The Demon Librarian

What a shame.(This is not really a review, just a rambling observation).Such a good idea and a nice cast of characters. Sadly, it lost my interest pretty quickly. One of my biggest pet peeves when reading is when characters start acting as if they've known each other a lot longer than they have, or are a lot closer than I feel they should be. It completely stops me from being able to connect to them. Here, the main character was saying things like, 'he always does that' and ' I can't remember a time when I didn't feel that way about him' after what felt like about 30 minutes. When an author races ahead of herself like this leaving her readers behind by overestimating their level of involvement, it makes me stop trusting the story. And if I don't trust it, I can't lose myself in it.Add to that a plot that started strongly, but began meandering at the midway point until if fizzled and died - a quiet death, too, not even anything showy or dramatic - and it had lost me altogether.Still, I give it three starts for the interesting premise.3 stars! ★★★

DNF at 50%There just wasn't anything new or interesting here for the werewolf-centric urban fantasy genre. Dry and plodding and not worth my valuable reading time.Moving on.

Find this and other reviews at The Demon Librarian.One true thing.I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m a bit of an Urban Fantasy fanatic. You’re deeply shocked, I can tell. Yes, I confess, I’ve read a lot of UF series. Or more specifically, I’ve read book one of a lot of UF series. And generally I always find at least something to enjoy in each one, but in many cases, not enough to entice me into reaching for book two. Then of course I have my FAVOURITE UF AUTHORS OF ALL-TIME. The frontrunners. The trailblazers. The Big Cheeses. The Top Dogs. The—okay, you get it. Those select few authors whose imagination and creativity I find infinitely superior. Authors like Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Ilona Andrews...the list goes on. And here’s the point I’m trying to make: I see Leigh Evans joining that latter group of all-time favourite UF authors. In fact, at times during THE THING ABOUT WERES, I already found myself finishing a scene and thinking to myself, “Wow, that could have easily been written by Author X”, it was that good.If you’re not familiar with the authors I’m referencing above (and you really, really should be), you might not realise what a ginormic compliment it is to be lumped (even if only in my mind) into that elite group, or just how happy it makes me to have discovered a potential new member. Because the really great writers of UF are so few and far between, it makes it ridiculously exciting to find one with something new to bring to the buffet, rather than just handing out the same tired old sausage rolls as everyone else. And new ideas is something Leigh Evans apparently has in spades. Whether it be her fantastically imagined realm of Threall, her new take on both the Fae and Were races, or her most awesome creation of all: Merry, the tiny-Fae-soul-trapped-inside-an-enchanted-amulet character. A character that is a necklace. A necklace character. I can’t even...Okay. Moving swiftly on lest I make another food analogy.Oh! Speaking of food and delicious things one might like to eat—and I have no idea how my brain made that leap of topic, honest—we have the equally gorgeous, equally irritating, Alpha of Creemore himself, Mr Robson Trowbridge. And I have to say, it’s a very different Robson Trowbridge that we meet in THE THING ABOUT WERES, compared to the man we met in THE TROUBLE WITH FATE. I just love how many risks Evans has taken with her characters in this series, and how fearless she seems to be when it comes to torturing them. Sometimes literally. Well, when I say I love it... For entertainment purposes, I love it. But for the sake of my poor, wee heart and my overtaxed tear ducts, I guess shouldn't be quite so encouraging. I find myself actually wondering what else she can possibly do to these two characters to complicate things further. It’s only been two books and I already feel like they've run the gauntlet. There were some extremely emotionally fraught scenes in TTAW. Some chest-squeezing, heart-dropping, ouch-that-freakin’-hurts scenes. As well as some absolutely humdinger plot twists. (Actually, there was this one particular section—I think I updated my Goodreads status about 12 times during it— that made me absolutely frantic because I had to stop reading right at the point when everything was still all up in the air because it was daft o’clock in the morning and I had to be up for work the next day, and it was all I could think about at work. I practically raced home to finish it, not actually convinced I even wanted to know what was about to happen next!)Of course, all of this heartache and drama is lived vicariously through our wonderful protagonist Hedi—we couldn't very well have a review without mentioning her, now could we? Hedi has progressed a lot as a character over the course of the series so far, and she's been faced with some pretty tough challenges, to say the very least. Sure, her age sometimes shows in her behaviour (she’s only 22), and her insecurities can affect her thought processes at times. But it’s because of these flaws that the growth we’re seeing, and her gradual evolution from timid introvert to... to whatever she’ll end up as, is so very enjoyable. I’m highly anticipating finishing the series and looking back on Hedi’s journey and just being like, “Woah. You freakin’ go, girlfriend”.And finally. To sum up my thoughts, on the slight chance I haven’t made it completely clear yet in my seven-page review, let me state explicitly: I really enjoyed THE THING ABOUT WERES. The Mystwalker series is shaping up to be truly fantastic UF, with a great romantic backbone, wonderful secondary characters, well-thought-out back stories, and the worldbuilding? In a word: Phenomenal.Now go check it out.5 Stars ★★★★★ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Bahahahaha! Oy vey... What a thoroughly ridiculous and yet weirdly entertaining book. Plot holes the size of Gibralta. A Mary Sue of epic proportions who knows everything about everything including how to speak a defunct ancient Italian dialect flawlessly (Hey, what modern seventeen-year old can't? Perfectly reasonable if you ask me). And who can sword fight. And cure dying people with her vast medical knowledge (using 14th-century herbal remedies, of course).It was just a comedy of errors, really; one implausible thing after another, and that's not even including the time travel! And yet, despite all that, I read it right to the end. More fool me, probably, but it was kinda funny and, like I said, bizarrely entertaining in an I'm-laughing-at-you-not-with-you sort of way.Not sure if I'm carrying on despite the awful cliffhanger ploy at the end.

Hmm...Well, this was enjoyable. But, let's face it, Darynda Jones could re-write the phonebook, get Lorelei King to read it to me, and it would be enjoyable. She's just that awesome, and has an absolutely wicked sense of the comical. That said, it wasn't in the same league as her Charlie Davidson series. It started off well, got kinda muggy in the middle, dumped a load of info in my lap, and promptly left. Which is just rude.At the moment jury's out as to whether I'm moving forward with this one...3 stars ★★★★

2.5 stars. Right in the middle.What a thoroughly irritating book. Parts of it were sweet and amusing. Other parts were cheesy, obnoxious or just downright ridiculous. And as for the cheap tricks employed towards the end... Well, they helped me decide to round down to 2 instead of being generous and rounding up.I am thankful for one thing, however: Being introduced to the band The Civil Wars via Camryn. She mentioned them so often I had to head over to YouTube to see who they were. They're fab! Just my cuppa tea:)

OMG that is so Isaiah! And doesn't that kinda look like Rachel McAdams? And the blurb! It's The Fast and the Furious McGarry styleeee!

Find more reviews at The Demon Librarian.Valor of the HealerI was very impressed by this. I was unsure what to expect because the synopsis sounded like standard fantasy fare with maybe a bit of courtly politics and some magic. Yet the cover seemed to be saying something entirely different... I'm not totally sure what. Having read the book, there is still a disconnect between the cover's tone and, if that's meant to be Faanshi, physical description accuracy. But, hey, it's just a cover. In the grand scheme of things, it's not even a bad cover. I've seen worse. I just don't think it does the quality of the book justice. Also, if by looking at it you're expecting this book to have some kind of badass magical staff-wielding heroine main character, then you'd be misled there also. Faanshi is many things, a badass not one of them. Not yet, anyway.So, what's it about? Well it's a story - more accurately, the strong beginnings of a story - about a slave girl, reviled and revered in unequal measure for her uncanny ability to heal through magic. If you're familiar with Maria V. Snyder's Healer series, this will feel like familiar territory for you in that, just like Avry in that series, to heal, Faanshi has to first assume the person's injuries. With the notable exception that in this world, Faanshi doesn't actually have to manifest the wounds, just feel the pain, and that pain then ignites her power. A power she is unable to resist using. It will literally build within her until she's mindless with it, willing to crawl on hands and knees across hot coals if need be to touch the injured person and release it. Unfortunately, for Faanshi, this lack of control has forced her keeper/master/captor/asshat the Duke, to lock her in the dungeon for the last four years, because magic is forbidden and he should have reported her to the Hawks oh, say, 18 years ago when she was born, instead of squirelling her abilities away for himself.So that's the general set-up and the comparison to Snyder is a good one in that, if you like her work, you will likely enjoy this, too. But actually, when I was reading VALOR OF THE HEALER, I kept thinking how it would be great for fans of Lisa Shearin, Michelle Sagara and the like. I think it might have been the weird and wonderful character names and the elf thing. Large casts and funky made up names can sometimes be a problem for me because my memory is pants and I get aggravated when I can't remember who's who, but this one wasn't so bad. The names were at least readable. Take note, Shearin.The plot, although slow-moving at times, had lots of varied and well-crafted characters to keep readers occupied. Even those who only made the briefest of appearances were worthy of page time. Essentially though, as the synopsis suggests, we follow three main "voices" and alternate POVs between them. There's Kestar (The Hawk), a man whose job is to track down magic users to have them 'Cleansed' (removed of magic); Julian (The Rook), an assassin hired to kill the Duke of Shalridan. And Faanshi (The Dove), a half-elven slave girl. Out of the three options, I would probably have preferred more time with Faanshi and Julian because their relationship was more interesting as they got to know each other, but I absolutely understood the need to follow Kestar's journey and witness his perspective-changing discoveries.Faanshi, our heroine, was an extremely passive character. A brain-washed slave, completely ignorant to life beyond the walls of her "home". She, like many people who are told they have no worth, believes it to be true of herself and has learnt to accept (although not happily) the dictates and cruel treatment of her master, the Duke of Shalridan. She's meek, timid and cringingly submissive. Got that whole kicked puppy vibe going on nicely. She was quite a religious character, too (although, this being an alternate world, it's not any religion you'd be familiar with). This also, in a way, dictated much of her behaviour. Her faith tells her she shouldn't be proud, or angry, or unappreciative, or any other kind of selfish or vain emotion. All this, combined with her confinement because of her alleged madness, and you've got merely the bare bones of a personality left. But the spark is there. And I absolutely, whole-heartedly believe that before this trilogy is done, we won't even recognise Faanshi as the cowering girl we met in this novel. And I, for one, can't wait to see it.The Rook, or Julian (or Richard or whatever other fake name he's given to people this week), was even more interesting in his way. He's maimed (missing one hand and one eye) and has been for a dozen years or so. We don't know what happened exactly, other than that someone he knew well did it to him. Whether or not he deserved what happened to him I am yet to discover. He is an assassin, after all, so it's highly possible he wasn't a complete innocent in the whole affair. But assassin or not, I loved him and felt bad that he was in pain. He's not your swoop-in-and-rescue-the-damsel type of hero; he's much more subtly nuanced than that. But I still see the makings of a hero nonetheless. He's not much of a talker, and when he does it's gruff and usually impolite. But still, he won my affections, sympathy and admiration. I absolutely cannot wait to see him again in the next book (there better be a next book, I don't see one listed anywhere yet!), because he, too, is a character that's about to change dramatically methinks!I definitely didn't want the book to end where it did. It wasn't a cliffhanger, but at the same time, I still wanted to swear like a sailor at where she left us. So very mean!I'll definitely keep my eye on this series and this author. I hope people give it a go (particularly if you like the above-named authors), and that you enjoy it as much as I did.4 Stars ★★★★ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting a conclusion because isn't the next book about someone else...? Aside from that, loved it!

Find more reviews at The Demon Librarian.Fire Inside. And it can bloody well stay there.My first Kristen Ashley book didn't go with quite the bang I'd hoped it would. I've seen plenty of positive reviews for her work and know she's an auto-buy author for many people. And despite my many issues with the characters and dialogue in FIRE INSIDE, I'm still hopeful that I might do better with a book from one of her other, non-biker, series one day. Because really, that's where my problems stemmed from—The Bikers. Their whole "bros before hos" mentality. Their attitude towards women in general. Their ridiculous speech and dialect. Their over-the-top alpha douchecanoeness. And the fact that I found the book's background storyline (something about some drug dealer dude impeaching on their "biker turf") really boring. (Thankfully it only took up about 20 pages in between all the bed hopping).The story follows Lanie Heron, a good girl gone wild and long-time follower of the biker club Chaos. Her and love interest Hop have known each other from group get-togethers and the like for about eight years, both liking what they saw in each other, but at the time they both had other partners. In this book, they're suddenly both free and single for the first time, and so Lanie propositions him with the offer of a one-night stand. Romantic, huh?Then sex happens. A lot. Sex, sex, sex sex, sex and a bit more sex.They of course develop feelings for each other and it all gets hella complicated. Melodrama and overreactions ensue, followed by more make up sex.My biggest peeve of the whole thing was the language used by Hop and his buddies. Women are referred to as Bitches, Gashes, Pussy, Old Ladies...you get the idea. That was a deal-breaker already, but then on top of that, Hop was also way past the alpha douchecanoe line marked clearly across the floor (He can't even see the line. The line is a dot to him.). And I just didn't like him, basically. Even when he was (supposedly) being sweet calling her "Lady" and insisting she's too posh to be on her knees and is only allowed to perform fellatio on the bed. Like a lady. Yeah. What a total prize.I have to say though, even hating the characters as I clearly did, I can still appreciate Ashley knows a thing or two about chemistry and writing a good love scene. Which is why I'm still determined to try another one of her books in the hopes that I just picked a bad one to start with as a newbie. 2 Stars ★★ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Worthy of the hoopla.This was one of those Indie books that seemingly popped up out of nowhere last year and quickly earned a name for itself among the die-hard book hounds of the blogging/reviewing community. I kinda missed the party at the time (I was washing my hair), but when I saw it had gotten picked up by Simon & Schuster/Atria and it appeared on Netgalley, I couldn't resist any longer. So I grabbed it and figured I'd have my own dang party all by myself. I'd call it the Day Late and Dollar Short Ball. It would have ice cream.Except I wasn't by myself, was I? I was with Josh Bennett. Yes :D So very yes.I loved so many things about this book other than Josh, though he was the cherry on top of my ice cream. I loved the alternating POV chapters. I loved Josh. I loved reading about Nastya, without necessarily ever loving Nastya as a character. I loved Josh. I loved the dialogue, the sweet, romantic moments, the really fleshed-out secondary characters like Drew (who ended up being so much more than I'd thought he'd be). And Josh. Don't forget Josh.The trend for this new wash of New Adult books seems to be to throw two completely messed up young people together and watch the disaster unfold between your fingers until they get so low, the only possible way is up. Usually by crawling there on their hands and knees. In THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY, the characters were certainly troubled; worryingly so. But instead of being angry and dark and all hatey, they both seemed to be punishing themselves more than anything. Nastya in all the bizarre ways Nastya did (more on her in a minute), and Josh by making himself more alone than he needed to be. Their separate issues were interesting, and together, they made this weird kind of sense as long as you didn't stare too closely.Now Nastya... I've got to admit she annoyed me occasionally. The clothes thing? Hmm, not sure I ever really understood the logic there. It was like, "People are going to look at me anyway so why not give them something to look at by dressing like goth Barbie?". I just didn't geddit. Sorry. And even my lovely Josh annoyed me once or twice. He might have been the saner of the two, but he wasn't perfect. And he was a very, very naughty boy at one point which, I admit, kinda made me a bit disappointed in him.But, when all's said and done in this genre that can be really hit or miss, THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY was a hit for me, and I'd definitely read this author again.4 Josh-shaped stars! ★★★★ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

Little girl lost.Not normally a fan of general fiction and with an unwritten rule that I don't read books with protagonists under 16, I find myself wondering—other than the captivating cover art—what made me pick up IF YOU FIND ME in the first place. I suppose I was intrigued by the question it seemed to pose, which was if you remove a child from all civilization during their formative years, and then subsequently throw them back in, what kind of personality would that create and how would they cope? The answer I got surprised me, and made me glad I ignored my usual book choosing rules that day.Carey, our narrator, who's been living in primitive squalor in a trailer deep inside a national forest since she was six years old, could have easily (and predictably) been written as totally feral and crazed, or bitter and angry. Or both. Instead, I found her to be a brave, caring and surprisingly well-balanced girl with impeccable manners and an absolutely refreshing view of the world. Her character "voice" was deeply compelling and her narrative so stark yet somehow inspirational. Carey made the book for me, and I'm so glad the author chose the less obvious route where she was concerned. It was far more interesting than a book full of temper tantrums could have ever been.Although I ultimately found a lot of positives in this story and Carey's character, the tone of the book is, at times, very dark. In fact, some of it truly made my heart hurt. The meth-addicted, abusive or absent mother. The hardships survived. The near starvation and lack of everything except the bare minimum essentials . The years lost. Years that should be the happiest and easiest of a person's life. And something even more harrowing that's revealed along the way. All this only served to make me more proud of the young woman Carey has become, and how well she cared for her younger sister, Jenessa, because her mother couldn't or wouldn't.Speaking of Jenessa, she was an amazingly strong presence throughout, especially for a little lady that doesn't speak. Also worthy of note was Carey's father and his new wife. Their patience and understanding was touching and admirable. Especially since the whole thing must have been equally as painful for them.Sadly, although it started incredibly strongly and is still, overall, a great book, I found the last section wasn't quite as compelling as the first. The end seemed to lose its purpose and felt hurried and a bit wishy-washy. I'm not sure what I wanted to happen instead - a big showdown, perhaps? A bit more closure for Carey? I don't know, but I felt like it fizzled and was slightly unsatisfying because of that. Still, I definitely recommend it. If you're looking for a book with a main character who will really speak to you, and have something worth saying, try this one for size.3.5 Stars ★★★1/2ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsisarooney! She forgot to mention all the hot elf sex that *will* be happening. What up with that?Cover!And Chapter one!From Kim's blog!"I promised you a treat today, other than this big, beautiful, cover of Rachel and yes, Trent. More on the treat in a moment. I just want to look at it for a moment and smile at what it promises, not just more Trent, but a Trent who is willing to be there, knowing who she is and not minding that at all. And isn’t that what we all want? To be accepted for what we are, proudly what we are?"Read Chapter one of The Undead Pool hereI did and ZOMG! So good!

Nice cover.

Find more reviews at The Demon Librarian.I was certainly rather taken by this Highlander.After enjoying the steamy, emotional rollercoaster that was book one of this series, I immediately snapped up my review copy of HIGHLANDER TAKEN as soon as I spotted it. And I'm certainly glad I did! I positively flew through it; reading up to the 70% mark in the first sitting before I even realized what was happening.HIGHLANDER TAKEN follows middle Mackenzie brother Kade, who as you may recall, stepped up when Wilkie (hero of the last book) could no longer honour his agreement to enter into an arranged marriage for clan alliance with the Morrisons - not after he'd met the beautiful Roses. So Kade volunteered in his place, which sounds very altruistic, doesn't it? Well, wait until you read his reasons why. :)Kade was a great hero. He was very misunderstood in the beginning - by everybody, but most especially by his bride-to-be - but he was actually a really nice guy once you got to know him. I'm definitely liking these Highlanders that Miller is dreaming up for us so far. They're a great blend of heart-pounding masculinity, and heart-melting sweetness. And, really, what more can you ask for in your heroes than that?Stella was a great heroine, too. Not quite as timid as I thought she was going to be; this lassie had hidden fire! A fire that matched Kade's flame for flame. They were great together, and as with the last book, the heat was certainly on when it came to the bedroom!I found the book engaging. Mostly just because I really liked the main characters. But actually, the plot itself was quite gentle. Especially in the first half. It was more about Kade and Stella getting to know each other and building a trust between them. However, the conflict that arrived in the last quarter of the book was thrilling and definitely made it end with a bang. Quite literally. ;)4 Stars ★★★1/2ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.