Wtf was that ending! Major plot twist, whaaaaat!

Oh Garrett. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, and even better it was free on Amazon.co.uk right now for kindle. Amazing deal.
I devoured this in one evening and started the next book straight away. Exactly the romance escape I needed.

Don't You Forget About Me surprised me in the end, the whole book wasn't quite what I expected and maybe not what I was looking for when I picked it up initially. I did enjoy it by the end though, although I was a tad disappointed.

Full review to come.

Enjoyable, and just as easy to read as the first. But it all felt a little too happy-ever-after.

Night Embrace is the second official instalment in the Dark-Hunter series and the third book if you include the prequel about Julian of Macedon. This instalment follows Talon, an ancient Celtic warrior who has been cursed to forever lose those he loves after pissing off a Celt God.

As well as diving into the life of Talon, this book sets the scene for our next novel Zarek. However, I felt the big point about this book is how much we learn about Acheron. There are definitely some big reveals about his character in this one that set the series up for some big overall plot lines- whilst still leaving tonnes of mystery.

The big focus of the book was still the romance, and that was its strongest element. The love interest in this one is Sunshine, she's fun-loving, a massive hippie and a very lively character. I really liked her and Talon- particularly in the early stages of their relationship I thought she was well crafted (if a bit eccentric and crazy). I feel like by the end of the novel she'd lost a little bit of her initial spunky personality and just been all about Talon. I really liked how their relationship evolved and developed. Having read this before (quite a few years ago), I'd forgotten how the end all pans out and it made it all the more exciting for me.

I do feel however, that these books have so much great potential for bigger, more in-depth plot lines about greek mythology, celtic mythology and all things ancient. I also feel like there are so many great secondary characters like Acheron, Artemis, Nick Gautier and all the other dark-hunters (past and present) that we just don't get enough of within this one book. I think if the secondary cast gets a bit more time and the world-building strengthened these books could definitely rank more highly for me. Having said that, these books are still lots of fun, entertaining and I'll happily devour 2-3 at a time. However, they do appear to follow a very basic formula which is why I tire quickly of too many at once.

I would recommend this series to paranormal-fans and fans of Greek mythology, but I would say don't have big expectations.

~ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ~

Zarek you break my heart, I loved this book and I have no more words other than that.

I think of myself not as a writer so much as some one who provides a gateway, a tangential route for readers to reach the circus. To visit the circus again, if only in their minds, when they are unable to attend it physically. I relay it through printed words on crumpled newsprint, words that they can read again and again, returning to the circus whenever they wish, regardless of time of day or physical location. Transporting them at will. When put that way, it sounds rather like magic, doesn’t it? - The Night Circus

~ ★ ★ ★ ~

The Night Circus was a beautiful book that focused on description and prose; it felt timely and otherworldly throughout and did transport you to a distant realm. However, the focus on the prose made it slow and frankly a little boring at times, the first 30% felt like I was wading through thick snow. It was arduous and seemingly never-ending. The saving grace to this was the end and the fact the chapters were short. I would certainly commend Morgenstern on her focus on the literary style - which is something many YA books overlook as they opt for quick, action-packed novels. However, I'm not sure the balance was quite right between prose and storyline to suit my interests.

The plot of The Night Circus is basically a magical "game" between two players (who were selected as children by two old men). They wait through the first (very slow) part of the book as they both grow up to find out who their opponent will be and when their challenge will commence. Then the circus becomes the forefront of the novel as it expands and moves around - we meet several secondary characters throughout the book who take some of the limelight. Widge, Poppet, Herr Thiessen and Bailey being the main individuals that I found developed some level of personality.

The narrative style meant we jumped between years, locations and characters as the narration was a third person, top-down perspective. This narrative style worked very well by the end of the book, but at the start I found it very discombobulated and difficult to follow. This third-person style also meant we were very much removed from the individual thoughts and feelings of the characters which crafted the other-worldly feel but was something I struggled with.

It also meant the characters were a little 'flat'; I didn't feel real personality and passion through the characters although that was clearly supposed to be present at times. By the end of the novel I had connected more with the characters, but there definitely felt like there was this large gulf between the reader and the story. However, I think perhaps part of Morgenstern's aim was to produce a prosaic, thoughtful piece where you could be dragged into a world of mystery and like the circus the characters themselves continuously remained elusive. But again, I'm not entirely sure.

This dualistic nature of the book between utterly boring and utterly beautiful, and me being clueless to everything being very obvious meant I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. Overall, I would say I enjoyed it and I would definitely opt to read another book by Morgenstern to see what kind of wonderful world she creates. However, I would not say this is the most exciting book I've read this year. I do entirely understand both the hype and the 2 star/DNF ratings though. If you haven't tried this book I would suggest giving it a go and seeing what you think as it is one of those literary styles you either love or hate.

Boy that was an emotional journey. Oh Eve. I really do enjoy reading these books.

The Chosen was a book I was probably less excited than some people as I was never convinced about Xcor and Layla, and sadly I was disappointed in this instalment. The whole series seems to have lost a little bit of the edge for me and the spark - the first books had lots of humour and camaraderie between the BDB and kick-ass actions. In this one there was very little- likely because we focus on Xcor and the Band of Bastards. However, I felt like we barely saw any of Phury (he's barely appeared since his own book), where was Z, Rhevenge, Rhage, John Matthews? None of these characters even really appeared. Never mind the women in the book. The main characters we had were V, Blay, Qhuinn, Layla, Wrath, Xcor to focus on. Then those that were not in the main spotlight only had drama inserted into their relationships, so overall I found it a little frustrating.

What I did like was how Layla's character seemed to grow in strength and develop across this book. It wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but we have definitely seen a big arc from her first entrance in the BDB series. Layla became her own character in this book and she really stood up for what and who she believed in and I really liked that.

There were some big plot twists in this book and some big undercurrents going through the book that makes me feel like Ward is building up to something big. I also really liked some of the plot twists and I want to follow up on more of those.

I really, really want a Lassiter book now we had that bomb shell about him because I feel like there is so much to uncover about him

. However, I equally feel like she's spending less time on the BDB books for her other interests and I would rather wait whilst she develops the stories out, rather than add what seems to be "filler" storylines to keep the series going.

The main reason for rating this book as lower is because it just didn't feel as good as the early BDB books. Overall, I did enjoy it and I will be reading the next book at some point soon. I felt the first half of the book was much stronger, and the ending seemed much more rushed compared to some of Ward's early BDB books where she really developed the storyline out and wrote in much more detailed. A tad disappointed, but still hopeful for the BDB series.