Review Opportunity: The Sect: The Windgate

Posted by cat2002116 on May 4, 2015
Posted in: Books, Review Opportunity, Reviews. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

THE SECT Button

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I would, ideally, give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I found Ziv an intriguing character and it was nice to read a book that was a Christian fantasy. I did, however, find myself getting a bit lost in parts.

The most interesting thing in this book, I felt, was the relationship between the team, in particular Jaythan, Francis and Ziv. I didn’t really like Jaythan’s character through the book, I have to say – Francis was a much more intriguing person, though I was a bit confused about some of the aspects of his character.

I found the testing parts of this book to be particularly interesting, though some of them came across as a bit confusing. I also questioned why one of the characters in particular was a part of the organisation, considering he actually came across as a really awful person – and no one seemed to see anything wrong with the way he treated people.

The Tenants were a particularly intriguing part of the testing, too, though I was a bit lost about how the organisation set everything up, especially with the first task. Still, it was the time on the boat that caused me to like Francis more as a character… and it was good that he opened up more to Ziv.

I was less than thrilled with the romantic interests mess. I felt that the love triangle/square was close to taking over the story… and I found the sense of brotherhood much more interesting. Plus, Ziv and Miss Evans really didn’t have chemisty. In my opinion, it seemed very forced between them.

I quite liked Maxwell as a character and I would have liked to see more of him. I also liked seeing Ziv and Francis fighting together. It was interesting to see how the three members of the team each picked out a different weapon… one that seemed to fit well with their true personalities.

I’d be interested in reading the next book/s in this series. It would be interesting to see where the author takes the characters and the plots next.

 

About The Book

The Sect

HE SECT: THE WINDGATE (Book 1 of the School of Ministry Series)
AUTHOR: BRAXTON A. COSBY
Genre: Fiction/Young Adult/New Adult/Inspirational
Publisher: Tate Publishing/Cosby Media Production
Date of Publication: April 21st, 2015
ISBN: 978-1681182032
Number of pages:290
Word Count: 99k
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
When Ziv is recruited by the secret society known as The Sect, he finds himself cast into a perilous journey of identity, love, and hope. As a Conduit, Ziv possess the ability to see creatures of the night: demons. The Sect trains him along with two other trainees to be warriors of light and confront the challenges of the treacherous Quad, in order to control their fear and hone their abilities. As an untimely love triangle emerges, Ziv must control his emotions and chase down the evil Akabod before he can destroy The Windgate and banish the entire planet into enslavement by the underworld.

 

About The Author

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Multi-Award Winning and #1 Amazon Bestselling Author Braxton A. Cosby creates vivid, original stories that focus on relationships and world building that brings characters to life. Braxton received a lot of his inspiration from watching the accomplishments and exploits of his famous uncle, comedic legend Bill Cosby. Braxton is the CEO of Cosby Media Productions, a full-service entertainment studio that focuses on producing content in the areas of television, film, music, radio and print media. Braxton is also an actor and radio show host. As a writer, Braxton’s novels explore the psychology of human connection, concerning themes of trust, faith and selflessness. He resides in Lawrenceville with his wife and three daughters.
Website
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Twitter:@BraxtonACosby
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Excerpt

Five years ago, one night changed everything. I was out horse playing with a bunch of friends, in the streets, acting crazy. We came to an old abandoned building and decided to play a game of hide and seek. But I played hide and seek a little too well, easily ducking away from the others, making my way to the lower levels undetected. As they scouted around looking for me, I lost myself, trapped in a maze of empty rooms. Trying to find my way back, I came across another group of other teens, making such a ruckus that I couldn’t help but spy on them from a distance. But their horse playing was nothing like what we were doing. Boys. A pack of them and a lone girl, engaged in disturbing behavior.

The boys were harassing her, hands everywhere. She cried out in screams that rattled my eardrums. My hands found their way over my ears, trying their best to block out the screeches. The more hands she batted away, twice as many appeared. They pressed in, grasping and groping. One of the boys pressed harder, adding slaps and kicks, until finally ripping a few layers of clothing from her body.

That’s when the others joined in. Her screams echoed through the rooms, breaking through my hands, making it hard for me to look away. I hid in the shadows, too afraid to help, too scared to make them stop. She tried to fight back, but there were too many.

Finally I emerged from the darkness and bucked up the nerve to yell out, “Stop!” But they ignored me. Eventually, things got really heated, the girl screaming at the top of her lungs, and the boys pushing her down. That’s when something broke free inside me. It started with a quiver, then a strong tremble, until my legs shook so hard I fell backward. My head slammed the floor. I winced and closed my eyes. What I saw terrified me. It was dark but I could see everything clearly. Horrible images shrouded me in a sheath of fear. Circling each one of the boys were hideous, great and fearful beasts. They had eyes that burned like embers, claws the length of fingers, and skin like that of dragons with patches of blazing red hair all over that seemed to stand on end. Grey smoke puffed from their mouths as they spoke. Some whispered obscenities, while others screamed deplorable things, encouraging the boys to continue. I opened my eyes and gasped. My heart fluttered and I looked around the room. The beasts were gone. Only the boys and the girl remained. Taking a deep breath, I shuddered at the thought of closing them again, but I had to.

I had to know the truth.

I did. It was true. I closed my eyes again and there they were. Within the dark recesses of my eyelids, I was able to see creatures from the other side. But what were they? Ghosts?

I mustered the strength to run out of the building, screaming for help. People stared at me like I was crazy. Finally, an adult took my accusations seriously and the police arrived, but it was too late. The damage was done. The girl’s family tried to press charges, but she was high on drugs and was not able to identify the suspects. I lacked the heart to come forward and testify against them, left town for good. From then on, I knew I was different. I had a path. But how it would all play out one day was beyond me.

Until now.

Blog Tour: The Gateway of Light and Darkness

Posted by cat2002116 on May 4, 2015
Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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The Gateway of Light and Darkness, by Heather Marie

Genre: young-adult, paranormal-horror

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Date of Publication: April 14, 2015

Cover Artist: Ricky Gunawan

Find Online: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

 

About The Gateway of Light and Darkness:

The battle of good vs. evil wages on for Aiden Ortiz with this next installment of The Gateway series in The Gateway of Light and Darkness. With the Dark Priest defeated, and the Brethren of Shadows refusal to forfeit calling upon the Darkness, the Brethren are determined more than ever to discover a way to banish the Men of Light for good. Even if that means risking the lives of everyone they know to do it. And as the Dark Priest’s curse invading Aiden’s veins continues to take on a life of its own, he finds himself in a standoff between his own kind and the Brethren that want to recruit him for all the wrong reasons. With fellow Gateway, Julie Martin, and his best friends at his side, seventeen-year-old Aiden prepares himself for the battle of his life.

Protecting those he loves from the Brethren, and learning to put aside his differences for his father in order to learn the ways of the Light, Aiden begins to realize that the thing endangering them all might not be the threat of the Brethren alone, but the thing taking shape inside of him —readying to unleash itself upon them all.

 

My Review

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I have read the first book in this trilogy… though not the third… so I recognised many of the characters in this final installment. There were a few who were new to me, but I still found it easy to relate to them.

I did find this book a really easy, enjoyable read. Aiden was a character I could really empathise with. Even though I hadn’t read the second book, I didn’t have any trouble understanding what had happened before.

It was interesting to see Aiden’s parents and his relationship with them. I would have liked to see more of Michael and Aiden’s mother interacting. I would have also liked to learn a bit more about the origins of the Men of Light and whether they’re supposed to be angels… or something else entirely. I’m not sure I had all of those questions answered.

I quite liked Julie’s character and it was interesting to see the interactions between her and Justin. I also thought it was good to see the other characters through Aiden’s eyes… though I couldn’t help thinking he’d missed something that, to me, was completely obvious.

Although I didn’t think I would, by the end of the book, I found myself growing quite fond of Seth. Like Justin, he was a character who seemed to have a lot more depth to him than it seemed at first. I would have liked to see certain aspects of his personality and history explored a bit further.

It was also really cool to see Trevor and Evan. I was glad to see that Aiden didn’t lose his ‘normal-human’ friends and that they continued to support him even when what they were doing was dangerous.

Although this book did reach a satisfactory resolution, I feel that more of the world and characters could be explored. I’d like to read the second book at some stage in the future… but I’d also be interested in any further books exploring this world and the characters that populated it. Plus, it would be good to see the paths that certain relationships end up taking.

 

About The Author

heather

 

Heather Marie is the bestselling author of the Gateway series. She has been featured in The Huffington Post’s Diversity Month as a Latina author, and has been named a Latina author to watch for 2014 by Cosmo magazine. She lives in Northern California with her incredibly hard working husband, whom she loves ridiculous amounts. When she isn’t writing, she spends majority of her time reading or planning her next Harry Potter marathon. Heather has always been a fan of the darker side of things most people shy away from. With her love for the classic Universal Monsters, and the slasher films she watched throughout her childhood, she found herself fascinated by the macabre.

Though she hopes to expand her work to YA dark contemporary in the future, Heather considers herself a writer of stories that showcase the unknown, and at times, the harshness that is reality. She adores her troubled characters and her ghostly fiends, creating worlds that are both strange and beautiful. All of this with a healthy dose of romance, of course.

Find Heather Marie Online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr

Unfriended

Posted by cat2002116 on May 3, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Unfriended

(This review may contain spoilers).

(There is also potentially triggering material mentioned in this review).

I saw this movie advertised repeatedly and since I like watching horrors, I decided I’d give it a try. Plus, I thought it might be a more unique take, since the entire movie does take place on a computer screen.

Although this is a horror, I felt it was interesting that the movie explored something that is a real problem in today’s society – cyber-bullying. It’s quite clear, from the beginning of this movie, that it deals with some really serious issues, such as suicide. Although this film is meant to be entertaining, those are issues that people do face.

I felt that this movie did a particularly good job of drawing me into the action. Although Blaire’s face is seen, for most of the film, it’s while she’s Skyping. I also found it interesting to see how much she used her computer and it was good to see her type something and then change her mind. I also thought the punctuation and grammar used worked especially well… even if I did find myself inwardly cringing at how bad some of the typing was.

Another thing I found particularly effective was the fact that the webcams sometimes went bad and it was difficult to see everything that was going on. It was especially creepy when the webcam filtered in and out, showing snapshots of what was happening to them when they were being attacked.

I did find myself getting absorbed into the interactions between the characters. In many ways, I did feel sorry for them… but I wasn’t entirely sure how all of them knew each other and were friends. The only character I didn’t have much sympathy towards was Val.

There were some really good creepy moments in this movie and although there wasn’t a really satisfying ending, there were quite a few loose ends tied up and there were some really jumpy parts. I think it’s entertaining to watch if you like horror… and very good use is made of using the computer, especially Skype and Facebook. I thought it was very effective.

Release Day Blitz: Darkest Reaches

Posted by cat2002116 on May 2, 2015
Posted in: Promotion. Tagged: . Leave a comment
Welcome to the DARKEST REACHES release event!

BrandyNacole_DarkestReaches

Darkest Reaches (Spiritual Discord, #3)
Release Date: April 30th, 2015
Synopsis:
Kayson and the other fallen angels have risked their lives to keep Sabrina safe as she recovered from a Hell hound’s bite. Just when she began to improve, Hell was unleashed as the hounds attacked, and kidnapped Sabrina.
Now, only days after the fight between the fallen and the hounds, Kayson is determined to find Sabrina and bring her back from Hell. The only thing standing in his way is a dangerous fallen angel named Iraja. Iraja has the means to find Sabrina, but he doesn’t do favors without a price.
Sabrina is now facing the nightmare she’s been running from since being turned into a vampire a century ago: her eternal condemnation to Hell. Knowing her only chance of survival may rest by playing nice and turning Hell hound Falon against Lucifer, Sabrina gives into the bitter darkness and now has to fight to remember the good soul she truly is. But when she discovers the role her and the innocent human Emma are forced to play, will her fear get the better of her, and will she be lost forever?
In the third installment of the Spiritual Discord series, the will to survive is tested, worst fears become a reality, and for one, betrayal becomes the only option.
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Brandy Nacole resides in Arkansas where her imagination runs wild. Her obsession is reading but her passion is writing. She put her dream of becoming a writer on the back burner and went to college to become a psychologist. Three years after endless classes in a field she only felt half satisfied with, Brandy picked up her pen once again and wrote the outline to Uniquely Unwelcome. She finished out her degree in psychology, but traded her dream of writing for the degree and put psychology on the back burner.
Whenever she’s not reading or writing, Brandy is spending time with her family and friends, throwing around crazy ideas, teaching , and singing like a rock star at a concert for no one else but herself. She loves plants, but unfortunately is a killer of anything that requires water but can’t voice (scream) their needs.

She is the author of The Shadow World Series and The Spiritual Discord Series.

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Blog Tour: Love, Lucas

Posted by cat2002116 on May 1, 2015
Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment
9781632204172_2bf8bLove, Lucasby Chantele Sedgwick

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Release Date: May 5th 2015

Rate: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:
When Oakley Nelson loses her brother, Lucas, to cancer, she thinks she’ll never recover. Between her parents’ arguing and the battle she’s fighting with depression, she feels nothing inside but a hollow emptiness. When Mom suggests they spend the summer in California with Aunt Jo, Oakley isn’t sure that a change of scenery will alter anything, but she’s willing to give it a try.
In California, Oakley discovers a sort of safety and freedom in Aunt Jo’s beach house. Once they’re settled, Mom hands her a notebook full of letters addressed to her—from Lucas. As Oakley reads one each day, she realizes how much he loved her, and each letter challenges her to be better and to continue to enjoy her life. He wants her to move on.
If only it were that easy.
But then a surfer named Carson comes into her life, and Oakley is blindsided. He makes her feel again. As she lets him in, she is surprised by how much she cares for him, and things get complicated. How can she fall in love and be happy when Lucas never got the chance to do those very same things?

 

With her brother’s dying words as guidance, Oakley must learn to listen to and trust herself again. She soon realizes that second chances are ways to learn from the past, and you don’t always have to leave the past behind to find happiness in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Although this book isn’t the sort of genre I normally tend to read, I was quite drawn into the plot, particularly since I’m sure everyone has suffered some sort of personal loss.

Even though Oakley’s name was quite an unusual one, I found her to be a really interesting character. It was good to see her having to deal with the normal things that a teenager needed to deal with, as well as losing her brother.

The idea of having a notebook where Lucas wrote letters to his sister while he was in hospital was a pretty unique one. Even though Lucas himself didn’t appear in the book, I felt like I’d got to know him through the letters he wrote to Oakley. Some of the things he wrote made me smile, while others generated an eyeroll… but it was all coloured with a bittersweet tone, knowing that all Oakley had left of him were the letters.

I did especially like Oakley’s budding relationship with Carson. I could really believe in them together and it was interesting to see how hard Oakley found it. I actually noticed a lot of myself in her character. I also especially liked gradually learning about what she enjoyed doing, through her conversations with Carson.

It was a bit disappointing not to see more of some of the supporting characters. I wasn’t keen on Dillon apparently being more attracted to Oakley than caring about his friend… and I definitely didn’t like Oakley hinting that she found Dillon very attractive, either. Some of those descriptions made me feel like she didn’t really like Carson as much as she seemed to.

Jo was another character I would have liked to learn a bit more about. It was pretty cool to see her job and I enjoyed watching their work along with Oakley… and I was also very saddened by what happened to the sea lion.

I did like that there were other things going on around Oakley as well. I liked seeing things from her perspective, but it was good that there were some other things going on as well.

This was a book that I found quite emotionally moving to read. It was well-written and although sad in parts, there were also parts that made me smile. I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.

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Character Profile for Lucas

Name: Lucas Nelson
Age: 18
Height: Six feet
Weight: 170
Race: White
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark
Glasses or contact lenses? 20/20
Hobbies: Loved sports, especially basketball, video games, singing and hanging with friends and family.
Favorite Sayings: “Man Up”
Best Quality: Very positive and uplifting person.
Worst Quality: Kept up appearances to fit in. Had a girlfriend he didn’t really care about when he loved someone else.
Introvert or Extrovert? Extrovert. Lucas loved being the center of attention.
Best friend: His sister, Oakley. He would do anything to make her happy again.

Top things that inspire me:
Family
Amazing teens that go through hard things
Pictures I find on Pinterest. 😉
Imagine Dragons and Hans Zimmer
A few of my own experiences as a teen

A visit to Aunt Jo’s beach house:
Oh, how I’d love to visit Aunt Jo’s beach house. The house is huge, lots of windows, clean and beautiful. Her decor is simple, yet pretty. Lot’s of seashells mixed with light blues and yellows. A happy, calm place that would be perfect to relax and wind down. It would totally be a dream vacation for me. Do you know how much writing I could get done with the beach that close? Nothing more relaxing and beautiful than the sound of waves rolling in and the smell of the salty sea air. Actually, I don’t know if I’d get any writing done after all, since I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf… 🙂

“A deeply moving tale of unimaginable loss and the redemptive power of love. Sedgwick masterfully delves into the painful details of losing a loved one, breaking your heart even as her beautiful words stitch you back together. Romance and friendship, true growth and authentic healing, this story blew me away. It takes a special book to bring tears to my eyesand make me swoon… Love, Lucas? Yeah, this book is special.” —Rachel Harris, New York Times bestselling author
“Chantele Sedgwick’s Love, Lucas, is a beautiful story about finding hope, first loves, and learning to live again after the loss of a sibling. With a fantastic cast, and the gorgeous setting of the California coast, this book is one fabulous read.” —Jolene Perry author of The Summer I Found You
“A beautiful, moving novel of loss and love. Sedgwick’s elegant prose weave a heart-breaking tale that stays with you long after you have finished the last page.” —G. R. Mannering, author of Roses
“An emotional summer of love, hope, and healing! Love, Lucas is easy to adore with Sedgwick’s real relationships, sweet romance, and tale of renewal.” —Lizzy Charles, author of Effortless With You
“Chantele Sedgwick navigates the dark waters of grief with a deft hand and plenty of heart.Love, Lucas will drag readers under before bringing them back to the surface for a life-saving breath of hope.” —Amy Finnegan, author of Not In the Script
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Follow the Love, Lucas by Chantele Sedgwick Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.
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Chantele Sedgwick is a YA author, harpist, wife to one and stay-at-home mom to four. She loves happy endings, Kit Kats and judging by her book shelves, buys way too many books.
 
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Minority Report

Posted by cat2002116 on May 1, 2015
Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Minority Report

(This review may contain spoilers).

This is another movie I know I’ve seen quite a while ago. I remember watching it with my Dad (or part of it) while we were on holiday… but I think the first time might have been when it came out at the cinema.

A world without violent crime might not be a perfect world, but it would at least be a better world. It was interesting to see police officers whose entire job was to ‘read’ the images from visions and figure out where a murder would take place, so they could stop it from ever happening.

I’m not sure how far into the future this movie was set, but it was interesting to see the different types of technology that were used, such as hovercars and sick-sticks… quite a disturbing image.

I found the Pre-Cogs quite intriguing. I liked seeing and learning more of Agatha, but I had a lot of questions raised about the other two and if they were related to Agatha, or just happened to share gifts. I could see how easy it was for most of the other characters to stop viewing them as human, even though that was wrong.

I felt there were some very creepy moments in this movie. What I liked best was that John came across as a realistic hero. He had flaws, but he was still one of the good guys and I could really get behind him. I also felt the tragedy in his past worked well to make him a more well-rounded character.

There was enough mystery in this movie to keep me guessing throughout and I recognised and liked a lot of the actors in this. There were disturbing scenes, but also ones that were a bit more amusing and allowed me to learn more about the characters.

I feel that a sequel to this film would be good, to explore the aftermath of the events. But it was entertaining to watch and although there were some contradictions, I still very much enjoyed it and found it easy to relate to the characters.

Blog Tour: Chantress Fury

Posted by cat2002116 on April 30, 2015
Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment
Chantress FuryChantress Fury (Chantress Trilogy #3)by Amy Butler Greenfield

288 pages

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: May 19th, 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Rate: 5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:
The sea is coming. We are coming. And we will drown you all.
With a song, Lucy can control the wind and the water; she can bring castles and kingdoms to their feet. Since Lucy mastered her powers, King Henry has kept her close as he’s rebuilt England. She’s his best ally—and his workhorse. And now he’s called her to investigate attempted murder: His men claim they were almost killed on the Thames…by a mermaid. All Lucy can glean from the creature they’ve captured is a warning: The sea is coming. We are coming. And we will drown you all.
And then the floods begin. Swaths of London are submerged as the people scramble to defend themselves against the water—and the monsters—that are flooding their streets. As mistrust of Lucy’s magic grows, the king relies on Nat, Lucy’s great love, to guide them through the storm. But Nat is cold and distant to Lucy. He swore his love only a year before, and now he calls her “stranger.”
Lucy is determined to defeat this powerful new magic alone if she must. But then she hears an eerie song within the water…can it mean that she’s not the last Chantress after all?
Sweepingly romantic and crackling with magic, Chantress Fury triumphantly concludes the powerful Chantress trilogy.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was another book that I found myself drawn into really easily, despite not having read the previous books in the trilogy. I felt that the plot had quite a unique take. Although fairies are used quite a lot in fiction, I liked the fact that Lucy wasn’t one directly… and didn’t come across as ridiculously over-powered. It was nice to see that she did have limitations in her power.

It was interesting to see glimpses of the politics going on in the court and how Sybil had to deal with becoming Queen, but being a commoner to begin with. I would have quite liked to see more of her relationship with Henry, but it was good to see her friendship with Lucy and how it still managed to hold, despite her increase in power.

Although I didn’t know much about Chantresses when I started reading the book, I didn’t find myself getting confused and I quickly understood their abilities and what they could do. As the book progressed, I found myself drawn into the world… enough that I was reading faster, so I could find out what was going to happen to the characters I did find myself caring about.

It was also interesting to see Lucy’s relationship with Nat. Although it was fairly important to the story, it was good to see that the romance didn’t take over. And that Lucy didn’t suddenly lose all sense about what to do when their relationship hit the inevitable snag in the road.

I did also like a lot of the supporting characters and getting the opportunity to learn more about them. Although there were a couple of love triangles, they weren’t irritating to read and didn’t contain many of the cliches I now associate with love triangles.

I felt that the author did a good job of showing how quickly people’s opinions can turn on someone else. There were a number of scenes in this book where I found myself really able to empathise with Lucy and how she was feeling. And I was glad to see that she’d grown by the end of the book.

I did like how this book ended. At some point in the future, it would be good to read the previous two books in the trilogy and get to know the characters a bit more… but I’m glad I had the opportunity to read this book and I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I was expecting to.

ChantressSmallAlchemyChantress Fury

Excerpt

The other men in the circle were now coming over to us—and one of them was Nat.  For more than a year, I’d pretended that he meant nothing to me.  Now, in the half-dark of this moonlit night, I stopped acting a part. I was simply myself, hungry for the sight of him.

The King’s right-hand man, Sybil had called him, and he looked it.  He’d always had a quiet strength about him, but now that strength was in the open.  Tall and sure and capable, he came toward me, and what I saw in his face made my heart hammer like a drum…

But then I caught sight of what had been at the center of the men’s circle, and my heart nearly stopped altogether.  It was an enormous barrel, stood on its end. Just visible inside it was a woman, and she was gagged.

Seeing her, I felt sick.  Gags and muzzles and scold’s bridles—until the King had come to the throne, these had all been common ways of stopping a woman’s tongue.  Especially a Chantress’s tongue.  My own godmother had been gagged before she’d been killed, and the memory filled me with horror.

“What’s going on here?”  My voice was shaking with anger.  “You’re gagging women and putting them in barrels?”

I could’ve asked the question of any of them.  But it was Nat I was looking at.

Even in the dim light I saw his face change.  When he answered, his voice was guarded, almost steely.  “She isn’t a woman, Chantress.  She’s a mermaid.  And she’s gagged because she tried to kill us.”

 

Follow the Chantress Fury by Amy Butler Greenfield Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.
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Chantress Fury
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Amy Butler Greenfield was a grad student in history when she gave into temptation and became a writer. Since then, she has become an award-winning author.

Amy grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and later studied history at Williams College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oxford. She now lives with her family in England, where she writes, bakes double-dark-chocolate cake, and plots mischief.

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The King of Stonewood

Posted by cat2002116 on April 30, 2015
Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

The King of Stonewood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the first two books in this trilogy, I was happy to be contacted by the author with the opportunity to read the third book in the Stonewood trilogy.

It was good to see more of the characters that I recognised from the previous books. In particular, I liked seeing Harcourt again. He’s probably one of my favourite characters in this trilogy and I felt that he’d really grown as a character by the events of the third book.

I felt that the danger the characters were in came across really well. I especially liked how, when Krestina used her spells, they actually showed a toll on her. I thought it was interesting to see that come across.

I did still notice the over-use of the word ‘beautiful’ and I felt it was unnecessary to be used so many times and particularly with the same characters. I especially liked seeing Evonne and Vrawg again. It was pretty cool to learn a bit more about their past… though I would have liked to see more of Vrawg. I know he wasn’t very talkative… but I still would have liked to see a bit more of him.

It was good to see the fighting scenes in this book as well. I liked that, although Harcourt was the main character and was good at fighting, he wasn’t perfect and did need help. It was good to see that, although all of the characters were skilled, none of them were particularly over-powered.

It was also interesting to see Feylane again. The way she evolved through the books was pretty intriguing and I could understand why she seemed so taken with Harcourt.

It was also good to see Orval and Syrena. I found myself liking Syrena more than I’d expected to in this book and I was able to empathise with her really easily. I was disappointed not to see more of her and Orval in this book.

I did especially like the ending of this book and it was good to see all of the characters in the epilogue. I’d be interested in reading more books exploring the aftermath of the battle and the characters being able to meet up again. But I enjoyed this conclusion to the trilogy and definitely found it worth reading.

Gathering Frost

Posted by cat2002116 on April 28, 2015
Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Gathering Frost

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This is a book that I’d ideally like to give 4.5 stars to. Despite a few eye-roll moments with Jade (I really don’t like characters who wax poetic about how attractive they are), I did find her easy to relate to.

This was a fairly interesting take on the ‘normal’ fairytale. Although I felt there were more elements of the tale of the Snow Queen, I could see how this book linked in with the fairy story of Sleeping Beauty.

It was good to see that the author took the time to develop the relationship between Jade and Asher. It didn’t come across as a love at first sight romance, even though they were both intrigued by each other from the beginning.

This book did quite a good job of exploring different genres, I felt. It was an interesting mix of dystopian, fantasy, romance… Although Jade was clearly a cold character at the start of the book, I found the reason behind it to be really interesting.

I did feel that the book really picked up when Jade was taken by Asher. Although the blurb wasn’t entirely accurate about them, I did enjoy seeing the way the rebels tried to live. There were certain parts of the book that made me quite sad and I was able to empathise with a lot of the other characters. I especially liked Maddy and the way she tried to learn more about Jade… and that Jade seemed to be developing a friendship with her. I also quite liked the attitude of the rebels.

It was interesting to learn the origin of Deirdre’s powers and I couldn’t help feeling a little bit sorry for her… even though I didn’t like her as a character. The reasoning behind the society she built was interesting, though.

I did very much enjoy reading this book and found myself drawn into Jade’s world really easily. I didn’t find her ridiculously over-powered or irritating and I believed in the relationship she formed with Asher. I wasn’t that keen on the cliffhanger-type ending… but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to read the next book in this series.