Review: The Replacement

Title: The Replacement

Author: Brenna Yovanoff

Date of Publication: September 21st, 2010

Goodreads Summary:

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate’s baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

My Review:

I love weird, and I love horror vibes with romance thrown in! So this was all of my cups of tea! Peppermint included! The whole idea of a weirdly, sick, creature baby getting switched with a human one was pretty freaking awesome!

Photo Credit

Mackie may just be one of my favorite MCs ever! He was sweet and relatable. At first he didn’t want to get involved with things. And to be truthful, I wouldn’t either! Especially when there is all kinds of craziness going on below ground! Seriously loved all the side characters, especially Roswell! And I can’t forget about Emma, Tate, or the twins!

Yovanoff has wonderful descriptions that aren’t bordering anywhere near tiring. I could feel and see everything she described. Seriously loved this story! And I just threw my money out the window to order the rest of her books!

 

 

Advertisements

Review: Emergence

Title: Emergence

Author: S.G.D. Singh

Date of Publication: January 30th, 2016

Summary:

Seventeen year-old Asha’s days are spent training in martial arts, attending homeschool classes, and helping in the kitchens of a luxurious Miami resort which she seldom leaves. Until the night her grandfather arrives home mysteriously injured, accompanied by a terrifying stranger. Asha begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems when she is abruptly sent to Punjab, India to live with relatives she never knew she had.

Joined by her best friend, Lexi, and her newfound cousin, Nidhan, Asha is soon drawn to an unusual place where the three of them learn that our World is much more than it appears. And there is a good reason people are afraid of the dark.

Meet The Infernal Guard: Shape-shifting Jodha warriors, Seers of various psychic Talents, Healers, Illusionists, and weapons-creating Tvastars. They are the gifted few who fight to protect our realm from demonic Underworlders escaping the seven lower dimensions of Hindu Mythology’s Fourteen Worlds.

As the next generation of heroes from around the globe gathers to begin training, Asha discovers true love and a family in her friends and instructors. But something in the darkness knows that she alone possesses the rarest Talent of all. Now Asha must find the courage and strength to risk everything she has gained before a devouring evil like no other The Infernal Guard has ever faced destroys our realm’s very existence.

My Review:

I was so thrilled to see a setting in India! I would love to visit there, but for now, doing it through this book was good enough! The cover drew me in but the descriptions made me stay! I loved this unique take on Urban Fantasy!

Photo Credit

There were scenes that had me laughing! I’ve said numerous times that I get annoyed with a lot of female MCs but I loved Asha and being inside her head!! She felt real, strong, and easy to connect to!

This books was full of emotions and romance and wonderful world building! There were a lot of things that had me on the tip of my toes wondering what would occur next! Can’t wait to read book 2!

If you could travel anywhere where would it be?

Review: The Winter of the Witch

Title: The Winter of the Witch

Author: Katherine Arden

Date of Publication: January 9th, 2019

Goodreads Summary:

In the stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, following The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya returns to save Russia and the spirit realm, battling enemies both mortal and magic.

My Review:

Do-do-do-do-do … so I fought back and forth with this book the whole read. I was bored a lot during the first 40%, then things got interesting, then I got bored again, then things were magnanimous. But, Frost Demon, you make every scene you are in worth reading. I seriously think I would have enjoyed it more if he had his own POV. Like we get POVs from a lot of others, but never my boy! Whyyyyyyyy nottttttttt??????????

Photo Credit

At times my issues came with Vasya. I felt sometimes she needed more emotions? I guess? Sometimes, or a lot of the time, I can be a robotic person so I do get that. Also, when it came to Morozko, I would have preferred more of a team effort when it came to certain things. A lot of the time these days, as I’ve said before, authors are making the girls so bad ass and then the guy seems like a pathetic weakling. I want a team effort—equality—not the guy saying, “let’s go hide in a corner,” and then the girl is all like, “I’m going to go win this war!” I don’t get it… Yet there were some perfect scenes between Vasya and Morozko that were so good and swoooooooon!

When it came to the Winter of the Witch, not sure if the right word is political or if the book felt like it had more of an agenda, but when it came to that stuff, I was just like come on already! I want more of the magical feel I first felt! But don’t worry, there are some gorgeous scenes, too.

Anyway, the book was beautifully written. I just miss the whimsical/fairy tale feel of the first book and the intriguing feeling I had while reading the second book. Also Konstantin, the creep, is still crazy! His character is so interesting at times, but I also want to smack him for his insane thoughts. I will say that the Bear is probably one of my new favorite characters—ever. And Sasha I still love more than anything. Overall I did like the way it came to an end, but can a certain character get their own book now???

 

Have you started this trilogy?

The Child Dreamer: Review + Author Interview

This was a cool little prequel to the Dead Dreamer series, and it’s free! We learn about a boy named George and how he becomes maybe not the best of people. But even then, George was easy to relate to. Sometimes things drive a person in a certain direction, now that’s not to say that the things George does is good by any means, because it’s not, but I get it.

When I got to the last chapter which is from George’s wife’s perspective, that seriously owned the whole book. I felt for her, and I felt for George, and I wanted more of the freaking story!

I’m excited to see where the new story leads me!

Read The Child Dream for FREE here!

Also check out character profiles here!

https://www.instagram.com/slampkin.author/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/Lampkin_S

https://www.facebook.com/author.sarahlampkin/

 

Author Interview with Sarah Lampkin:

What inspired you to write To Dream is to Die (Dead Dreamer Series)?

When I first arrived at college, I didn’t really have any friends, so I had a habit of living through the books I read. After a while, my imagination would take me on wild journeys and eventually the idea hit me: What would happen if my spirit could leave my body? Like astral projection? It kind of went from there and spawned a life of its own.

Who is your favorite character in To Dream is to Die and why?

I like Damon. Brenna hates him and she’s not even sure as to why. But now she’s forced to interact with him all of the time because of her best friend. They eventually form a bond and it’s hilarious to watch.

What is your favorite thing about writing?

I love getting lost in my own world. When I write, I try to use a very specific playlist. The music takes me to a very dark place in my own mind. As long as I’m careful, I can always come out of it. But when I suddenly figure out a plot hole, I can’t even describe how amazing that feeling is.

What is your least favorite thing about writing?

Writing forces me to keep my mind on one project/task at a time. I have ADHD, so that is extremely difficult for me to do. It takes a lot of discipline for me to focus like that.

What made you decide to be a writer?

Pure chance. I started writing out of curiosity in regard to my imagination. Then it suddenly turned into something I just couldn’t stop.

Did you base any of the characters in To Dream is to Die on people in real life?

Only a few. But I can’t give away who they are 😉

What is your favorite book?

I love The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Every November, I’ll either read it or listen to the audiobook [depending on how busy the month is]. I look forward to it every year…and sometimes read it more than once a year.

If you could live in another time or fantasy world when or where would it be?

I’d prefer to live as we do now, but where supernatural magic was real, as well as some mythologies. Or in the world of Elder Scrolls or Dragon Age…whatever!

How many books will be in the Dead Dreamer Series?

4! For every year that Brenna is in college

What other books do you have planned?

I’m currently working on Tainted Wings as probably a stand-alone, but I’m undecided. I’ve also been planning on a sister series to the Dead Dreamer series. But that’s still on the drawing board.

What’s your favorite color?

Green!

What advice do you have for other writers?

Don’t let other people tell you your story ideas are bad or wrong. They’re your ideas. Do what you want with them and let them grow and mature with you. It will turn out amazing in the end.

Eighteen-year-old Brenna Whit is entering Nephesburg College as a freshman and starting hoping to meet new
people, but she hides a dark secret: because of an accident that happened three years ago, her spirit wanders the
Fade whenever she falls asleep. It’s something she wants to keep hidden from the world, but when she sees someone
watching her in spirit form, she fears the secret’s out. With the demons and fairies that wander the Fade, Brenna has
enough to worry about. Now that she’s in college, it’s schoolwork, new friends, new enemies, and something under
the surface happening at Nephesburg College. Only time will tell if she will survive her first year…

Preorder on Amazon

Add to Goodreads

 

Do you remember your dreams?

Review: A Curse so Dark and Lonely

Title: A Curse so Dark and Lonely

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Date of Publication: January 29th, 2019

Goodreads Summary:

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

My Review:

So, I’ve read quite a few Beauty and the Beast retellings. I did like this one, but I wasn’t fist pumping. My main problem came with Harper… She was just soooo… I don’t know! I feel like a lot of times authors have the guys all lovable and then the girls are just hard to like. I did like that Harper was strong despite her cerebral palsy, and she did get more likable as the story went on, but it took a while.

Photo Credit

Also a lot of you may not know this movie, but if you’ve ever seen Mom and Dad Save the World from the early 90s, it was about these parents that go to this new planet. On the planet the people there were basically morons (If you’ve seen that movie you get like a 1,000 cool points). I felt like the people in Emberfall were kind of like that—they just believed these words coming from Harper, a girl they never heard of, and just all of a sudden accepted that there is another land known as Disi. I just wish they wouldn’t have been so gullible, I guess. I would have been like well then show me this place!

Rhen’s chapters were perfection! Loved getting to know him and seeing how the curse had affected and changed him. What I would have loved to have seen is a flashback chapter or few pages of how the curse came to him. Yes, we hear about it, but I wanted to seeeeeeeeeee it!

The descriptions were great with lovely word building and writing. And like I said, Rhen was swoon! Grey was a great addition as a side character. He was fierce, protective, and sweet. And I want to learn even more about him. There were several things I predicted along the way which I’m happy when I’m right! And the book isn’t a stand alone like I had originally thought, but that’s okay. I just hope things go the way I want them to and not in the way I’m dreading they could go. If you want to know what I’m talking about you’ll have to read it! I need book two now to get more of this story!!

What’s your favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling?

Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Author: Holly Black

Date of Publication: September 3rd, 2013

Goodreads Summary:

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

My Review:

I’ve been on a Holly Black binge lately, reading all her books. Pissed at myself for not starting this journey farther back. But we can’t turn back time, now can we? So, vampires are hit or miss for me when it come to books. I mainly dig the blood thirsty movie kind.

Photo Credit

As for characters, I loved Tana! In pretty much all the vamp books I’ve read, I’ve pretty much come across annoying female leads. And thank goodness, she was not. Oh, and Gavriel, you are just the cutest piece of chocolate I ever did see!

When it came to Lucien and Gavriel, I totally got Lestat and Louis vibes!!! Loved that! It was pretty cool that every other chapter was sort of flashbacks or other characters. Gave the book a little more depth! Let me just say as of right now, I will definitely read anything this woman writes!

Review: Serious Moonlight

Title: Serious Moonlight

Author: Jenn Bennett

Date of Publication: April 16th, 2019

Goodreads Summary:

After an awkward first encounter, Birdie and Daniel are forced to work together in a Seattle hotel where a famous author leads a mysterious and secluded life in this romantic contemporary novel from the author of Alex, Approximately.

Mystery-book aficionado Birdie Lindberg has an overactive imagination. Raised in isolation and homeschooled by strict grandparents, she’s cultivated a whimsical fantasy life in which she plays the heroic detective and every stranger is a suspect. But her solitary world expands when she takes a job the summer before college, working the graveyard shift at a historic Seattle hotel.

In her new job, Birdie hopes to blossom from introverted dreamer to brave pioneer, and gregarious Daniel Aoki volunteers to be her guide. The hotel’s charismatic young van driver shares the same nocturnal shift and patronizes the waterfront Moonlight Diner where she waits for the early morning ferry after work. Daniel also shares her appetite for intrigue, and he’s stumbled upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—might be secretly meeting someone at the hotel.

To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell…discovering that most confounding mystery of all may be her growing feelings for the elusive riddle that is Daniel.

My Review:

Jenn Bennett has been my favorite YA contemporary author for a while now, and this book just kept her position at the top! A boy that likes street magic and a girl that wears flowers in her hair made my eyes fill with hearts.

Photo Credit

At first, I must admit, I was annoyed with Birdie. But she grew up rather sheltered, so her personality fit with that. As the book went on, she really grew as a character, and I started to like her. Daniel was just a bucket full of sunshine and sweetness, and yes there’s a secret hidden there, but it made me love his character even more.

Bennett knows how to write character driven stories and she knows how to breathe life into every single one of her side characters, too. No one ever feels like they are there for no reason. Always a purpose. Plus, we also get quirkiness and swoon which I love! Can’t wait to read the author’s next book!

 

What’s your favorite contemporary book?