Friday Reads: The Rose Society & The Iron Warrior!!

Hey there guys!

Friday is once again and even if for a moment I thought it was the first Friday of the new year, it's actually the second... Apparently I didn't realize Jan 1st was Friday *rolls eyes at self*

Anyways! It is the first Friday Reads of the year! And since I have such a backlog, I'm gonna have two mini reviews of books I read on December as part of the Diverse December challenge! And not only that but The Rose Society was my Alyssa Recommends book for December!!

The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After finishing The Iron Traitor I was in absolute shock because THAT ENDING! Talk about an awful cliffhanger! But as soon as the cover & synopsis for this one was revealed, we could breathe again.

I must confess the way things got turned around and shown to have been solved in between books felt a lil bit like cheating, and maybe that was why I wasn't as 100% emotionally invested in the series as I was with all the previous books? I don't know...

Despite that new distance from the story, I really enjoyed this book. Ethan & Kenzie are fantastic together and I love how well Kenzie can deal with the Fae and their tricks, far much better than our dear Ethan, even if he finally grows out of his irrational first gut reaction of rejection for everything Fae.

Keirran's path was a complicated one in this one, after all he was quite clearly The Iron Traitor in the previous book, but I'm glad that even Ethan never really gave up on him, even when he had the best of reasons to do so.

The book is as usual full of Fae politics, even more if you had the Between & the Forgotten to the usual courts. But I was really glad to see Meghan standing her own toe to toe with the likes of Oberon and Maab. It is also full of traipsing through the NeverNever, some areas that are new to us, and old friends that we meet again. And it is also full of the trademark humour that I've got used to in this series. And I'm really glad about the humour because Julie Kagawa really managed to outdo herself on the creepiness in this one... Three words: Creepy Carnival Clowns! *shudders*

The ending was quite satisfying as far as Ethan & Kenzie is concerned, because we see their relationship solidify but in a very realistic way back on the human world! The cheating feeling also nagged me a lil bit on the climax, but at the same time I think it was satisfying and well done. Maybe I was expecting more and was scared of more emotional torture and when we didn't got through it I was left feeling a bit flat? I don't know. Still, I really ended up enjoying it so it gets 3.5 stars!



The Rose Society by Marie Lu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don't think I've loved a villain like this since... Darth Vader maybe? And that's saying something since I am a massive Star Wars geek!

Adelina is the villain of this story, but since this is mostly her story is way too easy to forget about that and root for her in ways I wouldn't have otherwise!

Marie Lu really is an amazing & skillful writer, she manages to make us see things from Adelina's POV and not such in the simple sense of writing from her POV, but actually making us feel for Adelina, and even following her justifications and agreeing with them! You barely realize sometimes the descent into the madness (and the dark side, so to speak) that she's undergoing until there is a change of POV and your able to pull yourself out of Adelina's head

Adelina is our bad guy, and quite a very scary one at that, but given the actions of the rest of the characters, I'm not really sure who all I'd call the good guys, because none of them are really in the clear, and that's probably the most fantastic part of this book, how in the grey everyone is. Black and white is quite inexistent here, and writing this characters and making you feel for them... masterful!

The relatonships between the characters keep on being as nuanced and complicated as they were in the first book but even more, adding more twists to the trust/lack of trust, fear and love that bound the whole cast together!

I just cannot say anything more without risking some spoilers, and I really want to avoid that! Sufice to say that the plot thickens and twists in ways you probably won't expect, the characters are simply brilliant and fantastic and scary and Marie Lu is a bit of a genius! Very much deserved 4.5 stars to this one! I'm really not sure what to expect from the next book!


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Saturday Pages: Mini-reviews for Rogue & Magonia!!

Hello there guys!

Happy Saturday! After today, the hiatus officially starts on my blog... I'll still have some post here and there, but I'll spend less time checking posts or comments, because I really need a bit of a breather and I'm gonna have other demands of my time pretty soon with everything involving the apartment.

I'm having a pair of mini-reviews for two books for this week's Saturday Pages, one an awaited sequel, the other a new book from a new-to-me author, both counting towards my 2015 releases category for the 105 Challenge!

Rogue by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Julie Kagawa is one of my auto-buy authors, because I've loved everything I've read by her and Talon was no different last year, it wasn't exactly what I expected but it was a great book nonetheless. When I got approved on NetGalley to read Rogue early I was extremely excited.

I'm not gonna say I was terribly disappointed, but I must confess to not be as thrilled with the book as I expected. It was a book full of action, with Ember on the run with Riley, full on rogue, and rescuing Garret and running from Talon and the Order of St George both from then on.

I felt like there was a lot of action, a lot of running and fighting but we really aren't getting to many places at all. Talon want Ember back and we continue to perceive that there's a lot more behind the why but no idea why, we know Talon is hiding something big and we only get an answer that leads to more questions by the very end. And we still don't discover anything more about the past of Talon & St George and their battles.

And my biggest issue with this book is probably Riley, I think that I like him as a dragon and head of the rogue operation well enough, and I liked getting his backstory of when he left Talon, although I felt it didn't give us all that much information, but when it comes to him and Ember? I just cannot stand him.

So there comes my big issue, I don't tend to like love triangles, and although I still understand this one, two guys, one for each side of Ember, the human and the dragon... I cannot stand Riley as a love interest, I'm Team Garret and I am very much bothered with how Riley acts.

Ember is confused from her own feelings and the way her dragon reacts, but I'm still not sure how that dichotomy works, but I guess we might get more explanation for that in the next and final book, or so I hope! She is still hoping that her twin will choose her instead of Talon despite the initial betrayal, and she proves a bit too naive and not as good a fighter as you'd have expected after her training.

All in all, a good enough book, but I wanted more... more answers and less triangly! Oh well, 3 stars to this one. I do hope to get moooore answers on the final book!

*EDIT* There will be 5 books total, so who knows when we'll get answers!!




Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a fascinating book! I loved the pacing and the writing and although I had a few issues with Aza at the very start, I grew to love her dearly!

I wasn't 100% sure I'd like Aza because somehow her snark and way to deal with her illness seemed a bit odd to me at first, but very soon I saw the way she tried to face every day, and how she tried to define herself, not only as the girl with the death expectance and the freak insides. We see her with her family and with Jason, and I fell in love with the lot!

I really enjoyed having their alternating POVs, both Aza's and Jason's, since we went to know them both better from each other's perspective in a way we wouldn't if we only saw each other as they see themselves, and it also completed the events happening.

The book has a big feeling of contemporary story at first, and then moves into the fantasy realm without a hitch, making us wonder too about the possibilities of ships in the sky! I was rather annoyed at the insistence of the Magonians for Aza to believe them and to simply leave everything behind and to adapt quickly to their expectations, when all she knew was the human life for fifteen years! I really liked that Aza was so realistically thrown for a loop and tried to adapt while still feeling out of kilter.

The worldbuilding on the ships and Magonia and was fascinating, as we learn details little by little along with Aza, and I feel like there is more to discover in hopefully a sequel, because although we get a wrap up on the plot ARC that was central to this book, there is plenty to expect to come up for a sequel for sure!

A word of warning, there might be some hints of a somewhat love triangle, but not. Just a few vibes here and there, all justified for reasons I won't discuss because spoilers, but it never went full love triangle.

It was a very compelling read that I couldn't put down and that I thoroughly enjoyed! A wonderful 2015 that I highly recommend! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Waiting On Wednesday #90!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

What book is the one that I'm not-so-patiently waiting for my preorder to arrive in the mail this week? Rogue by Julie Kagawa!!

Goodreads Summary:

"Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.

Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.

A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?"


Why am I eagerly awaiting Rogue? Well, I read Talon and really enjoyed it, even if I wasn't too keen on the love triangle, but I cannot wait to learn more about the world of dragons and their past history with the Order of St George!!

What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?
 

Saturday Pages: Talon by Julie Kagawa!!

Hello guys!!

Today is Saturday and after the super busy shift I had yesterday and the fact that I'm working night shift tonight, I'm taking the day easy and thinking of baking some to help me relax a bit more!

As I've already mentioned my backlog of reviews, I'm having two reviews for Saturday Pages today, and I'm starting with one very awaited book of this year because DRAGONS! and because it's Julie Kagawa and she's in my auto buy list!



Talon by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had been extremely excited about this book because DRAGONS! + Julie Kagawa had to be awesome, and although it was quite awesome, it was a lil different from what I expected.

What was most different from what I expected was that somehow I was expecting it to be more fantasy contemporary, and it was more like paranormal contemporary, I'm not sure if that difference will make a lot of sense to you guys, but it threw me off a bit at first.

The book is done in alternating POVs between Garrett and Ember and since we started with an epic chapter of Garrett taking down a dragon with St George's army and then we move to chapters with Ember and Dante trying to assimilate and behave like normal teenagers... it was a bit jarring!

There's so much we don't know about the past of Talon or St George's, only that dragons were nearly wiped out, that St George are trying to defend humanity and that dragons can take human shape, and that's something rather unique about this book and series, they feel more like were-dragons (paranormal) that the usual non-shifting dragons of fantasy.

The relationship between Garret and Ember was very sweet and although both of them kept lying to themselves because they kept on noticing things that pointed out to their real identities, I loved their time together surfing or at the fair, pretending that they could be normal without all the extra baggage!

The one thing that caused me to make a face was the love triangle... when it appeared at first I was all "grumble grumble why love triangle grumble grumble" but then it was clear that Ember was attracted to Garret and Ember's dragon was attracted to the rogue dragon, and that quite makes sense that "beast" and human part could have different opinions. I cannot help but ship Garret and Ember more than Riley and Ember but we'll see if I'm sailing the sinking ship!

The second half of the book is what made it worth of the 4 stars for me, because stakes keep getting higher, more things start happening with Talon, with the mission to discover the sleeper and we learn a lot more about the rogue dragons, the actions starts taking off and the final third of the book is non-stop and makes you want to flip the pages even faster!

By the end of the book there are quite a few questions unanswered about Ember and Dante being twins, about what Talon really is and what really happened between St George and the dragons originally! I cannot wait for book two, Rogue! Very well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Tell Me Tuesdays #17!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome ladies of Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

 The Body Electric by Beth Revis

The future world is at peace.

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift--the ability to enter people's dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother--to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things--images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience--and influence--the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love--even though Ella's never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing...

Someone's altered her memory.

Ella's gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn't even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella's head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.

So who can she trust?

Talon by Julie Kagawa


In Julie Kagawa's groundbreaking modern fantasy series, dragons walk among us in human form.

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey—and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him—and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.


I'm still juggling reading a bunch of books at the same time cause I have a backlog and too many awesome books I want to read, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!! I need more reading tiiimeeee!!

So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!!

Waiting On Wednesday #65!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

Now, what book am I absolutely pinning over this week and hoping it'll get on my hands already?? Talon by Julie Kagawa!!!

Goodreads Summary:

"Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons."


Why am I eagerly awaiting Talon?? Well, DRAGONS!! Do I need to say more?? Also, Julie Kagawa has become one of my auto-buy authors, so this was very much a given!!

What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?

Friday Reads: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa!!

Hi there everyone! I'm gonna be starting this week's Friday Reads with the final book of the Iron Fey series, one that I'm glad that even if unplanned originally, Julie Kagawa decided to write! As the rest of the series it is part of my 2014 Series Challenge!

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After the terribly cruel and heartwrenching ending of The Iron Queen I jumped straight away to reading this one. I already knew how everything had to end, having read the spin-off series that take place a few years after these books, so I cannot imagine how awful the wait between books must have been!

As usual, expect spoilers for the previous books, but I will try my best to not spoil anything, which might make this review a little bit vague on occasion.

Meghan is now the Iron Queen and is working to make sure it doesn't destroy the rest of the Nevernever, but since it's still toxic for the rest of the Fey, she made the toughest decision ever, and sent Ash away from her. But Ash won't give up on Meghan without a fight, so he goes on a quest to find a way to be with Meghan on the Iron Realm with Puck, his best frenemie. There's a lot of history between this two, even before Meghan and the love triangle thing happend (and then got resolved) and we learn a lot more about it in this book. Along with Grimalkin to guide them, they start a quest to get Ash a human body and soul.

The journey starts with quite a twist very early on, one that left Ash, Puck and even myself reeling! I understand that it was necessary to a point to finally clear the air between Ash & Puck and to give Ash some proper closure, but boy was that upsetting!

They travel through the most dangerous parts of the Nevernever, the Wyldwood and the Deep Wyld, and the journey is one hell of a difficult one and once they reach their destination, it only gets even harder!

As with all these books, the world building was fantastic and very creepy, the pacing of the plot was great and the character development was spot on, this book was Ash's book and it showed cause it made me root for him in a way I hadn't even done before! That doesn't mean that other characters, new and old, don't get their own time, like my dear Grimalkin and the very awesome Big Bad Wolf! We also get a peek of a world changing event that has a lot of relevance in the spin-off series and that also extremely creepy!

Very well deserved 4.5 stars for this one!



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Mini Reviews: The Iron Fey novellas by Julie Kagawa!

I've said it before, and I won't tire of saying it, I really enjoy reading novellas. They're perfect read for those days when I really don't feel like reading a 200 or more pages book but still feel like reading a complete story. Today I'm reviewing the 3 novellas that are part of the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa.


Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a short novella to be read between the Iron King and the Iron Daughter, and it serves sort of a refreshing of how things are left. Meghan and Ash are on their way to the Winter Court but she asks for a small detour to make visit Puck to make sure he's okay. During their journey, they start being hunted by a dangerous monster.

This was a short novella and the main purpose might as well have been to introduce a character that we'll encounter in a later book and establish it as dangerous even to the Unseelie prince.

The relationship between Ash and Meghan is still a bit on an uncertain state still, and the fact that Meghan is keeping her promise to Ash, even though it is quite hard on both of them.

Even if this one wasn't the most amazing novella ever, it was a good reminder and a way to introduce a new character. All in all a 3 stars read.




Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I actually read this novella right after the Iron Daughter instead of after the Iron Queen, so I was a bit confused about why Puck and Ash were on their quest, but I still managed to enjoy this one quite a lot.

It's a Puck POV story, and his voice is fantastic this time, he's such a fun character! Full of mischief but also extremely loyal and brave. So when he's torn between helping Ash or taking a chance to try and get him as a rival out of the way, he ends up being a good guy cause it also means he's gonna play one of the biggest pranks in history and do it under Titania's very nose!

It was very entertaining reading about him, ice-boy and Grimalkin, and the dynamics between them are always a lot of fun. Well deserved 3.5 stars for this novella, one that is a must for any Puck fan.




Iron's Prophecy by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the kind of novella that makes me glad I read it. It's something that any fans of the books would have wanted to read about and also gives us quite a bit of information that ties The Iron Fey with the spin-off series The Call of the Forgotten.

The ending of the Iron Knight was good and satisfactory but I wanted to see a bit more of the Iron Realm, Meghan more established as Queen and Ash being the king consort, or however that ended up working on, and not only I got that (that I'm sure was something a lot of fans of the series wanted) but also the explanation for that prophecy mentioned on the Lost Prince and the Iron Traitor (in the Call of the Forgotten series) and I really felt for Meghan and Ash when they got themselves with such an awful choice to make.

And after having read both The Lost Prince and The Iron Traitor, I'm really left wondering if that was the right choice and gives me even more food for thought of what might happen in the next book!

Well deserved 4 stars for this one.



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Saturday Pages: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa!!

Hey guys! I'm gonna be starting this week's Saturday Pages with the book that was originally planned as the ending of the Iron Fey trilogy, but that thankfully became the third one into a four book series! As the rest of the books, this one is part of my 2014 Series Challenge!

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After the ending of The Iron Daughter that left us with so many questions and unsolved issues, I jumped straight into reading The Iron Queen (joys of binge reading a series!).

As always, you can expect some spoilers for both The Iron King and The Iron Daughter on this review, but will try my best to avoid any spoilers for the plot of this one.

This was conceived as the final book on the trilogy, but I'm so glad that Julie decided to add Ash's book afterwards!

We start right where we left Meghan and Ash at the end of The Iron Daughter, exiled to the human world and Meghan feeling like she can finally go home to her family with Ash by her side. But of course, things couldn't & wouldn't be that easy, would they? Poor Meghan realizes that exile or not, the Iron Fey are still there and she'd put her family in danger by coming back home, so she decides to not hide and bring the fight to the Iron Realm!

I really liked Meghan so much in this book! Even with all her doubts and sometimes even her denial to see what was in front of her, she was always strong, she always made the choices that had to be made, even if they were extremely tough for her, and she had a fantastic non-Fey attitude that the Nevernever really needs! Even so, she's gotten so much better at avoiding being tricked by the Fey, she's still her but won't be run head first into anything with the Fey and will be more mindful of her words & contracts to them.

She once again teams up with Grimalkin (YAY!), Ash & Puck, and all together they start their journey to defeat the False Iron King in the very heart of the Iron Realm, while there's a battle about to start between Summer & Winter or maybe finally with Summer & Winter as allies against the Iron Fey.

The world building as always was absolutely phenomenal, the Iron Realm was such a fascinating place! With equally fascinating creatures, and we finally properly meet Razor! (I had been waiting for his introduction forever since I fell in love with him in The Lost Prince!) but Grimalkin continues to be my absolute favourite secondary character here, he's just so Chesire cat but even more awesome!

The relationship between Ash and Meghan was great, even if sometimes Ash got terribly offended by things that Meghan did meaning well and without the knowledge of what it'd mean for him as a fey, which required some talking between them after someone explained it to Meghan. Why wouldn't Ash try and explain things before getting all closed up and letting Meghan figure it on his own? At least Meghan tends to explain why or why not she does things! Still, their relationship is quite sweet and it's great that they support each other fight as equals.

The final part of the book and the ending are particularly cruel to the reader's feelings and I was saved of more awful suffering because I already knew how everything ended up since I had read the spin-off series first. But still, I went onto read The Iron Knight as soon as I finished The Iron Queen!

An amazing book with great world building, quite the intriguing plot (even if I figured out who the False Iron King was before Meghan did, I felt a bit like Grimalkin there...) and that quite simply made me love reading about the Fey! Well deserved 4.5 stars!





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Friday Reads: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa!!

Hey everyone! Friday is here and with it a new week's Friday Reads! I'm starting it with the second book in one series that was not originally in my 2014 Series Challenge but that has been added since it's now finished!

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Iron Daughter stars right where The Iron King left us, so you can expect spoilers for the first book, as while most sequels. I will however try to keep the review as spoiler free as possible!

Meghan is now in the Winter court, being true to her word and learning how to deal with promises to the Fey. Life for her at Mab's palace is not easy at all, being despised and looked down on by most of the court. And she feels even worse cause Ash is ignoring her since they arrived, and he's back to his Unseelie Prince demeanor.

Then something happens that throws the Nevernever into disarray, with Winter and Summer preparing for war. Only Ash and Meghan know that the Scepter of Seasons wasn't stolen by the Summer court, but by the Iron Fey. Mab doesn't believe them so Ash and Meghan end up going on a mission to recover the Scepter on their own, with their usual allies aka Puck and Grimalkin. Seems like Grimalkin always has all the answers and knows all the way, but his answer it's always as enlightening as "I'm a cat". He really is favorite secondary character!

Meghan was a bit more irritating in the beginning of this book, all her doubts about Ash and her consequent self-doubt were a bit annoying after a while, even if I could somewhat understand where she was coming from. Still, it was a bit at odds with the strong and foot-in-mouth, go-into-things-head-first Meghan that we knew in Iron King.

Once the bigger action part of the book starts, Meghan changes her focus a bit and after some proper communication (this is a lesson I hope everyone will take from books, communication is key, don't just assume!!) with Ash, and meeting Leanansidhe for the first time (again for me, reading The Call of the Forgotten first has these consequences) with her redcaps and her human "pets" was quite a game changer right there.

I really liked Meghan training to feel less powerless or depending on others to save her, that attitude of hers is the one that makes me root for her. Something I really liked too was how in this book we see a lot of the Between, the Nevernever and the human world all mixed up. And I loved learning more about the Iron Fey and matching the new Fey to the technology counterparts of the human world.

The ending was quite interesting, with a certain finality to it, but also with so many uncertainities!

Even if I had some issues with Meghan for the first third of the book, this one didn't suffer from middle book/sequel syndrome at all and it's well deserving of 4 stars if only for the amazing world building and Grimalkin!



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Saturday Pages: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa!!

Hello everyone! This week for Saturday Pages I'm gonna finally start reviewing The Iron Fey series that I read back in Feb, when I was on vacation! It felt a bit odd reading this series from the beginning now since I had already spoiled myself by reading the spin-off series, The Call of The Forgotten, but I still really enjoyed the books!

This series wasn't part of my original goal for my 2014 Series Challenge, but since I finished the whole series, I decided to add it too!

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I started reading Julie Kagawa series in a strange order, cause the first book I read was The Lost Prince, the spin off for this series all about Ethan, and then I read The Iron Traitor and I really loved them both. So I decided that if Julie Kagawa had made me love books about faeires, I ought to check the original series, so I went on a binge read for The Iron Fey series!

On the Iron King we are introduced to Meghan Chase, a girl that has always felt a bit different from everyone, that feels like her stepfather doesn't remember she exists half the time and that adores her half brother, Ethan. She has her best friend Robbie but the rest of high school isn't a very pleasant experience. Then everything starts changing for her when Ethan is kidnapped, and she discovers she's being lied to by Robbie and that's more to her than she ever imagined!

We then travel for the first time to the Nevernever and we meet Puck properly as he is, not as his Robbie persona. We also get to meet Grimalkin (the most amazing fey version of the Chesire cat!) and we discover that Meghan is half fey and not any faery either, but a princess, much to her changrin. She ends up in the court of Summer, blundering her way about, and messing things up by being her unsubtle and headstrong self. I couldn't help but adore Meghan, even if at times I felt like telling her to watch and learn instead of just opening her mouth and running away with it!

Then she meets Ash, the Unseelie prince from the Winter court and everything changes. She suspects her brother might be taken there but then discovers that he's being kept in a new realm in the Nevernever, the realm of the Iron Fey. So Meghan decides she'll risk everything to rescue Ethan, and so she starts a quest of sort with Puck, Ash and Grimalkin to go defeat the Iron Fey and get Ethan back.

It's always an odd feeling reading a book (or in fact a whole series) when you sort of already know what happens and what doesn't in the end, even if you don't know how it did. I guess it took a lil bit of the direness of some of what was happening for me, but I absolutely loved learning so much more about the Fey and the Nevernever and meeting Puck and Grimalkin anew! Grimalkin is such a fantastic secondary character!

A very satisfying read and one that proved that yes indeed, Julie Kagawa does write Fey books that I love reading! 4 well deserved stars.



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Mark This Book Monday: ARC Review of The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa!!!

For the final entry for this week's Mark This Book Monday I'm having an ARC that made me ignore everything else that I was reading and start it right away, even if I was completely exhausted that night after work! I have to say a big big THANK YOU to Harlequin Teen for approving my request for this one via NetGalley.

This one is part of three of challenges! As the final book of the Blood of Eden series is part of my 2014 Series Challenge, as a paranormal postapocalyptic dystopia it is part of my Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014 and since I got my eARC via NetGalley for review, it is part of my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge! Phew!

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


When I was approved for The Forever Song on NetGalley I was immediately running towards my eReader to get it to load, and I totally ignored whatever books I had pending to read, even The Winner's Curse, that I had just started! Thank you so very much to Harlequin Teen for approving my request for this book! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

This review is gonna be as spoiler free as possible, and trust me I'm gonna try my hardest! This was one amazing book to read without knowing what was coming, and I want you all to go into it as I did. That means it'll also be a bit vague. What you might expect is some spoilers for book 2, but nothing that you wouldn't get for reading the summary for this book. If you haven't started the series, just don't read this review and go read the books!

The Forever Song has to be one of the most perfect final books in a trilogy ever. I've been lucky to get some really great final books for a series this year, but this one... Wow. I wasn't sure what to expect after that ending in The Eternity Cure, but Julie Kagawa managed to surpass any expectations I had (and those I didn't know I had)!

This books is full of heartbreak and it shakes you in a way that you don't expect. Very early on I was saying "Noooooo, that can't beeee!" out loud! And the emotional scenes and onslaught to the heart continues for all the book, one way or another. With happy emotional to heartbreak and back again. There's plenty of action and we get a few unexpected twists to the plot here and there.

Allie has lost herself to the monster inside, she refuses to feel and keeps on telling herself it's better to not care and to treat humans as bloodbags, than to acknowledge the pain that carries inside after the death of Zeke. She only has one thing in her mind: Revenge. She wants to kill Sarren and she won't mind dying in the process as long as she takes him with her. Kanin isn't happy with her new mindframe but Jackal seems to be enjoying the new attitude on his blood-sister. It's heartbreaking to see her like this, and when the change comes it's even more emotional. First tears right there.

Then, as they continue to follow Sarren's trace trying to stop him ending the world, we encounter what I'd call the biggest shock of the book. Just, wow, it broke my heart right there. Second moment of tears.

Jackal becomes the voice of reason and common sense on more than one occasion and it really makes you think of messed up things really have to be for that, aye? Aye. He's one character I love to hate, and even if he annoys me sometimes, I wouldn't want him to be any other way.

There's more heartbreak and tears along the way, with more emotional moments, thankfully not all of them on the negative side, and quite a few that are just fantastic.

The ending is perfect. Full of hope for the future, even after all the massive heartbreak and sacrifices. I might not be happy with how it came to be, but once you stop to think about it, it's really fitting for the character and perfect for the storyline to come full circle. Sad and heartbreaking, but perfect. The brightest day comes after the darkest night and that is very much true for this book.

Very much deserving of 5 or more stars. Stock on the tissues before reading!



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Saturday Pages: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa!!

Following the bloody theme of this week's Saturday Pages, here's the review of the second book of the Blood of Eden series, by Julie Kagawa. As book two of a trilogy it is part of my 2014 Series Challenge. And as a paranormal postapocalyptic dystopia, it is part of my Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014!

The Eternity Cure (MIRA Ink) by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Eternity Cure is the second book in the Blood of Eden series, and let me tell you from the start on that is doesn't suffer from the middle book syndrome at all!

I will try my best to avoid spoilers for the book, but it is quite likely that this review will contain spoilers for The Immortal Rules. I usually try to avoid those too, but most of the time those are hard to avoid.

The Eternity Cure starts mostly where we left Allison by the end of book 1, trying to find Kanin and rescue him from Sarren's hands/claws. She's once again on her own but she's not the same vampire she was before. She has a better hold on her monster and her humanity, and even though she's clearly hurting, she keeps on telling herself it was the right thing to do.

While looking for Kanin she meets up with Jackal, and despite not trusting or liking him, they establish a truce to rescue their sire from Sarren, and following the blood trail they end up back in New Covington, Allie's city. And here Allie finds herself with a very unexpected surprise, she finds Zeke in there being a leader for the few Frigue humans that aren't affected by the new plague.

Allie does grow quite a bit during the course of this book, she learns to be strong for herself and others, and despite her dislike of Jackal, she also learns quite a lot about him and his sire from him. She's still a fighter, and she manages to never lose track of herself to the monster, even when facing a mad monster as Sarren ( I just cannot use the term madman with him).

Kanin is a character that I liked on The Immortal Rules, and despite spending quite a bit of this book in a rather reactive position and not taking part of the action, since he's being tortured and being used as bait, I found myself understand and growing to like him more and more. He's a vampire that believes a lot on making your own choices, atoning for your acts and fighting for what is worth it. And despite his very tough exterior, he really cares a lot for Allison as a father figure.

Jackal is a fantastic character, and one I love to dislike and like alternatively. He's irritating and horrible but provides the right sarcastic comedy relief even in the stark and harsh landscape that this book has. He's also a powerful ally and vampire and thankfully he's never used as a possible part of a love triangle!

Zeke is slightly rougher around the edges, but he's still this inherently good guy. He's always a fighter, he's always hopefull and he's always loyal. He managed to shift his world when he discovered he was in love with a vampire, and he can ally himself with the vampires to try and safe the world.

Sarren is the definition of the perfect maniacal villain. Despite the past and what he might have suffered, I couldn't empathise with him at all. He's gone beyond any possible empathy and he's turned into a mad monster, no longer fit to be called a madman. He's extremly strong and fast and cunning. He's the kind of monster to give other monsters nightmares, and that's proven here.

The plot gives us a few surprises here and there and the stakes keeps on getting higher with new versions of the viruses affecting humans and Sarren threatening everything and everyone.

The ending has to be one of the most heartbreaking and evil ones I've recently read! I was beyond glad I had read it with the final book, The Forever Song, just a pair of months away! But yeah, evil cliffhanger advisory announcement here.

Very much deserving of 4 to 4.5 stars!



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Saturday Pages: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa!!

This week's Saturday Pages are quite bloody themed, cause both books are vampire books, and are actually book 1 and 2 of a trilogy. And even if they weren't in my original post for my 2014 Series Challenge, I'm gonna be adding them to it, since the final book of the trilogy comes out this year.

I read them during my Julie Kagawa improptu readathon, when I read the entire Iron Fey series and then jumped to read these ones!

Since it is clearly postapocalyptic, I'm also adding this one to my Dystopia Reading Challenge 2014, even if the vampire aspect would make it paranormal. We'll call it a paranormal postapocalyptic dystopia?

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've read many vampire books, and it's a genre I really like but I also feel it can get quite repetitive in the way vampires are portrayed and the dynamics between mortals and humans.

I decided to start this series cause I had read and loved the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa and if she had written books about the Fae that I loved, I was pretty sure I'd like her books about vampires. And I was right!

Allison lives in a postapocalyptic world were vampires are in charge, humans are treated as cattle, protected as food for the vampires, in the aftermath of horrible plagues that affected humans and then vampires: Red Lung and Rabidism.

Allie lives in the Fringue of one of the vampire cities but since she wants to be free from the monsters, she lives a day to day tough survival life, scavenging for food during the day and hiding in a somewhat safe place during the night. She hates vampires with a passion, but after a failed run for food, she is given the chance between dying of her wounds or be turned and live as one of the monsters. Despite her hate, Allie chooses not to die.

Kanin, the vampire that saves her and turns her, acts as her mentor on how to survive as a vampire, and on how to not turn into a full-fledge monster. Soon, Allie has to run from her city and survive on her own in the outside world full of "rabids" (mindless monsters that only care about flesh, blood and prey). She ends up meeting a group of human survivors looking for Eden, a city of humans without vampires. She finds herself hiding her true nature and trying to help this humans reach safety.

Here is were we meet Zeke, a fighter and a survivor, and a guy that is kind, positive and full of hope despite the horrible situation the whole world is in. He takes Allie into the group without a doubt and his whole attitude really throw Allie for a loop. Their interactions are fantastic and I absolutely loved reading them.

This book has a fantastic romance, and that coming from me that usually doesn't like romance as much, is saying something! I now understand the love for Zeke that goes round the blogosphere! Allie kicks arse but she hasn't fully accepted herself as a vampire, since she always hated them as vile monsters. She can't see herself as good as a vampire, and Zeke helps her with that.

The plot has a main overall arch, with the group of survivors trying to reach Eden, as well as hinting at what would be developed in the next books. There are also underlying themes of choice, not letting our circumstantes decide who we are, but we making each they the choices to be the best we can be and fighting for what's worth fighting.

Allie and Zeke are fantastic characters, but we meet many other secondary or not so secondary characters that also help drive the story and the plot, like Kanin and Jackal and Sarren and Jebediah... They're all fully fleshed and they all serve a purpose and drive the story in their own way.

This was a fantastic book to start a trilogy and very much a fresh take on vampires. Very much deserved 4 stars!



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