Aug 4 2013
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Book Review: Spartan Frost by Jennifer Estep

Spartan-Frost2-200x300Title: Spartan Frost

Author: Jennifer Estep

Series: Mythos Academy #4.5

Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance

Rating: 1/5 stars

The Overview: Professor Metis and Nickamedes say that I’m fine, that Loki and the Reapers don’t have a hold on me anymore, but I can’t risk it. I can’t risk hurting Gwen again. So I’m leaving Mythos and going somewhere far, far away. I know Gwen wonders what’s happening to me, whether I’m safe. I can’t tell her, but this is my story. . .

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The Review:

It’s always fun to read from the love interest’s point of view, and I think Estep picked a great time to introduce Logan’s perspective – the events that happened in book four were incredibly pivotal for his character. While the storyline for this novella was entertaining, it left me wanting more… a lot more.

Spartan Frost was repetitive. I’d say about 75% of it was recap and reflection of what’s happened in the series so far. As this is a novella four books into this series, I think it would’ve been safe to assume that only fans of the series would be reading it (especially since it’s labeled book #4.5). Also, throughout all that recap, there was very little talk about what Logan went through. It might’ve been his voice, but the story was still centered around Gwen’s experiences.

Logan has been a great side character up to this point, but after reading this novella I get the impression he’s not as well-rounded as he could be. His struggles and thoughts were thin and often focused outward rather than inward. I was hoping to gain some insight to his character, and what I got was reflection and recap – and very little growth. Overall, I don’t think this short story added anything to Logan’s development – at least, no more than was added from reading the rest of the series from Gwen’s perspective. I think it actually revealed more to me about Sergei and Inari then it did Logan (and as those two are incredibly minor characters, it wasn’t a good thing for them to outshine the “hero”).

Recommendations: Take out all the recap, and what happened in a few dozen pages here could have been summed up in a two-page conversation in book five. It didn’t really add anything to the series and in fact detracted from my impression of Logan as a whole (from a characterization standpoint). I am disappointed and wish the author had taken the time to develop it into something deeper. I likely won’t be recommending this anytime soon.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book.

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 3 2013
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Stacking the Shelves! (8/3/2013)

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Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I’m not sure why I haven’t participated in this feature before now – I love to to collect books, show them off, and see what other people are interested in. A lot of the other book blogs I follow do this every week and I find myself geeking out on their behalf that all the cool stuff they get.

Many of you know that I’ve been a bookseller for almost eleven years. Imagine how many books you would accumulate if you went to a bookstore five days a week and were handed a paycheck before you left the building on Fridays… A lot – that’s how many. Let’s put it this way, my friends and family have informed me that I am not allowed to move ever again because they got tired of lugging my books around. Anyway, I thought I would start this first feature with a look at a section of my library (those of you on Facebook have likely seen this already):

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This makes up about two thirds of my adult collection. There are a couple more bookshelves on the opposite wall with more, and then four more shelves in another room with all my teen and young adult books. I seriously could just sit on the floor and stare at my collection all day.

So now that you’ve had a chance to see the shelves I’m stacking (don’t ask me where I’m going to put the new ones) let’s take a look at the books I’ve accumulated over the month of July:

Purchased (both hard copy and e-book):

ARCs (Thank you, NetGalley!):

and Giveaways (Thank you, The Polished Page-Turner for hosting such an amazing giveaway!):

 Now that I’m adding it all up, July was a really expensive month, but I can see I’m in for some really great reading! [sorry, husband! ;)]

What books filled your shelves this month? 

Aug 1 2013
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July 2013 Review Recap!

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I read a lot of really great books this month! Ever since I started my “reading what I want to” instead of “reading what I feel like I have to” lifestyle my average rating has increased significantly. I cannot remember enjoying books this much since I was a kid! So, let’s take a look at the books that wowed me this month:

(click on the covers for full reviews)

 Demon Glass by Rachel Hawkins – 5/5 stars!

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Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins – 4/5 stars

11454587School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins – 4/5 stars

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Storm Front by Jim Butcher – 4.5/5 stars

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Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep – 3/5 stars

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 Pure by Julianna Baggott

#1 Pure by Julianna Baggott

#1 Pure by Julianna Baggott

and my favorite:

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb – 5/5 stars!

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 A lot of great reading happened this month (  – so much so that I didn’t even have a chance to post reviews for all the books I read. For the first time since I started the blog, I feel like I am ahead of schedule, and that is a great feeling. :-)

What awesome books did you read this month?

Jul 30 2013
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Coming Soon: Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer

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I’m delighted to finally be participating in Waiting on Wednesday posted by Breaking the Spine. “Coming Soon” is a feature I’ve been doing since I started the blog a year ago, but somehow it seems more official now that I’m a part of the WoW network. My selection this week is:

17372472Title: Snakeroot

Author: Andrea Cremer

Series: Nightshade Legacy #1

Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance

Release Date: December 10, 2013

The Overview: Fans asked for it, and now they’ve got it! Andrea Cremer is continuing the story she began in in her internationally bestselling trilogy: Nightshade, Wolfsbane and Bloodrose. In this new installment, Bosque Mar haunts the dreams of both Adne and Logan, trying to escape for the Nether, where Calla, Shay and the other Guardians trapped him in the final battle in the War of All Against All. Will he turn Adne to the dark side? Will Logan reclaim his birthright? And will darkness take over our world? In a novel filled with magic, romance and breakneck action, master storytelling Andrea Cremer’s newest installment will not disappoint!

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Nik’s Notes:

I was lucky enough to snag an arc of the first book in the Nightshade trilogy and enjoyed it so much that I bought the next books in hardcover as soon as they came out. Now for my confession: they are still sitting unread on my shelf. This is not a knock on the first book – I really liked it and wanted to continue the series – I just got distracted. The release of this continuing trilogy gets me even more fired up about this author, and I fully intend to be ready for Snakeroot when it’s released in December!

by Niki Hawkes

Jul 30 2013
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ARC August – Nik’s New Challenge!

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As I was already considering devoting a good part of August to catching up on all of my ARCs, this feature couldn’t have come at a better time. Hosted by Read. Sleep. Repeat., This is a one month feature, and I’m challenging myself to make my way through the following ARCs: 

Broken Forest by Eliza Tilton
Wyrmweald by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell
Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi
Count Down by Michelle Rowen
Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

Ideally, the goal is to make it through all the books I’ve requested on Net Galley. I force myself to be really picky on that website because, holy cow, it can be addicting. If I complete my challenge, then I hope to move forward only requesting one book at a time (yeah, right – like that plan will work).

Jul 30 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings of Books! (7/30/2013)

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Posted by The Broke and the Bookish, this is a weekly feature in which I and several other awesome book bloggers get to geek out about our favorite books. This week’s topic:

Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings of Books!

Top Five Beginnings:

The Fifth Wave: This one had quite possibly the most incredible prologue I’ve ever read – and it only got better from there!

A Shadow in Summer: I picked this one up randomly at the bookstore and started flipping through it. Thirty minutes later I had to force my nose out of it long enough to let the cashier ring me up – I couldn’t put it down!

A Devil in the Details: This one survived the annual book purge of my library, saving itself with this stellar opening paragraph: “There’s a certain sound the human head makes when it hits the trunk of the tree. Meatier than a “crack”; not quite as hollow as a “thunk” – it’s unmistakable. And when it’s my head, I tends to take offense.” I died, I was laughing so hard.

The Wizard Hunters: This one also survived the purge with a great opening line: “it was 9 o’clock at night and Tremaine was trying to find a way to kill herself that would bring in a verdict of natural causes in court when someone banged on the door. ‘Dammit.'” Apparently, if you can make me laugh within the first paragraph, I’m hooked. This one gave me a giggle fit. 

Sword Dancer: What started out as slightly chauvinistic soon developed into a hilarious clash of man versus woman. I found it incredibly engaging.

Top Five Endings:

 I don’t think this section really needs a lot of extra commentary – I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending for anyone. ;) Suffice to say these endings were so profound that I’m still reeling from them years later – I love it when books can do that to me!

What top ten books made your list? :-)

by Niki Hawkes