Review: Poison Study (Study #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Published: March 1, 2007 by Mira
Genre: YA, Paranormal Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: purchased

Goodreads Summary

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

The Good

Jessica over at A Great Read has been telling me to read this since I started blogging years ago.

I should've listened sooner. So good. OK let's walk through all the points that make this story great. The plot line is about a girl, Yelena, who kills her abuser. Yeah girl! I'm immediately rallying behind her. She is put on death row and about to pay for her crime when the assassin, Valek, offers her the chance to become the food taster of the Commander. Ten points already for being an assassin. And steamy. Then we have the setting of Ixia which is divided by eight districts and govered by generals under the Commander's rule. Magic is not allowed in this world, and only in Sitia can magic run free.

The journey through the story was so entertaining. Yelena trains with Valek to learn poisons and hopefully not die. Meanwhile, she works on self defense with two great side characters Janco and Ari. She runs into people that she shouldn't trust but does, and people she should trust but doesn't. There is mind control, hiding in trees, fire dancing, and an awesome library. Yelena doesn't start out very strong at all, as a character she is weak but smart. However, by the end I wouldn't mess with her.

The Bad

There may have been flaws, but I just didn't see them.

The Romance

Now here we have quite a slow burn romance, and let me say that Valek is a favorite character of mine so I enjoy this pairing quite a lot. However, when the romance happens, it's like YEAH NOW. I was left wondering where on earth that whole middle portion went. Not that I'm complaining too much because of the story there wasn't much romance in it to begin with.

Conclusion

There's a mo bad heroine, hunky assassin, magic, kingdoms, tree jumping, trust issues, and some truly terrible bad guys. I loved reading this story. There was quite a bit of action and the plot was thoroughly entertaining. I came to love the main characters as well as some amazing side characters. Recommended.

Sunday Cover Scramble [179]

Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.

Follow my blog with Bloglovi

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [112]

This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

What shop would be your first stop on your first trip to Hogsmeade in the third year?

I think that I would be all about The Three Broomsticks and grabbing me a mug of Butterbeer especially with how cold it always seems to be when they go. Plus, it seems like the place everyone kind of gathers before heading back to the castle. That doesn't really seem like a 'shop' though. So I know I would want to check out Honeyduke's and Zonko's! Then make a trip to see The Shrieking Shack :D

What shop would you visit?

Review: Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

Published: April 26, 2016 by Scholastic Press
Genre: YA, Paranormal Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: purchased

Goodreads Summary

The fourth and final installment in the spellbinding series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love's death. She doesn't believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

In a starred review for Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Kirkus Reviews declared: "Expect this truly one-of-a-kind series to come to a thundering close."

The Good

My goodness this one is hard to review especially trying to avoid any spoilers so it will be very vague on purpose. OK so I didn't even want to start this series because the blurb in the first one suggests that a character will die and I'm just not alright with main characters dying so I decided not to even put myself through that. I did though. I read it. I will say that this series ended on a note that felt right. It is an amazing journey with some very well developed characters that continue to grow in each installment. This one shows different sides of characters that you think you already know by this point. You don't know though. Not until you've read this one.

I loved how every thread was brought together and we got some great wrap ups. I love how there were still surprises and crazy twists to throw at us. I love how even if you went into this expecting something, it was still a little shocking when it happened. The story moves at a wonderful pace. We get a more in depth look at characters that were just briefly mentioned previously. I was a fan of the addition of Henry especially since there was a lot less of Noah.

Then there's Ronan and how he is so much more open. How he's accepting Blue and they're bonding a bit. Their little moments together were some of my favorites. There's Gansey with his NEED to wake the sleeping King. He has the drive to accomplish something more and then the ability to realize his life is already something more. Adam has a huge character realization for which I was glad. I especially loved seeing him let go of his past hurts. Blue...I don't think there's any way that I would've held it together the way she did.

The Bad

The repetition of certain things, while they were in essence proving a point, got a little on my nerves after a while.

The Romance

There was some great romantic parts in this one. Again, no spoilers, but it was big on romantic love, new beginnings, and life-long friendships.

Conclusion

Raven King is a great conclusion to a magical series. It was full of drama, action, magic, character growth, and mystery. It was everything you expect and everything you couldn't possibly. Definitely recommended.

Sunday Cover Scramble [178]

Let's have some fun! I am going to post covers on here every Sunday that are scrambled up graphically, making it hard to tell what cover it is. I would like your guesses on what cover you think I've posted. I won't answer you until I'm posting the next one to let you know if you are right, allowing others to guess as well. Some will be hard, and others may be easy. Let me know in the comments if you'd like some more hints and I'll offer some more if no one guesses it correctly.


I am pulling covers off the Most Popular Page on Goodreads.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Harry Potter Moment of the Week [111]

This is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows.The idea is to share a favorite moment, magical item, character, spell, quote, object from the books, films or J.K.Rowling herself! Click the links to the blogs to see how to join up &  upcoming topics.

Favorite Prisoner of Azkaban Quote

McGonagall and her sass :D This one is from when Professor Trelawney predicted Harry would die in the next year and then they went to Transfiguration immediately after.

“You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you do die, you need not hand it in.”

What is your favorite quotes?

Review: Mixed Feelings (Empathy in the Preternatural PNW #1) by Olivia R. Burton

Published: May 31, 2016 by Peacock Deceiving a Suitcase
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: Sent for honest review

Goodreads Summary

Being a therapist means dealing with other people's problems, but this is getting ridiculous.

Despite being an empath who tastes and feels others' emotions, Gwen Arthur's always managed to stay under the radar and out of the preternatural world. The worst she's had to deal with is a horny werewolf private eye named Mel.

Until now.

It starts with a terrifying visit from the monsters that plagued Gwen's childhood nightmares. They're back and they seem to think she's someone else entirely--someone very powerful. Someone capable of taking on the task they lay at her feet: find a group of kidnapped, magically gifted children before they're killed. Or worse.

She's got her smart mouth, her eerily competent best friend Chloe and, yes, even irritatingly attractive Mel to help her through this assignment. Hopefully that'll be enough, because she's also caught the attention of an invisible, candy-stealing interloper on top of everything else.

It's hard enough helping others sort through emotional turmoil, but now Gwen's got to rescue missing kids, figure out this whole “supernatural” thing, and treat Mel like a person? It's enough to give a girl MIXED FEELINGS.

The Good

Gwen is a great leading character. She's not the in your face amazing heroine here to save the day, she's here for the sugar. She has a lot of flaws and isn't super powerful. However as an empath, she has some skills to offer and she also can't say no to helping save some missing kids. I loved the look at reading people's emotions and how they felt to Gwen. There's plenty of room for growth both in character and in powers and I'm looking forward to that exploration.

Gwen has quite the interesting supporting cast. Best friend Chloe is a bit of an enigma to me, but she was an amazing friend. It is apparent that she's keeping something from us though and I don't know what that is yet. Mel gets a laugh out of riling Gwen up. He is constantly coming on to her and mostly it's because she says it drives her crazy. However, he's there for her in a pinch and is someone she can count on. There is also a mystery character that we haven't met yet that leaves Gwen notes and steals her sugar stash. I'm definitely wondering where that is going to lead. There are some other interesting characters as well that I assume we'll see more of.

Burton is excellent at keeping the pace moving. There is plenty of action along with some fun dialogue that kept me very entertained. The humor throughout was well placed and had me laughing often. I was never bored by this and am ready to move on to the next book in the series. It is filled with fae, demons, vampires, werewolves, and all other chaotic supernaturals.

The Bad

The only small nitpick I have is that Gwen is a therapist and yet doesn't think very therapist-like thoughts. I don't really know how to explain it, but she tells us what she can pick up from people regarding their emotions, but there are no 'ah ha' moments about someone's character that she derives from psychology. For instance, Mel is a lady's man hopping from bed to bed every night and Gwen hasn't once guessed that it's because he had an absent mother or no father's influence. I guess I expected some more therapist lingo in her head.

The Romance

Mel would jump in the sack with Gwen at the slightest implication. Could they be more than a good time in bed? Gwen hasn't given in yet, but only time will tell where their relationship can go. I will say there is plenty of tension there.

Conclusion

Mixed Feelings is fast paced and filled with a mixture of humor, crazy supernaturals, mystery, and action. I enjoyed the main character and how much growth potential she has as well. I loved the blend of different supporting characters and the excitement they offer. All in all, I was very drawn in to their world and look forward to seeing where the story goes from here. Very recommended.