Blackbirds (Miriam Black, #1) – Book Review

Published Date: April 22, 2012

Publishing Co.: Angry Robot

Pages: 381

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

If you touch Miriam Black, skin to skin, for even a second, she can see your death. The exact year, day, hour and manner of how you die. Just the one vision, one time, but she never forgets. Miriam doesn’t try to change fate. She tried that once upon a time and it doesn’t work. She hangs around like a vulture, waiting for you to die. Then, she takes the earthly things you don’t need any longer; money, credit cards, etc. She crowns herself a scavenger and she accepts her lot in life.

Until she foresees a death that is a direct result from the person knowing her. Finally, something shakes her from her complacency. She doesn’t like the idea of someone dying because they know her, but she can’t change fate, right?

Miriam isn’t a very likable character. I can enjoy a good anti-hero, but she just doesn’t have very many redeeming qualities, at least until the end. The actual villains were quite good. Creepy, intimidating. Running from them made sense.

There were a few very Stephen King elements to this book. I should have written them down when I thought of it, but I was too confident in my memory. I do remember that it was so glaringly similar that it almost felt like a complete duplication.

Currently, I am undecided whether I will continue this series.

Assassin’s Quest (Farseer Trilogy #3) – Book Review

Published Date: November 5, 2002

Publishing Co.: Spectra

Pages: 757

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Ah, here we go. Another classic me. I claimed in my review of book two that I would be running out to buy the third book had I not just picked up several books from the library. The implication being that I would buy it after I finished them. That was 2017. Five years later, not only am I finishing the Assassin’s Quest, I’m finishing my quest to finish this trilogy.

Warning: Spoilers abound.

Fitz has been resurrected from the dead. The world besides Chade and Burrich, believes him dead by King Regal. His nefarious uncle who tortured him mercilessly in his dungeons. He’s not quite himself but what is the correct way to come back to life after narrowly escaping death?

First, Fitz must heal mentally and physically before he even grasps the concept of seeking revenge or searching out the true king, if he still lives. He does this in a cabin with his wolf, Nighteyes, and the help of Burrich bringing him supplies. From there, he travels to Tradeford to bring his revenge down upon Regal. Thworted, his efforts change to finding Verity deep in the Mountain Kingdom after being summoned to him by Verity’s Skill. Why has the true king not returned? His people suffer, both from the raiders on the coast and the complacent, lazy king on the throne. Now, Fitz must trek halfway across the world to find answers.

I love the slow burn of Hobb’s writing. It genuinely felt like I was along for Fitz’s entire journey. When I sit back and think about where the story started, to where it ended, it feels like I have read an entire trilogy in one book. We traveled the entire country, visited many people, survived many trials, lost ourselves, found ourselves, and brought legends to life. We starved, we ate until bloated, lost old friends, gained new friends, and fought many battles. It was an amazing adventure.

Hobb has skyrocketed to my favorite authors list.

Half a War – Book Review

Published Date: July 16, 2015

Publishing Co.: Harper Voyager

Pages: 513

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This will be an overall review of the entire trilogy.

I read the first book, Half a King, eight years ago. I did not think it had been quite so long when I picked up the second book recently but according to Goodreads, it most certainly had been. I never take the time to reread anything, however, I somehow remembered a great deal of the first book. I think that speaks well of the author.

In the second book, Half a World, our petty crew of misfits is traveling the world, gathering support for the Iron King against the High King. Each book has some characters that you are familiar with and a couple new ones peppered in. In this edition, we’re introduced to Thorn, a young woman desperate to become a fabled warrior like her father, and Brand, a gentle giant doing his best to stand in the light, always. Both of them learn lessons the hard way on their journey making friends for an empire.

In the last book, Half a War, war breaks out. If you can imagine that based on the title. Half a war is fought with swords, the other half with words. Princess Skara’s kingdom has crumbled beneath the armored boot of the High King’s favorite general. She works desperately to keep together an alliance between the scraps of her kingdom, the Iron King and King Grom-gil-Gorm in their war against the rest of the land.

Most of this series feels much like a Viking tale of war however, toward the end, the elf magic is revealed to be something much more familiar to us. I won’t give it away, but it was a very interesting turn of events. Overall, I very much enjoyed my adventures with this motley crew and rated this a solid 4 out of 5 stars across the board.

March 2022 Update

*waves*

I’m still here. Being a semi-functional human being. March was rather BLAH. March BLAHNESS.

Samus is getting used to the only dog life. She misses her brother. How can I tell? When we’re not home, sometimes she sniffs his collar that is hanging within her range and then wanders around, lost. (We have a pet camera that we bought just before Ozzy passed.) Other than those brief periods, she is much enjoying the frequent walks, car rides even if it’s just up to the store and now, she has her own personal luggage for travel! Look at her! So proud to show it off. She’s ready to pack up and head out on some adventures!

Yes, in our grief, we’ve been spending a lot of money on her to make ourselves feel better lol. But seriously, why didn’t I know dog luggage was a thing sooner? Previously, I was jamming as much dog stuff as possible into recyclable bags that liked to tip over and dump its contents on the regular.

Work still leaves much to be desired. I think I’ve just lost all heart for the profession.

Reading was very slow, but I did finish the following;

In early March, I finally finished my reread with Moth of Goblet of Fire. Loved it.

The conclusion to the Fever series. It was a pretty solid ending, but it lacked the usual passion between characters that this series is known for. However, the author suffered serious brain damage in the past couple of years, so I am not holding this against her as it sounds like it was a miracle that an end was written at all.

8 years after I read the first book in this trilogy, I finally got around to the second. (Thanks library!) Somehow, I still remembered a good deal of the characters and the plot. That probably speaks fairly well of the author. I wasn’t in the mood to review it, but I really enjoyed myself.

Currently reading:

I’m impressed with myself, jumping directly into the next book in the series. No 8 year gap this time! Should I feel up to it, I’ll probably do an overall review of the series when I’m finished with this one.

April – I turn 35 and get to go to California. Another year older, another year bolder!

Do you have anything exciting planned for April?

Christmas 2021 Book Haul

I hope that everyone had the jolliest of holidays and a great New Year’s Eve. May 2022 be WAY better than the last two years.

Between Christmas and New Year, I had the mighty pleasure of meeting Melanie @ Grab the Lapels and her horror movie crafting husband Nick. They came to our neck of the woods and we celebrated over good food and good beer at the local brewery just a few minutes from our house. Unfortunately, they got the displeasure of driving here during a snow storm. Now that’s dedication folks! I’m so glad that they did though because we had a great time out with them. If only it could have been longer! Stupid work, get’s in the way of all the good stuff. D:< Melanie gives fantastic hugs. They make you feel loved and welcome immediately. We’ve semi-planned some future get togethers so that’s exciting. ^_^

You can’t miss the joy on our faces!

Now, onto the Christmas book haul because as both Melanie and I agree, books are important:

The top book, Dead Space, wasn’t a present technically. I won a book from a raffle over at the lovely Books, Bones & Buffy blog. When I couldn’t decide on a book, I asked her to just send me one of her favorite science fiction books and this is what she sent me. It sounds very interesting and I can’t wait to read it.

I’ve already started Paddle Your Own Canoe and it’s inspiring me to do a few things for the new year. Less social media, get back to woodworking when the weather warms up. I crafted zero wood projects last year and that bums me out.

What was your favorite book you received over the holidays?

Top 5 Reads of 2021

Reading for me slowed WAY down in 2021 thanks to going back to school. Therefore, I shouldn’t be all that surprised that it wasn’t the greatest year in reading. It wasn’t the greatest year in general. You know what? Up yours 2021!

Anywho, here are the reads that made it to the top of the list in the year that was almost just like 2020:

Did you read any of these? If so, what did you think?

Dhampir (Noble Dead Saga #1) – Book Review

Published Date: January 7, 2003

Publishing Co.: Roc

Pages: 376

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Magiere and Leesil (along with his weird dog, Chap) have been scamming small villages for a long time. Peasants are superstitious after all and if anything goes wrong, vampires are to blame. Magiere and Leesil have never actually seen a vampire but they’re all too happy to take the village’s money to pretend like they’ve destroyed one. After, they march along with their bounty, leaving the villagers light of pocket and stuck with their original problem.

Magiere is getting tired of the game (poor baby!) and wants to settle down somewhere once and for all. She dreams of running a tavern somewhere along the coast and eventually hears from her broker that one is available. Now, she just has to convince Leesil that it’s a good idea.

In a run of karma, the town where the tavern is located IS actually run by vampires. Magiere and Leesil learn the hard way that Magiere may be the only one who can destroy vampires. Weird changes happen when she’s confronted by the undead and her rage consumes her, making her into a lethal weapon she never knew she was.

For most of this novel, I thought I wouldn’t continue to the next book however, the author writes great characters with intriguing back stories and a world just interesting enough to keep me going. I like that Magiere didn’t know what she was or what her abilities are and we’re learning it all right along with her. I want to see what adventures lie in wait for Magiere, Leesil and Chap. (Who is weird because the cover depicts him as a husky-like dog while the story refers to him as a silver furred hound. Huskies and hounds do not look alike good sir.)

The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #3) – Book Review

Published Date: January 13, 2015

Publishing Co.: Tor Books

Pages: 649

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

In my review of the second book in the series, The Providence of Fire, I promised that the third book would be mine by Christmas. That might have been true, I don’t remember when I bought it but let me tell you, I thought I read that book last year. Turns out…..it was four years ago.

Now I sit here, absolutely torn. I was riding high on this book for ¾ of the way through, positive down to my bones that this was going to be another 5 star edition. Then, the last 60 or so pages happened. I HATE to say anything bad about this series, I’ve recommended it to SO many people, but I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t brutally honest.

The ending falls flat on it’s face. At least it did for me. We’ve spent so long, following an amazing story line with truly epic world building and some great characters, that it seemed the ending was thrown in just to finally end it. I wish I could describe accurately, how incredible the build up to this final battle was. Hell, there were so many battles before this that were more suspenseful than the grand finale. It was a disappointment that I was just not expecting. There is a quick end to this epic tale and a lot of questions left. Character deaths that felt unjust to the character themselves. As in, there were deaths depicted rather lamely for characters who carried the major plot points. The last person standing in a position of power is my absolute least favorite character of the series.

Before all that happened though, I was loving every second of what I was reading. It will remain a series that I recommend to people, as other people seem to love the ending, so it may have just been a case of it’s me not you. I will still read the standalone novel that comes after this and probably everything else Staveley writes, but this ending just left me unfulfilled.

“Nira just shrugged. “Sometimes ya gotta kill people to save ‘em.”

A Court of Thorns and Roses (#1) – Book Review

Published Date: May 5, 2015

Publishing Co.: Bloomsbury USA

Pages: 419

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Honestly, I told myself I would never read anything by Sarah J. Maas. The things I had read from reviewers about her other series about assassins, were pretty off putting for someone who only dabbles in young adult books once in awhile. They have to really catch my attention or be recommended by people I trust to get me to give them a shot anymore. I’m in my thirties and plenty jaded at this point.

In this case, I had not one but two people tell me that I should give this specific series a try. That in mind, worlds still had to collide before I picked it up. I was on vacation. I didn’t bring the book I was reading because it was falling apart and I wasn’t sure how much time I would actually have to read. Turns out, it was a decent amount. So I hit the local independent bookstore where I was, the selection was wanting, and I picked this up in the clearance section.

I opened it, fully skeptical, of what I would find.

I was hooked by chapter two. I loved the poor main character angle, just trying to keep her family alive with the skills she picked up by watching others and trial and error. That’s a girl I can get behind. A survivor. Her situation sucked and it was about to get worse (or better) thanks to a chance encounter with faeries.

Feyre doesn’t listen very well. I can get behind that. I don’t particularly like when people tell me what I can and cannot do either. In this case, it leads to trouble she has to fight her way out of and/or be rescued from. I’m currently team Tamlin as he’s (mostly) a gentleman, as I have a feeling this is going to become a love triangle. Normally, this trope would bother me but I’m very interested in the back story of the possible other boy toy. The big issue is resolved in this novel so I’m not entirely sure what book two holds but I’ve been told by my friend that it’s better than book one. She lead me straight with her recommendation so I’m sure I will pick up the next book as well.

This felt darker to me than a lot of young adult novels these days (I say this like I read a lot of them), and I think that made it feel a little more grown up for me. Reading other people’s reviews reminded me that this is supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and honestly, that’s a vague comparison. If you ignore that altogether, you’ll probably enjoy it more.

That riddle was hella easy tho, homegirl.

May Mini-Reviews

I read all of TWO books in May. I started school the second week and that has really ate up my free time. June 7th I begin my second class for the semester and it’s accelerated. Not sure why I did that to myself. I was feeling rather cocky I suppose.

3 out of 5 stars – Usually, even when I go years between a series’ books, I can still remember most of what happened. Not so much this time. But, I’m stubborn and refuse to go back and reread the first book. Either it will come back to me or it won’t. The main reason I enjoyed the first book so much was the great representation of a good female friendship. Here the two heroines are separated for the duration of the book. Overall, 3/4 of it was okay and the last 1/4 was actually pretty good. Undecided whether I will continue the series or just give up.

I ordered Stephen King’s Pet Sematary for a buddy read with Ignited Moth on our other blog, Sugar and Scream. It’s currently the only thing I want to read so I’m reading nothing until it arrives. :3

SPEAKING OF WHICH, I GET TO SEE MS. MOTH FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE OCTOBER AT HER WEDDING!

I am ready to party with my favorite person. ❤