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If you want to read about supernatural beings (demons, werewolves, dragonslayers, harpies, banshees, vampires, ghosts, and shadow assassins this is THE collection for you to sink your fangs and talons into. This series is full of darkness and love. It is thrilling, bloody at times, fun, and entertaining. I enjoyed every single story and devoured them as fast as I ould. All of the characters are fascinating and by the end, they felt like good friends. The 13th Floor isn't just a secret floor in an apartment building but an essence in itself. All of the stories and characters are linked together in a brilliant way. Christine Rains is a master story teller. Trust me, read this collection!
1301: The Marquis - 4 Stars
1302: The Alpha - 5 Stars
1303: The Dragonslayer - 5 Stars
1304: The Harbinger - 4.5 Stars
1305 & 1306 The Oracle and The Vampire - 5 Stars
The Ghost - 5 Stars
The Shadow (a bonus short story) - 4 Stars
The Shadow Review:
Veenya and Galen are shadow assassins. When Veenya refuses to kill a little girl,, she becomes a traitor. Her clan, including her lover, Galen, are supposed to take her out but she goes on the run. During her escape, she finds herself on the 13th Floor as a new resident. I really hope this story has a sequel!
1301: The Marquis - 4 Stars
1302: The Alpha - 5 Stars
1303: The Dragonslayer - 5 Stars
1304: The Harbinger - 4.5 Stars
1305 & 1306 The Oracle and The Vampire - 5 Stars
The Ghost - 5 Stars
The Shadow (a bonus short story) - 4 Stars
The Shadow Review:
Veenya and Galen are shadow assassins. When Veenya refuses to kill a little girl,, she becomes a traitor. Her clan, including her lover, Galen, are supposed to take her out but she goes on the run. During her escape, she finds herself on the 13th Floor as a new resident. I really hope this story has a sequel!
I felt that this book wasn't as well written as I expected it to be. There wasn't many descriptive paragraphs to give me vivid images, and the action/thrilling scenes were cut too short with not much emotion. It seemed as though something would start and after a paragraph or two it would be over.
I loved Four but didn't like his name change to Tobias. And at times I felt underwhelmed by Tris.
In the end, I debated the ranking but settled with four stars.
I loved Four but didn't like his name change to Tobias. And at times I felt underwhelmed by Tris.
In the end, I debated the ranking but settled with four stars.
Okay...so about half of this story was slow and a bit boring. The last few chapters were exciting though and the end...oh, that ending. On one hand, I hated it because of two of the deaths that occur. On the other hand, I loved it because the last couple of pages were exactly what I wanted.
There was many times while reading this book as well as Catching Fire when I would literally say aloud, "That was a missed opportunity." And by that I mean there was a lot of events and moments that could've been expanded upon but were merely glossed over.
I was underwhelmed by Katniss in this book. She no longer felt like "the girl on fire."
There was many times while reading this book as well as Catching Fire when I would literally say aloud, "That was a missed opportunity." And by that I mean there was a lot of events and moments that could've been expanded upon but were merely glossed over.
I was underwhelmed by Katniss in this book. She no longer felt like "the girl on fire."
I felt like this entire book was a long argument between Tris and Tobias aka Four. It become so tiresome! I just wanted to slap them and say, "Stop arguing and start kissing!" I liked it much better when they kissed. Also, the two of them kept doing things that made no sense.
During most of this book, Tris wants to die and just keeps on putting herself in danger. That got old pretty quick. But I did enjoy the final third of the book when things really got dicey. The ending was nice and the last sentence has hooked me enough to read the last book. I know a lot of readers/reviewers who have said the last book is a train wreck, but I'll have to see that for myself.
During most of this book, Tris wants to die and just keeps on putting herself in danger. That got old pretty quick. But I did enjoy the final third of the book when things really got dicey. The ending was nice and the last sentence has hooked me enough to read the last book. I know a lot of readers/reviewers who have said the last book is a train wreck, but I'll have to see that for myself.
I was always more interested in Four more than Tris. After reading his story, I'm convinced now more than ever that I would've liked Divergent more if it had been written in Four's perspective only.
Meg is still healing from her breakup when Asher Davidson swoops in. He's an all-around perfect guy. I fell for him a little bit when he tells Meg when he first started falling for her. This is a YA story all about mixed signals and high school love.
Side Note: I don't think I'll read Perfect For You because I don't like love triangles and would rather believe that Meg and Ash have a cute, happy relationship without another guy suddenly getting into the mix.
Side Note: I don't think I'll read Perfect For You because I don't like love triangles and would rather believe that Meg and Ash have a cute, happy relationship without another guy suddenly getting into the mix.
Lots of good tips for fiction and nonfiction writers on marketing online and offline.
Fallen Grace is about a young woman who hates how society forces women to wed and bear children. And she despises the ladies in court who only gossip to one another about each other. Grace wants to do more. That's how she became the Death Dealer, protecting the innocent people of the land from those who seek to do bad.
Grace finds herself in a whole heap of trouble when she uses her skills as the Death Dealer to portray her injured male cousin in a sword fighting tournament. She's discovered and cast out. If she were to return, she'd be killed, so she goes off in search of a safe and stumbles onto Glenbard, a place over run with thieves.
Pros: There were some nice characters in this story. I loved Ridley, a spunky girl known as the Princess of Thieves; a female pirate who causes havoc wherever her ship docks; and Sir Henry a portly ex-knight who stands up for Grace when she needs a friend. I enjoyed the scenes at court and the tournament. And liked following Grace as she wandered and tried to prove her worth among those in Glenbard. I kept wanting to root for her to show them up. "See, I'm a girl but I can muck out stalls with the best of them!"
Cons: The names of the kingdoms, countries, and knights in the beginning was confusing. There were too many mentioned too soon. And it took me a while to get into this story because of the perspective changes in the beginning. It's not until we get into Grace's perspective that I'm able to get into the story. I think the previous perspectives could've been removed from the story. Especially since I didn't realize one of the scenes had the characters from Glenbard in it (such as Ridley and Jack) until I was more than half-way through the story and flipped back to the start.
The biggest disappointment was how fast the Death Dealer scenes came and went. I wanted to read about the excitement Grace experienced as the Death Dealer for pages. I wanted to get into her head and experience the danger. But we're never really given the chance. If these scenes were longer with more of Grace's senses and longer descriptions of the action, I would've given this story a higher rating. Also, for someone known as the Death Dealer, she needed to be saved a lot.
Overall this was a satisfactory story with great settings and some nice characters. The author has a talent with words and the ending was good. We finally got to see Grace in full Death Dealer mode. But I did hope for more.
Grace finds herself in a whole heap of trouble when she uses her skills as the Death Dealer to portray her injured male cousin in a sword fighting tournament. She's discovered and cast out. If she were to return, she'd be killed, so she goes off in search of a safe and stumbles onto Glenbard, a place over run with thieves.
Pros: There were some nice characters in this story. I loved Ridley, a spunky girl known as the Princess of Thieves; a female pirate who causes havoc wherever her ship docks; and Sir Henry a portly ex-knight who stands up for Grace when she needs a friend. I enjoyed the scenes at court and the tournament. And liked following Grace as she wandered and tried to prove her worth among those in Glenbard. I kept wanting to root for her to show them up. "See, I'm a girl but I can muck out stalls with the best of them!"
Cons: The names of the kingdoms, countries, and knights in the beginning was confusing. There were too many mentioned too soon. And it took me a while to get into this story because of the perspective changes in the beginning. It's not until we get into Grace's perspective that I'm able to get into the story. I think the previous perspectives could've been removed from the story. Especially since I didn't realize one of the scenes had the characters from Glenbard in it (such as Ridley and Jack) until I was more than half-way through the story and flipped back to the start.
The biggest disappointment was how fast the Death Dealer scenes came and went. I wanted to read about the excitement Grace experienced as the Death Dealer for pages. I wanted to get into her head and experience the danger. But we're never really given the chance. If these scenes were longer with more of Grace's senses and longer descriptions of the action, I would've given this story a higher rating. Also, for someone known as the Death Dealer, she needed to be saved a lot.
Overall this was a satisfactory story with great settings and some nice characters. The author has a talent with words and the ending was good. We finally got to see Grace in full Death Dealer mode. But I did hope for more.
Ghost Brother -
Kathryn Griffith can sure set an eerie, Halloween setting (sooty clouds, witchy dead branches). The word choices for the descriptions were perfect.
In this story, a man "wakes" up at his grave with no memories of the end o his life. He wants to piece it together and goes on a spooky trip to find out what happened.
Cons- We get a whole history of his life, past jobs, marriage, and relationship with his son and brother. We could've done without a lot of that.
Pros-I liked how the mystery unraveled with each new memory. And I enjoyed the ending. Some places are definitely haunted....
Running with the Train-
From a moving train, Sarah sees something running alongside the tracks...something other than shadows. And she believes that were wolves, her obsession since she was sixteen and wanting an everlasting love (a mate for life) like wolves have.
In Williams, Arizona she hears about people who have gone missing and is warned not to go out at night due to the full moon. But she finds herself outside at dusk....
This is a nice short story that kept me wondering what would happen next.
The Banshee and the Witch-
Cleona is a 400 year old witch. She longs to find love again, before her time ends, but most of all she wants to be beautiful and young. She does a spells but fails each time.
Cons- The author kept referring to the witches' familiar, a cat named Precious, as "it." That bothered me because I don't view cats as its. He/she would've worked just fine when talking about the cat.
This is another story with a lot of history. We hear about all of her lovers, which was a bit too much.
Pros- I enjoyed the last story of Cleona's one true love. It was sweet and mysterious. I also liked the banshee who comes for Cleona. Bronagh is creepy and interesting. And the ending is good.
Too Close to the Edge-
In this story, we're back at the Grand Canyon where Running with the Train is set. There's even moments that are similar.
Penelope is afraid of falling into the canyon and won't get anywhere near the edge. And for good reason...a 7-year-old girl had fallen to her death there.
Con: AN older woman tells her the girl fell the previous morning, but a ranger says it happened months ago, so there's a time issue in the story.
Over all, these were average short stories featuring supernatural creatures we all know and love.
Kathryn Griffith can sure set an eerie, Halloween setting (sooty clouds, witchy dead branches). The word choices for the descriptions were perfect.
In this story, a man "wakes" up at his grave with no memories of the end o his life. He wants to piece it together and goes on a spooky trip to find out what happened.
Cons- We get a whole history of his life, past jobs, marriage, and relationship with his son and brother. We could've done without a lot of that.
Pros-I liked how the mystery unraveled with each new memory. And I enjoyed the ending. Some places are definitely haunted....
Running with the Train-
From a moving train, Sarah sees something running alongside the tracks...something other than shadows. And she believes that were wolves, her obsession since she was sixteen and wanting an everlasting love (a mate for life) like wolves have.
In Williams, Arizona she hears about people who have gone missing and is warned not to go out at night due to the full moon. But she finds herself outside at dusk....
This is a nice short story that kept me wondering what would happen next.
The Banshee and the Witch-
Cleona is a 400 year old witch. She longs to find love again, before her time ends, but most of all she wants to be beautiful and young. She does a spells but fails each time.
Cons- The author kept referring to the witches' familiar, a cat named Precious, as "it." That bothered me because I don't view cats as its. He/she would've worked just fine when talking about the cat.
This is another story with a lot of history. We hear about all of her lovers, which was a bit too much.
Pros- I enjoyed the last story of Cleona's one true love. It was sweet and mysterious. I also liked the banshee who comes for Cleona. Bronagh is creepy and interesting. And the ending is good.
Too Close to the Edge-
In this story, we're back at the Grand Canyon where Running with the Train is set. There's even moments that are similar.
Penelope is afraid of falling into the canyon and won't get anywhere near the edge. And for good reason...a 7-year-old girl had fallen to her death there.
Con: AN older woman tells her the girl fell the previous morning, but a ranger says it happened months ago, so there's a time issue in the story.
Over all, these were average short stories featuring supernatural creatures we all know and love.