Book Review: Archangel’s Lineage

Book 11 of 2024

Archangel’s Lineage. (Guild Hunter #16) Written by Nalini Singh

Ah. Sigh. My favourite guilty pleasure series. I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS. Which understandable makes it very hard to be objective at all! In fact I do not think I will even try.

I loved that this series took us back to Elena & Raphael and gave us some more of their story.

I like that we showed a skip in time post the battles of the previous books, although as I often find in books, I was frustrated that people just don’t get to live happily every after, that there is always a new battle, or a new issue, or something else that is getting in the way. This one was a nice way to wrap up the legion storyline, which I thought was cool.

I would genuinely just like a book of all the seven in new york going about their normal life, and us getting a glimpse into that!

Overall I enjoyed it – but fully acknowledge my bias!

Mrs K

Book Review: A Court this Cruel & Lovely

Book 50 of 2023

A Court This Cruel & Lovely. Written by Stacia Stark (Kingdom of Lies series)

This book kind of sort of drove me nuts. I instantly didn’t hate the characters, and there was an air of mystery which worked quite well. However there was also in my opinion some very serious pace problems.

I had got through about 20% of the book when I found myself struggling to actually continue to read the book and not just give up. While I have come a long way with my readiness to leave books as DNF – it still does not quite sit right with me as I like to continue them – and with books I live in a world of perpetual hope where I think the book will get better.

To be fair this book did get better. A lot better. In about the last 5%. Unfortunately for me – it got so much better I immediately started book two – and now I worry I am going to repeat this whole cycle again!!

Researching for this review I see that Stacia Stark is originally from New Zealand – ironically this makes me more inclined to like the book – which we can all recognise as total bias!

Overall I genuinely do not know how I feel bout the book, it was good – but mostly at the end. The characters were well developed, but we got a lot of character development early which is what messed with the pace. Overall I am just not sold. The twists at the end were predictable, (but I fully admit that given how much of the genre I read I should be able to predict the twists and turns!) I will persevere with the second book and see how we go.

Mrs K

Genre: Kingdom of lies, Stacia Stark, fantasy, speculative fiction, kindle unlimited, romance, fae, magic, new adult, adult fantasy, paranormal, high fantasy,

Book Review: With Fire in their blood

Book 8 of 2023

With Fire in Their Blood. (Skeleton Keepers #1). Written by Kat Delacorte.

I LOVED this book, it was different, it was interesting, it was mostly well paced. It is set in the Italian City of Castello, which was a great setting. Although potentially could have been detailed a little more. I assumed from the beginning because of the vibes that I was getting from the setting that they were vampires, it turns out that they were not.

I really liked the concept, and the almost Romeo and Juliet esq idea that was there. I struggled with the motives of some of the characters, which seemed to lack any real consistency and reasoning. However the story was interesting enough that it was definitely able to carry my interest.

I loved the idea that the city was in our time but lacking modern technology and conveniences, however had other technology designed to help the system. I even kind of loved the teenagers attitude to school and the likes.

I also loved the Bi-curious nature of the main character, with scenes of interest with multiple people and sexes.

As with any book, and certainly any sereies there were definitely characters that were introduced that I wanted to know so much more about. However we were not there yet, and I am happy to accept that and wait!

Overall while the book was not perfect I am more than happy to give a slightly original concept in the YA world a 4.5 stars and look forward to the sequels! I would recommend this to my older students for an interest novel, but by no means something that we would study in class.

Mrs K

Side note – while we never judge a book by its cover – how gorgeous is that cover!!

Genre: Kat Delacorte, Fire in their Blood, Skeleton Keepers, retelling, Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Young Adult Fantasy, Contemporary, LGBT, Gothic, Magic, revenge, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Romance, Teenage fiction, Adolescent fiction, Urban Fantasy, Book reviews, Mrs K Reads, books for teens,

Book Review: Our Crooked Hearts

Our Crooked Hearts. Written by Melissa Albert

Book 5 of 2023

This book was definitely one that I wanted to like more than I did. I really ended up struggling through it.

This book is told in two parts, one is the now – which focuses on the character of Ivy, who is a 17 year old, discovering that there is something not right about her mum. The other part is the mums story, from back when she was a teenager, and together you kind of get the story of witchcraft and what really happened. Or do you?

I found myself still quite confused, and that the final reveal or story was not quite as satisfying as what I wanted. Overall I thought that the book was really nicely written, but was not quite enough to keep me going.

Mrs K

Genre: fantasy, young adult, witches, mystery, horror, paranormal, romance, fiction, speculative fiction, book reviews, mrs K reads,

Book Review: Sorrow & Starlight

Zodiac Academy Series. Sorrow & Starlight (Book 8) Written by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

Book 81 of 2022

I was super excited when this book dropepd on the 11 of December. Unfortunately what was a book I was excited about ended up to be a chore to finish that felt very much like it never ended.

I am very honest that these books are by no means any kind of literature, and in fact are not ones that I would share with students etc. However, I have still enjoyed them, and I know I wax lyrical about the importance of reading for pleasure as well. Unfortunately this book really did just feel like hard work.

It was LONG! like 1200 pages long. But with very little actual story or action. We got even more points of views from the different chapters to what we have had in previous books, but also had no understanding of time passing. The events could have been a day, a week or a year.

There were definitely some good moments, but there was also a lot of stalling, and then one of my biggest peeves of all happened, after all they have been through and you think they are finally going to have the chance to be happy there is another twist, which of course will lead to the next book as well.

Will I read the next book? Honestly I don’t think I will, certainly I will not be racing towards it like I did this one. I genuinely think that this is a case of a good idea being dragged out for money.

Mrs K

Genre: 2022 releases, kindle unlimited, romance, zodiac-academy, series, new adult, fantasy, fantasy romance, speculative fiction, vampires, phoenix, paranormal, urban fantasy, magic, enemies to lovers,

Book Review: Kingdom of the Feared

Book 76 of 2022

Kingdom of the Feared. (Kingdom of the Wicked #3). Written by Kerri Maniscalco.

This book was AMAZING. I loved that within a page I was totally back in that world. I did not love book one, but did love book two, and so was thrilled that book three took me right back to that same place.

We pick up right where we left off, and in fact I feel the entire book takes place over only a few days. There are a lot of revelations, and learning of histories, which did get a bit boring – by book three you kind of expect there to be less of that telling, however it was also needed.

I continued to love that the strong male characters in the book had no problems stepping back and allowing the woman to take charge and do what she needed to do. Book three certainly had its steamy scenes, although probably not quite as much as I expected!

I did love that we finally met Sloth! And he was totally not what I expected. Rather he reminded me of all the people that like to have all the information before they make a decision. Here was Lust’s description of him:

“Lazier?” Lust supplied. “He is, trust me. All he does is lounge about with his books. His House is one giant, messy library. Not an orgy or sinful tableau to be found in the whole of his circle. I can’t tell you the last time he engaged in debauchery.”

I also really liked the exploration of Emelia’s power, and her control on it. Actually her control not just on her power, but also on Wrath.

“I believe I’m powerful, therefore I am.”

I also really liked her discussions around the aspects of humanity that were good, and that she wanted to keep, particularly those around acknowledging her Nonna, and other parental figures or friends in her life, and being able to see both sides, the good they had done as well as the bad. Ultimately her giving her friend the power of choice showed exactly the kind of person that she was. I have always loved characters who are able to exist in that grey area and she certainly did that, acknowledging that it was in the grey area where people had choices and were able to live as they wished. Those around her who saw in black and white contrasted this idea and brough some morality into play which was very interesting.

“love and hate are both rooted in passion- strange how that line becomes blurred over time.”

I also really liked that all of the sins were available in all houses, it was just a matter of the named sin being the strongest for that person, it was not that they only did one such thing. This was again important as we shifted to that grey area of morality and what makes things right and wrong.

The one thing that really really got on my wick however – was the writing – the number of time the line “His namesakes sin” was used (or some variation of it was absolutely infuriating – yes we get it – each of their sins is an aspect of who they choose to be! It reminded me a bit of 50 Shades, and some of the repetitive writing there.

However overall I LOVED this book, and would highly recommend the whole series.

Mrs K

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, Paranormal, New Adult, Fantasy Romance, Witches, Vampires, Demons, Devils, Magic, Kerri Maniscalco, Kingdom of the Feared, Kingdom of the wicked, trilogy, good reads, 2022 release,

Book Review: Storm Echo

Book 67 of 2022

Storm Echo. Written by Nalini Singh.

This is a continuation of the Psy Changeling Trinity series. THis was released on the 28th of July, and can sau that I read pretty much all night, and then finished this morning. WOW! I love this series, I love seeing the fall of the psy silence and seeing them discover a real life rather than just the shell of a person they were. I love it even more when they get “owned” by a changeling who by all means are the total opposite of the psy and see life so differently.

In this book I loved even more that it was about family – and that family looks different for different people. For some it is a found family and for some it is a birth family, and for others it is the family you choose through a partner and friends. I liked that we returned to the Mercant family, who we have seen quite a bit of in these last books, and also returned to the the dark river pack as well. Although there was still always less of their alpha than I would like.

There was so much to like about this book and it was so easy to read, I literally could not put it down! I thought that the pace was good, although there was a lot of relied knowledge, and if you had not been reading the whole series then it may not have made as much sense or have been as easy to settle into.

This is the 21st book of this series, but I love the way that Nalini Singh creates the worlds, that she slowly explodes out from a central point, building on what we already know, and bringing in new characters who in some ways have links to those characters that we already know. Each book focusing on a different and often new character is such a good way to expand the world for the reader.

Overall, such a great series about the need for family, and the need to rely on others. A timely reminder post pandemic that we require all types of people to work together to achieve the absolutel best that we can. Without that we end up quite isolated, alone and only able to work to a small capacity of what we are capable of.

Mrs K

Genre: Speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, family, Nalini Singh, Psy Changeling Trinity, Storm Echo, shapeshifters, paranormal, urban fantasy, 2022 reads, Mrs K Reads, book review, Adult, Romance, Abuse, Drug use, Fantasy Romance,

Book Review: Honey and Ice Trilogy

Books 63 – 65

Honey and Ice Trilogy. Written by Shannon Mayer and Kelly St. Clare .

This trilogy contained three (duh) books. Titled A court of Honey and Ash. A throne of Feathers and bone. A Crown of Petals and Ice. I read all three books during the school holidays, hence the review on them as a trilogy rather than individuals.

Ok – so the reason that I went for this book was because I thought I had read and liked Shannon Mayer – however a quick search today tells me I have in fact not read anything by either of these authors. Although am excited to note that Kelly St. Clare was born in Wellington, so there is some definite pros there! I am normally very hesitant to read anything that is A court of…. as I feel that there is an aspect there of people trying to copy Maas, and I do not like it. As well as that there is lots that normally don’t live up to the potential hype. I also really struggle with books that claim on the cover “The next….” because this I feel almost always leads to failure as it heightens (or lowers) people’s expectations and books should be able to stand on their own. Anyway I digress…

So good reads tells me that people either LOVE this book and give it five stars, or hate this book and give it one star. There seems to be noone really that falls into the middle column. I however fall into the middle – I did not hate this book, it was entertaining, and good enough that I reached and finished all three. However there was a lot that I did not like – it was very tropey – which is fine, but there needs to be something more. There was a lot of rewriting of fae law – which I did not like. The romance, was a hint, that led to something but lacked any of that slow build and masses of sexual tension. Rather there was a whole lot of not really understanding each other and then suddenly a “I must have you right now” relationship, which just felt a little out of place.

Overall, an interesting series, which was entertaining enough! Lots of good points, and the pace was quite consistent. There was lots of things I did like – such as the spirits and underhill being an entitiy and the creation of human myths such as vampires etc. However definitely a few problems, and probably won’t be seeking out either author!

In some ways a perfect holiday read – as it was better the less you thought about it!!

Mrs K

Genre: Honey and Ice, Trilogy, Book review, Mrs K Reads, Fantasy, Fairies, Fae, romance, fantasy romance, speculative fiction, magic, fiction, paranormal, adult, urban fantasy, Shannon Meyer, Kelly St.Clair,

Book Review: Heartless Sky

Book 61 of 2022

Zodiac Academy Book #7. Heartless Sky. Written By Caroline Peckham and Susanne Vaenti.

It was very nice after reading a range of other things to come back to this series. This book was interesting. There were some definite things I liked:

• I liked the continuing relationship between Lance and Darcy
• I liked that we got a chapter from Geraldine’s point of view.
• I liked the development of the phoenix and their path to being queen.
• I did really really like Tory’s refusal to accept the fate of the stars, and to determine her own path.

Unfortunately there were a lot more that I did not like!

• It really irked me that there was a distinct lack of communication when it came to relationships and feelings.
• It irked me even more that it felt like these characters believed that good sex combated all else – and you did not need ot have an actual conversation if you had good sex.
• The constant breaking of the rules, not for the good of mankind, but just almost for the sake of it really annoyed me. For example Caleb and Lance.
• The way that keeping secrets was a way to deal with issues.

I read this series solely for the escapism and that was still there. The story, although slow was good, but painstakeingly slow and annoying. This book had a LOT more smut – which is fine if that is what you are after. I did also like that there was another battle which took us slightly different places than I thought it would.

I also thought – that given the issues I had with consent at the beginning these were still present. Which ties in with some of the things that irked me above, about conversations and communication – which is something I have noticed quite a bit this year in YA fiction.

Overall – I will 100% be reading the next couple when they are released and for now I am off looking for another book!

Mrs K

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Adult, Fae, Fairies, Vampires, Magic, Speculative Fiction, Fantasy Romance, Paranormal romance, Mrs K Reads, Zodiac Academy, Awakening, Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti, book reviews, Ruthless Fae, The Reckoning, Shadow Princess, Twins, Heartless Sky,

Book Review: Magic Dark and Strange

Book 55 of 2022

Magic Dark and Strange. Written by Kelly Powell.

So… when this is the blurb how can you say anything but yes?

The Bone Witch meets Sherlock Holmes in this thrilling historical fantasy about a girl with the ability to raise the dead who must delve into her city’s dangerous magical underworld to stop a series of murders.

This was one of those books where it all seemed to come together, the blurb, the cover everything about this seemed amazing. Unfortunately for me that was where it ended. The story was good, but overall I was disappointed, I felt that there was not really enough initial character development to bring everything together and allow the reader to feel invested in the characters story.

I guess too I felt like the potential for the story was so much greater. The initial scene, the giving one hour of her life for the dead to wake for an hour for family to say good bye. This was so much potential – and then she only raised one other person. Although victorian teenagers they all spoke and acted like 40 year olds. The murder investigation was interesting, but not enough to fully capture me.

Honestly, one of the best things going for this book is that it was a novella and as such it was a very fast read. Which makes me feel sad that this is the redeeming feature.

Great premise, but unfortunately for me not everything came together.

Mrs K

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical, Historical fiction, paranormal, Mystery, Victorian Era, Magic, teenage, teenage fantasy, Young adult fantasy, fiction, Novella,