Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve read – and seen – quite a lot of things that have to do with time travel. It’s not a unique idea, but it’s always entertaining to read – especially when it’s handled well, which I felt was the case here.

I was a bit unclear about how the timing worked with the year Miles went back to. There didn’t seem to be a clear time frame for the two periods of time travel that had occurred.

Although I felt the whole thing with the culture shock and Miles having to deal with needing to work made sense, I wasn’t entirely sure what the whole reason was. I think I would have liked there to be a bit more of an explanation. The book started in a good place, but I would have liked to see more of the background.

I did like the characters in the book and there were some surprises. I think there was a lot that made sense and I felt there was clearly a lot of research that had gone into this book. I really did like the evolution of Miles’ character and I felt that he’d grown up a lot by the end of the book.

It was nice to see all of the loose ends tied up, though it would be nice to see a sequel to this book. Or even a prequel. (Which may exist already – I don’t know). I’d definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was a fairly unique idea for a book, I felt. I struggled a bit to get into the book at the start, but as the story progressed, I found it easier to understand than I’d expected.

At times, I did find it a bit difficult to picture the exact setting of the world the characters inhabited. It was completely alien to this world and I kept picturing a giant corpse lying down, which was kind of a strange mental image.

The Philosophers were kind of interesting beings which I had very little trouble picturing in my mind. I found Pell to be quite a strange character who I felt sorry for at times, but at turns really disturbed me.

There was an awful lot going on in this book, I felt. Sometimes, the characters’ actions made my head spin, particularly one specific character. I was never quite sure what to make of him.

I liked Max and Abby and how their relationship came across. I was kind of rooting for them through most of the book, even though I liked how Max formed a relationship with one of the Philosophers.

This book was quite a bit darker than I was expecting. It was really well-written, but very disturbing in parts. It did manage to surprise me in some places and even if I had trouble picturing the surroundings in my head, I could see a lot of the events involving the characters happening in my mind.

Although this book was the second in a series, I didn’t find it hard to understand what was going on. It was an entertaining read and I think I’d be interested in reading the other books in this series – at some point in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I think I’d give this book 4.5 stars ideally, but since I can’t give half stars, I’ll again leave this at 4.

Although this book sounded quite intriguing, when I received it, I was kind of expecting a love at first sight, eye-rolling insta!romance thing. I was actually pleasantly surprised, though. The reason behind Porter and Sarah travelling together actually makes sense and I really like how their relationship progresses over the course of the book.

There’s a lot of contrast, which I’m not going to go into detail here about, but which makes a lot of sense. I feel that the strongest part of this book is the relationship between Porter and Sarah.

The idea about the Mythics is a pretty good one and I really like how Sarah was a Sphinx, rather than a more common mythical animal. There were some really minor things that I felt revealed her true nature – such as her curling up and walking on all fours. The details are always important, after all.

I liked the use of the different races in the book, too. I think I would like to see more of the others in the later books.

It was also interesting to find out the history of the Slayers. Everything has to start somewhere, but I was a bit surprised to see how much the organisation had changed from its original purpose.

I did like some of the other characters in the book as well, especially Tick. I also really liked how he and Porter became almost like brothers.

There were some errors in the book, but they didn’t detract from how much I enjoyed it. I will definitely read the next book in the series at some point and I imagine I would enjoy reading this book again. This has engaging characters and a good, intriguing storyline. I definitely recommend it.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Being a Christian, this particular genre of books is one that I really like. (Though there are very few genres I don’t like…) I found it really easy to read and it was interesting and engaging enough to hold my interest.

One of the things I especially liked about the title was that it could refer to quite a lot of different things and not necessarily what was named originally. I felt that the author did a really good job of portraying the harshness of life in those times… but also how important the family was to each other.

Although I tend to not like multiple first person POVs, I did find this one easier to read. I was pulled into the two separate storylines and I found myself grieving along with the characters when bad things happened. There was one thing in particular that was devastating, even though I could understand why it was done – it was an awful thing to read about; but then again, battles are awful things.

The angle with the cup was pretty interesting and I was quite intrigued by how things were handled with it.

I really especially liked how prayer worked in the book. I felt it worked how prayers were answered – both directly and indirectly. I do think Ethan was stubborn and I got a bit annoyed with him at times. Aaron was probably my favourite character. The contrast between the soldier and the man of faith came across really well and he would be a character whose story I’d like to read more of.

There was one dream in particular that a character had that was especially hard-hitting. I felt like I was transported into that point and I felt really affected by the descriptions.

The book was really well-written, though I did notice some minor errors in the writing. They weren’t enough to make me stop reading for more than a moment, though, and although I’m not sure I could say this was an enjoyable read, it was one that’s affected me and will probably stay with me for quite a while.

There are reading group questions at the end which I think would make a really good theme for bible study. I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.

(I received a free copy of this book from Curiosity Quills Press in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did like this book quite a bit more than the first one. With the characters and relationships already established, I found it much easier to care about things like the romance between Paige and Johnathan.

I was quite impressed with how well Paige’s blindness came across. I think that writing a character who’s missing a sense (especially in first person) is quite difficult and I didn’t notice any occasions where the author slipped up and wrote something Paige shouldn’t have been able to know.

I was quite intrigued about what was revealed in regards to Alec. I’m a bit wary of him, though – I felt he was abusing his powers a bit throughout the book. Although I liked some of the things with him, that did make him somewhat less sympathetic.

I liked the different types of creatures that there were and there were some parts of the book that made me smile. The banter between the characters came across really well and I particularly liked the Imp.

I think Halli was probably my favourite character in this book. I did like Paige a bit more, but I also felt that she was beginning to approach the line of ridiculously over-powered. It was fine when they each had their own talent… and then Paige suddenly has a second one.

It was interesting to learn about the first Five and I would have liked a bit more background. I think it would be quite interesting to read a prequel to these, with some of the previous Five’s stories.

This book ended on something of a cliffhanger and I’d really like to read the next book in the series. When it comes out, I’ll definitely look at getting it.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This was a romance that I found really sweet and easy to read. Although it was crude in some places, I did really like it.

I found it easy to care about the characters involved in this book. I thought that both Rachel and Jared were interesting characters, both with their own strengths and weaknesses. I felt that the author did a really good job of showcasing the way their relationship evolved and changed over the course of the book.

I felt that the author did a really good job of portraying Rachel’s difficulties with being in a wheelchair, but also how strong she was as a character. I really liked her bantering with Jared.

I thought it was really sweet how determined Jared was to ‘woo’ Rachel. I really liked the way he sent her flowers and did really sweet things for her.

I liked the other characters in the book as well. I think there were things I would have liked to see more of, though, like certain things being resolved.

This book did succeed in making me want to read the other books in this series. It was really well-written and I could picture a lot of the events happening in my mind. There was an awful lot of swearing in the book, but apart from that, I found it really nice and easy to read.