Well, I'm officially hooked on this series. Hunted picks up where Chosen left off with Shanti sneaking out from the Cayan's city to continue on her joWell, I'm officially hooked on this series. Hunted picks up where Chosen left off with Shanti sneaking out from the Cayan's city to continue on her journey to go to the Shadow Lands to take the trials to be officially "Chosen." New characters are added in this story (not the least of which is a horse) with good amount of the action. The "gift" is kind of corny with all the mind power stuff. The romance is dialed back quite a bit in this story although there is the visual inventory by Shanti of Cayan (those blue eyes and rippling muscles....sigh) often times when she thinks of him or sees him. It's the characters and their dialog (and yes, the story) that makes this book/series a fun and entertaining adult read. I think Shanti's character is a bit uneven. Sander's character (one of Cayan's soldiers) is a hoot at times.
This is not a series that can be read out of sequence and have it make sense. I'm used to the narrator now and she does a good job with the book....more
They finally make it to the Shadow Lands and the trials for Chosen. The Shadow People apparently some long lost relatives of Shanti having the "old" bThey finally make it to the Shadow Lands and the trials for Chosen. The Shadow People apparently some long lost relatives of Shanti having the "old" blood. In this story, the quest company is split for a major part of the story and slows down a bit.
The strength of the series for me are the characters. With characters of Shanti's company divided as she enters the trials, the story loses some of its magic. The chemistry becomes more diluted because it flows better as a whole group. The division though provides the opportunity (I think) to develop the other characters apart from Shanti and Cayan. This opportunity is not taken advantage of as much as it could have (IMO). More of the focus is devoted once again on Shanti and Cayan. The addition of some of the Shadow People characters create a rich group of characters to the story. If the other characters besides Shanti and Cayan don't get some development, I think the story will suffer as a whole. The best way I can think to convey the idea is this: Imagine the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan if the whole story mainly focused on Rand 'al Thor and we didn't get to learn much about the rest of his friends that traveled with him?
The one-on-one type fight scenes are pretty well written. The larger scenes though remind a little of like listening to a hockey game on the radio. These are complicated scenes and are hard to describe. They just don't seem to work very well for me. Maybe it is the setup going into the scene. I am not sure.
Again, the narrator does a great job performing the characters and bringing the book to life.
Hopefully, the next book will once again get me absorbed in this series.
Well....Sara J Maas has written another great installment in what is one becoming one of my all time favorite epic fantasy series. At some point, perhWell....Sara J Maas has written another great installment in what is one becoming one of my all time favorite epic fantasy series. At some point, perhaps after the final book is written, I'll have to re-read the whole series. I might end up doing that when the next book is published. Let me explain....
This book picks up from where the last book ended. There were a lot characters already in play. Sadly, Evangeline only has a cameo appearance in this book. It took me a little while to get my head back into the story. I manage to get the names that begin with the letter "A" sort of confused. Once I got back into the groove of the story, we meet new some new characters and a quest is underway. Actually, there are a couple of quests are underway as two major characters have their own subplot lines apart from Aelin and Rowan. There are several action sequences with magic, swords, knives, claws (both natural and iron), teeth (ditto), axes, etc. All great stuff to read (or listen to in my case). Another subplot as the story unfolds is we find out new things about various characters that has not been revealed heretofore in the series. Some of these revelations go back to the very beginning of the series forcing me to dust off some cobwebs of my very fallible memory. Or as sometimes described as Rowan is trying to recall events in his very long life: "...the catacombs of his mind."
This book is quite a bit more sexually racy than I remember in the previous books. Sexual/Romantic tensions abound among some characters in the cadre that might surprise the reader. Aelin and Lysandra have quite the attitude. Along with the sexual heat factor, profanity seems to flow more freely here as well. There are no F-bombs though.
I found myself cheering for the characters and laughing at some comment. The dialog is crisp and oftentimes witty. Manon and Lysandra are emerging as my favorite characters. As I got to the end of the book, I felt satisfied with the story so far but was left yearning for the next book. The book ends in a situation that is "complicated."
This is the first book of the series where I listened to the audio book. The narrator did a good a job with it overall. I felt that she was kind of miscast as the narrator. The story has so many facets, action, drama, romance, nuance, etc. the narrator has to be very versatile to be totally effective. I hate grades, but if I had to assign an overall grade for Ms. Evans it would be a B-. She did an admirable job with the story. I think I almost preferred to have read the book. There are a lot things to keep track of in this story.
Once again, a great story of epic fantasy. It is as simple as that.
After getting off to what I thought was a rough start in the first book, A Court of Mist and Fury is more along the lines of what I expect from Ms. MaAfter getting off to what I thought was a rough start in the first book, A Court of Mist and Fury is more along the lines of what I expect from Ms. Maas. I listened to the audio book and at 23+ hours it was quite a long book! The narrator does what I think is a top notch job bringing the story to life.
The big difference between Book 1 and Book 2, for me, is the Night Court. The characters and the chemistry between them is such a vast improvement. Feyre remains to be somewhat likeable because she still seems to be having a hard time getting it together. She does learn to like the Night Court (Rhysand, Cassian, Azriel, Mor and Amren). Those characters helps her character to be more interesting as she still tries to figure out who she is and what she can do.
A Court of Mist and Fury is, for the most part, brilliantly written. The descriptions of Velaris and some the other surrounding locations fills my mind of the place. The story elements however between the romance and the broader story still, I think, needs some work. Although Ms. Maas can write an erotic scene as well as any writer that I have ever read. Rhysand is like Christian Grey on steroids. He has wings...who needs a helicopter? If he doesn't fly, he just disappears and appears where he wants to be....who needs an Audi? He has money. He is handsome. And last be not least, he is the most powerful Fey in the land. He also doesn't act like a total jerk although he has his dark side. His character, I think, is even more complex than Feyre's character which brings more depth to the story.
This book is often classified as YA. I would consider it more emphasized on the "adult" than young. There are some pretty steamy scenes in the book as well as language. The F-bomb is used but thankfully has one meaning and not just a catch-all word as in some writing. There is some other mild language and violence as well.
The narrator, Jennifer Ikeda, does a fantastic job with this story. She reads the story in what I would characterize as a conversational style. Ms. Ikeda adjusts her cadence with the flow of the story. Her narration really made the story come to life.
A Court of Mist and Fury is a great read and I'm looking forward to the next book....more
Winterwood is a good solid read. A delightful blend of historical-fiction, fantasy, shape shifter, and romance.
Rossalinde Tremayne (Ross) is a young Winterwood is a good solid read. A delightful blend of historical-fiction, fantasy, shape shifter, and romance.
Rossalinde Tremayne (Ross) is a young woman who has been widowed from her husband Will. She eloped with Will taking one of her father's ships as a dowry for their marriage. Will unexpectantly dies leaving Ross to captain their privateer ship. Will's ghost however continues to hang around. Ross' mother is ill so Ross goes to pay her a visit. The relationship between Ross and her mother is very contentious to say the least although her mother gives her a mysterious wooden box made of Winterwood. Ross doesn't know what to do with the box. As she is leaving her mother's house, the place is goes up in flames which attracts the attention of the British soldiers stationed in Plymouth. Attention that Ross does not want. Ross happens to be an unregistered witch and she has other issues with the law. She also discovers in her escape she has a half brother, David.
The story has many facets to it. There is the mystery of the box, a person that chases them, a pirate who happens to fancy Ross, Ross grieving for her lost husband, family and friendship and not the least of which is the class struggle of Rowankind. They are the lowest of the low. There are a few more surprises as well but I don't want to provide any unintended spoilers.
I found the characters to be interesting. Ross is a refreshing heroine because she knows her own mind and acclimated to leadership by being captain of her ship. While she can be tough, she leaves her heart open to new people. As she travels with David, she grows like him and even to love him. The supporting cast of characters are interesting and create tension as the story unfolds.
I thought the book was well written and liked the author's writing style as the story is written in the first person from Ross' perspective. This is a fairy tale for adults and possibly older teens. I thought the story kind of lost something toward the end of the book but I can't quite say what that "something" happens to be. Perhaps the story didn't go quite as I expected it to go. Overall though, I found Winterwood a fun and enjoyable read. I plan to look into the next book in the series....more
The first installment of this new Sarah J. Maas series was not what I had hoped it would be. It took me a long time to get through the book. My progreThe first installment of this new Sarah J. Maas series was not what I had hoped it would be. It took me a long time to get through the book. My progress was so slow that I bought the audio book for the last 40% of the book.
This is a brooding fairy tale about a young woman who finds herself in a situation where she had to leave her impoverished cabin to go into the land where the Fae live. She is escorted by this shape-shifting Fae High Lord. She cannot leave and will have to live there for the rest of her life. Feyre's situation before this event was depressing. Her family was on the edge of starvation and they had no money. In a word, barely getting by. Her Fea home is extravagant and she lacks for nothing. Is she somewhat happy? No. The story does get better but it takes awhile. An overall depressing feel seems to continue throughout the story.
Part of the reason I had a hard time with this book is that I didn't really care that much for the characters. Feyre is uninspiring and is hard to like. Tamlin is this Fae cave man where his inner beast is just below the surface. I didn't get a real sense of romantic chemistry between Feyre and Tamlin. Feyre seems to be the object of interest to most of the Fae males and I have no notion why. Most of the Fae are supposed to dislike humans. Go figure....where are all the hot Fae women? I guess if you are immortal you get tired of seeing the same faces after a millennia or so.
Anyway, the fundamental story itself has a pretty good foundation. The author seems to meander around in that story in fits and shifts until finally a central theme starts to emerge. This central theme doesn't start to reveal itself until about half way through the book. I almost DNF'd the book a couple times but it was just interesting enough to keep reading and even though at times it was a struggle.
The audio book is what saved the story for me. The narrator does a good job of trying to bring it to life. She put some emotion into the characters that I couldn't seem to muster while reading the story (because I kept falling asleep!).
I am a huge fan of Ms. Maas' Throne of Glass series so I had high hopes for this book. This first book didn't resonate with me like I had hoped. I will continue on with the next book after taking a break from fantasy for awhile. The ending of the first book makes me hopeful that new life will be breathed into Feyre's character....more
I think if I were in a slightly different mood I would have enjoyed this book a little more. The narrator did a good job in the audio book I listened I think if I were in a slightly different mood I would have enjoyed this book a little more. The narrator did a good job in the audio book I listened to. In fact, she improved the book a bit with her performance.
For some reason, a part of this book reminded me somewhat of 50 Shades of Grey . A sexually inexperienced young woman (Kat or shall we say Kitten?) goes vampire hunting using her sexual prowess to entrap her victims. That is of course until she meets up with Bones. Bones is a 200+ year old vampire who also hunts vampires for money. Oh, Kat happens to be half vampire. Well, Kat and Bones team up to go after vampires. He coaches Kat to take her sexy come on to a whole another level.
The writing is witty and humorous but falls kind flat in places. I did find myself frequently smiling listening to the story. Where this book falls in the "okay" category is that it relies heavily on the dynamics of the two main characters. They aren't really strong enough to adequately to take the story to the next level. Other books I have read in this genre (like Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series) the main characters have other supporting characters that add color to the story in addition to the main characters.
This book is a quick fun read. If you don't expect more than what the story is, it makes for a fun escape....more
I have listened now the last 4 or 5 books in succession of the Hallows series. Many of the character interactions are getting repetitive. This may havI have listened now the last 4 or 5 books in succession of the Hallows series. Many of the character interactions are getting repetitive. This may have biased my review somewhat. I think I'll wait awhile before embarking on book 13.
This story starts with Rachel minding her own business and lusting after Trent (Rachel is a woman who seems to lust after just about any good-looking well-built man or at the very least has a hearty appreciation from them). She's working as Trent's security while Trent is playing a round of golf when a golf ball threatening to take Trent out explodes when Rachel uses a charm to divert the path of the ball. From there on out, the story goes off trying figure out why magic is acting strange. Eventually, it comes down to plot being hatched where "mystics" are being hijacked using Rachel's ley-line. Why does this always have to happen to Rachel?
A good part of the story is romantic in nature as the chemistry between Rachel and Trent continues to heat up. I had a little of a hard time accepting the mystics idea in the story but the author makes it work. The last third or so of the book is really exciting as they get to the bottom the treachery as everyone wants to get in on action.
The was book was a great read and lots of fun!...more
There's a lot going on in this installment of the Hallows series. The last part of the book is top notch. But let me back up a bit.
In this book, we geThere's a lot going on in this installment of the Hallows series. The last part of the book is top notch. But let me back up a bit.
In this book, we get a look at Trent's character and more of what makes him tick. As inferred in previous books, Trent and Rachel shared some childhood experiences so having them team up to stop a demon and save the world doesn't seem all that far fetched. Rachel's feelings for Trent continue to thaw even though she still has difficulty reconciling some the things Trent has done and continue to do. The idea of them working together is also something Rachel is reluctantly reconsidering. Rach and Trent as a couple though? It's not looking good but the tension continues to build.
Jenks still fires off the some hilarious one-liners.
The series seems to be transitioning to something else but I can't quite figure out where it is going. ...more
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