Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Ideally, I’d give this book 3.5 stars, but since I can’t give half stars…

I’ve watched a lot of murder mysteries, but the only show revolving around court cases I could really get into was Shark. Therefore, my experience with what goes on in court is very limited – I don’t like to know who the murderer is from the start. (It’s why I could never get into Columbo).

This isn’t as much about the court itself, which I think was what managed to keep my attention throughout. That and the fact that the characters were realistic and human, even if I did think they made some silly mistakes at times.

I admit I don’t know much about what goes on in court, but one thing that particularly struck me was how adamant even the defence were that they had the right guy – based on what I would personally think was circumstantial evidence.

I do think that the politics of the court came across really well. I have no idea if the attitudes really are as sexist and racist as they come across in this book, but it’s true that not everyone has moved past certain ideas.

The intricacies of the court room came across really well in this book and the scenes from Alex’s perspective helped ensure I didn’t become bored with all of the case work being thrown around. I did think that Cassie was a bit free with the information she was giving out to everyone – I was under the impression that a case’s proceedings are confidential, or at least not things that should be talked about to the general public. I could be wrong, but it did strike me as being a bit inaccurate.

There’s clearly been a lot of thought that’s gone into this book. The writing in terms of the descriptions is good, but I did notice a lot of errors – including random capital letters and more than one person speaking in the same paragraph.

I’d be interested in reading more books by this author, if only for the simple fact I should have gone to bed ages ago – but something in this book kept me reading to the end.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

For some reason, when I saw the cover of this book, I thought it would be more aimed at a young adult audience. The blurb sounded interesting, though, and when I was approved by it, I was quite happy.

Somehow, when I was reading the book, it took me a while to stop thinking about Harry Dresden. Although the storylines are different, the wizard characters are surprisingly similar. Still, I liked Nathan – or whatever name he goes by.

I love things that are steeped in mythology, so this was pretty much like a big bar of chocolate to me. (I like chocolate a whole lot, hence why that analogy makes sense to me). Galahad isn’t someone I see much outside of purely King Arthur-centred stories, so it was pretty unique to have him involved. I also liked seeing a Hades who wasn’t a villain.

Speaking of the villains… they were really nasty sorts. Definitely completely villainous. I know the good guys are the good guys and all, but I’m not the sort of person who wants the hero to pull the villain up from the cliff, or spare his/her life – so I guess I’m like Nate in that respect.

Although this book was the second in a series, it was definitely easy to read as a standalone. What I didn’t understand at first made more sense as I continued reading.

The different types of trolls was pretty interesting. Trolls are often portrayed as the bad guys in fiction, so it was nice to see some that weren’t. Also, werelions aren’t nearly as over-used as werewolves are, so it was nice to see something a bit different there.

I particularly liked Nathan and Galahad’s relationship and some of their comments to each other made me smile. It was also good to see references made of real historical figures – that was pretty interesting.

The writing in this was particularly good, though I did notice a few errors. Nothing major, but still…

I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I like books that have reincarnation in them. I don’t believe in it personally, but I do find it fascinating to read and write about.

This book, I felt, was one of those that dealt with the issues of reincarnation in a more realistic way. I’ve read far too many books where the characters have the same name as their previous incarnations with no explanation for it. This, at least, made sense.

The problem I’ve found with reincarnated lovers is the fact that there’s no evolving of their relationship shown. I did find that here a bit, so I was glad that the main focus wasn’t on Lucia and Leo. I actually felt that Ripley and William’s relationship made more sense. Although clearly drawn together, there were still some major problems.

I liked the whole angle with Oliver. I really felt for him, even though I’m not sure I understood the entire story.

It was interesting that I could actually feel sympathy towards two of the bad guys. In a way, I do think Lucia is selfish – but in a way that does make sense. And it doesn’t really make me like her any less.

On the whole, the writing is quite good, though I did notice several errors – there were a few sentences that didn’t make sense and the wrong character name was used several times.

This book has left me with a lot of unanswered questions. I hope there are more books to come, because I really want to see what will happen with the characters.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This is a book that, if I’m honest, is a bit difficult for me to review. I feel there’s quite a lot of room for improvement.

The front cover is really well-designed and really drew me to this book, along with the blurb itself. However, the conflict that the summary hinted at was virtually non-existent.

I really struggled to relate to the characters in this. Part of the reason for that is the amount of POV changes. When I only spend about a page n a character’s head at a time, I struggle to connect to them.

The other problem I had was that I didn’t like the characters. They came across as the bad guys, what with killing innocent people (with no remorse) and ignoring the fact that one of their number was stuck in a coma.

Vampire babies. I’ve never seen a half-vampire or full-vampire baby subject to the limitations of their species. Zara just screams, ‘Mary Sue!’ at me.

The characters seemed to be invincible. I understand this is the second book in the series, but interesting characters are the ones who work for what they get. Who make mistakes and bleed for them. There was no mortal danger in this book – and there was a heck of a lot of cannon fodder.

The descriptions in the book were good, but there was little to no emotion involved. There was also quite a lot of errors in the writing – particularly a scream erupting from a person’s bowels. I understand what the author was trying to say, but in a serious scene, that phrase isn’t one that works.

I really think this book could be improved by toning down the characters. That is the biggest problem that stands out to me. If this book was edited more, I would have liked it a lot better. As it stands now, I can’t give it more than two stars.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

As I recall, I entered to win this book twice, though it could well have been more times. I’m definitely glad I won it this time, though.

I’ve always liked fantasy worlds. And, of course, in dreams, anything is possible. Sometimes, dreams make sense – and other times, you wake up wondering what was in your subconscious before.

I felt that this book was very cleverly written. The weaving of the two worlds and storylines worked really well and I found it really intriguing how things showed up in the fantasy world as mirrors of people and objects in the world where Freddie was in hospital.

I found it really easy to relate with the main character in this book. I thought the author did a really good job of showing how difficult things were for Freddie. I did think that passages of time were skipped over a bit too much, but I thought that the ‘two steps forward, one step back’ progress of recovery came across really well.

The air of mystery surrounding Freddie’s past came across really well and wanting to learn more about his history was one of the things that kept me reading.

The writing was really descriptive and enabled me to bond with Freddie and experience his emotions. I felt that the true cost of war came across really well, as well as the amount of work and difficulty in trying to recover from wounds that are so completely devastating.

I would definitely be interested in reading more books by this author in the future. I’m glad I got the chance to read this and I do recommend it.