[Review] Ink and Bone--Rachel Caine

Here's another book that has been on my TBR list for months. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it this weekend. I'm going to go ahead and say it, I was not a big fan of her Morganville Vampires series. I just couldn't get into it and so when I saw that this book was about friends at a sort of boarding school, I cringed. Never fear though, this first book in the Great Library trilogy is fast-paced, has great characters and introduces you to a very unique world where Gutenberg's plans for a printing press were considered dangerous and led to the Great Library in Alexandria controlling all books and manuscripts. Individuals with money who wish to own physical books and scrolls resort to buying them on a black market from book thieves. Jess, the protagonists, comes from a family of these book smugglers and while he's smart enough to get into the training school to work in the Great Library, his parents have actually sent him there as their spy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! The world-building is fantastic and there are enough interesting supporting characters to keep the action moving at a good clip. The second book comes out soon and I will be sure to pick it up.

[Review] Midnight Crossroad--Charlaine Harris

[Update: I was still enjoying the world of Midnight so I went ahead and read Day Shift and now I'm an even bigger fan of this new world Charlaine Harris has created! The third book comes out soon and I've already pre-ordered it. Don't hesitate on this series.]

Although I’m a fan of Harris, I was hesitant to start this series because I have read so many mixed reviews. I’m glad I picked it up because I enjoyed it and I have no doubt that others will too. I had read all the Harper Connelly books and was familiar with the Manfred character so I was excited to see him starring in his own series. 

The truth is however, that as odd as Manfred himself is, he’s seriously eclipsed by the inhabitants of Midnight, Texas. And that’s a very good thing! It turns out that Midnight is a place that is very tolerant of unusual people. Manfred’s new neighbors include a vampire, a witch who can temporarily freeze people, and other assorted oddballs who soon become like a family. They eat together, help each other, and respect the fact that they each have their secrets.

 I like this new world Ms. Harris has built and look forward to reading the next two books in the series.

[Review] The Book of Shade--K.C. Finn

I really should check my auto-approval section of Netgalley more often because sometimes there are real gems in there. “The Book of Shade,” is one of them. Our heroine, Lily Coltrane, heads off to university where she and her roomate Jazzy join a school club called The Illustrious Minds Literary Society. The society doesn’t seem to do too much except for once a month when members are invited to see the latest strange and magical show at the local Theatre Imaginique, which is run by performers with a variety of odd talents like levitating, hypnosis and shooting lighting bolts out of their hands. The owner and boss of the troupe is Lemarick Novel, a young man with white hair and an air of old world about him who performs all sorts of astounding tricks. Novel immediately sees that Lily has some gifts too and eventually tells her that she is a Shade like him. Shades are non-humans who can control the elements such as fire and water. In the process of mentoring Lily in all matters of Shade stuff, Novel also introduces her to his parents and tells her about the Shadehunters who want to kill all Shades.

Novel’s mean, creeptastic mother is a major character in the book and one of my favorites just because of how much she makes you hate her. I initially thought this book seemed much too long but it sucked me in and kept me wanting more of these strange people.

This book apparently was published several years ago and book 2 was released last year. I’m looking forward to reading that one as well. Thanks to Starstorm and Netgalley for auto-approving me for this very entertaining read.

[Review] Crimson Peak Novelization--Nancy Holder

I'm not sure that I've ever read a novelization of a screenplay before "Crimson Peak." It popped up in "things you may like" on my library account and although I hadn't had much interest in the movie I thought the book looked interesting. Holy crap! It's creepy and gothic and wintery and incestuous...and just sooooo darn good!

Edith Cushing is a young woman who aspires to be a novelist, specifically a horror novelist who uses her own supernatural experiences following her mother's death to fuel her stories. But when she meets the handsome and mysterious Sir Thomas Sharpe her life and the lives of those around her change drastically. Her wealthy father dies under suspicious circumstances, but before she can even discuss the matter with her faithful childhood friend Alan, she is spirited away to England with Thomas and his weirdly beautiful, but clearly sinister sister, Lucille. Cut off from the world at Allerdale Hall and surrounded by red clay that stains the earth, the snow and even the fog, she soon learns that nothing about Thomas and Lucille is as it appears. But never fear because there is still faithful Alan...and that's all I'm going to say.

Try it, you'll like it!