Gutenberg's Apprentice

Gutenberg's Apprentice
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr/the publisher

Gutenberg's Apprentice is the tale of a young German scribe, called home to be apprenticed to Johann Gutenberg, who just happens to be the guy who printed the first Bibles. Peter has to come to terms with the fact that the trade he loves is a dying breed, and soon will be obsolete in the face of printing presses. But will he be able to finally find the beauty/genius in these new printed books? Change is everywhere and we get a front row seat to it!

Okay...I gave it three....hear me out. I know everyone loves this book, and I was very excited to grab it from Bookbridgr to review, and while I did find it fascinating, I had to be honest in my review. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the bits to do with the first press and everything they faced was fascinating/interesting/mind boggling/stupendous, and so on, but for the most part I did find it hard to get in to and to actually concentrate on and come back to it if I left it, I also couldn't get a connection to the characters, the characters lacked depth in themselves and their relationships, I'm not too sure if this was on purpose or not.

The writing was beautiful, the descriptions intricate, but that also came with the downside that there was so much description it slowed things down for me. I mean, the writing was incredibly formal sometimes, very technical and history bookish, and it kind of kept me, as a reader, at a distance, I felt very disconnected from the characters, I could see some of them had very interesting personalities, and they all seemed quite promising, but there wasn't the right depth to them, they could have been explored so much more. There's a lot of bickering between the characters, particularly those working with the press, I mean....maybe it was a little bit bantery at points, but there wasn't much in the way of positive bonding between the characters.

I was quite disappointed we didn't get more of a glimpse in to characters lives, I mean we got loads of Peter's and it was his story, but there could have been more of the others! I didn't really feel much for Peter, I thought he was a bit ridiculous a couple of times, and he annoyed more than once, I mean it's hard to explain without giving much of the story away! I didn't like him nor did I really dislike him.

We're reading at the time of the press, but we also jump ahead in time, 35 years if I remember correctly, to Peter telling the story to an abbot who's writing it down, for me, these little jumps just seemed a bit like they where there purely for intrigue or a break from the narrative. Which isn't bad, but I didn't feel they had much point, but maybe I was missing something because it did reach a point when I wasn't paying too much attention!

The author gives us a wealth of information, all of which is historically accurate and clearly well researched if not necessarily relayed in the best manner. However, there where a lot of historical events that where going on around the time of the first press, all of which where crammed in to the book, a couple where delved in to with lots of detail and focus and so on, while the majority weren't delved in to deeply enough, which was a shame seeing as they where all crammed in there, there could have been appropriate detail on all! While I did find it fascinating, at least the ones explained in depth, if a little bit of a slog to get through, I felt that the majority weren't given the right amount of attention, and not all of them where really necessary seeing as none of them had much bearing on making the characters more pleasing to me to be honest! They contributed to the world building, but the ones that weren't given much detail where just like "why are you here?!".

This is just my opinion and me being honest, and I really wanted to love this book, the writing was beautiful, it was clearly well researched and historically accurate, and the world was fairly vivid and intricately detailed, I just found myself losing interest a couple of times and being kind of bored when I wasn't fascinated, but then maybe I just read this when I wasn't in the right mood!

Familiar Things

Familiar Things
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: ARC courtesy of the author!
For Fans Of: Dearly, Departed.....DUH.

Sixteen year old Everrose Morgantwill is a witch, albeit a not very good one, all of her spells never work properly unless it's in aid of someone else, and everyone has trouble remembering her and her name, including her own parents! Everrose lives in the idyllic All Hollows County, a world secret from our world, protected and hidden by strong wards created by powerful witches and warlocks to protect those with magic from the persecution magic users received in our world...you know....Salem witch trials and everything. Everyone uses magic freely in All Hallows, and the ward, known as the Nestle Ward has a really, really cool side effect.....in our world it's 2015...but in All Hollows? It's 1958. Yep, they're behind us by quite a few years!

Everrose's life is about to take a turn for the complicated and ever so slightly weird, her steady boyfriend, Vincent has just returned from Currens, a trip from our world over the summer, basically, and he's not his usual self you could say. Instead of being his  lovely, affectionate and kind self, he's sullen and withdrawn and has some ideas that could get him in a lot of trouble! Troubled by his behaviour, Everrose distracts herself by searching for her familiar before school starts, in between sewing new outfits, experimenting with red lipstick and daydreaming about prom, something all sixteen year olds in All Hollows do. But when she makes the Connexion....another problem surfaces.

You see she makes her connection with a huge, terrifying Wildeor called a Trothenbeast. Only very powerful witches and warlocks attract wildeors as familiars, so some are suspicious as to how she has one as a familiar, not to mention the so called best friend who's so jealous she turns her back on her. As if that wasn't weird enough, Typhon fails to alert her to the presence of magic like a familiar should do, and fails to shadow her, so he pretty much acts nothing like a familiar is supposed to. THEN she finds out Typhon...can talk. Turns out he's been cursed by a witch called Ebonella Rosu, and she wants him back.

Everrose has to face a witch who wants her dead, a familiar who needs her protection, and a boyfriend who's changing before her eyes, not to mention pushing everyone away and teaming up with the wrong person. Everrose needs help, and she's surprised to get it from a very unlikely source, her boyfriends moody and mysterious adoptive father, the Mayor, who happens to be the only person in town who ever remembers her once she's left his presence. What secrets does Roderick Olwen harbour? And what do they have to do with Everrose herself? Will she be able to keep her familiar?

"If they where any greener with envy, we could zap them through the Ward and make the Laysiders think they where being invaded by Martians"

Duuuddeee I love Lia Habel! Like seriously, I stumbled across Dearly, Departed at the library, read it, absolutely loved it and then went to buy my own copy so I could read it again and again, and don't even get me started on the second book! Still holding out/hoping for a third book! So when Lia tweeted she was working on something new....my excitement and curiosity slowly started to build, and when she finally told us what it was? And offered ARCs to bloggers? I pretty much happy danced and metaphorically shoved people out the way to email her, then when it arrived in my inbox? Total freak out, it was a while before I calmed down!

I read Familiar Things in a couple of hours, I finished at about 1am and immediately felt bereft, I didn't want to leave the world and the characters of the book behind, I wanted to carry on reading, and kept wishing new pages would appear, I totally loved it and I'm so excited there's going to be a sequel I can't even cope with my excitement for it to be released! I'm sure you've guessed that this is going to be one of those rambling with excitement, reviews that I do.

Familiar Things is the one thing I value in books above all else. It's unique. Totally and completely unique from page one, from its premise and concept to it's characters and its world. Everything is completely and totally unique and I loved every minute of it. This book is unlike anything I've read before, familiars that pick you? Wildeors? Wards protecting All Hollows that means they're behind the modern world? The different types of magic? Literally EVERYTHING!

I was hooked from page one, and it was impossible to put the book down....so I didn't. I really loved the vibe of the book, 50's with the music and the clothes and the makeup and the gadgets and everything, it was a very well created vibe that oozed off the page and was infectious, along with the atmosphere! To be honest, it kind of reminded me of Halloweentown, particularly when I realized Everrose legit has a dress with pumpkins all over it that she doesn't just wear for Halloween, so it reminded me of that, but so much better and cooler really.

The world building was so incredibly vivid, I felt like I'd been sucked in to the world, which is quite probably why I didn't want to leave ya know, I mean why would I?! There's magic everywhere. I love magic! Every single one of the characters had plenty of depth and where so very well written, there's hidden sides to everyone, and the secondary characters can very well stand on their own, even if they weren't in it much, and some of which had a bigger role than initially thought, like the Mayor for example. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of some of these secondary characters in the next book, particularly as she'll have to tell Merle and her family about her powers!

I loved Everrose, I mean she turns out to be a fairy godmother, and I didn't see that coming at all, but the explanation for her powers and what she is and the mythology behind it was so awesome and I don't really need to mention the U word again do I? You guys got the picture right? She was such a colourful character, she was strong, willing to stand up for herself when it comes down to it, and she was so loyal to Typhon and willing to do anything for anyone, she's very selfless and sympathetic to everyone, and I just totally loved her and connected with her from the go. I really, really freaking love her character more than I have words for! The same can be said for Typhon! Who was totally more than he seemed, and he was just kind of awesome really wasn't he? I mean....he talks, and he's all RAAAARRR and so loyal to Everrose and willing to do what he did to help her.

I also really liked he mayor, despite the fact I thought he was a bit of a douche in the beginning and at a few other times, like seriously, HE COULD HAVE TOLD HER I MEAN REALLY MAYOR?! But yeah. I really liked him too, the fact he was so willing to help Everrose with feeding Typhon "for the Hollow", yeah whatever Mayor, and was driving her round everywhere and just so willing to let her hang out with him and talk to her like an actual person and not a child, and the fact he actually ya know...remembers her! Everrose has no-one to really talk to and help her, and the Mayor is all "you can talk to me if you ever need someone to talk to" and I was like man...is it wrong that they're fast becoming my BROTP!? I mean he's kind of too old to be her legit BFF, but I seriously am beginning to ship them as my new BROTP, they're hilarious together, their banter had me cracking up so much, thank God I wasn't reading this in a public place! I don't even like insects and bugs, I really really hate them,  won't let them near me, I literally run away screaming, but to be honest, I'll make an exception for Clackwell, he seems quite cool for an insect, I might even use the word....cute. Operating the pedals? SO CUTE.

Like I said, Familiar Things is atmospheric and the atmosphere and vibe of the book ooze off the page and pretty much engulf you and totally pass it on to you. The book really got me in the 50's mood, I'm not gonna lie, I usually do the eyeliner and red lipstick with the quiffed front hair and the ponytail, that's about as 50's as I go, and I'm fairly certain it doesn't really count, but this book has really made me be in the mood to do my makeup all 50's, I'm at acting class on Wednesday and Thursday, so I could totally get away with it! I haven't cracked out the red lipstick in agggesss mostly because I'm lazy but yeah. It's also swayed me in a clothing choice. I've found this really cool website ages ago with loads of 50's dresses and swimwear etc, and I think thanks to this book, I'm gonna take the plunge and buy some of the dresses and just do my own thing. Or ya know.....just move to All Hollows, I mean....Lia can totally make that happen...right?!

I should probably mention the lingo at this point. A lot of the time with books set in a different time, phrases native to the time are shoved everywhere and totally cliche and kind of annoys the hell out of you and sticks out like a sore thumb. The language was perfectly pitched and toned. It was subtle, it was there, but it was subtle, and very natural, so you knew it was the 50's by the language and the things mentioned, but it wasn't overdone so it seemed weird, you know what I mean? It didn't seem odd that certain phrases where used, and it didn't seem out of place, I'm really not explaining this very well, but any British person who's read a book by a US author that's set in England will know what I'm talking about, not every book, but a fair few, it's the same kind of thing and I'm going to shut up now, just know the language and the phrases etc? FANTASTIC.

The next book has subtly been set up without giving too much away, we know Vincent needs a smack upside the head, and there's going to be something going on with him in the next book, and his ideas, and see what he's doing with the dodgy guy, so we have some inclination of what's going to happen but really, that will only be a small part of the book....or it could be the main part...who knows? I don't, but I'm excited! I'm excited to see what happens, will they embrace the tech of 2015 (I hope not, I don't want to lose the 50's vibes), will Everrose end up with Vincent if he stops being a douche or will he continue to be a douche and there'll be a new romance? What will my BROTP do next?

I mentioned already that everyone has different magic abilities, so far we know that the Mayor is a necromancer, but not the usual kind, so you know, creepy and hangs with zombies, for a change he can't bring people back for more than a few hours, which was a refreshing change to the normal. And then we know Everrose is a fairy godmother, which I have never come across in a book before, and is going to present some interesting problems and dynamics in the next book I'm sure.

Now, don't lynch me for what I say next BUT, I quite enjoyed the fact that the book was focused on Everrose and her abilities and her relationship/friendship with Typhon and the bond they where forming, rather than on her romance with Vincent and how much of a douche he is, I mean their relationship was in there but it wasn't the main focus, which is rare! It was a secondary thing. The bond of friendship between Everrose and her familiar was complex and interesting to watch develop, particularly when YA is usually aaaaallll about the romance, and it's going to be interesting to see what's going to happen between her and Vincent in the next book, and their relationship and where it's going to go!

The plot, I thought, was intricate and had a lot of different threads to it, Vincent and what his problem was, the familiar issue, what Everrose is, Ebonella and so on, and it was all woven together to create a plot that totally drew you in and kept your attention the entire way through, it was engaging and entertaining and full of things going on. I was constantly surprised at all of the plot twists and turns, which isn't something I get to say often no matter how much I love a book or series, but this genuinely surprised me, I couldn't figure out what was going to happen next, and I was seriously on a rollercoaster. I wasn't expecting Vincent to go the way he did, I didn't work out what his problem was, I kind of thought he'd been hexed or something, I also wasn't expecting Everrose to be a fairy godmother, and the explanation for everyone forgetting her, I had so many crazy theories that where way crapper than the actual reason! And like I said, I was totally surprised by the Mayor as a character and him being such a nice bloke in the end!

Honestly, I don't know what Lia is worrying about! I love Dearly, Departed and I LOVED this book, I'm sure other fans of Dearly, Departed will love this book and new series too! Familiar Things is a different vibe, and a different subject matter, obviously, but it's still unique, still has Lia's unique twist and mesmerizing storytelling abilities, and whatever magic Lia works to make the atmosphere and vibe ooze off the page, totally infect you and get you in the vibe of the book, and whatever vortex/portal Lia uses to pull you in to the world! I honestly didn't want this to end and I was so sad when it did, but then Lia told me there's going to be a sequel so I'm sure I can handle the wait!

Wishing For Wednesday #13

Soooo this week, I'm really, really excited for the next in a series of mine that I've been reading for YEARS and I always go ages and then I'm like "oooh I wonder if there's a new one yet" and so yeah. Woo!
Then there's a new book by a favourite author of mine, I've read all her other series and so I'm excited to see what's in store with this one!
Finaaallyy I have got the second book in a series, by another favourite author of mine, which is looking to be an exciting one!
I should note now, that there's not many books out this month that have made my WFW, sooo there's gonna be a week with only one and a couple weeks with only two, and so far December is shaping up to be the same! I'll try and stretch them out but I do like doing them the week before they're released if possible!

Anyways on with things!

Reap The Wind

You’d think that being Chief Seer for the supernatural world would come with a few perks. But as Cassie Palmer has learned, being Pythia doesn’t mean you don’t have to do things the hard way. That’s why she finds herself on a rescue mission skipping through time—even though she doesn't entirely understand her dimension-bending new power. 

Rescuing her friend John Pritkin should have been an in and out kind of deal, but with the near-immortal mage’s soul lost in time, Cassie has to hunt for it through the ages—with Pritkin’s demon dad in tow. He’s the only one who can reverse Pritkin’s curse, but with the guardians of the time-line dead set on stopping anyone from mucking about, Cassie will have to figure out how to get her friend back without ruffling too many feathers—or causing a world-ending paradox or two...

Reap The Wind is out now! Buy your copy here.

A Thousand Pieces Of You 

Marguerite Caine’s physicist parents are known for their radical scientific achievements. Their most astonishing invention: the Firebird, which allows users to jump into parallel universes, some vastly altered from our own. But when Marguerite’s father is murdered, the killer—her parent’s handsome and enigmatic assistant Paul—escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite can’t let the man who destroyed her family go free, and she races after Paul through different universes, where their lives entangle in increasingly familiar ways. With each encounter she begins to question Paul’s guilt—and her own heart. Soon she discovers the truth behind her father’s death is more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores a reality where we witness the countless other lives we might lead in an amazingly intricate multiverse, and ask whether, amid infinite possibilities, one love can endure.

A Thousand Pieces Of You is out now! Buy your copy here

Waterfall

Eureka’s tears have flooded the earth, and now Atlantis is rising, bringing with it its evil king, Atlas. Eureka is the only one who can stop him, but first she must learn how to fight. She travels across the ocean with Cat, her family, and Ander, the gorgeous and mysterious Seedbearer who promises to help her find Solon, an enigmatic lost Seedbearer who knows how to defeat Atlas.

Once on land, Eureka is taunted by gossipwitches, a group of displaced Atlantean sorceresses, and ambushed by locals struggling to survive amid the destruction her tears have wrought. And she feels no closer to facing Atlas or saving the world when Solon lets slip that love is Ander’s weakness, and that any affection he feels toward her makes him age faster.

Trying to make sense of the dark world her sorrow has created, Eureka receives startling insight from an enchanted pond. Her bewildering reflection reveals a soul-crushing secret: if she’s strong enough, Eureka can draw on this knowledge to defeat Atlas—unless her broken heart is just what he needs to fuel his rising kingdom...

In Waterfall, Eureka has the chance to save the world. But she’ll have to give up everything—even love.

Waterfall is out November 6th, pre-order your copy here.

The Queen Of Zombie Hearts

The Queen Of Zombie Hearts
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!

It's been a month since the events of Zombie Glass, and things have calmed down to almost normal levels, Ali's ready to get even more serious with Cole, and thinks the horrors from Zombie Glass are behind her. But when Anima Industries launches a mass attack on the slayers, the objective to kill as many of them as possible, there are tragic consequences and the slayers find themselves in the middle of a war. The humans controlling the zombies are bigger monsters than the zombies themselves.

The slayers must prepare for the war they're about to fight, and they find themselves teaming up with another gang of slayers. Except, there's a mole and a traitor in their midst and no-one has any idea who it is, Ali starts seeing another witness who gives her, her powers, now Ali can control the zombies....and wipe memories, and as her abilities start to rack up and pieces fall in to place, a shocking family secret is revealed. Ali has been living in a lie and she's not who she thought she was. How will Cole and Ali's recently mended relationship endure the knowledge Ali has a connection to the woman who killed Cole's mother, not to mention Veronica's meddling little sister determined to break them apart. Secrets will come to light, 6 will die, a side effect of Ali's fire will leave them with an advantage, one will lose everything and Ali will fight her hardest to bring down Anima, even if that means sacrificing herself to stop her friends getting hurt, even if it means losing Cole.

"I'm On Board The Awesome Train And You Can Hop On Or Get Run Over" 

Jesus no. NO NO NO NOOOOOOOO. HOW COULD YOU GENA HOW COULD YOU?! Man I can't even. Don't get me wrong, the story is wrapped up fairly good, even if it is totally heartbreaking but man I need to know about Frosty, and I need to see what happens with Gavin and you know who! You totally left us hangingggg! Also the little brat should not have gotten off so lightly because UGH. So many feels. So many. I finished this at like 3am and I'm just sitting there like "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" I mean this whole time I figured like a miracle would happen, not this. Waaaaa!

I love this series, I really do, and even though I know there's not really anything left to warrant a fourth book, well I guess there is but it's not that brilliant, I need a fourth book for ultimate closure because there was so many things left open, we got told about Gavin and a girl but never knew if it happened or not, then there's the whole Frosty issue, like my poor baby I need to know what happens to him! Then there's what happened to Reeve and yeah. A lot of things left partially open.

Like I said, I love this series, and yes I gave it five stars, well I did originally give it five stars, by the time you're reading this, I'll have switched it to four after I realize that with the little things I picked up on I couldn't really keep it at five without looking like an idiot, that's because it was a fantastic conclusion but I'm not blind to it's faults. SO I'm going to make a little note of them because as well as the things left open there where a couple of other things that where mildly annoying. Like I re-read the first two books before I got started on this one and I noticed a continuity error with Bronx's hair in the second book, and so for this book I had no idea whether it was right or wrong, but I noticed one huge continuity error and I wasn't sure whether to mention it or not because I really really love this series and it didn't change my star ranking, but then I need to be honest in this review so here we go. In this installment Ali says her father watched his mother be killed by Zombie's, but I'm 99% certain that it was his own father, her grandfather, that her father watched die. So yeah. Fairly big error there. The other thing is that to me, the ending felt a little rushed. Ali loses all her memories and she was only barely getting memories of Helen throughout the book, but one makeout session with Cole and she remembers everything, it didn't seem very legit, and it felt kind of rushed to me and I was a bit sad because I thought it was gonna be more of the book, then with the parts not entirely tied up or answered despite the fact it's the last book....so yeah. There we go. I said it.

HOWEVER the rest of the book was truly an explosive ending. The world continued to be vivid and suck you in entirely, it continued to be cinematic and atmospheric in parts. All of the characters are so very well written, there's more to all of them than meets the eye, like Veronica for example, they all have different sides and plenty of depth and this book continued to show that. I loved the development of certain characters, like Cole who now trusts Ali more, and then Gavin and his he-slut ways being put on hold for a girl. Growly Gavin is hilarious, and I continue to totally love Ali and Gavin's relationship, as friends duh, they make me laugh so much and Cole's reaction, particularly at the end is just hilarious.

Cole and Ali's relationship is going strong, and I liked how you could see he had changed from his reactions in this book to certain secrets, he didn't break up with her, he was a bit of a dick, but he made up for it, and he's come a long way from the whole "I'm gonna dump you because I'm actually a pansy". They're so adorable together, and it's so cute and all warm and fuzzy inducing!

We get new characters in River and his crew, I'd kind of like to know more about him and his gang of slayers, it's another of those things that where a bit oookaay, because while I liked him and yay for Kenzie and Chance (even though we don't know what actually happened), he and his gang just kind of sprang up out of nowhere. Before Gavin's crew has only been mentioned, but Cole has never before mentioned that there's another gang of slayers essentially up the road, and I was a bit stumped by it, because you'd have thought he might have mentioned it when Ali was asking about other slayers, and you'd have thought they'd have come across them before, they where kind of shoved in there! But I did enjoy them and the new characters they brought, and like I said, more of them would be greaaaat!

We get loads of backstory in this one. Backstory to Veronica, to Cole and his mother, to Ali herself. Turns out everything has  been a lie and everything we thought we knew was wrong and man I did not see it coming. Well not at first, but more on that later. We spent the first two books thinking we knew everything about Ali, but we really didn't. She's not who we think she is or who she thinks she is, and it turns out she has a connection to Veronica, which happens to be Veronica's ace (I knew we'd find that out, as well as the vision), and so yeah. Lots of background woven through without bogging down the narrative.

This installment continues to be dangerous to read in public. As heartbreaking as it was at points, there was still plenty of humour and bits that make you laugh out loud like a total loon if you're in a public place, and I loved the  blend of humour with the sadness and other emotions that made such a roller-coaster and lightened up a book that could have been very dark. I love the humour, particularly from Gavin, yes he's totally my favourite character, gutted there was hardly any jealous Cole, I mean he totally had it coming with the Zombie Glass thing and then the Camilla thing!

The plot was complex, with the background for certain characters, the secrets coming out that have been there since the beginning really, the mole, the other gang, the whole thing with Anima and what they where after and so on and so on, it was all woven together incredibly well, there was plenty of action and always something going on to keep you reading, the book is truly hard to put down because you just want to get back to it for one reason or another. The twists and turns where everywhere, some incredibly shocking, others where still shocking but slightly dulled, because while a fair few of the plot twists couldn't be guessed and you didn't see coming, there where a couple that if you put the clues together, Helen for instance, you could pretty much guess exactly who someone was or what was going to happen, or at least have a strong suspicion, so while you had known pretty much, the confirmation you where right was still shocking because I half expected to be totally wrong. But yeah, that was once instance among a couple, but there where loads I didn't guess, who was going to die for instance and who the mole was, those totally blindsided me and I'm still slightly not over it.

Queen Of Zombie Hearts has a couple of liiiiittle things that I picked up on, but all the same it was an explosive conclusion to a trilogy I love, entering the world again was like coming home and the characters where like old friends, it's a series, I for one, will re-read multiple times because I just love how each book, the game is upped and the stakes are higher, and they're at their highest in this installment. This conclusion is going to give fans feels. Bad feels, good feels, so many feels, I would strongly recommend chocolate to be consumed while reading, or alcohol, wine or vodka especially, if you're legal drinking age. Oh yeah. That kind of feels!

Nero's Fiddle

Nero's Fiddle
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: ARC Courtesy of Publisher

One... death by spontaneous human combustion is a rare act of God

Two... is surely a freakish coincidence

Three... well, that’s starting to look deliberate.

Cara's life has taken a change, she's settling in to married life in a house that makes Mausoleums look downright cheery and she's Queen Victoria's brand new artifact hunter. Meanwhile in London Inspector Fraser is investigating a series of strange deaths, ya know....death by Divine fire, strange, and it's certainly not a coincidence when it hits more than two. He finds himself having to enlist Cara's help to identify and locate the artifact that could be causing such horrifying deaths, but he hasn't quenched his desire to bring her husband to justice....awkward. 

Someone is determined to make sure decades old secrets stay buried and Cara has to figure out who's responsible before the case consumes her family (literally) and rocks the entire realm to its foundations. 

I LOVE THIS SERIES! Have a mentioned that lately!? I started it from book two, and I still haven't actually read the first book, but still....I LOVE THIS SERIES. It gets better and better and ugh. So much awesome. 

I love how we have two storylines, (Cara and Nate tracking down her father's artifact collection, and Fraser and said dodgy deaths) that perfectly converge in to one big, huge mystery that is pretty much impossible to work out for those of us who aren't Sherlock Holmes. The previous book was heavy on the adventure and the thrills, and light on the mystery, in contrast this installment is heavy on the mystery and I love a good mystery! 

This installment is also heavy on the character development! Like serious in depth look at certain characters! I've personally been waiting for this, we get more on Cara's family's past, which had me sitting there like "yaaaaaaaaassss", aaaand there's some insight in to Fraser and a load more of Nan and Nessy's history/friendship which is another "yaaaaaaaas", they even get their own chapters! And if that wasn't enough for you, there's even some back-story for the Queen!  

I still love Cara, she is still one of my favourite heroines, and I just really, really love her. She's so well written and I found myself having a strong connection to her again in this installment. 

As well as STILL not having read the first book, I have also failed to read the novella The Unicorns Tail so I was a tad bit confused with the whole Loki/Jackson/Amy thingy. But then I would imagine everyone's more on top of things than me and you all would have read it! Shame on me, I know! BUT I really love Loki, so I need to read the novella ASAP, I mean HELLO! Air pirate! What's not to love, more of him pleeaassee! 

It also has to be noted that the villain in this installment? Creepiest villain EVER. Truly shudder inducing and probably the best villain yet for that reason! As well as this incredibly creepy villain, we get new characters! Brick was my favourite, like seriously, best bodyguard ever! 

I love this series,  it's unique, it has steampunk, romance and the supernatural, and characters so well written with plenty of depth, they're characters that will stay with you after you've left the vivid and atmospheric world, and trust me, you never want to leave! 

Nero's Fiddle is another fantastic installment in a series I stumbled upon quite by accident, and have loved ever since, the series gets better and better as more little nuggets of information are leaked out each book and you get a better picture of the characters you love. Intricate with lots of historic detail, Nero's Fiddle is dark, cold and has disturbing depths, as well as lighter moments, it twists and turns and is everything we've come to love and expect from this series! I really can't wait for Moseh's Staff and I wish the series never had to end! 

GUEST POST: Sebastian Gregory

Heellooo folks!
So perhaps you remember this review I did back in June? The Asylum For Fairy Tale Creatures? Weellll the lovely author of that gem, Sebastian Gregory, has a new book out recently, The Boy In The Cemetery, and it's a proper Halloween read! So to keep with the Halloween theme, because Halloween is forever! Sebastian has put together his top 5 Halloween reads so I'll pass you over.....

Seb’s Top 5 Halloween Reads

The RAVEN by Edgar Allen Poe

The imagery is still as dark and unsettling as anything written .

IT by Stephen King

OMG IT’S A CLOWN!! IN THE DRAINS!!?

WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks

Because Zombies are cool.



THE BOOKS OF BLOOD by Clive Barker

Very varied and each story although a little hit and miss are all still horrific none the less.

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS by John Boyne

There is nothing more scary than real life.

Sebastian Gregory’s THE BOY IN THE CEMETERY is only £0.99 for a limited time on Amazon, Apple and other retailers. 

THE ASYLUM OF FAIRY TALE CREATURES is free for a limited time on Amazon, Apple and other retailers.

THE GRUESOME ADVENTURES OF ALICE IN UNDEADLAND is £0.99 for a limited time on Amazon, Apple and other retailers.

Look out for A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY, coming in December.