Castle of Sighs - Jennifer Murgia

Castle of Sighs by Jennifer Murgia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(free copy from netgalley in exchange for honest review)

A perfectly creepy story to read the week before Halloween. This witchy, ghostly tale properly chilled me from start to finish.

Rune is trying to find her place in an empty, unfamiliar castle with Laurentz, her love. She finds that her, Laurentz and the two children she's vowed to protect are not the only ones residing there.

I have only one complaint – a few chapters in I started to wonder if I was missing something, so I did a little research and discovered that Castle of Sighs is book two in the Forest of Whispers series. There was no indication of a previous book on netgalley or in the title pages of the book. Though I was still able to appreciate the novel without reading Forest of Whispers (book one), I think I would have enjoyed the story more, and felt more connected to the characters, if I had read it. I gave the Castle of Sighs 4 stars because of this.

Overall, Murgia is a gifted writer and I will definitely look up her other novels.

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Winter Wolf (A New Dawn Novel) by Rachel M. Raithby

Winter Wolf by Rachel M. Raithby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(free copy from netgalley for honest review)

Katalina's 18th birthday starts as a happy one and ends in tragedy. This is the story of Kat coming to terms with that tragedy and the realization that she is not all that she seems.

I really loved this story. Kat's struggle with her new identity is authentic. It doesn't feel forced or contrived to make the tale interesting. Along with the struggle are the emotions of dealing with a horrible accident that changes her whole life. I love that she doesn't get over it and embrace everything after a month or two. She goes through denial, anger and depression, just as she should. On top of that, she is astounded by her strong feelings for a boy she's just met and who becomes the only thing that is keeping her sane.

Raithby did such a fantastic job conveying the passion and despair that Katalina experiences. I cried and rejoiced with Kat. I felt her anger and frustration. I was completely engrossed in the story; I couldn't pull myself away.

There wasn't a cliffhanger ending. It could be a one-off novel or the beginning of a new series. This story enchanted me and I look forward to reading more of Rachel Raithby.

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Sydney Whyte's Gift of the Blood God: Drawn (Faelings Doom Book 1)

Gift of the Blood God: Drawn by Sydney Whyte
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not too sure what to make of this one. The base storyline seems to be well thought out – twins, Lorrie and Melory, suffer a car accident and are thrown into an entirely new world together. It appears their arrival was predetermined and they have a destiny to fulfill.

The writing style was something to get used to. It seemed that as soon as I thought I had the hang of it, somehow, I would be confused again. I had to reread paragraphs/pages to fully understand what was going on.

Whyte never stops to explain the differences between Mavishan and Tishan. Are they enemies? Are they from separate countries/territories? Are the differences physical or just cultural? Then she casually mentions Cerwi a couple times, also with no explanation. If the story was told only from Lorrie and/or Melory's point of view, it would be understandable that they don't know the differences. However, the POV changes frequently. Couple that with the different writing style and the details are getting lost, I think.

The premise of the story, though, is very interesting. Whyte did not let the twins off easy in the new world. I was also happy to see that communications between the twins and captors weren't magical either. A lot of thought was put into this plot and it shows through out.

Hopefully in book 2, Whyte can somehow put in a little world-building regarding the characters. Even so, I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the sequel.

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Noir (The Illumination Paradox #2)

Noir by Jacqueline Garlick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So here I am, a few days after finishing Jacqueline Garlick's Noir, and I am still banging my head against the wall. How could she do this to me! I can't wait for book 3! This is going to be absolute torture.

Noir is Jacqueline Garlick's 2nd book in The Illumination Paradox series. It starts right where Lumiere left off - Eyelet is charged with breaking her love, Urlick, out of prison and finding the cure to her sickness.

Garlick's incredible fantasy world is completely unique and wondrous. Her words weave an exciting tale from start to finish. People die, are tortured, left in asylums. There are many setbacks and lots of heartbreaking moments. And then, after all that, she leaves you with the unbelievable cliffhanger.

The book is told from multiple points of view. I love that when C.L. (Crazy Legs) tells the story, he keeps his cockney accent in the reading.

Garlick's characters are one of a kind and extraordinary. She is able to take unusual people and make them phenomenal. Urlick is not your typical hero. He has physical “defects” but he has a heart of gold. He possesses a brilliant mind that he uses to build amazing machines and daring plans. His friends are as individual as he is, especially when he meets up with the freak show.

Garlick's pulls out all the stops in her story. It's never dragging or boring. It never lulls and never fails to make your heart beat faster. I love reading this series! I almost threw my phone across the room when I read the last page. UGH!!!

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A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Hallow's Eve

A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Hallow's Eve by Sarah M. Eden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
(Received free copy in exchange for honest review)

A Timeless Romance Anthology: All Hallow's Eve is a compilation of short, sweet novellas that have a touch of ghostly aura about them. Each of the six authors in the collection are extremely talented. The writing styles are similar so the stories flow nicely from one to the next.

The first 3 stories are historical romances that take place between 1800 and 1860. The last 3 are contemporary romances that are present day.

Of course, as with any compilation, there will be stories you like, and others not so much. I can honestly say that, while there were a couple I loved, I really liked all 6 stories. There were all types of love stories – first loves, reunions, lost loves. There is a story for everyone.

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Queen of the Deep by Kay Kenyon

Queen of the Deep by Kay Kenyon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(Received this book for free from NetGalley)

Kay Kenyon's Queen of the Deep follows aspiring actress Jane Gray through a doorway to a fantastical realm.

This story starts off nice and easy, but quickly starts to feel like we've been invited to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Jane is thrown into a entirely new world full of intrigue and back-stabbing. It's not confusing as in 'hard to grasp'; it's more like 'who can she trust?'. Who's lying? Who's on her side? Can she trust anyone? She's not sure and neither are you, from start to almost the bitter end.

Kenyon's Palazzo world is extremely well-thought out. She has wonderful world and character-building and keeps you engrossed from the first page. The ending nicely wraps up the whole book, but also leaves it open for Kenyon to devise more adventures for Jane if she so chooses.

Overall, a fun, marvelous read and I will definitely check out more novels from Kenyon!

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Lumière (The Illumination Paradox #1) Jacqueline Garlick

Lumière by Jacqueline Garlick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Received a free copy for review from NetGalley.
****
Lumiere is a steam-punk, alternate reality adventure.

At the turn of the century, Eyelet Ellsworth is looking for her father's invention that she believes will save the Commonwealth, if not the world. On the way she meets a cast of interesting characters, one being an unusual love interest, Urlick Babbit.

Garlick's imagination is one of a kind. Her inventions and world-building are ingenious and the cast of characters unique, and actually quite refreshing.

I could not put the book down once I got past the first couple chapters. At first, I was wondering if it was a totally different planet they lived on but after a bit, I realized it was just an alternate Earth.

I was on edge the entire book. It was non-stop adventure from start to finish. At times I was actually scared, like, for real. Like I was reading a horror story at times.

Garlick provides amazing imagery in this book, with an action-packed story line that makes me excited to jump right into book 2.

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S.K. Munt's The Given Garden

The Given Garden by S.K. Munt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Larkin and Kohen have been friends since they were 5. When they turn 13, their world changes forever. This is a story of how strong a young girl has to be to fulfill her dreams of freedom.

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I just finished this book and man, I'm speechless. I laughed, I cried, I snapped at my children for disturbing me while I read. I could not put it down and when I had to drive my kids around for 2 hours today, I was bitter, BITTER I tell you!

The caste system, the (what I would call) dystopian society...it was so deep, so heavy. It compeletely engrossed me for the 6 hours it took for me to read it.

Munt's world-building is intricate. At times it can be a bit much but it's obvious that she spent a tremendous amount of time creating her caste and belief system, the post-apocalyptic world and the history behind it all. Each character is complex. There are so many heartbreaking and incredibly sweet scenes.
And the cliffhanger...UGH! MUST HAVE BOOK TWO IMMEDIATELY.



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The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey #3) by Julie Kagawa

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Julie Kagawa does not disappoint in her 3rd installment of The Iron Fey series. The Iron Queen finds Ash and Meghan exiles in the mortal world, running from the Iron Fey.

Kagawa's fast pace adventure mirrors her previous Iron Fey novels. I could not put this book down. The love between Ash and Meghan is serious but never mushy or childish, while her relationship with Puck is sweet and strained. They are true reflections of real life relationships.

The identity of the false king surprised me. Most times, you can tell who it's going to be from the beginning of a book but I didn't realize it until Meghan did. Nothing seemed implausible or rushed. The ending was extremely heart-wrenching but Meghan remained strong through to the end and that's the most important thing to me.

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Opposition (Lux #5) - Series Finale

Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another 5 star novel by Jennifer Armentrout. Opposition finds Katy and Daemon apart once again. This time Katy is with friends, but the future is more uncertain than ever before.

This series is one of my all-time favorites. This epic story shows no mercy from start to finish. People die. People you don't want to die, die. The invasion is like a true alien invasion probably would be – with death and destruction, chaos and catastrophe.

Once again, I had an underlying feeling of dread throughout the entire book. I was so afraid of what would happen to all my favorite people. I cried a couple times, laughed a whole lot and ultimately was satisfied with the ending. It did leave it open-ended for Armentrout to come back to the series if she ever feels compelled.

There's always a sadness that comes to finishing a series of novels. I definitely felt a little empty afterward, but a little relieved. I was able to breathe again; I was able to rejoin the real world and my real family...at least until the next series comes along.

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Jennifer Armentrout's Origin (Lux #4)

Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another 5 star, unbelievable book from Jennifer Armentrout.


Origin picks up right where Opal left off, with Katy in the hands of the DOD and Daemon about to go all LiteBrite on someone to get her back.


This fast paced, never dull novel follows in the footsteps of her 3 previous books in this series. I love how she does not go back and reiterate what has happened in the previous books for those that haven't read them. A reader must start at Obsidian to enjoy this series.


Origin has the “I CAN'T PUT THIS DOWN” and the “NO! I CAN'T GO ON!” aspects I have come to expect from Armentrout. New characters are added, new discoveries are made! Nothing ever seems too contrived, though, even relationships. Love that Katy puts up a fight after being captured. So sick of characters that talk big but as soon as they face adverse circumstances, they give in after 5 min. And of course the ending! Why wouldn't it end with a WTF?! If I had read these books as they were released, I think I would have died from suspense.


Armentrout's Lux series is a well-thought out story. If she made it up as she went along, it does not show. It seems as though she wrote the story from start to finish and then broke it up into 5 separate novels. It flows seamlessly and rocks from start to finish.

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Ashamet, Desert Born

Ashamet, Desert Born by Terry Jackman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Terry Jackman's Ashamet, Desert Born has an exciting plot that gets buried under superfluous descriptions of clothing and rooms while barely detailing characters (besides very brief, and quite confusing, mentions in the first few pages) or the world they live in.

The reader gets a sense in the first chapter that there are a variety of races of men in the desert land but the characterization stops there. The different races are named and referred to throughout the book but never described for me to get a true sense of the differences (which seemed to be important). The first person narration of the novel, however, gave insight into Prince Ashamet's character, which was self-centered and apathetic. He also rambled on about the walls of rooms and what clothing everyone was wearing to a point of complete disinterest on my part. I started skimming paragraphs after about 1/3 into the book.

There is a huge absence of female influence throughout, which accounts for the the lack of variety and depth. It is a male-dominated world where females are only used for breeding. It was billed as having same-sex elements when actuality, it is essentially a same-sex romance novel.

The ending was satisfying and nice point to start a sequel. If Jackman can tone down the excessive descriptions and play up the more exciting plot, the sequel will be quite good!

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