Dark Desires (Pure/Dark Ones #3): 4 Stars

Author: Aja James
Length: 331 pgs.
Number three in the Pure/Dark Ones series, Dark Desires has one of my favorite heroines ever in Ava Monroe. The girl is hilarious: smart, curvy, self-effacing, turns to blubbering idiot around handsome men. Cue Ryu Takamura, assasin for the Dark Ones. We got a glimpse of Ryu in the second book, Dark Longing, and in learning more about him and his origins here, you can’t help but connect to him.

The budding relationship between Ava and Ryu was touching and funny – I loved the way Ava opened up to him, even in spite of her own embarrassment. She speaks before she thinks, charming both Ryu and the reader. When we meet her mother, we see where she gets that charm. My favorite part of this story, though, was the plot: Ava isn’t aware that she’s being used to further an inhumane experiment led by the mysterious “A. Medusa”. Ryu’s instructions are to end the experiment no matter what it takes – even if he must kill Ava in the process.

There’s explosions, a kidnapping, torturing of a mysterious prisoner, shadow assassins, two-faced tricksters, and a love story – what more could you want?

The book manages to answer some questions raised in the two previous installments while continuing to set up mysteries that won’t unfold until future books. None of the Pure/Dark Ones stories are completely self-contained, so even while we get to witness Ryu and Ava’s story, we also learn a bit more about things that are going on outside of their love bubble. Such is the genius of Aja James in that she rewards us with bits and pieces while at the same time keeping us wanting more. It’s cruel, really.

Buddy read with the Freebie chicks!

Werebear Skye: 4 Stars

Author: Aubrey Law
Length: 36 pages (novella)
I was generously given an ARC from the author and was super excited to dive into this novella!

As always Aubrey Law weaves an exciting, fast paced tale of revenge involving multiple supernatural creatures including shifters, vampires, necromancers, and zombies. Werebear Skye introduces us to the woman who becomes Black Annis' accomplice in Black Annis: Demon Slayer and we get to learn her backstory. I love the world that Aubrey Law has created, and the story is peppered with the rye humor that we saw in the Black Annis books. This goes perfectly with the bloody violence exacted during Skye's revenge on the men responsible for her father's death. I am looking forward to continuing the series and reading more about this character!

Tacet A Mortuis (The Elite Kings Club #3): 2 Stars

Author: Amo Jones
Length: 302 pgs.
Buddy read with my girl Elaine!

After finishing this last night I browsed the ratings, sure I’d find some likeminded people, but 4 stars? 5 stars? Really people??

I’m guessing the people who gave this book 5 stars are die hard Amo Jones fans who automatically give out this rating despite the actual content of the book, or under the age of 18 in which case this book probably isn’t appropriate for you anyway. Firstly, where was the editing before this was published?? The grammar is awful in many places and there are misplaced apostrophes scattered throughout the book. It’s one thing to write a book about teenagers and put their own lingo in quotes when a teenage character is speaking, but for most of the book Amo Jones’ prose reflects this immaturity as well.

Secondly, WTF is up with all the SONGS named throughout the book? Like another reviewer said, I don’t share the same musical tastes with Amo Jones so if she was trying to infuse a specific meaning or feeling into the book by using these song names that was lost on me because I had no idea what the fuck the song was. And if you’re a writer and you’re using song titles to make the reader feel a certain ambiance, that’s a cop out anyway.

I forgave the childish writing and rap artist name-dropping in the previous 2 books because the content was edge-of-your-seat. The questions piled up and we were led to believe we’d get some answers with Tacet. Unfortunately about 70% of this book is Bishop & Maddie going back and forth in their “relationship”, having sex, fighting, making joint playlists that show the reader how much they love each other, etc. etc., pure teenage bullshit. Then there’s 15% of Maddie acting like a whore, going to parties in the sluttiest clothes possible, getting wasted, almost hooking up with other Kings, etc. Any time we do come close to finding out anything, Maddie says that she “can’t handle this right now” and goes back to fucking Bishop or complaining to Tatum. Even when she finds out that someone close to her knows something about Tillie, who went missing suddenly in book 2, she doesn’t follow up on it because it’s not the right time and that person is dealing with too much for her to press the subject further. Ok, I hope if I ever go missing that my friends are a little more dedicated to my well being than that.

Thirdly…(Fourthly?) where is the flow and organization in this book? I swear, at one point Maddie called Tatum over (whom she started calling Tate in this book because they’re superclose and stuff) to her house, Tate shows up with a bunch of junk food which they start eating, I turn to the next page and it’s the next day – NO indication that they went to bed, that there was any time passing whatsoever. I figured it out on my own cuz I have a decent sized brain, but kinda seems like Amo was sleep deprived the day she wrote that part because it doesn’t make ANY sense. There are other cases of this as well, read for yourself and highlight away.

Amo also decided to switch POVs in this book, which-whatever, but I don’t really need to read from Bishop’s POV how much he really loves Maddie and would “fucking kill for her”, then switch back to Maddie’s POV and Bishop is ignoring her again. I don’t see the point or advantage in giving us these changing perspectives. There’s also no indication as to WHOSE POV we are reading from when the chapter changes – no character name at the chapter header or anything, and it’s all first person so it’s not until you start getting into a conversation with other characters that you know whose perspective you’ve switched to. Great decision making there.

We’re pretty much strung along for the ENTIRE book, given little bits and pieces of ridiculous information that I guess is supposed to explain some of the questions in the first 2 books but really only incite more curiosity, which is never satisfied because Maddie can only handle certain amounts of information before her tiny teenage brain wants to explode. Then in the last 15% shit goes off the rails and everything is finished and wrapped up super quickly. Which begs the question - so maybe I’m not remembering something from the first two books but are we really supposed to believe that Katsia is the only reason why Swans are being killed? I don’t recall this ever being hinted at or stated previously, and supposedly they can’t get rid of Katsia because she’s the last of her blood line, but you’re telling me that all the Elite Kings and members of the Circle have no say in the murder of baby girls born into the Elite Kings lineage because of Katsia? Hmmm….what a very simple solution that turned out to be for a very complicated seeming, built-up-over-three-books problem. Kinda seems like one of those examples of authors writing themselves into a corner and then having to figure out how to easily get out of it. Before starting another series, might I suggest going back to the basics of English lit and creating an outline.

I did like the violent vision Daemon has at the end of the book which involves the death of many main characters. Thanks to “Trickery” for the best scene in the book, even if it didn’t turn out to be real. And speaking of Daemon, it’s funny to me how close Maddie claims to be to him even though she’s only really known him for a few weeks. Sure, he’s her twin brother, who was raised as a brainwashed assassin and only speaks Latin and who SHOT her, but apparently they’re so close that other characters have heard “stories about their bond.” Ha! What a joke. Maddie “bonds” irreversibly and unquestionably with apparently everyone, even if they’ve done unspeakable things to her in her past. The Kings all want her, even if they find out they’re related to her by blood. She says Tatum is her BFF, but also Tillie, but especially Tatum even though Tate’s head over heels for Nate, whom Maddie nearly sleeps with. And speaking of Nate, did anyone else start laughing at the scene where (in front of her PARENTS) he steals a tear from her cheek and sucks it into his mouth??

So basically:
Maddie is a whore who will fuck anyone, including her own stepbrother who she loves like a brother, except for when she wants to fuck him. (Can someone over the age of 18 please give Maddie a non-sexual spanking and send her to her room please? Girl needs to be grounded FOR LIFE)

Maddie and Bishop are a fucked up couple who shouldn’t be together, but will continue to mentally and emotionally abuse each other until they run out of songs to add to their joint playlist.

EVERYONE is involved in this conspiracy, even random guys at school and librarians.

I can’t even go on with this nonsense.

And let’s not even start on the “deleted” scene at the end which is basically just the author satisfying her pornographic appetite, whaaaaaaat the actual fuck did we need that for. I’m all for erotica but please. Such a strange addition to the conclusion..

I give it 2 stars for stringing me along to the finish line because I cared at least enough to get some answers. What a MESS!! And that ending – pathetic attempt to keep people invested in the series. Will not continue. Other reviewers say this is supposed to be 13 books long??

The Invisible Library: 2 Stars

Author: Genevieve Cogman
Length: 10 long hours, 31 painful minutes
This book was a total flop for me, which is such a bummer because it had such great potential. I fell in love with the premise and when the book had a price drop last year I snatched it up. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations at all. The storyline was completely confusing and mindboggling, with the librarian Irene and her trainee Kai chasing down a missing book for unknown reasons and every circumstance possible managing to get in their way. The action was painfully underwhelming and didn’t do the story any favors. Instead of being exciting, the magic that the librarians have the ability to perform in some cases was written in a way that made it the exact opposite. How can cyborg, mind-controlled alligators, evil faeries and a rogue librarian who hijacks human skin be uninteresting?? I was bored out of my mind for 99% of the story with the 1% being the climax and part of my interest stemming from the fact that I knew the book was FINALLY going to end.

I think I wanted this to be like the Chronicles of St. Mary's series (see Just One Damned Thing After Another) which is the case when I come across any sort of time/dimension travel storyline, because that series is epically exciting. That’s never, ever the case and I never seem to learn my lesson.

Darkfever (Fever, #1): 4 Stars

Author: Karen Marie Moning
Length: 342 pgs.
So I finally got around to reading Darkfever and finding out what all the fuss is about!

This is one of the smarter urban fantasies I’ve read. The writing is really good. Details and definitions of magical items and beings are meant to be catalogued in the reader’s mind and remembered. And, surprisingly (to me), it’s pretty freakin’ scary.

The main character, Mac, becomes introduced to the faerie world after her sister is murdered. We’re given information little by little as it’s learned firsthand by Mac, so we share in her strange fascination with all this new and overwhelming knowledge. I loved Mac and her uniqueness, the way her peppiness and style clashed with those around her. She may be in a completely new world with no idea what the hell was going on but she definitely stayed true to herself throughout the book.

I loved that she and Jericho weren’t insta-lovers. In fact they’re completely the opposite, but they both must use the other to get the information they’re seeking.

I loved the faerie history with its creepy Unseelies, the super freaky Gray Man and the unprecedented V’Lane. Basically the whole world that was created here. No wonder this book is so popular and the series so beloved. I was not expecting it to be so dark but that made me love it even more. I can’t wait to get to #2 and find out what happens next.

Fashionably Dead (Hot Damned #1): 4 Stars

Author: Robyn Peterman
Length: 323 pgs.
This book was a lot of fun and completely unexpected! When it started I was taking it seriously…then the character was turned into a vampire by a hypnotist, met her guardian angel who looks (and talks) like Oprah and a faerie physical trainer who is a replica of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and began getting drafted into sorority-like vampire houses with gift bags. Cut to her seeing demon-like creatures on her ceiling and her friend finding out she’s some sort of faerie royalty and I realized this is not the kind of book to take seriously. It made me laugh out loud throughout the story and the action moved along really quickly. Despite its bonkers character list the writer managed to bring me to tears at a few points and throw in some little twists throughout to remind you that it’s a continuing series and there’s more good stuff to come.

I got the first book as a freebie from Amazon and added narration which was awesome and probably made me love it 10x more. The next book is not free but definitely reasonably priced so this series will go on my TBR!

Good to read if you love paranormal but are in the mood for something lighter!

Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter #1): 3 Stars

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Length: 309 pgs.
This was an okay read for me. I enjoyed it-but there were a few things that turned me off about the book.

The writing seemed a little more befitting of young adult or something along those lines. I’ve read a lot of PNR lately and found superior writing in other books like Pure Healing and Mated in Treason. That’s not to say the writing is bad. Maybe other people who have read the book will know what I mean. It just feels very bare-minimum at times and moves from day to day very quickly, but on the upside that made the book easy to get through. Maybe what I'm trying to say is that this is light reading.

Additionally in the beginning of the book the writer mentions some things offhand that confused me and made me doublecheck that this actually was the first book in the series and I hadn’t missed a prequel or something. It has to do with a character named Julian and his origins. She also very casually adds bits and pieces about Amanda’s sisters being involved in magic/supernatural forces in one way or another, but doesn’t ever talk about how this began or why Amanda’s family is like this which would’ve been very interesting to know. And then we meet Julian’s parents, and I was completely thrown off by that. Again, I checked to see that I hadn’t missed another book, but no, this is the first book in the series.

I did like the history of the Dark-Hunters that the writer created. Each vampire series has its own world-building and history and I liked the mythology aspect of this one with the addition of the Apollites and the other gods/goddesses who made appearances or were mentioned. That was definitely a plus for me that the author managed to combine mythology and paranormal in a unique way. I love that she imagined up different types of Hunters and Vampires!

I liked the ending and the little twist thrown in by the author there even if I did suspect that Amanda was up to something just before the climax. Overall I did enjoy this book and may continue the series at some point.