A.J. Maguire

Category: Reading

  • Book Review – House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas

    So there has been a lot of conversation around this book. Some people hating it, some people loving it. Most people falling somewhere in between.

    I fear I fall “somewhere in between” loving and hating it.

    I’ve followed some of the arguments about how this is Bryce’s story and while many people may have wanted to see a larger gathering of talents and minds for this war, I’m afraid that’s not where I felt the most disappointed. I fully accepted that these people did not know one another and that a crossover beyond what we saw was unlikely to occur.

    The things that bothered me were not that Bryce was a turd to Azriel and Nesta, but rather that Bryce never seems to grow.

    Like… ever.

    The reason I loved the original Crescent City novel, and what had me picking up the second novel, was that Bryce grew an incredible amount in that first book. She underwent some horrifying things and she as a character grew from them. She is precisely the same person at the end of House of Flame and Shadow as she was at the beginning, and she really should not be.

    Enter the Spoiler Zone.

    I do hate giving spoilers, but the things that bother me about this book require some details, so here it goes.

    #1 – At no point did I fear Bryce would lose.

    Someone should have perished. Someone we cared about. They needed to LOSE somewhere in this novel, and in a big way. But even when they kind of-sort-of lost, that person was brought back from the brink of death and still played a major role in the end scenes. The book falls flat because nothing was really at stake.

    #2 – The… info-dump magic video-montage.

    This lasted… uh… for ages. And it gave way too much away. Sure, it was interesting at first, but I remember that every time we flashed back to Bryce in the cave listening/watching to the history that I started to groan and asked, out loud to my very confused husband; “We’re really just going to spoon feed me everything right here?”

    The book would have been far more interesting if some of this magic-montage-history-lesson had been corrupted somehow. Say, maybe, at the water parasites… and instead of just having Bryce show up and mention they have a water problem, the Ocean Queen could maybe have been investigating this all along since… you know… she’s an OCEAN QUEEN and innately tied to the water.

    But that’s just my gripe here. The big mysteries were explained and unveiled too early on.

    #3 – Hunt got sacrificed to Bryce’s awesomeness too much.

    My lord, if she mentioned Bryce doing all this amazing stuff in her pink shoes one more time I was going to lose my mind. What little Hunt was allowed to do never eclipsed or matched what Bryce did. Ever. It made him the weaker of the two, rather than her equal in the relationship, and this… This frustrated me the most. Relationships are built on give and take, and we read Romance and Romantic Fantasy to see two people come together and work out how this looks for them specifically.

    Hunt was constantly on his back foot and I kept waiting for him to have a moment where he got to do some of the giving, or even have his own idea that surprises us all where he narrowly skates through danger, but he was never given this opportunity.

    Now…

    All that said, I gave the book 4 stars. The series is a worthwhile read for worldbuilding alone, and the Ruhn and Lidia plotline had me invested through this book. In fact, Ruhn seemed to carry the novel the most as he and Lidia had the stakes I was looking for and seemed to struggle the most to overcome the circumstances and problems surrounding them.

    Happy Reading!

    PURCHASE LINK!

  • Book Review – The Broken Kingdoms Series by LJ Andrews

    First of all…

    Yes, I discovered this author via BookTok.

    A ton of my friends encouraged me to check out Book Tok and since I was already on TikTok, I decided to check it out.

    Please, no politics and raging in my comments, social media constantly has backlash from people who dislike certain platforms and I’m old enough to remember the rise and fall of many of them. Suffice, anything and everything can be exploited for attention/misdirection or to earn a buck, the responsibility falls on you to do your research and participate with moderation and intelligence.

    SO!

    The Ever King by LJ Andrews has a fantastic book trailer that caught my attention. And I devoured that book in two days only to discover it had a major cliffhanger at the end. Which.. fair. It’s a marketing strategy and it worked well on me since I went out and grabbed Curse of Shadows and Thorns by the same author whilst waiting for the next book.

    Which is a roundabout way of saying how I stumbled into the Broken Kingdoms Series, but there you have it. The books are on Kindle Unlimited, which is good because I have a husband who loves me and wants me to be able to read at my own pace (often quite fast) so we have a Kindle Unlimited account.

    Say what you want about Amazon, Kindle Unlimited is brilliant. One price every month and I have access to millions of titles? This. Saves. Me. Heartache. And it makes authors money who would otherwise have been passed over because my book budget would only allow for X amount of novels that month.

    Anyway, Curse of Shadows and Thorns is the introduction to the Broken Kingdoms series by LJ Andrews and I adored this story. Yes, it’s adult. So walk in with your eyes open. Yes, it’s romance. It’s Vikings meet Fae, full of wonder and hope and tragedy.

    Now, I will admit that I saw the twist coming in Book 3. Yes, there are tropes and some predictable elements by the time you hit books 4 and 5, but at the end of the day… I had so much fun reading them.

    Just… fun.

    And really, as much as I love books that open my heart and mind to other cultures and ways of life, sometimes you just want a girl to see the good man beneath the monstrous exterior, and for love to conquer all the ugliness that came before it.

    Happy reading, everyone.

    PURCHASE LINK for Curse of Shadows and Thorns on Amazon!

  • Book Review – Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

    This book captured me. It dragged me back to the pages every time I tried to get on with my regular life and do some of my own work. It was enchanting. And smart. And I absolutely fell in love with the two main characters.

    Moreso, I fell in love with the way they fell in love with each other. Roman Kitt and Iris Winnow have leapt straight to the top of my favorite couples list. Right after Jamie and Claire Fraser.

    The world was everything I never knew I needed in a fantasy novel. WWII-esque with shades of magic. Where magic does very little outside of the pantheon and people maintain their day to day struggles of paying the bills. There are some special artifacts, like some enchanted typewriters, and the idea of a shop being able to weigh what’s in your coin purse and shuffle what you can afford straight to the front of the shelves.

    It was brilliant.

    I adored this book. Seriously.

    5 stars.

    5.5 if we want to tag a little extra on because Roman Kitt’s reactions when in the trenches hit me so hard in the guts that I could scarcely breathe.

    Divine Rivals Purchase Link!

  • Book Review – The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Caressa Broadbent

    A while back I picked up Six Scorched Roses by this same author and I enjoyed it immensely. It embraced some of the cliches of vampire romance novels but it did this in such a way that I was comfortable instead of rolling my eyes. I enjoyed this so much that I went ahead and snagged the novel The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

    I’m not gonna lie.

    I struggled through the first chapters of this book.

    The main character made me twitch every time they mentioned how dangerous the world was that they were living in, and how fragile they were compared to the vampires she lived amongst. Seriously. It was at least once a page and I was starting to feel like the author was beating me over the head with it and I nearly put the book down. But because I loved Six Scorched Roses, I continued.

    And I am glad that I did, because somewhere in the middle of it I started to realize that the mantra of weakness and danger was supposed to be there. It was drilled into the main character’s head by her father, and was a means of controlling her, and it was very satisfying to see when our little serpent began to see that control for what it was.

    So, my proverbial hat’s off to Ms. Broadbent. That was masterfully played.

    The world created was interesting, even if I found her pantheon a little confusing at times, and the action was brutally engaging. The vampires weren’t the undead that I grew up with, so I didn’t have my normal repulsion of them — aka, they’re alive, it’s just a weird kind of undying. I loved rooting for the characters and the romance built very nicely. I will note for my friends who read these reviews that it is an adult novel with adult scenes.

    At any rate, it’s a good book with an interesting slant on vampires and a lot of heart-pounding action.

    PURCHASE LINK for Amazon!

  • Book Review – Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

    Given how much I have enjoyed Sarah J Maas and her worlds, it should come as no surprise that this Romantasy has been on my radar for a while. I was lucky enough to be given a gift card to Barnes and Noble for Christmas and immediately set about snagging this book.

    MILD SPOILER ALERT — Only read on if you don’t mind a smidgen of talk about THINGS.

    First thing to note — I loved Xaden. Like, from moment one of him entering the stage, I quite enjoyed him. All the stuff I heard about this novel, I thought I would have moments where I didn’t like him but truth is… everything he did made sense. And everything about the world this girl was raised in had all my red flag alarms going off.

    Which means that the big reveal at the end didn’t really hit me the way it might have hit others.

    You mean the militaristic society banning certain books and allowing kids to plunge to death on Conscription Day just to see if they’ll have the wits to get across a parapet is hiding something evil? Who would guess?

    So the entire book I’m mostly watching Violet to see when she wises up, and munching popcorn while the emotions fester between her and Xaden. But I really dug into the narrative the moment we meet the dragons, because I love stories where dragons bond/speak/get on the level with humans. Tairn’s exasperation was excellent.

    I will say that Andarna probably shouldn’t have been so puppyish if they were trying to keep her age on the down-low from authorities. Any adult watching that scenario would be stroking their chin about the true nature of feathertails, and that’s based on maybe three interactions they get to see from afar.

    Next up…

    Having been through Basic Training, I thoroughly enjoyed the militaristic aspects of Violet’s training. Outside of the very real threat to the lives of these kids, I was right at home with the physical demands they placed on her and the struggle she had to overcome them.

    The romance built nicely, but as always, I warn Parents that there are explicit scenes in this book. Which, to be fair, I keep meaning to have a longer conversation about explicit scenes in books because they are so popular. Before I do, let me clarify by saying ‘kids’ in this book are consenting age, I’m just showing how old I am in calling them kids.

    My very conservative upbringing blushes at a lot of these scenes. If I feel they are gratuitous, I pass them over. My eyes literally skim the page hunting for the conversation that comes after because, quite frankly, while intimacy is important to keeping a romance healthy, its the vulnerable moments after that truly define that relationship.

    Because I am constantly trying to improve my craft, I did read a book recently that describes what makes a good intimate scene, and when I remember the title and who wrote it, I’ll be sure to update this post, but for now I’ll make note of what truly stuck out to me. What was explained was that you had to be able to say why only these two people could be having this scene at this time, what it reveals about them as individuals as well as them as a couple. And this makes so much sense to me that I have to wonder why I didn’t notice it before.

    Suffice, in this book, the intimate scenes made sense. I mean, some of it could have been put behind a closed door, but you don’t pick up a romantasy without certain expectations so… fans might have murdered Yarros if she closed that door too soon.

    The story was fun and I get the hype that surrounded it. The characters have stuck with me, even if some aspects of the world haven’t, and I’m excited to see what happens next.

    Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros

  • Book Review – Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent

    SO, I have been reading and I have a backlog of reviews I need to post up here. My husband recently introduced me to BookTok on TikTok and I have discovered a ton of books that I want to read.

    Six Scorched Roses was one of the books that kept popping up and it caught my attention. I should preface this review with a disclaimer — This is a romance novel. It has explicit scenes.

    I knew it was “Romantasy” when I picked it up but I had no real knowledge about what world I was walking into, so color me surprised when I discovered vampires were still going strong. I have strong feelings about vampires in the romance genre, which I haven’t been shy about in the past. There are some discussions to be had about the psychology behind death and sex walking hand in hand, but I never saw the appeal of a predatory half-corpse giving me the come hither look.

    Necrophilia, much?

    That said…

    I loved this book.

    The vampires were not the undead – not that I could tell anyway? Her other books may delve deeper into the worldbuilding behind them. They had two distinct species (feathered wings versus bat wings) and while they did feed on blood and have weakness to the sun, they did not fit neatly into the cookie cutter stereotype we’ve come to know for vampires.

    This was enough of a difference that I was able to move past the idea that Vale – our curmudgeon antihero – was a vampire. I enjoyed him as a character. And I enjoyed how Lilith – our protagonist – interacted with him.

    But what I really enjoyed was the language.

    This book is beautifully written. And the story itself – outside of the romance – is just classical enough (scary vampire in the manor at the top of the hill) without crossing into cliche (we have a medical crisis that has to be solved and a loved one on the line if it isn’t solved soon) and… yes. I loved it.

    Again, this book has spice. Explicit scenes. So if you prefer clean romance, this might not be for you. For everyone else, I do recommend it.

    You can find Six Scorched Roses on Amazon Kindle Unlimited.

  • Book Review – A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas

    This is a lovely, quiet book. It shows the aftermath of a massive battle and how the characters are coping (or attempting to cope) with all that they saw and were forced to do. In a way, I wish I had read it first out of the pile of books I got for Christmas because it would have fit the setting of Winter Solstice.

    Maas is very good at confronting trauma in her work, which I’ve mentioned before. A Court of Frost and Starlight is no exception here. I was able to read it in a day and carried a sense of healing and understanding away from the novel. The characters are all quite real, their reactions understandable, and it was heartening to see them taking steps toward the future.

    As an author myself, I take certain things away from every book I read. Cassandra Clare and Naomi Novik always teach me the beauty of language, for instance. Sarah J Maas, and this book in particular, put on display the need to slow down and let the characters just be. Let them be “human” on the page. (I put that in quotation marks because none of her characters are human in this book, but their reactions and emotions most certainly are.)

    We tend to get all huffy-puffy about the need for plot. For entertainment. For something to be happening. But we can get all those things from a movie or a game. Reading is the only place where we can connect to characters on a human level. Where we can take a breath and go — Yes. I understand that completely.

    So, thank you, Sarah J Maas for this book. You’ve taught me a lot.

    For the disclaimers, these books are adult in nature. There are explicit scenes, so be mindful for younger readers.

    PURCHASE LINKS – Amazon – Barnes and Noble

  • Book Review – Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

    I have long been a Cassandra Clare fan. The Infernal Devices series remains one of my favorites of all time and I will often re-read the series just so I can listen to Will and Tessa and Jem tell me their story again. So it should come as no surprise that I was delighted to hear she had written about the offspring of my favorite characters in Chain of Gold.

    I enjoy the period in which these books are written far more than I do the modern series.

    I quite loved Lucie Herondale and her brother James and I did enjoy Cordelia. It was fun meeting the Merry Thieves and watching them interact, even if I was having remind myself who was related to who and how. There really are a lot of names on the page, which I imagine shows the Institute bursting with life and thriving under the leadership, so there is a purpose to having so many.

    However…

    There were so many points of view that I simply couldn’t fully attach to one. I still love them and I will get the rest of the series, but there were sections of the book that felt rushed, as though the author were not given the proper amount of time to let their voices come through. It may be a space issue, since this is a larger book, but I am not shy of large books and would have loved more.

    Parents, these are safe. There are no explicit scenes to be wary of, though there are adult conversations.

    I am looking forward to the next book, but this series cannot unseat the Infernal Devices from my favorite shelf. I’m afraid I just could not “befriend” these characters like I was able to do with Will, Tessa, and Jem.

  • Book Review – Crescent City by Sarah J Maas

    Alright, so we already know I was a fan of Sarah J Maas’s Court of Thorns and Roses, so it comes as no surprise that I enjoyed this book. It is a big book that you can settle into for several days/weeks depending on your reading speed. Personally, I had some time off with my kiddo during the Christmas holiday and, because this book was one of my presents (thank you, Husband!) I dove right in.

    I started this novel Christmas Day and practically lived in it for three days. The world Maas created was fascinating and the characters felt real and raw. Admittedly, I feared I wasn’t going to like the book at the beginning because I just did not have anything in common with Bryce and the partying life she enjoyed. I’m far too introverted to ever enjoy that lifestyle, but we read books to experience new things and so I trucked along until I could connect with Bryce better.

    That said, this review comes with a strong parental warning. I know several parents read this blog and I would not recommend this for your younger crowds. It has raw language and heavy sexual overtones to it.

    Warnings aside, the story itself is excellent. I did cry at one part (NO SPOILERS) so the author gets applause from me there. I didn’t see the ending coming, but it was epic and heart-pounding and I quite enjoyed it. There were moments where the cast felt a little too big, but this was overshadowed by just how big the world is that she’s built here so while I might have had to remind myself who certain people were, those names added to the scope of the world itself.

    I loved the book and am excited to see what comes next for Bryce and Hunt.

  • Where I Pretend I Know What I’m Doing…

    I have a plan and it’s a good plan.

    Or at least I think it is a good plan.

    Ask me again when all this is over.

    So here’s the plan… Last Child of Winter is nearly complete. It turned out longer than I intended, which I think is probably good because it means I have more I can edit out come the revision pass. In any case, my beloved husband got me a Planner for Christmas and I have plotted out the first several months of 2023.

    Why am I telling this to you, gentle, kind, lovely Reader (or listener, if you prefer the podcast version)?

    Because those plans include a release date!

    On May 9th, 2023, Nora and the Werewolf Wedding will be out for sale. And, fingers crossed, I hope to have an audio version released at the same time. It’s a learning process with audio rights and things, but hopefully we will see them both available on the same date.

    Nora’s stories are my first real leap into Urban Fantasy, and for those who have been following along, I’m sure you recognize her name. She’s only been stirring around my creative brain for three years now, after a Twitter conversation gone awry. I started her story as alternate history fantasy, based in a steampunk version of our world but her voice was too sharp and by chapter four of the rough draft I had to change it.

    This was the right call because her story opened up as soon as I made the choice and it’s grown enough in my head to be an entity of its own. In fact, her second book was written in three months flat and her third is being outlined.

    And really, it makes sense since Nora’s character was inspired by Deanna Troi from Star Trek the Next Generation. (More on this in a later post.) Trying to shove Nora into 1820’s Boston stymied my creative Muse, as it were, and I came to a standstill. So, even if I think Nora doesn’t wear enough leather pants to truly qualify for Urban Fantasy, this is where we are.

    I suppose it does have werewolves, and that seems to be on the Urban Fantasy Checklist these days.

    This is vastly different from the recent release – Paw Prints on the Wall – which is still doing fabulous and I keep hearing from readers who enjoyed it. Thank you, forever and always, to everyone who has picked up a copy.

    Nora’s book is a popcorn novel. Which means it’s a lot of fantastic adventure and fun, something you can enjoy while munching on popcorn or nestled in for a rainy weekend. I poke fun at a couple of tropes, lean into some cliches because, I mean, werewolves, guys. All around, Nora’s stories are great fun to write and I am looking forward to digging into the book once more as we prepare for that May 9th release.

    P.S. Totally a placeholder cover. I have another cover in the works. A better cover. The best of all covers.