Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

First of all, I’d like to say that I absolutely loved the front cover. When I saw it for the first time, I was immediately drawn in… and the blurb of the book just made me want to read it even more.

I did really like Ash as a character. I was pulled into the book fairly quickly and she was a character I could really relate to. I was also drawn into the future timeline really easily. The group of people that Ash meets and interacts with were really interesting and it was also quite cool to see them in the different future timelines.

I liked Coop as well, but I was less than thrilled with Tate’s sudden interest in Ash, since there was no hint of that until much later in the book. Unless it was something caused by Ash… but it didn’t come across as that.

The linking in to the legends is quite intriguing, but I was still left with a lot of questions by the end of the book. I would have liked some more of the answers to my questions, since there were a couple of things that didn’t make a lot of sense.

I did like how the future-people differed slightly in each subsequent timeline. I did figure out one of the things fairly quickly, but it was nice to see that guess confirmed. There was one character who didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities, though.

I found Skylar an interesting character and it would have been nice to see more of her, especially since she seemed to be quite a contradiction. When it came to the school scenes, however, I didn’t get much of a sense of there being a lot of students. A lot of the characters were well-defined… but outside of the main characters, the students were just grouped together as exactly that.

It would have been nice to see some of the present-day versions of the future characters, especially Coop… though I imagine that would have been quite strange to see.

This is apparently the first book in a series and although it has a resolution, there are still many questions I’d like to have answered and things I’d like to see more of. I would definitely read a sequel to this book.

Get a copy: Fifteen

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read three of the previous books by this author set in this world, I was really happy to read the fourth one when she approached me. Once I started reading it, I got pulled so completely into the world, I wound up staying up way later than I really should have.

It was really good to see Alina in this book. I was left with some confusion about how there was a fourth Solsti, given the knowledge of the fourth sister, but I was glad to see that the author had an explanation for what happened that made sense.

I found myself really connecting emotionally to Alina as a character. I was able to emphasise with her, especially when she was meeting her sisters for the first time. And it was also really good to see glimpses of the other characters I knew from the previous books.

One of my favourite parts of this book was the relationship between Alina and Sebastian. I really like relationships between chosen family and this was portrayed really well, I felt. The chemistry between Caine and Alina was real and I found myself really rooting for them as a couple.

I liked seeing more of what the four sisters could do, both working together and on their own. The undead soldiers were creepy, but by the end of the book, I felt more sorry for them than anything else.

It was good to see Rosa again, although I’m still not sure exactly what her goal was through the course of the book. Still, it was nice to see that she wasn’t ignored when she needed help and it was good to see Brooke and Nicole in particular so comfortable in their element.

It was good to see that the series isn’t just about the paranormal romance and does also focus on the bonds between the characters. They felt like living, breathing people to me.

I liked the ending of the book, but there are still storylines and characters I would like to see more of. I would definitely want to read stories centred around some of the more minor characters.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

After a bit of a halting start with this book when I first picked it up, I picked it up again some minutes later and found myself really drawn in. Having intended to read, at the most, 10% before going to bed, I was very surprised to find I’d reached 42% without conscious thought.

I felt that this was quite a unique twist on some of the more usual genres. It was good to see a strong main character who was likable and had issues of her own. There were some really good scenes and I really liked how determined Mira was to save Anthony, even with it being a lot more difficult at times.

I liked that the author showed the effect that the previous missing persons’ case had on Mira and it was also good to see that her home life wasn’t perfect. There were some very sweet moments where she talked with her daughter on the phone.

I found it really intriguing how Mira attached scents or tastes to what she sensed from people. I would have liked a bit more detail about how that exactly worked, but I thought it was a really unique idea and I very quickly figured out what each sensation meant as I picked up on the insights from the main character.

The whole concept of the Exhibition was a really cool one and I especially liked the whole concept of the paintings and their subjects being inside Anthony’s mind. Even though things turned out differently to the first assumption, it was interesting to see the role Mira took on when she entered the mindscape. I did like Tunny especially and I would have liked to see a bit more of him and Modesto. The witch was pretty scary, but I felt like I could understand her more by the end.

The mystery throughout this book was really engaging and I liked how it was linked in to what was happening with Anthony. I also liked how he didn’t fit neatly into a box for the doctors – I think people too often try to attach labels to people to define them.

There was quite a bit about the book that surprised me and kept me engaged in reading. I liked the hints of romance and I would really love to read more about Mira at some point in the future. It would also be good to see more of the other characters, too – I especially think there’s a lot more of Anthony’s story to be told, but it would be good to see more of Rachel and Jason, too.

Get a copy: The Mussorgsky Riddle

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I felt this book was quite an interesting, unique idea. The thought of waking up one day to find that your life is different to what you originally experienced, even in a small way, is an incredibly scary one. It happening repeatedly is a terrifying idea.

A lot of this book came across as almost an autobiography. The relationships that Nigel formed (or attempted to form) didn’t tend to come across as all that real, because a lot of his life before he began to time travel seemed to be glossed over… at least a lot of the relationships.

Penelope’s character was a really interesting one, though I did figure out her connection to Nigel fairly early on. I liked how a lot of their meetings weren’t really linear – they weren’t always at the same age and there were times when the differences in their ages seemed vastly different. There were certain clues that I picked up on later that I was surprised Nigel didn’t… although I suppose that did fit with his character, since he seemed a bit clueless about certain things.

I did like Helen for a lot of the book and it was nice to see her almost-permanent optimism throughout. The only time I didn’t like her so much was towards the end. As much as I could understand what she was saying, I felt it was unnecessary.

I wasn’t really left with the thought that much changed in the book. The different Nigels were a confusing aspect and in a way, I would have thought it interesting to see different ‘clones’ of certain other characters. I couldn’t really see much in the way of similarities between the different Nigels, though.

The differences in the various time streams came across quite well and it was interesting to see the kind of advances humanity had made in the different times Nigel was in. I couldn’t really relate to the villain throughout a lot of this book. I could have to begin with… but then I found it impossible.

The author did a very good job of keeping the confusion level down and I felt that the events fit together really well. Although I was disappointed in the ending, I did think this was a really entertaining read and I would definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Get a copy: Unhappenings