Cobweb Forest (Cobweb Bride #3) by Vera Nazarian

Cobweb Bride, the first in this series, was one of my 2013 favourite reads.
In fact, it probably was my "favourite read of them all".
I fell head over heels about everything in it: The characters _especially the beginning of the relationship between Percy and the Black Knight _, the setting, the plot, and finally the writing.
It was serious fangirl material for someone like me, someone who loves Patricia A. Mckillip's and Juliet Marillier's stories.

With the second one, Cobweb Empire, stars were still shinning in my eyes, but something begun sounding a little off.
Its magnificence was unquestionable, but the seeds of something that I particularly dislike reading, were planted there. You see, towards the end of the second one, and most especially with this third volume, the relationship between the characters, and even the tone of the book, starts sounding as something out of minstrel stories: the ones that exalt love and friendship (not my favourite literary subject  I admit).

And even the writing shows a significant change. More opulent and heavy handed, it didn't however capture my interest as the writing style of the first book did.
I admit that I am very picky with writing styles these days: I like beautiful prose...but I am not a big fan of purple one, nor I am a fan of what I perceive as a high dose of pointless adjectives.
That way, what is supposed to come out as deep and insightful, for me ends up sounding cheesy and boring.

I am afraid that's what I feel happened here.
The characters feel as if all of them have lost their personality. The plot became too convoluted and I honestly found myself forcing me to finish it.
The thing is, I wanted to read about Percy, Claere, Beltain, and the likes. I couldn't care less about all the Gods and Goddesses _as well as other people...such as Jack Frost...Jack Frost?? _that end up high-jacking the book...and turning it into something completely dissonant from the first book.

As it is, the romances end up being downplayed _ which makes this feel slightly YA _ and certain characters end up behaving "out of tone".
Yes, I am talking about the two spoiled aristocrats. That behaviour is SO not them!
o_O????
This rating doesn't reflect however the author's writing capacity. Much on the contrary.
The thing is, in most cases, less is more, and this had one too many balls up in the air...at least it had for me.

But who knows?
Maybe you will love it! :)

Author's Official Page

Buy " Cobweb Forest"
@Bookdepository.com

Death Marked ( Death Sworn #2) by Leah Cypess

                                  

                                   Arc provided by Harper Collins Children through Edelweiss

                                                             Release Date: March 3rd

I am just going to come out and say this, a little like pulling a band aid, fast and clean:
I did not enjoy reading this story, and since I am not a fifteen year old girl, no, that reason doesn't have anything to do with what ends up happening in the end (don't worry, no one dies..at least no one that relevant to the story).

The main reason that made me at numerous times consider to DNF this, has something to do that, once again the world building is practically non existent. But this time on a bigger scale. Because if in the first volume, the story took place inside some caves, now Ileni has been captured by the Empire..and I was thinking big, you know?
But no such luck.

Death Sworn ends, and three days later, Death Marked starts....for me this feels lazy.
Once again too much tell, not enough show..
The story starts with Ileni being held captive by the Empire ( a very small Empire who only has a Jack /Jane of all trades to all important leading roles in the story..very disappointing), and then being conveniently contacted by Sorin...though you'll have to hold on until the last pages to figure out this apparently whimsical activity, as well as many, many others.

I am sorry to say this, but this time Ileni is severely lacking in all the things that made her praise worthy in the first book, and if on one hand, I could be led into believing that what she goes through is believable due to her age: the indecision, the not knowing in whom to trust, on the other, no one wants to read the story of someone who is constantly considering changing sides.
 As a consequence she sounds weak and pathetic.

Thing is, for about 85 or even 90 percent of this narrative, I would give this a one star/one and half star rating:
This was just boring with apparent tstl actions and characters. It really was too much to ask of its readers to keep reading something so basic and undeveloped.
However, the last part reveals part of the motives behind what appeared to be tstl actions.

Also the way in which the author chooses to follow a "less travelled" road for the the way the story ends, could be seen from two different angles:
The innovative one, in the sense that the author pulls the rug under our feet, giving us instead a completely different story. One told on a definite smaller scale.

On the other hand, and having already read the author's other series, I am afraid that I am finding a pattern here:
When things get tough, the author seems to follows the less troublesome road, and that isn't good, because these are fantasy books, not coming of age realistic stories.

In fact I started this review with the intention of giving this _ grudgingly _ a 2.5 star rating, but now on second thought I can't help feeling that I was pulled a fast one.
Also, the romances in Leah Cypess's world continue to be treated in a severely lacking way. Especially in the latest instalments of both series, and although I am a big fan of the "boys with the bread" type of character, I was not a fan of what happened here. Or of what may happen..

Bottom Line: I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.
This doesn't have anything to do with HEA in the story's, it has to do with feeling that the characters made the effort.
And the thing is, I read and enjoyed Death Sworn because of two characters not because of one, and Sorin never pretended to be something he wasn't...

I understand what the author tried to do. She tried to create layers and more layers to the story, but not having enough world building to support them, by not being able of creating strong relationships between the characters _ what happens in the end is another proof _, and having girl on girl hate, made it impossible for me to enjoy this.


Author's Official Site

Pre-order "Death Marked"
@Bookdepository.com

Please Remain Calm (This Is Not A Test # 2 ) by Courtney Summers

Unlike This Is Not A Test, which I absolutely love and is one of my all time favourites, Please Remain Calm is more of a straightforward zombie book.

First of all, it's told from Rhys' point of view, therefore less bleak and suicidal, and more focused on surviving and making sure Sloane survives with him.

I really, REALLY liked Rhys!

I never thought I'd get to say this about anything taking place in these books' universe, but I laughed quite a few times, what with one of Rhys' more pressing concerns being his desperate need to pee while zombies were afoot, but an absurd, yet realistically understandable fear of becoming a zombie mid stream and spending the rest of the apocalypse as a zombie with his dick out.

We still get a lot of Sloane, and while she isn't much better (how could she, poor girl) she seems more willing to go on with her life.

Of course, this wouldn't be a novella in the This Is Not A Test universe without completely breaking the readers' heart...

Regardless, if you liked This Is Not A Test (and who didn't?), this is an absolute must read!

Author's Official Page

 Buy "Please Remain Calm"
Nook | Kindle [.ca] | iTunes | Kobo | Google Play

This Shattered World (Starbound #2) by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars was, hands down, my favourite book of 2014. I loved everything about it: the relatable characters, the creepy plot, the mystery, the way my heart was ripped out of my chest, but mostly what I loved the most was the very sloooooow build of the relationship between Violet and Tarver.

And while This Shattered World was wonderful: great plot, amazing characters, etc. It lacked that slow build. 

It wasn't insta-love by any means, but it was insta-lust. 

And while it can be argued that Jubilee and Flynn were in a different situation, more open to this than the one in The Broken Stars which was one of fighting for survival among dangerous flora, fauna and a super creepy entity which inhabited the planet in which they crashed, it still felt... rushed.

It seemed too much tell not enough show when it came to Jubilee's and Flynn's relationship. For instance, Flynn takes Jubilee as his prisoner and we are told he visited her several times which, among other things, lead to a greater attachment between the two.
I would have liked to have been shown that, not told.

Also, the greatest mystery wasn't much of a mystery to anyone who'd read the first book. And the identity of the rebel instigating the war wad no mystery at all...

This whole book, with its 390 pages, felt... rushed.

That's not to say it wasn't a great read, Spooner and Kaufman are a magic team when it comes to writing!

So go read it :)

Amie Kaufman's Official Page 

Meagan Spooner's Official Page 

Buy "This Shattered World":

@Bookdepository.com

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

I admit to some hesitation when deciding whether or not to read this book, since it's a retelling of The Goose Girl and this has never been one of favourite fairy tales, what with the main character being a passive, somewhat stupid character because the brothers Grimm were women hating pos.

Plus there was that whole issue with Falada, the talking horse, and I, as anyone who has watched The Neverending Story, can't really deal with stuff AT ALL.

Whomever is familiar with The Goose Girl already knows the plot to this retelling - except the main villain in this story is a female David Bowie in Labyrinth, owl, glitter, and "You have no power over me!" included, much to my delight.

Admittedly Alyrra made me want to shake some sense into her, especially when she offered to help Valka, (the lady who stole her identity) along.
That was really the character doing something to fit the plot... But it's one of the few failing in this book.

Alyrra is less passive than the Goose Girl in the fairy tale. Or perhaps equally so, but we're given the reasoning behind her passivity.
She just doesn't want to be a princess, to her being a princess and physical abuse go hand-in-hand.
And she's quite happy being a goose girl, though I can't fathom why:

                                                  pictured: Hitchcock's inspiration, probably

Still this book was a very pleasant surprise, a great fairy tale retelling!

Author's Official Site 

Buy "Thorn" (With Free Worldwide Delivery!)

@Bookdepository.com 

Then Came You ( Gamblers #1 ) by Lisa Kleypas

Addictive for certain, but did it have to had so much drama?

If this had been cut to half its size, it would get a solid four star rating!
As it was, it was just too much: I am an emotional wreck by now, and it's six o'clock in the morning! o_O

The positives:
The banter between the main characters.
The fact that they pretty much hate each other guts on sight, and for quite some time (yes, I choose to place this amongst the positives, lol)

The fact that neither of them is your typical a hundred per cent leading character stereotype.

The negatives
We have a character whose family has placed her aside, and suddenly there she is..and there they are...in another person's house all together, and "fiddle dee dee" everything is fine.

The way Lily addresses a friend of her, a male friend of her, in the presence of her parents and everyone else who would like to hear her: Zach this, Zach that...
I am not usually a snob of this type of thing, but the thing just felt too modern and irritating.

The predominance of accents in this story: I pretty much hate this type of thing. This is a pet peeve of mine, I confess.
I understand if we are given a little to demonstrate the character's talking patterns, but too much of it?
It blocks the fluidity of the writing.

The fact that the main character Alex entertains the idea of invading a woman's bedroom and forcing herself to her...it's only an idea, but the cavalier way he reasons with himself that they shall be married in a couple of weeks, and okay, she'll cry but they're engaged...left me less than pleased with him.

The way Alex deals with Lily's fears of intimacy, which is pretty much doing as it pleases him, and of course she ends up enjoying it _of course _ so, who cares?

The way friendship is dealt in this book: Derek is the most pathetic excuse of a friend I've ever read about. o_O

The scene in which Lily loses a wager to Alex, in Derek's club and the way everyone deals with it, was extremely cringe-worthy and less than romantic.

The fact that the characters insist on not making use of their tongs, for things known as, speaking to one another!

Hey, apparently I disliked it more than I had realized!

Author's Official Site

 

Buy ( or not...but apparently the second one is better!):

Bookdepository.com 

(as you can see the covers don't match, however the ISBN's are the same. My advice would be to contact BD so they can guarantee _or not _ that the new cover is indeed this one.)

Avon Books 

The Huntress by Barbara Karmazin

"Please check my emails for me. My email addy is lounge-lizard@lunanet.com. My password is Shrennanlive.
Yours, now and forever, Rulagh." He'd only met her two days ago and already he trusted her enough to give her his password and let her read his email.
She'd dated Daniel for three years and she still didn't know his password, let alone have complete access to his private email account.

I can't believe that, in the future, people go around fucking space lizards but we haven't progressed further than email...
This is that Back to the Future II lack of hoverboard sadness all over again.

Death Sworn (Death Sworn #1) by Leah Cypess

This was a very compelling fast paced read, with characters that actually behave according to logic, despite their age. Imagine that.

The only negative point of this story, its the world-building that is actually extremely vague to say the least.

I was left with no idea of the time period in which the story takes place: Yes, I know it is a fantasy tale in which certain people possess magic. But besides that...

There's three factions _lets call them that _ in this world. We have the Empire who are the bad guys although I am not sure why, the Renegai, which are the people with magical abilities, and the Assassin's which *surprise, surprise* act according to their name.

Nothing far fetching and difficult to follow as you can see.

As expected in the supposed epic fantasy tales _ this one more fantasy, than actually epic _ there's conspiracy's and treachery's in the characters lives.

There will be a obstacle that the main character will have to overcome...or not:

"She was seventeen years old, and she felt as ancient as the rocks surrounding her.
And there was nowhere to go except forward, deeper into those rocks, where her death lay waiting."

But when it comes to the setting and the atmosphere of the story....it was just meh.

Caves. Caves. Caves. Bleak caves.

There's food...so chimneys maybe? And who cooks?

The worst killers of them all? Not the worst because those end up dead, but you see what I mean.

______

A cave full of young assassins who are always training...training equals sweat=stink= lots of water..so how does that work out?

Just basic things like this, that I wish would have been described so that the world would have felt more coherent.

We have someone who lived seventeen years out in the open air, and suddenly faces a lifetime _ however short it may turn out to be _ in confinement.

 It must have felt as if she was being buried alive. And although the subject is occasionally mentioned, I didn't felt as if it was properly developed.

I'll give you an example...here's how I look like after a day with no Sun:

Now imagine being stuck for weeks bellow the surface....

The romance..

Truth be told that I wouldn't have had the slightest problem if it had taken a little longer _lol _ to appear.

But, even as it is, it was not heavily handed, and most importantly the characters remained true to their actual self.

His laugh hurt more than his grip, which was growing tighter and tighter. “Until you came along, and changed everything? Is that what you believe?”

So, did I liked it?

Yes, despite its world-building "issues", I ended up liking it because I liked the characters.

Now of to read the second volume of this duology , Death Marked, because I have an Arc ;)

Hopefully it will compensate the world-building deficiencies of the first book.

Author's Official Site

Buy "Death Sworn"

@Bookdepository.com (pre-order the paperback edition March 3 rd)

Or if you're impatient:

@Bookdepository.com (Hardback edition)

Book Pictures, rejoice! ;)

Kevin Hearne's book is the first of a series that I've been meaning to start for awhile now.

As things are, maybe I'll be able to start it next year...no I am not kidding.

I bought Kelly Gay's first book in the series last year, and I still haven't been able to read it :/

And I want to!

Mercedes Lackey's book, Beauty And The Werewolf, is part of a series that I have been following _more or less, The Five Hundred Kingdoms _ some are favourites, like the first, "The Fairy Godmother" or the one about Sleeping Beauty _can't remember its name now _ others were okay like "One Good Knight", and others were a little, This Is Not Good (the third of the series).

What made me decide to  finally buy it?

Well, look at that cover: gorgeous, right?

The thing is, I have the previous ones in mass market, so it would be logic to buy this in that format as well...but I was having second thoughts, and I was considering buying the Hard-cover edition...until the day I found out that it was no longer available through BD o.O...that made me run to get this...despite the fact that it was about 2 euros more expensive than it used to be. Not happy!

Then because I requested the third of Sharon Lee's book I thought it probably made some sense, to, you know, read the first two o.O

On the positives, I think I may have found a favourite new series: because let's face it, I still don't have enough of them! lol

On the negatives: MORE SERIES TO FOLLOW!

Carla M. Soares book has been getting a lot of positive comments _ okay, mostly by Portuguese people, because its actually written in my own language and I don't think there's any translation to English _ so I have big expectations for it, mainly because with the exception of Portuguese classics, I normally don't read Portuguese contemporary books .since they tend to get on my nerves with their: "we are sad, and bleak, and deep...and literary, and you'll have no pleasure while reading us, because WE ARE THAT GOOD."

p.s. Yes, I am a book snob when it comes to Portuguese literature. :/

p.p.s.- Margarida Góis' YA series being the exception to the norm because they are Really Well Written!

And interesting to read about!

Arc approvals

Because I always want to read what I still haven't read...

Because I can't resist an enticing book synopsis..

Or the most recent book of an author who has written one of my all time favourite books...

Because the combination of all of the above plus a pretty cover _yes, I can't resist them _ makes it impossible for me to resist...

Because I am who I am, and books are my addiction.

These are my latest Netgalley approvals :D