Amazing series by SJ Maas!

Court of wings and ruin

Action-packed masterpiece!

As war bears down on Prythian, Feyre finds herself deep in enemy lands at the Spring court. She is determined to make Tamlin pay for the betrayal that cost both her human and Fae family so dearly. To do so, she must play a deadly game of deceit and it will take every weapon in her arsenal, and more to ally the High-Lords to protect the two worlds she loves so dearly.

What a roller-coaster, magnificent masterpiece! Maas weaves a fantasy world full of adventure, beauty, treacherous betrayal and romance. She adds additional characters in this installment with rich back-stories that deserve dedicated novels of their own. I was already in love with the rich characters of the Night court but this novel continued their stories of personal growth, making me fall in love all over again. This one is action-packed and will have you in tears, in stitches and swooning!

 

4 of 5 stars to “Forbidden” by Amy Miles

Forbidden

Chemistry and danger

Roseline Enescue has spent most of her immortal existence wishing she could escape the cruelty and violence of her husband, the infamous Vladimir Enescue. When the opportunity presents, Roseline escapes and flees to America, where she tries to establish a semblance of a normal life by enrolling in High school.
Rose, as her new friends know her, falls in love with Gabriel Marston and soon discovers that, no matter how much she may try and no matter how far she may run, the past has a way of catching up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The writing is unique and particularly gripping, written as it is in third person present tense. There is a lovely flow and intensity to the author’s story-telling, although my copy was an Audible version, so I’m unable to comment on grammar. Some of the scenes, most notably the action scenes, were a little stiff and perhaps just a little too detailed for the pace, but they were still effective.

The focus of the story is definitely the two characters, Rose and Gabriel, and any other storylines take a back-seat to this budding romance. There is such chemistry between the two main characters that one can overlook the cliched peripheral characters. The back story and premise leaves me intrigued to follow the rest of Rose’s story.

5 of 5 stars to ‘Siege and Storm’ by Leigh Bardugo

siege-and-storm

Magical and religious society

Alina may have escaped the Darkling, for now, but she’ll never outrun the memories of that night on the Shadowfold. Riddled with guilt, she tries to make a new life with Mal across the true sea. But the Darkling is never far behind, and his powers have grown to terrifying new depths. Can Alina keep ahead of him, can she protect the man she loves, and can she really turn her back on her country and the people who, even now, look to her to save Ravka?

Bardugo extends her fantasy world even further in this second installment of the Grisha series. Once again, her descriptions of the environment and the complicated workings of an integrated magical and normal society are fascinating, detailed and riddled with uncomfortable situations. I loved the underlying political games and the religious aspects because they are so radical and unlike anything in our own society. It’s easy to get immersed and lost in this wonderful world of mythology and magic.

Alina’s character evolves throughout the storyline and Mal’s own transformation makes for some interesting inter and intra personal conflicts, which contributes a much larger portion of the storyline than in the first installment. There’s a whole lot of adventure and some intriguing twists in this installment. I’m still hooked on this series!

Action-packed ending to amazing series

Rogue

Best fantasy series!

Nikolas is determined to hide Sara away in an impenetrable fort following the attack on Westhorne. He will keep his mate to be safe, even if it means taking away her freedom. Sara has other ideas. She’s tired of being underestimated and coddled. She’s not going to sit back while the Master vampire ravages the country in his search for her.
With the help of her werewolf friends and one Mohiri trainee warrior, she runs away from the Mohiri compound and the man she loves, in search of her estranged mother to get some answers. But no matter how fast and far she runs, trouble will always find her – and keeping two steps ahead of her Mohiri warrior mate may prove to be even harder than staying our of the hands of the enemy.

What an action-packed ending to one of the most brilliant fantasy series I’ve ever read! Lynch keeps the reader on the edge of your seat. Just when you think you’ll hit a lull in the story, she thrusts Nikolas and Sara into escalating danger.
The fantasy element is even more magical than ‘Refuge’ with the introduction of many more species of demons and fae. Lynch explores the powers of the various species and slowly unravels Sara’s own abilities in a perfectly paced plot. New characters fall in seamlessly with the old and each has their own quirks and powers to make a gripping mix.
The relationship between Nikolas and Sara smolders throughout the story, bringing the romantic element of the series to a fiery pinnacle. The ending is an amazing amalgamation of the many threads woven throughout this wonderful series, leaving the reader sated but eager to climb into another Lynch fantasy world! Wow!

4 of 5 stars to ‘Frostfire’ by Amanda Hocking

Frostfire

Great expectations

Half Kanin, half Skojare, Bryn Aven is pretty much an outcast in a class conscious society. Yet nothing will keep her from working toward her dream of joining the prestigious King’s guard. Then she runs into Konstantin, the man who tried to kill her father. Bryn becomes embroiled in a dangerous mystery as Konstantin begins kidnapping the Kanin changelings. Part of her wants revenge against Konstantin, but other part can’t help wondering if there isn’t a bigger game at play.

I’m a huge fan of the troll fantasy world that Hocking has created. Every aspect of their society, politics and physics intrigues me. This novel is no exception as Hocking delves deeper into the stark differences between the Kanin and Skojare tribes. Hocking gets five stars for her believable, magical fantasy world creation. I had great expectations following the Trylle trilogy, but have to admit that this one didn’t quite live up to those expectations.

The characters were interesting, but not riveting. They lacked the passion of the Trylle characters, and seemed a little too reserved in many respects. Character development was not clear cut. There was one particular scene where Hocking switched from past tense to present tense, and I found this quite jarring. The ending too, was not fulfilling. While I personally enjoy cliff-hangers, I felt that there needed to be some kind of resolution, either personal or plot-related to round off the novel.

I was entertained and am still an Amanda Hocking fan, but I’m on the fence about continuing this series…

5 of 5 stars to ‘Darken the stars’ by Amy Bartol (And a spot on my best series list!)

Darken the stars

What an epic epilogue!

Kricket Hollowell is a pawn. She’s the piece that catapulted the planet Ethar into war and she’s the piece that will end it. The very people she has trusted with her life have handed her over to the enemy. Now, she belongs to Kyon Ensin, the power hungry Alameedan who is determined to make Kricket his in every way. But Kricket refuses to be owned, nor will be allow her destiny to be determined by those who claim to be her family, friends or enemies.

This book had me quite torn by its ending. The story itself was powerful, with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I absolutely loved the shifting dynamics between Kyon and Kricket and found myself falling in love with the abrasive, arrogant, and yet decidedly passionate enemy. When the book ended, I was unsatisfied. I felt there was no resolution.

And then came the epilogue…

In those last few words, Bartol changed my entire perspective on this series. She opened up new storylines and raised questions I hadn’t even considered. What was once a cute, sci-fi love story became so much more. This novel is about the indomitable human (or not so human!) spirit. It’s about the ability to love, more than once, the goodness in every once of us and the darkness too. It breaks down the fictional rule that ‘true love is worth any sacrifice’ and promotes the importance of being true to oneself instead. It tackles the sad truth that in a world of self-serving, power-hungry individuals, it’s each man for himself, sometimes even when it comes to those we love and trust most. But it also leaves us with the hope that love can change even the darkest heart.

This epilogue is amongst the most ‘epic’ I’ve read. Wow! What a series. This one makes my top series list.

5 of 5 stars to ‘A Castle of sand’ by Bella Forrest

A castle of sand

Keep it going

Sofia knows that what she has with Derek Novak, the Prince of the vampires, is precarious, at best. No matter how in love they may be, the fact remains that they’re world’s apart, and there are people everywhere who don’t believe they belong together. Like Derek’s father, who is furious that his son would put a mere human above his people and his family. Or Sofia’s best friend, Ben, who has joined the hunters and wants nothing more than to kill every vampire in the Shade. Or Sofia’s father, the head of the vampire Hunters, who is determined to rescue Sofia from the clutches of the evil vampire race.
Can Sofia and Derek overcome the challenges, or will their sandcastle fall?

The third installment of the series has a decidedly darker edge to it. Ms Forrest, while still focussing at heart on the relationship between Sofia and Derek, has taken more time in this novel to develop the plot. There’s more intrigue, cruelty and action – and I love it!
One of the things that really makes this series stand out is the different POVs. It’s unusual to use so many POVs to tell a story, but it just works so well here. It provides deeper insight into the characters and forces you to see the motivating factors behind the villains.

I must admit that there were times when I started to feel annoyed with Sofia’s character when described by Derek’s POV. Sometimes she just seems so ‘wilting damsel in distress’. I suppose this heightens his warrior image, but I did prefer the stronger Sofia as described from her own POV.

Overall, another well-written, fun, sexy, romantic installment that’s great enough to keep me reading the series!