​I was terribly worried that The Wheel of Osheim would be just like The Liar's Key. The story starts out with Jal returning from Hel to fornicate with a merchant's daughters - plural, as it at the same time. All while the undead are out to get them.

Then the world, and the book, exploded - literally. Jal's timeline starts crossing with Jorg's (of The Broken Empire) and the plot became interesting. It became everything that I could ask for. I loved the combination of science fiction and fantasy in The Broken Empire series, except I am not a major grit fantasy reader. Jal could never be so dark.

What Jal is, is a man who never wishes to grow up. Thankfully, in The Wheel of Osheim he does just that. Do not get me wrong, he is still Jal. This is a great thing, Jal is an amazing character. It was just nice to see growth - and such growth. He really stepped up for his kingdom, his family, and his friends.

Although. . . Snorri will always be my favorite. The man actually walked through hell for his family. How can you get any more epic than that?

Through it all is Lawrence's great writing and amazing character building. Even if his books are not to your taste, there is no doubt that Lawrence is an amazing writer. The way he builds worlds and characters is nothing short of amazing.

The ending was awesome. It left me chocked up, I may have actually been on the verge of tears at some point. I love Lawrence's Book of the Ancestor series, but (to date) The Wheel of Osheim is my favorite book from him.

I had so many amazing things about this book that I was beyond excited to pick it up. I was also a little apprehensive. Sometimes when you have too high of expectations the book does not live up to them. The Gilded Wolves delivered.

My favorite aspect of this book is all the diversity that was included. The setting is an alternate reality of 1800 France. It was a time when diversity was seen as unacceptable, and people were viewed as less than. Yet, every member of this band of thieves were different, they were also the coolest people in the book. In addition to racial diversity there is also diversity in sexual orientation, gender, and ability. My book soul mate is now Zofie, a girl who is a genius in some regards and a complete social disaster.

I love how all characters are seen as human but extraordinary at the same time. I love how the characters, overall, find ways to accept each others differences. However, I also thought that gender roles and even identity could have been challenged a bit more. I also felt that the trail of cookies for Zofie started out as a nice gesture and was taken too far.

The writing was amazing. I was so captured that I never wanted to put the book down. While there were a few instances of pov inconsistencies early on in the book, I was happy that they disappeared completely. I probably would not have even noticed if I was not so enraptured with Zofie's pov. Overall, it had an amazing plot, amazing characters, and a vivid world. This is one book that I could see myself fan girling over. I already looked up dates for the second book and will be stalking the page until the dates are released.

The Rose Society is a weird book for me to review. I say this not because the book is weird, just how I feel about it. I love the writing and I found the characters very dynamic and well crafted. The world building is also wonderful, although I do feel a little lost about geography.

However, I do not like any of the characters. It has nothing to do with how they are written, if anything it is the exact opposite. They are so well written that I can see their complexities and their uniqueness. It is just that I do not like any of them. It is hard to read a book that I do not connect with. I do not get why Adelina has guys swooning all over her. She is vicious and nieve.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the world. I mean the very concept of the world is fascinating. It is just that I do not like the characters and I felt that the story did not seem complete. Hopefully, more is filled in the next book.

I listed to the audiobook that is narrated by Wil Wheaton. It is a perfect combination.

Lock In is a science fiction detective novel. A flu like virus became an epidemic that caused some individuals to become locked in. There bodies are incapacitated, but their minds are not. To help these individuals to live more normal lives robotic bodies are created that the individual can link to and use to navigate around the physical world.

The story is very nuanced, and left me thinking about it since I finished reading it. The characters are dynamic, and there is a very well developed mystery throughout also. The narration was also excellent and on point.

There was one point that I did not enjoy about the book. There was an overabundance of dialogue tags used through the book. It seemed to be after almost everyone talked, even though it was extremely easy to follow along with who was saying what. Constantly hearing "he said," "she exclaimed," "Vann exclaimed," etc was very jarring. I think this was probably worse in the audiobook then if I would have read it in print. I can glaze over the words in a way you cannot do in the audio. I looked forward to the segments were there was no dialogue, so that I could enjoy the writing and narration.

Here and Now and Then is a time travel science fiction novel. Kin is a middle class father of one. He spends his days working in IT and his nights cooking. He is also a suffer of PTSD from his time spent in the military. Well, that is what he tells his family. He is really a time traveler from 2142. He has been trapped in this time long enough to establish a life. The more he is here the more his old life starts slipping away. Until his beacon sends one last signal and a mission is dispatched to bring him home. Only he already had a home that he built.

Now Kin is trying to remember his life in 2142, and the daughter that he left behind in the past. He is torn between two times and does not know how to handle it. Here and Now and Then is a science fiction novel that looks more at the psychological aspect of time travel. It is extremely character based, with technology being more of a prop then the central feature. This is my favorite type of science fiction novel.

Kin's time in the 1990s is the most vivid aspect of the book. When he is back in the 2142 it is hard to connect to the time and the characters. While I believe this was a deliberate move on the author's part, it felt awkward reading and not connecting. However, by the end of the novel I could not have imagined him writing it any other way.

I was often left wondering what would happen next. Every time I figured out the next step I would find out that it was not possible. I had no idea what way the novel would turn. It was frustrating, in a good way. I love how not predictable it was. Especially because I absolutely loved how he ended it. Also, there were some great current science fiction references.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have been hearing about Six of Crows everywhere. Everyone was gushing about it, and I was a bit worried about reading such a hyped book. Especially when I was a few chapters in and did not love it. I almost DNFed this book, thankfully I stuck through to the end.

One thing I learned - I should not have started with Six of Crows. While this book is technically the first book in a duology, it is not the first book in the world. You can tell. The book got off to a slow start. I was extremely confused, nothing made sense. I felt lost and alone in both the book and the book community. I mean how could I not love this book?

About half way through the book started getting good. I understood the characters and had a better grasp of what was going on. About 2/3 of the way through the book it became really good. I finished the book grasped in a way I did not expect.

The second thing I learned - sometimes it is just good to stick with a book. I will not say Six of Crows is a favorite. It is a good book that leads to a much better book. If you are wondering if you should stick with this book then my advice is do. It goes from slow and eh to pretty awesome.