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erinarkin20
This will be a pretty quick review.
I enjoyed this glimpse into some characters I haven't read in a while. It was easy to pick right back up even though I didn't read some of the books in between. This was also a pretty quick read and gave me enough story to catch up on what I might have missed. The characters have depth and the story is developed well despite the length. If you like this series/author, definitely consider checking it out.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.
I enjoyed this glimpse into some characters I haven't read in a while. It was easy to pick right back up even though I didn't read some of the books in between. This was also a pretty quick read and gave me enough story to catch up on what I might have missed. The characters have depth and the story is developed well despite the length. If you like this series/author, definitely consider checking it out.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to get when I cracked the cover of Menagerie by Rachel Vincent but I have to admit, I enjoyed this one. It has a unique story and some even more unique characters with a paranormal feel that kept me turning the pages to see what was going to happen next.
Menagerie begins with Delilah Marlow visiting a famous traveling carnival with her best friend and her boyfriend. The difference between a normal carnival and this carnival is that they have a collection of attractions that are centered on cryptids. Cryptids are part human, part animal and to everyone who is purely human, they are animals and have no rights. I tell you all of this because while at the carnival, Delilah comes face to face with just how cruel humans are to the cryptids and it is this that changes her life forever. When Delilah can’t control her reaction to what happens at the carnival, she changes into a monster she never knew existed and is faced with a situation she doesn’t know how to change.
Delilah is an interesting character and I found that having grown up human and free, it gave her a level of defiance that the handlers were not expecting. Of course with that, there is a challenge to break her and get her to realize just where she fits in the chain of equality. I loved how she refused to consider herself, and other cryptids, as lower than human. Despite what they are, they deserve to have the same freedoms as anyone else. Unfortunately it is this defiance that gets her in the most trouble. As she is now caged and on display, Delilah has to figure out what she is and to do that, she works with her handler, Gallagher.
Gallagher is a bit of a mystery at first. He definitely has secrets and is with the Menagerie for other reasons than to just have a job. Although he does his best to protect the cryptids, he can’t always and this opens the door for Delilah and others to be mistreated. Once Gallagher’s story was revealed, I found myself even more interested in his story. The secondary characters are just as well developed and I began to see them as more than cryptids. Despite being caged and separated, something of a friendship develops between Delilah and others and it adds another layer to the story.
Overall I enjoyed how the story unfolded. While the beginning felt a bit slow, it was mostly due to the download of information. We needed to understand how the reaping impacted people’s perceptions (I know…I didn’t talk about this) and how Delilah would ultimately end up in the situation she is in. Once the story moves forward into trying to figure out what Delilah is and how she will escape, things start to pick up. Yes, this book is definitely dark. There is a lot of violence and other things that make me think not everyone will enjoy this story but I thought the way Vincent built the story around these things was done well.
There isn’t much more I can say about the actual plot without giving anything away. With that said, I’m definitely interested to see where Vincent takes the story in the next book and am glad I picked this one up. If you are looking for something with a different story and characters that will keep you guessing around what their motives are, consider checking this one out.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
Menagerie begins with Delilah Marlow visiting a famous traveling carnival with her best friend and her boyfriend. The difference between a normal carnival and this carnival is that they have a collection of attractions that are centered on cryptids. Cryptids are part human, part animal and to everyone who is purely human, they are animals and have no rights. I tell you all of this because while at the carnival, Delilah comes face to face with just how cruel humans are to the cryptids and it is this that changes her life forever. When Delilah can’t control her reaction to what happens at the carnival, she changes into a monster she never knew existed and is faced with a situation she doesn’t know how to change.
Delilah is an interesting character and I found that having grown up human and free, it gave her a level of defiance that the handlers were not expecting. Of course with that, there is a challenge to break her and get her to realize just where she fits in the chain of equality. I loved how she refused to consider herself, and other cryptids, as lower than human. Despite what they are, they deserve to have the same freedoms as anyone else. Unfortunately it is this defiance that gets her in the most trouble. As she is now caged and on display, Delilah has to figure out what she is and to do that, she works with her handler, Gallagher.
Gallagher is a bit of a mystery at first. He definitely has secrets and is with the Menagerie for other reasons than to just have a job. Although he does his best to protect the cryptids, he can’t always and this opens the door for Delilah and others to be mistreated. Once Gallagher’s story was revealed, I found myself even more interested in his story. The secondary characters are just as well developed and I began to see them as more than cryptids. Despite being caged and separated, something of a friendship develops between Delilah and others and it adds another layer to the story.
Overall I enjoyed how the story unfolded. While the beginning felt a bit slow, it was mostly due to the download of information. We needed to understand how the reaping impacted people’s perceptions (I know…I didn’t talk about this) and how Delilah would ultimately end up in the situation she is in. Once the story moves forward into trying to figure out what Delilah is and how she will escape, things start to pick up. Yes, this book is definitely dark. There is a lot of violence and other things that make me think not everyone will enjoy this story but I thought the way Vincent built the story around these things was done well.
There isn’t much more I can say about the actual plot without giving anything away. With that said, I’m definitely interested to see where Vincent takes the story in the next book and am glad I picked this one up. If you are looking for something with a different story and characters that will keep you guessing around what their motives are, consider checking this one out.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this one and felt the story flowed well. Eleanor was an interesting character and is definitely put into a situation she has no control over. There were a few twists and turns that made this story a 3.5 versus a 3 for me and while it is considered historical, it didn't feel heavy with it.
I'm glad I came across this one and will definitely check out other books by this author.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
I enjoyed this one and felt the story flowed well. Eleanor was an interesting character and is definitely put into a situation she has no control over. There were a few twists and turns that made this story a 3.5 versus a 3 for me and while it is considered historical, it didn't feel heavy with it.
I'm glad I came across this one and will definitely check out other books by this author.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
Darken the Stars is book three in the Kricket series and as soon as I saw it on NetGalley I knew I had to request it based on how book two ended. If you haven’t read any of the other books in this series, you may want to stop reading here. I have feelings about this book and I can’t promise not to give anything away.
The story picks up with Kricket now being held by Kyon. She’s definitely doing her best to keep him at arm’s length but he wants what he wants and that just happens to be Kricket. Warning…here is where I might offend. I DON’T GET IT!! Kricket doesn’t seem to put up much of a fight here and after being pulled along for two books of her and Trey trying to build a relationship, the way she and Kyon end up together didn’t work for me.
With that said, yes, Kyon is definitely more swoony in this book than he has had the chance to be in the past. I like that we got to see another layer of him…not just the motivated and driven guy hungry for power and Kricket.
Kricket herself felt like a different character in this book versus the others. While at times she stepped up and did something defiant, she didn’t really do anything to change her circumstances. It kind of felt like she threw in the towel and just decided to go along with whatever happened.
I sat on this review and rating for a while because I felt like I needed to think over what I really wanted to say here. I still don’t really know what to say mostly because I never like to tear into a story but this one just didn’t do it for me…which I found disappointing considering how much I enjoyed the first two books. With that said, I know some people really loved this one in addition to the others two so maybe it is just me…maybe.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
The story picks up with Kricket now being held by Kyon. She’s definitely doing her best to keep him at arm’s length but he wants what he wants and that just happens to be Kricket. Warning…here is where I might offend. I DON’T GET IT!! Kricket doesn’t seem to put up much of a fight here and after being pulled along for two books of her and Trey trying to build a relationship, the way she and Kyon end up together didn’t work for me.
With that said, yes, Kyon is definitely more swoony in this book than he has had the chance to be in the past. I like that we got to see another layer of him…not just the motivated and driven guy hungry for power and Kricket.
Kricket herself felt like a different character in this book versus the others. While at times she stepped up and did something defiant, she didn’t really do anything to change her circumstances. It kind of felt like she threw in the towel and just decided to go along with whatever happened.
I sat on this review and rating for a while because I felt like I needed to think over what I really wanted to say here. I still don’t really know what to say mostly because I never like to tear into a story but this one just didn’t do it for me…which I found disappointing considering how much I enjoyed the first two books. With that said, I know some people really loved this one in addition to the others two so maybe it is just me…maybe.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
Get Real by Tellulah Darling is the first in a series and combines a bit of the paranormal with the sassy girls and swoony boys she is known for. As you may (or may not) know I have loved Darling’s other books so it was a no brainer for me to dive right into this book.
First things first…I love this cover. With that said, I’m not entirely sure it links me back to the story I read. With that in mind, definitely read the blurb because the story is set in a world where humans have magical powers and the main character, Francesca, has some big shoes to fill because of one of her mother’s reputation in the world of healers.
The twist here – Francesca doesn’t want to be a healer…she wants to be a detective. When the opportunity comes to show that she really can be what she wants, Francesca jumps at it and ends up working side by side with Rafael.
Rafael is the party boy…or so he would like everyone to think. He has been put into some solo ops by his father and he has to keep it a secret because of a number of reasons but his reputation creates a bit of a challenge for him. When he meets Francesca at a party, he is definitely drawn to her but quickly realizes they are very different.
As the two are thrown together and are the only ones who can try to figure out why their world is completely out of whack, they start to realize that just saying they aren’t interested in the other won’t stop their attraction to the other. I loved the tension that existed between Francesca and Rafael and Darling did a great job of showing their relationship change over the course of the book.
As far as character development goes, Darling does a wonderful job here. I loved the underlying challenges that Darling integrated into this story so it was not only focused on the mystery of what was really going on with the mystery girl but also about these two people who needed to figure things out for themselves. From Francesca’s desire to be something other than a healer and have the courage to tell her parents to Rafael’s desire to get out from under his father’s thumb and become more than just a tool for him to use when he wants.
The secondary characters were great as well. The group of friends these two characters made things interesting and I thought they all added a layer to this story that allowed me to get to know the main characters better. I’m looking forward to learning more about them all.
As per usual, Tellulah Darling wrote a story that pulled me in right from the first page and made it so that I didn’t want to put it down until I knew how things were going to end up for everyone. Not only does she build a great, character driven story but the addition of the magic and how it ties everyone together only adds to the story. If you are looking for a fast paced story with interesting characters, a bit of magic, and a bit of romance…definitely consider checking this book out. I can’t wait to see where Darling takes these characters and I am curious to know more!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!
First things first…I love this cover. With that said, I’m not entirely sure it links me back to the story I read. With that in mind, definitely read the blurb because the story is set in a world where humans have magical powers and the main character, Francesca, has some big shoes to fill because of one of her mother’s reputation in the world of healers.
The twist here – Francesca doesn’t want to be a healer…she wants to be a detective. When the opportunity comes to show that she really can be what she wants, Francesca jumps at it and ends up working side by side with Rafael.
Rafael is the party boy…or so he would like everyone to think. He has been put into some solo ops by his father and he has to keep it a secret because of a number of reasons but his reputation creates a bit of a challenge for him. When he meets Francesca at a party, he is definitely drawn to her but quickly realizes they are very different.
As the two are thrown together and are the only ones who can try to figure out why their world is completely out of whack, they start to realize that just saying they aren’t interested in the other won’t stop their attraction to the other. I loved the tension that existed between Francesca and Rafael and Darling did a great job of showing their relationship change over the course of the book.
As far as character development goes, Darling does a wonderful job here. I loved the underlying challenges that Darling integrated into this story so it was not only focused on the mystery of what was really going on with the mystery girl but also about these two people who needed to figure things out for themselves. From Francesca’s desire to be something other than a healer and have the courage to tell her parents to Rafael’s desire to get out from under his father’s thumb and become more than just a tool for him to use when he wants.
The secondary characters were great as well. The group of friends these two characters made things interesting and I thought they all added a layer to this story that allowed me to get to know the main characters better. I’m looking forward to learning more about them all.
As per usual, Tellulah Darling wrote a story that pulled me in right from the first page and made it so that I didn’t want to put it down until I knew how things were going to end up for everyone. Not only does she build a great, character driven story but the addition of the magic and how it ties everyone together only adds to the story. If you are looking for a fast paced story with interesting characters, a bit of magic, and a bit of romance…definitely consider checking this book out. I can’t wait to see where Darling takes these characters and I am curious to know more!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!
Seriously...why did I wait so long to read this? Now if I could only get my hands on the next one.
Review to come.
Review to come.
I loved everything about this book...I mean, it is inspired by PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
