Mark This Book Monday: Burn and The Wrath & The Dawn!!!

Hello there guys!!

I hope all you US peeps had a brilliant weekend with the 4th of July and the Women's World Cup win, and I hope that my fellow Europeans are surviving the bloody awful heat wave!

Today for Mark This Book Monday I have two mini reviews for two books that have been part of a very good reading binge, until I ended up with a massive book hangover last weekend. Both count towards my 105 Challenge, one as a 2015 Release and the other as Fantasy book! And since one of them is also a debut, it counts towards my 2015 Debut Author Challenge!

Burn by Paula Weston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is what a final book in a beloved series needs to be! And this is the perfect finale for this series, with the good and the bad and the fights and everything! 5 stars doesn't start to describe it properly!

Writing a proper review of this one is gonna be rather difficult, given how easily I might end up spoiling either this book or any of the previous 3, but given how the summary tells you the big ending of the previous book... Just trust me, start reading this series now!

Gaby has to be quite one of my favourite female characters with her flaws, her loyalty and her way of fighting what doesn't make sense and accepting things once they are proven. And I love that despite getting all the missing pieces, she still made herself anew!

We get quite a few twists and surprises when it comes to getting all the pending information, and trust me, we do get it in spades! Some of the twists are quite game changers for all the characters. Some unexpected alliances happen, and some moments of hilarity also unexpectedly happen!

The romance in this series is the most awesome mix of attraction/slow burn/complicated relationship that you can find, and even if we find out what happened in the past between Rafa and Gaby... it made me root for them both even more!! *happy sigh*

Another thing that I loved about this book is how important the relationship between siblings is, because Jude and Gaby and their relationship really is pivotal on everything that happens, the good and the bad. Splitting apart and getting back in touch... and you gotta love how even when choosing different sides, it is a great depiction of a familiar love!

And I don't want to fail to mention how much I loved that friendships are also very much important in this book. Between Rafa and Jude, Gaby and Maggie, and how those friends stand various tests, one of the biggest the revelation of not being human and fighting demons!

If you are a fan of angel books, you NEED to read this series. If, like me, you really aren't too keen on books about angels... you NEED to give this one a try, as I did!! Aussie angels are different mate! ;)





The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! THE NEXT BOOK!!! I NEEEEEED IT!!!!!

*takes a deep breath*

Okay, now I feel like I can attempt to write a somewhat coherent review, now that a pair of days have passed and I still feel very strongly about the book but not as lost for words!

First of all, I haven't read 1001 Nights properly, but I do own a gorgeous edition of the books, and I've read quite a few of the stories as children's stories and know a bit about the general plot of the book.

That might have been for the best given how this one is a loose retelling, and although we get some stories told at night here too and those I was quite familiar with, we get more of the day to day of Shazi and Khalid and how their relationship changes in unexpected ways for them both.

The writing and descriptions are fantastic, lush and visual and I was completely immersed in the book! So much that I completely devoured it in a day! The clothes, the architecture... the FOOD!! I'm still craving Indian and Persian food after reading this book because so much amazing food!!

I loved Shazi as a character, she's loyal, she's fierce and her internal monologues where always very sincere. I love that she can be trying to achieve her goal and protect her family, but she finds herself learning more and her feelings change and she never really lies to herself.

Khalid is a more difficult character to relate at first, because we know so little about him, but we also know there's so much more about him, about the deaths and about his fight for his kingdom, and as Shazi discovers it, so do we. I feel like I fell for Khalid right beside Shazi!

Political intrigue, magic and love, this book has them in spades! Add to that a completely heartbreaking ending and you find yourself as I did, screaming for a sequel! A fantastic debut very much worthy of 5 stars!



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Saturday Pages: Shimmer by Paula Weston!!!

Hello there!! Welcome to a new edition of Saturday Pages!!

By the time this post will be up, I'm gonna be at my parents' cottage, relaxing, enjoying that it's cooler there, playing with the pups, sleeping and reading! Just taking a few days to recharge and find some sort of inner peace!

But since I've been a bit better with my juggling of work and blogging, I have a review ready to share with you guys, and this one is yet another 5 stars for an angel book! Who would've thought, huh? Not me if I had read and paid any attention to the Goodreads blurb! Hush, Hush?? Nope, this is WAAAY BETTER!!
Thankfully I just listened to the very amazing Sam from Realm of Fiction and boy was she right!!




Shimmer by Paula Weston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Well, this was one of those highly awaited sequels and I was lucky enough to be able to start right after finishing the killer ending/cliffhanger of Haze!

As expected there could be some spoilers for the previous two books in the series but I'll try my best to avoid them!

Shimmer starts right where Haze left us, and includes a who's who and a prologue that will help with bridging the gap between one book and the other so you can be reminded of what's happened (always helpful if a year has passed between books) and that even if I had just finished one and started the other, didn't feel repetitive or superfluous.

When things seemed to be going better on Haze, despite the dangers and the enemies and the unknowns, we got that horrible ending and Gaby and the rest of the Rephaim got quite the awful shock. And now they must regroup and react. Seems like this could be a chance for both sides of the Rephaim to work together, but it seems like that won't be something easily accomplished.

I'm extremely happy about how the author seem to manage to make every book more, without faltering on the pacing, the revelations and the world building. How we keep on getting more clues and little things here and there, and how she keeps us wondering about what will be relevant later on and what won't.

I loved how Gaby continued to grow and despite her acting a bit rashly due to very emotional and understandable reasons, I never really felt like she was being stupidly headstrong. I tended to agree with her questioning the authority and motivations behind the leadership of the Rephaim, and what their real mission was. It was great to see questions thrown into the Rephaim and see how each of them reacted, and how some changed sides and opinions. So much had been kept from them all and so much seems to still be discovered (or re-discovered in case Jude and Gaby had discovered it before the memory loss happened).

I was beyond happy about the romance in this one, and I haven't really been in the right place for loads of romance as of late. This has been the slow burn type of romance and it takes extreme events to push it farther, but once it does, it happens with a vengeance!

This book managed to up the ante a bit more after what Haze did, and that is saying quite something! Seems like all the players are now alligned for a final showdown and the ending despite being a cliffhanger, it's not the kind of horrible killer of a cliffhanger than Haze had, it's more of the "I want to know now!!" kind of cliffhanger, cause we're thrown quite the game changer at the end of this one!

Once again, a very well deserved 5 stars for this book and a series that has managed to wow me with every book so far! Keeping my fingers crossed for Burn, the last book that will be releasing next year!! If you haven't started this series yet, DO IT NOW!



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Friday Reads: Haze by Paula Weston!!!

Hey guys! For the second entry on this week's Friday Reads I have one of those sequels that somehow manage to get everything that was good on the first book, build on it and make it even better!

A word of warning, this book was released last year in the UK and Australia but it won't be published in US till September this year, so my dear US friends either curb your impatience, or order the UK/AUS versions from The Book Depository!



Haze by Paula Weston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Haze is one of those sequels that are absolutely amazing, that moves the plot along and is full of revelations and add more layers to the already complex world building! Since this is the review of the sequel, there might be some spoilers for book one, Shadows, but I'll try keep those to a minimum.

Haze starts pretty much where Shadows left us, with Gaby still reeling with all the revelations and happenings since Rafa appeared at a bar in Pan Beach, and the search for answers about what happened to Jude and her, what did they find out? Why the memory loss?

We do get more questions than answers, but at least Gaby gets a bit of a break in the shape of some good news! She finds that she isn't alone in her corner, cause neither of the guys one both sides of the Rephaim seemed to trust her in Shadows, except from Rafa, and that came with reservations. Now, she finds herself asserting who she is as Gaby and accepting those parts of Gabe that come to her, like muscle memory and learning to fight properly, again.

I loved how Gaby kept trying to find her place within the Rephaim now, being Gaby and not Gabe, dealing with all the memories everyone has of her, and that she doesn't. It was great to see her character grow and intereact with all the others Rephaim, even those that weren't fans of her at all.

And what I loved the most was how the relationship with Rafa moved, it had quite a few hot & cold moments, but given the story between them that Gaby can't remember at all (and so we don't know about) it kind of makes sense that Rafa isn't entirely ready to act on his attraction (and probably much more) to Gaby. Their relationship is fantastic, since Rafa tries to treat her as who she is right now but at the same time is mindful of who she was. The chemistry between them is amazing as is the way they work as a team.

The action takes us to so many new places in this one! Not only in Gaby's not real memories (that I keep thinking must be very important and relevant but still don't know how) but in the journey for answers the characters are. Gaby keeps returning to Pan Beach so it has to have some more significance that we know yet, and then she travels with other Rephaim to LA and Dubai... and every place feels so real and so vivid.

What we thought we knew is challenged when we meet some new characters, and we're entirely unsure if they're friends or foes. I found very refreshing that there are revelations that are new for all the Rephaim, so it's not just Gaby the one that is in the dark, although it is quite worrisome too. What else is there that the Rephaim don't know about, and maybe they should? Why are they being kept in the dark? Is that why Jude and Rafe and their rebels left? Does it have something to do with why Gaby stayed and then left with Jude??

I feel like there are clues left for us everywhere along the books and we don't realize they're clues, except when something will be revealed and then we'll go "AHA!" and that's a feeling I love in a book! But for now it's the feeling of "maybe this is relevant for later on or maybe I'm just getting paraoid?".

If you can, I'd suggest reading this one with the next book reading to be open either right next to you or in your eReader, cause the cliffhanger is one of the specially horrible and cruel ones!! I'm beyond happy I waited to read all three books in a row and didn't start the series last year, cause the wait would have been painful!!

All in all, this is a brilliant sequel and very much deserving of 5 stars!!



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Mark This Book Monday: Shadows by Paula Weston!!!

Hello guys!! Welcome to a new week, new Monday and as such a new edition of Mark This Book Monday!

This week I'm gonna be reviewing the three books that are out so far (in Australia and the UK) from The Rephaim series. One of those very few series about angels and demons that I have actually enjoyed and adored! Which ones are the others you may ask? Sweet Evil trilogy by Wendy Higgins and Penryn and the End of Days by Susan Ee.

I want to thank Kristen from My Friends Are Fiction and Sam from Realm of Fiction for putting this series on my radar, you ladies are two of my most trusted canaries!



Shadows by Paula Weston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have never really been a fan of books about angels and demons but I had two of my blogging friends, Sam and Kristen, highly recommend I started this series last year but somehow I completely forgot about it. Fast forward to last week when the third book in the series came out, Sam was again raving about it and I decided to get the three books for my Kindle app... and the rest is history as they say, I totally binge read the three books in two days!

Shadows is the first book and the one that keeps us confused for the first half of it, as confused as Gaby herself is. She moved to Pandanus Beach trying to recover from the horrific accident where her twin bother Jude died, and now a year later, she seems to be able to start living and not just surviving. But then a mysterious stranger called Rafa arrives, calling her Gabe and claiming to be Jude's best friend. And that's just the beginning of what could be defined as "all hell breaks loose!".

Gaby is told that she's not 19, she's not human, she was presumed dead too and her being alive makes her a suspect of treason to her own people. There are two sides that are telling her to choose, not really believing her when she says that she has no idea what's going on and she's being pushed in every direction to remember the past and defend herself.

I loved Gaby from the start, she was trying to heal, trying to find a new life for herself and then she's thrown THE curve ball and she doesn't know what to do or what (or who) to believe. Rafa proves to her that he was her brother's best friend and that they had known each other before, but he's quite stingy with the information he provides. Gaby has to relearn a LOT of things, starting with who to trust, how to fight and what she is not willing to compromise. She might have been someone different once, but she is now Gaby and she won't forget about her friend Maggie and her other regular human friends.

Rafa was a very interesting character, even if his tendency to expect Gaby to remember things or to be stingy with the information he provided really got on my nerves on occasion. Given that the rest of the Rephaim aren't any better with their information sharing, I quickly forgave him for it. He might have not been 100% sincere from the start, but he always gave Gaby more credit and treated her more like an equal than the ones that were supposed to be on Gaby's side.

Daniel I quite dislike on principle and never really warmed towards him, he was too much of the politician and didn't care enough to bother giving Gaby a chance to explain herself or really believed her when she said she didn't remember. So for me, the possible love triangle really wasn't such, as I'm pretty sure it wasn't for Gaby!

Maggie and Jason were also interesting secondary characters, and with very interesting twists hidden too!

One of the best things on this book is how well balanced the action and the world building were. We don't really get any info dumping, we're getting explanations but at the same time we're moving the plot along. There were plenty of twists, unexpected reveals and surprises along the way and the take on fallen angels never felt overly done at all.

One heck of a first book and one that I flew by and as soon as I was finished needed to start book two! Well deserved 4.5 to 5 stars! Even if angel books are not your thing, trust me, this one might just be!



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