Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I felt this book did quite a good job of pulling me into the storyline more or less straight away. I liked the relationship between the characters and there were a couple of nice flashback scenes that didn’t tear me completely out of the story.

Zombies in themselves aren’t a unique concept, but I felt that their origin was quite a unique one. The use of psychic abilities involved with the zombies was quite an interesting concept, too.

I was a bit disappointed that there didn’t seem to be any of the main characters’ parallel selves in the different worlds. The only person they recognised from their world was someone I hadn’t actually met properly in the first place.

It was good to see that the characters did get hurt. I found myself caring about what happened to them and reading avidly to see what would happen next.

Billy was probably one of my favourite characters. Some of the comments he came out with really made me smile, even at some of the darker times during the book. The author did a good job of describing the zombies. I found myself cringing every time they appeared.

The other characters were fairly interesting as well, but I think the switching between POVs took away a lot of the twists/mystery that could have been involved.

I would definitely be interested in reading the next book/s in this series in the future. This was a fairly unique twist on the zombie genre with characters I liked and cared about.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This book was quite an easy read, even though it was the third book in the series. I could understand the plot and the characters really well, with very little confusion.

I felt the author did a really good job of showing how different Solomon’s and Renee’s world was to the one normal humans inhabited. Although their lifestyle isn’t one that would naturally appeal to me, I could understand why the other characters found it so appealing.

The politics involved with the mating added a whole new dimension to the storyline, in my opinion. It was interesting to see how the mates had to deal with the challenges from those who wouldn’t accept the mating bond.

It was interesting how the vampire virus worked. I really have gone off most vampire romance fiction, but I felt that this was a fairly unique twist. It was also really cool that the main characters were foxes. I don’t think I’ve seen too many books with fox shifters as one or both of the main characters… though I wouldn’t have thought possessiveness was a trait foxes have.

I found the other characters fairly interesting as well, though Rachel really annoyed me through the book. I would be interested to see how her storyline is resolved, though.

I still didn’t like the dual first person POV, but the voices of the characters were different enough that it wasn’t completely irritating.

The mating marks idea was quite interesting as well. I felt that the author did a good job of allowing the relationship to develop easily and naturally. It was nice to see that Solomon wasn’t prepared to force Renee into something she wasn’t ready for.

I found this book to be really well-written with good world-building. There were some errors in the writing, but not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the book. I would definitely be interested in reading the other books in this series at some point in the future.

(I received a free copy of this book from 47North Publishers, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the first book in this series, I was reasonably certain I’d like the second one… and I was right.

I continued to like Ellie in this book, though I was concerned for a while that she would be portrayed as ridiculously overpowered. It was nice to see that she couldn’t do everything perfectly first time, though.

I preferred the romance in this book and I also continued to like Claire. I wasn’t so sure about Tom, though. I felt he kept wasting his time with Ellie and that it looked like the beginnings of an obsession. I don’t like love triangles, but I hate multiple guys falling in love with the main female character even more.

The first person perspective worked really well with this book. The author stuck more or less with one viewpoint and I could really relate to and empathise with Ellie in this book.

I did like Myra’s budding relationship with Steve in this book. I would have liked to see more of the supporting characters from book one. Although David was interesting, I felt that Claire’s role had been delegated.

On the whole, the writing in this book was really descriptive and easy to read. I would certainly want to read book three at some point in the near future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did find it a little difficult to get into this book at first. I felt that there was a lot of information imparted through dialogue that created blocks of text that I often find quite difficult to read.

Once I got past the lessons stage, I found it easier to get into the book. I was able to understand the motivations of most of the characters, though I did struggle somewhat to understand their motivations at times. Still, many of the characters did come across as really strong and although I’m not sure I really liked many of the characters, they were quite intriguing.

There were a lot of politics in this book. At times, I did feel those politics overwhelmed the science fiction aspects, but I still found them to make the book more interesting to read.

One of the main problems I did see with the book was very little of the characters’ pasts. Although I knew a lot about them from what they did and said in the present, it would have been nice to know a bit more about their motivations. I knew what they were trying to do… I just wasn’t really sure why they were trying to do it.

I think the technology in the book came across really well in the action scenes, but the long explanations by the teachers were really difficult to read. I feel it would have been better to show the technology in action towards the beginning. Although there were scenes later on like that, I think there should have been more and that quite a bit of the explanation-dialogue could have been cut.

The book, on the whole, was mostly well-written, though I did notice some errors as I rad the book. A lot of the action was written really well – I do just feel that there could have been less telling through characters’ dialogue and more showing.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

There was quite a lot about this book that I found easy to relate to. In some ways, this book made me remember the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. Although I’m an adult now, I still found this book to be an entertaining, easy read.

I liked Dana, Jack and Amy – well, to a certain extent. I wavered a lot with Amy, particularly when she was trying to pick a fight with Dana. Dana was the character I liked the best, though Jack was okay. Still, it was nice to see them having to pull together despite their differences.

The danger and tension in this book did come across as quite realistic. I felt that the book was well-written and the characters were fairly likable, at least eventually. It was really good that the book was as much about the characters as the mystery they were trying to solve.

I’m going to pass this book on to my niece to read and if there’s a sequel to this book, I’ll probably check it out at some point in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I felt that there was a lot going on in this book – in a good way, rather than a bad one. I appreciated the fact that the author showed a bit of the character who passes away first – it’s always good to know who people are talking about when a tragedy happens, rather than just having a name and gender.

Alexis and Ryder were interesting characters (though the author did employ the ‘dual-first-person perspective’ style that I have a strong dislike for). They had true chemistry and although the language was a bit crude at times (I have never yet found a word for a man’s male part that doesn’t make me giggle or cringe), I found the descriptions to work really well.

Although a lot of the book was devoted to the romance (and sex scenes), I did think there was enough of a plot to keep my interest throughout. I did lose a bit of my sympathy for Ryder’s Mom as the book went on, I have to say. And Leah came across as a thoroughly unlikable character.

I did like Shelby and Ty’s relationship. I would have liked to see a bit more of that and see more of them generally.

Despite my dislike of dual first-person perspectives, it was interesting to see the fights from both of the main characters’ points of view. As I got towards the end of the book, the tension ratcheted up instead of decreasing and subsequently, I wound up reading faster because I wanted to see what would happen next.

I’d definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future. This might be a graphic romance, but it’s a well-written one with two main characters I was able to care about.