March Wrap up

Had another good month and finished all the books I set out to read, plus a few extras. Let's get right into it...

Cress by Marissa Meyer


Book 3 in the Lunar Chronicles. This was my favorite in the series so far and I cannot wait until the fall.


 5 Stars 

Travel Glasses by Chess DeSalls


This was the first book I read from the Indie Book Club on Goodreads. This one wasn't really my taste.


 3 Stars 

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas



Mages, elemental magic, cross-dressing



 3 Stars 

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie



One of my favorite stories, I finally read the original book (having only seen the various movies) I read this to my 1 year-old son, who I choose to believe has absorbed all the excellence.

 4 Stars 

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk



Checked this one off my Book-et (Book Bucket) List

 4 Stars 

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman


Wonderful dragon-lore

 4 Stars 

The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney



Making my way through these slowly since I'm still collecting a full set. I have books 3 and 5, but not 4 so I'll be putting these ones off until I fill the gap.

 4 Stars 

The Crown of Stones: Magic-Scars by C.L. Schneider


Second book from the Goodreads Indie Book Club. An excellent read and another I cannot wait to get to the final book in the trilogy.



 4 Stars 

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason


I read this one for the Read with Ben group through Goodreads.

19th Century London, Vampire-hunter, female protagonist Sadly, not my favorite.

 3 Stars 

How to Train You Dragon (Books 1-3) by Cressida Cowell


Perfect for boys 11-15. Lots of fart jokes and the like

Considering the age group for which these are meant, I rated them as I would any others in a similar group.


 4 Stars 

How to be a Pirate







 4 Stars 

How to Speak Dragonese






 4 Stars 




I wrapped these all up on my YouTube channel as well if you'd rather see my sparkling (ahem) personality.

Book Review The Rest Falls Away

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason was the choice for March's Read with Ben Goodreads Group

I went into this story with high hopes; 19th Century London, vampire hunter, female protagonist...sounds great, right?

Well, unfortunately for me, I had too little interest in this one.  The concept is intriguing enough, but I never got even partially invested in the story or any of the characters.  None of the many possible love interests seemed appealing, and Victoria is annoying and contradictory (does she hate being paraded around or not?).  She accepted her fate with an unbelievable amount of grace.  She is either the most easy-going woman ever or I'm missing a part of the story.  

Does this world believe in vampires the way we do; as myth? Or do only some in the world think that way.  I mean, I want to believe vampires are real as much as the next nerd, but if I was told I was destined to be a vampire hunter and all the legends are true, I'd hit the bricks. But, then again, we don't even get to see her reaction if I remember correctly. We just jump right into the training. Did she know about this possibility beforehand? She seemed to know she had to go to her aunt because of the dreams, so how much was explained prior?

Then we have the whole no marrying, no lovers thing.  I thought that Kritanu-dude was the aunt's lover and she is a Venator (vampire hunter).  How does that work?  Plus, the bloodline is supposed to breed better vampire hunters and the skills are passed down.  How can that happen if they can't have a family?

There were too many plot holes. 

By the time I reached 100 pages, I started reading just the dialogue, but even that had me rolling my eyes until the end.

I did enjoy the aspect of different kinds of vampires, and thought this a nice addition to the otherwise Buffy-like vampires in this novel.


Sorry, but this one just wasn't for me.  I gave it 3 stars, simply because I finished it (which I did only because it was the Read with Ben pick).  Normally, I won't bother with any 1 or 2 star books.  If it gets this low, I wouldn't have finished it in the first place. 

Book Review Crown of Stones: Magic-Scars

Another recent finish is The Crown of Stones: Magic-Scars by C.L. Schneider.

Book 2 in The Crown of Stones trilogy, continues just about where book 1 left off. (I know...unheard of, right?)

Now, because this is a sequel, I don't want to go into any details of the current story, since anything I would say could be construed as a spoiler.  However, I'll link the Goodreads page here for those of you who want to learn more.

Just as the first, Magic-Scars is such a well-developed story.  Schneider has such a beautifully-descriptive writing style.  With only a few words, you're thrown right into Ian's--our main character--perspective and you're eager to suck in all the surrounding details.  I was fully invested in so many of the characters; whether I hated them and wanted so badly for them to kick it, or I was biting my fingers down to nubs because I was so terrified of the outcome.

I will admit, this--and the first, Magic-Price--is a very long story.  It could never be thought of as anything except High Fantasy, so you might anticipate a lot of dragging moments, but I only felt that once in the entire book and it was likely my own fault since I stretched it out over the entire month.  This book only just came out and I am in no way eager to wait for the final installment.

I've given this a 4 stars.  For fans of epic fantasy, particularly those who enjoy new magic outlooks, this is the book for you.

Book Review The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane

Recently finished The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney

It takes place nearly six months into Thomas Ward's apprenticeship.  Learning a great deal, but still with so much information in a world of darkness, Tom is rapidly becoming what was promised to the Spook--the last apprentice he'll ever need.

After receiving some distressing news, Tom and the Spook must travel to the village Priestown.  The Spook uses this opportunity to finally get rid of a creature the Spook has been unable to dispose of in the past.  A creature called, The Bane.  But by going back to Priestown, they also put themselves too close to the High Quisitor, an evil man using those accused of witchcraft as a means to make him richer.  And, to the Quisitor, the Spook and any who follow him are the worst kind of warlock.

I enjoyed this one just as much as the first, perhaps even a little more so because the lack of the usual setup needed in a first book. The lore present in this world is so simple, but at the same time intricately done.  The many different kinds of existing witches and boggarts can go on indefinitely, and it's fun to go along with Tom as a sort of third-party apprentice.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is its ability to make me a little nervous.  I love when a book can make me afraid to turn out the lights, or send me running up the basement stairs for fear of being chased.

The relationship between the Spook and Tom is slowly growing.  While the Spook is still a stern grumpus, you can see him getting attached to Tom and the feeling appears mutual.  Tom looks up to the Spook, though you can see moments of defiance which add a bit of a father-son relationship.

I gave this book 4 stars, and would highly recommend this to a younger audience (13-17) who enjoy creepier moments while reading or those of us with a less mature reading palate.

February Wrap-up

I was actually very good in the month of February. I finished all the books planned! Well...maybe not all the books. As anticipated, I didn't complete A Dance with Dragons, but I'm okay with this just hanging out in my TBR pile for another few months. Let's just say that if I finish ADWD before 2016 I'll call that a win. I mean, it's not as though we can expect the next in the series to come out anytime soon...right?

Maybe I'll just have to start watching the show again in the meantime.  Darn HBO costing extra money...wah wah waaaah.

Aaaanyway...on to the wrap-up.

1. 

First off, I finished Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes. This was...hmm...well, I did enjoy this novel. However, I felt a little bored toward the end. I know there are still, what (?), three more books to come out, but I think this series would be better as just a trilogy. I'm getting to the point where I just want this story to wrap up. I'm still invested in all of the characters--particularly Magnus--but it seems that the story is running a little thin by attempting to stretch it out into 6 books. Perhaps it was just this book and I will once again love the series after book 4. I will certainly be picking up all of the books, unless some unspeakable awful-ness happens, though I really doubt it could get to that point.

2. 

Next on the list was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  This was a lovely story.  I feel that when I say lovely it sounds condescending, but I can think of no better way to describe this.  It was an excellent MG novel with such fun elements of darkness.

3. & 4. 

When I picked up Cinder by Marissa Meyer, I never anticipated how much I would desperately LOVE these books.  I can't even remember the last time I read a book that made me want to simultaneously fangirl scream and stay up late into the night reading and cover my face with a pillow to avoid the angst.  I wasn't planning on continuing on to Scarlet last month, but I could NOT wait any longer.  I told myself I could hold out until the fall when Winter comes out, but there was just no chance of that happening after I read Cinder.  Marissa Meyer is a genius and has quickly Lunar-hopped her way to a spot as one of my favorite authors.  I am so mad I waited so long to read these.  Based on a recommendation from a former co-worker, I've had this in my TBR pile for over a year.

5. 

The Keeper of the Wind by Mark Shaw was the book chosen for the Goodreads Indie Book Club for February.  Shaw is actually the founder of the #indiebooksbeseen movement and a great motivator for all things Indie.  Sadly, I didn't care for this novel as much as I'd hoped I would.  The story is interesting and the Native American history is fascinating, but I felt the execution was a little underdeveloped.  The dialogue felt a bit too awkward for a novel setting (Too much "Hi, how are you?" "Good, how are you?" and so on.), and there was a decent amount of story that didn't seem to have anything to do with the main plot-line.  Based on the reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, I am clearly in the minority here, but I guess this one just wasn't for me.

6. 

I had mixed feelings about The Nethergrim by Matthew Jobin.  The story was certainly entertaining and I will most definitely be picking up book 2 whenever it comes out, but the build up to the story dragged a bit and even when the "exciting" moment happened, there were still lulls in between that had me skimming until the next burst.  As I said, mixed feelings, however I would give this 3.5 stars, leaning closer to 4.

7. 

And finally, I completed The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney.  This is a great example of a novel with a long build up and larger breaks in between "exciting moments" done well.  Each chapter may not have had nail-biting scenes, but learning along with Thomas what it means to be the Spook is dark and terrifying and stomach-churning.






That's all there is for my February Wrap-up.  Hopefully, I can be just as good in March.

Until next time...I'm Looking Forward to finding another favorite author.