Posts By: Amy

Monday, March 09, 2015

Review: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Posted by 7 Comments

Review: The Winner’s Crime by Marie RutkoskiThe Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #2
Published by Macmillan Children's Books on March 3rd 2015
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Source: Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

Book two of the dazzling Winner's Trilogy is a fight to the death as Kestrel risks betrayal of country for love.

The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement…if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret.

As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and was so excited to read the second one. I had a few issues with it, but I still thought it was pretty great. With the way the last one ended, I was really curious where this one would go. I loved the story progression, but I couldn’t help but feel that at times Kestral was being really dumb. I still really liked her character though. The stake are high in this installment of the series and there is a lot of stuff going on so it was quite an exciting read. Being that this is a sequel, I will try not to give anything away.

Kestral is set to marry the prince. Obviously, she does not want to, but knows that it is in her best interest. Marrying the prince is not the hard part though. It’s having to deal with his father, who is very deceptive and very smart. He will play games and do what he needs to in order to get what he wants, when he wants. He is one scary dude. Kestral is still sneaking and trying to help Herran, but she doesn’t want Arin to know. She cares for him, loves him, but she knows that they cannot be together, and him knowing she is helping is a danger to everyone. At times she could be really dumb and it made me roll my eyes, but most of the time she was cunning and smart.

Arin is trying as hard as he can to not think of Kestral. He even believes that maybe he is making up things in his mind about the way she might feel about him. He has his own issues to deal with, and knows that she will marry the prince. Only he doesn’t know how deep the problems really are. It is only after Kestral uncovers some horrid truths and passes it on to his trusted friend that he finds out how bad things are. Only he doesn’t know that it is Kestral helping. He struggles with his feelings for her and goes back and forth a lot in this. I thought that his character was just as great as in the first book, if not better. Yes, he is stubborn, but he is a good person. He will do what he has to for what is right.

There is a lot of deception going on in this. So many secrets and lies. Then there are the untold truths that linger as well. The tension was through the roof. Not just with Arin and Kestral, but in general. I was always tense wondering if Kestral would get caught. If Arin and her would finally tell each other how they feel about each other. Let me tell you, there is some major chemistry between them and the tension is so thick you can feel it! I also came to like the prince and actually felt really sorry for him. In a place where everyone used everyone else and there are so many things hidden, how can we trust anything? He knew that he was being used, but it’s not like he wants Kestral’s love either. There is so much evil even among family. Mostly with family. I really thought that this was a wonderful sequel, but seriously? That ending?!! Dude! That is kind of torturous and evil. I can’t wait for the final book in this series to find out how everything turns out after such a whirlwind of a sequel!!

four-stars

4 Hot Espressos

Review: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Review: Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Posted by on 03/06/2015 • 7 Comments

This book was a fun read. I liked the whole aspect of the tests that the family had to go through to try to win the inheritance. It was especially great, because things were not always as expected. Each test that they go through has to do with the family history and traits that their ancestors had. Pretty much all of the family are entitled shits who think that they deserve everything. Most of them annoyed me to no end, but it was all what made the overall story so good.

Avery is kind of a bit of a trouble maker. I don’t really blame her though. Abandoned by her father to live with her grandmother, she is pretty sheltered. She isn’t allowed to go hang out with friends…

Blog Tour: The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe – Review and Giveaway

Blog Tour: The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe – Review and Giveaway

Posted by on 02/26/2015 • 18 Comments

This book was very refreshing. The MC was such a fabulous voice and I really liked reading this from his POV. While I didn’t always like the character, he was really wonderful and I felt for him. I loved the writing and how he would be telling us something and create a scenario, then tell us that wasn’t what really happened. It was entertaining. He was bright and creative.

Billy was one of those characters that you really feel. He is not the stereotypical rich kid at all. In fact, he doesn’t really care about any of that and he sometimes thinks things would be easier if he was not the child of rich parents. Not to mention the death of his sister that is a constant ache for…

Review: I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Review: I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Posted by on 02/23/2015 • 34 Comments

It’s been a little bit since I have read a contemporary, especially one that sucked me in and I read the book in one day. This book did just that. Well, almost. I actually started the book late at night and only got a few chapters in, then when I picked it up the next day I didn’t stop until I was done. I really liked the characters and their stories were hard, but amazing. I understood where both the MC’s were coming from, even if sometimes their behaviors did irritate me. Most of all, the overall story was just great. All of it, from beginning to end. And I loved that it was dual POV so we get to be in both Skylar and Josh’s head.

Skylar was…

Review: Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly

Review: Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly

Posted by on 02/19/2015 • 8 Comments

This was a book that I was really excited to read. I didn’t like it quite as much as I had hoped, but it was really enjoyable. The characters were wonderful, especially Kymera. It was a bit predictable and long, but it was interesting so it kept me from getting bored with it. Even at its slow pace, the way things all came together was great and it was easy to get lost in.

Kym is a creation intended for the purpose of saving the sick girls from the wizard. She is very naive and only knows what her father has told her. She is happy with her mission and truly has a huge heart. She wants to do what is right and she wants to save everyone. She…

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Review: Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor

Posted by on 02/16/2015 • 12 Comments

I almost stopped reading this book because I didn’t really like the MC very much. I am glad I continued it though because it really was a good book. I still never really liked Juliet much, but I thought that the story itself was well done and loved the subject matter that it covered. You know when you look at someone who is pretty, smart, has a perfect looking life and family? Well, who is to say that their life isn’t completely fucked up? That is what this story is about and that is why I enjoyed it. I don’t agree with some of the things that Juliet did, but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t think this was a really well told story, that holds a lot of important…

Review: Dead Spots by Rhiannon Frater

Review: Dead Spots by Rhiannon Frater

Posted by on 02/11/2015 • 9 Comments

It’s not often that I get super excited and fan girl over a book, but this is one of them. I read a very early copy of this since I was lucky enough to be a beta reader. I feel like I need to disclose that. Having said that, this is a book that I need to own a physical copy of because it was absolutely amazing!! I need to read it again. (As soon as I can make myself carve out time for it, which will be soon.) The terror was so real, the emotions and feelings were pulling me every which way, and I felt so drawn into it and needed to know what was coming. This book really just hit me hard with the feels and the…

Review: The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel

Review: The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel

Posted by on 02/06/2015 • 9 Comments

It’s been a while since I have read an adult mystery/thriller so I decided it was time and this one sounded good. When I requested it, I didn’t realize it was part of a series, but it seems they are more companion novels so it didn’t matter. I was also interested in the setting of this story since it takes place in Denmark. Overall I didn’t really care too much for the characters, but the story kept me interested. Like almost always for me, I did figure out the mystery quickly, but there was much more to it than just who was the person behind it.

Loiuse is now heading a department for missing persons. She is both nervous and excited about this new venture. I don’t know if…