This Life is Fiction

Ficklin did an amazing job weaving her story.  The characters have such a wide range of personalities, and she has a way of making you love a character and hate them at the same time.  She also toys with her readers emotions like an expert, forcing me to fall for a character and then twisting the plot to make me suddenly wish them dead.

The story starts out fantastically, going from a steamy prologue into a fight scene.  It should be noted that this story contains amazing descriptions, allowing the reader to visualize the story perfectly.

I immediately liked Sophie.  She's pretty darn amazing.  Kicking butt, taking names, and wearing a dress while doing it, what's not to love?  However, this is where we lost a star, and my only problem with the book, which has nothing to do with Ficklin's writing or the story at all, but rather myself and my own personal preference.  At times, mainly in the middle of the book, Sophie became very reliant on the males around her.  -yes there is a slight...(what would you even call it) love triangle?- I am not a fan of damsels in distress.  HOWEVER, this is my preference, and I understand that in the time frame of this book, that is how most girls were required to be.  I can appreciate this, and if I had half a star icon, it would be a 4.5 out of 5 star review.

The males we get introduced to you will either love or hate.  In my case, Peter should die.  I loathe him, and have since the beginning.  Sergei, well..he's too flipping amazing and I want a miniature of him to keep in my pocket at all times.  Then there is Alexander, who, lets be honest, could gift me dirt and I would probably swoon.  There are other males, but these are the three we get most interaction with.

The females, well, like the males, you will love or hate, and then Ficklin will wretch you in two and turn the emotions.  I hated the mother from beginning to end.  I understand that her view was the general view of that time, but I think my hate became locked in when she told Sophie to be quiet like a true German.  Rina...is a doll, that's all there is to it.  Her sister, who I cannot be bothered to look up, is...around the same level of loathing as Peter.  (I rarely admit to openly hating characters.  Usually they fit their role so well I still love them, but I just could not love these two.)  Finally...the empress.  All there is to say about her is WHY FICKLIN, WHY?!

Over all, the story is wonderful.  I loved it and am looking forward to the second book.  I loved the characters and actually want to see more of them all in the next book - please continue to torture me Ficklin, rip my heart out some more, because this book was amazing.

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This book started off in a torrent of feels for me.  I honestly had to stop at some point and go grab my nearest comfort food and a tissue because I was just so..so..mushy.

I was mad at Vi.  I admit it.  I wanted to slap her silly.  I know, I know, it was hard.  Dealing with everything she had to deal with up until this point, dealing with guilt and the knowledge that she contributed to what happened, well it had to have sucked, but I was so, so, so upset for those that she had known before.  Ryn, Filigree, and even Uri, I felt bad for them.

However, that did not lessen my love for this book, this entire series, in the least.  I stick by what I said for book one - Rachel Morgan has a way of writing that is so relaxed that you flow from one page to the next without really realizing the time that has passed.  I never once had to stop and go "what just happened here?" or "what was she trying to say?".  It was written in such amazing detail, and yet, it also was not too over the top to complicate things.

I am incredibly sad that the series is over.  I am also incredibly happy with the outcome.  I want more from Rachel Morgan.  I want more from this series.  Perhaps following a certain Star named Tilly.  I don't think anyone understands just how much I would adore that.

Now, I am gonna go find some breakfast, and maybe eventually sleep.  I am certain I will have immense withdrawal now that this series is over.

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Just a note: I am switching to Blogspot and under a new name, This Life is Fiction.  Follows would be loved, as I will not always remember to post things here.  

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Where do I begin, what do I do?  I don't even know if I should instantly plunge into the third book or go to sleep.  I don't even have the focus to be writing coherent thoughts right now.  Rachel Morgan, what did you do to me?  But seriously, I love this series far too much.  Thank you for not only writing it, but allowing me the final two books to review.

Like book one, there was an incredible amount of action in this book.  Constant, non stop.  It's great.  It's also not just fighting action.  Some of the scenes set my stomach a flutter.  I wanted to be the one truly experiencing them.  It was magical!

Morgan has a way of capturing the readers interest and keeping it from page one until the end, and then making you not only need the next book to the series, but want to go barging up to her door and demand she give it to you right now.  If I didn't have the third book, I would do just that.

I don't want to go too much more into details, as I do not want to spoil this series for anyone, but we do see a lot more of Ryn, which is exciting for me, since he is easily my favorite character now.  Sorry Vi, you were booted to second place, I am sure you understand though.

There was also a lot of twists and turns.  Some of them I most certainly was not expecting, but there were also others that I should have seen coming, ya know, if I wasn't so caught up in the awesomeness that is Ryn.

Also: Glowing butts. -snorts- best part of any book ever.

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Let me begin by saying that I love the cover of this book. It is what initially drew me in. I will be honest and say that I looked at the cover, looked at the goodreads genres it contained, and hit the 'Buy now with 1-click' button without reading what I was getting myself into. Such a terrible confession right? But I am glad that I did it!

I have a thing for books that are fast paced, and this book, starts out with a bang. Instantly in a fighting scene! I loved it. Never once was there a dull moment, and I kind of didn't want to stop reading. In fact, I had to go to the restroom about seventy percent of the way through and refused to do so. So that's saying something.

While I am not usually a big fan of reading books on the computer - I don't own a kindle so I use the kindle for PC option - this was one book I would read again despite this little hiccup. 

The characters, especially Violet and Ryn, were realistic. They had their quirks, their mood swings, and their wonderful snarky moments. Unfortunately for mister Nate, I am in love with Ryn. He's so much fun, and I have a thing for male characters who are jerks. So, Nate was overshadowed by him.

This is a book that I would definitely recommend reading, and hey, it's currently free on amazon! What have you got to lose? Give it a try! Go, go, go!

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Just a note: I am switching to Blogspot and under a new name, This Life is Fiction.  Follows would be loved, as I will not always remember to post things here.  

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Is it bad that hard as I try, I cannot do the electric reading for too long?  I don't have a kindle, so I use my computer - which I can stay on all day long - but when I try to read on it, it just irritates me.  I am afraid to invest in a kindle for fear that it too, will irritate me.  I dunno, I just like having the book in my hands, and flipping the page, and being able to throw it when I get mad, or if it makes me cry and I am over it, seeing the tears soak through.  You cannot get that from a kindle, nor the book smell.

Also, with a stack of 30+ tbr books, I just dunno where to start, I read Grave Mercy finally, and all I can think about is "HEY, I need the next in that series".  /pathetic.  xD

A fantastic idea.  This contest is very active and fun.  Join us here.

Not hosted by myself.  Just sharing with you all!

Scent of Magic

Maria V. Snyder

A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and a thrilling love triangle.

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

Synopsis from Goodreads

Going into this:

If you lot aren't aware, I love me some kickass females!  Especially those who do it with a sword and don't back down.  I also love the castles and magic and romance themes, so this book literally had my name written all over it.  So when I got an offer from Netgalley to read an e-arc of it, well I had no choice but to insta download and hop to it.

The first few chapters:

I may have cried.  An author who can get me crying in the first few chapters is something else.  I am not even lying, I shed a tear or two.  Actually, I cried several times during this book, Larson did good.  I like for books to make me emotional, make me mad enough to throw it, and make me sad enough that I have to stop reading because the pages get blurry through the tears.  This book did not incite my rage, but did capture my emotions.

And so on:

I loved the book.  It was everything I expected and more.  It had magic, mystery (new things are constantly brought out into the open!), romance (there is a bit of a triangle, they don't bother me, and it wasn't extensive like some authors like to do, but it is there), it was fast paced, and Alex was kickass!  The only major issue I had was that the second book is not out so I do not know what happens next.

I would really recommend this book to fans of Kristin Cashore, Tamora Pierce, Alex Lidell, and Maria V. Snyder.

What makes you buy a particular book?

The cover?

A popular author?

Your favorite bloggers reviews?

For me yes the cover has a part in the initial process.  A good cover draws me in and makes me read the synopsis.  I truly loathe when the cover of the book has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the actual book.  Or when I feel that the cover has misled me.  I say this because it has happened a time or two where the covers are fantasy or medievalish but the book is set in present time with no magical or fantastical features.  This often results in me putting the book down.  I am a huge medieval / fantasy fan and so books with these covers tend to get my attention first and foremost, so when one misleads me, I lose interest immediately.

However, enough rambling.  The major thing that makes me buy a book comes with reading the synopsis.  I honestly judge the whole book on whether or not I get chills when I read the blurb.  I've NEVER been wrong.  If I get chills I always finish the book and either like it or more often love it.  I always wind up going back to the author to check out other potential books.

I was peeking around for more books and came across this one:  Messenger by Kate Tremills the cover of course is beautiful and drew me in instantly, but that summary man, I found myself with chills as I read it.  Now I've got to get my hands on it.  Unfortunately, right now it seems to only be out in ebooks and I have a high preference for physical copies, I have a hard time reading ebooks since I do it on my computer and it easily distracts me.  So I've sent the author a message to inquire if she was going to have physical copies anytime soon.  I really have to get my hands on it after all. 

So what about you all?  What makes YOU buy a book?

I recieved an arc from Leah Cypess through a giveaway on her books facebook page. Check it out if you've not liked it yet.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Death-Sworn/396158113847062?fref=ts

(link to her page, apparently I cannot do urls?)

The book was all around really good. Cypess ended most of her chapters on mini cliffhangers so that even going to the bathroom and leaving the book behind proved to be difficult. I started it at about 12 am, and finished at 5 am, so it was obviously a good read as I neglected sleep just so I could get to the ending. Which by the way...while not a major cliffhanger, was done in such a way that you know there has to be more to come and so that is all you want, and you want it now. She left my emotions raw, and I was highly upset with the whole end of story. It was good, and made sense, but that does not mean I have to like it or accept it. In fact, I might just go form my own alternative ending to make peace until I get a real conclusion.

Cypess leaves you with a lot of questions through the book, but over all most of them were answered it seemed to me. As far as world building goes, there isn't much of a world that needs to be built when one is living in a cave. However, she does mention other places in the world that I can only assume we will see in later novels.

Ileni, our heroine, is someone who has been dealt a crushing blow in life. She was raised up to be someone great, and all in one fell swoop, she loses it. This then leads to her being expendable, and was sent to live and teach the assassins that her people abhor.

She's different from my typical heroine favorites. She's not kickass really, but she is sarcastic and sassy, and I definitely have to give her props for that. I like sarcasm and sass. She has her flaws obviously. A good bit of the beginning of the book I just wanted to slap her and tell her to get on with her life. However, that is what makes characters great, getting a reaction out of the people who are reading the book.

Our main man, well...I would definitely not mind spending time in a cave with him. Yeah...that's all.

We of course have our bullies and back stabbers (who I have love hate relationships with. I love to hate them.) However, I would love for Ileni to actually make real friends in the next novel. I felt like that was the one thing really lacking. Aside from the main male, no one really made any effort to get close to her, and she to them. I feel like that could have added depth to the novel for her to have been able to have a real friend.

Overall though, I truly enjoyed the book. It was good, and I look forward to more of Ileni and her world.