Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Splintered by A.G. Howard

Series: Splintered #1

Publication date: January 1st, 2013

Pages: 371

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers--precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother's mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice's tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice's mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

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Review:

I make no secret of my obsession with Alice in Wonderland. I love the classics written by Lewis Carroll as well as any retellings that may enter the minds of amazing authors. I had been dying to read Splintered but had gotten so backlogged with review books that I hadn't gotten the chance. When I was wandering the shelves of my local library it sat there, calling to me, so I check it out and swore I would finally dive into the story. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed but the extent of my love for this book even before I read it only grew as I started flipping pages and gobbling up the amazing story.

Alyssa has been hearing whispers from plants and bugs since she entered puberty. She tries to hide it to the best of her ability so she may avoid the same fate that her mother suffered by being locked away in a mental hospital. Alyssa uses her artistic capabilities to silence the chattering foliage and insects. But soon, her distracting techniques aren't good enough. She starts to realize that she's not crazy. All the oddities she notices in her life are not hallucinations at all. They are real. She is really the distant relative of Alice and her family is cursed.

Alyssa decides she will set things straight and relieve her family of the curse that has been plaguing them for generations. But when she dives down the infamous rabbit hole, she's not alone. Her long time crush and close friend has followed her and is determined to get Alyssa home and away from the topsy-turvy world meant only for dreams. Alyssa also seems to have caught the eye of Morpheus who's plans may not always be with Alyssa's best interest in mind.

Alyssa must set right the wrongs Alice left behind on her trip to Wonderland. Along the way she realizes that the cotton candy dreams of a little girl are from the reality of the world she is now inhabiting. Danger lurks around every corner and Alyssa has no idea who to trust and whether she will ever make it home again.

The thing that sticks out in Lewis Carroll's story of Alice in Wonderland is it's vivid imagery. A reader can see all these oddities in brought colors and cartoonish style. A.G. Howard stuck to the way of describing the numerous characters Alyssa came face-to-face with. I could picture them perfectly in my mind and I was even a bit creeped out by a few of them. Howard wove a darker tale of Carroll's Wonderland but made it her own. She spun the familiar characters into something completely different but still oddly familiar. It was beautifully written to the point where I long to see it on the big screen.

The love triangle was my second favorite part of the story. I was team Jeb all the way, but Morpheus totally had his swoonworthy moments as well. Splintered has one of those romances where you wouldn't mind seeing the heroine end up with either of the male leads. A rarity to be sure.

All Alice in Wonderland buffs need to read Splintered, it is unlike any retelling I have ever read and will not disappoint.

Review: Chosen by Blood by Virna DePaul

Chosen by Blood by Virna DePaul

Series: Para-Ops #1

Publication date: July 7th, 2011

Pages: 384

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Leader of an Otherborn clan, half-breed vampire Knox Devereaux would do anything to find a cure for the anti-vamp vaccine slowly starving his people into extinction. When the FBI contacts him about leading a team of hand-selected Others on a mission to reclaim the stolen antidote, Knox accepts. His new assignment places him in direct contact with Special Agent Felicia Locke, the beautiful human he's craved since their very first meeting.

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Review:

While checking out books at my local library, I found this little gem. I had thought I had a book for review by the author and that I may need to read this in preparation for the review copy, but turns out I was wrong. Either way I chose to read this book to try out the author's style and also so I could read something for enjoyment purposes only.

Knox has always loved Felicia but has kept his distance out of respect for her. But when his wife dies his main goal after mourning her is to win Felicia over. The problem is his people want him remarried and producing children again as soon as possible. Knox is determined to make the time he is single count and win Felicia over to the fact that they can be together even if he does have to marry someone else. As the leader of the vampires in their town, it's a tough place to be to have to choose between the woman he loves and the duty to his people.

Felicia is a hostage negotiator for the FBI. She is used to talking people off ledges and calming them down from intense situations. But when she is around Knox she could use her own hostage negotiator. She feels an unspoken connection to Knox and she knows they are soul mates. The problem is Knox is married to her best friend, oh, and he's a vampire. Vampires are not permitted to marry humans because an anti-vamp vaccine has gone worldwide and the vampires are a dying race. The vaccine makes the nutrition value almost zero in humans who have taken it. To keep the race going, vampires must only breed with vampires. This leaves Felicia as either playing the role of the other woman or staying far away from Knox. She chooses the latter... up until the FBI gets wind of a cure to the anti-vamp vaccine.

Now Knox and Felicia are thrown together to participate in a mission to steal the cure and save Knox's people. With a motley crew of Otherborns and humans alike, it is up to the couple to save vampires and combat the attraction they feel for each other.

I was a little put off by the whole "other woman" thing in the romance portion of the story. It is no secret that I like monogamy in my stories and I could see why Felicia wouldn't want to be involved in that sort of twisted three-way action. I found Knox to be a bit pretentious at times and Felicia a bit of a wimp. He is the leader of his people, yes, but does he have to be so snooty at times? And she's a big bad FBI agent, can't she stop the sniveling over her tough romantic situation? But, it seemed to work in the end. I liked the world Virna created and I liked the scientific aspects of the story. It was new and different and that's rare in books today.

Chosen by Blood is a unique take on the war between vampires and humans. This is a story of the after effects of fear and the struggle to make things right to save a race from going extinct.

Review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Series: The Queen of the Tearling #1

Publication date: July 8th, 2014

Pages: 434

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Her throne awaits... if she can live long enough to take it.

It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn. They'd come to escort her back to the place of her birth--and to ensure she survives long enough to be able to take possession of what is rightfully hers.

But like many nineteen-year-olds, Kelsea is unruly, has high principles and believes she knows better than her elders. Unlike many nineteen-year-olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that is on its knees--corrupt, debauched and dangerous.

Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known... or be dead within the week.

Combining thrilling adventure and action, dark magic, mystery and romance, The Queen of the Tearling is the debut of a born storyteller blessed with a startling imagination.

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Review:

I received a physical copy from the author in exchange for an honest review and participation in a blog tour.

As a rule, set forth by myself, I normally don't venture too far out of my comfort zone with my reading material. Normally every story has to have some sort of romance in it to keep me locked into the story. The Queen of the Tearling was my first real delve into epic fantasy. I was a bit unnerved and skeptical that I was going to like it, but as I usually am with books I receive for review from TLC Book Tours. I was so wrong.

The story opens on a nineteen-year-old girl reluctantly being taken from her beloved foster parents to take her place as the Queen's heir. Kelsea has been taught all her life what she needed to know about her kingdom and their policies, but it's quite different for her. Actually having to follow them and make decisions that can totally rock the known state of things within her kingdom is nerve-racking. She learns that once things are set for decades, not many are willing to change even if it's for the better. She thought she was going to take the throne and govern over existing laws and keep order within her kingdom. Instead she finds discord and suffering among her people. Never the kind of person to sit idly by, Kelsea sets out to change her kingdom and free her people from pain and torment.

As with any great change, there are always people who rebel against it. One of those people is Kelsea's uncle, the Regent. He wants to keep his place on the throne and keep his kingdom how it was. He didn't care about the shipments of slaves he sends to the Red Queen every month or the evil deeds running rampant in his streets. All he cares about is his women and his wine. Kelsea threatens his happy life and so he sets assassins to sniff her out and dispose of her accordingly. But he's not the only one plotting against her. She has no one she can trust. Not the dashing King of Thieves who causes her cheeks to brighten every time she thinks about him and not her Queen's Guard Captain who seems to always have her best interests at heart.

Can Kelsea overcome the enemies surrounding her and learn to rule her kingdom in the best interests of her people or will she lead her kingdom right into ruin?

I could not get enough of this story. The writing flowed so well and the language used wasn't too complicated or too simplistic. It was not a story riddled with tough subject matter and it wasn't a fluff piece that was too busy avoiding hard issues to get to the root of the story. The characters were realistic and relateable. I found Kelsea to be much the same as me: bookish, hungry for knowledge, sympathetic, plain, and strong willed. I noted a bit of a love triangle possibly forming (fingers crossed!) and I am dying to read the next book in the series. Erika Johansen did spectacular in her debut book and she has made it onto the prestigious list of my top 10 favorite authors.

If you like adventure, suspicion, political maneuvering, and tales of survival set in a fantastical world of magic, The Queen of Tearling is the book for you!

Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Series: Fairy Tales #1

Publication date: January 28th, 2014

Pages: 342

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom--all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandoned everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle--a shifting maze of magical rooms, enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

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Review:

I received an e-copy of this book from the publishers at Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Growing up one of my favorite stories was the story of Beauty and the Beast. I was read the book, I watched the movie, and I dreamed of a grand love that overcame evil and a library filled with every book I could ever want. I had heard some amazing things about certain fairytale retellings and when I learned of one in particular that featured Beauty and the Beast, I was so excited. That book was Cruel Beauty. I was dying to dive into the book and lose myself in a different take on a tale as old as time.

Nyx's story begins when she is preparing to marry the Gentle Lord as her father bargained. In order to fill her father's obligation she was to become the wife of the ruler of their lands. A demon some say. An ugly beast of a man with glowing red eyes who will likely kill her the moment she is brought to the disheveled castle she is to live in with him. But the Gentle Lord is not ugly, he does have glowing red eyes, but he is extremely handsome. That does not make up for his monstrous behavior. For all intents and purposes, Nyx knows that even with astounding beauty the Gentle Lord, Ignifex he calls himself, is pure evil.

Nyx spends her days searching for the four elements of the house in order to bring down the Gentle Lord's magically enchanted home and free herself and her people from their confines. As she plots the demise of Ignifex she is forced to get to know him as well. Along the way, she learns that there is more to the demonic man than meets the eye and she may just be able to entertain the idea of falling in love with him.

Eventually Nyx is faced with the ultimate decision: stay with the man she loves and leave her town to their misery or give up her love and free her town for all time.

As I stated before, I was incredibly excited to read this book. And I was surprised how different it was from the classic Beauty and the Beast story. However, it had some fine points to it that rang true in my childhood tale. I loved that it branched out so wide from the foundation of the original concept and made it completely different. No there were no singing teapots or stodgy clocks, but the relationship between Beauty and the Beast was similar to Nyx and Ignifex.

The language was very proper and sometimes a bit hard to understand until it is reread in the accurate inflections. I did listen to part of the book on audiobook which helped a lot, but audiobooks always seem too slow for me. I read faster than they do since I'm not focusing on every word and syllable. That was my only criticism and it isn't even that much of one. I loved the book, proper language and all.

Cruel Beauty is a fantastic retelling of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast that rivets its reader and drags them into a world where the bad guy has depths beyond destroying the hero.