Mini Review Batch

"The Great Hunt"
Author: Wendy Higgins
Series: Eurona Duology #1
Pages: 416
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
Date Published: March 8th, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

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Summary:

“Aerity…” Her father paused as if the words he was forming pained him. “I must ask you to sacrifice the promise of love for the sake of our kingdom.”

She could only stare back, frozen.

When a strange beast terrorizes the kingdom of Lochlanach, fear stirs revolt. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.

Princess Aerity knows her duty to the kingdom but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger…until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. There’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.

Paxton is not the marrying type. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast—but the princess continues to surprise him, and the perilous secrets he’s buried begin to surface.

Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, and a princess willing to risk all to save her kingdom.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

Higgins creates a glistening world in The Great Hunt that I quite enjoyed. In fact, her world building was my favorite thing about the novel. Right out of the gate she hits you with a death, which got the story moving at a fast rate, and I love that. I will say that as the book went on, I felt that there were moments that it dragged a bit. The characters were a lot of fun. And I liked the predicaments that Higgins forced them into. I will say that I found the plot a tad predictable, and even though Aerity is fierce, she also gets a bit too swoony for my taste. I will be on the look out for the sequel, since I'm pretty sure that I'll like this book even more once I've finished the whole story in its entirety.  

My Rating:

3 Unicorns = I liked it a lot, but it had its issues!

"Harmony House"
Author: Nic Sheff
Series: None
Pages: 304
Genre: YA, Horror
Date Published: March 22nd, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

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Summary:

Jen Noonan’s father thinks a move to Harmony House is the key to salvation, but to everyone who has lived there before, it is a portal to pure horror.

After Jen’s alcoholic mother’s death, her father cracked. He dragged Jen to this dilapidated old manor on the shore of New Jersey to “start their new lives”—but Harmony House is more than just a creepy old estate. It’s got a chilling past—and the more Jen discovers its secrets, the more the house awakens. Strange visions follow Jen wherever she goes, and her father’s already-fragile sanity disintegrates before her eyes. As the forces in the house join together to terrorize Jen, she must find a way to escape the past she didn’t know was haunting her—and the mysterious and terrible power she didn’t realize she had.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

Harmony House reads like an underdeveloped, or weak season of American Horror Story. There is really no better way to put it. It's sold to us as a horror novel, and while it has it's creepy moments, it's so disjointed that it never pulled me in enough to feel freaked out. Disturbed? Sure. But freaked out, nope, I never got to that point. I'm still a little confused about what I read to be honest. And while I liked the atmosphere that Sheff created, and I don't mind unlikable characters, I found that I just didn't connect with much of anything in this book. The characters flip flop in their emotions so quickly that you question if they feel anything at all, and the religious aspect didn't feel original. It just ended up feeling like an overused trope. So while I was interested enough to finish the book, I have to say that I'm not satisfied with my reading experience, though there was hope all along that it would end up being something more than it was.  

My Rating: 

2 Unicorns = It was okay, but something didn't work for me!

Mini Review Batch

"Burning Glass"
Author: Kathryn Purdie
Series: Burning Glass #1
Pages: 512
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Date Published: March 1st, 2016
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

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Summary:

Sonya was born with the rare gift to feel what those around her feel—both physically and emotionally—a gift she’s kept hidden from the empire for seventeen long years. After a reckless mistake wipes out all the other girls with similar abilities, Sonya is hauled off to the palace and forced to serve the emperor as his sovereign Auraseer.

Tasked with sensing the intentions of would-be assassins, Sonya is under constant pressure to protect the emperor. But Sonya’s power is untamed and reckless, and she can’t always decipher when other people’s impulses end and her own begin. In a palace full of warring emotions and looming darkness, Sonya fears that the biggest danger to the empire may be herself.

As she struggles to wrangle her abilities, Sonya seeks refuge in her tenuous alliances with the charming-yet-volatile Emperor Valko and his idealistic younger brother, Anton, the crown prince. But when threats of revolution pit the two brothers against each other, Sonya must choose which brother to trust—and which to betray.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

This book started out so promising! Death and mayhem filled the beginning, and I thought that I had found a book I would adore. Now, I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy this book, because I did, but I will say that once we made it into the kingdom, it became something I wasn't expecting. Purdie knows how to write gruesome depictions, and swoony moments, and who doesn't love that. I will say that as the story went on, I found that the book became a little too swoony for my taste, and the bloody parts seemed a little less hard hitting because of that. Sonya was a great protagonist though, and even though she seems a bit boy crazy, it's clear that she's got a good head on her shoulders. So, even though this book was middle of the road for me, I'm looking forward to the next installment, and I'm curious to see what Purdie does next.

Rating:

  3 Unicorns = I liked it, but it had it's issues!

"Seven Black Diamonds"

Author: Melissa Marr

Series: Seven Black Diamonds #1

Pages: 400

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Date Published: March 1st, 2016

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

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Summary:

Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal. Her father’s “unconventional” business has meant a life of tightly held secrets, concealed weaponry, and a strict code. But Lily’s crime isn’t being the daughter of a powerful mob boss. Her guilt lies in the other half of her DNA—the part that can coax ancient rumors from stones and summon fire with a thought. Lily is part fae, which is a crime in her world.

From the time before she was born, a war has been raging between humanity and fae. The Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of both the Seelie and Unseelie courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir—a death that was the fault of reckless humans.

Lily’s father has shielded her from the repercussions of her ancestry…until she is sent to the prestigious St. Columba’s school, straight into the arms of the Black Diamonds.

Mysterious, glamorous, and bound together in their mission but constantly at odds, Zephyr, Creed, Will, Roan, Violet, and Alkamy are a Sleeper cell of fae, planted in the human world to help destroy it from within. With covers as rock stars and celebrity children, the Black Diamonds carry out the queen’s war against humanity. And unbeknownst to Lilywhite, she’s been chosen to join them.

Now more than ever, Lily’s heritage puts her in peril, and even the romantic attention of the fae singer Creed Morrison isn’t enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the safer world of organized crime.

Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds and the people who must thrive there. 

-Goodreads
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My Thoughts:

Out of all the YA fairy stories out there, I always enjoy Melissa Marr's the most. Seven Black Diamonds is no exception to that rule. The plot is intricate, the characters have conflicting motives, the kids feel real, and the magic doesn't seem corny. I did feel like this book was a lot of set up. Not at say that it wasn't good set up, but I am looking forward to the next book in the series, since I feel like I really know the characters now. Trust me, Marr gives a lot of characters a voice in this novel. I also enjoyed how she mixed the fantasy world with one that felt normal, though slightly off. Plus, I enjoy the fact that there is always a slightly sinister angle to Marr's stories. This one was a lot of fun!

Rating:

3 Unicorns = I liked it, but it had it's issues!