A Wonderful Surprise

Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) by R.L. LaFevers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been thinking about how I wanted to approach this review for the past couple days. The thing was I fully expected to not like this book, I mean teenage assassin nuns? There were hundreds of ways the author could bungle a story with a synopsis like that. I had it on my TBR-pile thinking I'd forget about it, but then NetGalley decided that for two days they would have this book auto-approved to requesters, so I flippantly decided to get it because I can't resist a free read. Let me just say I was wrong in just as many hundreds of ways I thought it would be a lousy story, it was in fact one of the best YA books I've read in a long, long time.

The first unique thing you notice about this story is the time period. I'm no historical buff, but you don't' normally find books set in Europe in the 1400s, YA or not. We breeze through Ismae's humble beginnings, zoom through her training at the convent, and at this point I still remained skeptical. Then someone shows up and the real meat of the story begins. I could not put it down, but it was so good I was also kicking myself for reading it too fast because I wanted to savor this story. Ismae is true to her characterization throughout. She wants to serve her god and the best way she happens to know how to do that is fighting and killing. Other aspects of her life are of next to no interest to her next to succeeding in every assignment for Mortain (the god of death).

When her duty leaves her floundering at some points, she has to fight with what she must do, but also what she knows in her heart. Her heart leads me to Duval, such a wonderful character and the perfect balance to Ismae. The romance is touching and sincere in a way I can't seem to find in a lot of the paranormal YA out there now. This book was just exceptional and I would recommend it to fans of Juliet Marillier and Cinda Williams Chima, two of my favorite authors. Grave Mercy read more as a historical YA, but it had touches of the mystical that kept the story exciting. Definitely recommended and I even pre-ordered my own copy on Amazon (damn you Netgalley!! lol). Author's Website: http://www.robinlafevers.com/ Copy Source: Free copy from NetGalley

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was such an unexpected gem. To describe the basic plot wouldn't do it justice. This author takes risks and I for one appreciated that fact. This is not your typical YA and I mean that in the best of ways. Penryn, our heroine, is everything you'd want in an upside down dystopian: brave, practical, courageous along with a bunch of other little flaws that make her realistic. Raffe, our angel in need of assistance doesn't change his characterization when it would be convenient to make this a softer story. It's unflinching in some of it's depictions of a world where humans fight for their very lives on a daily basis. I am impressed and eagerly await the sequel slated for next summer.

Author's Website: http://www.susanee.com
Copy source: Ebook Purchased

Fury (The Fury Trilogy #1) by Elizabeth Miles

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you've seen the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, the overall theme and feel of this book is the same. Em and Chase have done some things they're not proud of but are still teenager-type mistakes. We know from the very beginning that they'll be punished by mythical Furies, but I thought the execution was somewhat lacking. Where things could have been scary or creepy they were just vaguely uncomfortable. If fact, the book didn't even pick up for me until the last 70 pages or so. The ending left a lot of questions open for a sequel, but at this point I don't know if I'd read it. The writing itself was fine and the dynamics between the characters were realistic, but I can't get past the sheer prosaicness of the first half of this book.

Copy Source: Library

Ruthless (The House of Rohan #1) by Anne Stuart

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I've read Black Ice by this author and if you're in the mood for a heroine that has next to no backbone and a hero that could just as easily be the bad guy, then I'd recommend it. I thought I give this a try to see if a change in category from suspense to historical would help her romance evolve a bit more. Unfortunately that just wasn't the case.

I should say first that there were quite a few good things about this story, especially the nice little side romance between Lydia and Charles. They had many sweet, lovable qualities that were plainly absent for Elinor and Rohan, our main couple. If they had had a bit more of the spotlight I would have been happy.

Elinor has some poor self-esteem (and not without reason the way her mother treated her) and Francis is a connoisseur of all that is sinful (but not truly you guys, because he draws the line at children, duh!). Elinor is in dire straights because her mother has slowly run their family into the ground as a fallen women going crazy from syphilis, ewww. When her mother escapes one night, she has to rescue her from one of Rohan's crazy parties. They meet and the rest is history, unfortunate and predictable history.

Some of my favorite snippets for everyone's enjoyment:

After we've learned about Elinor's tragic past, we get this gem,
"My sister will be safe and well cared for if I get in your bed?"
He laughed,. "Acquit me of be quite so gauche, child. I have innumerable women to satisfy my carnal urges."
The ice vanished and she was hot, hot in shame. Of course he didn't want her. How foolish could she be?
APPARENTLY VERY FOOLISH!! Why shouldn't a guy basically holding you captive not want your body, what's wrong with you (read: what's wrong with this author).

Next up this gem comes straight from Rohan whilst trying to woo Elinor to sleep with him, but then again who would be able to resist him after this Jersey Shore-like argument:
"Indeed Madame is waiting for me and she tends to be quite insatiable. I can only hope that I have not stayed away so long that three men have taken my place."
"Why three?"
"Darling, it takes that many to replace my skills."
Be still my beating heart, I think he means business, rawwwr!

Then we have to have the tough (but really kind) love of a hero to make our heroine see the light of her mistaken ways:
"Someone restrain her," Rohan said in an unconcerned voice. "Without hurting her," he added, and the footmen took her arms and forced her back in the chair, careful not to be too rough. She sat back, knowing when a battle could not be won.
WTF, Rohan even has to get footmen to do his dirty-work. Clearly the heroine should sit back and relax because she's at the mercy of a crazy man.

Then to top if all off, our hero is such a romantic that just in case Elinor is diseased he's still willing to try those newfangled condoms for the first time, just to be with her. Isn't that romantic!

Ugh, I don't expect these books to be perfect, but I am SO tired of seeing the same plot constructs. Yet when I do find the ones that rise above this it makes it all worth it.

Copy Source: Ebook Purchased

Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had the same issues with this last book as I did with the two before it. Sam and Grace remain mostly uninteresting (for my tastes). I mean, don't get me wrong, I get that it's a quiet and gentle love that should make some girls sigh, but not me. Give me Cole and Isabel with all of their sarcasm, pain, and hang-ups any day over Sam and Grace. This, of course is a personal preference and some readers may feel exactly the opposite. Yet for me the most interesting story to follow was Isabel and Cole and counting the pages until their POV does not a perfect story make.
Once again the resolution presented itself too quickly and the truth about what causes the werewolf disease wasn't terribly exciting. I can say that I found Stiefvater's writing in Forever to be the best I've seen in this series. The time she takes to describe the different relationships is poignant at some moments, even if exasperatingly boring at other times. What can I say? I'm as conflicted as Grace's own emotions with this one and the jury's still out. I for one didn't mind the open-ended nature of the ending, because in a way the author let's you take a piece of the story as your own. Of course this is a must for those already invested in the series as well as for fans of this genre of YA, but as to a glowing endorsement for the entire trilogy, it's just not there.

Favorite Quote (and there were a lot of great ones):
"The thing I was beginning to figure out about Sam and Grace, the thing about Sam not being able to function without her, was that that sort of love only worked when you were sure both people would always be around for each other. If one half of the equation left, or died, or was slightly less perfect in their love, it became the most tragic, pathetic story invented, laughable in its absurdity. Without Grace, Sam was a joke without a punch line."

Copy Source: Library

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Talk about drama! Even though the author's hints throughout about what happened to Jenna are about as subtle as a bomb exploding, I found my enjoyment for this one was less because of something else altogether. That reason is the cause for a lot of debate here in the US. It's our relationship with science. I don't feel that it's very spoilerish to say that science in the time and place of this story is looked at with extreme suspicion mixed with an a little bit of hope. Most of the arguments about nature vs science examined were moot points for me, so even though I could understand both sides, it wasn't really new territory.

My own sentiments aside, for some readers the author could raise somewhat valid (even if it's not very realistic) questions for a future where bioengineering has exceeded medicine's wildest expectations. Where do we have to draw the line? Who gets to draw it? Can there ever be exceptions? The author attempts to answer these questions in a very heavy-handed manner much to my disappointment. The last chapter was my favorite and I'd recommend just for that, but there were many things I thought could have been better developed.

Copy Source: Purchased Paperback

Die for Me (Revenants, #1) by Amy Plum

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"If Vincent wouldn't tell me anything, maybe I could figure it out for myself." That's the one line that I wish Katie would actually listen to herself and follow. From the beginning she has to be spoon-fed the facts and doesn't seem to understand how to connect point a to point b. I would understand her utter disbelief in the beginning, that's only normal, but to continue the same way under the pretense that she wants to know everything, but then hide her head under a rock once she does is exasperating! She literally had to be held by the hand the entire way through this book. At one point she knows her sister is in danger and instead of calmly trying to explain herself, she goes to visit her 'lover' (ha!) and leaves her sister to her own devices.

On another note, I'm sure there might be some women or men that convince their significant other to leave the military or police force because of the dangers. It's understandable that the risks their partner takes may be too stressful for the other half. Yet there are men and women that bravely put their lives on the line for others every single day they step into uniform. The main difference between them and a character in this book is that this character will COME BACK, not just once by EVERY TIME. This character feels an immense urge to sacrifice their life so that others may live but Katie decides she would be too upset to see that happen because after her parents sudden demise it's too traumatic. It's true she doesn't suggest the character willingly not save lives, but she doesn't mind when they suggest something along those lines. Then the icing on the cake is that by the end, Katie 'bravely' decides she would sacrifice her life for this character. Give me a break! What's good for the goose isn't good for the gander, I guess.

Her immaturity leads me to another point. The fact that she didn't need to be in this relationship was obvious to me. The interactions between her and Vincent are so little before they decide they can't live without each other(ugh!). I'd believe it if it rang with any kind of true sentiment, but it didn't to me. Plus, at Vincent's age he should know better and at least leave her alone for a few years.

As you can probably tell this book hit some nerves. I know that many of the things that bothered me other readers would gobble up. In fact the romantic scene at the end reminded me so much of Twilight it was hard not to compare the two. So I can definitely say fans of that series would like this one. It's not for me.

Copy Source: Purchased