Review: Gods of Jade and Shadow

Gods of Jade and Shadow
Rating: DNF 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. 

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. 

Okay, so you guys may or may not know that I really struggle with DNF-ing books but last month I decided that enough is enough and if I'm not enjoying a book...I'm going to have to DNF it because I don't have the time to force myself to finish books that I'm not loving anymore. Especially as the other month I forced myself through quite a few reads that I ended up giving less than 3 stars. So here we are. I don't think you guys understand just how much I wanted to love this book. It's set in the Jazz Age, it's got Mexican Folklore and a Mayan God of Death...I wanted to love this book, and binge read it and just scream about it. 

Unfortunately, while intrigued, I found my attention wandering as I was reading and ultimately put the book down...and never really picked it back up. I tried, I'd pick it up...read a sentence and then end up putting it back down again. Much like I did with King of Ruin, I wanted to finish this and I tried to make myself but it just wasn't for me, it seems. 

What I did like, from the first 100 pages that I read, was the way the writing painted a vivid picture of Mexico right from the start. There's a lot of historical detail that was quite interesting and of course...we've got the mythology and the tales of the Gods which I can't get enough of. I admired the spark Cassiopeia had despite how she was treated by her family, I thought she was quite brave and refused to let them break her and that's all I really have to say, I'm afraid. 

This book is very simple in its storytelling, there wasn't as much depth as I'd have liked when it came to certain things, particularly the mythology, and sometimes the descriptions were a little sparse. Which is strange, considering the authors tendency to info dump quite easily at the beginning of the chapters when it came to each new city, which was what made it quite hard for me to pick this back up once I'd put it down. I happened to put it down when they'd just arrived in a new city and every time I picked it up and tried to carry on...I just couldn't get interested or invested because of the info dumping. I feel like there was a lot of telling when it came to this book, and not so much showing and I found it quite hard to get attached or invested in the characters which didn't help me when it came to reading this. 

While the premise was fantastic, the execution didn't quite live up to it, at least for me. This wasn't my style of book, and once I'd put it down I just couldn't get back in to it and I have to admit...I did start skimming after about 50 pages because of a lot of unnecessary writing. 

Review: Runemarks

Runemarks
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Seven o’clock on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the end of the world, and goblins had been at the cellar again. . . . Not that anyone would admit it was goblins. In Maddy Smith’s world, order rules. Chaos, old gods, fairies, goblins, magic, glamours–all of these were supposedly vanquished centuries ago. But Maddy knows that a small bit of magic has survived. The “ruinmark” she was born with on her palm proves it–and makes the other villagers fearful that she is a witch (though helpful in dealing with the goblins-in-the-cellar problem). But the mysterious traveler One-Eye sees Maddy’s mark not as a defect, but as a destiny. And Maddy will need every scrap of forbidden magic One-Eye can teach her if she is to survive that destiny.

As you guys know, I looooveeeee mythology so I had to read this! Norse Mythology is something I've been becoming more and more interested in as times gone on. Originally I loved Egyptian and Greek and that was it, but then there was Thor and then there was Magnus Chase and yeah. Obsessed. I've heard good things about this book, and also that...you know...it has loads of mythology in it! I wasn't disappointed. 

Runemarks is a very rich book. The writing is rich, the world and the mythology are rich. I really enjoyed the world of this book, it was vivid and atmospheric, and you could get completely lost in it as you where reading...much like the characters who where actually lost at one point. teehee. As for the mythology...I was loving it. We get Loki telling us all about certain things and events, which was freaking awesome, and then we get the mythology woven in in other ways...and then we get the Gods. 

I loved the Gods. I loved how they where written, I loved seeing them interact with each other and how they worked together with Loki to overcome the problems that arise for them in this book. I loved that Loki was Maddy's companion for a good portion of the book, Harris really made him multi dimensional with depth. Sure he did bad things but...I personally really loved his character in this book. He was easy to like and you understood him in this book. I loved his interactions with Mimir and the other Gods, he was hilarious! I'm intrigued by all of the Gods, and I hope to see more of them in the next book, we got to see some of them but it was more towards the end and it'd be nice to get to know all of them a lot more! Plus more Loki! 

The characters where all very interesting, and brought to life brilliantly. Maddy I empathised with and felt for her and her whole situation at 'home' if you can call it that. I really rooted for her. Unexpectedly I found myself rooting for a Goblin called Sugar...didn't see that one coming let me tell you! He made me chuckle more than once, our reluctant hero! While there where plenty of characters to love there where also ones I hated. Nat. Oh how I hated him and his buddies, I definitely cheered at the end. 

I'm not sure if I'm the only one but I really did get some Pratchett vibes more than once as I was reading, the opening in particular really gave me those vibes, actually! 

Runemarks has a steady pace, and a narrative that's kept interesting and fresh as we switch from character POV to character POV, meaning we can also keep tabs on what's happening and where! The world building is brilliant, and you end up with a vivid and atmospheric setting for every scene, plus...I still want to know and see more about the world! Harris's writing is brilliant, pulling you in and weaving a picture for you as you read...not to mention the way she has melded fantasy and mythology. I loved hearing the mythology straight from Loki but I loved seeing aspects of it woven in to the story...like meeting Jorgi for instance! And on top of all of that, Harris has populated her story with interesting and memorable characters...including the ones you don't like! 

If you love Norse Mythology then this is the book for you! It was such a brilliant read, and I can't wait for book two! 

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Manga: Today's Cerberus Vol 3

Today's Cerberus Vol 3 
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

The mythical beast Fenrir has set her sights on Chiaki, and Shirogane in particular is none to happy with the competition. It's dog versus wolf in this showdown that will bring the whole school to its knees! Who will come out on top?! 

I'm not going to lie, I feel like this series keeps getting better and better, and more and more fun! As you can tell from the synopsis Fenrir makes an appearance in this volume, and heralds the arrival of Norse mythology in this series. I love Norse mythology as much as I love Greek and Egyptian mythology so I was so totally stoked to see Fenrir make an appearance closely followed by her siblings Hel and Jormungand! 

As I was reading the chapter with them, I was thinking "please stick around...please don't be for just a chapter or two" and then they popped back up again. I'm like 75% sure they're here to stay and may or may not be a permanent fixture, which makes me really excited! 

Chiaki has a new friend in this volume, and I LOVE IT! Seriously. Idora's little cat buddy makes for some fun interactions with Cerberus too! I'm really enjoying the dynamics to Chiaki's growing friendship group and seeing Chiaki interact with them. The romance aspect steps up a bit with the arrival of Minnie, a childhood friend of Chiaki's who totally has a thing for him and takes something from their childhood the wrong way, and we all know how Roze feels....so....yeah. But we also have a potential solution to Chiakis little problem, which could prove to be very interesting. 

Volume 3 is just as fun and crazy as the other volumes, but we get to see some of Chiaki's past and get to know him a little better, this volume basically adds a little bit of depth to the story. We also got to see some more of Shirogane in action! This is one of those series that I genuinely look forward to each new volume for because it makes me chuckle, and it's entertaining! I'm hoping the Norse characters are going to stick around a bit more and I'm intrigued by the romance situation! This is such a fun slice of life but with you know....mythology! 

Tied

Tied
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher

Normal people don't believe their nightmares stalk them. They don’t fall in love with boys who don’t exist, either.
Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares.
Or is that all in her head?
Layla doesn't know what to believe any more because if none of that’s true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken.
No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible?
The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever—if it doesn’t kill them both first.
In TIED, book one in the Fire Born trilogy, learning the truth will mean fighting an arsenal of demons, and being with Max will put Layla on a path toward her own destruction.
Just how far will Layla go to protect the one she loves?
The answer may never be far enough ... away.

So, this is one of those books I stumble across and get to review, and then I'm kinda blown away but how awesome it is, and to be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but it ended up being way more awesome than anything I was kind of expecting....which doesn't make sense but still. 

This definitely falls under the category of original and unique, and I was sucked in to the world from the beginning and unable to put the book down, it was so good! You never know what's going to happen next, and there's always something going on! 

I loved the rich mythology in the book, it's an area I don't know much about, so it was interesting reading about it, and I kinda wanna know more about Irish mythology now! Good thing I just got a book on it for my birthday then isn't it?! It was an interesting take on the Fae as well. 

The author is a pro about making you feel the feels, and many feels where felt while reading. In other words, the author is a pro at taking your emotions and manipulating them to the characters. I felt some pretty intense rage at Layla's mother, making her thinking she was crazy and everything, and other things like that. The author helps you get inside the character's head, and you understand them so well that you feel whatever they do.

The mystery was well done without being annoying or reaching a stage where it had gone on too long, and you can try and work it out for yourself but I had no clue! When it all starts to come clear and truths come out, it's pretty...insane. Like overall, I did not see the betrayal coming at all. I can't believe Benny didn't believe her! You're kept guessing, like I said, and you kinda have to keep reading to find out what's going on and what's going to happen next. 

The ending leaves you on a cliffhanger, and so I, for one, am pretty desperate for the next book to see what's going to happen next! There's a fight brewing and the author has written the character's so well, particularly Layla, that by the end, we're all on her side and connected to her pretty well.

I will admit, I did get confused at one point, because the POV changed and it took me a while to work out who's it had changed too, and this happened a couple of times, because I had an ARC i'm not sure if, in the finished version, it's going to state the POV changes or not, but yeah...minor confusion there! 

The other slight issue I had was that, while I was intrigued about the whole mystery, a whole lot of nothing happens in the beginning, the dancing stuff I didn't really care about too much, and it kind of seemed a bit redundant half the time, like it was just there. There was plenty of drama and everything, but the beginning was a smidge slow, and while being balanced out by the mystery, I feel it deserves a mention. 

Oh and the romance was quite cute, the whole childhood friends, destiny type thing. Way cute. 

So yes, this book is fantastic, lots of rich mythology, lots of mystery, cute times, cool things, and very original, and I'm intrigued for the next book to see where this is going to go, seeing as, at one point, I thought this was a standalone, and didn't realise until we drew closer to the end that it was gonna be a series starter! 

The Return

The Return
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr!

It's been a year since everything that went down in Sentinel, ya know, the whole Ares thing, and Seth giving up EVERYTHING for Alex and Aiden to be together, and after spending the year being the Gods bitch, it's time for Seth to get his happy ending. Well sort of, there's gonna be a lot to overcome but you get my drift.

Apollo has a new mission for Seth, turns out the Gods had a plan C to sort out the whole Titan issue, and that plan was Demigods. Yup. Some of them have since been killed, but there are enough left alive to lock the Titan's back up, and Seth has to protect one of them. Specifically Apollos daughter. Unfortunately for Seth, Apollo will probably end up smiting him because Josie, well, she's feisty and she's beautiful and the whole off limits thing...not gonna stop him, and Apollo soooo won't be down with that.

Josie on the other hand, was merrily going about life at college, yeah she has a crazy mum but life was pretty good. Until a hot guy who is quite obviously totally crazy, comes and turns her world upside down. Next thing she knows Seth is road tripping her to the Covenant in South Dakota (doesn't that hold warm and fuzzy memories) and there's a Titan hell bent on revenge after her.

Sparks are going to fly, and Seth is finally going to be on his way to his happy ending, but first they have a major smackdown with a Titan to get out of the way and a couple of reunions and some truth talk about Seth and his past. But ya know...woooo!

"My mind was still stuck in the world where things like daimons, gods and Titans didn't exist. In a world where I could walk outside and not worry about being nom-nom'd on like Toaster Strudel."

Okay so I tried to do that as spoiler free as possible and I think I ended up making no sense but screw it because Seth is finally getting his happy ending like Alex did! Granted it's going to take a while and I can smell the heartbreak and the pain already, and believe me it's not going to be smooth sailing in the other books, but the romance, unlike Alex and Aiden, was there from the beginning, and they where together, none of the whole angsty wanting thing.

New Adult is totally right for Seth's story, I can't imagine him being YA but I'm sure younger readers are going to be in for a shock if they read this and I'm not talking about the language, y'all are gonna get way better acquainted with Seth.

I loved reading from Seth's view point, I felt like we got to know more about him and get more of a feel for him and everything than in the Covenant books and his narrative was engaging and entertaining and so very Seth. Then we have Josie as another narrator and she reminded me so much of Alex sometimes, which isn't surprising considering.....things. But yeah, she's like Alex but less tough, she's strong don't get me wrong but she's not as tough and rargh as Alex was, I loved Josie's babbling and omg she's like Alex but like not Alex, she has to learn to fight and everything and Seth is so right history is repeating itself!

Anyways, Josie's narrative was hilarious and her inner thoughts made me LOL, and the changeover was always at the perfect moment, when you where thinking about it needing to switch to show the other POV after an epic scene...boom it did, and the multi POV wasn't just the same scenes from two points of view either, it was very well done!

"The nervous knots from before were back, multiplying like mogwais fed after midnight."

So as you can guess, I loved Josie, she's like a tamer version of Alex...more well behaved, I don't even know, it was hard because in the beginning I was thinking she'd be like a second Alex, but while she is similar to Alex, she's totally different, and this makes no sense, but she's softer than Alex, I think is what I'm trying to say. She does the whole sarky, punching thing, and she babbles and has all these funny phrases, but she's not grown up in this life like Alex and she has only just started to face some of the hardship Alex has, and I'm sure Josie is going to toughen up a bit more over the course of the series, but I love her and she's the perfect match for Seth, and I could connect with her easily.

I think it's pretty obvious that I love Seth so let's move on shall we, seeing as I've already said we get more of an understanding of him and so on. Oh and he's a bit different, changed a bit, which was interesting. He did remind me of the Grinch at one point, ya know....."HELP ME MAX I'M FEELING". Anyways, we have a new characters, who are just as well developed and written and full of depth and larger than life as the old characters that we know. I liked Erin, I hope to see more of her in the second book she cracked me up and her and Josie gave me brotp feels.

"Holy fuck, I was probably starting to care"

So old faces surface, Apollo, obviously, but it's so weird because he was hilarious in the Covenant books, and he still is in this, and he was looking after Alex and so on, but in this....we get angry daddy Apollo and it's funny when you realise this is the same dude who got it on with Deacon and kept cock blocking Alex and Aiden! Still love him! Not to mention he legit quotes Star Wars....multiple times! We also see Artemis and Hades, and it sounds like we'll see more of Artemis, after her creepy little prediction, that I'm already dreading, because I actually like Artemis. Hades...well I'm sure he'll pop up again being annoying and collecting on Seth.

Deacon and  Luke where back, and I missed them so much, and it was great to see them again, it was like I'd never been away from the world or the characters, it smoothly just carried on a year on, if that makes sense, it was seamless transporting back in to the world and the world was just....this is hard to explain, but like the world was the same and there was no startling jolt like it'd been changed or anything.

But yeah Deacon and Luke, still loving Deacon's supernatural obsession, Marcus, man I missed Marcus, and Solos and Alex's Dad...that brought the feels, it really did. It was so great to see what these characters where up to in the aftermath of the Ares thing, and I mean....Horticulture.....really Luke?! Even good old Boobs makes a reappearance!

"Probably involved the blood of a dozen virgins or something equally archaic and creepy"

The world is expanded a bit, we see Nymphs this time, and we learn a bit more about the Titans and the Demigods, we see and learn about Shades. I loved learning more about the world, it's a world that is so well created in every single book, it sucks you in and is totally engrossing and it freshened it up a bit to see these new aspects of it and learn new things about it. Not to mention we meet a new, even douchier Titan. Yes it is possible, shocking I know, I hate to think what the others are like.

Most interesting for me when reading was seeing how the world of the Pure's and Half's dealt with the abolition of the Breed Order and Pure's and Half's now being allowed to be together. It was interesting, some people accepted it, but as we see a couple of times, some people don't and it's still a bit of a point of contention and some people still aren't happy and it's probably going to take a while but it was interesting to see.

"Holy shit, I was turning into Aiden St. Delphi. Being all saintly and shit, tampering down urges because it was the right and decent thing to do."

The plot was fast paced, lots happens, we go on a journey with the characters, the romance was less angsty than Alex and Aiden and happened from this book rather than in a book or two's time, there was plenty going on in the plot, and the plot is complex and intricate and the rich mythology is still present. Not to mention the awesome fight scenes. Being New Adult though it's less PG and Seth can really get his swear on.

The Return is everything I had hoped it would be and more. Everything I loved about the Covenant, but taken in a new direction, with some new characters, and what's shaping to be a complex and intriguing plot full of feels both good and bad. It's a fantastic start to the series, the foundations have been built, and it's a seamless continuation to a world we loved so much. Not to mention Armentrout's books always have me laughing in inappropriate public places!

I can't wait for the next book, and it feels so good to get back to this world and these characters!
Alex is mentioned guys, don't worry, but as yet, no appearance from her and I'm not sure how I'd feel if she did make an appearance....might be awkward for Josie? But yaaaaay Seth is getting the happiness he deserves and it feels so good!

Half-Blood

Half-Blood
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr

Alex Andros is a half-blood courtesy of her pure blood mum getting it on with a mortal. Now if you're a pure- blood, you get these epic godlike powers, seeing as how you're descended from Gods having flings with mortals, but if you're a half -blood like Alex? Well you've got two options....drink some freaky elixir and spend the rest of your life being a slave or train to become a sentinel and hunt daimons. I'm sure you can tell which option Alex picked.

Three years ago, Alex and her mum fled the safety of the Deity Island Covenant, no-one, least of all Alex, knows why, but after a tragic run in with a couple of daimons, Alex is found and dragged back to the Covenant. She doesn't get quite the welcome party she hopes for, narrowly avoiding becoming enslaved and all, luckily for her Aiden steps in and offers to spend his spare time away from his Sentinel duties helping her catch up so she can resume her training....but she's on thin ice. One slip...and it's buh bye kicking Daimon ass and being all revengey, and hello scrubbing toilets for her horrific step father.

Simple right? Weeeeelll did I mention Aiden is a pure-blood? Did I mention that there's a bunch of rules and rule number one is that relationships between halfs and pures are forbidden? Alex can't avoid falling for Aiden, but things get even more complicated when Alex gets a cryptic warning from the Oracle, Seth aka the Apollyon aka a totally badass half who can control all the elements and a super special fifth one, and Alex finds out the real reason her mother fled the Covenant with her. Not to mention everything they knew about Daimons....could be very very wrong. Following the rules, and surviving until graduation just became reaaallly hard.

"The pures believed she communed with the Gods. I believed she communed with a lot of liquor." 

 I love Armentrouts books, I say this every single time! And I've lusted after this series for a while, so when it got shiny new covers wellll......

....I couldn't resist it when I saw it on Bookbridgr, I mean look at how pretty the cover is! And this edition has the prequel to Half-Blood in it as well, which is fun to read before you read Half-Blood...or after, whatever floats your boat.

As soon as you start reading Half-Blood you're thrown in to the action straight away with Alex, and you're pretty much hooked from page one. The opening scene is full of tension and allusions to events we haven't witnessed and it hooks you completely. Especially when Aiden shows up with his badass entrance worthy of a movie. From there, it's fast paced all the way and you're unable to put the book down!

Half-Blood is incredibly unique to everything out there in the YA genre, and you can see it from opening chapter. There's daimons, halfs, pures and Gods. The mythology behind the daimons is rich and like I said, unique, Pures get turned, only halfs can see what they really are after they're turned, hence why they get trained up to hunt them. We've got the whole take on the Gods, and you get fed some little bits of myths. Then we have the Apollyon, who has the Buffy "one born every generation" shebang going on, and gets to control all the elements, something no other half can do, Pures get one element each, and he gets control over the fifth element...Akasha. Like I said, it's some very detailed and rich mythology.

The world building is also astounding. We get this incredibly rich, unique world, shrouded in mystery and things you just NEED to know now, with Greek Gods woven in to it and Greek mythology. It's a modern world, yeah, but it has Greek accents, shall we say? The world that's created will suck you in, and you'll leave kinda wishing you could go to the Covenant, everything is written very vividly.

I love Alex, I really do, she is like my twin and probably the only person who can match me for snark. I love snarky badass characters and Alex is the best of them. She's not perfect, she could be described as having some anger issues, but the imperfections make me love her more, and make her some more realistic and human. Alex is written very realistically, and with plenty of depth as well as being a strong character. Her speech is very current and up to date, and I picked up more than one phrase from her! Alex's inner monologue and narrative is engaging and incredibly entertaining, I'm not talking little chuckles here, I'm talking ugly snort laughing!

"-more than just her merry band of psychos."

Aiden is kind of aloof, at first, and you're fed this little bit of backstory about him, but you still want to  know more, you can see what drives him and shaped him, and how he looks after his brother is and is like a parent is cute, but also kinda sad for him. Aiden is generally adorable, the little things he does for Alex with the uniform and everything for example, and it's way obvious he likes her but doesn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Seth is....Seth. He's intriguing, we don't really know much about him, where he comes from and so on, we just know he's the Apollyon and like Alex, you kinda wanna smack him upside the head sometimes. He and Alex have a connection that's more than what it first appears, shall we say.

Our main characters are all written so vividly they jump off the page, and the same goes for the secondary characters. I particularly love Caleb and his friendship/relationship with Alex, they're hilarious together! Alex is written so well you can connect with her easily and feel what she feels, so Lucian you just want to punch and Marcus I'm just like ugh what a douche. You literally go through Alex's emotions with her, through the good and the bad.

The romance isn't full throttle from the go. It builds slowly, you watch it start, slowly blossom and develop, but there's a pretty huge obstacle in the way. That's not to say there aren't any cute scenes, there totally are, and the two of them are ridiculously adorable, warm and fuzzies all the way, you end up squealing internally along with Alex. We're watching the beginning stages of the "we like each other, but...." phase. They can't get together straight away but the potential is there. Aiden gets Alex, and he's adorably protective but he does know she can hold her own.

There is also the potential for a love triangle, but this one is going to be interesting. It's against the rules for Alex and Aiden to be together and he won't let anything happen in case they get found out and Alex ends up a slave, and with Seth there's the whole connection thing. Alex doesn't have feelings for Seth but their bond, and the fact it will get stronger, is going to be a spanner in the works. There's going to be the whole "is this because of the connection thing or?"

As for the writing, Half-Blood is written cinematically in my opinion, the flow is fantastic, each chapter ends making you want to read on. The plot is fairly complex, there's different things going on, different mysteries to work out, or try to, you have to put the pieces together, and nothings as it seems at first. I mean you could be forgiven for thinking the main deal with the plot is Alex falling for Aiden, some torrid love affair occurs and there's lots of training. No. As I said, we see the start of Aiden and Alex, wisps you could say, there's so much more going on than the synopsis leads you to believe, there's secrets and plots, and a tonne of plot twist you won't see coming and will shock you to the "mouth hanging open, uncomprehending" stage.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book is how there was all the potential to leave it on a cliffhanger for the next book, I was kind of expecting, but instead you get this incredibly beautiful, eyes slightly welling up, ending that finishes the book perfectly.

This'll be one of those books you re-read until it's falling apart!

"Grandma had apparently missed that memo"

As for the prequel, it's incredibly fleshed out, just as much as the actual novel, I find this rare in novellas not going to lie. It basically details Alex being accepted in to the Covenant, the events leading up to, and the death of, her mother, and then the events immediately before Half-Blood, like how she ended up where she was for example. Alex's characterization runs true to the book, she's just as snarky. There's lots of information woven in to this action packed novella, and it's a fantastic continuation of the story. It gives you loads more insight in to Alex as a character and what her life was like for her in the mortal world. There's even some mentions of Aiden *winkwink*. It's also kind of heartbreaking to read about Alex with her mum and see what their relationship was like, not gonna lie!

Half-Blood is a humorous, fun, and un-put-down-able read, with a world and characters that are expertly built, engaging, and suck you in. The characters are as vivid as the world, and you connect to them so easily, the world...well...I kinda wanna live in it! Half-Blood entertains, while perfectly setting up the next book incredibly subtly and almost like an afterthought. Half-Blood is a must read, there's so much more to explore in the world created, and the potential for the story arc is astounding.

The Dark King

The Dark King
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: ARC Courtesy of NetGalley

As we dive into the second installment of the Fae trilogy, darkness is descending over Roanoke Island. If memory serves, we left off with Devilyn crossing over to the world of the Dark Fae to become their King. His job is to fulfill the prophecy that states he will unite Dark and Light Fae once and for all. Except since crossing over to the Dark Fae...he's been a little different. Those closest to him, those who love him, worry that he will never be the same again, that every trace of Light he once had is gone and that most importantly, he cannot be trusted.

Caroline, the final heir of the Light Fae and so on, abandoned by her true love (see above), has to get on with things without the protection of her one true love (or memory of him). She has to evade those in the Dark court who want to destroy her and she has to embrace her own strength to do so. Turns out Caroline has a nifty little talent...she can use Light to change a Fate itself.

Caroline and Devilyn have some insane chemistry as readers of the first book will recall, and they have that whole destiny thing but unless they can get the will to overcome the The Darkness and The Fates...destiny might not be so inevitable.

So, I loved Fae, NetGalley has so many awesome books, but when they're a series you're left scouring the new additions pages to find the next in the series, and I honestly did a double take when I spotted this. I was so excited to read the next book, ordinarily I'd have re-read the first book, but I didn't have time to do so, so I was working off of what I could vaguely remember, luckily C.J is good at refreshing your memory!

I gladly leaped back in to the magical world the author weaves with such skill. I mean with the ending of Fae, I couldn't read this installment fast enough. The first book hooked because of the whole Lost Colony thing, with me being such a history geek I couldn't resist, but I carried on reading because of the characters and the plot. The Dark King hooked me right from the beginning and I couldn't stop reading!

The Dark King is every bit as fast paced, action packed and hard to put down as the previous installment. Lots of sequels fail to measure up to the first book, but The Dark King more than  matches up, if not exceeds entirely, the first book! It was the perfect sequel.

I was excited to see how the characters would react to the end of Fae, and I must say, I really enjoyed the character growth from certain characters. I love watching characters grow and change, don't worry though guys, Devilyn's love for Caroline is still going strong, that doesn't change one bit! The character growth, for me, made the characters even more likeable. I loved watching how Caroline accepted her fate/heritage this time round, and had a totally different attitude about it, as a result. Titania...well her character growth is truly astounding, she's totally different from Fae, and I'm growing to like her quite a bit! I was also super excited to discover new characters in the book!

The new characters where written with as much care and detail as our characters from the first book, each with plenty of depth and brought to life on the page quite realistically. Did I mention one of the new characters is a boy who's after Caroline? No? Well, all I'll say about that is that it was very well written, usually that sort of thing can irritate me if it's not done correctly, but it's like Abedi gets inside my head and knows what I want to see! Don't worry though, I wouldn't class it as a love triangle! This new development was interesting, added some drama, and gave Devilyn a kick up the ass, I'd say.
There is, however, more than one character that I could quite happily hit in the face. With a brick. It's a testament to Abedi's writing that I actually got so angry just from reading about fictional people, but there you go. Abedi can really get you emotionally involved in the book, which is always a good thing!

I really had missed this world. Everything is written so vividly you can picture it all clearly like a movie playing in your head, and the characters are all written so well you get quite emotionally attached to them. The Dark King was no different, and there where moments where I really wanted to smack Devilyn for the whole "pushing her away" thing. But I wouldn't really because at the same time you get such insight in to the characters you kinda just wanna hug him as well. I enjoyed seeing more of the friendship between Caroline and Teddy, it's expertly written and brings a smile to your face to read scenes with them. The banter between them reminds me of myself and a couple of my friends every know and again, not going to lie!

I was pleased to see Odin, among others, still present. In the first book, the thing I really loved was the mythology of the Fae and the Norse mythology element all mixed together, and I was pleased it was still present, and not totally shoved to the side in favour of action and such, like a lot of authors do. I just can't get enough of it!

To the plot then! I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give it away. We have a lot of different threads coming together, and really building up to what I'm hoping is going to be a spectacular conclusion. There's a lot of the whole pushing Caroline away and trying to get her to hate him type thing for the first half, and the last half (which involves a camping trip), was where the action really took off. That doesn't mean the book wasn't fast paced from the off, and doesn't grip you from the beginning because as I said, I was hooked the whole way through.

Now, I read so many YA paranormal romances, I've experienced this feeling so many times, mostly with Gena Showalter (Alice Through the Zombie Glass), Sarah Rees Brennan (Unspoken etc) and Cassie Clare (ANY Mortal Instruments book), and yes I'm putting Abedi with them. Whenever things get all happy and things get fixed and it's all going swimmingly, no matter how many pages are left, I get suspicious. Really suspicious. Because I know somethings going to happen. Something's going to go wrong and everything's going to go wrong. Abedi gets to join these three prestigious authors because as I said, I'm always suspicious and rightly so. The cliffhanger literally came out of nowhere and I just sat there for a while like "what the hell just happened?!"

I'm not going to lie, I read fast, and I whizzed through this in a couple of hours because I just couldn't put it down. It was so fast paced, I couldn't find a place in the book for me to end it, so I settled down with some green tea and popcorn and sat gripped by the book from start to finish. More than once with everything going on between Caroline and Devilyn I may or may not have muttered "OH COME ON" more than once! For me their relationship was written so perfectly in the first book, it took time, and I like how the relationship continued to be written realistically and enjoyably, the author knew where the boundaries where between enjoyable and dragging something out.

The Dark King continues the standards set down in Fae. The world is a familiar one, and every bit as magical as it was the first time round, with everything painted clearly for you with a few words. The characters growth, in some cases, makes you love them more, and watching the characters so obviously grow is satisfying. The mythology is still going strong, and the threads of the plot are twining together to create something truly amazing.

The Dark King has everything you could want, romance, action, magic and much, much more. Gripping you from the start, you find yourself frantically turning pages to get to the end, unable to guess or predict any of the plot twists, you find yourself gasping, and unable to put the book down for ANYTHING. The Dark king really will make you quite emotional, such is the way the book pulls you in. Fast paced, full of action, and a perfectly written romance The Dark King is a strong installment in the trilogy.

As always the only thing I didn't like was the cliffhanger at the end, because I just can't cope with them and the waiting for the next book in the series, and the needing to know what happened so incredibly badly!

Killer Frost

Killer Frost
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: BUY! ALL OF THEM
Source: ARC Courtesy of NetGalley

The final showdown between Gwen and Loki is coming. Things have been pretty quiet lately at Mythos so obviously, something bad is going to happen very soon. And when Linus Quinn shows up at the Academy, Gwen's thoughts are confirmed. The Protectorate are at the Academy to pick up and guard an incoming shipment of artifacts rescued by Logan and his father (back in Spartan Frost), the Reapers are gunning for these artifacts, or atleast, one specifically, and they need Gwen to use her tough magic to work out which one it is.

When the Protectorate go to move the artifacts to the Academy, the Reapers launch an attack to get them. They've become more daring, and more lethal. When their attempts to get the artifact are thwarted one of Gwen's loved ones is put in more danger than ever before when they're kidnapped in the Reapers bid to gain control of the artifact they need. A pretty harmless looking artifact, but looks are deceiving.

Feeling betrayed by everyone she knows and loves when they refuse to make the trade, Gwen goes rogue. She may have gotten away from Loki and his Reapers with the artifact and her loved one thanks to her daring plan, but Gwen knows it's not over.

The final battle is coming, and everyone at the Academy knows it. As the Reapers prepare to storm the gates of the Academy, everyone must make a choice...whether to stand and fight. Loyalties are tested, secrets are revealed, but can Gwen work out Nike's riddles? Can she Loki for good? And will Logan and Gwen FINALLY get their happy ending with nothing getting in the way?

 Well. I 'm so sad this series is over, but I'm sure I'm not the only one to appreciate the finality of Killer Frost, even if I am sad we won't be reading about Gwen again, although there's been a door left open for Rory, so we might get to visit the world again. I've loved these books, and I've loved watching Rory grow as a character from a regular girl..well as regular as you can be with touch magic, with slight anti-social tendencies, to a fierce warrior, with friends she loves, and the fully deserving of her status as Champion.

I freely admit, there's a bit of repetition in the book with the Reapers attacking, and Vivienne always flying away on her roc, and I will admit to nearly screeching in frustration as Logan and Gwen had yet another thing come between them, although it was finally solved in this book!

I love these books because they're funny, they're relevant, they're full of action and romance. But my favourite part is the mythology. There is pretty much every type of mythology and God you can think of present in this book, and they're all blended together to create this fantastic world with rich legends and history.

Killer Frost starts roughly 2 weeks after the events in Midnight Frost, the Valentines Day Dance is coming up, and Logan and Gwen are back together but still dealing with Logan's fear of her hurting her. I love how what happened in Book 5 wasn't swept under the rug, and Logan is very realistically dealing with nearly killing Gwen, and still being wary around her. So many times something like that would be swept under the rug or fixed in the space of a page.

Relationships and loyalties are tested in Killer Frost. Logan's dad won't make the trade Viv proposes to save Gwen's Grandma, and she feels betrayed by her friends as well as Metis and co when they seem to just be about to let her Grandma die. This already puts a strain on Gwen and Logan's relationship but Gwen being Gwen she decides to go rogue to steal the candle, even though it's going to hurt her friends. We see Gwen become the strong girl we've always known her to be, independent and willing to do what she has to do to save the person she loves most. Well...slightly more than Logan. To add to the sense of hurt flying around, everyone finds out Gwen's mission from Nike is to kill Loki and she's the only one who can. So it's safe to say, the drama is not held back!

I love the friendships Gwen has with Daphne, Oliver and so on, and it really is satisfying to see friendships you've watched grow and develop in to this amazing friendship we have now between Daphne and Gwen.

I love all the characters, they've all grown and changed and dealt with their fair share of crap. Each character is full of depth and can stand alone. We have Daphne, the former mean girl, who knows Gwen well enough to know it's time to crack out the catsuit and grease paint, and enlist the other's in their friendship group to help out with Daphne's plan to help Gwen's plan. We have Oliver, full of jokes, but loyal to Gwen until the end, their friendship was truly beautiful to watch come to fruition in this book. We have warrior bard Carson, far more badass than any supposed Geek has any right to be. We have Alexei, boyfriend to Oliver, and the newest addition to Gwen's group, and as graceful as a dancer when fighting. And finally Logan, Gwen's boyfriend, the resident badass who can kill you with a paperclip, but is protective and gentle to Gwen.

This book is as much about friendship as it is about Gods and Goddesses, myths and legends and battles, and each friendship has been written and developed beautifully, and I choked up really badly when Gwen finds out they all knew she had a plan and where ready to help her with it.

I feel I should also mention that Nickamedes and Gwen FINALLY HUGGED. It totally happened. Cue more choking up from me. I loved how Nickamedes get's some love, and he and Metis get together, in my opinion it should have happened forever ago but it just added to the perfect ending.

In Killer Frost all the clues come together, every riddle and comment Nike has made all makes sense. Self-sacrifice. That's the theme of Killer Frost. It's what defeats Loki, along with free will, and it's what saves Gwen when Nickamedes makes his own sacrifice.

All the questions you've ever had about the book are answered, and I was especially eager to find out what the deal was with Raven. Directly after finding out who Raven really is, I am left with the feeling of truly wanting to slap myself for not working it out sooner! It's not like there weren't enough clues! Not to mention we find out about the Guardians!

Killer Frost is fast paced, and very action-centric, which is obvious with the whole warriors and final battle thing, and the writing flowed smoothly. There where plenty of twists and turns to the plot, ones that I personally didn't see coming, even though I really should have, because as I've said before, there are clues everywhere in the other books. Viv and Gwen's smack talk could use some work, it was a tad cliche and samey to the other books, but it didn't really take away from the story for me.

Everything is wrapped up nicely, there's nothing left unanswered and the ending is quite final. I was sad there wasn't more romance in this book between Gwen and Logan, but their relationship came together rather nicely!

Killer Frost is an explosive and emotional end to a series that is one of my favourites. I really didn't want it to be over and I really didn't want to leave the world or the character's behind, but the ending is just so satisfying. Fans will not be disappointed.

Killer Frost is full of action, and like me, you will find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat frantically turning pages, constantly being caught off guard as you gasp and swear at the bombs constantly being dropped. Statues come alive. Gryphon's fight Rocs. Artifacts and their powers are finally revealed. Gwen and Viv showdown. And there's one final heart stopping battle that will take your breath away. You really don't want to miss it!