Tag Archives: book review

Jun 21 2013
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Book Review: The Deepest Night by Shana Abe

16156293Title: The Deepest Night

Author: Shana Abe

Series: Sweetest Dark #2

Genre: Teen Paranormal Romance

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: it’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iversen, a prestigious, Gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: she is a drakon calm a a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities. As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers, with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, that darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iversen, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort – and to keep Lora by his side – Armand turned his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood.

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The Review:

I was delightfully impressed by this novel. In fact, I liked it better than the first one! Both had exceptional writing, vivid settings, and compelling characters. What this one had that the first one lacked (and tipped me over the edge into the five-star rating) was story… specifically the romance. The plot decisions that left me wanting in the first book were rectified tenfold in this one – revealing a sweet, slow-building relationship that added just one more positive aspect to these great characters.

I’m not much for historical fiction so I have to give Abe kudos for immersing me in the world of the past without boring me. There were many drop-in details that kept the world fresh and vivid without overwhelming the reader. The author makes me feel like she lived there herself – I’m impressed at the amount of research she had to do for this project.

The setting, as impressive as Abe made it, wouldn’t have been as magical without her skills as a writer. The whole book was beautifully crafted with language and description, leaving me breathless. She definitely has a unique voice and perspective for telling stories and I’m still in awe at what she was able to accomplish. There were several scenes that were almost written backwards to the “conventional” standard. For example, she’d start a scene with the character’s emotional or physical reaction to something then (as if we were peeling back layers) reveals things about the setting, the other characters in the scene, then finally the conflict. It was engaging to read and made those scenes more vivid and powerful.

Overall, this author had every element I look for when evaluating a book and produced those elements with flying colors. And she had dragons! What’s not to love? I haven’t seen this series highlighted as often as I feel it deserves – if you liked any of the recommends below consider adding this to your TBR list (you won’t be disappointed)!

Recommendations: this is great for readers who love reading about academies, dragons, love, history, sassy leading ladies, and charming gentleman.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jun 18 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Books at the Top of my Summer 2013 TBR list! (6/18/2013)

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 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature posted by The Broke and the Bookish. They often have really fun topics, and this one happens to be the one I’ve been waiting for!

Top 10 Books at the Top of my Summer 2013 TBR list!

 I am finally at the point where I can start new series. I have had so many different ones going that I made it a concerted effort over the last few months to get caught up. As you can see, all of the books (except for Kim Harrison) are first books. You might’ve also notice that most of them are teen… what can I say? I’m on a kick.

 Of all the titles, I am most excited to read Everneath – I have seen so many rave reviews that I am convinced it’s going to be amazing! I have made it my personal goal to have all of these read before the Fall 2013 TBR list is due – wish me luck!

Are any of these books on your list? Or, even better, have you read them already?

Jun 17 2013
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Your Pick for Nik! – July’s Selection

fffEvery month I nominate titles from my TBR pile and you pick which one gets featured for our book club. This month, I’m doing things differently. you see, there is a title that has been the runner up since January and I figured this month would be a good month to feature it considering so many of you out there want to read it. So I’m skipping the voting process and going straight to the pick. Without further ado, July’s selection is: 

c3Title: Pure

Author: Julianna Baggott

Genre: Fiction

The Overview: We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . . Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

We won’t start reading this until July so there’s plenty of time to pick it up if you want to read along (for that matter, there’s still time to read June’s selection, The 5th Wave – it’s fabulous!).

For more information on how this feature works click here.

Jun 12 2013
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Dragon Obsession – The Literary Files

Up to this point, I mostly use this feature to highlight awesome dragon paintings (and the fact that I have spent way too much money on dust-collectors). Today, however, Dragon Obsession gets a new angle. What can I say? I was inspired.

Today’s post is a feature on an author who has dazzled me so much with her dragons that I can’t remain quiet about it anymore! I give you:

Robin Hobb

a43She  has written about dragons before, but takes it to the next level of brilliance in her latest series (The Rain Wild Chronicles). It follows the life cycle of dragons, makes them just as important as the humanoid protagonists, and celebrates just how beautiful and shall we say unhuman they really are. 

If you are a dragon-lover like me and haven’t yet picked this up you’ll kick yourself for waiting so long when you finally do (I know I did).

While this series can be read as a standalone, the characters within are ones we’ve seen before. In fact, this book is the culmination of everything we’ve been working towards in a previous series. Even though dragons don’t play a huge role in the earlier novels they are still well worth your time to read. The last book in the Tawny Man series was so profound that it  was one of the main reasons why I started this blog. I’d read a phenomenal book and had no one to tell… that had to change. :-)

So, if you’d like to start from the beginning (the recommended path) consider following the order below from left to right:

by Niki Hawkes

Jun 10 2013
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Top Ten Beach Reads!

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This feature is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish once a week and it’s loads of fun. This week’s topic:

Top Ten Beach Reads!

For me, a great beach read is one that doesn’t require a lot of focus. I don’t know about you, but the handful of times that I’ve actually been on a beach I was distracted constantly. Maybe if I lived closer to the shore rather than in the middle of the desert I would be used to the hustle and bustle of the place. As it stands now, the only books that I’ve managed to keep my attention off of the beautiful ocean were fun and light – no hardcore fantasies for this girl in the sand, I wouldn’t get past the first page.

All of these appealed to me because, you guessed it, they were FUN. My favorite on the list is probably Dealing with Dragons (note the Dragon Obsession category in my menu) but it’s more than just a love for dragons that draws me to that series – it is also a great fairytale and adventure. It’s one of those that you pick up again and again over the years and eventually share with your kids.

 Any of these make your list? :-)

by Niki Hawkes

Jun 10 2013
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Book Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

16248068Title: The Elite

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection #2

Genre: Teen Fiction

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea. America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

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The Review:

I can’t tell you how many reviews for this book I’ve read so far – it seems that almost everybody read it (and loved it) before I did. The Selection was sweet, romantic, and engaging, and I loved the element of competition in a slightly dystopian setting. It was exactly what I was in the mood for – a fun, lighthearted read – and I picked up the second one immediately (which is something I don’t usually do – all you have to do is check out my “Currently Reading” shelf on goodreads to see how scattered I am with books). Anyway, although I liked this one, I don’t feel as though I got what I signed up for.

The first book was lovely. It was breezy, romantic, and fun, and even though I expected a little turmoil to show up in this second book, I wasn’t prepared for the level of stress I felt while reading it. I had to fight the urge to write a story-rant review – and that tells me the author did and exceptional job of getting me emotionally involved. I was so invested in these characters that I wanted to scream at them to stop being such idiots. I have never gotten so worked up about a book and have spent the last month or so trying to figure out why it affected me so much.

And I think I finally figured it out…pacing.

Cass used several different elements to throw angst at me for almost the entire end half of the book. It was subtle and slow building until I was riding the proverbial snowball down the mountain. I kept reading faster and faster to try to get ahead of it, but I never did. I practically begged for her to throw me a bone, and she ignored me. From her author’s note at the end,  I think she did it on purpose… and that pisses me off. At first, I was angry at the story, the characters, and the situations they put themselves in. After a month of reflection, I am now pissed at Cass for writing it well enough to do that to me. It was truly evoking and I have to applaud that.

Overall, this was a very well-done book. It sticks with you long after you’ve finished it… at least it did with me. Even though it is the second book in the series, I feel like each one is drastically different as far as the emotional payoffs (or lack thereof) are concerned. It was an emotional roller coaster and I can’t wait to see what ride I’m getting on next. I will probably pick the third book up the day it comes out.

Recommendations: Because I’ve read so many reviews, I know a lot of people enjoyed the series as much as I did. It’s technically a dystopian, but it’s definitely not the most well-conceived society of the genre. I would recommend it to people who lean more towards the romantic dystopians such as Delirium and Matched rather than the more conceptual ones like Hunger Games and The Fifth Wave.

 Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes