I've always loved paranormal romance. It's been around for ages. And with the rise of the whole "New Adult" genre and fantasy blend of that 3.75 Stars
I've always loved paranormal romance. It's been around for ages. And with the rise of the whole "New Adult" genre and fantasy blend of that in the last decade or so, a la A Court of Thorns and Roses I guess they are calling it "Romantasy" nowadays. So I guess I am having a Romatasy moment. See how trendy I am? Ha.
But I digress.
I will read anything that involves romance and Vikings. Period. So even though I was worried this would lean too YA, I took a chance and gave this a go. It did lean YA quite a bit, but not enough to turn me off.
The world building was decent and the characters were fairly well-rounded. It was a little rough in the execution, especially in the middle to middle-end...and I called the ending less than halfway through, but the Norse mythology aspects and the chemistry between the main leads was enough to offset it for me. For the most part. Feyra, her constant guilt waffling over her family, and her sexual thoughts at the most unrealistic moments was...annoying.
But all in all, I had a good time. I'll definitely continue with book two.
Because Vikings. And romance. And fire sword. But mostly the hot Viking....more
I love mythology and I’m pretty sure Norse mythology is my favorite of them all. This was such a digestible way to review such great stories. I want mI love mythology and I’m pretty sure Norse mythology is my favorite of them all. This was such a digestible way to review such great stories. I want more....more
Last night I got a bee up my ass and decided to count and see how many unread physical books I have on my home library shelves...and l3.25 - 3.5 Stars
Last night I got a bee up my ass and decided to count and see how many unread physical books I have on my home library shelves...and let’s just say the number was pretty shameful.
Thus, I decided it was time to cull the herd. So decided I would try the cliched booktube trend of reading first chapters of books that have been on my shelves awhile...unhauling anything that didn’t at least mildly capture my attention.
This book has been on my shelves the longest, so I grabbed it and figured I’d read one chapter and set it aside in the donate pile...342 pages later, I can proudly say I unhauled one fucking book. But it’s now a "read" book. So nanner nanner nanner.
I really enjoyed certain elements of this story and was (obviously) drawn in from the very first page. I thought the ending got a little dicey as far as plot details and general continuity is concerned...And I feel like the romance/love was never truly cemented enough for my tastes...but all in all a decent story I’m glad I read...
If only so I can say I read a book from my shelves I had started to think I never would get to. A truly satisfying feeling....more
Le sigh. This was very disappointing to me, which was surprising. It had DRAGONS in it, for fucks sake.
So, as perSettling on 2 "It Was Okay" Stars...
Le sigh. This was very disappointing to me, which was surprising. It had DRAGONS in it, for fucks sake.
So, as per usual when I'm not sure how I want to structure shit, let's go with the proven number system...
PS - ***spoilers*** ***spoilers*** ***spoilers***
Issue #1: The World-Building
I've gotten very jaded in my world-building rendezvous in my 36-year-old age. After being spoiled now by such amazing world-builders for so many years and series, I find that the bar of my satisfaction is pretty high these days.
And for those who scoff and say, but this is romance, not high fantasy...I say...
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Look no further than Nalini Singh, JD Robb, Kresley Cole, JR Ward, and numerous others and you will find authors who can marry romance and solid world-building just fine.
And not to say that the world-building here was AWFUL - it wasn't. It just wasn't as cohesive and fully fleshed out as I would have liked, especially when the characters actually traveled to a supposed different realm.
2) The Magic System...
...seemed to lack any actual system.
We learn early on that Gabriel (the Hero of the book) is a dragon from "Paragon" *eye roll* with all these supposed magical dragon powers (none of which are ever fully explained or which we even get to see) because he has been cursed by some voodoo witch named Crimson who dresses like she works at a New Orleans carnival - which apparently she does. As a cover.
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But fear not, because Raven (short for Ravenna), the heroine of the book (whom Gabriel saved from a Cancerous near-death by feeding her a dragon tooth he ripped from his mouth, thus "bonding" them) is apparently some badass "sorceress" (which is apparently more betta than a common witch), which Gabriel was able to sense based on a random picture of her in the newspaper.
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Raven's "powers" are never fully explained or realized, except to say that she can absorb the spells and magic from...stuff.
3) The Hero
As I mentioned earlier, the book starts with Gabriel already very weakened by the curse Crimson the drug-addled, voodoo Stevie Nicks lookalike witch put on him...somehow. And he kinda, sorta, uses the last of his magic to "bond" Raven to him using said tooth. So she can come to his mansion and use the magic she isn't even aware she has at that point to read grimoires (you know, spell books) he has gathered to figure out how to un-curse him.
Oh, and apparently the girl he bonded to him before Raven - who was a witch who could talk to spirits - had a scary abusive father who kept harassing her while she was at Gabriel's mansion. But instead of just vaporizing the guy like a badass, Gabriel helps her dye her hair blonde and sets her up as the manager of some rock band, you know, as a cover.
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I'm sorry, but I like my PNR heroes to be badasses. And nothing about Gabriel was badass.
I mean, for fucks sake, after he and Raven discover they are mates and discuss ad nauseam how possessive he is of her, how he won't let her out of his sight, how all the other dragons in Paragon would be drawn to her because FEMALE...what's the first thing he does when they arrive in Paragon?
"Here, stay here by yourself all alone while I go talk to these people and gather intel" aka leave you completely vulnerable in this world you've never been to that I've described as totally dangerous so you can get captured by the enemy because PLOT POINT.
4) The Bullshit Ending
In the end, as you can probably imagine - or perhaps not since this "review" is kind of all over the place - the ending boils down to a magical showdown between Raven and Voodoo. Or, as I like to call it, a Wizard's Duel...
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Which probably has to be one of the worst finales of all time.
Crimson is supposedly this crazy strong voodoo witch who has honed her magic badassery over the course of 300 long years. Meaning, bitch got skills, right? While Raven is this chick with barely discovered witch - I'm sorry, sorceress - powers, which she apparently has because she's a descendant of Circe. You know, the famous witch from Greek mythology. Sorry to throw that on you so randomly, but since it was thrown on us pretty fucking randomly in the book, I thought it was only fitting. I mean, it was an insult to Greek Mythology, really. Like an attempt to piggy-back a legit story to make your story make sense.
Anybullshit, the wizard's duel goes back and forth a bit, in a random way where nothing actually makes sense. Crimson somehow throws some magic black powder at Raven, thereby sending her back into the past, where she is being burned alive at the stake. Or something. But now that she's all dragon tooth infused (or something) she can't burn. Or something. So instead, she grabs past-Crimson and throws her into the fire. Somehow. They then return to the present and Raven says nanner nanner nanner. And Crimson dies.
Unfortunately, however, before throwing Raven into the past (somehow), Crimson "killed" Gabriel by turning him into stone. Somehow. And so after Crismon dies, Raven does some wazoo spell she pulled out of...somewhere...and brings Gabriel back to life. Somehow.
And there you have it folks.
Somehow, something happened somewhere. And they all lived happily ever after....more
I can obviously see the similarities to Harry Potter that everyone talks about, but being that I only rThis was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.
I can obviously see the similarities to Harry Potter that everyone talks about, but being that I only read the first book in the HP series in 2017...I didn't really care all that much, quite frankly.
I thought Percy's sarcastic wit made for a great narrator and, as always, I love it when mythology is tied into a story in a way I enjoy.
This was an incredibly satisfying ending to a series I really enjoyed.
In this third installment, a lot of questions left by the first t4.5 Solid Stars
This was an incredibly satisfying ending to a series I really enjoyed.
In this third installment, a lot of questions left by the first two books were finally answered; questions about Cat, questions about the Gods, and questions about stuff I don't necessarily want to even mention because it would tip you off (and possibly spoil something) by mentioning it so blatantly.
Griffin and Cat are definitely one of my favorite romance couples. They truly are made for each other and I loved that we got three complete books in which to bask in their luuuuurve.
I really liked the way Amanda Bouchet weaved Greek mythology and some of the gods so seamlessly throughout both the foundation and plot lines of this series. I mentioned in my review for book one how something about that bothered me...well, it all makes sense in this book and then some.
I've read books depicting the gods before and it can be difficult to include them as characters without either, 1) making them cruel and unrelatable because you don't want to make them seem weak or inauthentic, or 2) make them totally lame and powerless because you are trying too hard to make them seem more human and relatable.
I personally thought Bouchet managed to perfectly straddle that line of making them both powerful and authentic, but still relatable and actually likeable. Not an easy feat.
I loved all the gods and how they were portrayed throughout this series.
I'll stop here so I don't ruin anything for anyone, but I will say this.
I. WANT. MORE.
I need more of this series so we can find out what happens to the peripheral characters.
You will know exactly what I mean when you read it. Seriously though. I need to know what happens (view spoiler)[ with Ianthe/Lycheron, Carver/Bellanca, and of course, my Kato. (hide spoiler)] I hope all those waiting for this one enjoy it as much as I did.
I enjoyed this, but it took me over a week to get through it - which is always indicative of what?
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That I enjoyed it...but had no probl3.5 Stars
I enjoyed this, but it took me over a week to get through it - which is always indicative of what?
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That I enjoyed it...but had no problem putting it down.
Why, you ask?
Because TRIALS.
Trials, trials, trials...
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No, not a jury trial, but a trial of performance AKA constant battles and fighting scenes.
CONSTANT.
Now, I love me some action scenes...but this book felt like one crusade after another. One test of ability after another.
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One more opportunity for Cat to suddenly "find" new abilities.
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One more opportunity to ask the Gods for help.
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Over and over again.
Now, don't get me wrong, I DID like it.
I love the connection between Cat and Griffin, PERIOD.
And I am always a sucker for anything with magic, mythological references, fated mates, and a "band of brothers" type team scenario.
I just thought it was a little heavy and detailed on the constant fighting scenes...some of that detail could have been used for furthering character details, etc.
But whatevs!
Looking forward to jumping into my ARC of book three.
Wow. So this took me almost a full year to get through.
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And no, I'm not actually joking (shocking, I know). GR says I started this in A4 Stars
Wow. So this took me almost a full year to get through.
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And no, I'm not actually joking (shocking, I know). GR says I started this in August....of 2018.
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But what can I say.
Aside from the fact that I am probably just too dumb and too uncultured to truly enjoy this thing to it's full capacity...I'm also not a pretentious asshole who is going to pretend I lurved it to pieces just to look smart. (And no, I am not suggesting anyone who says they love this is a liar. One of my BBF GR buds Ana O really does love this. But she's also way smarter and more interesting than me, so there's that).
Don't get me wrong though, I really enjoyed the book as a whole - especially the stunning artwork, as I'm a sucker for pretty pictures - but not gonna lie, I got confused by all the names and incest and relationships a lot. And I am one of those people who will flip back to the family tree or index pages to refresh my memory - which is probably one of the many reasons why it took me so long to read this.
But I digress.
I love that I read this, because it definitely taught me that a lot of things I thought I knew about mythology was totally incorrect. But that's what happens when you trust the accuracy of Hollywood, Marvel, and Percy Jackson as applied to REAL mythology.
My bad.
I also love knowing that I now have this beautiful book on my shelves for future reference. So I consider this a win and I'm glad I thoughtfully read every page instead of rushing through it. Thanks Ana for the recommendation....more
***This book and the next in the series are only $0.62 on amazon US right now, people!***
Solid Start.
This was a great start to what I hope will be a s***This book and the next in the series are only $0.62 on amazon US right now, people!***
Solid Start.
This was a great start to what I hope will be a super decent trilogy.
This is my first (I think) Amanda Bouchet and I was really impressed, actually. The world building was well done and she managed to get it done without the usual first book info dump.
I really like the female MC, Cat, although she does whine a lot and I sometimes wanted to punch her right in her cantankerous mouth. I am a sucker for super powers and/or magic of any kind though, so I'll let it slide.
I also enjoyed all the Greek Mythology integrated into the story, although I'm not sure how accurate it all is...does Hades really cheat on Persephone? (Ana?) Also, a few other details seem a little hazy in this regard, but I am willing to suspend my misgivings for the sake of the story in this case.
I really need to brush up on my Greek mythology though, yo. I used to know this shit, but apparently the brain only has so much room and I've simply read too much smut.
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Anyway, looking forward to book two. Hope my library has it too since it had this one!
This book was released in 2014, so I am a little late to the party.
That being the case, I am sure there are already some super awesome5+ Stars
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This book was released in 2014, so I am a little late to the party.
That being the case, I am sure there are already some super awesome reviews out there for this so I will (attempt) to keep this short.
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This book is a spin on classic Greek Mythology. And super fucking fun.
Being that I was was an English major back in the day...I read my fair share of English Literature, American Literature, Shakespearean Literature...
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...and EVERY word of Paradise-Death-By-Iambic-Pentameter-Lost (which I actually enjoyed immensely due to an AMAZEBALLS professor. So much so that it remains a favorite and I have a line from it desecrating the Val temple).
But anyTMI.
I also read A LOT of Greek Mythology.
And - as confusing as it sometimes could be with all the names and the crossovers - I really enjoyed it.
So when I randomly saw this book last week - and saw that it was a take on Medusa in an alternate book universe where THIS didn't happen...
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I thought this book might prove to be mildly amusing.
Boy, was I surprised with how much I enjoyed this.
I love how the author took mythology and put her own twists on it - twists I really liked.
This book was obviously based on Ovid's version of the Medusa story, but Lyons was able to take the "character" of Medusa - usually seen as being a murderous monster - and make her more human, more likeable.
In fact, in this book, Medusa is a really GOOD person with a really honorable heart. You are rooting for her throughout the entire book - which I thought was fun. Rooting for Medusa. Who would have thought?
Anyway, after finishing this, I immediately ran to GR to see if there were any other books in this series. Sadly, it looks like this is the only one.
I wish she had a book about Hades and Persephone too. I LOVED them in this.
Oh well, though.
In the end, I really enjoyed this book and it completely rekindled my dormant interest in mythology.
So if anyone has any rec's for me, shoot me a message! (Especially YOU, Ana!)
Other than that, as promised...
THE CUP COUNT: -One medium, iced, no sugar added mocha latte from the Coffee Bean (have one, it will change your life)... -With one bottle of "Tropic Thunder" pressed juice...AKA some fancy, overpriced fad juice made from Kale, Spinach, Romaine, and some other shit I would never ingest in one sitting unless some smarty pants hipster had decided to make his or her organic juice dreams become reality. (I didn't even want to vomit, so I consider this a win.)
PS...It's a good thing we aren't doing a Sir Handyman Cup Count because that would be THREE Jack Daniels's and lemonade (of the Crystal Light variety - try it and save yourself some calories).
Before 9am.
On a Monday...LOLZ.
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And NO, he's not an alcoholic either, people. Homeslice works graveyards and just finished five 12 hour shift days IN. A. ROW. So he be celebrating. And is now passed out sleeping.
Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️
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