups and downs, I felt they were an excellent representation of friendship.

The way Ms. Maas sets up the ending, and the hints she drops not only about Celaena's past, but what the King is planning, should make this a very interesting series to read.

Currently Reading:
Uglies
by Scott Westerfeld

A Mythological Ending

Goddess is the last book in Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed trilogy. It picks up pretty much picks up right where Dreamless ended, so if you haven't read Dreamless yet, there will be some spoilers in this review.

Helen, Lucas, and Orion fight with Ares left the three of them as blood brothers, and that mixed the blood of four Scion Houses.  This causes the twelve major gods to be released from their prison on Olympus.  The Scion houses call a meet to figure out what to do about the gods, who up to their old tricks, and the coming of the Tyrant.

Lucas, Helen, Orion, and Hector form an alliance to stand together, and not with any one house, which opens a whole crazy can of worms between the Houses.  Helen keeps having dreams of her past lives, how all the people in her life now played a role in them.  She figures out that the fates keep repeating the same cycle because the end they desire has not come, yet.  Plus she is dealing with an increase in her powers, her love for Lucas, and how to stop the cycle.

I thought this was a pretty good ending to the trilogy.  Ms. Angelini did well in answering all the lingering questions from the previous books, like what role everyone played and why Daphne lied about Helen's father. Although, some of the people came out of nowhere, and I wish there had been a better lead up to who and what they were. One of the things that really annoyed me was that it took the other characters way too long to figure out who the Tyrant was.  It got pretty obvious in just the first few chapters for me.

I am just going to admit that my favorite characters in these books are not the main characters of Helen and Lucas, but their supporting characters.  I think that the supporting characters in this series are really what make it worth the read.  Hector is fabulous, and so heroic and smooth, of course until he finally meets the one, and then he is so tongue tied it is cute.  Daphne for all her faults as a mother, definitely keeps it interesting and keeps you guess her motives almost up to the very end.  Plus, event though he is a really minor character in the amount of time he gets in the books, Hades is wonderful.  There is some much personality and wisdom in his little moments, I could not do anything but love him.

I think that overall Ms. Angelini did a good job at placing a new spin on Greek mythology.  There were a few flaws, but it is a good read.

Currently Reading:
Throne of Glass
by Sarah J. Maas