Tag Archives: book

Oct 12 2016
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Coming Soon: Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull

March 14, 2017

Title: Dragonwatch

Author: Brandon Mull

Series: Fablehaven #6

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Release Date: March 14, 2017

The Overview: In the hidden dragon sanctuary of Wyrmroost, Celebrant the Just, King of the Dragons, plots his revenge. He has long seen the sanctuaries as prisons, and he wants nothing more than to overthrow his captors and return the world to the Age of Dragons, when he and his kind ruled and reigned without borders. The time has come to break free and reclaim his power. No one person is capable of stopping Celebrant and his dragon horde. It will take the ancient order of Dragonwatch to gather again if there is any chance of saving the world from destruction. In ancient times, Dragonwatch was a group of wizards, enchantresses, dragon slayers, and others who originally confined the majority of dragons into sanctuaries. But nearly all of the original Dragonwatch members are gone, and so the wizard Agad reaches out to Grandpa Sorenson for help. As Kendra and Seth confront this new danger, they must draw upon all their skills, talents, and knowledge as only they have the ability to function together as a powerful dragon tamer. Together they must battle against forces with superior supernatural powers and breathtaking magical abilities. How will the epic dragon showdown end? Will dragons overthrow humans and change the world as we know it? -Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday
Hosted by Breaking the Spine

I LOVED Fablehaven, and if you’d asked me which element of the whole series I’d like to see expanded on, I would’ve shouted “The Dragon Sanctuary!!” From the rooftops. Therefore, I am SO FREAKING EXCITED that my wish is coming true! This spinoff/continuation series is going to be amazing and I can’t wait!

What book are you waiting on?

 by Niki Hawkes

Oct 10 2016
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Duology Review: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Reboot by Amy Tintera
Rebel by Amy Tintera

The Reboot Duology
by Amy Tintera
4/5 stars

Reboot (5 stars) was one of the best YA books I’ve ever read. And not necessarily because it was flawless, but because the elements that worked well really stole the show.

It starts out with a great concept – humans who are “rebooted” after dying (from a virus) and given a number to indicate how long they were dead. The bigger the number, the less humanity the individual retains. Wren is a 178 and every bit the cold, calculating soldier she supposed to be (or so it would seem). She never questions authority and always does what she was supposed to do. Then in walks my favorite dynamic of the story – Callum, a 22 who is relatable and endearingly human, challenging everything about Wren’s paradigm. The interplay between the two is easily the magic of the series, especially at the beginning were they’re still learning how to relate to one another. I loved every moment.

Tintera is a good writer who builds characters and relationships really well and writes with great pacing and clarity. But her work does have a couple of issues – world building and accuracy among the most prominent. It was mostly just a few little things here and there that made me pause and think “Hmmm… I’m not so sure that’s consistent with the laws of physics.” Or something to that effect, but I would always decide to just roll with it. For the most part, I was enjoying all of the things she did brilliantly enough that the shortcomings didn’t bother me.

Rebel, the second book in the duology, maintained momentum from the first but I admit it lost a little of the magic that made Reboot so amazing. That said, I’d still give it a solid 3 stars (I liked it) rating and appreciated as a series-ender.

Overall, this duology is great for dystopian/post-apocalyptic fans, and I’d even hand it to someone who likes zombie stories (even though it doesn’t dive very deep into that genre). If you still have a Hunger Games hangover, this might be the book for you.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Oct 7 2016
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Book Review: All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

all inTitle: All In

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: The Naturals #2

Genre: Teen Fiction

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days. After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team’s unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code—and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes. Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there’s been a break in her mother’s case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds—and impossible choices. -Goodreads

The Review:

The Naturals Series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes might be my favorite YA series of all time. I devour each new book with a passion I don’t experience often with books, having read so many. Here are just a couple of the many reasons why I LOVE it:

The concept!! The series revolves around teens who are ridiculously talented in certain areas useful to crime solving (emotion-gadgers, statistical-analysists, lie-detectors, and so on). What I love is that these talents are totally feasible (albeit rare), so it feels like reading about real-world superheroes. It fascinated me to no end to see their analytical skills put to the test. My favorite was probably Sloane – the statistician. She’s really quirky and endearing, but also incredibly smart, using numbers and statistics to predict where the killer would strike next, deciphering commonalities for whom the killer might target, and analyzing things like security camera footage to pinpoint criminals based on trajectory and all sorts of other complicated math that I only half pretend understand (;P). All In gave Sloane more of a spotlight and it was awesome to get to know her even better.

Basically, take these cool characters with cool talents and add to that a complex mystery, and I’m in love.

As if it wasn’t fun enough reading about these super talents, the mystery within each novel is what I think really draws me in. It’s nothing like those old Nancy Drew novels where the criminal is always the nicest persona in the book. In the Naturals series, the killer could literally be anyone, and Barnes does a masterful job of incorporating a lot of plausible misdirection to keep you guessing. When I read these novels, I always have SO MANY THEORIES about who the killer could be. And each new chapter gets me that much closer to figuring it out. It’s seriously the most engaged I’ve ever been in a book, making it also one of the funnest books I’ve ever read. Additionally, each book gets more complex without also getting more convoluted. There’s a different mystery in each novel, but they are all tied together by one big story arc (that’s also a complex mystery) which has gained so much momentum that I’m absolutely DYING to read Bad Blood (the final book in the series) which comes out November 1, 2016.

In fact, I think the reason I loved All In in particular was that it did an excellent job advancing the overall story arc while still giving me a killer mystery to help solve (I say “help” ironically… I didn’t do shit). All In also delved into a bit more background of The Naturals (the characters, as that’s how they refer to themselves) and you start to see even more how they ended up with such honed talents. Ugh, I really can’t say much more than that without dipping into spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that.

Overall, for any of you Criminal Minds fans out there, this is the series for you! This is one of my favorite books to recommend because 1) I love geeking out about it 2) it’s one of the most engaging books I’ve ever read and 3) I think it appeals to a wide range of readers. I call a lot of things my favorite, but I really, really mean it this time, haha. :)

 Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Oct 5 2016
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Coming Soon: Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

March 7, 2017

Title: Silence Fallen

Author: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercedes Thompson #10

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Release Date: March 7, 2017

The Overview: Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe… Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…  -Goodreads

Nik’s Notes:

 The Mercy Thompson series is in strong contention for my favorite urban fantasy. Fire Touched (Book #9) was one of the best ones yet and I have absolute confidence that Silence Fallen is going to be just as good. This series has a fun story, stellar characters, great paranormal infusion, and a healthy dash of humor – which are just some of the reasons why it’s so great. March is waaaaaay too far away!

-> If you liked this series but haven’t yet read Alpha & Omega, you’re missing out!

What book are you waiting on?

Oct 3 2016
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Book Reviews: The Dresden Files [Books 11-12] by Jim Butcher

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
Changes by Jim Butcher
Side Jobs by Jim Butcher

The Dresden Files [Books 11-12]
by Jim Butcher

I can definitely see why Jim Butcher is considered a staple in the Urban Fantasy genre – he has an excellent main character (who is a tad whiny at times, but that’s kind of why I like him), loads of paranormal that will continually ding your creep-o-meter (even though I admit it doesn’t take much to set mine off), and plenty of action, humor, and intrigue. Overall, if you’ve never read an urban fantasy, this author is a great place to start. The best thing about him is that he seems to get better with each book.

Turn Coat

Finally! We dig into the wizarding White Council and find out more about how it operates (and the many interesting characters involved). Delightful politicking ensued left and right, and it was really fun to see how Dresden fit in (or stuck out, depending on how you look at it). My favorite elements of Turn Coat were the settings and the mystery surrounding the Council. I had lots of theories on “whodunit,” and even though none of them turned out to be correct, I love it when books get me so involved.

4/5 stars

Changes

What an appropriately titled book. Changes marked the turning point in the series where Butcher brings all of his conflicts to a head so he can take the story in a new direction. I admit I wasn’t thrilled with this book – I found the plot construction for it uncharacteristically all over the place. There were a few conflicts that had absolutely nothing to do with the overall plot that only managed to drag the story down (his books usually have subplots, but they are normally at least a little related). For that matter, the entire novel felt a little random and forced. It came together eventually, but I can’t say as though I enjoyed the journey as well as his past novels. However, I liked the ending enough to want to keep reading…

3/5 stars

Side Jobs

All the Dresden fun, but with a few alternate POV’s like Murphy and Thomas to sweeten the deal – sign me up! I enjoyed this compilation of novellas immensely – maybe even slightly more than the last couple of novels. Every story brought something new and interesting to the table, and I kind of wish I had read them alongside the novels chronologically. Overall, I’d say don’t skip this one – it’s every bit as worth your time as the main series itself.

4.5/5 stars

If you haven’t picked up a Dresden book yet, just know you’re in for a well-conceived and sustainable series, jam-packed with scary monsters and a lot of snark. I consider them a must-try for any fan of the genre.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 30 2016
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Tackling the TBR [16]: October 2016

tackling the TBR

It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how the system works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

October 2016 TBR Tackler Shelf:

This month’s TBR feels a little all over the place to me, but they’re either new releases that I’ve been excited about or titles I’ve been eyeballing for months. At the moment, the one I’m most excited about is The Leopard King by Anna Aguirre. It’s a new paranormal romance that I just found out about a week ago and I’m thrilled. 

Last month I did a pretty good job knocking titles off of my list, so this month only has a couple of carryovers.

Feel free to share your versions of how you manage your TBR pile (and the links to your posts if applicable) in the comments. Maybe we can help make each other’s systems even better. :)

What books are you Tackling this month?

by Niki Hawkes