(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I think I’d give this book 4.5 stars ideally, but since I can’t give half stars, I’ll again leave this at 4.

Although this book sounded quite intriguing, when I received it, I was kind of expecting a love at first sight, eye-rolling insta!romance thing. I was actually pleasantly surprised, though. The reason behind Porter and Sarah travelling together actually makes sense and I really like how their relationship progresses over the course of the book.

There’s a lot of contrast, which I’m not going to go into detail here about, but which makes a lot of sense. I feel that the strongest part of this book is the relationship between Porter and Sarah.

The idea about the Mythics is a pretty good one and I really like how Sarah was a Sphinx, rather than a more common mythical animal. There were some really minor things that I felt revealed her true nature – such as her curling up and walking on all fours. The details are always important, after all.

I liked the use of the different races in the book, too. I think I would like to see more of the others in the later books.

It was also interesting to find out the history of the Slayers. Everything has to start somewhere, but I was a bit surprised to see how much the organisation had changed from its original purpose.

I did like some of the other characters in the book as well, especially Tick. I also really liked how he and Porter became almost like brothers.

There were some errors in the book, but they didn’t detract from how much I enjoyed it. I will definitely read the next book in the series at some point and I imagine I would enjoy reading this book again. This has engaging characters and a good, intriguing storyline. I definitely recommend it.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Being a Christian, this particular genre of books is one that I really like. (Though there are very few genres I don’t like…) I found it really easy to read and it was interesting and engaging enough to hold my interest.

One of the things I especially liked about the title was that it could refer to quite a lot of different things and not necessarily what was named originally. I felt that the author did a really good job of portraying the harshness of life in those times… but also how important the family was to each other.

Although I tend to not like multiple first person POVs, I did find this one easier to read. I was pulled into the two separate storylines and I found myself grieving along with the characters when bad things happened. There was one thing in particular that was devastating, even though I could understand why it was done – it was an awful thing to read about; but then again, battles are awful things.

The angle with the cup was pretty interesting and I was quite intrigued by how things were handled with it.

I really especially liked how prayer worked in the book. I felt it worked how prayers were answered – both directly and indirectly. I do think Ethan was stubborn and I got a bit annoyed with him at times. Aaron was probably my favourite character. The contrast between the soldier and the man of faith came across really well and he would be a character whose story I’d like to read more of.

There was one dream in particular that a character had that was especially hard-hitting. I felt like I was transported into that point and I felt really affected by the descriptions.

The book was really well-written, though I did notice some minor errors in the writing. They weren’t enough to make me stop reading for more than a moment, though, and although I’m not sure I could say this was an enjoyable read, it was one that’s affected me and will probably stay with me for quite a while.

There are reading group questions at the end which I think would make a really good theme for bible study. I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.

(I received a free copy of this book from Curiosity Quills Press in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did like this book quite a bit more than the first one. With the characters and relationships already established, I found it much easier to care about things like the romance between Paige and Johnathan.

I was quite impressed with how well Paige’s blindness came across. I think that writing a character who’s missing a sense (especially in first person) is quite difficult and I didn’t notice any occasions where the author slipped up and wrote something Paige shouldn’t have been able to know.

I was quite intrigued about what was revealed in regards to Alec. I’m a bit wary of him, though – I felt he was abusing his powers a bit throughout the book. Although I liked some of the things with him, that did make him somewhat less sympathetic.

I liked the different types of creatures that there were and there were some parts of the book that made me smile. The banter between the characters came across really well and I particularly liked the Imp.

I think Halli was probably my favourite character in this book. I did like Paige a bit more, but I also felt that she was beginning to approach the line of ridiculously over-powered. It was fine when they each had their own talent… and then Paige suddenly has a second one.

It was interesting to learn about the first Five and I would have liked a bit more background. I think it would be quite interesting to read a prequel to these, with some of the previous Five’s stories.

This book ended on something of a cliffhanger and I’d really like to read the next book in the series. When it comes out, I’ll definitely look at getting it.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was a romance that I found really sweet and easy to read. Although it was crude in some places, I did really like it.

I found it easy to care about the characters involved in this book. I thought that both Rachel and Jared were interesting characters, both with their own strengths and weaknesses. I felt that the author did a really good job of showcasing the way their relationship evolved and changed over the course of the book.

I felt that the author did a really good job of portraying Rachel’s difficulties with being in a wheelchair, but also how strong she was as a character. I really liked her bantering with Jared.

I thought it was really sweet how determined Jared was to ‘woo’ Rachel. I really liked the way he sent her flowers and did really sweet things for her.

I liked the other characters in the book as well. I think there were things I would have liked to see more of, though, like certain things being resolved.

This book did succeed in making me want to read the other books in this series. It was really well-written and I could picture a lot of the events happening in my mind. There was an awful lot of swearing in the book, but apart from that, I found it really nice and easy to read.

(I received a free copy of this book from Curiosity Quills Press in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

This book was almost four stars, due to the fact that I did really find this book an entertaining, easy read. However, there were quite a few things that made me decide I couldn’t award it with the extra star.

I did like the characters and I felt myself pulled into the story very quickly. I did, however, feel that things moved far too quickly between Paige and Johnathan. The story skipped over long periods of time and I felt that a lot of their relationship was glossed over when I would have liked to see more of it developing. Because once I got over the incredibly short time they seemed to fall in love, I actually found their relationship to be quite sweet.

I liked the friendships that formed between the five characters. It was good how they came across as a family very quickly and I especially liked the bantering that went on between them. It was also good to see that they did go through the consequences of getting hurt and making mistakes, rather than being absolutely perfect with their abilities first time round.

The descriptions in this book were pretty awesome. I could really see a lot of the events happening inside my head; in particular the whole hallucinations thing. Some of the descriptions really made me wince in sympathy with the characters.

Foreshadowing. There was very little of that going on. Certain things seemed to only show up when there was a need for them – i.e. right before one of the characters is attacked, she reflects on how good it is that one of their number has training in martial arts and has been showing the group. Showing some of said training scenes would have been a whole lot better.

The whole thing with the soul-gazing is something I have seen done before, but it was handled in quite a unique way and I felt it worked particularly well.

Skipping over passages of time is something I did mention before, but putting, ‘After two weeks…’ in the same paragraph, with nothing to denote passage of time, gets confusing and disorientating. Also, if a book is written in first person and that character is not a mind reader, they shouldn’t be describing what the other characters are thinking/feeling.

I do have the second book on my Kindle and I will read it. I do, however, feel that this book could have been improved a bit.

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’d ideally give this book 3.5 stars, but I’ll leave it as 3 on here.

I’m not always one for reading historical books. That is, I probably wouldn’t choose to buy one to read. I did, however, read a historical fantasy book by Victoria Lamb, which I quite enjoyed.

The character of Elizabeth in this book contrasted sharply with that of her in Witchstruck and I felt that was done particularly well. Although the books were written by the same author, I couldn’t mistake one for the other.

I’ve long been a reader of the Horrible Histories books (and also been watching the television series). I have some passing knowledge of Tudor history and of Queen Elizabeth.

It was interesting to see how the various historical figures in this book were portrayed. I did get a bit confused at times, but the author’s spin on Shakespeare’s sexuality was kind of unique and the other historical figures came to life pretty well, even though some of them weren’t very nice. Goodluck was an interesting character, as was Lucy Morgan. It was an interesting twist to have her be Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’ – something that I have no knowledge about, but which I’m sure readers with historical knowledge will appreciate.

Elizabeth was portrayed in, I felt, quite a realistic way. In some ways, I could feel for her. She came across as quite lonely at times and although she did things that were morally wrong (and hypocritical), I imagine it must have been quite lonely at times.

For the most part, the book was well-written, with only some minor confusion about whether a physician suspected a character had a broken back or neck. (I was left very confused when a message said the former and another character then started worrying that the physician had said the latter…)

I liked the ending of this book, although it wasn’t quite how one might expect. I’m not sure I’d read the previous two books in this trilogy, but I currently have the next book in the Tudor witch trilogy added to my basket on Amazon.

In my opinion, this author is worth reading and stays fairly true to the historical figures. If you like historical fiction, I do recommend her books.