Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Due to various personal reasons, this book took me longer than it should have to read, but that wasn’t anything to do with the book itself. When I was able to pick it up today, I was drawn into the book really easily, despite it being an already-existing world with established characters.

I may have mentioned, several times, that I like books with different types of mythology in. And this one was no exception. It was a refreshing change to read a book that had Artemis closer to her mythological counterpart, unlike one series that paints her as a sadistic villain.

It was nice to see how Artemis’ relationship with Evan began, but I would have liked a bit more background on them falling in love, since it did seem to move quite fast.

It was nice to see the interactions between Artemis and Zeus, though it wasn’t made that clear why Zeus had banished Evan in the first place. I suspect, though, that Ashylnns’ book might have more detail in regards to that.

There were a few things in this book that made me think of the Dark-Hunter series… but it was really only something that one of the characters said. I liked seeing Apollo’s brief appearance in this novella, too, but I would have liked to see more of him.

It was good to see Ashlynn and Ty in this book and I would have liked to meet some of the other characters, too. I did think this book didn’t have quite the level of danger in it I was expecting… but I still enjoyed reading it and the romance between Artemis and Evan was really quite sweet.

In the future, I would really like to read the other books in this series and meet more of the characters, as well as see how Ashylnn and Ty’s relationship formed. And I would like to see more of Artemis and Evan, too. This worked really well as an introduction to this series (at least for me) and I would definitely love to see what else the author has done in this world and with these characters.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read (and quite enjoyed) book one in this trilogy, I was quite happy when I also won book two and could find out what happened next to the characters.

I do really like the styles of the front covers. This one was quite a pretty one, but book one did have a nice cover, too.

For the most part, I did find this book easy to read, apart from the fact that it kept slipping between first and third person POV. That shifting always makes books hard to read and I would have much preferred the author to use limited third person.

Despite the fact that it’s been quite a while since I read book one, I didn’t have too much confusion when I was reading this book. I found it interesting to see how the different characters each handled the situation they found themselves in. I had some very mixed feelings about Moira. In many ways, despite glimpsing her in the past, I felt sorry for her. I wasn’t too keen on past-Gwen, I have to say. I could understand why she acted the way she did, but compared to present-Gwen, she seemed to care more about her own happiness.

I liked the fact that the characters came across as quite different people, even though there were some similarities with their present-day counterparts. I was a bit disappointed not to see Kian and Seth’s interactions, though. Since I like brother relationships, it would have been nice to get something of a glimpse of how they now viewed each other.

Seeing some of the interactions their past selves had were pretty cool, especially given Gwen’s relationship with Kian as a child. It was good to learn more about Kian’s past and how he came to be working with the villains of the piece.

I liked seeing how Seth took to his role as King, both in his interactions with the magicians and with Moira. I also liked seeing Michael, though I would have liked to see more of him in the past and his relationship with the others.

I definitely hope to read book three when it comes out. I’m eager to see how the author will end this trilogy and what will happen with the characters. Plus, this book kind of ended on a cliffhanger.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’d like to say, first of all, that I absolutely love the front cover of this book. It’s really pretty and definitely caught my eye when I first looked at this book on the giveaway list.

I did feel like a lot of this book came across as almost dreamy and mysterious. The edges around the reality were blurred, so it didn’t feel quite real. I didn’t find Helen a very likable character, unfortunately, and although she did grow up somewhat by the end of part two, I found her quite lacking in compassion, something I think should have been an integral part of her faith.

It was interesting to see how the other characters viewed the people they kept as slaves. That was probably the biggest problem I had with Helen and her father. Even though it was valid for that time, I felt the characters would have been more likable if there’d been empathy towards their fellow humans.

I liked the first part of the book, with Tabitha and her father. I would have liked to hear the stories of Tabitha’s mother along with her and then see how Helen was different or similar to John’s memories. I could relate to John’s desperation to try anything when Tabitha falls ill.

I felt that the author did a good job of showing the time period, even if I did feel like I was viewing the events through a blurred reflection. Some parts of the writing were quite moving, but others, I found myself confused about what the author was trying to impart.

I found Moll a difficult character to relate to. I suspect that, if it had only been Davy in the picture, she would have come across as much better, rather than a mother who was ambivalent and almost hostile towards her other children.

The ending of the book was poignant and sad and I can’t really say that I enjoyed this. There was a lot of sadness in the book and some pretty bad things that happened. I did find myself smiling at Davy’s letters he sent back to his mother, though.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did find the front cover and the blurb of this book to be really intriguing. Although I didn’t quite understand how the two different worlds fit together (or where and when the human part was set), I found this book really easy to read. Ideally, I’d give this book 3.5 stars.

I did think that the romance Amaya formed originally wasn’t shown as much as it could have been. There was too much jumping around in time and I suddenly found myself confused when there was suddenly a month (or six) that had gone by without any alluding to the time frame other than the other characters talking about it.

I liked Rin better as a character. He was interesting and it was good to see him interact with the other characters and especially Sean. I was a bit hesitant about Riza – I didn’t really see her outside of when she showed up to spend time with Amaya or Rin and she didn’t seem to have much of a life outside of them.

I felt that the first half of this book seemed more real than the second half. It was interesting to see how the society worked and the different powers and abilities the characters had.

I did really like Kostya as a character and I would have liked to see more of him through the book. Yukio had a lot of potential to be a interesting character, but I felt that his motivations weren’t explored in the way they could have been. And the love triangle, while expected, made me roll my eyes.

I would have liked to see more of the history of Amaya’s people and the Disciples themselves. It would have been good to see more of the other characters and their skills, too, since I was unclear exactly who had particular abilities and who didn’t.

Amaya was, in my opinion, one of the really good characters in this book, mainly because it was her head I was in so much. I’m not sure if I’d read a sequel to this book or not. It was an intriguing idea and although I found it quick and easy to read, I would have liked to see more of the world and the character motivations.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did think this book was really easy to read and really well-written. Although I’m an adult, I was still able to enjoy this book.

Mirabella was a character I found easy to empathise with. Although I had some confusion with her family situation at first, I felt that the author did a good job of showing what Mirabella had gone through with what had happened with her parents.

I also thought that Mirabella’s desire to fit in at the school came across really well, even if it did cause her to make the wrong choices at times. The supernatural elements in this book came across really well and I enjoyed her interactions with the ghost.

I would have liked to see a bit more of the other students in Mirabella’s school. Erin and Stacey were the only ones who were really expanded upon. It was nice to see Mirabella interact with her teachers, though.

I did like Mirabella’s relationship with her mother and the whole experiments thing made me smile, because it seems so much like what a child her age would do. I could understand the issues there were between her and her mother, but I did think that her mother wasn’t as understanding as she could have been.

It was good to see Mirabella as a character who acted on her own initiative and make mistakes. They made her come across as a well-rounded, interesting character.

I think it would be good to read other books involving Mirabella in the future. I intend to pass this book on to my niece, because I think it might be a book she’ll enjoy reading. It was well-written and had some really sweet, emotional scenes in it.