Review of Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Title/Author: Incarnate (Newsoul #1) by Jodi Meadows
Publisher/Date published: Katherine Tegen Books, January 31st 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "New soul
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
No soul
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Heart
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies - human and creature alike - let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?"

I'm always a bit wary when a book has been so hyped as this one is. Sometimes you find yourself disappointed, but that absolutely wasn't the case here! I really, REALLY enjoyed Incarnate and it definitely lives up to the pretty cover and I love that it actually has to do with the story instead of just being beautiful!

I thought the whole concept of the same souls being reincarnated over and over again for the past 5000 years was SO interesting! I mean, it's weird right, knowing you're going to die but being sure you're going to come back in a couple of years. I would love it if you knew, cause then I could totally justify all the book buying: in 5000 years I can definitely read them all! And I can absolutely understand people being scared when they come across someone who has 'replaced' one of their own.

And the thing is, while I can understand insecurity and confusion, it was still really lousy how they treated Ana. Especially Li, her 'mother'. Seriously, that woman doesn't deserve the title. The only thing she did was give birth to Ana and then continue to make her life miserable. One thing that slightly bothered me: the fact that Ana's mother Li seemed a bit two-dimensional in her awfulness towards Ana. I would have liked to have learned more about her character to understand where it was coming from.

But then there's Sam, and Sam is a wonderful guy. Sam has music in his heart and is gentle and I loved that even though he's freakin 5000 years old, he's also very much a teenage boy when Ana meets him. There were moments when I was frustrated and wanted to scream KISS HER ALREADY!! But other than that I loved Sam.

And Ana, Ana is not the easiest person out there. She's majorly defensive and impulsive and sometimes I had a hard time keeping up with her feelings and mood swings but I loved her. I loved the contrast between her and the rest of the population. She felt everything more intense I think and I was always right there in the moment with her.
Also, I LOVED that both Ana and Sam had such a strong reaction to music! I am that girl who has a memory and feeling associated with pretty much every song I know and though I'm not a musician I could so relate to their passion!

I think what I loved most about it is that I was RIGHT THERE with Ana the whole time. I was just as in the dark about everything as she was and I felt happiness, betrayal, attraction, wariness along with her and it was amazing! And I cried! It's been SO LONG since I cried over a book! LOVED IT!

This was a stunning debut and I'm already pining for the sequel!

My rating: 5 stars

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books For 2013

So this week my Top Ten Tuesday list is up over at The Broke and the Bookish! And because looking for books to put on my list made me open about 43 windows with books' Goodreads pages, I couldn't possibly limit myself to 10. So here I'm doing a little twist and make this:

Top Ten Anticipated Sequels of 2013

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi: because more Aria and Perry and Roar can NEVER be a bad thing! LOVED Under the Never Sky!

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo: Shadow and Bone was such an amazing start of this series!! NEED MORE!

Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin: I hadn't expected to love Mask of the Red Death so much, but I did and I cannot wait to find out what happens next!

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi: Tahereh Mafi has such an unique writing style that completely sucked me in and made me feel all the things in Shatter Me, so YAY getting back to that world!

Asunder by Jodi Meadows: HarperTeen has the best team working on their covers! Incarnate had such an interesting concept and Sam totally stole my heart!

Everbound by Brodi Ashton: EEE! THE ENDING OF EVERNEATH! It nearly killed me! SO GOOD!

Last Book in the Series

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson: LOVED, LOVED, LOVED both The Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Crown of Embers and was DEVASTATED by the ending. Heart ripped out, stomped on and all that. So I really need this book. Now.

The Goddess Inheritance by Aimee Carter: Goddess Interrupted ended on SUCH a cliffhanger and I'm both sad and excited to read the final instalment of this lovely series!

Boundless by Cynthia Hand: TEAM TUCKER! Seriously, I know Christian has his moments, but I'm still firmly Team Tucker. So sad this series is ending...

Sever by Lauren DeStefano: I haven't even read Fever yet, bad me... But I pre-ordered this one so I can marathon them if I haven't gotten to it before the release date! :)

Requiem by Lauren Oliver: The same goes here: I haven't read Pandemonium either, but I'm scared because of the cliffhanger ending and all and will probably need this IMMEDIATELY. So I might wait a little longer till my pre-order of Requiem gets here :)

So that's more than 10, but who's counting? Not me.
Let me know if I've missed any you're looking forward to and link me to your list!

Review of Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title/Author: Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher/Date published: Random House Books For Young Readers, September 11th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "Kami Glass loves someone she’s never met... a boy she’s talked to in her head ever since she was born. She wasn’t silent about her imaginary friend during her childhood, and is thus a bit of an outsider in her sleepy English town of Sorry-in-the-Vale. Still, Kami hasn’t suffered too much from not fitting in. She has a best friend, runs the school newspaper, and is only occasionally caught talking to herself. Her life is in order, just the way she likes it, despite the voice in her head.

But all that changes when the Lynburns return.

The Lynburn family has owned the spectacular and sinister manor that overlooks Sorry-in-the-Vale for centuries. The mysterious twin sisters who abandoned their ancestral home a generation ago are back, along with their teenage sons, Jared and Ash, one of whom is eerily familiar to Kami. Kami is not one to shy away from the unknown — in fact, she’s determined to find answers for all the questions Sorry-in-the-Vale is suddenly posing. Who is responsible for the bloody deeds in the depths of the woods? What is her own mother hiding? And now that her imaginary friend has become a real boy, does she still love him? Does she hate him? Can she trust him?"

I have a confession to make: I'd never read anything by Sarah Rees Brennan before. And now I am KICKING myself for that! I LOVED THIS BOOK!! And I also have some serious cover-love for Unspoken, it's just so pretty :)
Let me tell you all the things I loved about it.

I was immediately engaged by the writing style, it felt like talking to one of my best friends, joking around, it felt like there was just this bond immediately between me and Kami and I love it when that happens!

Kami is a main character I can root for, she's smart, isn't afraid to speak her mind and she's just a good person! I loved how witty she was and because of this the conversations were one of my favourite parts of the story. Every one of them was filled with life and didn't sound forced or like something you'd NEVER EVER hear someone saying (this is a pet peeve of mine). I loved that she was so curious about everything and was bold enough to go after the answers, even if that might not be the best idea sometimes.

And then there's Jared and Ash, the Lynburn boys. While I like Ash well enough, my heart absolutely belongs to Jared. That tortured, unsure, lonely boy who I just wanted to give a really big hug the whole time. He's a combination of endearing and confusing and GAH AGGRAVATING, but apparantly that's how I like my boys. I absolutely loved the interaction between him and Kami and how there was so much TENSION without them even TOUCHING. And for the sake of my heart, please let there be kissing in the next book! Cause I was ready to tear my hair out, feeling just as frustrated as Kami (and bald is NOT a good look for me probably).

I loved how Sarah Rees Brennan had me both laughing and crying, she definitely has the funny down as well as the deep emotions and I felt ALL THE THINGS! It was wonderful! I felt like writing down all these things Kami and the others said a lot of the time, one of my favourite quotes is:
"Honestly, Jared, one thing at a time. Why are you in the well with me? This is a really bad rescue!"

The only thing that annoyed me somewhat is that when Jared and Kami discovered they could do magic, all of a sudden they could DO magic without anyone explaining exactly how it was done. But that's the only complaint I have.

I thought the whole Lynburn Legacy was sufficiently creepy and VERY interesting and I had not seen the whodunnit we discover towards the end coming! The ending left me crying and staring at the screen of my ereader going NOOOO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! I really need the sequel, Untold, NOW instead of August 2013... My heart can't take this kind of ending, it's been pretty much stomped on...

Unspoken is filled with loveable characters, an engaging writing style, a creep factor and clean romance with so much tension I was chanting JUST KISS ALREADY in my head. So yeah, I'd highly recommend to any of you who are into that sort of book.

My rating: 5 stars

Review of Silver by Talia Vance

Title/Author: Silver (Bandia #1) by Talia Vance
Publisher/Date published: Flux Books, September 8th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "As I step into the room, a silver flash blurs my vision. Before I can take a breath, the world falls away."

Brianna has always felt invisible. People stare right past her, including the one boy she can't resist, Blake Williams. But everything changes at a house party where Brianna's charm bracelet slips off and time stands still. In that one frozen, silver moment, Blake not only sees her, he recognizes something deep inside her she's been hiding even from herself.

Discovering she is descended from Danu, the legendary Bandia of Celtic myth, Brianna finds herself questioning the truth of who she is. And when she accidentally binds her soul to Blake, their mutual attraction becomes undeniable.

But Blake has his own secret, one that could prove deadly for them both.

Bound together by forbidden magic, Brianna and Blake find themselves at the heart of an ancient feud that threatens to destroy their lives and their love.

So I haven't seen much about this book around the blogosphere (could be me, please tell me if you've read it!), but I did know that Rachel @ Fiktshun really loved it, so I was all kinds of excited to finally start it!

And I was sucked in from the moment I read the first sentence: "Beauty is pointless when no one is looking." LOVE! I know the invisible girl plot has been done before, but this time there's actually a pretty good reason why people (not just guys) didn't notice her before. It was actually kinda cool.

I really liked Brianna, even though sometimes I thought she was a bit quick to jump to conclusions. And sometimes I couldn't follow her thinking and would go 'but HOW did you get that from what he just said??', but it didn't bother me all that much. I loved her scientific tendencies and her need for a fitting explanation for stuff she didn't understand.

I kinda didn't like Brianna's friends. They seemed extremely shallow and I found myself wondering why these girls were friends, as they obviously didn't trust each other. At one point Brianna's attacked and the girls are accusing her of getting it on with both guys she's found with, who happen to be the questionable boyfriends of both of her friends. I mean, WHAT??? Seriously?? Because OBVIOUSLY that's the most logical explanation...

Blake blew hot and cold and was just SO CONFUSING! And I LOVED IT! He has all these conflicting emotions and loyalties and GAH! There were times I wanted to smack him and times I wanted to smooch him and I could just feel everything Brianna was feeling about him right along with her!

One thing I didn't really like was the casual treatment of sex. I mean, while I know losing your virginity isn't life changing, it's a big deal. But in my opinion sex is always a big deal, even if it's your 400th time. Also, it may have been my naivety, but when one of Brianna's friends went off with a boy, I thought they'd be just KISSING. Yeah, I was kinda wrong.

I loved the Irish mythology, if you know me, you know I'm a bit of a mythology geek and I haven't explored this particular part of mythology just yet, so it was refreshing and SO interesting! I'm dying to learn more about it in the sequel! I really loved Brianna's powers, though I did think she could access them a bit too easily. And I'm kinda annoyed at her grandmother for NOT telling her when obviously SHE KNEW!

Sometimes the storyline was all over the place and I actually was wondering if I'd missed some thing, but sometimes we just weren't clued in and I was left chasing to catch up. There were moments when I got so annoyed at certain characters and things happening that I wanted to throw the book across the room, but then it would be amazing again and I'd settle in with a contented sigh again.

There were parts that broke my heart, parts that confused me, parts that annoyed me, but no matter how much of a hot mess this book was at times, I could absolutely overlook it, because I was a hot mess right along with it! I connected to this story and to Brianna and Blake and I just felt ALL THE THINGS, it was wonderful!

My rating: 4 stars

Review of Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

Title/Author: Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
Publisher/Date published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR, September 4th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: Fierce, seductive mermaid Syrenka falls in love with Ezra, a young naturalist. When she abandons her life underwater for a chance at happiness on land, she is unaware that this decision comes with horrific and deadly consequences.

Almost one hundred forty years later, seventeen-year-old Hester meets a mysterious stranger named Ezra and feels overwhelmingly, inexplicably drawn to him. For generations, love has resulted in death for the women in her family. Is it an undiagnosed genetic defect... or a curse? With Ezra’s help, Hester investigates her family’s strange, sad history. The answers she seeks are waiting in the graveyard, the crypt, and at the bottom of the ocean — but powerful forces will do anything to keep her from uncovering her connection to Syrenka and to the tragedy of so long ago.

So, I'm a big mermaid fan, like pretending to be Ariel when I was younger, still secretly wishing I could explore an underwater world and dance with the fishes fan. And mermaid books and I have been having our ups and downs. But I'd heard great things about Monstrous Beauty, so I went in expecting to at least be entertained.
And I don't know what went wrong, but somewhere along the lines it did.

I'm not sure if it was just bad timing, but I never fully connected to this story. I was pretty annoyed by the first chapter, in which the mermaid fell in love with a young man and then 'forgot' he couldn't breathe underwater. So instead of living happily ever after with each other, he drowns within minutes of meeting her for the first time.
Yeah, that kinda put me off a bit. I mean, HOW did she forget it and not notice her 'true love' was suffocating?? SERIOUSLY??

Ok. Enough about that rocky start.

After this we meet Hester, a girl who's sworn off love because all the women in her family die within days of having a baby girl. She's pining after her friend Peter, who by the way is a great guy. The POV switches between Hester and Syrenka, the mermaid from the first chapter. The constant switches may be what made me fail to connect to either of these characters, I get why it was done story-wise, but for me as a reader it didn't work.

I kinda disliked that Hester, who was secretly pining for Peter, who was in turn secretly pining for her, fell for Ezra instantly. I do think there's excellent reasoning for this in the end, but well, I felt bad for Peter. I also didn't like that as soon as Ezra entered the story, everyone else seemed to vanish to the background. At first we got to know Hester's family and friends a bit, but after meeting Ezra, she really doesn't spend much time with them anymore, or at least not 'on screen'.

I think the main problem was that I was never all that excited about reading Monstrous Beauty. I could easily put it down and then not pick it up until the next day. It wasn't that it was badly written, I didn't have serious problems with things that happened in the story, but it just didn't work for me like I know it did for other people. I did like that it showed a MUCH darker side of mermaids than what I'm used to and I liked that Elizabeth Fama wasn't afraid to show us the gory stuff as well. I just felt that everything was a little superficial, there was just something missing for me.

My rating: 2 stars

Review of Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

Title/Author: Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
Publisher/Date published: Bloomsbury, October 13th 2009
How I got this book: it was gifted to me by my brother, thanks!

Goodreads summary: "It’s a fight to the death — on live TV—when a gladiator’s daughter steps into the arena

Lyn is a neo-gladiator’s daughter, through and through. Her mother has made a career out of marrying into the high-profile world of televised blood sport, and the rules of the Gladiator Sports Association are second nature to their family.

Always lend ineffable confidence to the gladiator. Remind him constantly of his victories. And most importantly: Never leave the stadium when your father is dying.

The rules help the family survive, but rules — and the GSA — can also turn against you. When a gifted young fighter kills Lyn’s seventh father, he also captures Lyn’s dowry bracelet, which means she must marry him..."

I must be the world's worst gift receiver, because it can really take me AGES to finally get to reading books I've been lucky enough to get as gifts. Though I do really try.
So I've owned Girl in the Arena for about two years now and have just gotten around to reading it. At the time I got it, I was SO excited because it was one of the first 'for fans of The Hunger Games' books I'd come across. And the summary did make it sounds like it would be right up my alley.

Except that I'm slightly underwhelmed by the book itself. To me it seemed to be more about all the politics and the history of the GSA than actual fighting. And I was like: but, WHAT ABOUT THE FIGHTING?? It was as if you were reading The Hunger Games without the actual Hunger Games taking place.

It seemed like Lise Haines wanted to tell us EVERYTHING about the Gladiator Sports Association and its origins and the plot suffered for it. I mean, I was expecting edge of my seat action while also having a girl battle her attraction to the guy who killed her seventh stepfather and instead the plot crawled by at a snail's pace.

I really liked Tommy G., Lyn's stepdad, who sadly dies in the arena at his final fight. He seemed like a genuinely good guy and the right kind of stepfather, even if he and Lyn's mom perhaps didn't get married for the right reasons. I also liked Lyn's friend Mark, though only superficial, as I don't feel we got to know him very well. Lyn's mother on the other hand REALLY annoyed me! I thought she was selfish and made a lot of bad decisions and then expected Lyn to make the same ones.

I did think the world that Lise Haines has created was really interesting and it's kinda scary, cause I could totally see something like this gladiator sport getting way out of hand and taking over lives. Lyn herself felt pretty detached from everything, which resulted in me failing to connect to her. I guess I just expected something a little more exciting than it was for me.

My rating: 3 stars

Daisy Update (25) and Book Haul (5)

Hi!!

So last week I was too lazy to post an update, because well, I was just in vacation mode.

I had a wonderful 10 days off from work! I slept till 8AM every day (I loved waking up at that time and knowing all my coworkers were starting their day at work, does that make me evil?), read a lot, tried new recipees, baked cookies, cooked for my friends who came over, it was bliss! I did get rather restless on Tuesday because it was my FOURTH day of not working in a row and well, I found out I've turned into a bit of a workaholic over the last four months. Who would have thought...

But by Wednesday I didn't have this problem anymore ;)

Thursday had a bit of a bad start because the power plant in the town I live in had sort of blown up a bit. The side of one of the buildings was completely blown away and we could see a lot of smoke. It didn't really help that on the radio they were talking about missing people and telling us to stay inside because they weren't sure what had happened yet. In the end it turned out noone was hurt and it was safe to go out, but it took a while before they had the right information, it was kinda scary.
Of course I slept through the whole apparantly quite loud bang and following noise, but the boyfriend woke me up.

We spent Thursday at a spa in a town 20 minutes away and it was just so relaxing! I LOVE going to the spa and sitting in the saunas and whirlpools and they have this salt bath things in which you can just float, which is very soothing. So Thursday night I felt completely relaxed and wrinkly :)

Saturday night we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and it was SO GOOD! I love Mexican food, though I can't really handle anything too spicy. We usually go to a different restaurant, but this one was really good as well, so I think we'll just have to switch it up every now and then :)

And last Tuesday was the day I had to get back to work, which I was actually looking forward to. I love feeling useful and much as I love staying inside with a blanket, cup of tea and a good book, I don't think I'd appreciate it as much if I didn't have to work as well. I also wouldn't be able to afford my shopping and book buying habits, so there's that.
This week I was back on one of the nursing floors, which I prefer to the ER. I also got to do some stuff I don't do that often, like sticking needles in people's chest if there's fluid there so we can send it to the lab for analysis and it was pretty awesome! And just so I don't sound masochistic: it's pretty much the same as someone taking your blood, the needle just goes somewhere else.

Thursday night was my turn to do the evening shift and it was pretty busy, but ok, though I didn't have time to eat and I fear that all my hard work in my week off in gaining back some weight has been for nothing now that I'm back to work. Oh well.

Book Haul

So because of that booksale thing I talked about last time, it's a pretty big haul :)

BOUGHT
-Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham
-Venus Envy by Louise Bagshawe
-Footsteps by Katharine McMahon, I've never read anything by her before, but the books look so pretty...
-Sins of the House of Borgia by Sarah Bower
-Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead: I've been looking for this one for so long! And they're always out at the bookstores, even the online one, so YAY!
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, I was a bit hesitant because I did like The Time Traveler's Wife, but had some issues with it, but I figured it'd be worth a try.
-Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray: which I already owned, fail...
-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: LOVE THIS BOOK! I just didn't own a copy yet.
-To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts
-The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
-The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong: they didn't have book 2... :(
-Stolen by Lesley Pearse
-Rebel Heiress by Fiona Mountain
-Loving Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan
-The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James
-Venom by Fiona Paul: YAYYY! It finally got here!
-The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima: SO GOOD! The boyfriend is currently reading this :) I LOVE this series SO MUCH! And am really sad this was the last instalment...
-Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder: LOVE THIS BOOK! I'm such a fan of Maria V. Snyder and I like the UK cover better than the US one, it's so pretty!

FOR REVIEW
-Hysteria by Megan Miranda, EEE! EXCITEMENT!
-A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn MacNamara
-Once Again a Bride by Jane Ashford
-Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield
-Poison by Bridget Zinn, I've been pining for this one for some time now! It looks amazing!
-The Borgias by G.J. Meyer
-The Water Witch by Juliet Dark, the sequel to The Demon Lover, which I really enjoyed :)
-Renegade by A.J. Souder, AAAH! SO EXCITED!
-Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black, isn't this cover GORGEOUS??

So that's all for me, hope you guys have an amazing week and leave me a link to your book haul in the comments!

Review of Every Day by David Levithan

Title/Author: Every Day by David Levithan
Publisher/Date published: Random House Children's Books, August 28th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with — day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan, bestselling co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day."

I must confess that I've never read anything by David Levithan before. I know, I'm a bit ashamed myself. So with everyone raving about his other books and this one being hyped as well, I was trying so hard not to have high expectations. And I succeeded, though I don't think it would have been a problem otherwise, because this book was really good!

The writing style sucked me in immediately. David Levithan made me connect to A right from the start, even before I knew he called himself A. It felt like sitting down with an old friend, reconnecting and curious to find out what's been going on with the other.

I know there's some discussion going as to whether people think A is male or female. I'm not really sure that it matters, but I've been picturing A as a he, his character felt male to me, I don't know why that is. So I'm gonna go with that, because I can't call A an it and otherwise it's kinda difficult to talk about him (read her or it, whichever you prefer instead of him).

I liked that through A we experience a million different stories in one. A is in a different life every day and must adjust to it and use the knowledge of the body he's inhabiting to get through the day. I LOVED the days when we got to know more about the person whose body he was in for the day. I loved that there was this huge diversity in them and their circumstances.

The problem for me was that I wasn't really feeling A's relationship with Rhiannon. I thought it went a little fast on his part with the whole falling in love thing. I mean, I absolutely get the wanting to belong to someone for more than just a day and the attraction to someone you've just met, but for someone who never forms attachments, who is actually actively trying not to, it all progressed very quickly.

Instead of it being so focused on the relationship, I'd have liked more answers on WHY A was constantly switching bodies and didn't have one of his own. And HOW do you stop this? The whole idea of this happening was endlessly fascinating to me and I wish I could have learned more about the mechanism behind it.

Also: SPOILER, LIGHT UP TO READ: THAT ENDING! Seriously, I KNOW it couldn't have possibly ended well, because A would have had to betray everything about himself to effectively murder another person, but it tore my heart out! There was such a sense of hopelessness and despair and I was just staring and going NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS! Poor A...

The writing itself was SO GOOD and engaging and made me kept turning the pages, wanting to find out what would happen next! What life would A be entering in today? I really liked both A and Rhiannon, I think they're good people and I love the message this sends of falling in love with a PERSON and not a gender, while you might be sexually attracted to a gender, it's the person you come back for.

My rating: 4,5 stars

Review of Loving Lady Marcia by Kieran Kramer

Title/Author: Loving Lady Marcia (House of Brady #1) by Kieran Kramer
Publisher/Date published: St. Martin's Press, August 28th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: Of the three Brady sisters, Lady Marcia has always seemed the girl most likely to lead a perfectly charmed life. But after a handsome cad breaks her heart, she swears off love and devotes her life to teaching girls at a private school. In spite of her family’s wish for a London debut, Marcia is happy where she is — until terrible news sends her back to the Brady clan…and into the arms of an unexpected suitor.

A dark and dashing earl who knows Marcia’s past, Duncan Lattimore is surprised by what a fascinating and independent woman she’s become. Marcia, too, is surprised—by the fiery attraction she feels for Duncan. But why — why — must he be the brother of the scoundrel who broke her heart? Why must Marcia’s rival at school forbid her from seeing him? How can this lady possibly resist this fellow — when they know that it’s much more than a hunch…?

Guys, I hadn't given this book much thought before I started reading it. The summary sounded cute and promising as in YAY STARCROSSED LOVERS because of the brother thing, but I've been disappointed recently and didn't want to get my hopes up.
I shouldn't have worried so much, because Loving Lady Marcia was SO GOOD!

I'm all for a little trouble in the way of the romance, especially if like in this particular novel, they're facing REAL troubles and not some poor excuse for a problem. There's the ruination of the school Marcia's the headmistress of, the shadow of Duncan's brother between them, misunderstandings, inabilities to voice love! I mean, YAY! With all this working against them they still managed to find each other and I loved it!

The lady Marcia we meet when she's just about to turn 16 was a naive girl and Duncan's brother breaking her heart made her grow up. She got through this devastating life event and came out stronger and for that alone she's got my respect. She hasn't turned cold or anything, but she knows she's ruined in society's eyes, even if no eyes witnessed said ruination. So she's resolved not to marry and instead threw her whole being into becoming headmistress and I love that she's so passionate about teaching the girls there! She's a warm, caring, determined person and I just wanted to hug her and make all the problems go away.

Duncan was a hero that I found very easy to love. He instantly stole my heart when in the beginning of the book I learned that he took in Joe, an infant his brother had fathered, and told everyone he was his own son, born out of wedlock. LOVE this man and his big heart! He hasn't had an easy childhood, but he wants to take care of EVERYONE, including his servants and of course Marcia. He and Marcia butt heads over this sometimes, because she's all 'I'm independent woman, here me ROAR' and he just wants to help her. Duncan is an amazing father and I loved that about him.

Duncan and Marcia together have this wonderful chemistry that cracks and sizzles and just put a big old smile on my face with the sighworthiness of it! They spar and work together and kiss and have sexytimes and it was all just exactly what I wanted from my romance novel! There's the heartbreaking moment when they're at odds and throughout the whole novel there was just this amazing TENSION! I definitely had tears in my eyes at one point!

Loving Lady Marcia by Kieran Kramer is a wonderful start to this series that I'm looking forward to reading more about! Marcia has a lovely family and I'm already pining for the next instalment so I can see one of her brothers get a happily ever after!

My rating: 4,5 stars

Review of The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer

Title/Author: The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer
Publisher/Date published: Egmont USA, August 28th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley and bought myself a shiny finished copy :)

Goodreads summary: "Mia's ordinary life is disrupted in the most horrifying way possible when she is possessed by a hungry and powerful demon - and only saved by the arrival of relatives from Italy, the country her grandfather fled many decades ago. Now her cousins Emilio and Giuliano say the only way to keep her safe is for her to come back with them to Milan, to live, to learn Italian, to fall in and out of love, and to master the family trade: fighting all demons with the lore of bell, book, and candle. Milan is not what Mia expected, but it will change her forever, in this stunningly well-written novel about an American girl who, fleeing an ancient evil, finds her only salvation in her ancestral home."

Somebody please tell me this is the start of a new series??? Because I can't find on Goodreads if it is!

We meet Mia, who's a regular teenager with self confidence issues, which is something I can TOTALLY relate to. Then Mia gets possessed by a demon and she gets shipped off to Milan so the family she's never met before can deal with it. I thought she was handling it all pretty well, and I found the crying spells every now and then to be more realistic than her magically being ok with everything happening.
I loved seeing her come into her own and start exploring her heritage. She's curious and eager to learn and I always appreciate that in a character. Also, she's pretty smart, YAY!

One thing I did not appreciate: the otherwise loveable character of Emilio, Mia's cousin, makes a remark about Mia (at 16) being too old for Harry Potter. WHAT??? YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD FOR HARRY POTTER! GAH!

Whether or not this is the first in a series will determine in the end how I feel about this book. For the start of a series, I REALLY liked it! However, if it's a standalone, not nearly enough is revealed about this whole demon catching business and I'd be disappointed if it'd be left at this. I mean, I still have so many questions!

I thought the exorcising of the demons was SO interesting! And I'm dying to learn more about the demon that possessed Mia, cause it sounds like there's some history between it and the family. I'd love to see Mia develop her abilities further and just explore this rich world that Kat Beyer has created!

My rating: 4 stars

Daisy Discussion: Collector or Reader?

Guys, I'm just going to throw this out there: sometimes I wonder if I'm more of a book collector than a reader. I mean, I have this compulsion to just buy ALL THE BOOKS and then I hardly ever read them because most of the time I feel guilt over the review books I still need to read.

As of this moment I have 264 unread physical copies on my shelves. That's a scary number. At least 3 books are making their way to me as we speak and I've pre-ordered another 25.
I think I might have a book buying problem.

And while the fact that I buy this many books doesn't bother me in the slightest, I am bothered by all these pretty books staying unread and knowing that even if I just read my own books for a year and not buy any new ones, I'd STILL not have read them all.

I'm very much aware this falls firmly into the first world problems category.

And I know that with 143 books read this year so far I can definitely call myself a reader and not just a collector, but sometimes even I wonder when I'll find the time to read them all.

So I'm going to challenge myself to read more of my own books, I mean, I bought them, I shouldn't feel all this guilt over reading them! I've dedicated a shelf on Goodreads towards my failure when it comes to reading the next book in a series and I REALLY want the number of unread sequels to go down from the embarassing 24 it's at now.

How about you guys? Ever feel like you're just collecting books instead of actually reading the ones you have? Feel guilt over reading your own books instead of review books? How big is your TBR pile at the moment?

Review of The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Title/Author: The Rise of Nine (Lorien Legacies #3) by Pittacus Lore
Publisher/Date published: HarperCollins, August 21st 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive.

Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others...

I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others - including John.

But so are they.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They caught me in New York - but I escaped.
I am Number Six.
They want to finish what they started.
But they'll have to fight us first."

**WARNING: SPOILERS LIKELY FOR BOOK 1 AND 2**

As actionpacked as The Rise of Nine was, it wasn't by any means a 'quick' read for me. I'm not sure why I've been struggling with this one and The Power of Six, cause the series does have a lot of the things in it I usually enjoy. There are just some things that annoy me as well.

I like that we're slowly getting to know all the 'numbers', I just felt that we don't really get to know the new additions, it felt superficial. Other than the fact that they're Loric, I don't know what drives them and that bugs me. I didn't really like Nine, Eight however would probably have stolen my heart if I'd gotten to know him better. He's a VERY promising character and I love the little budding crush he and Marina have going on.

To me, Six lost some of her kick-ass-ness. She really owned The Power of Six, but in The Rise of Nine, she's lost some of her spark. I still love her, but slightly less than I did in The Power of Six.
John was being a bit whiny and I strongly dislike his tendency to just go for the girl he's with and switch his affection between Six and Sarah. It's annoying and since I'm firmly Team Six, I'm not liking this one bit. And seriously, I'm still waiting to hear a GOOD explanation for Sarah turning them over to the FBI at the end of The Power of Six, cause I'm not satisfied with "But I didn't do it".

I was hoping we'd find out more about the big bad guy, but while he does appear, he's still shrouded in mystery. And he's CHEATING. I know if it'd be my life or cheating, I'd cheat, but I don't like it when the villains do it.

I think this book suffers from it being the build up to the no doubt EPIC BATTLE that will go down sometime soon. At least I hope it'll be sometime soon. I do still like the general storyline, but I just wish we'd get more information about their background and abilities and the the villain and get to know the new characters a little better. Maybe the fourth book will solve all this!

My rating: 3 stars

Review of How To Disgrace a Lady by Bronwyn Scott

Title/Author: How To Disgrace a Lady by Bronwyn Scott
Publisher/Date published: Harlequin, September 3rd 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: "Merrick's season of outrageous scandal has taken a challenging turn. Caught in a — far less than usually — compromising situation with Lady Alixe Burke, this so-called gentleman is tasked by her father with making his daughter marriageable!

Lady Alixe, more happy in the library than the ballroom, is most definitely left-on-the-shelf material. He'll never walk away from a wager, but Merrick's expertise extends way beyond society etiquette. Never before entrusted with a woman's modesty, Merrick sets about teaching her everything he know."

Despite the fact that I seriously dislike the cover of this book, I still read it because the premise sounded interesting. And it was! I mean, a rake being forced to make a girl marriage material? Sounds like She's All That historical romance style!

Unfortunately, it didn't have all the amazing tension She's All That had for me (I'm a sap, ok? I love that movie). Our rake realized pretty soon that he was falling for the lady in question and she reciprocated, thereby not making for jealous moments and such, because there was only the treath of an unwanted suitor and that was it. I mean, except for one tiny moment, she didn't even flirt with other random men. And I so love it when they go all jealous alpha-male because of 'their' lady flirting with some other men, or their interpretation of them doing so.

But I did really like both of the main characters. Alixe was an intelligent woman, though I did kind of think she didn't have a lot of reasons for keeping herself away from men. It wasn't as if she'd loved someone and he'd only been after her money or something to make her shut herself away. I also did some eye-rolling at the notion of only a change of dress revealing her as a beauty, I mean, COME ON, most pretty girls can wear basically anything and still remain pretty.

Merrick stole my heart with his reformed rake being. He was a completely loveable scoundrel and I kinda like that! He does go from being all 'I will never be married' to 'MARRY ME! RIGHT NOW!' in the space of a day or so, which was somewhat unbelievable, but since he was directing his attentions towards a love interest that had my approval, I was somewhat ok with this. I really liked his shamelessness, strutting around naked and such.

The thing that made this only an ok book for me was that I didn't feel the tension between them. Not even when she refused to marry him. And the sexytimes weren't all that sexy. I did enjoy the moments in which they were just getting to know one another and they discovered shared interests, but I LIVE for the tension in these romance novels.

My rating: 2,5 stars

Debut Author Challenge 2013

I really missed participating in the Debut Author Challenge this year! In 2013 it's going to be hosted by Tara @ Hobbitsies and I'm really excited to be joining in again! I love supporting debut authors and discovering new ones to fangirl over is always fun :)

Also, how cute is that button designed by my amazingly talented friend Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl??? I love it!

Details about the challenge can be found here and a Goodreads list of YA and MG debuts of 2013 here.

So, without further ado, here are the books I'm already pining for to read towards this challenge:

1. Taken by Erin Bowman
2. Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans: this book sounds awesome and Lenore is such a nice person!
3. Dualed by Elsie Chapman
4. Pivot Points by Kasie West
5. Splintered by A.G. Howard: a retelling of Alice in Wonderland?? COUNT ME IN!
6. Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza
7. Prophecy by Ellen Oh
8. The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar
9. The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell: pitched as Tamora Pierce meets George R.R. Martin: YES PLEASE!
10. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
11. Poison by Bridget Zinn
12. Strand of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson: I was SO creeped out by the tale of Bluebeard as a child, I think I didn't sleep for a week. MUST READ THIS RETELLING.
13. Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield
14. Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley
15. Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green
16. Cinders & Sapphires by Leila Rasheed
17. Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
18. Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland: FURIES!
19. Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
20. The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

Yeah, I don't really think I'll have a problem getting to 12 read of these... I'll probably be adding more to the list as 2013 progresses.. Some I've pre-ordered, some I was lucky enough to receive as an egalley, EXCITEMENT!

Any of you joining in as well?

Review of The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima

Title/Author: The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4) by Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher/Date published: Hyperion, October 23rd 2012
How I got this book: how could I resist buying the shiny hardcover for this one?

Goodreads summary: "A thousand years ago, two young lovers were betrayed—Alger Waterlow to his death, and Hanalea, Queen of the Fells, to a life without love.

Now, once again, the Queendom of the Fells seems likely to shatter apart. For young queen Raisa ana’Marianna, maintaining peace even within her own castle walls is nearly impossible; tension between wizards and Clan has reached a fevered pitch. With surrounding kingdoms seeking to prey on the Fells’ inner turmoil, Raisa’s best hope is to unite her people against a common enemy. But that enemy might be the person with whom she's falling in love.

Through a complicated web of lies and unholy alliances, former streetlord Han Alister has become a member of the Wizard Council of the Fells. Navigating the cut-throat world of blue blood politics has never been more dangerous, and Han seems to inspire hostility among Clan and wizards alike. His only ally is the queen, and despite the perils involved, Han finds it impossible to ignore his feelings for Raisa. Before long, Han finds himself in possession of a secret believed to be lost to history, a discovery powerful enough to unite the people of the Fells. But will the secret die with him before he can use it?

A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series."

**WARNING: SPOILERS LIKELY FOR FIRST 3 BOOKS IN THE SERIES**

You guys, I just GUSHED about this series over on the Broke and the Bookish yesterday. But in case you haven't seen that, let me remind you how much I enjoyed The Demon King, The Exiled Queen and The Gray Wolfe Throne.

So, now that you're all linked up, I'll start with the actual review. Or gushing. Either.

I love this world that Cinda Williams Chima has created. I love it so much that even if it's incredibly dangerous and I'd most likely be killed, I wouldn't think twice about going there given the chance. It's so rich with different cultures and people, I just love it.

Han and Raisa cannot seem to catch a break, the odds are so against them that I was almost ready to give up hope for a happy ending. But I'm an optimist at heart, so of course I had faith in them to make it work. Even with pretty much everyone out to kill them.
I love how both have matured over the series and I loved the few scenes they had together. It's not easy, but they share a love that's true and it's enough.

This final instalment had me on the edge of my seat most of the time, there's never a time when you can rest easy, because there's always some new trouble lurking around the corner. I almost decided to cancel plans with my family in order to read on, but managed to resist. This story was in my head the whole time I WASN'T reading it and that to me is the sign of a good book and wellrounded characters, when they can exist not only in the author's imagination, but in mine as well.

I feel very passionate about this series and all of its characters, be they good guys or bad guys. I wish horrible, painful, slow deaths on the ones I consider bad guys. I really hated Micah in The Demon King, but over the books he's sort of grown on me. I still wish he were different, but I don't hate him with the same passion I do his father. His character has hidden depths and I do believe he really loves Raisa, even though he way he shows it isn't really ideal.

There were some twists and turns that surprised me, which I loved and I also really enjoyed learning more about Alger and Hanalea's story. The way their story got remade makes me wonder how history will be taught in a couple of centuries.

Basically, this series is just plain awesome and you all have to read it. Reading The Crimson Crown felt like reconnecting with old friends, I cannot believe how much I've missed the Seven Realms and its characters! I repeat the statement I made on The Broke and the Bookish yesterday: this is YA fantasy at its best and it doesn't get much better than this. Thank you Cinda Williams Chima, for sharing this amazing story!

My rating: 5+ stars

Daisy Update (24) and Book Haul (4)

So I've been working the night shift last week and as far as night shifts go, it was pretty ok. I could sleep most of the nights and only had to get up twice in the whole week and didn't even get all that many phone calls from the nurses with questions, so yay! While sleeping in the hospital isn't my favourite thing to do, I'm thankful that we at least get to sleep! I know a lot of other departments where you just have to stay up, so I consider myself lucky :)

Because I could sleep most nights, I had some free time during the day, which was nice! I caught up on blogging, saw more of the boyfriend and had more time to read! I still had to take naps in the afternoon, so I had a mostly uneventful week, but it was nice to just be at home some more.

Thursday the boyfriend and I went to a book sale, I LOVE going to book sales! Sometimes I wonder if I should go because I already buy a lot of books as it is, but when I'm there I'm just loving it! It's the only place I can buy books for about 2-3 euros each, so I came home with 16 and it only cost me like 44 euros! GOOD DEAL! I'll show you what I got soon, cause I'm just too lazy to take pictures at the moment and all them to the already pretty big book haul at the bottom of this post.

Yesterday morning I was pretty happy when my colleague arrived for the Saturday shift and I could go home! I have the week off, which means 10 whole glorious days not spent in the hospital! It's been four months since my last vacation, so I thought it was about time. I'm looking forward to just spending time with the boyfriend, reading, relaxing and just doing as little as possible :)

Book Haul

Bought
-Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson
-The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (Yes I caved, it was on sale...)
-Defiance by C.J. Redwine (first copy arrived damaged, but The Book Depository send me a nice and shiny new one :) )
-Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink
-Sacrifice by Cayla Kluver
-Grimm Tales by Philip Pullman, I couldn't resist this pretty book when I saw it at the bookstore, I LOVE fairytales!
-Mystic City by Theo Lawrence
-The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

For Review
-Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder (SO EXCITED!! LOVED THE FIRST BOOK!)
-Snow Whyte and the Queen of Mayhem by Melissa Lemon
-The Merlin Prophecy, Book 1: Battle of Kings by M.K. Hume
-Sacrifice by Cayla Kluver, Yes I KNOW! I was just so excited when I saw it on NetGalley I forgot I'd pre-ordered it...
-Undeadly by Michele Vail
-There's Something About Lady Mary by Sophie Barnes
-The Secret Life of Lady Lucinda by Sophie Barnes
-One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean, I LOVE Sarah MacLean's books SO much! I can't wait to read it!

Review of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

Title/Author: Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Date published: Atria Books, August 14th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads summary: The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

I have all these mixed feelings about this book. From the reviews I've seen floating around the blogosphere this seems to be a book you either love with the fire of a thousand suns or dislike with the same amount of passion. While I absolutely hate some of the relationship messages this book portrays, I cannot bring myself to really hate the book.

The writing is really good. Really, really good. The writing was so engaging that even while I was cringing and wanting to put it down, I couldn't. I felt like one of those people in traffic causing a jam because they're watching the accident on the other side of the highway. Knowing you should move along, but unable to do something about it.

I never really connected to Abby and while I tend to enjoy the books in which I connect to the main character more, if I had just found it in myself to like her, I think it might not have mattered so much. I mean, I get that she's been through a lot and everything, but I just wanted to shake her and at times slap her. I mean, how do you go about being so clueless and just plain cruel?

Travis is a boy who needs therapy. Lots and lots and lots of therapy. Seriously. He made ALL the alarm bells go off when it comes to men, I wouldn't let my friends date him. I wouldn't let people I don't like very much date him.
He's got anger management issues, is insanely possesive, controlling, doesn't know boundaries and OMG, SO NEEDY and completely dependent on Abby! It was scary how he completely lost himself when they got together!

I hated how co-dependent they were and how it's used to show how much they 'love' each other. I mean, you should still be a person whether or not you're together and they just weren't. I also hated that Abby's roommate Kara, who was the only one that voiced this opinion was snubbed by both Abby and her best friend.

I thought the getting to know each other phase was pretty sweet, aside from the weirdness of them sharing a bed, but after they got together it just went downhill for me. Also, can I just say that I was constantly rolling my eyes at Travis' nickname for Abby: Pigeon. Seriously??? It was SO annoying. He used it EVERY TIME he spoke to her and while I get endearments, being named after a pretty common and pretty much the vermin among birds is just slightly wrong.

Sorry for my rant, but I had ISSUES with this book. I hope Jamie McGuire will write a book in which I can cheer for the relationship, because then I will gush and gush over it. The writing is amazing, the plot just made me cringe.

My rating: 2 stars

Review of Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Title/Author: Blood Magic (The Blood Journals #1) by Tessa Gratton
Publisher/Date published: Random House Books for Young Readers, January 1st 2011
How I got this book: own it

Goodreads summary: "It starts off simply.

Draw a circle... place a dead leaf in the center... sprinkle some salt... recite a little Latin... add a drop of blood...

Maybe that last part isn’t exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents’ horrific deaths. She’s willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family — even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood.

The book isn’t the only recent arrival in Silla’s life. There’s Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She’s not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick’s first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can’t deny their attraction. And they can’t ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power."

Guys, I have to be honest with you all: I almost DNF-ed this one.
But I didn't and in the end I'm happy I stuck with it!

I really like the idea of blood magic and having to make sacrifices for your abilities. It's kinda gory and messy and I like that because it's different from the magic systems I usually read about.

The problem I had was with the characters. Silla kinda annoyed me. And so did Nick. And them together annoyed me A LOT. I really don't want to say insta-love, but yeah, I might as well say it. I mean, I got how they had a connection due to the magic and everything, but their relationship went from not knowing each other to lurrv pretty fast.

For me, there was just too much that we didn't know for most of the book and I found myself starting to enjoy it when more was revealed and a BIG TWIST appearing that had me reeling and want to do a slow clap because I did not see that coming! I still think Silla was REALLY unstable and she continued to annoy me, but less than at first.

I'm still kinda on the fence about Blood Magic, but I'm interested enough in what happens next that I'll continue on with the sequel soon, we'll see how it goes.

My rating: 2,5 stars