Review: Prince of Fools

Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While reading the Broken Empire Trilogy before this spin-off goes recommended, it's not entirely necessary, because this book is largely standalone. And good thing, too, because it's pretty different in tone than Lawrence's earlier post-apocalyptic fantasies. Jalan is far more likable than Jorg Ancrath, largely because of his somewhat Tyrion-esque personality. And the unique circumstances in which he finds himself, along with an even more colorful Norseman? Even better.

I can't believe it took me this long to realize Lawrence was continuing to explore the magic and myth of the Broken Empire. Now I'll need to order Book 2 ASAP. :)

View all my reviews

Review: Through the Dark

Through the Dark by Alexandra Bracken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My ratings by story:

* "In Time" - 3/5. It's nice to get a different side of the Darkest Minds world, but did it have to be narrated by such an unlikable dude?

* "Sparks Rise" - 4/5. Here's some crazy action, and quite a few feels.

* "Beyond The Night" - 5/5. Even after our heroes won the war, this glimpse of America in recovery shows that the process isn't quite done yet, so the series still doesn't have a real fairytale ending.

View all my reviews

Review: Ice Like Fire

Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The sequel to Snow Like Ashes is pretty different in one key way from its predecessor - it's less about war and more about diplomacy, about trying to unify the kingdoms of Primoria. Of course, this "peace in our time" can't last very long, and boy howdy, after page 400 or so, war is back in a very, VERY big way. Along the way, though, we're treated to a nice little tour of some of the other kingdoms that weren't featured too much in Book 1. Autumn seems like a very pretty place, and as for Summer...that place is memorable for so many R-rated reasons. The way their king is, literally, Naked On Arrival reminds me strongly of Johanna Mason's unforgettable first scene in Catching Fire, right down to the way Meira's disgusted by the display.

If only Meira and party could spend the rest of their days in Summer...oh, but then there wouldn't be a story, would there?

Here's another one where I'll be sitting back and waiting for the forthcoming conclusion - which can't come soon enough, of course. :)

View all my reviews

Review: The Game of Lives

The Game of Lives by James Dashner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As expected, the general of the Dashner Army concludes this series in style. Lingering questions about Kaine, the Tangents, and the Mortality Doctrine are answered - usually in the form of wild and crazy plot twists, natch. The ultimate endgame of this series has some of the more shocking results of any of this year's best YA releases - including the unexpected, and quite unwanted, death of a major character, one who has a little something in common with another YA character who was killed off too soon this year.

Well, now I can eagerly await the return to the Maze Runner series in The Fever Code, which should be enough to keep me satisfied while I wait for the Death Cure movie. And now, ave atque vale, Mortality Doctrine.

View all my reviews

Review: Black Widow: Forever Red

Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

***SPOILER ALERT***

This book is just the beginning of what promises to be a super-duper amazing new world of Marvel YA. Not only do we have this new series from Stohl in the works, but a number of other books, likely interconnected with this one. I'm especially looking forward to Eoin Colfer's planned Iron Man book. And my new dream is to one day put my fanfic skills to good use and join this team of writers and put out an excellent original novel for Spider-Man.

For now, though, this new Black Widow adventure is an excellent taste of what's to come. I'm not sure if this is to be considered part of the MCU's canon, but even if it's not, it's still got the right storytelling trappings for it. It's an origin story for two teens who, like Natasha Romanoff, were trained in the infamous Red Room, but brought away from that place and taken to America instead. Inevitably, trouble follows them - trouble which they cannot hope to defeat without the help of our beloved Black Widow (and an assist from Tony Stark, of course, because he's just cool like that.) And with that, we the readers are treated to a whirlwind, kick-ass world tour of high action.

It's a great, great book, which goes highly recommended by me. My one issue, though, was the ending, which eerily echoed that of Idols in the worst possible way. I'm still not happy with Stohl for killing off Ro Costas, and now she's gone and done the same to Alex - after revealing that he's Nat's brother too! Of course, this is Marvel, and if they can bring back the Son of Coul...but somehow, I suspect that's not going to happen, short of someone writing a fanfic about it. Which I'm sure my readers will NOT trust me to do, not after I had the balls to kill off a fan favorite in Spider Soulmates...Still, though, I'll be swimming in the Ballpit of Denial, because the idea of Nat having a brother...I'm gonna say Stohl wasted a perfectly good character.

And now...I need the sequel.

View all my reviews

Review: Project Sparta

Project Sparta by BB Gallagher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Boy Nobody...move aside.

Wattpad is where I found this full-tilt YA spy piece, and you can read it there for free. I guarantee, you'll have no trouble gobbling this story up. I mean, you should see the way I ran through the last ten chapters or so when they were uploaded pretty much all at once. Between the Arrow-style anachronic storytelling, and the high-stakes spy action a la Mission: Impossible or Sigma Force, this little book is tailor-made for people like me.

And it looks like Gallagher's got a sequel planned - either that, or it's just wishful thinking on my part. If there is a sequel, though, I really hope it also shows up on Wattpad, since my ebook budget is still all of zero bucks...

View all my reviews

Review: Depraved Heart

Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have to wonder - did Cornwell read Gone Girl before writing this book? Because the vibe I'm getting from the dreadfully detestable antagonist of this book is that she fancies herself the next Amazing Amy. She's not quite as loathsome as Gillian Flynn's creation, but she comes very close to it. Maybe it's because Carrie dishes out a little more physical abuse than Amy does, as opposed to working largely on the psychological-abuse front. Still, I hated her, so I think Cornwell got that right, at least. It's definitely her most memorable book in a while for it, that's for sure.

View all my reviews