Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

The blurb of this book sounded particularly intriguing. How scary would it be to watch someone harmed live and be unable to do anything about it?

Although that does play a big part in the book, it wasn’t the only storyline. By the end, I’m still not sure how the two storylines fit together, if at all, but the characters were connected to each other.

I found the main characters to be well-written and well-rounded, though I did get a bit confused with other characters at times. Plus, a lot of the other males came across as really sexist – which made it harder to relate to any of them.

I found the book particularly easy to read. The different viewpoints did work to a certain extent, particularly when it came to Mia. I found it really easy to relate to what she was going through, even though I was only shown short snippets of it. I could experience her pain and I dreaded the announcements of when her torture (and, yes, it is torture) would take place.

Although this book was the second in a trilogy, I still found it really easy to understand what was going on. I found the book to be really well-written, with only a few errors. The characters weren’t perfect, but for the most part, they came across as real people.

I would be interested in reading the other books in this trilogy in the future. It would be good to see more of the main characters.

(I received this book for free from She Writes Press, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

This is another book that I can’t quite give four stars to. There were things about it that were good, but also some things I felt could be improved on.

The blurb of this book really appealed to me, as did the front cover. I did like Cara as a character, at least at first, but I felt that parts of this book were rather disjointed. For a lot of the time, I was left chafing at the bit because I didn’t have the answers to the many questions that just kept rising.

I did like Simon, but I felt that things moved far too fast between him and Cara. I guess the end of the book explained why, but it still felt like insta!love.

I much preferred the relationship that was beginning to form between Michael and Sienna, even if it did fall into one of the biggest cliches in romance. It didn’t feel as rushed in the same way as Simon’s and Cara’s relationship.

I liked Chloe, but the whole thing with what she was was somewhat confusing. I had more questions about that, too.

I didn’t feel the action really picked up until about halfway through the book. When it did, I found it much easier to read.

I would be curious to read the next book, just to see where the characters will end up, but I would have liked to see more development of the relationships.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

To be completely honest, this book was one of those I entered ‘just because’. The cover and blurb looked interesting, but I’m not sure I would have zeroed in on it to buy if it was on a bookshelf in front of me.

I did, however, particularly like this book. I found it really quick and easy to read and I was a bit surprised at how dark it was for a book which is meant to be for readers younger than me.

The first scene in the book did succeed in pulling me in really quickly. I was immediately interested in the characters and storyline and I wanted to carry on reading to find out what was going to happen to them all.

Time travel isn’t a unique concept and probably hasn’t been for a very long time. This particular take on time travel was a fairly unique one, though. It did set the tone for this book to be an especially darker one.

It’s interesting to read books where characters have seen their future selves/the future selves of people they know. I didn’t actually see Future-Davey in this book, but as the other characters reflected on what he was like in the future, I found myself growing concerned along with them.

I liked the characters, but I would have liked to know more about their histories. Hilda was an interesting character, but she did kind of keep changing personality. I felt sorry for her when they went back in time, though. One scene in particular has stuck with me and really bothered me.

There are a couple of things that have confused me about the time travel, though. I kind of think there was at least one thing that could have been changed – or at least an attempt made to change it.

The book was particularly well-written and it was really nice to see proper grammar being used. I’m especially thinking of: ‘Blah blah blah? he wondered’ as opposed to, ‘Blah blah blah he wondered?’. I see the latter a lot, but it isn’t grammatically correct.

I do want to read the first book and I’d like to read any more in this series in the future. I had to strongly resist the urge to buy Sorrowline – at least until I’ve read some more of the massive pile of books I have.

(I received a free copy of this book from Hillcrest Media Group, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

It’s very difficult to find a truly unique take on the story of King Arthur. There are probably hundreds of different versions. I tend to just read the stories I enjoy in the collections and skip over the heartbreaking ones.

I felt that this book was more unique than others. Guenevere and Lancelot are often portrayed as villains, responsible for the fall of Arthur and his knights, so it was nice to see a story that didn’t portray them that way.

The POVs in this book were mainly Guenevere and Lancelot, which was a good way of showing how their relationship developed, but I felt that some of the other characters weren’t as well-defined – not even Arthur. I found it difficult to like him very much.

Gawain has always been my favourite of King Arthur’s knights. I particularly liked the way he was portrayed in this book, though I would have liked to see more of his friendship with Lancelot and his relationship with his brothers.

Galahad was an…interesting character. I was a bit disappointed that there was no reconciliation at the end. As the knight who’s often seen as the most ‘pure’ or ‘good’ in the legends, I found it interesting that he came across as so judgmental, almost cruel, in this.

I did like the way Guenevere’s and Lancelot’s relationship came across, but it was certainly a very destructive and selfish love, which is the complete opposite of what love is supposed to be.

I felt it worked especially well that the author spent very little time on the knights’ quests and the final battle. I felt that it made room to see how the relationship between the two characters developed.

I would be interested in reading more books by this author in the future, but I am glad that this book had a proper ending and followed much of the original legends, while making certain characters more human and likable. I would recommend this for anyone who has an interest in the stories of King Arthur.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Over the years, I’ve read a range of books with vampires in. Some of them have been really good to read, while others have put me off completely. (Interestingly enough, L.J. Smith’s Night World books fall into the first category, while the Vampire Diaries ended up in the second category).

This book also fell into the first category. When I began reading it, I was surprised at just how easily I was pulled into the book. The blurb did promise that this wasn’t a vampire lite book and I was pleased to see it didn’t lie.

This was one of the only books that I felt the love triangle actually worked, made sense and didn’t make me roll my eyes.

I felt the author did a really good job of showing Holly’s struggle against her nature and how things developed between her and Jarvis. I could really connect with both of the main characters in this book.

There were some moments that were creepy and others that were downright heartbreaking. More of the vampire characteristics were kept in this book and it was nice to see the vampires had some of the same weaknesses. I also noticed that this book actually had blood drunk by the vampires work in a realistic way – causing blood pumping through the vampire’s veins and actually warming up. Unlike the myriad of vampires who are somehow able to have sex, despite being pale and cold.

It was also good to see that there was a reason – and one that actually made sense – for why Holly came across as different to other vampires.

Towards the end of the book, I was really eager to find out what was going to happen. By the end of the book, I could believe in the relationship between the two characters.

All told, this was a really well-written, darker paranormal moments with some very sweet moments that were a nice change to the tension. I would be interested in reading more books set in this world in the future and would be interested in checking out other books by this author.

(I received a free copy of this book from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I found it really easy to get into this book. I don’t always like books where there are multiple viewpoints, but it did actually work very well here and at least it was in third person, rather than first.

The characters were likable and it was nice how they didn’t come across as the stereotypical teenagers. I found each of them really easy to relate to – there was actually something of myself in each of the three main characters.

The mystery in the storyline was good, but I felt that it was given away a bit too early on. I would have preferred to have it as more of a surprise, rather than an obvious indication, even if it was only a couple of chapters earlier.

It was really good that the characters each had different home lives, though I felt a lot more story time was given to Alexis’ and Ruby’s. I didn’t see much of Nick’s life with his family. He was a well-developed character as well, but it would have been nice to see his interactions with his mother and brother.

I felt that there was a good amount of red herrings in this book. It was good that the answer wasn’t immediately obvious.

The writing, on the whole, was particularly good, with very few mistakes. It looks like this book is the first in a series and I hope that there will be more books with these characters. Although the storyline was wrapped up in a satisfactory way here, there’s much more that could be explored with the characters.