Review: Defy or Defend by Gail Carriger

Rating: 2.5 hoots out of 5 hoots

Published: May 3 2020

Number of pages: 240

Format: electronic advanced reading copy

Publisher: Gail Carriger LLC

Genre: espionage, romantic comedy, supernatural

Audience: adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

A vampire hive descending into madness. A beautiful spy with a sparkly plan. A handsome bodyguard who must keep both vampires and the spy from killing each other. A charming story of espionage, love, and makeovers set in the Parasol Protectorate universe.

My Review:

An electronic advanced reading copy was received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Minor spoilers below!

I just want to say a big thank you to Gail Carriger for reaching out to me about her next new book in the Delightfully Deadly series. This series is the spin off from the Finishing School books and follows after Poison or Protect.

Dimity Plumleigh-Teignmott is back! For those who don’t know or haven’t read The Finishing Schools series, Dimity is Sophronia’s best friend and sidekick with a love for all things sparkly, hence her codename Sparkles in this story. After graduating, Dimity has earned her place in the Honey Bee where she takes on espionage missions for the War Office. A fitting position for a Finishing School graduate who has a knack for flirting while gaining many marriage proposals from her unsuspecting targets, and keeping dangerous yet, fashionable weapons hidden in her purse. 

Book Review: Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez

Rating: 4/5 hoots

Published: June 5 2018

Number of pages: 448

Format: ARC

Publisher: Imprint

Genre: romance, fantasy, supernatural

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

As best friend and lady in waiting to the princess, Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. But then she unwillingly saves the life of her enemy and after she heals him with her ancient healing magic, he falls in love. Branwen starts to dream about an era of peace, but the princess she serves is not easily convinced. Determined to fight for what’s right, Branwen must stand against her closest confidant and the man she comes to love.

Inspired by the star cross love story of Tristan and Iseult, this is the story of the legend’s new heroine: Branwen.

My Review:

I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Raincoast Books for sending me this ARC. I know this book has already come out and to be honest, I finished reading this months ago but completely forgot to write a review for it. I know I know, I’m a terrible person for writing this late; I was switching jobs and that is how I forgot about this. I still remember some of my thoughts and feelings about this book which should be enough to write a full review. So let’s get started.

Book Review: Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer

Rating: 5/5 hoots

Published: September 4 2018

Number of pages: 363

Format: ARC

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Genre: urban fantasy, horror, mystery, supernatural

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their parts on the internet, she only dissects the body. Her mother brings Nita the specimen before shipping them off to buyers. But one day, things change for Nita when her mother brings a live specimen and orders her to cut it off to pieces. It’s a live teenage boy who won’t stop begging for help. Nita wants out.

But after she saves her victim, Nita ends up in his place and since she isn’t human, Nita is shipped to the Death Market where all the other supernaturals are sold. She has this special ability to alter her biology, which is priceless in the black market. Locked in a cage, struggling to escape, Nita must ask herself if she is willing to be the worst kind of monster if she ever wants to be free from her prison.

Review:

An advanced reading copy was received by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have never watched the Dexter TV series so I’m just going to use NBC Hannibal meets This Savage Song instead. It still works as they’re both TV shows with psychopathic serial killers and cannibals. So if you watched the TV show Dexter or Hannibal or both, and you absolutely enjoyed the Dark Duet duology by Victoria Schwab (my most favorite author of all time) then you might enjoy this new debut by Rebecca Schaffer who decided to make this into a series and I’m very excited by that.

The Price of the Occult by Leslye Walton

Rating: 3/5 owl hoots

Published: March 13 2018

Number of pages: 288

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Genre: dark fantasy, romance, occult, supernatural, magical realism

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

 

Summary:

All Nor Blackburn wants to be is a normal teenager living on the sweet touristy island called Anathema Island. But then a mysterious book comes out, and the island’s flora and animals raise their hackles as strangers begin sprouting strange fern tattoos. A storm is coming, and it’s coming for Nor.

My Review:

Once upon a time, I read a beautiful story about a girl with wings and her mother who was mending a broken heart when she was young. It was a wonderful and sad story about love, family, loss, and about the girl who wanted to find her place in the world where people were normal and didn’t have wings. I loved this story it was a page turner and it also made me cry a little in the end.

Years later another story comes out, and this one is about a family of witches who lived on an island for generations. It is a curse for a Blackburn witch to fall in love, only to have their hearts broken and raising their child by themselves. But Nor Blackburn is different from her ancestors and her mother. She wants to live a normal unremarkable life, working in a touristy shop that sells witchy occult stuff, and just being a plain teenager. But pretty soon, things change on the island when a strong storm comes like a bad omen. Nor’s past suddenly catches up to her, and now she has to find a way to end her family’s curse that has carried over for generations.

Blog Tour: Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Welcome to today’s pit stop for Labyrinth Lost! Thank you for dropping by and for Raincoast Books for organizing this tour. I would also like to thank Zoraida herself for taking the time on answering all our questions for the author Q&A. Guys, if you love reading about witches, myths, and realms, then you’re going to love this new story. It’s Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with spirits of the dead and a girl celebrating her Deathday with her entire family. Did I get your attention? Good.

Review: Poison or Protect: A Delightfully Deadly Novella by Gail Carriger

Published: June 21 2016

Format: ebook

Genre: steampunk, supernatural, paranormal, romance, comedy manners, Victorian

Audience: adult fiction

Rating: 4/5 owl hoots

Find it on Goodreads | Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

 

 

 

 

Summary:

Lady Preshea Villentia, the Mourning Star, has four dead husbands and a nasty reputation. Fortunately for her, she looks fabulous in black. But what society doesn’t know is that all of her husbands were marked to death by her employer, and Preshea has one last assignment.

It was suppose to be an easy assignment, attend a house party with less bloodshed but Preshea didn’t anticipate Captain Gavin Ruthven, a massive, irresistible Scot working for the enemy. In a battle of wits, Preshea may risk her own heart, a terrifying prospect as she never knew she had one.

I was given an e-arc from the author in exchange for an honest review. Editing and copying my content is strictly prohibited. Stealing is rude! 

My Review:

I should back up a bit and provide a little backstory here. For anyone who hasn’t read her books yet, Preshea appears in the Etiquette and Espionage universe as a young student at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, where they teach young ladies to finish…everything. Including learning the fine art of dance and etiquette as well as death, diversion, and espionage. She isn’t one of Sophronia’s closest friend so she doesn’t appear as often, except as her adversary. Because we don’t see her frequently inside and outside the school, I always found Preshea as a mysterious character.

Review: Vicious by VE Schwab

Published: January 20 2015

Number of pages: 384

Format: paperback

Publisher: Tor Books

Genre: supernatural, mystery, paranormal, scifi

Audience: older adults

Rating: 4/5 owl hoots

Add it on Goodreads | Chapters Indigo

Summary:

Victor and Eli are two brilliant but arrogant college students recognized for their sharpness and ambition. In their senior year, they both shared a research project on adrenaline and near death experiences that may reveal supernatural abilities. But when their thesis moves from academic to experimental, something goes horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison and is out hunting for Eli, aided by a young girl with a stunning ability. In the meantime, Eli is on a mission to uncover every supernatural person he can find along with his sidekick, an enigmatic young woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, and driven by memories of betrayal and loss, these men are on a course for revenge but who will live in the end?

 

My Review:

I like to take a moment and say that VE Schwab is one of the most brilliant authors ever. If you haven’t read her books yet, I encourage you to do so especially if you love reading fantasy and scifi books as much as I do then you must read her books! She is just awesome you guys, I have never met her in person because her tours are always in the States, but if there was ever an opportunity when she might come up and visit Vancouver, then I would drop everything so I can finally meet this incredible author in person! Her writing is amazing and her imagination is spectacular! I mean who would have thought about writing a story of a magician travelling between parallel Londons? Bloody brilliant! After reading A Darker Shade of Magic I have been on a mission to read her earlier books including The Archived which I’m currently reading. I absolutely love her writing, her imagination, her story telling that VE Schwab is number two on my list after Neil Gaiman. Ok now that I’m done proclaiming my love for this wonderful author, I will go back to my review.

Review: Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

Published: October 26 2010

Number of pages: 512

Format: mass market paperback

Publisher: Dell

Genre: paranormal, horror, thriller and suspense, fantasy, occult

Audience: adult fiction

Rating: 4/5 owl hoots

Find it on Goodreads | Chapters Indigo

Summary:

When the walls between Man and Fae collapse, Unseelie are loose from their prison, and Mac is caught in a deadly trap. After being captured by the Lord Master, Mac has no memory of who or what she is. Clawing her way back to reality, Mac must return to the battle filled streets of Dublin and continue the search for the Sinsar Dubh, the key to controlling both worlds. But who do you trust when you can’t even trust yourself?

 

My Review:

Some minor spoilers ahead.

Oh my God that ending! That cliffhanger! MacKayla Lane, what did you do?!

I’m getting ahead of myself since I’m already talking about the cliffhanger that left me hyperventilating and wondering what the feck Mac did to regret herself, leaving her in total grief and denial. But let’s not get into that right now, the story continues where we left off from Faefever, another cliffhanger from when Mac was trapped by the dark fae princes and the Lord Master (or LM for short).