Tag: Magic/Supernatural (Page 12 of 29)

BOOK REVIEW: Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires #10) by Chloe Neill

February 20, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires #10)
by Chloe Neill
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
While Merit didn’t choose to become a vampire or Sentinel of Cadogan House, she vowed to fight for her House and its Master, and she’s managed to forge strong alliances with powerful supernaturals across Chicago. But even though Merit has had wild adventures, this may be her deadliest yet...

A killer is stalking Chicago, preying on humans and leaving his victims with magical souvenirs. The CPD hasn’t been able to track the assailant, and as the body count rises, the city is running out of options. Vampires and humans aren’t on great terms, but murder makes for strange bedfellows. Can Merit find the killer before she becomes a target?

UGH. One of my fav series of all time-thanks for the Xmas present, Jenny!

*4.5 stars*

And so I’m finally caught up…..I can’t say I wasn’t wanting a little more. Like, you know, a certain something that would have been abso-freaking-lutely adorable…but sadly I am still left waiting. And that’s okay, I suppose…but I NEEDS IT. And soon. My fragile little heart can’t take the teaseing anymore lol. Or maybe it can….it’s pretty cute, really, how much Ethan loves and adores Merit. I know I gush a lot about this series, but it takes a special kind of author to write this many books and still have a steady story-line.

At times does it seem repetitive? Maybe a little. There’s always a mystery they need to solve. They are always fighting to stay in good light with both the Vampire politic world and the citizens of Chicago. And, a lot of the time Ethan and Merit fight-like most couples do. It’s different now, though. It’s more about not wanting the old you to interfere with the new and improved you, not wanting to lose the love of your life because of your past wrongs…and I get that. It’s adorable to see the fear of losing Merit in Ethan’s eyes. And it’s clear she is his world. I love it and cherish these moments, especially when he plays that possessive, jealous card….yum.

I refuse to write a lot more, because I want to write a good ARC review for book 11-but just know, things are changing, more enemies emerge in each new installment, and Ethan just becomes sweeter and sweeter…a certain Mallory scene comes to mind from the end of the book-Ethan, I love you, you sweet, adorable, loyal hunk of a man.

So, again, more quotes……Ethan has some of the best ones ever. Seriously. But Merit’s are pretty great, too…

Ethan’s shining moments:

This is exactly what I feared would happen. That you’d end up hurt because of me, because of Darius. I have known fear,” he quietly said. “I’ve soldiered, seen men die, walked toward death’s door and gone through it. But I have never known fear like the sight of you unconscious.”

—

His frustration was nearly palpable, his magic irritable. “I do what I do to protect you. That I trained you to fight, to bear a sword, to act with honor, doesn’t negate the fact that I would give my life for you, Merit.”

—

If he’d been afraid to tell me this-how much worse was it, at least in his own mind?
“That look in your eyes paralyzes me, Merit.”

*************************************

Merit’s moments:

“If you’re going to yell at me, do it in English please. I’d like to understand the insult so I can frame an appropriately pithy response.”

—

“I expected you’d be starving,” Ethan said. “So I asked Margot to bring this up.”
“Why do people always think I’m hungry?”
“Because you’re always hungry.”
“Well, I did run three miles today.”

—

“Liege, Merit. Dinner is served.”
I braced myself for fish stuffed with more fish, or a mousse of meat. But the meal that stared back from gleaming white plates was perfectly normal. Bacon cheeseburgers with hand cut fries and tumblers of chocolate milk shakes.
He smiled at me. “I decided for our award dinner we might have a meal that suited us both.”
“I’ve never loved you more.”
“Are you talking to me, Margot, or the burgers?”
“Yes,” I said.

BOOK REVIEW: White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

February 11, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

White Cat (Curse Workers #1)
by Holly Black
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Cassel comes from a shady, magical family of con artists and grifters. He doesn't fit in at home or at school, so he's used to feeling like an outsider. He's also used to feeling guilty; he killed his best friend, Lila, years ago.

But when Cassel begins to have strange dreams about a white cat, and people around him are losing their memories, he starts to wonder what really happened to Lila. In his search for answers, he discovers a wicked plot for power that seems certain to succeed. But Cassel has other ideas and a plan to con the conmen.

Lie until even you believe it-that’s the real secret of lying. The only way to have absolutely no tells.

Too bad I’m not quite there yet.

When I try to think of a word that reminds me of this book, the most forthcoming is just this: Weird. This book was all kinds of weird. But, when I take the time to really delve deeper and actually peel back the layers of this intricate story-line, I begin to ‘see’ so many more words pop into my mind: Haunting, clever, mesmerizing, addicting…sweet. There are so many ways to look at a story and if you filter all the mystery out of the words, then it does, in fact, come off as a super weird book. But when you totally immerse yourself and ask ‘Why is this happening?’, ‘What triggered this?’, ‘Where the hell is this going?’, I swear that you’ll find yourself racing through the pages and before you know it, you’ll be closing the book. It’s that kind of story.

I don’t want to be a monster, but maybe it’s too late to be anything else.

Cassel is one of those characters that really gets under your skin. You don’t quite know why you like him, but you find yourself laughing at his sarcasm, feeling pain for this kid who grew up feeling like the most insignificant member of his family. You find yourself smiling at his charm and your heart breaking when he thinks of Lila, his childhood best friend (and only friend), and the girl he killed years ago. This sounds shady as fuck, I’ll give you that, but in this world, everyone wears gloves to hide their ‘curse’ and to prevent their touch from doing irreparable damage by making contact with someone’s skin. This is a world where children grow up around con workers as mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers. Even if you aren’t involved with the con work, there’s still a chance you’ve been ‘cursed’ and are considered a worker. This simply means you might have a touch that causes selective memory loss, luck, death, etc. But with each of these ‘gifts’ there is ample cost-No gift in their world comes without a price.

I hate that I love this. I hate that the adrenaline pumping through the roots of my body is filling me with giddy glee. I’m not a good person.

You’re probably still wondering about how he murdered his best friend and the girl he’s always been in love with, right? I didn’t know how I’d feel about it, personally. But, for whatever reason, I found myself identifying with him, sympathizing for him, hoping it was all a misunderstanding and that he had been worked. See, Cassel is the only one in his family without a gift-he is the only non-curse worker. I think this made him a really sweet and relatable character, and all the more identifiable as someone who had significantly screwed up in his past. And, more than that, it was devastating to see how much he just wanted his brothers to love him and accept him, but instead they grew up stomping him under their foot as if he was an insignificant piece of trash, just because they could. Now, I can’t say nothin’ about anythin’ but I will say this-If you grew up with a deplorable family that did deplorable things…what keeps them from conning you?

Marks think they can get something for nothing.
Marks think they can get what they don’t deserve and could never deserve.
Marks are stupid and pathetic and sad.
…..
Marks forget that whenever something’s too good to be true, that’s because it’s a con.

At times I found this to be very dark and even somewhat disturbing, but that was more at the beginning. Once I began to see everything unwind, it all started to make sense and I became fully immersed in figuring out what was wrong with the distorted picture we were being given. Lies upon lies, and betrayals on top of betrayals, we don’t get a clear picture until the end-and even then it’s like looking through fractured glass. It was excellent.

The easiest lies to tell are the ones you want to be true.

Altogether an amazing story that I couldn’t put down even for a minute. More than once I was covering my mouth with my hand to stifle a gasp and begging for a better end than what was coming for Cassel. In a way, this book was almost told through an unreliable source’s eyes and we are left wondering what’s reality and what’s make-believe. I loved this aspect. Each time we learned something, we realized there was so much more to the story and it never really stopped growing as a plot, it never really and truly ended. So, I absolutely cannot wait to start book two. If it’s even half as good as this one I will be ecstatic…but more than that, I can’t wait to see what becomes of Cassel and his new-found ‘friends.’ He’s still trying to figure all that out. And that cliffhanger-agh!!!

BOOK REVIEW: Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

February 5, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)
by Brandon Sanderson
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with colour once more?
In Brandon Sanderson's intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage - Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

Buddy read with my darling, Anna-She wrote her review in a gaming form…so fun!!! ♥

He forced himself to smile-not out of pleasure, and not out of satisfaction. He smiled despite the grief he felt at the deaths of his men; he smiled because that was what he did. That was how he proved to the Lord Ruler-and to himself-that he wasn’t beaten.
No, he wasn’t going to walk away. He wasn’t finished yet. Not by far.

Wellllll guys, I did it. I finished this amazingly awesome, exceedingly complex, and altogether EXTREMELY LONG novel. I can’t say I didn’t have to push myself-that would be false. But, the fact remains, I knew if I trudged ahead that there was epicness ahead…I just had to get there. I have been trying to break into high fantasy for FOREVER and just can’t seem to get over that hurdle. I may be able to goof around on Goodreads during the day sometimes at work (okay, I MAKE that time, sue me) but that doesn’t mean I’m not here every day during the week from 8-5. So, that means that it’s EXTREMELY difficult for me to read a book that is eons long with loads of world-building if it’s not on the weekend. For example: I started this book on Friday…..but I JUST BARELY finished at midnight last night, and that’s because I read THE WHOLE NIGHT AFTER WORK to jump that hurdle. I think that’s the main reason I’ve never been able to break into this genre…it just takes A LOT of time. But, for Brandon Sanderson, I’m so so happy I took that chance. I finally did it-and I enjoyed it. Immensely.

Plots behind plots, plans beyond plans.
There was always another secret.

I also won’t lie to you all (or whoever reads this) about how hard this was for me: It was very hard lol. Not because I am dimwitted or daft…I just have a very short attention span. Frankly, I have NEVER been a fan of plotting or organizing rebellions if they take more than a few chapters. I think this stems from my dislike for lengthy conversations and planning in books. It’s just. Too. Much. But, and I’ll probably say this one hundred more times before I die, if there is/are action, betrayals, fight-scenes, peril, LOVE-INTERESTS, flirting, battles-galore….I will MAKE myself enjoy those strategy scenes. I will MAKE myself push through those difficult and infuriating descriptions of lengthy world-building. I truly believe that the end justifies the means, and I WANT to be a part of this beautiful, vivid, and extremely well-crafted world. If I can just get past those scenes, I’m golden.

“The best liars are those who tell the truth most of the time.”

I must admit that having read Steelheart and Firefight from this author helped me along the way. I knew that, in the end, I would love what he did with this world and this story. I did trudge through because of that common familiarity that made me more comfortable in my own skin, impostor that I was. When I was apart of this book, it made me happy. Sanderson creates some truly imaginative worlds that make us all want to delve deeper and break through the barriers of their lies, secrets, and betrayals. He makes us want to be apart of the story and he takes us to a level where, for one peaceful moment, we are smiling and laughing at his jokes and the closeness of the people on those pages before us, and then tearing up and gasping in the next, if only because, not just a moment before, these friends were hanging out and having a good time and now two of them have ceased to exist. It’s madness, but it’s the kind of madness that makes you want MORE, makes you happy in spite of it’s cruelty. Sanderson is exactly the kind of author I have been looking for-he can do it all.

“Yes,” Kelsier said, “it’s probably best that you avoid Venture completely. Try to offend him or something. Give him a couple of those glares you do.”
Vin regarded Kelsier with a flat look.
“That’s the one!” Kelsier said with a laugh.

And here’s my favorite thing of all: I love the characters he creates. He makes me care about them on a visceral level, no matter their intentions. Even the villain I found myself connecting to. Is that weird? It feels weird to say that-but it’s true. I was so deeply attached to Vin, to Kelsier, to Elend….I loved them all. Dockson, Breeze, Spook….you name them, I most likely loved them for specific reasons. But, obviously, my most tried and true connections were to Vin, Kelsier and Elend. Vin was just so hard NOT to connect to. She felt unloved, unwanted, and she has always known people to leave her. No one has ever made her feel wanted or like they care about her, so seeing her turn into a badass was something to behold. Even more than that, though, it was so heart-warming to watch Kelsier coax her into their group, to finally help her feel like she belonged. I loved him and I loved what he stood for….even when everyone made him feel like he was a loon for trying to achieve something virtually impossible.

“True,” Elend said. “I do, however, recall telling you that the Ventures were an annoying lot. I’m just trying to live up to the description.”
“You’re the one that made up the description!”
“Convenient, that,” Elend said, smiling slightly as he read.
Vin sighed in frustration, scowling.
Elend peeked up over his book. “That’s a stunning dress. It’s almost as beautiful as you are.”

And, being the girl that I am, I do have to mention…OMG the romance was ADORABLE. I know I know….I’m like….the only person to mention romance in a review about this novel but UGH-

COME OOOON it was SO cute to see Vin, the fierce little Mistborn, falling for a noble of all things! Who READS, no less! That shit is just too cute, sorry not sorry. Anywho…I HAD to mention that while my mind was completely satisfied by all the awesome battles and fight scenes, my heart was soaring, too. And I’ll just leave it at that, I think.

“My behavior is, nonetheless, deplorable. Unfortunately, I’m quite prone to such bouts of deplorability-take, for instance, my fondness for reading books at the dinner table. Excuse me for a moment; I’m going to go get something to drink.”
He stood, tucking the book into his pocket, and walked toward one of the room’s bar tables. Vin watched him go, both annoyed and bemused.

So, all in all, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I am SO glad I finally picked this up and, frankly, I feel like I’ve made it loads easier to pick up the next one in the future. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally just…breathe. I know that when I want to pick up the next I must simply slot in enough time for it and I better NOT have any other books on my mind for after. It effects my enjoyment of the book and makes me feel like pacing around my house because I just know I have to get that ARC done by a certain date and blah blah-it’s not good lol. So, despite how long it took me to read and how I might have had to push myself a little at times, I really did love this book. One of my GR friends, Robin, said in her review that at the end of the novel you felt like you were really a part of the world and that despite all you learned, Sanderson paced it so that you pretty much had a handle on everything (the magic) by the end of the story-and I agree. I feel like I learned SO MUCH….but I don’t feel bogged down, now. I feel great. I’m happy. And I’m ready for book two-I can’t wait.

BOOK REVIEW – Shadowfever (Fever #5) by Karen Marie Moning

February 1, 2015 / Jen / 0 Comments

Shadowfever (Fever #5)
by Karen Marie Moning
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.
Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.

Review:

*Spoilers for the previous books in the series*

Shadowfever was rich, imaginative and perfectly wove characters and questions, from the four previous books, throughout. At nearly 700 pages, this book was excruciatingly painful to put down! The trials they faced are always taken to that next level, leaving you on the edge of your seat. The mystery completely inundates your senses. And the Mac that unfolds in front of our eyes is horrifying and enticing all at the same time. How could we ever expect her to be the same after what she did? We can’t.

Every time I think I’m getting wiser, more in control of my actions, I go slamming into a situation that makes me excruciatingly aware that all I’ve succeeded in doing is swapping one set of delusions for a more elaborate, attractive set of delusions – that’s me, the Queen of Self-Deception.

She did it. She killed Barrons. Her protector. The one who would never let her die. And she has no one to blame but herself. Mac has to leave Barrons’ body. The GM is on the hunt for her and she has to figure out how to get back to her world and find the Sinsar Dubh. But along the way, she keeps coming across situations, places and even people that she knows. Yet as far as she can recall, she’s never been there or met them in the past. How is that possible? And as Barron once asked, who is she really?

Call me anything you like-I sleep fine at night. But you will look at me when you say it. Or I’ll get so far in your face you’ll be seeing me with your eyes closed. You’ll be seeing me in your nightmares. I’ll scorch myself on the backs of your eyelids. Get off my back and stay off it. I’m not the woman I used to be. If you want a war with me, you’ll get one. Just try me. Give me an excuse to go play in that dark place inside my head.

Mac is cold, deadly and she has a plan. Nothing and no one is going to get in her way. The risks she takes and the games she plays are phenomenal. She was fascinating and so much fun to watch! And then when something humongous happens….Oh. My. Gosh! I’m going to put the next section in a spoiler, so please don’t peek if you haven’t read Shadowfever yet, because it’s a HUGE spoiler!!

With Barrons, you aren’t sure if you’re going to get fucked or turned inside out and left a new, unrecognizable person, adrift with no moorings, on a sea with no bottom and no rules.
I was never immune to him. There were merely degrees of denial.

View Spoiler »

There was something very cold inside of me. Always had been. I wanted to welcome it now. Let it chill my blood and frost my emotions until there was nothing left in me that was haunted because there was nothing left of me.

Betrayals, lies, secrets and an unstoppable amount of action made for an epic book! AND I am beyond overjoyed that the majority of my questions got answered! Each time I reached another page that checked off one of my previous questions, I was elated. I was not going to be left in the dark! I still can not believe how much I enjoyed this series, how much I fell for the characters and how my mind is already working on all of the possibilities of what can happen in the future books. I will definitely be finishing this series, but most likely when the remaining books are all released because her cliffhangers are amazing and torturous. For now, Shadowfever leaves you at a place where you can step away and not be struggling to breathe. It’s a perfect place to stop and take a break before you continue on with the series. I am so happy that my lovely friend got me addicted to this series and I can’t wait to read the remaining books in the future!

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Darkfever #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Bloodfever #2 Reviews:	Faefever #3 Reviews: Jen Anna
Dreamfever #4 Reviews: Jen Anna	Shadowfever #5 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna	Iced #6
Burned #7	Feverborn #8

BOOK REVIEW – Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning

January 26, 2015 / Jen / 0 Comments

Dreamfever (Fever #4)
by Karen Marie Moning
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master’s spell.…In New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning’s stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin’s battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest—and most erotically charged—adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought—and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as cryptic entries from her sister’s diary mysteriously appear and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge.…

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth—about herself and her sister, about Jericho Barrons…and about the world she thought she knew.

Review:

No, no, no, no, NO! That did NOT just happen! I started the book sobbing, and well now the same can be said about the end. Here I thought the beginning was petrifying and that nothing could be more devastating and crushing. I was wrong, SO unbelievably wrong. Ironically after everything I’ve been put through, I finally get the obsession. Through all of the tears, sweaty palms, smiles and laughter, I finally transitioned from like to love. And now, I’m beyond terrified that I could lose that foothold in Shadowfever. But rest assured, the majority of this book was a lot of fun to read! Be prepared for a whole lot of craziness, gasping out loud, and being crushed into the ground while reading Dreamfever.

Who’d’ve thought destruction could be so beautiful? Seductive. Consuming.

I don’t want to revisit the beginning of Dreamfever. It’s just too depressing. How about I touch on my favorite things instead? Yes? Ok, here we go…..

★ Barrons. THIS is the Barrons I have been begging to see. I was driven insane with torturous hints and glances of his caring side in the previous books. Lucky for us, many of his inhibitions and dickheadedness (Yes, I swear that is a word when one is talking about Barrons!) are down for a period of time. Happy Barrons, silly Barrons, sexy Barrons…..Yes please! I want and need more! I don’t believe that he’s just trying to find a means to an end. View Spoiler » Barrons has a heart, I just know it has to be true!

★Who Mac becomes. As I’ve said, she is kick ass, ferocious, and powerful. I loved that about her. But what she becomes in Dreamfever is even more than that. Knowing what to sacrifice, how to gain exactly what she wants, and how to control are now tools that she uses with ease. She is magnificent, beyond brave and bold. Mac is a sight to see and a truly terrifying opponent for her enemies.

★Dani. Shockingly, she’s in this list. We get to be in her head for some of the chapters and my goodness, Dani is immature, naive, crass and would do actions without thinking of what the ramifications could be. Of course she annoyed me. BUT, when I tore off my annoyances for 2 seconds, I realized that the girl isn’t even 14 years old. If I think back to how I was at that age, she is doing a hell of a lot better than I ever would have been able to do! Dani then became funny, a tremendous amount of help and a good friend to Mac. She became like the little annoying sister that I never had and couldn’t help love.

★The peril! It was shocking and nothing could strip me away from these pages. I was terrified, fascinated and then overwhelmed. It was perfection. It was everything I was desperately hoping to find in the first three books. And I’m so glad it finally made an appearance in this series!

And I had to wonder: Was this the whole point? Was it about taking everything from me there was to take? Was that what life did? Made you lose everything you cared about and believed in, then killed you?

Truly beautiful things can come out of such horrific situations. Mac is one of the lucky ones. So keep continuing on with this series. Even though you may go through the emotional wringer and have a huge long list of questions, it is more than worth it.

P.S. I was beyond ecstatic when View Spoiler »

P.P.S. After sleeping on that ending, I woke up in the morning with a HUGE realization. I think that View Spoiler »

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Darkfever #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Bloodfever #2 Reviews:	Faefever #3 Reviews: Jen Anna
Dreamfever #4 Reviews: Jen Anna	Shadowfever #5 Reviews: Jen Chelsea Anna	Iced #6
Burned #7	Feverborn #8

Jen	Chelsea
Arielle	Cassie

Jen	Chelsea
Arielle	Cassie

BOOK REVIEW: Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires #10) by Chloe Neill

Synopsis:

This is exactly what I feared would happen. That you’d end up hurt because of me, because of Darius. I have known fear,” he quietly said. “I’ve soldiered, seen men die, walked toward death’s door and gone through it. But I have never known fear like the sight of you unconscious.”

His frustration was nearly palpable, his magic irritable. “I do what I do to protect you. That I trained you to fight, to bear a sword, to act with honor, doesn’t negate the fact that I would give my life for you, Merit.”

If he’d been afraid to tell me this-how much worse was it, at least in his own mind? “That look in your eyes paralyzes me, Merit.”

“If you’re going to yell at me, do it in English please. I’d like to understand the insult so I can frame an appropriately pithy response.”

“I expected you’d be starving,” Ethan said. “So I asked Margot to bring this up.” “Why do people always think I’m hungry?” “Because you’re always hungry.” “Well, I did run three miles today.”

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BOOK REVIEW: White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Synopsis:

Lie until even you believe it-that’s the real secret of lying. The only way to have absolutely no tells.

Too bad I’m not quite there yet.

I don’t want to be a monster, but maybe it’s too late to be anything else.

I hate that I love this. I hate that the adrenaline pumping through the roots of my body is filling me with giddy glee. I’m not a good person.

Marks think they can get something for nothing. Marks think they can get what they don’t deserve and could never deserve. Marks are stupid and pathetic and sad. ….. Marks forget that whenever something’s too good to be true, that’s because it’s a con.

The easiest lies to tell are the ones you want to be true.

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BOOK REVIEW: Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis:

Plots behind plots, plans beyond plans. There was always another secret.

“The best liars are those who tell the truth most of the time.”

“Yes,” Kelsier said, “it’s probably best that you avoid Venture completely. Try to offend him or something. Give him a couple of those glares you do.” Vin regarded Kelsier with a flat look. “That’s the one!” Kelsier said with a laugh.

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BOOK REVIEW – Shadowfever (Fever #5) by Karen Marie Moning

Synopsis:

Review:

With Barrons, you aren’t sure if you’re going to get fucked or turned inside out and left a new, unrecognizable person, adrift with no moorings, on a sea with no bottom and no rules. I was never immune to him. There were merely degrees of denial.

There was something very cold inside of me. Always had been. I wanted to welcome it now. Let it chill my blood and frost my emotions until there was nothing left in me that was haunted because there was nothing left of me.

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BOOK REVIEW – Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning

Synopsis:

Review:

Who’d’ve thought destruction could be so beautiful? Seductive. Consuming.

And I had to wonder: Was this the whole point? Was it about taking everything from me there was to take? Was that what life did? Made you lose everything you cared about and believed in, then killed you?

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If he’d been afraid to tell me this-how much worse was it, at least in his own mind?
“That look in your eyes paralyzes me, Merit.”

“I expected you’d be starving,” Ethan said. “So I asked Margot to bring this up.”
“Why do people always think I’m hungry?”
“Because you’re always hungry.”
“Well, I did run three miles today.”

Marks think they can get something for nothing.
Marks think they can get what they don’t deserve and could never deserve.
Marks are stupid and pathetic and sad.
…..
Marks forget that whenever something’s too good to be true, that’s because it’s a con.

Plots behind plots, plans beyond plans.
There was always another secret.

“Yes,” Kelsier said, “it’s probably best that you avoid Venture completely. Try to offend him or something. Give him a couple of those glares you do.”
Vin regarded Kelsier with a flat look.
“That’s the one!” Kelsier said with a laugh.

With Barrons, you aren’t sure if you’re going to get fucked or turned inside out and left a new, unrecognizable person, adrift with no moorings, on a sea with no bottom and no rules.
I was never immune to him. There were merely degrees of denial.