Of Songs and Silence was a great conclusion to the series. I only wish Melody had more page time in the series overall, as she is a wonderful character. Learning about the undersea world was a lot of fun, and the author used some traditional aspects and mixed in some new ones to make it unique. There were some details that felt left out that prevented me from really connecting to the rebels and their characters - they seemed very one dimensional. Learning the history of Madame was fascinating though, and don't be surprised if you find yourself feeling a little bad for her - she becomes more of a sympathetic villain instead of just a generic bad guy.

This was just way too fast-paced for me. I feel like the story needed another 50 pages to really explore and develop the relationship. I really enjoyed the kids, though. The author captured their exuberance, sibling squabbles, and unique personalities very well.

My biggest complaint about Mystic Bayou is the stories always end before I want them to. I could live there as a fly on the wall watching these characters and be very happy. Another fun creature is added to the Mystic Bayou community - a banshee - and he's a he. Technically dead, but not really. He's paired up with Cordelia - a psychic - to do some dangerous research. Chaos incurs when their artifact causes a brief coma, people from the past start randomly showing up, and some serious league bigwigs roll into town. The book wrapped up a little fast, so much resolved in one chapter I got a little whiplash, but the love and comaraderie are still there and I need more.

The writing in The Witches of El Paso was very beautiful and really brought the world to life. I wish the characters had felt the same to me. I never really connected with them or the magic traditions. 

Sarah and Tulane are great characters. Sarah, the seemingly uptight do-right city girl, and Tulane, the bad boy country racer. I really enjoyed getting to know both of them better and learning that they had so much more underneath their exteriors, that what you see isn't always what you get. Both made mistakes along the way, and Sarah's series of mishaps got confusing. So many memos - I couldn't keep track of who was supposed to have written what at the end. The town of Last Chance really shined in this story. The community and support were outstanding, but not so over the top that it was unbelievable. I kind of wish I lived there sometimes.

Charlie is in quite a predicament. After sending Reyes to a hell dimension, he doesn't come back the same, and he brings some really bad things with him. There is a lot going on in this book. Charlie is trying to bring Reyes back to herself, a murderous priest, and avenging angels. Definitely one of the more exciting parts of the series. Beware the ending if you don't have the next book already. It's a doozy.

A lot happens in book two, and I was introduced to a lot of new characters. I'm not sure how they all fit in yet. but the story is getting bigger and bigger. With so much going on and the characters spreading out, I lost track of people a few times. The big evil has more allies than we thought, and the good guys are hitting a few road blocks along the way. I'm excited to start book three and see how all these various threads come together again.

A bit of a traditional class/status gap historical romance. Alice is a bit more memorable than most because of her very quirky habits and behavior.

I really like how Charlie's team of misfit paranormals and humans are coming together. She still makes some really dumb decisions, but with so much power behind her, I don't know if she learns her lesson about thinking first and acting later. Her quips and sarcasm are still fantastic, and there is a lot of personal growth in this book of the series. Stopping crazy cults, meeting new paranormals, and discovering a lot more of you god-like abilities fills the pages pretty fast, but Darynda Jones pulls it all together as one giant escapade with a good resolution to Charlie's investigation, but leaving me wondering what happens next in the bigger picture.

Take My Hand is an emotion story not only of the fight for civil rights, buy the right for people to be allowed to just live. Based on true historical events, the author does a fantastic job of bringing the issues to the front while giving the reader a very personal experience of the events. I fell in love with all the characters from the first I met them, and they grow and develop through the story - for good and bad - and become like friends to the reader. 

I believe books like this are incredibly important to read (when you are emotionally able to) to remember how things used to be and see how much more road we still have to travel to ensure equal rights and privileges.