{Mini Reviews} REIGN OF SHADOWS and SWORD AND VERSE

Title: Reign of Shadows
Author(s): Sophie Jordan
Narrator(s): Phoebe Strole, James Fouhey
Series: Reign of Shadows, book #1
Length: 8 hrs 20 mins
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publication Date: February 9, 2016
Source: ARC received from publisher, audiobook from library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

Although I love retellings as a rule -- and this is a retelling of Rapunzel -- this story did little for me. I liked the aspects that stayed true to the original tale, especially the one element that Tangled managed to completely eliminate in its reimagining of the story, but the characters just fell flat for me. Almost as if they were trying too hard.

Maybe it was because of the romance that I just couldn't connect with this story. It was basically insta-love, even if the characters themselves denied their feelings as long as they possibly could. And then it was overprotective, overbearing hero to the rescue. Secrets revealed. Ugly truths uncovered. And I was just done with it.

The one thing I really did enjoy about this novel was the setting. Where the author failed at making me fall for her characters, she very much succeeded in putting me in that dark, swampy forest full of Dwellers, fearing any noise and movement. Her depiction of the all-encompassing forest, of the darkness that let up for only a small sliver of time, was eerie and complete. And the creatures that dwelled there were even creepier.

That ending left me totally pissed off, though. Talk about a cliffhanger from hell! I honestly don't want to continue this story, but I can't promise that my curiosity over the why of that ending won't lead me to pick up the sequel. This would be one of the underlying reasons why I despise cliffhangers so much.

About the author:

Sophie Jordan took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class. This passion led her to pursue a degree in English and History.

A brief stint in law school taught her that case law was not nearly as interesting as literature - teaching English seemed the natural recourse. After several years teaching high school students to love Antigone, Sophie resigned with the birth of her first child and decided it was time to pursue the long-held dream of writing.

In less than three years, her first book, Once Upon A Wedding Night, a 2006 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee for Best First Historical, hit book shelves. Her second novel, Too Wicked To Tame, released in March 2007 with a bang, landing on the USA Today Bestseller's List.

Find Sophie:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

Title: Sword and Verse
Author(s): Kathy MacMillan
Narrator(s): Emily Rankin
Series: Sword and Verse, book #1
Length: 11 hrs 34 mins
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publication Date: January 19, 2016
Source: from publisher via Edelweiss, audiobook from library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Raisa was only a child when she was kidnapped and enslaved in Qilara. Forced to serve in the palace of the King, she’s endured hunger, abuse, and the harrowing fear of discovery. Everyone knows that Raisa is Arnath, but not that she is a Learned One, a part of an Arnath group educated in higher order symbols. In Qilara, this language is so fiercely protected that only the King, the Prince, and Tutors are allowed to know it. So when the current Tutor-in-training is executed for sharing the guarded language with slaves and Raisa is chosen to replace her, Raisa knows that, although she may have a privileged position among slaves, any slipup could mean death.

That would be challenging enough, but training alongside Prince Mati could be her real undoing. And when a romance blossoms between them, she’s suddenly filled with a dangerous hope for something she never before thought possible: more. Then she’s approached by the Resistance—an underground army of slaves—to help liberate the Arnath people. Joining the Resistance could mean freeing her people…but she’d also be aiding in the war against her beloved, an honorable man she knows wants to help the slaves.

Working against the one she loves—and a palace full of deadly political renegades—has some heady consequences. As Raisa struggles with what’s right, she unwittingly uncovers a secret that the Qilarites have long since buried…one that, unlocked, could bring the current world order to its knees.

And Raisa is the one holding the key.

Ugh, even listening to the audio, I just don't think I can bring myself to care enough to finish. Thus, DNF at 30%.

This story is nothing I haven't seen before, which made it all the more boring and tiresome. At the point that I stopped is where I thought the romance should have started, with Raisa being forced to question what type of relationship she, a lowly slave and tutor, could actually have with the Crown Prince. Of course, this only happens AFTER she's already fallen for him, already given herself over to him with ZERO thought to what would be expected of him as the prince.

There's a Resistance that probably would have interested me, but very little of it is seen up to this point. Pretty much all that's happened so far is the doomed romance and Raisa studying symbol after symbol in an effort to understand something her father left her before he was killed.

Bland, uninteresting, and totally not worth my time to finish. And the choice in narrator left me feeling like I was listening to another installment of the Selection series, with her tendency toward the dramatic and a woe is me, however did I get here? main character.

About the author:

Kathy MacMillan is a writer, American Sign Language interpreter, consultant, librarian, signing storyteller, and avowed Hufflepuff. Kathy is the founder of The Sweet Sixteens (www.thesweet16s.com) debut group of 2016 middle grade and young adult authors, and serves as the Published and Listed Member Coordinator for the Maryland/Delaware/West Virginia Region of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She is a volunteer director and board president of Deaf Camps, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides camps for deaf children. She lives near Baltimore, MD with her husband, son, and a cat named Pancake.

Find Kathy:

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Labels: disappointments, fantasy, harper-collins, kathy mscmillan, mini reviews, reign of shadows, retellings, reviews, sophie jordan, sword and verse

{Mini Reviews} RIDERS and THE KILLING JAR

Title: Riders
Author(s): Veronica Rossi
Narrator(s): Dan Bitner
Series: Riders, book #1
Length: 10 hrs 40 mins
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Source: library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

I waffled something fierce on whether I wanted to give this series a try or not. I read some reviews - some good and some bad - and I still wasn't sure what to expect from this first book. I was going to buy the audio when it first released, but I hesitated. Then I read an excerpt and my curiosity was rekindled and as luck would have it, my library uploaded the audio to their collection soon after. Score one for patience.

I knew it wouldn't be like Rossi's other series - and it most definitely is not - but I knew what I wanted it to be: a story about four badass dudes taking on some evil as the four horsemen of the apocalypse, riding in on their awesome horses to save the day. And in that respect, I got my wish. I liked how the narrative was told interrogation-style, starting in the middle and backtracking until the present and then proceeding at a break-neck pace to the end. And I love that it's from one of the four horseman's perspectives instead of the girl who brings them together. Rossi is boss at writing the male point-of-view, and she should always include at least one male perspective in her novels, as far as I'm concerned.

If you're undecided, as I was, I definitely recommend the audiobook, narrated by Dan "Sex-on-a-stick" Bitner. If you're unfamiliar with this narrator, he voiced Cole in Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series and his voice is gruff, sexy, tough-guy to the nth. Plus, he's got pretty great comedic timing and his audiobook performances are just fun.

Riders was not exactly what I was expecting but it was what I was hoping for, and the more I think about it, the more I liked it. And I can't help but wonder if subsequent books will feature the narratives of the other horsemen. I liked Gideon, but the other horsemen have such interesting stories to tell, as well, and I'm looking forward to finding out more about them.

About the author:

Veronica Rossi is a best selling author of fiction for young adults. Her debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, was the first in a post-apocalyptic trilogy. Released in January 2012, it was deemed one of the Best Books of Year by School Library Journal. The series appeared in the NY Times and USA Today best seller lists and was published in over 25 foreign markets.

Her second series for young adults will begin with RIDERS (publishing February 16, 2016), the story of four modern day teens who become incarnations of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the prophetic girl who brings them together.

Find Veronica:

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Title: The Killing Jar
Author(s): Jennifer Bosworth
Narrator(s): Saskia Maarleveld
Series: stand-alone
Length: 8 hrs 23 mins
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
Publication Date: January 13, 2016
Source: ARC from publisher, audiobook from library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

“I try not to think about it, what I did to that boy.”

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret.

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance.

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her…

I've been such a mood reader these days, and it means I miss release dates on a lot of the review books I have in my possession. I either wait until I do feel like reading a story - to give it the fairest chance possible - or until it's released on audiobook. Such is the case with The Killing Jar, which drew me in with the promise of a cult-like situation and a stunning cover. I was cleaning my shelves the other day and found the ARC and read a few pages to see if it was worth keeping for a rainy day, and from the few pages I read, I was intrigued. And as I've mentioned, my library just did a mass upload and I grabbed the audiobook for this novel since my curiosity had been piqued by my little sneak peek.

That said, the story as a whole was a little disappointing. It started off strange and only got weirder. I like weird, but I like when I get answers, too, and those were far and few between for the majority of this novel. It's a commune, so obviously things are going to be a little hush-hush, but when I already know what's going on and the main character just keeps on mucking things up with bad decision after bad decision because no one will tell her anything, I tend to get frustrated.

* Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert * Spoiler Alert *

Also, the romantic entanglements in this story were ick. The first love interest who's introduced is her best friend Blake, and I usually love those types of romances but it's the way this one progressed that got my goat. Basically, they finally make out for the first time, she goes to the commune after a violent incident that same night, boy breaks her out some undisclosed time later, her inner monologue has them as boyfriend and girlfriend, she barely resists having her way with him out in the woods the first night she's back, and then she tells him to stay away from her -- for his own good, obvi. The next day he's talking about how it was good that they didn't go any further, that he didn't have protection and it wasn't how he pictured their first time, blah, blah, blah. But this is only the second time they've been in each other's company since anything romantic had occurred between them!

Plus, she met an older guy at the commune that she's attracted to. And when I say older, I mean OLDER. Not that Cyrus looks it, but that's another secret the commune is harboring. When Kenna asks him how old he is or how long he's been at the commune, all he'll say is "a long time". But the truth will out. At any rate, while at the commune, Kenna thinks about Blake, the best friend/maybe boyfriend, a lot, but in a manipulative move, she makes out with Cyrus. And not just once, though there are other forces at play some of the time. But I don't want to spoil anything too much.

The weirdest thing, though, is that I actually kind of like how the romantic situations were each resolved. Kenna 'fesses up to Blake and there's pretty much no choice to make when all is said and done.

/ Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert / Spoiler Alert /

So…yeah. Disappointing on a lot of levels, but especially where the romance is concerned. The narrator is one I'm not familiar with but she did a good job with the material she was given.

About the author:

Author and screenwriter, Jennifer Bosworth, grew up in a small town where there was nothing to do but read and get into trouble. She did plenty of both, which led her to a career writing about people who get into trouble. Jennifer and her husband recently escaped from Los Angeles and are now hiding out in Portland, Oregon with a couple of long-legged dogs. In her spare time she can be found watching horror movies and dreaming of starting her own hippie commune, where there will be many goats.

Find Jennifer:

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Labels: audiobooks, disappointments, fantasy, jennifer bosworth, macmillan, mini reviews, mythology, reviews, riders, the killing jar, veronica rossi

A Beast of a Book Masquerading as Fantasy

Title: The Great Hunt
Author: Wendy Higgins
Series: The Great Hunt, book #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 8, 2016
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Kill the beast. Win the girl.

A strange beast stirs fear in the kingdom of Lochlanach, terrorizing towns with its brutality and hunger. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.

Princess Aerity understands her duty to the kingdom though it pains her to imagine marrying a stranger. It would be foolish to set her sights on any particular man in the great hunt, but when a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention, there’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.

Paxton is not keen on marriage. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast and protecting his family—yet Princess Aerity continues to challenge his notions with her unpredictability and charm. But as past secrets collide with present desires, dire choices threaten everything Paxton holds dear.

Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale, “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, outlawed magic, and a princess willing to risk all to save her people.

I think I'm just going to have to come to terms with the fact that I've outgrown this author's writing. I had so much fun reading Sweet Evil all that time ago, but now that I think about it, I read it as part of a read-along, and maybe the group atmosphere contributed to my enjoyment more than anything? Because I only rated each subsequent book around three stars, and I couldn't bring myself to read the final book, written from the love interest's perspective. And I read her indie See Me, with basically the same results. She did write a contemporary novella that I probably enjoyed the most out of all her writing. It was short, to the point, and it felt like the author knew what she was doing with the story.

I was really excited for The Great Hunt, but now I find myself rather disappointed with its execution. This book was so very fantasy light; only at the end did the magical elements even make a play for my attention. Magic is outlawed in Lochlanach and throughout the land, so people with the ability are scared to use it. The Lashed, as they're called, are already persecuted simply for having the ability. The mark of magic usage is the equivalent of a pregnancy test in the user's nailbed: purple line for positive, no mark otherwise. So it's necessary for all citizens to keep their hands clean and uncovered as proof of no misdeed. I mean, really? There wasn't a more clever way to mark magic wielders? I guess it's different, at least...

Aerity is the main character and Paxton is her would-be love interest, but this story focuses on six, nay seven, characters overall. It's kind of a big ole heptagon up in here, with all these hunters vying for a chance to win Aerity's hand in marriage but them all falling for Aerity's sister and cousin, in addition to that. Also, I'm beginning to wonder if the author knows how to write a love interest who isn't gruff, obtuse, and irascible, at least when it comes to her full-length novels. Her leading men tend to prefer to push a girl away for her protection rather than you know, actually sticking around and protecting her. I am so ridiculously over that trope.

This story was just way too long and the pacing bordered on tedious. Cut out some of the meandering and hemming and hawing and this could have been one book instead of a duology. I like duologies; they're kind of my new favorite type of "series". But only when it makes sense to extend the story to two books, much as I only like trilogies when three books are warranted.

I can't believe I forced myself to read the entire book, especially when I knew it wasn't a stand-alone. But above all else, I was insanely curious about the beast and where it came from. I have my answer now, so I'm not doubtful that I'll pick up the sequel. I shouldn't have expected so much from this novel, especially considering my previous experiences with the author's work, but I just can't seem to help myself when it comes to fantasy and love/hate relationships.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NYT bestselling author of the Sweet Evil series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology The Great Hunt, and her independently published Irish fantasy, See Me. She is a former high school English teacher who now writes full time, and lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her veterinarian husband, daughter, son, and doggie Rue.

Wendy earned a bachelor's in Creative Writing from George Mason University and a master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford University.

Find Wendy:

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Labels: beautiful covers, disappointments, fantasy, harper-collins, reviews, the great hunt, wendy higgins

My First DNF of 2016: INTO THE DIM

Title: Into the Dim
Author: Janet B. Taylor
Series: Into the Dim, book #1
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 1, 2016
Source: from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing. Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens.

Not gonna lie: I had some high expectations for this book, especially as it being lauded as the Outlander for the YA set. It definitely did read a lot younger than I'm used to, even for a young adult novel. But Outlander it was not. For one thing, I was almost 40% into the story before the time travelling became an actuality. And it was very much a planned trip, not a matter of accidentally touching a stone at the wrong time.

I was supposed to be buddy reading this novel with my friend Sabrina, but she was reading ahead and I was getting further behind until she texted me to say that she'd just finished and asked if I just wanted her to tell me what happened. To which my reply was, "Oh, gawd, yes!" I had already been contemplating not finishing the book, but that sealed the deal. And I was glad that I hadn't forced myself to read further once she confirmed every one of my suspicions. I don't DNF often because I like to give a story a fleeting chance to recover my attention, but there was just no way that was going to happen with this book.

Into the Dim was just sooo incredibly predictable. The obvious foreshadowing just left nothing to the imagination, and every time one of my theories came to fruition, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the inevitability of it all. I'm just looking back at my emails and texts with Sabrina while we were reading and it's almost unbelievable how much of the story we were able to guess beforehand. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't post snippets here, but we basically called it before we even got to the 40% mark.

The main character was tragically unlikable to me. She was self-deprecating, but not in a snarky, mildly amusing way. Hope was home-schooled and socially awkward and just plain annoying. Her ability seemed to plague her constantly in the beginning but was only mentioned later when it was useful to the story. If that's what it's like to have a photographic memory, I will content myself with just having a really, really good memory.

I didn't really get to see much of the romance before I decided not to finish, but from what I discerned in my reading and from what Sabrina related after I stopped, I definitely feel like a love triangle is on the horizon, even if it didn't rear it's ugly head in this first book. One guy is the doomed love interest while the other is the brooding guy who will inevitably step in when doomed guy appears to be out of the picture. Not a fan, especially once Sabrina relayed that there was a kissing scene that involved one of the characters oozing yellow pus. No. Thank. You.

I find that I enjoy time travel novels with the simplest explanation for how the time travelling is accomplished. This was not one of those. Basically, it's described as a big mistake, stumbling on some ley lines in an underground cavern and using a friend's technology to aid in the process. It's more mystical than anything -- the travelers having no ability to control when and where they travel back to, just a computer program that predicts when they should be able to travel back to a certain time and place. And they can only travel back to a specific time and location ONCE, lest they should run into their previous selves from another trip back in time. I guess in those terms, it does seem rather simple. But maybe that's actually my issue with the time travel aspect: it was boring and I pretty much skimmed the passages about it.

As I said, I only read to about 40%, but up to that point, I found the story to read very young and to be incredibly slow-paced. I'm used to time travel novels being intense and shaking things up, but I was more likely to yawn while reading Into the Dim than be at the edge of my seat. I really, really wanted this novel to be good, but it was just too predictable for me to bother continuing. Especially since I have no plans to read the sequel now.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Janet Taylor lives in such a small town in Arkansas that if you happen to sneeze when you pass by, you'll totally miss it. (Cause, you know, you can't sneeze with your eyes open. For real--try it--it's impossible)

Her debut novel, INTO THE DIM (coming 3/1/2016 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is about a 16 year old girl who travels through time. Totally on purpose and stuff.

She's a reader/fan first and a writer second. She lives with her fantastic husband, two hilarious sons, and Dorda the diabetic dog who won't win any beauty contests, but has a "nice personality".

Find Janet:

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Labels: disappointments, dnf, houghton mifflin harcourt, into the dim, janet b. taylor, reviews, time travel

An Underwhelming New Novel from a Favorite Author - The Trouble With Destiny by Lauren Morrill

Title: The Trouble with Destiny
Author: Lauren Morrill
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: December 8, 2015
Source: received from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey...

With her trusty baton and six insanely organized clipboards, drum major Liza Sanders is about to take Destiny by storm—the boat, that is. When Liza discovered that her beloved band was losing funding, she found Destiny, a luxury cruise ship complete with pools, midnight chocolate buffets, and a $25,000 spring break talent show prize.

Liza can’t imagine senior year without the band, and nothing will distract her from achieving victory. She’s therefore not interested when her old camp crush, Lenny, shows up on board, looking shockingly hipster-hot. And she’s especially not interested in Russ, the probably-as-dumb-as-he-is-cute prankster jock whose ex, Demi, happens be Liza’s ex–best friend and leader of the Athenas, a show choir that’s the band’s greatest competition.

But it’s not going to be smooth sailing. After the Destiny breaks down, all of Liza’s best-laid plans start to go awry. Liza likes to think of herself as an expert at almost everything, but when it comes to love, she’s about to find herself lost at sea.

I loved Lauren Morrill's debut, and her sophomore novel was cute, but I have to admit that I was completely underwhelmed by her newest novel. It was cute, but it's that kind of cute where I'm cringing at what I know is coming because you can just tell that a disaster is on the horizon. I almost put it aside at 30%. To be completely honest, I almost put it aside several times with no intention of picking it back up, but I just kept hoping that it would redeem itself, especially considering how much I enjoyed her previous novels.

It's just…this book felt glaringly familiar. As in, I'd seem pretty much this same premise in Meant to Be. It's like she took versions of the same characters from her first book and rewrote them into this book. But instead of gallivanting around London, they were cavorting on a cruise ship. Same kinds of hijinks. Same bad decisions. Just more cringeworthy.

I didn't hate this book. It just wasn't nearly as fun as I'd hoped. Especially since I'd been anticipating it for a year. And it felt like the focus of the book -- the competition for $25k to save the band -- was lost along the way because of the romance drama.

Because of the similarities to Meant To Be, this book was extremely predictable. Not that her first book wasn't predictable in its own right, but it was still cute enough to keep me entertained, and I was able to look past it. The same can't be said for The Trouble With Destiny.

I really wanted to love this novel, especially with that adorable cover. But I barely made it to the end…and I was cringing all the way. I'm not giving up on this author just because of one disappointing book, though. She's got another contemporary novel slated for release next year, and I'll at least give it a try.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Lauren Elizabeth Morrill is many things, including, but not limited to, a writer, an educator, a badass roller derby skater, a former band nerd, an aggressive driver, and a die-hard Mac person. She also watches a lot of TV, eats a lot of junk food, and drinks a lot of Coke. It's a wonder her brain and teeth haven't rotted out of her head.

Lauren is the author of Meant to Be, Being Sloane Jacobs, The Trouble With Destiny, and the forthcoming My Unscripted Life (October 2016), all from Random House.

Find Lauren:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: beautiful covers, contemporary, disappointments, lauren morrill, paper lantern lit, random house, reviews, the trouble with destiny

Review: Tangled Webs by Lee Bross

Title: Tangled Webs
Author: Lee Bross
Series: Tangled Webs, book #1
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: June 23, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

London, 1725. Everybody has a secret. Lady A will keep yours—for a price. This sumptuous, scandalous YA novel is wickedly addictive.

Lady A is the most notorious blackmailer in the city. With just a mask and a gown to disguise her, she sweeps into lavish balls and exclusive events collecting the most valuable currency in 1725 London—secrets.

But leading a double life isn't easy. By day Lady A is just a sixteen-year-old girl named Arista who lives in fear of her abusive master, Bones, and passes herself off as a boy to move safely through the squalor of London's slums. When Bones attempts to dispose of his pawn forever, Arista is rescued by the last person she expects: Jonathan Wild, the infamous Thief Taker General who moves seamlessly between the city's criminal underworld and its most elite upper circles. Arista partners with Wild on her own terms in the hopes of saving enough money to buy passage out of London.

Everything changes when she meets Graeden Sinclair, the son of a wealthy merchant. Grae has traveled the world, has seen the exotic lands Arista has longed to escape to her whole life, and he loves Arista for who she is—not for what she can do for him. Being with Grae gives something Arista something precious that she swore off long ago: hope. He has promised to help Arista escape the life of crime that has claimed her since she was a child. But can you ever truly escape the past?

This was...a bit of a disappointment. It started off well and then went downhill around the halfway point...maybe even before. I should have DNF'd it. I don't know why I didn't, to be honest. The premise intrigued me from the moment I read the summary, and I guess I just wanted to see it through.

I'm a sucker for a girl who gets by dressed as a boy. Usually that girl is fierce and good and what I want from a heroine. But Arista rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning because she seemed to enjoy her role as Lady A, at least at first, just as her friend and bodyguard Nic did. She liked that power trip...knowing that once she returned home, she'd be just another street urchin. I get that. And I also get that above all else, she did truly want out of that life and to have her freedom. But she also has serious trust issues...in that she trusts ALL the wrong people and pretty much runs head-first into danger at every opportunity. She plays right into everyone else's hands, all the while thinking herself the one on top. Considering her line of work, she is entirely too naive.

She's also a dirty double-crosser, though in that at least, her intentions were slightly honorable, even if the deed itself was more to benefit herself than to assuage any guilt she might harbor over what her blackmailing might have led to. Everything she does is in an effort to rid herself of her Lady A persona, but she endangers the only people who have ever truly cared for her in the process, including the handsome and very forward Grae Sinclair.

Grae was a nice love interest. But he also was a bit of a pushover. Arista lied to him time and again, and every time he excused it and all but told her he'd forgive her anything, give her anything. Even though she'd always thought herself in love with Nic, who'd been her protector up to this point, she has this instant connection with Grae. And he wants to take her away from this life and have adventures on the high seas with her and he's so swoony, etc., etc., etc. And as everyone kept pointing out, she deserved a life like the one he could provide for her. But I can't get over how everyone, especially his mother, was excited about his engagement to a thief and notorious blackmailer, especially when she'd caused their family so much grief already. I just find it very difficult to believe that anyone would have found their union acceptable in the time period this story takes place, no matter if she did end up saving the family's good name or not.

For my preferences, this book spent entirely too much time focusing on their romance and not enough time tying up loose ends, necessitating the need for a sequel. Though if you ask me, a sequel is not warranted and it's very doubtful I'll be picking it up. The writing in this book was just all over the place, so messy and it didn't flow well at all. The characters were flighty. And the ending was too quick and wrapped up too easily for my liking, making me think that it was really only supposed to be one book and not a series initially. I had such high hopes for this book, especially with that gorgeous cover and the interesting story idea, but it just did not live up to my expectations, sadly.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Lee Bross is the author of the Fates series, written under the pen name Lanie Bross. She also writes new adult novels under the name L.E. Bross. Lee was born in a small town in Maine, where she spent the next 18 years dreaming of bigger places. After exploring city life, she and her husband and two young sons ended up coming right back to the wilds of Maine where they now live just one house down from where she grew up. Fate, perhaps? She loves chasing around her rambunctious kids, playing tug-o-war with her 95 pound Lab, and writing for young adults.

Find Lee:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

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Labels: beautiful covers, disappointments, disney hyperion, historical fiction, lee bross, reviews, tangled webs