Book Review: The Iron Daughter

Love & Betrayal

A Faery World

Gone Mad

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

I reluctantly picked up Julie Kagawa's The Iron Daughter last fall. I say reluctantly because I didn't like The Iron King as much as I had hoped I would. Also, I'm very definitely Team Puck. And everyone told me that if I liked Puck, I wouldn't like this book. That it was more for Ash fans.

Well... after finishing the book (after having it on hold for over half a year), I can say I don't exactly agree. This book made me love Puck more and hate Ash more. Which is fine. And when I say I'm Team Puck that doesn't mean I'm rooting for a Puck/Meghan relationship. In fact, Puck deserves better. In my humble opinion, that is. I adore Robin Goodfellow and all his trickery.

My biggest issue with the book is that things fall into place a bit too easily. "If only we had..." "Oh what luck... We do!" Once is fine. Twice I can live with. But a handful of times... it bugs me. Meghan is our heroine, along with her friends Puck, Ash, Grim, and more. And too often things are just handed to her.

That being said, I did enjoy the book. The way the Iron Court was introduced in book one was fascinating, and I'm enjoying learning more about them. I can't wait for book three, The Iron Queen and book four, The Iron Knight. And if you love these, be sure to check out both the Winter's Passage and Summer's Crossing novellas (available in ebook only).

(I feel like book three's title spoiled me way back when I was reading book one.)

Be sure to follow Julie Kagawa on Twitter (she's a funny lady!) and check out her blog. I love the posts with Iron Fey comics.

Book Review: Spell Bound

At last, in the novel every Kelley Armstrong fan will need to own, all the major heroines and heroes of Otherworld are united. 

It's been ten years since Bitten, the first novel in Kelley Armstrong's New York Times bestselling Otherworld series. In that time hundreds of thousands of fans have ravenously devoured the adventures of Armstrong's witches, demons, and werewolves. Now, in Spell Bound, she brings them all together for her most sweeping tale yet. 

Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she's powerless to help herself. At the heartbreaking conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would prevent further pain for a young orphan. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise. 

And now, witch-hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell-casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Armstrong gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jamie, Hope, and other beloved characters, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.

I have been a fan of The Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong since I found Bitten and Stolen on the shelves of my local Borders in 2003. She is my favorite author, and this my favorite series. Everyone should read this series. It’s amazing! So I felt particularly lucky to snag an ARC of Spell Bound.

The next book, 13, will be the final book of the series, and Spell Bound is mostly about setting it up. But it’s still fabulous. As the series has progressed, the cast has gotten larger. And with the changing points of view, we’ve gotten to know each of the female main characters very well. And in Savannah’s story, it pulls all of the characters we know and love together.

Something big is going to happen, and it may change their world forever. Now is definitely the time to pick this series up if you haven’t already. Only one year until this series is concluded. But be sure to check out Kelley Armstrong’s site for info on short story, novella, and graphic novel information! And follow her on Twitter.

Book Review: Stolen

A letter to my captor…

Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist – almost.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher was given to me by a wonderful friend this past Yule. I tend to read mostly fantasy, but I also enjoy contemporary. And while I was feeling burnt out on fantasy, needing a contemporary, I grabbed this one from the shelf. And wow…

I must admit I didn’t read the synopsis until I was pulling this review together. I’d seen the book in stores. I’d added it to my “to-read” on Goodreads. (You should too.) But all I had read was the title, Stolen: A letter to my captor and the author’s name. That was enough to interest me.

While this story was written as a letter from Gemma to Ty, the man who kidnapped her, it was almost more like a journal with multiple entries. It was written in first person. The fact that she referred to Ty as “you” was the only indication that it was a letter. I was very conflicted about how I felt about both Ty and Gemma. I figured this guy in his early twenties who kidnapped a 16-year-old girl would very clearly be the villain, the bad guy, completely reprehensible. I also figured I’d be on Gemma’s side the whole time, waiting and wishing for her rescue. But it didn’t turn out that way. The writing influenced me to feel how Gemma was feeling. Ty was strong, handsome, and interesting. And Gemma annoyed me on several occasions.

I finished this book a while ago, and it’s been on my mind a lot since. I was a psych major in college, and I think that added an extra level of interest for me. But the fact that a day can’t go by without me thinking about this book is proof of how great it was. It definitely makes you think.

I always add a picture or two of the book covers in my review, but I felt the need to share several extra covers for this book. A few of them do a really good job of showing just how powerful this book is, so I decided to show them here.

Book Review: Priscilla the Great

If you think your middle school years are awkward and traumatic, 

try going through them with fire shooting out of your fingers!

Meet Priscilla Sumner, an ordinary seventh grader with extraordinary gifts. As if middle school isn’t hard enough, not only does Priscilla have to fight pimples and bullies, but genetically enhanced assassins trying to kill her and her family. Armed with wit, strength, and a genius best friend, Priscilla must defeat the Selliwood Institute, an organization dead set on turning children into killing machines.

Add an older brother annoyingly obsessed with Christina Aguilera, mischievous baby twin brothers who could scare the sin off of Satan, and parents more puzzling than a Rubik’s cube in the Bermuda triangle and expect a smoking page-turner!

I was asked to review Priscilla the Great by the author, Sybil Nelson. And it took me way too long to get to. I was almost kicking myself for not reading it sooner, as it was fabulous. It was the best middle grade novel I’ve read in a long time.

Priscilla, aka Priss, is a fiery, red-head about to enter seventh grade. She has an older brother, Josh, and twin terrors in the form of her little brothers Charlie and Chester. Her best friend, Tai, is brilliant, and her other friend Kyle, is… well… he’s your typical gross tween boy. Turns out he can be charming, too. As if life isn’t enough trouble during middle school years, Priscilla learns she can shoot fire out of her fingers by accidentally setting a towel on fire at her friend’s pool party. Thankfully, no one sees.

As much as Priscilla likes her powers, she feels alone. No one else in her family seems to have any abilities beyond that of a normal person. And fire shooting is just the beginning. Soon she discovers she can hear conversations happening in the next room. But when she’s kidnapped, she learns she is not the only “superhero” in her family.

Trust me when I tell you that you want to read this book. It’s smart and funny and you’ll love this cast of characters. This isn’t your typical middle grade book.

And be sure to check out The Kiss of Life and Too Little Too Late, books two and three in this series. There is also a book called Twin Shorts, which includes short stories set in this world and is currently free on Amazon.

Guest Post: Sybil Nelson

Inspiration is Everywhere

Once people read my wacky story Priscilla the Great, one of the most popular questions I get is “Where do you come up with your ideas?” Well, ideas are the easy part. I truly believe that inspiration is everywhere. I taught high school for 9 years and my students provided me plenty of ideas. I often didn’t have time to write down everything I wanted to. Sometimes my students would make a special trip to my office to share with me something funny that happened to them. I was never without my notebook and anytime I saw or heard something that I could use in a book, I’d take a second to jot it down.

I find that people are kind of confused about me when they find out that I was a math teacher and that I’m currently getting my PhD in Biostatistics. They wonder how in the world math relates to children’s literature. And once again I say, inspiration is everywhere. In November of 2009, I was at a math conference called Cha-Cha days. (Don’t be deceived. There was no dancing involved.) From nine in the morning to ten at night, mathematicians from the South Eastern region of the United States presented their current research. (Myself included. My presentation was on the Dynamics of Nearly Circular Vortex Filaments.) Anyway, through the course of the day, I not only listened to these presentations from a mathematical standpoint but from a literary one. More than once I found myself taking notes on how I could take someone’s idea and turn it into a plot for my Priscilla the Great series.

For example, during a talk by Dr. Demetrios Christodoulides of the University of Central Florida about Optical Airy beams and bullets, I worked out what was at the time going to be book 3 of the Priscilla the Great series. (At this point, I’ve had so many ideas for the series that now it is going to be book five) What are Airy beams? I’m glad you asked. Basically, they are self-regenerative beams of light that bend on their own depending on factors of diffraction and dispersion. At this point in the research, they can shoot a beam of light or a bullet of light and have it bend around an object. Of course, they can only do this at the nano level right now, but imagine the implications if they can replicate this on a larger scale. Imagine a bullet that could bend it’s trajectory at will after it’s been shot. I took the research a step further and decided to make it a bullet that could bend time and thus came Priscilla the Great Book 5: The Time Travelling Bullet.

So what’s the moral of this story? That I am a complete nerd? Well, yes, but also that inspiration is everywhere. What do you love? What motivates you? I bet your passion would make a great plot. Inspiration is everywhere.

Be sure to check out the Priscilla the Great website and add this book to your Goodreads. You can read Sybil Nelson’s blog here. Be sure to check back for the Priscilla the Great book review, here at Aine's Realm this week.

Book Review and Giveaway: Senior Year Bites

Contest closed. Winner will be notified by Decadent Publishing

Senior year is supposed to be fun: boys, dances and graduation.

It's significantly harder to enjoy it when you're dead.

Truth or Dare is supposed to be fun too. It's not even close to dangerous, so playing at Steph's house didn't seem like a bad idea. My dare? Spend the rest of the night in the graveyard next to her house. It was only a couple of hours until false dawn, my proscribed return time, so no big deal right? Right.

I survived the attack, but it took me a few days to figure out what was going on. I mean vampires might stalk pop culture, but they're just myths. Yeah. Not so much.

School is a lot more difficult when you're a nocturnal creature of the night. I was managing, but I couldn't keep it hidden from my friends for long. After I managed to accidentally save one of our cheerleaders from her drunk and ill-intentioned boyfriend. Steph decided that we should be cool, like superheroes, and fight crime.

Only I'm a vampire, not a hero, and we live in a sleepy New England town, so crime's a little harder to come by. At least it is until a serial killer moves into the area. He's got the authorities stumped, but then again, the cops don't have a teenage, blood-sucking, non-hero on their team.

Senior Year Bites is the debut novel of J.A. Campbell. It was a fun, fast-paced read. There seemed to be a bit too much going on. If the story had stuck to just vampires, I think it would have worked better for me. Other supernaturals were thrown into the mix. And I’m particularly picky about the use of faeries and their lore.

I enjoyed most of the characters. I know our main character, Meg, was going through quite a bit, but I just couldn’t make any connection with her. Her moods and attitude often changed too fast to follow. And some of the events that happened were either too coincidental or just weren’t believable enough for me. That being said, it was a fun book, and I hope you all check it out. Read to the bottom of this post to find out how to be entered to win a copy of Senior Year Bites.

The Main Characters of Senior Year Bites by J.A. Campbell

People always ask authors where they get their ideas. Do they base their characters off of people they knew, that kind of thing.

I don’t directly base my characters off of anyone. I do draw from experiences though. Everyone does. In the case of Senior Year Bites, Meg, Steph and Ann’s friendship was drawn from a similar (without the supernatural elements unfortunately) friendship I had in middle school and high school.

I had two friends and we hung out together through most of middle school and part of high school. We did a ton of things together, especially when we were younger. I drew a lot from that friendship when I wrote Meg, Steph and Ann. Now, I didn’t say, oh, Steph is D, Meg is me and Ann is S by any means. There are elements of all of us in each character. And I did not base Meg off of myself at all. I also drew from other people and experiences when I shaped those characters.

It was kind of fun to draw from that past relationship though. Some memories it brought up were great, some painful. Some were along the lines of ‘what was I thinking.’ My only defense was that I was young and had a lot to learn. Still do incidentally.

Incidentally, the guys in Senior Year Bites are not directly drawn from high school people I knew. They were created the way I make most of my other characters. Little bits from here, little bits from there.

Anyway, that’s a brief insight into three of the main characters in Senior Year Bites.

Want to win a copy of Senior Year Bites? Just leave me a comment and a way to contact you. In addition to Senior Year Bites, you will win one other title from Decadent Publishing. Winners choice!

Want to win more? Other giveaways are listed below, as well as info on the grand prize. Good luck!

Decadent Publishing Worldwide YA Blog Stomp

Follow the Decadent Publishing YA authors as they travel around the world, giving away goodies along the way and collecting entries for our

GIANT KINDLE GIFT PACK!

Comment on as many blogs on the tour as you want, each day you comment counts as one entry into the Grand Prize drawing.

Blog Tour Schedule 

July 2 - Daily Dose of Decadence

July 5 -  Julie Particka

July 6 -  The Romance Studio chat

July 7 - Enduring Romance

July 8 - The Compulsive Reader

July 11  -Zombies Don't Blog

July 12 - The Eclectic Reader

July 13 - Vanessa Barger

July 14 - Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf

July 15 - Sassy Book Lover

July 17 - Awesomesauce Book Club

July 18 -  Leslie Soule

July 19 - Jon Gibbs

July 20 - Julie Campbell

July 21 - Aine's Realm

July 24 - Daily Dose of Decadence

July 25 - Reader Girls  

July 26 - Romance Author Hotspot

July 27 - Musings of a YA Reader

                  Pensive Bookeaters

July 28 - Coffee Time Romance

July 30 - Jen Wylie
August 1 - GRAND PRIZE Giveaways! Daily Dose of Decadence 

GRAND PRIZE
1 Kindle loaded with 6 Decadent Publishing Young Adult ebooks! 

1ST PRIZE

12 Decadent Publishing ebooks of winner's choice, 1 per month for 12months.

2ND PRIZE

6 Decadent Publishing ebooks of winner's choice, 1 every month for 6 months.

Book Review: Forever

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy from Maggie Stiefvater. 

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

I was a fan of Maggie Stiefvater’s Lament, way back when it had the grey cover, and you couldn’t find it anywhere. So, naturally, when Shiver came out, I jumped right on it. I fell in love with Sam Roth instantly. And I loved his relationship with Grace Brisbane. My only issue was jealousy. Sam was the exact kind of guy I wanted. Just more 3D than he was on the pages. But when I closed Shiver, it felt like Sam and Grace’s story was over. But I knew it was only the first of a trilogy.

And, of course, when Linger came out, I jumped on that one, too. I couldn’t wait to see more Sam and Grace. We got two more points of view in this book. Cole and Isabel (who was supporting in the first book). Again, Maggie wrote a lovely story, her words flowing beautifully. And I was even more excited for the third installment. But also sad, because I knew I would miss this world and these characters.

Forever… I got my hands on a review copy, and I spent three weeks savoring it… a bit here and a bit there. It was just as incredible as the other two. Normally, I prefer my werewolves fighting. Lots of action. Blood. Anger. Violence. But this trilogy is the opposite. It’s a very sweet love story. (Which is normally not my thing.) But between this wonderful world, these amazing characters, and Maggie’s beautiful writing, these books are some of my favorites.

Be sure to check out the entire trilogy: The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater. And while you’re at it, check out Lament and Ballad.