Ink of Blood

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I haven’t read the previous books in this series, but I did find this storyline to be really easy to follow. The characters were quite interesting and easy to understand, despite not having seen them in their previous incarnations.

There was some information dumping in this book and summarising of past events, which didn’t really help a lot. I would have liked to see more of Royal’s relationship with her mother and Asa’s relationship with his. Although the narration makes it clear that both of the mothers have issues, there’s very little of that shown in the book… which is a bit disappointing, since those interactions could add a lot more to the story.

I enjoyed reading about Royal’s and Asa’s relationship. It was good to see that Royal was prepared to push and get what she wanted. I would have liked to see a bit more of her time on the Force, but it was cool to see her interacting with Dom and how much he clearly cared about her. It was also good to see her get out from under the shadow of her partner and have the opportunity to show herself as a competent police officer.

It was good to learn about how Asa viewed himself and his past. While I thought some of what he came out with was quite crude, I thought he was a good hero for a romance book. The series title of Marked Mend definitely applies well to Asa.

I didn’t really like the fact that the chapters alternated between two different points of view, I did find the changes tolerable and the book was entertaining to read. It was also good to have the opportunity to see a lot of the other characters… but, again, it would have been good to see more of the interactions. For instance, I would have liked to see how Royal interacts with the other characters and why she doesn’t make friends easily.

I would be interested in reading more about the other characters in the future, so I can see how many of the couples got together. And it would be good to see more of Royal and Asa in future books.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

The plot of this book was a really intriguing one. Although it was confusing at first, by the end, everything seemed to fit together.

It was interesting how the events of the book switched between the present day and ten years previous, but it did mean there wasn’t a whole lot of mystery. It was made quite clear exactly how bad some of the characters were before the events of the past revealed that.

I had a lot of empathy for Daina in this book. She really did seem to have an awful time of it, even as a child. And some of what she went through, I could really relate to… such as having an alcoholic mother, but also being bullied and not feeling like she had any proper friends.

The visions Daina was seeing were really creepy, but the most disturbing thing, in my opinion, was the headmaster’s attitude when Daina tried to report something she’d seen. I really didn’t like him at all and I thought he should have been arrested for what had happened in the past and the way he didn’t report what was told to him.

Many of the characters in this book did seem to have quite a bit of depth to them. Hardly any of them were really good or really bad. And although a lot of the mystery wasn’t left really up to the readers to work out for themselves, there were some elements that were a bit surprising. And what was good was the way everything fit together at the end of the book.

The Grey Man was an intriguing character and I think I understood more about him by the end of the book, too.

I wasn’t very keen on the fact that the book slipped out of first person a couple of times. I didn’t think it was necessary to change the style, especially since it didn’t really add a lot that was necessary to the story.

It was good to see one of the characters not as horrible as she was made out to be. I did enjoy reading this book, even though the ending was a bit disappointing, and I would read more books by this author in the future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’ve read a lot of books by R.L. Stine, so when I had the opportunity to read one through NetGalley, I jumped at the chance.

I had a lot of sympathy for Lisa in this book. It was easy to relate to her as a character… especially after the accident. What she went through with losing her father was something I found really easy to relate to.

I did think Harry was quite a sweet boy… almost too good to be true. I had some mixed feelings about Lisa’s mother, I have to say. Even though I’m sure she was trying to do the right thing by her daughter, the fact that she refused to believe Lisa at all was really hard to read about.

There were a few moments where there was information dumped into the narration, or only just revealed before it became necessary.

I thought it was good to see Lisa having to deal with the car accident and the tragedy she was suffering. It came across as quite realistic, though I didn’t think her psychiatrist really did the right thing in keeping her off school so much.

I did find it a bit strange that Fear Street was apparently taught about in the school, which was something I would have thought Lisa would pick up on. She had been there a month, but if people thought the street was that dangerous, it would have made more sense to have it mentioned earlier on.

It was nice to see Lisa’s friendships with the other students in her school, even though Isaac was a bit confusing. The relationship between Lisa and Nat didn’t really seem to have a lot of depth to it. It would have been good to see more of Isaac and his feelings for Lisa expanded upon. I did find Saralynn to be an interesting character and one I would have liked to see a bit more of.

There was a good bit of mystery around this book, even though I did see quite a bit of the story coming. It has made me interested in reading more in this series in the future, though. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger… but I didn’t really expect any different.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

This collection of short stories was a quick, easy read. Many of the stories were indeed twisted… but I still found them entertaining and well-written.

The first story was written almost like a prologue. It offered a glimpse into an apocalyptic world, but I was left with a lot of questions by the end of the book.

Most of the other stories had endings that made more sense and left very little to the imagination, even though not all of the endings were outright stated.

As well as the horror, there was a good mix of other genres involved, such as the sci fi one where one of the characters is frozen. That’s an especially creepy one… with a lot of sad elements to it.

The story set in the nursing home was an especially scary one. I felt able to connect emotionally with the main character in that story, although I didn’t really like her all that much by the end.

The story where there was something in the walls was also particularly scary, since it plays on the everyday sounds houses can make… that seem innocuous, but when used in horror, are good ways of playing on people’s fears.

The story with the woman on the bridge was one that was very sad and struck a chord with me. And the one set in the psychiatrist’s office had a really interesting ending.

There was a good variety of different kinds of horror in this collection and although some of them could have been expanded upon a bit further, I was drawn into each of the worlds really easily.

I found this collection of short stories to be really entertaining to read. I’d recommend giving this a try if you enjoy horror stories. There are a lot of creepy moments and a few that are really disturbing, too. There were some characters whose fates I really found myself caring about, which is always a good thing when it comes to horror stories.

In the near future, I’m sure I’d be interested in reading more books by this author.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read the first book in this trilogy, I was glad to have the opportunity to read the other two.

It was good to be able to see both Lily and Silas’ adventures running separately. The crypt with the bodies of Lily’s ancestors was particularly creepy to read about. While the bodies there made sense by the end of this book, they were still really creepy… even though I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the women.

Although Jonquil didn’t seem very sympathetic in the first book, I thought he had a lot more depth to him in this book… even though I think his story should have been told more as a flashback than in italics as he explained things to Silas.

I would have liked to see more of Jonquil’s relationship with Thomas. I couldn’t help feeling a lot of sympathy for the family who were forced to guard the gardens. I felt that Lily’s strength of character came through especially well towards the end.

I don’t think Silas was as observant as he could have been, but it was good to see him connecting emotionally with Mirabella. I liked seeing more of Cassandra in this book, too, and having the opportunity to learn more about her history.

There’s a lot about the gardens and the house that’s downright disturbing. Being able to see more of the mythos of the garden was cool… and I liked being able to see a glimpse of the labyrinth. The smiling ladies are creepy… but I found my interest piqued by Villion. There were a lot of elements of mystery about him that made him an intriguing character.

There is an air of mystery through this second book, even though a couple of the twists are quite clear. It was good to see more of the mist people, even despite what was revealed when the Dusk Riders were there.

I would have liked to see more of the history of some of those trapped in the gardens. Some of the monsters have good parts to them… but a lot of them come across as pure evil, which means they’re not well-rounded like the more interesting villains.

I have the final book in the trilogy on my Kindle and I intend to read it in the near future.

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

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having read about Division 0 (and Kirsten) already, I was really happy to have the opportunity to read the latest book in the Division 0 series.

I was really pleased to be able to see the characters from previous books. It was particularly interesting to see Shani and her mother. I liked the fact that Shani and Evan were friends, even though Shani’s so much younger than Evan. And there were times I really felt deeply for Evan through this book. It can’t be easy having a mother working as a police officer… more so in that her hours could have proved detrimental to her trying to adopt him. The fact that he was so understanding came across really well; and it was good he didn’t consider himself ‘too old’ for displays of affection.

There were times when I thought Kirsten didn’t come across as the same strong character that she had been in the previous books. Although it did all make sense by the end, I still found myself getting frustrated with her at times… which probably goes to show just how emotionally invested I was in the book.

Being able to learn more about Kirsten’s past was good, even though it made me sad to know more about the awful things she experienced. What was also good was how she didn’t let those experiences turn her hard and cold. There was still the strong sense that she cared about people… even people who couldn’t understand/hated what she could do. (I found myself getting more angry than Kirsten did at some of the attitudes she had to deal with).

There was one scene in particular that seemed to jump ahead in time, which proved to be very confusing, since one chapter, I was in one place… the next, back at Kirsten’s apartment, with no detail of what went on in between.

I really liked seeing more of Dorian and it was good to see him so protective of Kirsten. I also really liked Skittles’ character. It would be good to see more of her in later books.

I’m hoping there’ll be more in this series in the near future. It would be good to see more of Kirsten and how she’s evolving as a character.