Tag Archive | Urban Fantasy

REVIEW: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Jun20

Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Read: May 11-30, 2017

Format: NetGalley E-ARC

My Book Rating: 2.5 Stars

Publisher: Clarion Books

Release Date: April 5, 2016

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Pages: 360

Reading Challenge(s): Beat The Backlist 2017, Flights of Fantasy 2017, Retellings 2017

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets.

Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own—one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised.

Lucie alone knows of the deadly connection the young men share, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth.

Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy—or herself?

Celebrated author Sarah Rees Brennan tells a magical tale of romance and revolution, love and loss.

REVIEW

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This poor book sat on my virtual TBR shelf for ages. It sounded interesting, so I requested and was approved for it on NetGalley… but then I never quite felt in the mood for an urban fantasy. Unfortunately, when I finally made myself read it, I still wasn’t quite in the mood for an urban fantasy.

To start off with, this book is based on A Tale of Two Cities. I’ve never read that one, but I honestly don’t really like classics. I know. Blasphemous. But it’s true. Sorry, not sorry.

The atmosphere is really dark. Which makes sense, but it was darker than I was in the mood for. There’s another strike.

The characters just never pulled me in. I really didn’t care about any of them. The only character that actually interested me at all was the doppleganger, but we honestly didn’t get to know enough about him to really even care about what happens to him.

The plot moved at a snails pace. There were at least two instances where I thought about quitting, only for things to pick up again shortly after. I did make it til the end, and the ending was interesting, but like I said before, I wasn’t invested in the characters or the plot enough to actually care about the big “twist” that occurred.

In all, this was a rather lackluster read for me. Fans of both Dickens and urban fantasy may enjoy this one, but unfortunately it just didn’t do it for me.


Get the Book here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks

~ Add to Goodreads ~

 

QUOTES

* From an advanced release copy. May differ from final text.

 

No normal Light magician would be trained to fight their own guards.
But I was.

 

The only thing standing between Ethan and death was me.

 

“Are you asking me out on a date?” asked Carwyn. “Because your boyfriend’s right here. Awkward.”

 

When his eyes opened they were covered with darkness, as if under a film of oil.

 

“The whole Dark city killed my other?” Ethan asked. “How did they all fit in the apartment?”

 

I wondered what my father really thought about me, about my lies, about my consorting with the Light Council, whose guards had killed mother.

 

People will come up with a hundred thousand reasons why other people do not count as human, but that does not mean anyone has to listen.

 

 

REVIEW: Echo of the Cliffs by D. G. Driver

Jun13

Echo of the Cliffs by D. G. Driver

Series: Juniper Sawfeather #3

Read: September 2016

Format: ARC Ebook (Kindle)

My Book Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Fire & Ice YA Books

Date Published: June 6, 2017

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy / Mythology

Challenges: Flights of Fantasy

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Three warriors asked the sun to grant them wishes
of immortality to protect their people forever.

One was turned into a merman,
another was turned into a tree,
and the final warrior was turned into a stone.

Juniper Sawfeather has learned there is truth to this American Indian legend. She knows how it connects the mermaids she saved from an oil spill to the ancient spirit that trapped her in the branches of an Old Growth tree. Now she wants to find out if the final part of this legend is true: that some kind of magical stone exists. A lone mermaid finds her and shares a vision of a cliff along the ocean shore. This must be the place, and June knows she needs to find it.

Tragedy happens when June and her boyfriend, Carter, join her parents on a mission to the San Juan Strait to collect evidence of construction run-off pollution, and they are attacked by a killer whale. June is convinced that the killer whale was led by mermaids, and she is desperate to find out why they attacked and where they are hiding. Once again, Juniper is on a heroic mission, the most frightening adventure yet. A thrilling ending to this award-winning trilogy!

REVIEW

 

It’s no secret how much I absolutely love D. G. Driver’s writing. She could probably make a shopping list interesting. When she sent me the final book in the Juniper Sawfeather series I was ecstatic to dive in and find out what happens next.

It was a bittersweet journey; June’s story arc is complete, answers are given, and the ending is highly satisfying. But… it’s the end. And that saddens me. The bright side is that Driver has written the story to include a possible New Adult spin off series. Fingers crossed that happens!

In Cry of the Sea June discovered real mermaids and helped rescue them from the evil oil tycoons. In Whisper of the Woods June was almost trapped in a tree for the rest of eternity by an ancient Native American spirit. She also learns of a legend she’s determined to get to the bottom of. Now, in Echo of the Cliffs, June sets off to find her mermaids again and find the final piece to put the ancient spirits to rest.

This story is packed full of action, magic, and Native American legends. Far more action than the other two books put together, this book is an action packed ride. Beloved characters go missing and magic goes awry.

EotC begins shortly after the events of WotW, with June watching the ocean with her boyfriend Carter and best friend Haley. Sure she saw a mermaid below, June frantically tries to get to the water and nearly dies. And this is just chapter one. From there we set off with Carter and June’s parents to collect water samples from a potentially polluted home development on the shore, to searching for a mysterious cliff and waterfall. There are killer whales and mermaids and spirit dreams. Things with Carter get shaky and we find out some not so good things about his parents. The media are after June and her parents yet again after a run in with a killer whale ends badly. Not to mention, Haley is fighting to get the school principal reinstated and the assistant principle fired!

Seriously, this book was full of so many feels for me. If you haven’t read this series yet, now is the time. Grab a copy of Cry of the Sea first, then read through to the end. You won’t be disappointed, especially if you love stories set in our world with a touch of magic and mermaids.

(Disclaimer: I do work for this publisher, and I designed the covers for this series. My rating and opinions are 100% my own. I love this series!)

Get the Book here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Print

~ Add to Goodreads ~

Catch up with book 1, Cry of the Sea, here:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Print

~ Add to Goodreads ~

 

Mermaids are real.

Teenager Juniper Sawfeather rescues three of them from dying in an oil spill. She thinks sharing news of them will convince people to fight against oil pollution, but she’s wrong. Things quickly spiral out of control. How can she prevent the mermaids from being exploited by the media? Or murdered by the oil company?

 

 

Read the prequel to the Juniper Sawfeather series  in the ~ FREE ~  Kick Ass Girls of Fire & Ice freebie collection:

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Print

~ Add to Goodreads ~

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW: Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep

Apr22

Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep

Series: Black Blade #3

Read: April 8 – 21, 2016

Format: ARC Ebook (Kindle)

My Book Rating: 5 Stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy

 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

I. LOVE. Jennifer Estep’s Black Blade series. Love it. I mean, look at this cover? See how amazing it is? The book inside is just as amazing!

Lila lives in Cloudburst Falls, a town in Virginia where monsters roam free, and the whole city is run by The Families (they’re like mob families, but they’re not all bad). Those in the families also possess varying degrees of various magical powers; enhanced strength or speed, the ability to see in the dark, or if you’re Lila, Transference: the ability to take others magic into herself and use it to enhance her own strength, speed, etc.

Lila is also a thief, but she’s a good person. She’s joined up with the Sinclair family and is acting as bodyguard to Devon, son of the head of the family, Claudia.

This book is the third in the series, and while I felt that book 2 could have been read without reading book 1, I don’t think that’s the case with book 3. There is so much that happens in those first two books that the reader won’t get the full enjoyment without reading the previous books .(Or at least book 2.) This book brings the overall story arc to an end, but also leaves the door open for more books should the author choose to write them. (I hope she does!)

Lila has a lot of history with The Families. Years ago her mother fled from them for her own safety. Upon her death, Lila stuck around town, hell bent on someday getting revenge and taking down the man who killed her, Victor Draconi.

This book starts out with a bang. Lila, Devon, and their friend Felix are on a mission to steal from Victor. The next day, all hell breaks loose. Seriously, this book did not waste time with unnecessary set up, we’re thrown right into the thick of things.

I loved the relationship development between Lila and Devon in this book. I also warmed up a little more to Claudia, who I was on the fence about before.

The action in this book is awesome. Some of the movement descriptions were quite repetitive, but that’s probably true to life. If it works, keep doing it, right? And there was no shortage of fighting.

My favorite character, hands down, is the Lochness who lives under the Lochness Bridge. I love that Lila treats the monsters with respect, paying the Lochness his toll and the tree trolls their chocolate bars. The monsters have played an important role in the previous books, and that’s the same here too.

I love this entire series. I recommend it for those who like fast paced, action filled clean YA stories. (There’s kissing, but that’s it. And it’s minimal. It probably could stand for more kissing! There’s plenty of violence, but nothing too graphic.)

Go now and read this series. Seriously. Bright Blaze of Magic releases Tuesday April 26, 2016. That gives you a few days to binge read the first two book!

REVIEW: Dark Heart of Magic by Jennifer Estep

Oct18

Dark Heart of Magic by Jennifer Estep

(The Black Blade, Book 2)

 

Read: September 2015

Format: ARC Ebook (Kindle)

My Book Rating: 5/5 Stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy YA

 

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

When I requested to read and review Dark Heart of Magic from NetGalley, I didn’t realize it was the second book in a series. I actually didn’t realize until partway through the book!

I do recommend starting with book one, because I’m pretty sure this one is full of book one spoilers. Even without starting at the beginning this was highly enjoyable and I was not lost.

Lila is a thief and makes no excuses for it. She’s a strong female lead and absolutely entertaining to read about. Lila also a person of magic in a very unique town. Set at the base of Cloudburst Mountain, Cloudburst Falls is full of magic and monsters, and the ruling families (mobs) have taken full advantage, turning their little town into a tourist trap. People come from all over to see the monsters that live in the parks, petting zoos, forests, and on the mountain.

Lila works for the Sinclair Family as bodyguard to their leaders son, Devon. There’s obvious chemistry between the two, but Lila is all business. She’s doing her job as a means to an end — revenge on the Draconis family, those responsible for the murder of her mother.

Trying to blend in and stay invisible (she’s a thief, remember?) becomes very difficult, however, when Lila is entered into the summer Tournament of Blades, an annual battle of magic among the families, and fodder for the tourists. And, it seems as though someone is out to get Lila.

There’s magic and mystery, action and romance. And, though I figured out who was behind it all before the characters did, I enjoyed every second. So much so, that soon after, I one-clicked book one for my Kindle!

As a fan of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, I think other fans of that series will love Jennifer Estep’s series. While in TMI the magic is kept hidden from the normal humans, in DHoM the magic is flaunted and used as a source of income. The magic system is pretty cool as well, with everyone who has magic having some variation of strength, speed or senses as well as some level of power – minor, moderate, or major. Some powers are more rare and desired than others. Some are more of a curse than a blessing as well, we learn in this story.

The end of the book was a satisfying conclusion to this story arc, yet it left me thirsting for more of Lila, Devon, and the rest of their crew.

Dark Heart of Magic is available from Kensington Books on October 27, 2015. Until then, you can check out book one, Cold Burn of Magic. (Book three, Bright Blaze of Magic will be available May 2016.)