Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This book was one that I found really difficult to read. It was really well-written and the character of Missy was quite an intriguing one. There was a love triangle in the book that I actually didn’t hate so much, though I do wish less authors would use them because, like vampires, love triangles are over-used.

It was funny, but I didn’t realise I’d won this book until a month after the giveaway had ended. I’m not sure if there were issues with the algorithm or something, but yeah. I’d forgotten I’d even entered to win this.

I liked that this book was written in first person and Missy was a character who was really easy to relate to. This book did deal with a couple of major issues that many people in reality face. Although it was difficult to read in places, I felt that the author handled the issues really well. But it raised a lot of my own personal issues.

I was surprised (in a good way) by Josh’s faith. I liked the comments made by his pastor. It was a really interesting concept to read about and made me want to point the passage to my dad for him to use as an illustration in one of his sermons.

When I read the first chapter of this book, I assumed that meant I was going to know how the story ended. It was good that there were still a lot of surprises all the way through, though, and although I knew some of the ending, the three guys weren’t all that obvious.

I didn’t really like Missy’s mother, possibly because there were a lot of aspects that reminded me of my own mother. I thought Crystal was particularly sweet and I liked the descriptions of the life on the island.

I wasn’t particularly keen on a lot of the minor characters in this book, especially Sam. But I could empathise with Missy having a crush on someone who was technically untouchable. I would probably read more books by this author in the future. I was drawn into Missy’s life easily and I really felt for her through a lot of the book.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was another book that made me think of books that I read as a child. I very much enjoyed reading this book and found it a really quick and easy read. It was a good fantasy and I liked the fact that there was a lot of world-building involved.

I thought it was good that the author took the time to introduce Josie as a character before she was thrust into the other world. I also liked the fact that she was dealing with some very real issues at home – her parents having problems, struggling with her older sister, and bullying.

It was really interesting to see the creatures and people that populated the world Josie found herself in. Although I would have liked to see more of an explanation from her Gran, it was nice to see that Josie didn’t just accept the new world straight away and questioned what was going on.

I felt that the prologue to this book did really well to set the scene, though it was a bit darker than the rest proved to be. There were hints that Zarek was a more well-rounded character than he first appeared to be, but I felt his motives and past weren’t as explored as they could have been and that it would have been good to find out exactly why he’d become the way he did, since it was only shown from another character’s perspective.

I liked the griffon in this book and it was good to see the world and how everything fit together. I also liked how the pendant worked to help Josie understand the language – it was a good way of solving that barrier and something that not many books deal with.

I felt this book was a really good introduction to the trilogy, although I did also feel that there were times the phrasing came across a bit clunky. Nothing major, but some of it was just a bit awkward to read… though that could have been style choice more than anything else.

I’m sure that, given the opportunity in the future, I would read the next two books in the trilogy. I’d like to see more of Josie and the friends she made.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I do really like manga books… and I love horror, especially horror that deals with ghosts. So when I saw this book for sale in one of the second-hand bookshops I frequent… I talked myself into buying it.

I felt it was interesting to see the newspaper articles and the telegram at the beginning of each chapter. Each of those did a good job of setting the scene, even though they didn’t always seem to be related to the chapter they preceded.

I would have liked to see more details about Dinah. I was confused about exactly why she was seeing ghosts outside of the crypt… and also exactly why she was the one who had to help the restless spirits move on and what the whole thing with her signature meant.

I thought it was good to see the variety of ghosts and what each of their realities was like. It was interesting that Dinah and Vincent had different roles they almost ‘stepped into’ in the ghosts’ realities. I couldn’t help smiling at Vincent’s response to one of the things said in the reality of the feral child.

I did quite like the artwork in this book and I found Dinah a rather sympathetic character, even though her aunt really wasn’t very sympathetic at all. There were a few instances towards the end of the book that did make me smile a bit.

The spider with the human face made me cringe and I would have liked to know if that was what it really looked like, or if I was seeing that through Dinah’s eyes.

There were a lot of creepy moments in the ghosts’ realities, too, and I felt that some of the moving on wasn’t as complicated as it could have been. The ending of volume one probably hinted at exactly why that was, but it was interesting to see the different realities… and very sad (not to mention creepy) when it involved children.

I liked seeing the different artwork of the two main characters at the end of the book. It would have been nice to see more of their history and how they originally became friends, but I liked seeing their friendship and I am curious to see what the rest of this series holds.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This book was quite a short, easy read. I really liked the front cover of it and it was nice that the title of the book was taken from a quote one of the characters said in the book.

I’d imagine it’s quite hard to create a truly atmospheric story with a book of this length, but I felt the author did a really good job of that. There were some really quite creepy moments and although I would have liked to see more of the ghost/s, what I did see was really effective.

I would have liked to see a bit more about the two main characters who went into the house. There were bits and pieces shown about them, but it would have been nice to see a bit more background and the relationship between the two of them.

I did think that this book was really well-written. The house itself was really well-described and the ghostly appearance was suitably creepy. There was at least one thing that I didn’t see an explanation for, but it wasn’t clear if that was just in their imaginations or if it was part of the general haunting.

Although learning things through a diary isn’t a unique plot device, it was still interesting to see the entries and learn what did happen in the house. This was a really easy story to read and although I would have liked to see it expanded a bit more, it was still an entertaining read and I would probably read more books by this author if given the opportunity in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I really did like the cover of this book. As covers go, this one was a really pretty one and definitely drew me into the book, so it did the job it was meant to.

I was a bit unclear about when this book was set at first, but I was drawn into the storyline really easily. Of course, I really liked that the author kept to one first person POV and found this book really easy and actually quite quick to read.

I really liked the concept of this story. It was interesting to see the fae working to protect the royal family. I also found it a really unique idea for the technology to affect Emrys and her kind. It was an interesting weakness.

I liked seeing the different types of fairy creatures there were and it was interesting to learn how and why Emrys and the rest of her kind took on physical form.

Speaking of Emrys… I did actually really like her as a character. Her relationship with Richard was quite an interesting one and although it did move a bit too fast (considering Emrys has lived much longer than Richard, who was a seventeen-year-old party boy), I did find it quite believable by the end.

I also really liked seeing and learning about the different characters from fairy legends, such as Mab and Titania. Also, it was really cool to see Herne the Huntsman.

I felt that the author did a good job of building the world of the mortals and the world of the fae. They both felt really real to me and it was interesting to see where the worlds collided with each other. I found myself feeling sorry for Mab by the end of the book.

Although the romance did take up a lot of the book, I did think that there was quite a lot of action, too, and a number of quite tense scenes. I found this book really well-written and I read it really easily and quickly. I have the second book ready to read and I would definitely read more books by this author in the future. I’d also like to see more of the minor characters and what their histories and relationships have been like over time.