A Study in Shifters (The Adventures of Marisol Holmes #1)

                Hello happy readers!  I hope you all are having a good Friday and have some fun plans for the weekend ahead.  It's a bit later in the day but wow is it hot as Hades out and humid here and yard work….death.  Still my grass was almost to my knees so it was kind of necessary.  That said today I am here to discuss a relative new release that I finished last week but have been a bit slow to get my thoughts to paper.  The title is the first book in a new series, A Study in Shifters (The Adventures of Marisol Holmes #1) by Majanka Verstraete.  I was provided a digital ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and Monster House Books. 

Rating:  4 Stars

                Marisol Holmes, descendant of Sherlock Holmes, and half jaguar shifter and next in line to the shifter throne, is trying to repair the damage done from a mistake she made.  After she trusted the wrong guy in the worst way Marisol is able to convince the Conclave, the underground organization of detectives solving supernatural cases, to give her a chance to redeem herself.  She is put on a new case, one she has even more reason to solve as the evidence is pointing towards a fellow jaguar shifter and that could spell bad news for her mother and her place on the throne.  She is on the case, undercover at the school working in secret with her new supervisor, *cough* babysitter *cough* but things get very personal as the case unfolds.  Can she unravel the mystery and solve the case before too much damage or life is lost?

                So I was stoked about this book for obvious reasons.  Shifters, Sherlock, and I have read all but one series by this published house and loved them so far so why not.  It was a new to me author and I was ready to dive in.  Like the other books I have enjoyed from this publisher it has beyond everything else awesome worlds and super fast paced books you can fly by.  This was no exception.  A Study in Shifters is a fast paced read that really keeps the story moving along as it builds the world around you.  Marisol is trying to recover from a big mistake involving a boy and more than just a broken heart.  I liked diving right into things.  Marisol was really hard on herself for her mistakes, which I find relatable.  I'm not a shifter and thankfully none of my mistakes were ever this life and death but I know each time I make one, more so when I was still in school, I could fill a library with my worried 'should of' or 'could of' moments.  Still even as she struggles with pushing things down she is very clever and amazing at facts and puzzles, something we associate with a Holmes.  Stealing a line from a fav show that recently got the boot, she has a high IQ but low EQ, basically book smart not interacting with people smart. 

                There is a strong hierarchy in the shifter world.  Each clan has a leader and then a leader of the clans which is a power struggle.  I loved the dynamic about the different clans and look forward to getting to know more of the different clans and their ins and outs as the series continues.  Mannix, the one who betrayed Marisol, is a great Moriarty like villain.  All of this was a fun and interesting story full of mystery and puzzles which I adored. 

                Still there were a few things that for me lessened my adoration of the book slightly.  Again I was reading an ARC  so some of this may have been corrected or edited prior to publication.  The biggest was some repetition.  I understand the need for some for sure in building but some aspects , but the constant references to the "big betrayal," were a bit excessive especially in the first part of the story.  IT was mentioned so often I felt they whole event could have been explained twice instead of the references.  There was also a lot of talk about the different modes and the mind palace which I enjoyed but sometimes her mode or palace was mentioned a few times in the same paragraph.  It pulled me slightly from the action of the story here and there which is a shame because it's really good.  I think I just didn't connect as much to that lead in being as mysterious and vague, maybe because that wasn't the mystery I wanted to focus on.

                So overall I enjoyed  this start to a new series and will be looking for book two for sure.  The story, the characters, mystery, and this fun little world melding Sherlock and shifters is bound to be lots more fun.  And most importantly it was entertaining and that is what counts for me.  I was captured and really enjoyed my reading time so I still rate it high and look forward to reading more.  Because to be sure there are some things I figured out and others I did not see coming in the least and that is always great.   I'm excited to see what is next for Marisol, Indra, Mannix, Roan, Wyatt and the shifter clans!

                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…