Tag Archives: book

Feb 4 2015
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Mini Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and boneTitle: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy/Paranormal

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

The Mini Book Review:

I thought the concept for this book was friggin cool: teeth-harvesting chimera, an art student in Prague, and a heavenly love interest, topped off with great writing and a quirky voice. My favorite element of the story was probably Karou herself. You see, I’ve always been in awe of people with strong artistic talents, I really feel like this book allowed me to get immersed into her world as she attended her art classes (in Prague nonetheless, which made the whole thing seem more exotic and exciting). I also liked the supporting characters, but often wondered if they were a little too one-dimensional.

I honestly think if I had read Daughter of Smoke and Bone ten years ago I would have loved it, probably because the romance would have resonated with me a lot more then than it does now. As it were, I found it a bit tiresome and predictable… but then again, I have read a ton of teen love stories over the last decade and after a while they all start to sound the same. My advice is, if you’re in the mood for a semi-typical teen romance with a whole bunch of cool crap around it, give this book a go.

Daug daughter of smoke and bone 2hter of Smoke and boneAnd I’m totally serious about the art thing – I love reading about people who are amazing at their craft (even if it’s a craft that doesn’t technically exist in our world like dragonriding or magecraft). This book inspired to the point where I even dusted off my old paints. I’ve always been pretty decent at copycatting, but have never been able to create something beautiful from scratch. Also, notice that this painting is only half finished… It has totally been that way for about six months and will probably remain that way forever.

Is painting ADD a thing? I have it.


Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 28 2015
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January 2015 Reading Recap!

Review Recap

Honestly I feel like this month is getting off to a slow start compared to 2014. Although, when you consider last year I was reading mostly YA while this year has been a heavy sci-fi/fantasy focus then that probably accounts for the difference. Because I have so many amazing books waiting in my TBR, it has made me a bit impatient with the longer novels… which is ironic, as most of the books in that TBR are 500+ page epic fantasies. In any case, here’s a look at what I’ve been up to:

Books Read:

I don’t normally read books from the same author back-to-back, but I’m making an exception this month for Czerneda because I’m competing become a beta reader for her next Clan novel. Wish me luck!

Books Reviewed:

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
The Elvenbane by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
The Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkowski – 3/5 stars

The Elvenbane by Andre Norton & Mercedes Lackey – 3.5/5 stars

Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne – 4/5 stars

And my favorites:

Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey – 4.5/5 stars

Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda – 5/5 stars!

Other than lots of reading, not much else happened on the blog this month. I did do a

Top Ten Bookish Goals of 2015!

post, which I’ve actually been actively working on. It’s always nice to see progress that the goals you set for yourself. I also participated in a Read-athon midway through the month (and did atrociously, for what it’s worth). It was fun though, I’m totally doing it again in a couple of months.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot: I started a Writing Prompts page and of been updating that on a semi-regular basis. It has been really valuable in getting my creative juices flowing, and I’ve already seen improvement in my novel writing. #win

How was your month in reading/writing?

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 27 2015
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Book Review: Elvenbane by Andre Norton & Mercedes Lackey

ElvenbaneTitle: Elvenbane

Authors: Andre Norton & Mercedes Lackey

Series: Halfblood Chronicles #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: Two masters of epic fantasy have combined in this brilliant collaboration to create a rousing tale of the sort that becomes an instant favorite. This is the story of Shana, a halfbreed born of the forbidden union of an Elvenlord father and a human mother. Her exiled mother dead, she was rescued and raised by dragons, a proud, ancient race who existed unbeknownst to elven or humankind. From birth, Shana was the embodiment of the Prophecy that the all-powerful Elvenlords feared. Her destiny is the enthralling adventure of a lifetime.

The Review:

The first half of this book is a perfect case study in how “telling” versus “showing” can be wildly entertaining. The authors took a lot of time to build this world and explain the dynamics between the races within it, and I found myself devouring the pages, eager to learn as much as I could. It was such a cool concept for a story – all-powerful elves who came to the world from another realm and basically took over, forcing the humans to cater to their every whim. Enter the shape-shifting dragons, also fleeing another world, who were trying to keep their existence secret from the elves but couldn’t resist dabbling in their affairs. Then put a halfbreed girl in the middle of all of this, and I’m on board.

It was unique, to say the least, and the best part was the spin on traditional race roles within fantasy novels. Not to mention the abundance of dragons! Sure, they behaved more like humans than dragons, but there was enough dragon lore involved that I didn’t mind it. Watching a small girl grow up among them was easily my favorite segment of the entire novel. It really is a shame it only lasted a couple of chapters…

The thing that knocked this book off of its five-star rating for me is that I got about 80% through it, then had to stop and figure out what the arc of the story was supposed to be. You see, the authors took a couple of weird tangents – ones I enjoyed reading, but I couldn’t figure out how they advance the plot or developed character. Now, I love tangents as much is the next girl, but to have them loaded near the end of the book? And to have them be so jarring? I kept thinking maybe I had missed something only to flip back a page and realize: nope… It really did just take a left turn. Had it been any other time during the novel, it would’ve been okay, but in this case it pulled me out of it when I felt I should’ve been the most engaged. I’m betting it had something to do with the difficulties of coordinating a book between two authors. This is the only time I’ve noticed a definite discord within a dual-authorship involving Mercedes Lackey, so it was probably a fluke.

Overall, I liked Elvenbane because I’ve never read anything quite like it. It had so many great ideas that, despite trouble with pacing near the end, I will be picking up the sequel. If you already read a ton of fantasy/dragon books, I’d recommend this one. However, if you’re new to the genre I’d have you read some of my favorites first.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 21 2015
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Mini Book Review: Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

The Midnight ThiefTitle: Midnight Thief

Author: Livia Blackburne

Series: Midnight Thief #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs. But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he’s persistent—and darkly attractive—and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.

Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease. When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival—and vengeance—might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.

The Mini Review:

I liked this one. Enough that I will probably pick up the sequel sooner rather than later when it comes out. The concept of the story, which reminded me a bit of Throne of Glass, grab my attention from the start. Thieves and assassins always pipk my interest, but I appreciated this book because it took all of the cliché plot points usually associated with the genre and elevated them. For the first half of the book, I was convinced Midnight Thief was going to be a 5-star read and one of my favorite books of the year… and then I read the second half.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t written poorly or anything, the plot just took an odd turn that I felt didn’t fit within the context of the story presented thus far. The author was probably aiming to surprise the reader, but I could have used a little more of a lead-in so the change didn’t feel so… weird. So, while I will definitely be picking up the sequel, I’m a bit worried that it won’t focus on all of the things that had me raving about this book when I started reading it. The good news is, despite my concerns, I think a lot of people are really going to love this one.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 16 2015
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Book Review: Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda

Reap the wild windTitle: Reap the Wild Wind

Author: Julie E. Czerneda

Series: Stratification #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: In the first book of the Stratification series, set in an earlier time in Czerneda’s Trade Pact Universe, the Clan has not yet learned how to manipulate the M’hir to travel between worlds. Instead, they are a people divided into small tribes, scattered over a fraction of their world, and prevented from advancing by two other powerful races who control both technology and terrain.

Aliens begin exploring the Clan’s home planet, upsetting the delicate balance between the three intelligent races. It is a time, too, when one young woman is on the verge of mastering the forbidden power of the M’hir-a power that could prove to be the salvation or ruin of her entire species…

The Review:

This is easily one of the most unique books I’ve ever read, which is no surprise considering it’s by Julie E. Czerneda. The Stratification series was the only main sci-fi trilogy from her that I hadn’t read yet – I’d been kind of saving them for a rainy day because I knew they were going to be top-notch. And you know what? Reap the Wild Wind gave me everything I hoped for and more!

The setting for this one kind of reminded me of the wonders of Pandora in Avatar. Czerneda created a complete ecosystem with all sorts of interesting flora and fauna. The jungle was so vibrant that it almost became a character within itself. The amazing thing is that the jungle is just one aspect of the epic world building within this book. Her descriptions of the world were beautiful, but it was more how the main character interacted with it that really brought it to life. It takes unique skill-sets and strong characters to survive in such unforgiving climates, and I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed reading about the Om’ray quite as much had the setting not been such a big influence on their lifestyles.

The aliens introduced in Czerneda’s books are easily the most memorable things about them. To be honest, I find most of them absolutely delightful, and marvel at how believable and realistic each species is… and there are so many of them! It’s their differences, specifically how un-human they are, that makes them fascinating, hilarious, and sometimes even downright terrifying. Furthermore, the oddities of each species are incredibly well thought out, expanding to include biological influences and cultural histories and norms. It’s so well-conceived it blows my mind! What’s even better is that this is the second series I’ve read from Czerneda where the main protagonist isn’t even human. That’s a tricky thing to do well, but I found her no less relatable, and perhaps even a bit more. The cool part is that it gives readers a unique opportunity to examine our own species through the eyes of others, and really appreciate all wonderful things humanity has to offer. Czerneda manages to do all of that without sugar-coating the depth of depravity to which our species can also sink. It’s all a bit profound, if you ask me…

It just speaks to how good of a writer Czerneda is. All of the wonderful examples of craft aside, my favorite thing about her is her ability to find the humor in any situation. With every one of her books, I find myself laughing constantly even though her complex storylines and emotional conflicts are as far from comedies as you could possibly get. All of her books contain some sort of struggle for survival, and the lengths to which the characters go to to save themselves or their species are what makes these stories feel so epic… but they’re still always funny as shit. Part of it is her amazing way with words, but the other part is her ability to create and capitalize on some very bizarre situations. I love it.

There’s a reason Czerneda is my favorite science fiction author, and I have yet to find anything about her books I don’t love. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out whether The Beholder’s Eye or Survival was my favorite book from her, but now Reap the Wild Wind is definitely in strong contention!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 13 2015
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Coming Soon: Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb

fool's questTitle: Fool’s Quest

Author: Robin Hobb 

Series: The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy #2

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: August 11, 2015

The Overview: None listed on goodreads yet… odd. BN says: After a devastating confrontation, FitzChivalry Farseer is out for blood—and who better to wreak havoc than a highly trained former royal assassin?

It should say: these are the best books ever. Read them.

… but start with Assassin’s Apprentice or else nothing will make sense.

 Hosted by Breaking the Spine

This is currently my most anticipated adult release of 2015. Fool’s Assassin was easily one of the best books I read last year (Not to mention that Robin Hobb is one of my favorite authors EVER!). For some reason, I thought Fitz’s story was over with the conclusion of Fool’s Fate, so I am absolutely delighted that the story continues on. And you know what? It’s getting better and better! It’s one of those epic sagas that gains momentum with each book, and I highly recommend them if you love fantasy as much as I do. It’s going to be agony waiting for August.

by Niki Hawkes