Review: Strange Practice

Strange Practice
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Greta Helsing inherited the family's highly specialized, and highly peculiar, medical practice. In her consulting rooms, Dr. Helsing treats the undead for a host of ills - vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta's been groomed for since childhood.

Until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice, and her life.

I was so intrigued by the sound of this, I'm thinking ooohhh Helsing...undead, various supernatural creatures etc but I wasn't really sure what to expect. As I started to read, I very quickly realised this was going to be one of my favourite books and series, and I completely fell in love with it. It's such a cracking read! 

 I was immediately hooked on the plot and characters. It's so fun, and so different and I actually found it to be a very refreshing read to be honest. I loved Greta so much, she had such a great narrative and point of view, filling you in on the different types of creature and other little bits and pieces. She made me fully cackle more than once. I was really rooting for her, and I loved that she was so intelligent and passionate about her work, and she was strong too. 

Ruthven is my second favourite character. I was like OOOOHH VAMPIRES YAAASS! HEY DRACULA! He was so freaking brilliant, and I loved his interactions with Greta. He too, had an excellent narrative and I loved all the little quirks about him and his personality and his history and oh my God he's just such a brilliantly created character and fits with literature about vampires and so on and aaaahh I love him! Lowkey ship him with Greta too. 

There's such a brilliant cast of characters, I loved Cranswell, Varney, Fastitocalon, Nadezhda....there are so many memorable and brilliant characters that you want to know more about and they're brilliantly characterised. I also ship Greta and Varney too! I loved the comments about his aesthetic too! I would LOVE to see more of Samael too, he was freaking hilarious. Like he had me in stitches and he's not there much. 

I loved the different points of view/narratives, they helped with the fast pace that the book had going from the start. It kept it moving forward and kept it fresh and in the case of the creepy POV, it added intrigue and mystery as you tried to put things together. I also really loved the history and mythology to the book too. I'm so excited by the world of this book and the characters and what's to come from this series!

Strange Practice is a refreshing, rich and brilliant read. It's fun, there's humour, mystery, murder, and even a little bit of romance too! It's kinda like CSI: Supernatural Edition. The characters are memorable, loveable and easy to root for, the plot kept you guessing and had some brilliant twists and turns. The world building is fantastic and I could see easily picture this hidden side of London. I'm eager to learn about more creatures, more mythology and lore, and more about the characters! Strange Practice is firmly one of my favourite books of the year, and it's my new favourite series. I can't wait for me and I'm eagerly awaiting any information on the sequel! 


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Review: A Madness of Angels

A Madness of Angels

Rating: 3/5 

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Two years after his untimely death, Matthew Swift finds himself breathing once again, lying in bed in his London home.

Except that it's no longer his bed, or his home. And the last time this sorcerer was seen alive, an unknown assailant had gouged a hole so deep in his chest that his death was irrefutable...despite his body never being found.

He doesn't have long to mull over his resurrection, though, or the changes that have been wrought upon him. His only concern now is vengeance. Vengeance upon his monstrous killer and vengeance upon the one who brought him back. 

Another Urban Fantasy! I genuinely haven't read many of these in so long, I had a phase once when all I read was Urban Fantasy! Literally nothing else. I wanted to completely love this book, I really did but there where a couple of things holding me back. 

I loved the magic system in the book or the concept or whichever you want to call it. We have Urban magic in this book and the idea is that urban areas will have collected/developed magic. I loved all the gods mentioned throughout and how they where described, as someone who lives in the outer edges of London I genuinely found them fun and I'll definitely end up thinking of them now whenever I'm getting the last train for example! 

I thought the book was unique, imaginative and fun. I found it humorous in points and I really did like the authors prose and writing style. There where some brilliant descriptions throughout the book, lots of intrigue and little tidbits dropped throughout the story about Matthew and what was going on. I liked how the 'villain' was done, because at one point I was questioning who was right or wrong! 

My problem with the book was that I found it a bit hard to get in to in the beginning, the narrative and everything. I was a little bit confused and not entirely sure what was going on, which was probably the point but it just made it hard for me to get in to and connect with the characters. I do also think that while the descriptions where brilliant, sometimes the narrative did go on a little bit. BUT there was some great action throughout and the ending was fantastic! 

Review: Chasing Embers

Chasing Embers

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Behind every myth, there's a spark of truth...

There's nothing special about Ben Garston. He's just a guy with an attitude in a beat-up leather jacket, drowning his sorrows in a downtown bar. Or so he'd have you believe.

What Ben Garston can't let you know is that he was once known as Red Ben. That the world of myth and legend isn't just a fantasy, as we've been led to believe. And he certainly can't let you know the secret of what's hiding just beneath his skin...

But not even Ben knows what kind of hell is about to break loose. A centuries-old rivalry has just resurfaced, and the delicate balance between his world and ours is about to be shattered.

When I spotted this, I was immediately intrigued. Dragon tail on the cover...."warning may contain dragons" sticker on the cover...and that tagline. I love mythology and dragons and all of that jazz, so I immediately marked this as a "need to read" book! 

I haven't read a good urban fantasy in a while, or I hadn't when I read this! There's so much mythology in this book I loved it, I loved seeing what was going to pop up next! I feel like it was very well researched on the mythology front but there where lots of original twists to old favourites like dragons and so on. Chasing Embers is very imaginative and it certainly brought my imagination roaring back to life as I was reading it! I'm a sucker for anything with the whole 'magical world existing alongside ours' thing and I love seeing how different authors bring that in to being. History nerd that I am, I loved the little twist on the Magna Carta too! 

Chasing Embers is funny, and has a great cast of characters. I was rooting for Ben, and I really felt for him and his struggles. I loved he and Rose and they're relationship was very well done. I feel like Rose had a very believable reaction to everything, rather than the standard thing where the love interest usually has a moment or two of hesitation and then is cool with it all. I enjoyed the plot and the settings, the author takes us on quite a journey! It was very vivid, and I had a nice image going in my minds eye. I liked how some of the other mythological creatures where a tad on the creepy side, I mean let's be honest if they really did exist I doubt they'd be all cute and cuddly! 

My one issue with the book was that rather than figuring things out yourself, your explained to a lot. There was a lot of explanation going on, and I felt like it was a bit too much and dragged the pace of the plot down in places making it a bit slow in places. Don't get me wrong there was loads of action that had you on the edge of your seat but there was a bit of an info dumping problem throughout the book that made it hard to read and at those parts I found myself easily distracted by other things. But other than that, this was a really good read! 

Blog Tour: Vigil

Vigil 
Rating: 3/5 
Buy or Borrow: Either.
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Verity Fassbinder has her feet in two worlds. The daughter of one human and one Weyrd parent, she has very little power herself, but does claim unusual strength - and the ability to walk between us and the other - as a couple of her talents. As such a rarity, she is charged with keeping the peace between both races, and ensuring the Weyrd remain hidden from us.

But now Sirens are dying, illegal wine made from the tears of human children is for sale - and in the hands of those Weyrd who hold with the old ways - and someone has released an unknown and terrifyingly destructive force on the streets of Brisbane.

And Verity must investigate - or risk ancient forces carving our world apart.

I do have a soft spot for Urban Fantasy, I went through a period where I was completely obsessed with it but these days I don't really read as much of it as I'd like! I was intrigued by this just from the synopsis because it sounded original and like it was going to be a lot of fun, and while it was, there where a couple of things that made me a bit iffy about it if I'm honest, and I try to be honest in my reviews! 

The opening of the book really grabbed me and I thought the book was quite atmospheric, and like I'd thought it was original. I liked that there where lots of different plot threads, and you knew they had to be related but you had to try and work out how, while Verity did the same. I loved being surprised and I liked seeing what was going to be introduced next, first it was Siren's and then it was Angels and there where all sorts. I loved the Norns as well! Those scenes made me insanely hungry. The book also had me laughing a fair few times! 

The book was fast paced, and I liked that pace but at times I did wonder if it was a bit too fast. Verity's romance with David for instance, I felt a bit like he was just there, and then she was together and a lot of their relationship developing was off screen as it where and we didn't really need to get to know him that well, which was a shame. In the beginning there was a lot of information and I did feel a bit like I was missing something, and had to check it was the first book in the series, but the author gave you the run down not too far in and it all made sense. 

Verity...I liked Verity but at the same time she's supposed to be the big bad everyone's scared of, but I didn't find her all that scary, I didn't see why she warranted that kind of fear from beings that I was fairly sure could take her. She was grumpy rather than having an attitude, usually when I read Urban Fantasy the heroines have a serious attitude and they're all kickass but I didn't get that vibe with Verity, she just threw her strength around a bit and got Hangry. I was expecting a bit more from her character than I got. 

I'm intrigued by some of the secondary characters, I'd like to get to know some of them better and I have to be quite frank. The amount of times I was reading this and Verity was having issues with Bela I was like....I'd have told him where to go a long time ago love! I'm fairly confident there isn't going to be a love triangle though! 


The Blog Tour continues....

Blog Tour: Who's Afraid?

Hey guys! 

I've got another blog tour for you today in honour of new release Who's Afraid?

 It's a cracking debut that you can't put down. Who's Afraid is a brand new paranormal fiction book of the werewolf variety, and it's all about Tommi. Tommi is a young Scottish woman living a rather ordinary life, but when her mother dies, she sets out to find the only parent she has left. Her father. But not everything she's been told is true, and she finds herself stumbling violently in to her birthright as a werewolf. Tommi returns home hoping to put everything behind her, but the dark, mysterious and rather handsome Lorcan, her Guardian, makes that rather hard. Her powers are developing and she needs to learn to control them, and Lorcan is the only one who can help her. It's not long before Tommi realises things can never be the same again, especially when a rogue werewolf starts killing people....but is it really a rogue? Or did Tommi bring danger back home with her to stalk her loved ones?  

 I'll be getting to the review in a minute, buuttt first I have a feature from the author of Who's Afraid, Maria Lewis! Considering everyone on my feed right now is involved in NaNo, I thought you'd like to hear from the author about her writing process/journey...

I never envisioned myself as a writer. It was not a career path I actively pursued growing up, despite writing being something that I always thoroughly enjoyed and succeeded in on school report cards. My job goals for myself proceeded as follows: rock star, photographer, detective, song writer, art curator, coroner, professional surfer, Batgirl, archaeologist, forensic psychologist. Writer was not on the list and the fact I ended up as not only a professional journalist but a published author is somewhat of a happy accident. Financially, university was always going to be a bit of a stretch so I found myself furiously applying for every scholarship going in my final years of high school. I landed two: one to study forensic psychology and the other to study journalism by correspondence while working full time as a cadet reporter at a local newspaper. On a whim, I went with the journalism one and it proved to be the best decision I ever made. That, as it turns out, was a career I was made for. Suddenly being curious was a thing I was paid to do. Talking to people and engaging with them was a thing I was paid to do. And yes, being nosy was something I was paid to do and a trait that was professionally valued.

I spent the first three and bit years of my time in a newsroom covering crime, which wasn’t unusual for many reporters starting out at a paper. You see, they like to throw you in the deep and watch who can handle the long hours, the high pressure, the sources and yes, the bodies. Depending on whether you sink or swim, you either get shuffled off the police beat within a few months or stuck there for a few years. It took me some time to realise crime reporting wasn’t necessarily for me, both personally and professionally, and I moved on to writing about film, television and pop culture as a whole – something I report on to this day; presenting, writing and producing segments on nightly television show The Feed on SBS in Australia. Yet my 11 years and counting as a journalist have proved endlessly valuable to me as an author. 

First and foremost, it has given me an understanding of the importance of primary sources. Often when researching a novel, secondary sources can become the most relied upon location for information. You can fall into this trap of reading only what other people have written or surmised on a particular topic. Journalism trained me to have ‘lady balls’, if you will, and to not be afraid to seek information out directly. For instance, when writing my debut novel Who’s Afraid? – where the central protagonist is a werewolf – I needed information on moon cycles and exact specifics on the full moon. The internet had a lot of information to sift through from countless reliable and questionable sources, so I did a quick Google search and came up with a list of Australia’s foremost moon experts – who I then proceeded to call and ask questions of. Although that approach may be too direct for some, for me it meant I had an unfiltered primary source that could provide me with facts. And yes, I do realise this is in the context of writing a flippin’ werewolf novel but some of the best supernatural novels – in my opinion – are grounded in elements of realism. Think True Blood or Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. Sometimes attempting to get the little things right can make a big difference. 

Secondly, one of the side effects of being a journalist is having an innate ability to pump out a hefty word count. After over a decade as a reporter, my day job is to roll out words at a rapid rate and to be able to meet multiple daily deadlines (as well as weekly and monthly ones for larger projects). So when I eventually sat down to write a novel, I was comfortable and relaxed with the idea of powering through a few thousand words at a time. It’s what I’d been paid to do since I was 16. Thirdly, you lose all concepts of preciousness. A newsroom is a cutthroat environment, with a lot of skilled professionals working within tight restraints to put out the best project they can by a specific time. The result of that is, editors, sub-editors and lay out eds tend to be ruthless: they have to be. An element in a story that may seem crucial to you, is 10cms of space they have to cut now that a last minute ad has landed on page three. There’s no pleading or begging: the story has to be cut and you either make it work or you don’t. Journalism has taught me not to be precious. There are naturally aspects to a story or characters you get attached to when writing your manuscript. When you get returned notes from an editor that suggest some of them have to go, that can be tough to hear but nine times out of ten it’s also necessary. They’re making this suggestion to improve the story and there comes a time when you not only have to understand that but you have to let it go.

What's the book like? I hear you all cry, well I rated it... 

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy! 

Does that give you an indication? Who's Afraid is all go from the first page, the opening is adrenalin fuelled and fills you with intrigue so you want to know what led Tommi to that point. In my case it also gave me a couple of ideas of how I thought this book was going to go...but I was wrong. The main thing I loved about this book was how surprising it was. It went in completely different directions to what I expected and it kept me guessing right up until the end. The twists where mind blowing. The bad guys weren't who I was expecting them to be for starters! Then there was the truly shocking plot twist towards the end and I had to put the book down and kind of just...process because I was like "There's now way that'll happen....okay...well...they'll be saved right? There's a way?" But nope. Didn't see it coming. Lewis isn't afraid to give you a character and make you love them and then rip them away from you cruelly! 

I loved Tommi, she's the kind of character I adore, she's snarky, she's badass and she's completely brilliant. I loved watching her struggle with her new role as werewolf. In a lot of books the characters are kind of like, "Oh I'm a werewolf...okay cool" and off they go, but I liked seeing Tommi come to the realisation that things where different now, and she goes on such a journey in this book, I'm interested to see how she's going to develop and change in the next book after the aftermath of this book! The one thing about Tommi is that her reactions to things are very genuine, and very realistic, so Tommi is a very believable and relatable character. 

There's a brilliant supporting cast of characters alongside Tommi, Mari, Kane and Joss where hilarious, I loved the scenes with all of them and the banter they had, it made you laugh and it helped you get to see a more laid back side of Tommi. I'm excited to see more of Joss next book I hope! We also had Ennis who cracked me up, like, taking a shine to Tommi after she casually murders a couple of people! Dr Kikuchi I also really liked, she made me chuckle and I'm hoping to see more of her in the future. And then there's Lorcan. I freaking love Lorcan. He intrigued me from the start but I was a bit wary of him because I was kind of expecting him to be one of the bad guys or something and I was on edge for a while, but then I ended up really liking his character and I'm so intrigued by him and curious to know more about him! 

Tommi and Lorcan have such an interesting relationship, the romance between them develops slowly and isn't the main focus of the plot, but it's one of the points. There's obstacles, and towards the end there is a pretty huge one and while it was kind of adorable of Lorcan at the same time it was like "What the hell did you think you where doing!?" so i'm interested to see where the romance is going to go, I think they make an interesting pair! 

I loved both settings of the books both New Zealand which I'd love to see more of! And Dundee, which was a nice vibrant setting, I thought! To be honest I've read exactly one book of this genre set in the UK and none set in New Zealand so I actually really enjoyed the change from the usual US setting, and seeing the werewolf legend play out in NZ, with the Maori wolves and so on. I'm actually hoping to see more Maori elements in the future in the books! I have a feeling her family aren't going to give up on her so easily! There's a lot of culture packed in to this book, and it's clear Lewis has done her research to another level! 

Who's Afraid is an original, funny and entertaining, debut which veers away from the path so many books of the genre take, and is like a breath of fresh air. There's plenty of pop culture references that aren't over done and add plenty of humour, the language is brilliant as is the writing, and the settings are intriguing. The characters are a lively bunch, and the plot keeps you guessing until the very end. I'm looking forward to seeing where this story goes next!  

Beyond The Veil

Beyond The Veil
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of NetGalley

Charlie Henderson is living a lie. Her real name is Muse and her attempt at a normal life is about to go up in smoke. 
 
When a half-demon assassin walks into her life, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Muse must return to the one man she hoped never to see again and ask for help. The Prince of Greed isn’t known for his charity. The price is high and the cost could tear her apart.
 
Trapped between the malevolent intentions of a Prince of Hell, an assassin with ulterior motives and her bloodthirsty demon-kin, Muse must embrace the lure of chaos at her core; the demon inside her, in order to survive.

Aaaannnd so the NetGalley back log continues. Bloody Kindle. I will admit I struggled to get through this one, but that may be because I was trying to read with a fuzzy/headachey head and a huge helping of over tiredness but the latter is my usual state right now so who knows. The book did however, brighten up this gloomy June day. 

I enjoyed the world of the book, it was an interesting take with humans being aware of demons and so on. But there was a little twist in that they weren't aware of quite how powerful they are. I found it very amusing that said demons attempt to blend in by taking a human form, it made for some funny mental images. This isn't the first time I've read a book about a half demon who can switch between the two, however this one wasn't quite on the same level as it. I'm very eager to learn more about the demons own realm, and would have loved for more of it to be included in this book because there were some inconsistencies and I had some confusion a couple of times. 

Muse for me seemed like a puppet. Things had to be explained to her by the blokes, and every decision was made for her and it was infuriating to read about. She was bumbling along, being easily fooled and just doing what she was told. Now I haven't read the prequel, but I'm led to believe that this is a total change from the character in the prequel, so while I've only read this and found her to be annoyingly puppet like, I can only imagine what it's like for the readers of the prequel. 

Stefan took some time for me to like. Like a lot of time, but eventually I did. Akil, however, well lets not go there shall we. Either way, wether you loved a character or hated them, they helped bring the vivid world to life and suck you in to the story. 

There was a lot of action, don't get me wrong, and the book was all go from the start, but there was the occasional part of the book where I found my attention wandering slightly. The romance I didn't buy. There was a love triangle and insta love and I was rolling my eyes a couple of times and I was kinda disappointed by this element. The whole thing with Akil made me feel like I'd jumped in to the middle of the series not the beginning, and like the whole "who would you choose" thing, like why would I choose the controlling dude she inexplicably keeps going back to whenever she needs help? Like what. 

My other issue with the book was character motivation. Stefan and Akil.....still not entirely sure what motivated them, which made the whole book a bit odd and seem like some things were done for the sake of action or whatever, but then at the same time, I kinda have to chalk it up to it being the first book and there being some sort of deep, dark reveal in the next book. I should also warn readers that this book is fairly dark, but like...I read Game of Thrones so I wasn't too bothered. 

Unseen

Unseen
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of NetGalley

Welcome to the Kingdom of Hades, where even its prodigal princess sleeps lightly.

After fighting Soul Stealers in Detroit, Khara hoped to return home to find answers in her father's realm. But the land of the dead offers little information, and far too much tragedy. Now cut off from her brothers, and left only with her dark and unreliable companion Oz, Khara must navigate the centuries-old webs of deceit and betrayal, all while eluding the Underworld's most depraved inhabitant. But she soon finds an unexpected ally in her adopted sister Persephone. Together, they endeavor to right a terrible wrong. And as Khara soon discovers, there's more riding on her success than she ever thought possible.

So I read and reviewed the first one of this series, and I loved it, it was original and it kept me engrossed, and this one was no exception, the rich and original mythology/history/background was continued in this book and we saw more of Hades and the Underworld and learned more too. 

Unseen is a perfect continuation in other areas as well, it picks up directly after Unborn so you can jump straight back in to the story where you left off pretty much. 

Khara and Oz in this book are so perfect, I loved them and their relationship, they have chemistry and there's a tension between the two of them that carries across well and you can practically feel it! I ship them so badly! Oz is now a dark one, and has taken it upon himself to be Khara's personal protector and has even decided to be decision maker, it's quite funny and sweet and he's mildly annoying with it because you kinda wanna slap him,  but he's still a likeable character. Khara is a more likeable character this round as well, she's developed more, and has more care for her family. 

I love this series and it keeps getting better, and I love Khara's brother, and need more of them because they crack me up! I also love how Hades is her adoptive father, and with the next book, I'm looking forward to seeing more of him and seeing him and her brothers and how they all get along. As well as Persephone getting what's coming to her! What a cow. 

I wasn't sure where this was going until nearly the end of the book to be honest, although I had my suspicions about Persephone, I wouldn't have trusted her as easily as Khara did. It was still an unexpected set of baddies that came to light, and it was totally awesome seeing the Gods and stuff. I'm undecided about Deimos to be honest, I can't decide what his deal is, who's side he's on and so on. 

This is a fantastic sequel that matches it's predecessor in awesome, and it's generally a fantastic series. It's original, it's unique, it's got character's that jump out from the page, and a ship that you're still waiting to get their act together! Not to mention Hades is kinda cool. Bless him. I'm excited to see what's going to happen next and where the story is going to go next! 

Deadly Curiosities

Deadly Curiosities
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy!
Source: ARC Courtesy of NetGalley

Deadly Curiosities is one of those books that you request to review, and you're so excited to read it you can't wait to be accepted. The synopsis immediately piqued my interest, antique and curio shop....shadowy alliance of mortals and mages...supernatural items...being able to touch stuff and know it's history (one of the coolest gifts ever)...500 year old jewel thief vampire (I can smell the romance already)...I mean, it has all the hallmarks of a great read, not to mention the third bloke on the cover that screams love triangle, and frankly, I wasn't disappointed.

While you might read the blurb and think it might be like any other supernatural books with vampires, or a bit of fluff or whatever, while there's nothing wrong with that, this book is so far from being a bit of fluff. I'm always looking out for books that are intriguing to me, but also unique or a bit odd or wacky, not a cookie cutter book basically. Just from the blurb I was drawn in because it sounded like I was in for a treat.

As soon as I started reading, I immediately slipped in to the familiar world of Urban Fantasy, slipping in to the story was like being wrapped in your favourite blanket, while the genre was familiar, and some aspects where, there was plenty in the  book to make it unique and stand out, and as everyone who reads my reviews knows...I love unique! However, those aspects I just mentioned? The ones that add to the whole "favourite blanket thing"? Those would be the wording used. I'm a Mortal Instruments fan and for me, the only other time the word Mundane has been used to describe regular people is in TMI, so for me while at first it was bit of a jolt, the familiar terminology made it easy to slip in to the book.

The world Martin has created was truly very well written. I mean, I want to move to Charleston, the pull is so great. A lot of the time we just get the whole "the town is called this, this happened and blahblahblah" which ya know, is kinda great cos you're not bogged in information, but I've got to say, I was loving the rich history of the place woven in to the book, not to mention the culture, it was all included expertly with no info-dump of doom. Martin really is talented, the blend of all that rich history and culture with the fictional paranormal elements was truly perfect.

The world was written so very atmospherically and cinematically, that you can so easily picture yourself strolling down the sidewalks, perusing the antique shops, sitting outside a cafe for lunch, then checking out the museums before heading back to the B&B to have dinner before hopping on a ghost tour. It's the kinda place you can just imagine living in so easily. Which sounds weird, but yeah.

For me, the pacing at the beginning was perfect. I eagerly started to read, and I was hooked straight from the beginning and unable to put the book down, although the pace burned out towards the middle, then picked back up for the end, it wasn't for me personally, a struggle to get through, I just couldn't put the book down despite the pacing issue.

Characters, well, I rarely get to read an Urban Fantasy book where the characters have such natural and modern voices. Usually it's either too modern/try hard, which means that every single phrase or saying or abbreviation (totes for example) is used so much you lose the will to live, or it's kind of just blah. The narrative and the characters voices was smooth like chocolate! (har de har) Martin has written her characters so well, and with such depth that even the secondary characters jump off the page and shout "Look at me" at you.

Now, as I said before, when reading the synopsis, I could practically smell the romance. Turns out I might need to have my nose checked out. There was no romance going on, which I was a bit sad about, because I figured there was a prime opportunity and I was expecting it, but the disappointment soon faded because it was quite refreshing for there not to be a romance. Not to mention the fact I've read far too many books of late where a romance has been awkwardly shoved in when it really shouldn't have even existed and thus made me hate the book. Depending on where you fall on the whole "I NEED ROMANCE" and "'I'm really not fussed" you'll have a different opinion.

Now History nerd that I am, I loved the flashbacks whenever our lead touched an item, they where written with just as much care and detail as every scene in the book, and where so vivid. The pure amount of hauntings, paired with the creepy flashbacks, usually featuring death, gives this book a ghost story type feel, which really makes it stand out from every other Urban Fantasy book on the shelf.

Another thing I loved about the book was that when it was dark, it was DARK, nothing was done halfway or half assed, but this was tempered by the humour present in the book.

You can always tell when a book is exceptional when you want more, and I most certainly want more of Deadly Curiosities, I'm eagerly awaiting the next book, and I'm tempted to check out Soren's series while I'm waiting!

Deadly Curiosities, is a unique, and intriguing new addition to a tired old genre filled with samey books, once you dive in, it's impossible to get out, the book remains glued to your hand and you're left wanting more! It's also refreshingly free of romance, although I was expecting a love triangle thanks to the cover, not gonna lie!

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!