Review || The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams

The Shadow Reader (Shadow Reader #1) by Sandy Williams ★★☆☆☆

Some humans can see the fae. McKenzie Lewis can track them, reading the shadows they leave behind. But some shadows lead to danger. Others lead to lies.

A Houston college student trying to finish her degree, McKenzie has been working for the fae king for years, tracking vicious rebels who would claim the Realm. Her job isn’t her only secret. For just as long, she’s been in love with Kyol, the king’s sword-master—and relationships between humans and fae are forbidden.

But any hope for a normal life is shattered when she’s captured by Aren, the fierce and uncompromising rebel leader. He teaches her the forbidden fae language and tells her dark truths about the Court, all to persuade her to turn against the king. Time is running out, and as the fight starts to claim human lives, McKenzie has no choice but to decide once and for all whom to trust and where she ultimately stands in the face of a cataclysmic civil war.

I. Don't actually remember why I added this to my TBR in the first place. I'll be honest with you. Even as I started the audiobook, I went and reread the summary on here to see if it would spark some kind of recollection. And I've got nothing.

I don't know why I thought this would be somehow different from all the other urban fantasy shenanigans. But it really really wasn't. Which is fine, because once I realized that I stopped taking the book seriously at all and just laughed my way through it mostly.

I have tried to get along with urban fantasy in general, I really have. But in it's most common of forms, it is just not for me.

So there was a lot of eyerolling at the intentional descriptions of muscled chests and all that other nonsense. And a main character who is self-aware enough to recognize she probably has Stockholm Syndrome, but then brushes it off because 'oh well, he's hot, amirite?' (I might be paraphrasing there, but.)

And oh my god that agonizing love triangle. Please just stop.

That said, if you're a fan of the genre, this book has some things going for it. I especially liked how chapter 1 drops you straight in and forces you to hit the ground running. It explains the magic and politics in bite-sized pieces as needed, but it sweeps you into the action immediately. And there is a lot of action in this book--and I think it was fairly well written to boot. And the worldbuilding was definitely interesting.

I listened to this on audiobook and am kinda "meh" about the narrator. It's the same woman that did Rebel Belle, though minus the attempted Southern accent. And with more characters to voice in this book it's clear her range is limited. All her male characters sound the same. I don't know if she even tried to do different female voices. Not that it was excruciating to listen to or anything, but I wasn't particularly impressed by it.

Anyway. The moral of the story here is: the next time you see me add an urban fantasy book to my TBR, please feel free to hit me with something. What was I thinking?

Review || Noggin by John Corey Whaley

Noggin by John Corey Whaley ★★☆☆☆

Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t.

Now he’s alive again.

Simple as that.

The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.

Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.

Oh well, you only live twice.

!!--SPOILERS AHEAD--!!

I couldn't talk about this book in the way I wanted to without spoiling major parts of the plot. So read on at your own discretion!

This is a difficult one to rate because some parts of this book were really excellent and other parts were just definitely trying too hard.

On the excellent side of things you have all of the parts that deal with death and grief. The flashback scenes where Whaley explores how people deal with grief are really poignant and heartwrenching. Watching Travis as he is, sick and dying, is only compounded by watching what his friends and family are going through. Even after he comes back, there are scenes that focus on the repercussions of this. About how tangled up all the emotions are after having grieved for five years and now suddenly have Travis thrust back into their lives. The execution here was fantastic.

However, most of the plot felt insincere, like it was trying too hard to say something profound. Like the subplot regarding Travis' best friend Kyle and his sexuality. Travis pushes and pushes--and it doesn't come off as genuine concern for his friend, but more like superiority that Travis understands the Truth of the situation and it's kind of obnoxious--but eventually gets Kyle to admit he's been in denial for years and then... Nothing. Happens. Well, nothing more than a few throwaway lines. It felt too much like a ploy for a pat on the back more than genuine inclusion of diversity.

And then there's the romance plot with Cate. Imagine me making a lot of aggravated noises as you read this section because OH MY GOD NONE OF THIS WAS OKAY. I appreciated Travis' sort of Twilight Zone experiences because it's only felt like a few weeks for him, but this whole thing should've been shut down after the first attempt because it just became creepy and gross. Cate makes it very clear that there will be no rekindling of the romance between her and Travis. Explicitly clear. Multiple times. That this is not what she wants. That she has a fiance and has moved on. And Travis continues to be completely gross and obsessive about the entire thing, going so far as to buy her and ring and try to propose (and her fiance is literally feet away).

To be fair, most of the side characters in the book are yelling at Travis for being stupid about this, but even still the narrative still mostly tries to make you buy in. Or tries to excuse it. It was terrible and awful and it almost made me DNF this at like 75% of the way through because I could not stand it.

Whaley tries to make amends at the end by offering some thoughts on how to move on and let go, but then allows Travis to continue to make excuses. And if that epilogue is anything to go by, I don't know if Travis really got it at all.

So. 2 stars. Parts of this were great writing and parts of it made me want to set the book on fire. Mostly, I'm disappointed in how this turned out because there were glimpses of something great hiding beneath the problematic. I don't know that I'd recommend this book at the end of the day.

Review || Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles #1) by Jessica Spotswood ★★☆☆☆

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word... especially after she finds her mother’s diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family’s destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren’t safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

I kept setting this book down because it just wasn't really holding my interest. When I thought to pick it up again, I usually breezed through 100 pages or so before setting it down again. 

Not that it was a bad book, but it just wasn't anything super exciting. The premise is really interesting and the world becomes more complex as things get going, but overall things faltered because of mediocre execution.

Cate is an interesting narrator, but she holds up the progression of the story for chapters at a time because of her stubbornness and unwillingness to yield to change. It becomes exhausting at times. And there's a little too much, "everyone knows something you don't know" going on here for my tastes. I don't mind a good mystery, teasing out the unknown from the narrative. But Cate throws up roadblock after roadblock that it's almost impossible to get at those hidden details until they're basically right on top of you.

There are some interesting plot threads that have yet to be tied up, but I'm not sure if I actually want to go through the trouble of reading the next two books in the trilogy or if I'd rather just seek out spoilers on the internet.

Review || Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge ★★☆☆☆

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

May was a strangely productive reading month, but I was starting to feel a little burned out. So I picked up the audiobook version of this on a whim and started listening. There was a different kind of concentration involved in listening to a book as opposed to reading it, and it definitely helped soothe my reading fatigue.

Overall, the narrator of this audiobook was quite enjoyable. That was one of the strongest parts of this "read", I felt.

That's not to say that Cruel Beauty didn't have its other selling points. The classical mythology references that were scattered throughout the narrative were interesting. The prose itself had a lyrical quality to it, and the descriptions were lush with detail. And the nefarious bargains made by the demon lord were fascinating--especially the way the consequences were twisted up in the seemingly harmless wording.

However, for the most part, this book just didn't really do it for me. I found myself wanting to listen to the audio often, but I think that was more because of the novelty of it. The story itself ended up just being okay for me.

Nyx was one of my major barriers. She's angry, frustrated and hurtful--all of which is to be expected. She's been preparing for most of her life to be a living sacrifice for her people. Not only that, but she's burdened with their hopes as well. Her familial love is twisted by this sense of duty, jealousy and despair. Her anger is justified.

But she blames that on herself. She thinks herself selfish for wanting a different life when she alone could save her people. The feelings twist and tangle up inside of her and she lashes out.

All of which are completely understandable. This is not the reason why I didn't like her. It's because, instead of growing, instead of taking action, Nyx is constantly waylaid by her own angst. She's so wishy-washy. She loves her family, she hates her family. She hates the demon, she loves the demon. She's going to save everyone, she doesn't care about anyone. She's going to betray her husband, oh no, maybe not.

It was infuriating.

The narrative isn't much better.

There's an entire system of "magic" that's almost completely unexplained and exists for almost no reason except to be a plot device. It's not fleshed out and despite the scraps of information we get about it, it doesn't seem to mesh well with the rest of the world here.

The plot also likes to remind you that it's smarter than you and does things like have Nyx find out everything, not explain any of it to the reader, and then have her conveniently forget it all. Why. Why.

Ignifex as a love interest was baffling as well. The relationship doesn't seem to develop at all, just suddenly changes to love for no reason. One minute Nyx is hurling crockery at him and threatening to kill him, the next she's being bedded by him. Ignifex is mocking and cold and detached for the most part. The narrative tries to play it off because they're both "monsters" (Ignifex literally, Nyx because of her hatred) but the romantic tension was never believable. Also, I really can't stand violence and emotional manipulation being played off as romantic. No. Just no.

And then the ending happened.

One of the major "twists" I saw coming, but it still pleased me to be right. But then everything afterwards got really convoluted at the end. And then suddenly happily ever after? Wait what.

I don't know if I would've finished this had I not been listening to the audiobook. Overall, I found it lacklustre, confusing and annoying for the most part. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it.

Review || The Program by Suzanne Young

The Program (The Program #1) by Suzanne Young ★★☆☆☆

In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them

I handed this book off to my sister this afternoon having promised she could read it when I was done with it. And the first thing she asked me was, "How was it?"

My reaction was, "Ehhhhh?" and to shrug.

So, I feel like that conveys my reaction to this. Hence the 2-star "it was okay" rating.

The concept is interesting but the execution for the most part fell really flat for me. I felt like the strongest part of the book was the beginning, for me. Getting to know Sloane and James, who their friends are, what they've been through, how they're not allowed to grieve properly for fear of being flagged by The Program. It was actually rather poignant in places. And the real depth of their sorrow came through.

But as things progressed, I never really felt attached to anyone. A lot of the exposition in the middle ends up being a lot of "telling" instead of "showing"... which I understood as a device for the narrative (Sloane is baring all to her psychologist) but it never drew me in.

I found the boys in this book rather problematic as well. James, in the beginning, was fine, but as the book progressed I was really confused by his behaviour. Realm is a complex character, but does some horrific things (to Sloane in particular) and then because of how the narrative is framed (and how the plot device works) he's still portrayed as one of the "good guys". I had a really hard time with that.

It's clear that there's more going on here than meets the eye. Realm's behaviour midway through the book gives that away. But it's frustrating because, as I suppose I should've expected, nothing is really resolved at the end of this book. Yes, it's a duology, and yes, I know the intent of the ending is to make me want to keep reading. But everything is so vague and unclear. And instead of it being compelling it was annoying.

As is the norm with most YA dystopians, our heroes are off to join a secret rebellion group at the end of the novel. They'll probably take down the government or something in The Treatment. But it all feels so... unrealistic. I can suspend my disbelief, but there's a limit.

To be fair, this book didn't go down the way I expected it to. But if you're looking for complexity, you'll not find it here. This is a typical one-dimensional YA tale with little depth. I'll probably pick up book 2, just to find out what the heck is actually going on, but it certainly won't be at the top of my list.

Review || Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips ★★☆☆☆

Being a Greek god is not all it once was. Yes, the twelve gods of Olympus are alive and well in the twenty-first century, but they are crammed together in a London townhouse--and none too happy about it. And they've had to get day jobs: Artemis as a dog-walker, Apollo as a TV psychic, Aphrodite as a phone sex operator, Dionysus as a DJ.

Even more disturbingly, their powers are waning, and even turning mortals into trees--a favorite pastime of Apollo's--is sapping their vital reserves of strength.

Soon, what begins as a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo escalates into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans, Alice and Neil, who are caught in the crossfire, must fear not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Nothing less than a true act of heroism is needed-but can these two decidedly ordinary people replicate the feats of the mythical heroes and save the world?

I don't know, this just kind of fell flat for me.

A neat concept weighted down by mediocre delivery and a kind of incohesive plot. Despite all the trickery, mischief and revenge going on I felt oddly detached from the whole thing. And what's worse is that I never really found myself enjoying the book.

At under 300 pages, by the time things really got rolling plot-wise I figured I might as well continue to plow through for lack of anything else to do. And truthfully, I made myself go back to it numerous times, reading it in fits and starts. Because I knew if I let it sit too long, I probably wouldn't go back at all.

Which, all in all, is a real shame. Because I adore mythology. And there were glimmers of really interesting story in here. The slow decay and boredom of the gods. The twisted familial relationships. The thoughtless need for revenge.

But it all just sort of stumbled on into mediocrity. Hence, the 2 star rating of "it was okay".

I wouldn't bother with this one. If you're looking for something along these lines with a hell of a lot more depth, I'd go for Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's definitely going to make you put in a lot more effort than this breezy read... but it'll be worth it.

Review || Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh

Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh ★★☆☆☆

What happens when resources become scarce and society starts to crumble? As the competition for resources pulls America's previously stable society apart, the "New Normal" is a Soft Apocalypse. This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang. New social structures and tribal connections spring up across America, as the previous social structures begin to dissolve.

Locus Award finalist and John W. Campbell Memorial Award finalist Soft Apocalypse follows the journey across the Southeast of a tribe of formerly middle class Americans as they struggle to find a place for themselves and their children in a new, dangerous world that still carries the ghostly echoes of their previous lives.

Well. I didn't hate this but I also didn't like it either.

I picked this up second hand at a charity shop after reading the synopsis and it only took me a handful of hours to read, so it's not really much of a loss. But it is a little disappointing.

While I appreciated the slow decline approach, I didn't really care about any of the characters. I felt pretty emotionally detached from the book as a whole, which isn't really what you want here. Because listen, I'm the person who can turn on the Hallmark movie ten minutes before the end and start bawling even though I know next to nothing about what's going on. They killed a dog in this book--which we all know is far worse than killing a person--and I felt nothing. So.

I will admit that this book walks the line of gratuity much better than my last read. Because while there is no shortage of horrific acts of violence, it never felt gratuitous. So that's something.

Anyway. Probably not worth your time.

Review || Sapphire Blue (The Ruby Red #2) by Kerstin Gier

Sapphire Blue (The Ruby Red #2) by Kerstin Gier ★★☆☆☆

Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean.

At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.

I read the first book in this trilogy Ruby Red shortly before I started blogging--so you can see my review here.

I'd heard people on Booktube raving about this series and the hardcovers are so pretty and I love me some time travel. What do I have to lose, right?

Wrong. Ugh. This series continues to be aggravating. But the books themselves are so easy to plow through that it never ventures into DNF territory. Plus, with only one left now, I might as well just finish it.

I'm working on being more discerning with my ratings and trying to follow the Goodreads guidelines. So 2 stars is "it was okay" according to this new system I'm trying out. Sapphire Blue is probably the definition of just okay. There's nothing special about the writing, the plot has its moments but the characters make me a little crazy.

Let's separate out the good and the bad, shall we?

The time travelling in this book is actually handled surprisingly well. I really love the concept of circular time travel and it's neat to see some of those threads coming together in non-chronological order. It's actually fairly smart at times, so color me impressed. That, and the period history is fun. There's a major party in the 18th century that Gwen and Gideon attend that was probably some of the most entertaining writing in the whole book. It was just a fun chapter.

The side characters are also endearing to me. Gwen's family, her best friend Lesley, even her ghostly buddies James and Xemerius. Heck, even the brief cameos by Gideon's little brother make me interested about him. It's so incredibly frustrating because I absolutely cannot stand Gwen and Gideon. Like at all.

Let's tear apart Gideon first. He plays this hot-and-cold game with Gwen throughout both books. They go from making out to him being super vile to her. And the worst part is that it's played off as attractive. Gwen pulls a lot of "woe is me" nonsense in this book about being so in love with Gideon. He is downright terrible to her. That is not romantic.

Gwen is especially whiny and flighty and just a bigger mess than normal in this book too. I really do not particularly care for her at all and barely tolerate her as a vehicle for this story. She behaves like a child and not even remotely like the 16 year old she is.

There's also some really gross casual sexism stuff happening. Granted, some of the historical stuff can be hand-waved away by the nature of the period. And for the most part, that stuff is at least played off as being gross. Which is fair, I'll give the book points for that. But the problem is, the modern day stuff is just as sexist. Despite the fact that it's established that the time travelling gene is male in the de Villiers and female in the Montroses the big huge super secret order controlling things is run exclusively by men. And is mentioned as intentionally being that way and staying that way despite the fact that the book takes place in 2011. And no one has a problem with that? Nope. Not okay.

Anyway, again, just okay. I'll finish it because I might as well--and because I actually am interested in the side characters (Lucy and Paul too). But I wouldn't recommend it truthfully.

Review || The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King

The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King ★★☆☆☆

In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with "the dust of one hundred dogs," dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.

Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

Okay, full disclosure on this. I am the biggest sucker in the universe for stories about reincarnation (especially if it involves finding a soulmate and ughhhh).

So I went into this book pretty excited. It was also my first A.S. King book and I've been hearing a lot of good things about her writing around the blogosphere.

But truth be told, this wasn't really what I was expecting. Not that I could necessarily tell you what exactly I was expecting. But this wasn't it.

The concept is great, but I never felt that the storylines really ever fully intertwined cohesively. You had Emer's story, Saffron's story and then snippets here and there about her time as various dogs. It idea was cool, but it never really flowed the way I think it could have.

There are some really cool bits throughout, though. Emer's history and backstory are sufficiently tragic and horrifying. It's Ireland and then the Caribbean at a time that isn't often written about. Or, at least, I haven't read much about it. It's also really close, chronologically, to the time period that Assassin's Creed IV is set--complete with your pirates and everything. And since I'm in the middle of playing that game right now too, there was a neat crossover.

Both Emer and Saffron have their share of hardships to deal with--and the issues surrounding family abuse, pressures and rape do not pull any punches. Though I feel like some of Saffron's identity issues could've been explored in more depth. Later on in the book she talks about Emer as though she's a separate part of herself--which I thought was a neat idea, but it was never really explored and kind of brought up as an afterthought?

As things get rolling for Saffron, she struggles with the idea of what to do with herself afterwards. After she's satisfied Emer's desire for treasure and the like. This idea of who is she without this quest? Without this drive?  It was another really cool idea, but it lacked the development and depth in the final execution. Which is a shame.

Overall, I think more development could be my theme for this book. I liked it well enough, but it always fell just short of my expectations and desires. It did some neat things--the prologue making an appearance word-for-word near the end again, for example--but it never totally enthralled me. It was just kind of mediocre throughout.

If you want a reincarnation story that is a little more swoon-worthy (and totally a guilty pleasure) I'd recommend Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn instead.

Review || Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake ★★☆☆☆

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor.

Eh.

This wasn't a bad book by any means. And it's not like it wasn't enjoyable at times. But I don't know, it just never really felt necessary to me. Does that make any sense?

Okay, let me explain. Anna Dressed in Blood didn't answer all the questions, and I get that. What happened to Anna? What happens to any ghost after the athame does its job? What's with the athame anyway? This book answers those questions, and does a pretty good job with it too. I appreciated the backstory and history into this universe. It was something that I'd been curious about in Anna.

But truthfully? This just feels like part 2 of the same book. I don't mean to say that's a bad thing, though. I felt the ending of Anna was accelerated and abrupt. Sure, it tied off the plot strings loosely, but it was still obviously done with haste. And yes, I recognize that it was done for the sake of the sequel.

But again, this is where I struggle with the necessary bit. With some fiddling and reworking, I think Anna and Nightmares could've been one (admittedly big) packaged deal. One standalone. Give me the mythos and backstory. Make me wonder what's happened to Anna. Deliver on the twists of the Obeahman and make them hurt. Show me Carmel's reluctance, Cas' mother's struggle, Morfran's voodoo. Do something more compelling than just dropping Jestine in my lap.

I understand why this was two books, but I think it would've been a stronger package otherwise. I never felt as gripped by this book as I did with Anna. While the last 50 pages or so certainly got me turning them with speed, it wasn't until almost the very end that I really felt anything for these characters again. Which is a shame.

That said, it was a satisfying ending. Questions were answered and there certainly is closure. Without spoiling anything, I have to admit that I'm pleased with the direction Blake took this for the ending. I think anything else would've been too cheesy or overwrought.

Still, I can't help but feel a little let down by this sequel.

Review || Ash by Malinda Lo

 Ash by Malinda Lo ★★☆☆☆

Cinderella retold

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Truthfully, this probably wades into 2.5 star territory in the sense that I liked it well enough but it never really did anything truly spectacular to my mind.

One of the reasons I had this on my tbr shelf was the premise. I am always on the lookout for books with LGBT characters and content. And not just the stuff of tragic Lifetime movies, but representation in which a character is incidentally queer.

Ash certainly fits that bill. Her friendship and attraction to both Sidhean and Kaisa are developed organically and don't feel forced. And I was pleasantly surprised that her romance with Kaisa didn't illicit much controversy. It simply was and was allowed to be.

That said, I had problems with the book. Overall, it's a short read--not even breaking 300 pages. And while I could appreciate its simplicity, it felt like a short book. By that, I mean I think it could have benefited from being more fleshed out. It could've explored the depth and breadth of the world, focused in on more of the details of Ash and her relationships. It could have made me feel more attached.

Because while I enjoyed the mythos built up in the world, I wanted to explore it more. There were so many lovely myths, so many hinted backstories that never were fully realized. Though I liked Sidhean and Kaisa well enough as characters, some of the other supporting cast fell horribly flat. Ash's parents had depth, but they were both dead by the time things really got rolling. Ash's stepmother was flat, "evil" and cruel for its own sake without a lot of explanation or rationalization. There were a few shining moments for Ash's stepsisters--where we glimpsed the potential for them to be fully realized and complex people--but it wasn't really followed up on. Or rather, since so much of the focus was on Ash and the web she'd entangled herself in, they were relegated to the periphery and stayed flat. Which is a shame and a missed opportunity.

As the book progressed, things felt more and more rushed. The climax and resolution were abrupt and sudden. As a result, there wasn't really a sense of urgency, I didn't think. We realize, along with Ash, what kind of mess she's gotten herself into. There was potential for complex reflection and soul-searching here. But instead, Ash has a great and sudden realization and magically (except not actually) solves her major problem. The tension wasn't allowed to build and thus the stakes never felt that high. Plus, I was only casually invested at best, so I didn't feel that sense of urgency.

Still, it's not as though I regret picking this up. Though as Cinderella retellings go, I'd definitely pick and recommend Cinder over this.