The Rebels of Gold (Loom Saga #3)

                Hello happy readers and Happy New Year!!!  I can’t believe  2017 is over.  December came and went so fast I am still trying to figure out everything I forgot to get to.  One thing I did do was finish a new release and series ender on my way to the signing event for said book so I call that a huge win.  I made a day trip down to the Tampa area to meet Elise Kova for her latest book, The Rebels of Gold (Loom Saga #3), the third and final book in the series.  I previously reviewed the first two books if you need a refresher: The Alchemists ofLoom and The Dragons of Nova.

Rating:  5 Stars

                A new rebellion is rising on Loom.  They no longer will stand for the dragons oppression and seek their freedom from tyranny.  While on Nova, many dragons are also fighting their own battle against the current political situation.  With both fighting the same enemy, teaming up is the best solution to get everyone what they want.  New leaders rise as the final battle is on.

                I have loved this series since the first audiobook.  I fell into this unique world filled to the brim with magic, interesting characters, and action.  Yveun Dono is straight up vicious and a tyrant who wants to rule and be loved.  He wants the little fenthri under his boot where he feels they belong, feeling he saved them from themselves.  He is not only ruthless to the fenthri but to the dragons that are out of favor as well.  He is not a good leader by any means and as we learned sometimes it’s the woman behind the man that is calling the shots and not just his rider leader Leona.  Arianna was last seen falling hard from Nova and her run in with him, worse yet an old customer of hers finds her and knows instantly what and who she is and he is always one to spot a deal to be made.  Meanwhile Cvareh is still on Nova unaware that his sister, and leader of their house was murdered.  And Florence may be young but she is fighting with everything in her to rebuild a better Loom.  I love how Florence has really come into her own and become stronger with each book.

                This story is full of so many different aspects.  The rebellion first and foremost yes but this is a multi-stage process.  Getting everyone working together and fighting for the same purpose is a battle in its own right and this goes for both Fenthri and Dragon.  Then there is the matter of the perfect chimera and what that would mean for Loom and Nova.  Many things will change in the world both good and bad.  Alliances are built and broken just as relationships between worlds and characters.  I loved how as everything moved forward at a fast pace it also left us room to develop the characters and really lead them into the ending.  This world is so full of information and wonder it is hard to leave.  The guilds, the houses of Nova, and the magic systems.  Serious work has went into this and it shows as everything comes across as so vivid.

                I really loved the different POVs and how they gave different perspectives and attitudes to things.  Ari is more methodical and rational where as Cvareh may lead with his heart a bit more than her. Flor sees everything with different eyes and has a different take on things with great hope.  I also really loved how in each book you got to see a piece from House Rok and each time it moves a bit and you think you know who the real evil is there but each time you learn there is always more to be learned.  That was really interesting to me how that continued to play out.  I was so excited as everything started to come to a head and I had so many different thoughts about how it might play out and hoping for a happy ending, or at least as happy an ending as one can get with all out war.  In the end the story really did leave me with this feeling of contentment.  Yes I want more, I’m greedy like that.  But I also totally get the ending and it seems like the fit that was meant for the story from the start.  It isn’t perfect but it’s perfect for the characters we have and the story that has been told.  I loved it and highly recommend this series!

                Until next time…

Dreams of Gods & Monsters (Daughter of Smoke & Bones #3)

                Hello happy readers!  Another series I finished at the end of 2016 and also something that really got me into audiobook as more than just in the car type of things is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.  Now I enjoyed reading the first book but when I went to the audiobook for the sequel having trips and lots of hours in a car planned I think I enjoyed it a bit more.  So when it came time to finish out the series with Dreams of Gods and Monsters, you know I had to audiobook it.  So I’m happy to share my thoughts and feels on the last book I finished in 2016.  I previously reviewed Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight. 

Rating:  5 Bruxis

                So when we left off in Days of Blood & Starlight Karou had just ended the evil and horrid Thiago and worked the best out of it placing sweet Ziri inside the body to help steer the course into something that will not destroy everyone.  The deception is hard, maintaining expectations while trying to be different is a delicate line.  Enemies must work together to fight a larger threat with Jael with his Razgut helper and his army have made it into the human world causing a large amount of trouble.  So much is happening you need to buckle up.

                Like the first two books there is just something beautiful about the writing.  It's lyrical almost.  I love it.  High props to that and the audiobook was on point I loved the different accents and voices used for the characters and given that characters are from different worlds and places I thought it was well done.  My favorite voice was Zuzana though!  OMG I loved when she came on, not just because she might be my favorite character but the voice used for her just made me want to keep hearing more.  Seriously as Zuzana and Mik were the resident humans I connected with them, well that and they were just so darn cute.  Even when things got super bad and intense they stood by Karou!  That is serious friendship.  They also offer great comedic relief, they know they aren't warriors like everyone surrounding them but they are not easily dissuaded and speak their mind.  Plus the tasks Mik is set to complete, awe! 

                We also get to meet a new character in this, Eliza.  She has a secretive back story from the start and you want to know more and see how she will play in and interact with the story as a whole.  We also see more of others we only heard about, the Stelians.  With them comes so much more information about the world as a whole things are not just Eretz and human world but much much larger.  Added more depth to the story and for the most part I enjoyed them, though I did have some lingering questions. 

               Ziri was a huge favorite as well last book and in this, finally having lost his original form, to give it up the last of his kind to become someone so evil and hateful.  It was so bittersweet to see Ziri as Thiago.  His personality is just so much different from his and to be stuck without wings when you long to fly would be hardest of all.  Ziri is doing the best he can for his people no matter the cost.  Liraz also grew on me.  I enjoyed her well enough in the last book but she was still a bit too standoffish to really get to know and while she is still her, we see so much more of her.  Losing Hazael in the last book really hit her hard.  Seeing more from her perspective and her interactions with some of the characters really made me ache for her as well.  Towards the end though….just wow.

                This all started and I fell in love with the quote.  So of course Karou and Akiva are front and center.  Both are leaders of their own people.  Karou, secretly anyways, leading the chimaera and Akiva with the Misbegotten.  Things between them are so difficult.  So much in the way but yet you see the yearning on both sides.  Seeing from both POVs and seeing what the other wants and thinks and how actions are perceived you just want to reach into the book and push them together to talk!  Their moments are so heartbreakingly sweet.  I love their story and how no matter the challenges and hardships they still have hope. 

                This series was amazing.  I had a few unanswered questions at the end which I would like to have more clarification on.  Especially some of the newer information we were given into the world as a whole I wish we had more time to learn more but I'm not unhappy.  Just questions I would like to know like what ever happened to the ill fated Kaz from book one did her get his?  What about Eliza's so called family, we learned about them and their desires but what happened to them.  Plus the ending left in a way that there could have been so many more stories told.  Still while it gave us something to imagine in the future it also gave us a sense of closure. 

                I am so glad to have finally read this series last year.  I had been meaning to for so long but the size intimidated me.  Now having read them I wish I could re-read/listen to them again for the first time all over.  I'm sure when I re-read in the future I'll pick up even more of the tiny details that I didn't quite notice the first time, and I can't wait.  I enjoyed the characters, the world, the story.  No matter what is going on it always seemed that hope was a resounding point of the story and that is beautiful.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and feels below. 

                Until next time…

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2)

                Hello happy readers!  I’m beyond ready for this weekend.  I attended The Last Star (The 5^th Wave #3) launch party at Little Shop of Stories on Tuesday with the author Rick Yancey and I have a signed copy and some other swag in a giveaway here.  I was super excited to be caught up and I’m ready to dive into that book myself but I have some others in the que first.  One I finished via audiobook on the round trip drive to the event, which I’ll be discussing today and that is Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone which I reviewed here.  You know the drill as with any sequel there will be spoilers for the first book in the series.

Rating:  5 Stars

                Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.  This is not that world.

                That is pretty much an accurate summary.  When we left off Karou had just regained her memories of her past time and realized that the man, or angel really, she loved Akiva had done some unspeakable things having thought he had lost her forever.  Karou is determined to go to her once home of Eretz to find out what is left of her people, the chimaera.  Finding her people all but whipped out and feeling a burning hatred for the angels she volunteers her services, taking her mentor and father-figures place as the resurrectionist to build more monster like chimaera to fight the angels and take back what was taken, even if it means working with the one who killed her in her first life.  Akiva is in a horrid place himself having realized the mistake he had made and knowing he had once again lost the love of his life, but this time because of his own actions.  Still all he can do at this point is to try and make amends for her and himself as he once more swears off killing the chimaera and instead vows to help as many as he can even as he puts himself at risk of discovery.

                All the things I loved in the first book, the beautiful writing and the world and all the interesting and fantastical creatures are back and even better.  We spend a good portion of the time surrounded by chimaera and large chunks in Eretz.  I just adored the world that was built and how intricate everything was but yet simple enough to understand.  The first book had a lot to do with wishes which I loved the idea of, who doesn’t, but this one left those out as we have moved past it.  Still magic has a price.  This is something else I enjoy.  I love all types of magic in stories but for some reason the magic that comes with a price, something for something rather than someone having unlimited power always seems more substantial.  You can see the price the magic takes on Karou, the pain tithe.  First let me just say I’d never do magic I have ZERO tolerance for pain, seriously my vehicle accident at the start of the year broke my pinky finger and I thought it would hurt less to chop it off than to keep bumping it or moving it.  I’m a big baby there I know. 

                 Karou is still a strong character for me if not a bit pigheaded at times.  She goes through each and every resurrection and no matter how hurt she is she keeps going.  Karou is fighting her fight in rage and heartbroken but she also has a strong sense of helping her people.  She is working with a monster, because it is the best hope for her people.  I really enjoyed from both the chimaera camp and the angel side.  While I already loved Akiva and the little bit I saw of Hazael and Liraz I loved Hazael he was so funny and charming and easy going I think anyone could love him but Liraz was kind of on my dislike list.  However seeing more in depth their life and what they go through as Joram’s bastards the misbegotten and things with Jael she kind of grew on me.  I also grew to enjoy Kirin and how he was the last of Karou’s kind to his crush on her as a young boy, awe.  Him and Issa are some of my favorite of the chimaera.  Two who did not grow on me were Thiago and Ten.  I didn’t like Thiago from book one the white wolf and his pomp, entitlement, and rage and Ten is him in female form basically his lapdog.  Though to even out the field it was great to see Zuzana and Mik again!  I just adored them in the first book Zuzana may be one of my favorite characters with her small stature but fierce none the less.  Also in the audiobook version the accents done for the different characters Zuz’s was my favorite.  The sweetness between Zuzana and Mik in the middle of the epic war going on played nicely to balance it out. 

                 Days of Blood and Starlight is still a very character driven story but there is lots of action happening.  There is a war after all.  The brutality of war is there as well.  There were certain times while listening that I was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that I thought I might break it hoping something wouldn’t or would happen.  It was intense.  I also was glad to be in my vehicle where I could yell at the characters and not have anyone hear my craziness because oh I was in a full range of emotions for sure!  I’m excited to dive into book three but now having read one and listened to one I’m stuck on which format I enjoyed better.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and feels below in the comments. 

                Until next time…

                

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

                Another Monday has come again.  I think a bit too quickly!  That being said I am stoked to finally have checked this book off my TBR list where it has sat for a long while waiting for me to read.  I'm reading the whole series with a buddy on weekends I work .  Yes reading at work is my favorite job perk.  The book/series I'm talking about is Daughterof Smoke & Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and the novella I hope to finish after reading book two.  So having finished the book last week I have my notes and thoughts and wanted to share with you so here goes.

Rating:  5 Scuppies

                I have heard praise for this book for so long from so many different people but now that I've finally read it I understand.  The writing is beautiful.  The world is so colorful and diverse and I was drawn in so quickly to the worlds and the wishes and doorways and everything else.  Karou, our MC and artist who has tons of 'errands' to do and speaks several languages and natural blue hair and something mysterious about her.  She lives in the human world but works in Elsewhere.  She portals all over the globe and deals daily with the only family her orphan self has ever known, the Chimaera, a mixture of different human and animal parts/aspects.  Each is different and unique.  On an 'errand' one day Karou finds herself face to face with an angel, Akiva, one set on destroying Brimstone, the wishmonger and only father she has ever know, and blood is spilled.  Still there is something about Karou that confuses and intrigues Akiva and he is determined to figure it out as Karou struggles to figure out her place in either world.

                I instantly knew why everyone loved this book.  The characters are all unique and diverse.  The Chimaera for sure had me thinking. I was adding in parts of them as she described them, with an artists eye of course, and just found myself both a bit freaked out by them and also totally loving how normal and natural Karou felt around them.  They would be monsters to us, which she admits, but to her they are family.  Karou, her name means home, and she has such amazing views.  She's rather well rounded and grounded for her life to be what it is.  She has found a place, in Prague, finally where she fits in.  She has friends, OMG I love Zuzana.  She is also always in the back of her mind wondering about the 'what if' of being an orphan.  What her life could have been and who she could have been if things were different. She has blue hair, she used a wish on hair that comes out naturally that color.  How awesome, it seems silly but it's a part of who she is.  I love it. 

                Now wishes.  Here I need to take a moment to say how jealous I am.  The languages.  To be able to wish a language and have perfect understanding of it, who hasn't wished for that before.  I know I have.  I've tried learning a few but it feels next to impossible to learn alone it always seems like school work and not natural.  Everything I've tried always tries to teach grammar first which kills my desire quickly.  Anywho this book and the wishes, the different levels you can gain (Scuppy, Shing, Lucknow, Gavriel, and Bruxis) the most powerful of which I would never have (hence my rating).  Each one has a cost and a level of which you can wish.  The idea of a string of scuppies around my wrist, oh yeah I'd use those bad boys.  I even know what I would do with some of the others and yes languages would be on the top of my list.  Learning about each of them and the different things wished for is just fascinating.  That doesn't even add that you don't have to use them to travel because you have special portals to go all over the world!  How cool?  I mean I could save so much time and money that way. 

                The whole book has action in it for sure but there is a lot of unraveling to be done.  The world is built up throughout the story but we keep peeling back layer after layer of the story diving into more and more of what is happening.  Brimstone has kept Karou from most of the happenings of Elsewhere, he has lots of secrets.  The whole story is a paranormal mystery with some romance and hilarity and action all rolled beautifully into one. I could not put this book down I was so captivated by it and the ending had me gasping and wishing I had the sequel there with me.  Thankfully I don't have to wait long to read it, benefit of marathoning series when they are complete! 

A peak at what has taunted me...

                Those are my thoughts on the story.  I feel like I didn't do it justice but I think talking any more about certain aspects would ruin some of the best parts.  I really enjoyed discovering everything for myself and while I did see several things coming I was always intrigued because of the way things came about.  Plus again I can't say it enough the world was just beautiful!    Oh and one side note I have is that after I read this I went online and saw a ton of images and people mentioning a graphic novel!  How devastated was I to learn that there was a graphic novel sampler sent out to very few years ago but since then there has been no full novel put out L I know I'm new to this party but whoever is in charge of this please get on this ASAP!  This is the perfect book to do in graphic novel form with all the creatures, art, worlds, and eye catching things (I mean our MC has blue hair how beautiful).  Pretty please make it happen.  That's all for now I hope you all have a fantabulous Monday.  I have a feeling my coffee chocolate chip cookies I made last night will be a much needed item for myself!

                Until next time…