After reading this book there are a few things I have realized. First, I love, love, love this series. Second, Jessica Spotswood may be evil (probably not but after that ending I’m not really sure). And finally, I have to wait until 2014 (most likely) to read the next book of the series and I don’t know how I am going to make it that long - let me just take a second here.



I would probably sell my soul to the devil to get a copy of book 3 tomorrow if offered – don’t judge me for this. Be warned – If you haven’t read any of this series, you may want to stop and back away from this post. I am going to do my best to not put any spoilers out there but I can’t promise anything.

Star Cursed picks up shortly after Born Wicked leaves off. Cate has moved to New London and is living with the Sisterhood who is training and protecting her. It is clear she regrets not being able to say goodbye or explain anything to her sisters and Finn and even after 6 weeks with the Sisterhood, she hasn't really made any friends or made an effort to become close to the people around her. It is clear Cate is becoming a stronger witch and although everyone still believes she is the witch mentioned in the prophecy, she still hasn't had any visions. On top of all of that, everyone recognizes that the Brotherhood is becoming more and more dangerous, not only to the Sisterhood but women in general and there is a real fear that things can only get worse.

As always, the characters are what draw me into a story and help me fall in love with it. This is no different. She has written a strong main character in Cate, a swoony male lead in Finn, and some truly bad, bad guys.

Throughout the story I was able to see how Cate struggled balancing what she wanted to do with what she needed to do. She also thinks things through and although some people criticized her for “over thinking” I thought that is what made her stronger. She wasn't always reactive and thought about the consequences vs. just jumping in without caring about the end results. Add to this the fact that she truly loves her family and Finn and I wanted her to come out of this book with everything she wanted.

Finn definitely provides the swoons in this book again but he also does more than that. He is the support that Cate needs and helps her to realize she isn't alone in all of this. Whatever she does, she does with him and he will do whatever he can to keep her safe. He loves her and definitely still wants to marry her…somehow. Now back to the swoons…I will just drop this little snippet from the Conservatory scene here:

“You worry about what the prophecy means for them, but I worry about you, Cate. Someone’s got to. You’d sacrifice yourself in a second to keep them safe. You’d sacrifice us.”

His words hand there between us, a reminder that I already have.

“I don’t know if I could do it again,” I say truthfully. “I know being here is dangerous for you. I should send you away, but I don’t want to give you up. It’s selfish of me.”

“Good. Be selfish.” Finn’s mouth claims mine in a searing kiss, and my mind empties of everything except his hands, his lips, his tongue.

SEE WHAT I MEAN???


Once Cate requests that Maura and Tess join her in New London, the plot moves along. With all of the sisters under one roof, the dynamic is somewhat back to what it used to be. Tess and Cate are still very close and Maura feels left out. I will take a second here to say, I don’t feel sorry for Maura at all. She essentially creates this tension between her and Cate that doesn't need to be there. If she were my sister I probably would have told her off and not let her get away with the way she acted. Really all I wanted to say to her the entire time was:



By the end of the book, I was happy to see the way Cate responded and honestly, one of the things I am most excited about in the next book is to see how she reacts and interacts with Maura. Maura is selfish and annoying and I’m glad Cate has finally come to her senses with her.

I highly recommend this series to anyone. It has an interesting story and some great characters (both good and bad). I will say that if you prefer a full story without feeling like “Holy Crap did that just happen and now I have to wait a year for the rest of the story” you may want to wait until the third book comes out. If this is you, definitely add this series to your to read pile for later. Anyone who doesn't have a problem with books that give you that feeling, what are you waiting for…get this now and dive right in.

4.5 stars

My first reaction when I heard that Colleen Hoover was going to be doing another book for the Slammed series from Will’s point of view was a bit like this:



I mean, Will is one of my favorite swoony boys and I wasn’t disappointed. Hoover does a beautiful job of wrapping up this series and closing out the story of Will and Layken. One very appropriate line: “Good Lord, I’ve got butterflies.”

This Girl blends in the story of Will and Layken’s honeymoon with pieces of their past and it is done in a way that keeps the story fresh as this time we get to hear the events from Will’s voice. They cover the first time they met, how they fell in love, and a number of other events that occur along the way – happy and sad. These stories are blended seamlessly with their honeymoon and revisiting some of them brings up the heartache and pain that occurred but also reminds both of them what is important in life.

It has been over a year since I read Slammed and Point of Retreat and this was such a great reminder for me as to why I love this series. The poems, the feelings, the words…all of it made me remember why I loved Slammed so much and recommend it to everyone. Will and Layken have not had it easy but they have gotten to a place in their lives where they are happy and based on the epilogue, will continue to have the important things in the forefront of their minds.

And Will’s final piece…I will close with this.



This review can be found on my blog, Fic Fare:

Gah! Now how long do I have to wait for the next one?

Rebel Spring is book two of the Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes and jumps back into the story shortly after book one ends. I have mixed feelings about this one as I was so happy to finally get a chance to read this (THANK YOU @book_junkee) I found myself a little underwhelmed. NOW – don’t get me wrong. I still love this series, I just feel like the progression of the story seemed to take baby steps forward and nothing really was resolved. This isn't uncommon (I have found) with a second book in a series so while nothing was really resolved, I thought it was well done. Also, the covers on these books are beautiful and they make me happy.

Auranos has been conquered by The Blood King (Gaius) and he is definitely making his presence felt. Gaius has taken over the throne and united all three nations (Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia) as one country now called Mytica. Things have changed for everyone in this story and the changes Gaius has made is impacting Cleo, Magnus, Jonas, and Lucia….a lot. He is willing to do and risk whatever he needs to in order to ensure his rule and his longevity. Plus, he doesn't really care about anyone but himself and what others can do for him. He kills anyone who gets in his way and even those that just happen to cross paths with him at the wrong time.



Cleo is now a prisoner in her own home – guards follow her everywhere. While Gaius makes plans to build his road, he decides the best way to keep the focus off of him and his plans is to have the people focus on Cleo…and her wedding. Gaius makes an announcement that will forever link the nations and allow him to finish his road into the Forbidden Mountains. Cleo is definitely doing the best she can in her situation. She has lost everyone in her family and is now living under the same roof as her enemy. At times she worries that the Damora’s will kill her but she comes to understand her true value to them. Mostly using the wedding as a distraction or using the Auranos people’s love for her as a political move against the Rebels.

Magnus is still struggling with his feelings for Lucia. He has no choice but to move on but he finds himself unable to let go at times. With everything else that is going on in his life, he is also dealing with the fact that Lucia appears to be in an indefinite sleep. The fact that he can’t do anything to help wake her up and he continues to deal with his father’s mood swings only frustrates him more. There were times again in this book that I felt both sympathy and anger toward him. He has definitely had his share of crap thrown at him and he takes it but then turns his own anger toward others. He is continually trying to prove to his father he is worthy of taking over the Kingdom and he is slowly showing Gaius that he is his true heir. I really hope he comes through and doesn't just become a puppet for Gaius, I would be very disappointed.

Jonas is now the leader of the rebels and slowly building an army. Very slowly. In addition to Brion, another rebel by the name of Lysandra happens to have his ear and become an integral part of what happens. I have mixed feelings toward Lysandra – sometimes I thought she was kickass other times I just found her annoying. If Jonas didn't do things her way, she thought he was stupid and basically argued with him about everything. I don’t want to give anything away regarding what happens but Jonas makes some decisions that have a huge impact not only on the rebels who support him, but also those that don’t. Bottom line -his ultimate goal is to kill Gaius and Magnus. If he has the opportunity to kill Aron at the same time, even better.



We do get to learn more about Lucia’s purpose and how she ties to the road Gaius is building. It is revealed via The Kindred and Alexius, Phaedra, and Melenia all play a role. It was good to find out more about Lucia’s magic and how it all ties together. Also, seeing her struggle with controlling the dark side of her magic was interesting. I am curious to see what happens and see what is in store for Lucia in book three.

This book definitely leaves a lot unresolved and Rhodes has proven (with both book one and book two) that she isn't afraid to kill of important characters. Based on what happened in this book as well as where things were left off I am hoping book three dives right in and gets us moving. My only regret in reading this book now is that I have to wait for what may be forever (or at least it will feel that way) to read book three. If you enjoy fantasy definitely check this one out. It includes politics, magic, murder, and a bit of romance. It has a lot of different points of view but if you enjoy reading from the different perspectives, you should appreciate it with this one.

I really enjoyed this one and would rate this at a 4.5 if I could.

The story was interesting and kept me turning the pages. The Earth has been transformed after WWIV destroyed it. At the time, the leaders developed a treaty with an alien civilization called Loge. The agreement was that The Ancients would fix the Earth and when it could support it, The Ancients would live on Earth with the humans. In the meantime, every night at midnight every human,ten years and older, participates in The Taking which involves The Ancients siphoning antibodies into themselves to help them acclimate to the Earth's atmosphere.

I really liked the characters in this story. Ari is the main character and her closest friends are Gretchen and Law. There is an interesting dynamic here because they grew up together and recently due to who Ari's parents are and who Law's parents are, an agreement was made to create a union between their families to strengthen the view of the system. Ari's dad is the commander which makes her next in line for that role and Law's mother is the President.

Spoiler

Unfortunately they did not count on the feelings Gretchen and Law would have for each other as well as those between Ari and Jackson.

Ari is smart and tough. Because of who her dad is and her future role, she has had to push herself and she is determined to prove herself but also do some good for the world.

Enter Jackson - he has a lot of secrets and I won't give any away here. We find out early on that he is Ari's Ancient and he has a lot resting on his shoulders. I don't want to give anything away here so I'm not going to say a lot. I loved him - he is caring and protective and only wants to do what is right.

Yes, there is a relationship developing here between Ari and Jackson but it doesn't override the rest of the story...which is important. There is a lot of action and it is a very fast paced book. I will say that if you aren't a fan of cliffhangers you will want to wait for the next book to come out before reading this. I will definitely be reading the next book of the series when it comes out and am going to go file this onto my "really want to read" shelf immediately.

Hover is book two of The Taking series and brings you back into the world of Ari and Jackson. If you recall, book one left off with thousands of humans being forced to cross over to Loge because of the poisonous neurotoxin that was released. The crossover was supposed to become but it turns out, they aren’t much better off on Loge as Zeus has plans for everyone, including Ari and Jackson.

Through conversations with her father and those now in power on Earth, Ari and Jackson have found out that Zeus is planning something horrible and they need Ari to step up to the plate try to kill him…that’s right – she is supposed to kill him. No pressure there…considering as an Ancient he is able to sense what she is feeling and thinking. I’m not going to reveal anything here but she definitely has her work cut out for her.

Ari is adapting to the newness of realizing she is part Ancient and what that means. On top of that, she has to do this in a world that seems somewhat foreign. She is also not really sure she can trust Jackson as he is not the boy she knew on Earth. It is definitely true that there is a lot she doesn’t know about Jackson but I thought that as Ari learned more about who he is on Loge, she came to realize he really was more than just “the boy” she knew on Earth. He carried a lot of weight on his shoulders and seeing Ari learn about all the things he had to deal with and manage was important because it gave her a different perspective of who he really is.

At the same time, she is also trying to understand what she is dealing with in Zeus. He is definitely an evil guy and really willing to do anything that will benefit him…anything. All in all, I can honestly say Zeus is one of those characters that make you want to climb in the book and beat the crap out of them. The things he did made me ragey and I really hoped that Ari was going to be successful in her mission.



Jackson remains as swoony as ever. Yes, he hasn’t always told Ari everything but he had his reasons. Ari wouldn’t be who she is if she just automatically forgave him but I am happy that she eventually gets past her issues. Jackson is doing what he can to help and protect Ari while on Loge. He knows that Zeus has his eyes on her and feels threatened by her and he does what he can to offer her some protection. He clearly loves Ari and is patiently waiting for her to get over her anger. Also, All I have to say is thank you for the shower scene Ms. West….definitely one of my favorites.

I know I mentioned the word swoony before…here are some of my favorite lines:

He glances up sideways, his hair once again shadowing his eyes. “What can I say? For me, it has always been you…”

Still my first thought every day for the rest of my life…will be you.”



This book introduced us to some new characters in Emmy, Vill, and Mami who in my opinion were great additions to the story. They all added some great layers to the story as well as helped reveal a bit about Jackson. I missed Gretchen and Law in this one - there were some glimpses of both and based on the ending I have a lot of questions as to what the heck has been happening on Earth as well as with these two.

Similar to book one, this book ends with a cliffhanger so if your heart can’t take it, you may want to hold off until book three is complete. If it doesn’t bother you so much, definitely go out and get this one and if you haven’t started this series, get moving on Gravity so that you can jump right into Hover once you finish as this comes out on August 13th. This series is a great mix of action and romance with a little bit of mystery. If you like the science fiction and dystopian genres you will definitely enjoy this series.

Thank you to the author and Entangled Publishing for the ARC.

This review can be found on my blog Fic Fare.

Indelible was an interesting read that has a unique story. I have mixed feelings on this one mostly because I felt like it took forever to get to the actual plot of the story. It’s there but fair warning, there is a lot of other stuff that takes the focus off of the fact that someone in the Twixt is breaking the rules and trying to get to Ink via Joy.

is centered on Joy Malone who, while out with her friend, runs into Ink and Inq (Indelible and Invisible). Neither of them are what they seem. Joy is the only person who appears to be able to see them and the first time they meet isn’t positive. Ink actually cuts her eye with something and with that act, everything changes. Joy starts to see flashes of light and weird creatures are attacking her and asking her to pass on messages.

Joy eventually learns that when Ink attacked her, he ended up mistakenly marking Joy. She has been touched by a Scribe and is now marked as belonging to Ink, otherwise known as his Lehman. Because of this, Joy is pulled into a world that includes weird beings, magic, and the Folk. Inq and Ink are Scribes and they are “hired” to mark people. Because of the work they do, a mistake could put his work in question and his life in danger. Instead, they decide it would be better to pretend that Ink meant to mark Joy and have her go along on some of their assignments. After a while, they expect that they novelty will wear off and people will stop looking for her to be with them.

Throughout the story we learn more and more about the world that Ink and Inq come from. They essentially take orders from the Bailiwick and Ink’s marks are meant to be seen while Inq’s are meant to be invisible. They were made/created, not born and their images are a result of things they have seen in humans throughout their existence as they are not human.
Eventually a romance blossoms between Ink and Joy. They learn from each other and find themselves becoming more to each other than they originally expected. A lot of the story is spent with these characters learning more about each other as well as Joy learning more about this other world. She definitely has a tough time and seems to continually be faced with problems as a result of her relationship with Ink.

I have mixed feelings about Joy. She is a typical teenager who has typical teenage problems and issues…until her run in with Ink which then throws some not so normal issues into the mix. Throughout the novel she displays some toughness which I appreciate but I found myself not fully invested in her.

I enjoyed seeing the relationship develop between Joy and Ink but also the change in Ink as he began to study and learn from Joy. He had kept himself separate from humans up to now and by becoming closer to Joy, he definitely changes and begins to develop some human attributes.

Overall, this was a good book and had a slightly different twist on the Folk and otherworldly characters. If you are looking for a quick read that has some action and some romance, you might enjoy this one. Although this is a series, it felt like a standalone and it will be interesting to see where Metcalf takes the rest of the story.