Droplets Review

This time I am reviewing Droplets by: Meaghan Rauscher.

Lissie and her family’s annual cruise takes a horrific turn when a storm battles and batters their boat. Lissie is thrown overboard, only to be saved by a monster who wants one thing: Her. The cruel man, who has fins like a merman when he hits the water, changes Lissie through a painful process. Having misjudged her age, the merman leaves her until her eighteenth birthday, when he will come back to claim her. Not wanting to be someone’s slave, Lissie will run and set many events into motion…

I was so impressed by this book. On first picking it up, I totally thought it would be one of those YA books where this mysterious and hard-edged man (merman in this case) would come and force Lissie into something. Later they would fall in love and it would be just another Beauty and the Beast knockoff. This book was nothing like that and it was refreshing. This story had so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I really can’t say how much I was relieved that this book didn’t take the turn where Lissie fell in love with the first guy that crossed her path.

The mermaid mythology in this book was really good. I liked the subtle differences to the mythology that I have heard so many times. Even though most of it isn’t known/explained till later in the book, I didn’t feel confused. I really enjoyed that Lissie got to be in the heart of it all and learn so much.

Lissie was a great character. I’m so glad she didn’t just stand by and be a victim. She went out and tried to change the fate forced upon her. I liked that she was strong, but she had moments of weakness. Her strength wasn’t annoying like it can so often be in YA books, where the main girl can do anything and everything. She wasn’t perfect and I love to find characters that have a few flaws. It makes them more real.

I really loved Patrick in this book. He was just amazing, but I won’t say too much more for fear of spoilers.

The ending to this book was really satisfying. It made me want to read more and it does leave the reader with some unanswered questions. I really enjoyed the pacing at the end and that it doesn’t just drop off after the main action is over. There’s a small bit of breathing room after all the action and I always love when books do that.

After finishing this book, I couldn’t wait to start the next one, but I have hesitated based on the synopsis of the next one. I’m sure it will be just as excellent as this one, but I just haven’t picked it up. Regardless of that, I really want to read the next book and discover what happens next.

Winter Review

This time, I will be reviewing Winter by: Marissa Meyer. (This is the fourth book in the series, so there are bound to be spoilers from the previous books.)

Princess Winter decided years ago that she wouldn’t use her lunar gift, even at the cost of her sanity. The walls bleed around her. Ice commonly claims her in its cold embrace. She knows these are just visions, but they still feel so real… Cinder races to start her revolution with the help of her friends and newly recruited Emperor Kaito. Not everything goes as planned and she scrabbles to stay ahead of all the rising dangers around her.

Since, I never reviewed the first three books, this will partly be my review for the whole series, especially since this book is the conclusion. Overall, I’ve absolutely loved this series. Every book had a beautifully crafted story and I was so swept up in the magnificent world Marissa Meyer created. She took the fairy tales we’ve always heard and twisted them to something so much more.

This book was the perfect conclusion to the series. I couldn’t put it down and ended up staying up into the early morning hours wanting to keep reading. I really liked how events in the book didn’t just fall into place. Coincidences that completely altered the flow of the plot and allowed the characters to have an easy escape from danger weren’t present and I liked that the revolution wasn’t quick and easy. When things go wrong, there isn’t some easy fix.

I’ve always loved all the characters in these books. Each one is so unique and clearly has their own personality. With that many main characters, a task such as that could be very difficult and Marissa Meyer did an excellent job at creating believable characters.

Winter is the star of a lot of this book and I was blown away by her. I loved her so much! I loved her insanity that she played to her advantage. She is so clever and strong, but no one thinks she is anything more than a raving lunatic. I loved how sweet she is. Her compassion for others really endeared her to me (and everyone in the book). So many times I found myself amused by something she said or thought. Even with all the terrifying visions often surrounding her, she was a bright light in this book.

The ending to this book was just what the series needed. I really loved that it wasn’t rushed. So many times books speed ahead to the ending and then slam to a halt. This ending was so well paced and it helped me not grieve (too much) that the series is over.

This series will always be something special to me. I fell in love with these books for their characters, story, and the writing. I am so glad I finally picked these books up earlier this year and writing this review feels like saying goodbye to a good friend, but reading Winter was so worth it.

After Death Review

This time I am reviewing After Death by: Jacqueline E Smith. (It is the third book in the series, so there are bound to be spoilers from the first two books.)

After crazy ghost hauntings and uncovering long-buried secrets, Michael Sinclair and Kate Avery have finally found a moment of peace to continue to enjoy their relationship. Out of the blue, they receive an invitation to the opening weekend of Cirque Somniatis and they look forward to having a fun weekend, but there are plenty of ghosts haunting the fairground. Michael has the unfortunate luck to fascinate a sinister ghost wrapped in beautiful packaging and his relaxing weekend with Kate takes some unfortunate turns…

Jackie really has a knack for getting inside character’s heads. All the characters in this book have such unique voices and they all are so different. There is a wonderful depth to all of the main characters and we get to see into their minds even more with this instalment of the Cemetery Tours series. The characters aren’t perfect and that’s what adds to their depth. They hurt, grow, get angry, and make mistakes like everyone does.

Michael really starts to come out of his shell in this book. I love seeing his growth over the course of this series. His relationship with Kate is also really sweet. I’m really glad that their relationship isn’t like most fictional relationships and we get to see some of Kate and Michael’s flaws.

Luke Rainer will always be one of my favorite characters. I love his personality and how he really pushes Michael to be all he can be. The addition of Luke’s nemesis showed a side of Luke that we hadn’t seen before and it only adds to this book. His struggles were so real and I easily identified with how he was feeling.

I really loved to hate Chance McDermott. He’s just such a jerk! Jackie did an excellent job writing him. So many times throughout this book, I wished I could punch him. He’s so arrogant and rude, but he was also a very fun addition to the cast.

The plot of this book was tight and flowed nicely. I never got bored while reading this book. It gets intense at just the right moments and the parts in between kept me entertained until the very last page.

Riot Of Storm And Smoke Review

This time I'm reviewing Riot of Storm and Smoke by Jennifer Ellison. (This is the second in the series, so there are bound to be spoilers if you haven't read the first book.)

Bree flees from the king that set in motion the chain of events that killed her father and made Bree his most sought after weapon. Caden, the prince, has his own set of woes when his father turns against him. Escaping with barely his life, he races to amass an army to fight his father's tyranny. Meanwhile Bree rushes to Nereidium, the kingdom that holds more for her than she wants to acknowledge.

As much as I absolutely loved the first book, I sadly didn't feel quite the same about this one. I felt rather bored throughout this book. It just didn't have the suspense or pacing that the first one had. I could easily put this book down (and I did for a whole month) after getting halfway through it. I still highly recommend this series, but it just wasn't as spectacular as the first.

I really did loved the story of this book. However, some elements in it seemed a bit random and others don't seem to be fully explained. I felt the plot dragged on a bit. Only after halfway did I finally start to get excited about this book. I still love the concepts and the world of it. I'm also excited to see where it goes in the next book.

I wished Bree's development could have been pushed a bit further. She comes out of the first book dealing with some pretty big things, but I don't feel like she really dealt with any of it. I wished her struggle with Throwing had a better explanation and not as sudden of a shift near the end. She really seems like much the same person at the start of this book and the end.

I enjoyed getting chapters in Caden's perspective, but I sometimes confused him with Bree. His voice didn't always sound very unique. I also got pretty bored with his chapters. It was nice to learn about what he was doing because it added more dimension to the book, but at the same time, I almost wanted to skip his chapters.

There is a cliffhanger at the end of this book, but I was okay with it, mostly because that was the moment I had waited for the whole book. I was so happy that it finally happened that I didn't freak out over the fact it left us hanging. If anything, the cliffhanger just made me super excited for the next book to come out.

Even though it may not sound like it, I really did love this book. The story is something I've very much enjoyed overall. The world is very well thought out and is a great backdrop to this series. The writing is rich and descriptive. I'm really looking forward to the next book in this series and can't wait till it's released.

Threats of Sky & Sea Review

This time I am reviewing Threats of Sky & Sea by: Jennifer Ellision.

Bree lived a normal life working at her dad’s bar, until the day she spied some elemental guards in the forest. Barely escaping, she thought that would be the last she saw of them, but they are hunting for someone. That someone is her father. Bree suddenly gets swept into the unfamiliar life of court, where any wrong move could cost her or her father’s life. The king wants information that only her father provides, and Bree will do anything to save them both.

In the first few paragraphs of this book, I was so impressed with the writing. It’s so rich in description and I easily fell into this story. I couldn’t put it down until I turned the very last page (well, actually swiped to the last page because I was reading the eBook).

I really liked Bree as a character. All of the book she is so out of her element and just trying to stay alive. She was strong and independent. I actually really loved how the romance in this book took a back-seat roll. You really got the sense of how much she truly cared about her dad because it wasn’t overshadowed by some unrealistic romance.

The secondary characters in this book are amazing as well. There’s more depth to them than I thought there would be, or than what is typically in other books. Out of the secondary characters, I found I really started to love Aleta. She really surprised me. Katherine/Kat was also a character that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss in this book. She got so much larger of a role than I thought she would and I just loved how evil she was (I loved to hate her).

This book was a bit predictable to me (I guessed the big secret pretty quickly), but there is still a lot of mystery and things I wouldn’t have guessed to happen. The flow of this book was amazing and I never once got bored. It’s not until the end that most of the big revelations happen, but I never felt confused during this book.

There was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but it wasn’t a terrible one. It’s like most series these days that always end with something that will lead directly into the next book.

Honestly, I was completely blown away from this book. I expected it to be slow to get into, with the potential long build-up until things got moving, but you are jolted right into everything from the beginning. This book surprised me in so many ways and Jennifer Ellision really is a talented author. I can’t wait to read the second book.

I also have to mention that I love the cover of this book. The model and the dress are both beautiful. I also love the crashing waves in the background, they really give a good tone for the book.