Saturday Pages: Sword & Verse and The Dirt on Ninth Grave!!

Hey there guys!

How's the weekend going so far? Mine is going well, will be re-reading Red Rising and reading Rebel of the Sands today and tomorrow! YAY for reading plans ;)

For this week's Saturday Pages I have another installment of one of my all time fave urban fantasy series that I am NOT losing interest in and my Alyssa Recommends book for February that will also count towards the 2016 Debut Author Challenge!


The Dirt on Ninth Grave by Darynda Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After the massive cliffhanger and wrench that Darynda threw on the previous book and all the info we were given and all the shocks and battles, I wasn't sure how this one was going to work out... aaaand I really should have not doubted Ms Jones because it was perfect!! And if you aren't up to date with the series yet, this is the moment when you stop reading because I'm not sure I'll be able to review this one without spoilers cropping up!!

Janey is trying to figure out who she is after waking up with amnesia in a small village in New York and if amnesia wasn't bad enough, she can see dead people and many other things that would land her in a psych ward if she ever were to tell anyone. It was so endearing to see her figuring out the why's and how's and doing what she's always done without knowing that she is. And she finds herself surrounded by the people that love her and she doesn't even know who they are!

Being in her shoes has to be hard, not knowing who you are or if you have anyone that cares for you and wondering where they are? But I think for the rest of the gang and specially Reyes, it had to be even MORE painful! Given all that, this one was a terribly emotional book, and I'd take a guy like Reyes Alexander Farrow any day of the week, son of Satan or not!

By the end of the book her amnesia is more dangerous than ever and we find ourselves hoping that Janey can put things together before the shit seriously hits the fan, and we get more than a few surprises along the way, with one or two tidbits of information that were as unexpected for her as they were for us!! Now I'm wondering what Darynda Jones will have in store for the next book and I SIMPLY CANNOT WAIT!!

Very much deserved 4.5 stars to this one!!

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 Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is one of those times when you have things that you really really loved about a book and then things that really annoyed you so you end up giving it 3 stars because it feels fair, and decide to add a .5 extra because you really liked how everything was wrapped up in the end!

The big positives for this book for me? The gorgeous writing and the stunning world building!! I loved the story of the Gods snippets that we got at the beginning of every chapter, I loved everything that surrounded the writing and the God's language and the one of the Learned Ones and the Arnath and the way the society and everything was described, so visually and not stopping the flow of the book.

The negatives are mostly two: I wasn't sure where the book was going plot wise, was the rebellion attacking? Was there gonna be a coup? Both? Neither? It felt like it took forever to things to come clear. And then I didn't connect with Raisa nor with Mati and I wasn't 100% sold on them or their relationship. I don't know why they kept irking me so often and made me want to shake them so badly sometimes! I'm usually much better at empathising with characters, but Raisa and Mati continued to make unwise choices and then wonder why shit happened... GAH! I feel like I'm somehow being unfair to the characters, but there were so many occasions they irritated me... *sigh*

The climax and the ending was done really well and I loved how Mati and Raisa had stopped making choices that irritated me to no end and of course the unexpected twist was quite something! The ending is open enough but also conclusive enough to work for both a standalone and first in series, and if there is a sequel, I'll be checking it out! After all, Kathy MacMillan's writing is great and so is the world she has created! 3.5 stars for this debut!

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