Week 52 Review: Shadow Girl

From Goodreads:
The Memory Key author Liana Liu delivers a thrilling story of one girl struggling to claim her own identity while becoming an unwitting participant in the strange fate of a wealthy dynasty.

The house on Arrow Island is full of mystery.

Yet, when Mei arrives, she can't help feeling relieved. She's happy to spend the summer in an actual mansion tutoring a rich man's daughter if it means a break from her normal life—her needy mother, her delinquent brother, their tiny apartment in the city. And Ella Morison seems like an easy charge, sweet and well behaved.

What she doesn't know is that something is very wrong in the Morison household.

Though Mei tries to focus on her duties, she becomes increasingly distracted by the family's problems and her own complicated feelings for Ella's brother, Henry. But most disturbing of all are the unexplained noises she hears at night—the howling and thumping and cries.

Mei is a sensible girl. She isn't superstitious; she doesn't believe in ghosts. Yet she can't shake her fear that there is danger lurking in the shadows of this beautiful house, a darkness that could destroy the family inside and out...and Mei along with them.

My Review:
Oh man, I had a really great time reading this book! I loved her first book, but this one went in wildly different direction, so I was a bit cautious about it. I loved Mei, and watching her navigate the complexities of being a tutor for this family on a small island.

The synopsis is a bit misleading. There's a bit of potential paranormal events that happened, but not a lot, and they were able to be mundanely explained away. And it wasn't really the focus, which was on the Morison family.

There is of course Ella, her charge, who was shy and so adorable. Then there's her brother, Henry, who caused some mixed feelings for Mei. Their mother, who seemed to think that Mei could take on other tasks besides tutoring, which was so annoying! The grandfather, who And all the other family members and their dramas.

I really enjoyed watching Mei's journey in this book. She's polite, but within, she's pretty judgemental, but the Morison family is hot mess. But her relationship with Ella was fantastic, she was supportive, and I really enjoyed reading about the pair of them! 

This was a really great book, and I'm a little sad, because it's now the end of 2022, and there doesn't seem to be more books by Liana Liu out there. At least the two that we got were really great! 

Author: Liana Liu
Read: December 30th, 2022
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a SAC 2022 Book and a Sophomore Challenge Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: December 19th 2017

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Reviews: The Child Prince, The Dreamer's Curse, Crossroads, The Scofflaw Magician, The Canard Case, The Fae Artifactor

From Goodreads:

Sevana Warran, reigning prodigy Artifactor, has absolutely

no desire to selflessly serve her fellow man.

Bellomi Dragonmanovich, Prince of Windamere, is a twenty-one

year old cursed into the body of a perpetual eight year old.

In order to regain his lost throne, prince and Artifactor know that breaking the curse won't be enough. It will take a coup and more than just a little magic.

From Goodreads:

With an un-cursed prince and king back on the throne, Sevana goes back to her usual routine without worry. But her peaceful days don’t last for long. A hunter from a small northern village comes to her, pleading for help. The people in his village are disappearing during the night, transported great distances in their sleep, and they don’t know why.

Transportation magic such as this hasn’t been seen since the days of great magic, hundreds of years past. On top of that, the power levels that Sevana sees are insanely high—far higher than any modern magic can reach. Sevana drops everything, racing toward the small village of Chastain, praying that she can find the source for all of this and stop it.

Otherwise, the magical backlash might destroy Windamere.

From Goodreads:

Sometimes, as is often the case with magic, things go awry. Sevana's quite accustomed to magical explosions, fires, and curses in her daily life. People abruptly appearing inside of Big from a different planet? Well, she has to admit, that's a first.

Deepwoods Guild specializes in traveling, but with Grae at the helm, they've never had a path fail. Until now. For the first time in his professional career, Grae has no idea where they are or how to get them back home again.

But maybe, if the Pathmakers and Artifactors can put their heads together, they can figure it out.

From Goodreads:

Sevana's peaceful routine is abruptly destroyed when a Sa Kao army invades Nopper's Woods, fully intending to declare war on the Fae that live there. Princess Amas of Sa Kao has gone missing, disappearing so completely that it's believed she must have been spirited away, and Sa Kao blames the Fae. Knowing full well the Fae are not behind the abduction of the princess, Sevana goes to investigate and finds that it's not one Princess missing, but a good dozen people, all in the same way. Now she has to figure out how and why and do so quickly. The spell used to take these people is fading fast. If Sevana doesn't find a way to reverse what has been done, then there won't be anyone left for her to save. 

From Goodreads:

"So what is the problem?"

"You are aware that Nanashi has an active volcano on it?" Cheng-Huang inquired. At her nod, he continued, "It will explode soon. The pressure is rising quickly and there's little that we can do to stop it.:

A volcano? Sevana's eyes threatened to pop out of her head. "You want me to stop a volcano?!"

From Goodreads:

People really have to stop kidnapping her….

Sevana has quite enough on her plate, what with her wonky magical core still spastically melting or exploding things on her. She has every intention of seeking professional help, if such a thing exists, but is stopped before she can even go back home.

That is to say, she's kidnapped. AGAIN.

Now she has her Fae family out for blood, the Unda pestering her with a problem to solve, upset human kings demanding compensation for destroyed research facilities, and she STILL has a wonky magical core.

If she's kidnapped one more time, Sevana will not be responsible for her actions.

My Review:
Oh, I loved reading these books! I love Honor Raconteur's writing, and I just devoured this new world! And the fact that there was the crossover with the Deepwoods Saga series was so fantastic! Seeing those characters interact was so wonderful to read! 

Besides the writing, there's two things that I adore about Honor Raconteur's books. The worlds with incredibly fascinating magic, history, and politics. And the cast of characters. They're all so entertaining to read, and I loved this world, and this cast of characters! 

These books were a blast to read, the world and the magic was interesting, the characters were hilarious, and the plots were really entertaining, and I loved watching this band go on all of these adventures! I had such a great time reading this series! 

After this series, I think I have one or two more left to read, and a few stand alones, and I'll have fully caught up with Honor Raconteur's books. There are the books that she's written under pen names that she's going to branch out more in the future, but yeah, I've almost caught up with the Honor Raconteur books! 

This was another really great series by Honor Raconteur, and I've almost read everything under this name!  

Author: Honor Raconteur 
Series: The Artifactor #1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, Deepwoods Saga #3.5
Read: December 29th, 29th, 29th, 30th, 30th, 30th, 2022
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love her writing, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books! And The Fae Artifactor is a End of Series 2022 Book! 
Publisher: Raconteur House 
Published: December 17th 2013, May 29th 2014, May 14th 2019, November 19th 2015, November 28th 2016, April 3rd 2019

The Child Prince:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Dreamer's Curse:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Crossroads:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Scofflaw Magician: 

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Canard Case:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Fae Artifactor: 

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: Five Survive

From Goodreads:

Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Her best friend - the older brother - his perfect girlfriend - a secret crush - a classmate - and a killer.

When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead.

With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or figure out which of them is the target. But is there a liar among them? Buried secrets will be forced to light and tensions inside the RV will reach deadly levels. Not all of them will survive the night...

Eight hours. Six friends. Five survive. A road trip turns deadly in this addictive YA thriller from the bestselling author of the worldwide phenomenon A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER.

My Review:
Oh, I really enjoyed reading this book! Given how popular A Good Girl's Guide to Murder has become, I was a little apprehensive about this book, because it's hard to live up to that kind of status. This book can't make it that far, it doesn't have the 3 books to develop everything, but it is it's own unique challenge, I really enjoyed that!

This book takes place in a 31 foot RV (that one extra foot is important!) and has a cast of 6 main characters, and the shooter, mainly. It takes place in 8 hours, and boy is it a heck of a ride! I just had to know what was going to happen next! 

While its not mentioned in the book, from the way that Red acted, it's most likely that she has something along the lines of ADHD. She's easily distracted (how many times did she think about asking which side of the bed Maddy preferred? Or when things got more tense, she deliberately wondered what the pattern of the curtains reminded her of?) So that was an interesting dynamic to read about.

And oh, the reveals of this book! Red's secret seemed obvious in hindsight, but the others, man, I wasn't expecting that! Though Oliver was an asshole who progressively got worse, so that wasn't much of a stretch. And that ending! Chef's kiss! It was just the right amount of evil! 

I loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Holly Jackson! 

Author: Holly Jackson
Read: December 29th, 2022
Source: Bought 
Reason Why: Sounded really great and I enjoy her books, and it's a SAC 2022 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: November 29th 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: The Infinity of You & Me

From Goodreads:

What if every life-altering choice you made could split your world into infinite worlds?

Almost fifteen, Alicia is smart and funny with a deep connection to the poet Sylvia Plath, but she's ultimately failing at life. With a laundry list of diagnoses, she hallucinates different worlds—strange, decaying, otherworldly yet undeniably real worlds that are completely unlike her own with her single mom and one true friend. In one particularly vivid hallucination, Alicia is drawn to a boy her own age named Jax who's trapped in a dying universe. Days later, her long-lost father shows up at her birthday party, telling her that the hallucinations aren't hallucinations, but real worlds; she and Jax are bound by a strange past and intertwining present. This leads her on a journey to find out who she is while trying to save the people and worlds she loves. J.Q. Coyle's The Infinity of You & Me is a wild ride through unruly hearts and vivid worlds guaranteed to captivate.

My Review:
Oh, this was a really great read! I loved reading about Alicia and the world that she explores, all the different choices that were made that lead to various different outcomes! It was so entertaining and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next!  

Ok, if you've read a number of my reviews and know my tastes, then this paragraph is not going to be a surprise. This cover is absolutely stunning, the colours are so pretty and look so fantastic, and with the smoke effect, it's a pretty mesmerizing cover! And this book deserves it! 

The fact that her hallucinations were actually of other worlds, where different choices had been made then her own, is such a cool concept. That she's got this bond with Jax was pretty great as well, I really enjoyed the two of them.

The fact that she's a spandrel, to be able to merge with her alter-unververse selves was so cool. Watching her visit these other worlds, and how they were different, on this quest, was so entertaining to read, and I really enjoyed watching the story unfold! 

I had a really great time reading this book, and I'm really glad that I did! 

Author: J.Q. Coyle
Read: December 28th, 2022
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2022 Book! 
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: November 8th 2016

5/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars

Week 52 Reviews: Famine, Death, Famine's Homecoming

From Goodreads:

They came to earth--Pestilence, War, Famine, Death--four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

Ana da Silva always assumed she'd die young, she just never expected it to be at the hands of Famine, the haunting immortal who once spared her life so many years ago. But if the horseman remembers her at all, he must not care, for when she comes face to face with him for the second time in her life, she's stabbed and left for dead.

Only, she doesn't quite die.

If there's one thing Famine is good at, it's cruelty. And how these blighted bastards deserve it. Try as he might, he can’t forget what they once did to him. But when Ana, a ghost from his past, corners him and promises pain for what he so recently did to her, she and her empty threats captivate him, and he decides to keep her around.

In spite of themselves, Ana and Famine are drawn to each other. But at the end of the day, the two are enemies. Nothing changes that. Not one kind act, not two. And definitely not a few steamy nights. But enemies or reluctant lovers, if they don’t stop themselves soon, heaven will. 

From Goodreads:

They came to earth--Pestilence, War, Famine, Death--four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

He's known by many names: Thanatos. Horseman. God's last angel. And then, of course, there's the one I'm all too familiar with—

Death.

The day Death comes to Lazarus Gaumond's town and kills everyone in one fell swoop, the last thing he expects to see is a woman left alive and standing. But Lazarus has her own extraordinary gift: she cannot be killed—not by humans, not by the elements, not by Death himself.

She is the one soul Death doesn't recognize. The one soul he cannot pry free from her flesh. Nor can he ignore the unsettling desire he has for her. Take her. He wants to, desperately. And the longer she tries to stop him from his killing spree, the stronger the desire becomes.

When Lazarus crosses paths with the three other horsemen, an unthinkable situation leads to a terrible deal: seduce Death, save the world. A hopeless task, made all the worse by the bad blood between her and Thanatos. But Death's attraction to her is undeniable, and try though she might, Lazarus cannot stay away from that ancient, beautiful being and his dark embrace.

The end is here. Humankind is set to perish, and not even the horsemen can stop Death from fulfilling his final task.

Only Lazarus can. 

My Review:
Oh, I had such a great time reading these books! I love this world and these characters, and things are getting intense, because with each brother, they get more and more powerful, until Death, who has all the powers, and who is the end. I loved reading these books!

I think I might have laughed the most in Famine. They're the couple who are the furthest away from mainstream, she's a former prostitute, and he is grumpy multiplied by anger and hurt. So I just devoured their story, I mean, she thinks about saving humanity with the skills that she's learned, and it was just so great! 

Death, oh man, what a ride! After everything that happened in Famine, Death brought it all together. I loved his and Lazarus's story and how they challenged one another. I wasn't sure how things would work out, but given the past history of the previous books, I had a hope that things would work out positively in the end! 

And oh, that ending! It was brutal and thrilling, and I wanted to know what would happen next. And oh, it brough the emotions, I teared up a bit, which I almost never do. The ending was so fitting for what this series has been, and I loved it! 

These were such fantastic reads, and I can't wait to read more by Laura Thalassa! 

Author: Laura Thalassa 
Series: The Four Horsemen #3, 4, 4.5
Read: December 27th, 28th, 28th, 2022
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books, and Death is a End of Series 2022 Book! 
Publisher: Lavabrook Publishing, LLC
Published: October 1st 2020, November 9th 2021, April 5th 2022

Famine:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Death:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Famine's Homecoming:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Week 52 Review: The Goal, The Legacy

From Goodreads:

She's good at achieving her goals…

College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick butt in law school, and land a high-paying job at a cutthroat firm. Her path to escaping her shameful past certainly doesn't include a gorgeous hockey player who believes in love at first sight. One night of sizzling heat and surprising tenderness is all she's willing to give John Tucker, but sometimes, one night is all it takes for your entire life to change.

But the game just got a whole lot more complicated...

Tucker believes being a team player is as important as being the star. On the ice, he's fine staying out of the spotlight, but when it comes to becoming a daddy at the age of twenty-two, he refuses to be a bench warmer. It doesn't hurt that the soon-to-be mother of his child is beautiful, whip-smart, and keeps him on his toes. The problem is, Sabrina's heart is locked up tight, and the fiery brunette is too stubborn to accept his help. If he wants a life with the woman of his dreams, he'll have to convince her that some goals can only be made with an assist.

From Goodreads:

Four stories. Four couples. Three years of real life after graduation…

A wedding.

A proposal.

An elopement.

And a surprise pregnancy.

Can you guess which couple is which?

Come for the drama, stay for the laughs! Catch up with your favorite Off-Campus characters as they navigate the changes that come with growing up and discover that big decisions can have big consequences…and big rewards.

My Review:
Oh man, I loved reading these books! I've loved this series so much, these couples and their romances are just fantastic to read about, and I loved the last of their full stories, and the anthology of peaks into their lives later on! 

The Goal, we knew from the ending of The Score, that Sabrina was going to become pregnant. We also knew that Tucker had someone he was seeing in secret, but watching it all unfold from their perspectives, I had a really great time with it! They had some hard moments, because pregnancy is difficult, having a child is difficult, on top of everything else they have going on. But I really enjoyed them as a couple! 

The Legacy had one part that had me in giggle fits throughout. And that was Alexander, the creepy doll. He was added to Logan and Grace's story, The Pact, which was previously in an anthology, and that story was expanded upon, and he was on of the additions. The fact that these four couples were going around sending him to their friends-at various occasions, like engagements and honeymoons, was just so hilarious, and how much they all hated and were scared by him they were!

Seeing these various moments in these characters lives, of them getting engaged and married, of finding out that they're pregnant, I'm really glad that we got to see more of their stories. The Legacy is what I always want from books, because I always want more, so I'm glad that we got it! 

These were such great stories, and I can't wait to read the spin off series! 

Author: Elle Kennedy 
Series: Off-Campus #4, 5 
Read: December 27th, 27th, 2022
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Books, and The Legacy is a End of Series 2022 Book!
Publisher: Elle Kennedy 
Published: September 26th 2016, September 21st 2021 

The Goal:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

The Legacy:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars