Shadow of the Hawk by Curtis Jobling

Series: Wereworld, Book Three

Publisher: Puffin

Format: Paperback

Published: 5^th January 2012

Number of Pages: 448

Book: For Review*

Genre: Action-Adventure, Fantasy, Thriller, Suspense, Magic, Horror, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, YA

Recommended Age: 9+

Contains: Violence, Death

No Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Site: Wereworld Books 

Drew Ferran, the rightful king of Westland, is trapped.

Enslaved by the Goatlord Kesslar, young Werewolf Drew finds himself on the volcanic isle of Scoria, forced to fight in the arena for the Lizardlords.  With the help of an unlikely ally, he must find a way to break free – but who has ever managed to escape?

Meanwhile, Hector the Wereboar flees the forces of the Catlords.  Now on board the pirate ship Maelstrom, the enemy’s net is closing in.  Haunted by the spirits of the dead, Hector is soon left wondering who the true enemy is…

                                                                   Review:

A brave hero, a band of gladiators, an imposter king, a vengeful knight, a world full of Werelords and Wereladies, Wereworld is a place like no other, a world more fantastical and magical than any I’ve read about for a long time…

Drew Ferran, rightful heir to the Westland throne, is a prisoner.  The Goatlord Kesslar has the young Werewolf in his possession, taking him to the land of the Lizardlords.  There, Drew will be forced to fight as a gladiator, and make unlikely alliances in order to escape alive, from a place no one has broken away from before…

Hector the Wereboar, Vega the Sharklord and Werestag Manfred are fleeing from the Catlords, aboard the notorious pirate ship Maelstrom.  But as the spirits haunting Hector grow stronger, he is left wondering whether the true enemy is closer than they thought…

I honestly don’t know what I was expecting when I started this – especially as I haven’t read any of the other books in the series.  A cross between Narnia and Teen Wolf perhaps?  I don’t know.  Most definitely not the fantastical, action-packed, magical, pure awesome book that was Shadow of the Hawk.  From the word go, I was sucked in.  I fell totally and completely in love with the world.  I just could not put it down, in a constant adrenaline rush from start to finish.  I know I have to get my hands on the previous two books in this series: I want back into Lyssia!  ASAP!

Drew Ferran, the last Grey Wolf of Lyssia, was smart, fast and strong, willing to do anything to survive.  I found him proud, kind, good, loyal and giving, with a good heart.  Drew was just really noble: a real king.   His thinking was inspiration and he always spoke his mind.  And while he wasn’t afraid to use violence, he preferred to talk things out.    Drew was a king of old, honourable, brave, defiant and passionate.  And I fell in love with him from the word go!

Baron Hector, Boarlord of Redmire, was haunted by “Vincent-vile”, the spirit of his dead twin.  He really missed Drew, and he had a good heart.  But the black spot on his hand, that grew every time he “dabbles in communing” with spirits, showed that something was wrong...  And the Vincent-vile was just horrible, always saying cruel things.  All he wanted to do was help Drew, but he was truly out of his depth…

Count Vega, a Sharklord, the Pirate Prince.  To start with, I felt Vega was heartless, that he killed too easily.  But soon after, I started swaying, changed by his snarky humour and the care he showed towards his crew and the Weres on it.  And, before long, I had decided that I loved him.  Ok, so he’s a pirate – a Were pirate at that.  But he has a good heart.   He was really rather sweet, in a piratey way.  He soon turned into an unlikely favourite of mine, one I was always happy to see.

Trent Ferran, Drew’s brother, who was in the Lionguard, hunting Drew.  He wanted his brother dead more than anyone…  Of course, as I loved Drew, I instantly hated Trent for hunting Drew down.  But as I saw his reasoning, and what he was like, I grudgingly admitted he wasn’t too bad.  He was quite honourable and very determined.  I think he will come into himself in Book Four, and I’m looking forward to that. 

All the other characters were equally well padded and thought out.  One of the ones I hated most was Count Kesslar, a Goatlord and slaver.  He was a selfish, greedy coward, who I loathed from the moment I met him.  On the other hand, I loved Duke Manfred, the Werestag of Stormdale: he was really level headed, proper and kind, always seeing the good instead of the bad.  The character who creeped me out the most was, without a doubt, Slotha, the Walrus of Tuskun.  She was (to quote from the book): a “notoriously ill tempered, violent woman”.  And her city?  Eek, it came me the creeps, and so did she.  She really was horribly vicious, and the fact she was a Werewalrus made her even scarier.  (If you want to find out more about Slotha, check out Curtis’ guest post on when it comes up tomorrow.)

May I just say, I am in love with this world.  The various Werelords, all the different ‘species’.  The change, the characters: everything was so vivid.  I love the twist Jobling has put on the lycanthropy mythology: silver, shifting…  It was all just so cool!  I loved learning all about the Therianthropes, and meeting the various other characters.  I was over the moon to see Sirens as well – again, I adore the twist!  But: it got better:  Weremammoths.  So cool, right?!  I loved this book, the action, the fantasy, the characters.  And by the end, I was left going crazy for more.  

The action had a huge part in that: it started from the word go, sucking me straight in.  And even though I hadn’t read any of the previous books, I felt… invested.  And I understood everything, all the backstories.  And, blimey, the action was non-stop!  There were the most amazing battle scenes, that really got the old adrenaline flowing.  I loved the action – and I’m not normally one who likes violence.  All reluctant readers could really get into Shadow of the Hawk in my opinion – it’s like a film: I could see everything in my head as I read. 

And that was thanks to the writing: it was just amazing.  It had me totally hooked.  It was lyrical, powerful, descriptive.  I could see everything – every character, every setting, every battle.  And I loved that we got to see into all of the characters’ heads, got to see all the action.  There was never a dull moment.  Throughout the whole book, I wasn’t bored from a millisecond.  This series, this book, this world is so utterly addictive it’s untrue.  I loved every moment, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the other books!

I loved this book, the action, the fantasy, the characters.  By the end, I wanted more, more, more!  In other words:

I.  NEED.  THE.  NEXT.  BOOK.  NOW!

Star Rating:
4¾ Out of 5 

Read this book if you liked:

Wereworld Series by Curtis Jobling

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

Time Riders by Alex Scarrow

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tokien (Same Epic Fantasy)

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

British Books Challenge 2012 (Hosted by The Overflowing Library)

Megan

* This book was received from Puffin in exchange for an honest review

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Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn-Childs

Series: Fins, Book One

Publisher: Templar

Format: Paperback

Published: 1^st July 2011

Number of Pages: 295

Book: Borrowed From The Library

Genre: Urban Fantasty, Magic, Romance, Paranormal, Mythical, YA

Recommended Age: 11+

Contains: Mild Violence and Swearing

No Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Site: Tera Lynn Childs

Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenager, but when you’re half-human, half-mermaid, like Lily Sanderson, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.  Especially when your crush is gorgeous (and 100% human) Brody Bennett.

The problem is, mermaids aren’t the casual dating type – the instant they kiss someone, they ‘bond’ with them for life.  When Lily’s attempts to win Brody’s love leads to an ginormous case of mistaken identity, she finds herself facing a tidal wave of relationship drama.

Review:

Lily is in love with a boy who doesn’t love her back.  Complicated enough already for her, right?  Wrong.  Lily isn’t just any girl: she’s a mermaid.  And one kiss will leave her and any boy bonded for life.  But Lily has chosen human Brody to be her mate.  All she has to do is tell him the truth, and introduce him to her father.  And kiss him, of course.  Only, one night at a party, one she’s arranged to meet Brody at, takes an unexpected turn, with one wicked case of mismatched identity…

I was hooked to this book, hook line and sinker (pun intended).  From the very beginning, from Lily’s first sentence, I was just addicted.  Once I’d started reading, I just had to find out what would happen.  I just could not put it down.  I didn’t WANT to put it down.  I could read about Lily and her mismatched relationship forever!

Lily Sanderson was someone I liked straight away.  She was really nice and funny, her voice totally believable.  She used lots of “fishy phrases”, like “pain in the fins”, which I found so cute and so funny!  I mean, she was just wonderfully bonkers.  And kind of a drama queen… love it!  Love her!  Her mind was wonderful, bonkers, funny and maybe a little twisted.    She really underestimated herself sometimes, and was occasionally quite naïve… but she was very loyal and very easily distracted...   Seriously, have I mentioned I love the girl?  But what made Lily special was how much I found I could relate to her: she just felt so real, like she could be any girl. 

Quince Fletcher was a bit of a jerk… and he was also very, very funny – hilarious, even.  He was too cute, really cheeky, and so obviously liked Lily!   He was the “shock-inducing” type.  And as I got to know him more: how sweet and wonderful he was, I just loved him even more!  I want a Quince! 

He and Lily were so cute.  I just loved the way Quince joked around, totally getting on Lily’s nerves.  The way their relationship changed was just too sweet.  I could so feel the chemistry.  Wow.  They SO belonged together.  Such a dreamy couple!
The rest of the characters were equally amazing.  Peri, Lily’s mermaid best-friend, who knew Lily better than anyone.  She was the method to Lily’s madness.  Lily’s dad, who was so protective of Lily, and didn’t think anyone was good enough for her, scaring away all the merboys when she was younger.  The bond between Lily and her father was really sweet!  The two of them were so close and the bond felt 100% real.  Davina, Lily’s cousin: spiteful and jealous in my opinion, but we shall be seeing more of her.  Fingers crossed she pulls a Cordelia!  And the boy who started the chain of events: Brody Bennett.  He seemed nice, seemed sweet: he hung out with Lily even though she was a “freak”.  He had that charm – the one that meant he could fit in everywhere.  He made Lily feel special.  But, boy can you not judge by appearances…

I just loved how Childs took historical and mythical references and made them cool, modern and completely her own.  It was brilliant!  This was just such an original, new, creative book: loved it!

The mermaids in Forgive My Fins were amazing!  They were kind of cowardly, according to Lily, anyway.  But they had to be, to stay hidden.  And they had all these awesome powers: they could control water temperature, mind wash people, swim super-fast and find their way home from anywhere.  I just loved learning all the new heritage… and the funny words: Oceanista dolls, mertechnology – and did ya know, mermaids invented the bikini?  I wanna be a mermaid, please! 

God, this made me laugh!  Lily was hilarious, as was her sea-slang and bananas mind.  I really was not expecting such a funny read when I picked it up.  But I laughed out loud.  A lot.  I even got the funny stares.  Lily rocked!

Full of romance, humour, mermaids and magic, Forgive My Fins was a really brilliant, addictive read.  All the characters were 100% real to me.  The relationships jumped off of the page.  I could see Thalassinia in my mind’s eye.  A just all round amazing read, one I recommend to you all!  Plus: SO didn’t see the ending coming!

A fun, cute, all-round awesome read that had me in its power from start to finish. 

Star Rating:
4 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

Siren by Tricia Raybrn

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Happy Reading

Megan

The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

Based on a Concept By: The Duchess of Northumberland

Series: The Poison Diaries, Book One

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Paperback

Published: 27^th May 2010

Number of Pages: 240

Book: Bought

Genre: Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Paranormal, Magic, Mystery, YA

Recommended Age: 12+

Contains: Violence, Death, Poisons

No Alcohol, Drug References

Author's Blog:

Check out My Giveaway of Nightshade - the second in the series!

foxglove

IN THE

oleander

RIGHT DOSE,

moonseed

EVERYTHING

belladonna

IS A POISON

love

Review:

Jessamine Luxton’s father, Thomas, is a botanist, a healer.  He collects rare plants, and uses them in his potions.  Jessamine has seen all of his gardens, except one.  The garden locked behind a heavy iron gate.  She has never been inside, but she knows it holds her father’s rarest and most powerful plants.  One day, a man shows up at their house, saying he has a gift for Thomas.  He reveals a boy – young man really – who he claims has healed the mad in his care.  Thomas Luxton takes the boy in, desperate to find out what this strange boy called Weed knows.  For Jessamine, Weed offers an escape from her solitude.  Only, Weed has a secret, one that will reveal the evil behind the iron gates…  But will he be too late…?

I love historical fiction – always have.  But my favourite kinds are the ones with paranormal twists.  And this twist?  Epic.  Unlike anything I’d ever read before – historical or not.  And, may I just say, the historical setting was pretty amazing itself: wonderfully thought-out and written.  I just loved this book.  I was completely addicted from the word go, and was left wanting more.

Jessamine Luxton was a nice girl, a good heroine: very lonely, kind and caring.  She was just someone I liked straight away.  The poor girl seemed to be on her own a lot, (hence the lonely) – and I just felt really sorry for her.  She was so great with plants, poisons, and she wanted to be a healer, just like her father.  She wanted to know more about plants and healing – truth be told, so do I, after reading this!  I just fell in love with her voice!  It suited the time zone, but had a reasonably snarky twinge.  Awesome!  Jessamine was independent and stubborn (like father, like daughter), but at times I could feel how vulnerable she truly was.   Her weakness and strength together made her just a very likeable character.  Plus she was rather funny! 

Weed was an orphan, quiet, thoughtful, funny and rather odd.  He was good with plants and potions.  He’d had such a hard life: his first carer was a drunk monk, and the second used him as practically slave-labour.  He was all alone.  Which is why his cheekiness really made me smile!  At times, he was rather like a child: naïve and vulnerable, always keeping his thoughts to himself.  But, he was also strong willed and minded, romantic and just plain yummy, for lack of a better word!  And when he got his confidence… wow.  He just didn’t know what it is to be truly human – he lived in a whole other world.  He was special, and raised the whole: “mad or unique” line of thought… 

Thomas Luxton, Jessamine’s father, was away a lot; a quiet man, a healer: the one everyone turned to when they were ill.  He was more trusted than the doctors, and considered himself a “man of science”.  What he had with Jessamine was wonderful: a really sweet bond.  But what is he hiding from her?  What is the book he is looking for?  Why is he so desperate for monky knowledge?  Those were the questions that plagued me as I read.  And once I got to know him, my whole view changed.  He was a real scientist: quite withdrawn, stubborn, driven, rather cold…  He was obsessed with knowledge, but what knowledge? 

The relationship between Weed and Jessamine was amazing.  Jessamine had been alone for so long, and she was over the moon to have someone to talk to. Weed had never had anyone, so I think having Jessamine was what he really needed and wanted.  Their friendship was special.  Plus, I could so feel the chemistry.  Weed trusted her enough to tell her his secret.  She was the first one to believe him.  He thought no one would ever believe him… 

Poison, healing, death, life.  I loved how everything blurred, how a plant that poisons in one dose can in heal in another.  And the way Weed laid it all out… amazing.  It was brilliant!

The writing was beautiful, lyrical, almost poetic, and so Jessamine.  I especially loved hearing her describe her garden and the seasons.  And then, I loved how it was split between Jessamine and Weed.  Even if most of what Jessamine said then was rather… um, odd.  It could get a teeny bit confusing, but the two did actually sound different.  And, I loved that, even though it’s a historical novel, there were kisses.  And that Jessamine wasn’t too perfect-daddy’s-girl-esque.  She could be rather snarky.  Even if it was in her head.  Plus, there were the kisses.

I loved all the plants, but even more, I loved learning about them.  Angel’s Trumpet: caused hallucinations.  Hemlock: killed you from the feet up.  And then The Secret…  Whoa.  It intriguing, interesting, brilliant and oddly, darkly funny.  And scary.  Very, very scary.

And the plot: amazing.  I am kicking myself for not guessing!  The twists were just amazing.  I didn’t see them coming.  One I completely ruined by reading a Goodreads blurb, but the others stunned me.  I love twisty-turvy plots, ones that have me guessing and wanting more.  Poison Diaries?  So one of those.

Love, hate, poison, murder…  This book honestly had everything.  The historical setting was absolutely stunning, the romance completely believable (with some kisses thrown in free) and overall it was just so addictive.  Loved it!  I am just desperate, desperate to read Book Two!

Star Rating:
4 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

Velvet by Mary Hooper

Witch Child by Celia Rees

Benedict by Joss Stirling

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

Happy Reading

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

British Book Challenge (Hosted by The Bookette)

Megan

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Thin Air Blog Tour: Review of Thin Air by Lynn Seresin

Before I start this review, here are some links for if you want to see more about Thin Air:

 Goodreads | Lulu | Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Facebook

And, for a grand finale of this blog tour, there will be the Grand Prize.  The winner shall receive a signed, paperback copy of Thin Air and a pair of specially made earrings! 

To win, you have to find the red letters.  Not all the blogs will have one, but they will pop up, and when they do, the letter will be in bold and will be red.  It should look like this:

"This is how the blog tour post should look like. Then there's a bunch of content here, and somewhere in the middle, the blogger will just bold and put in red their letter."

You need to write them down, as these letters should make up two words.  So just collect them all, and fill out this Form. 

Now, my review....

Series: Air, Book One

Publisher: Self

Format: Kindle

Published: 2^nd August 2011

Number of Pages: 437

Book: For Review From Author*

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Mythical, Magic, Fairy Tale, Paranormal, Dark Romance, Action, YA

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Strong Violence, Death, Sex (not adult fiction sex, but stronger than some YA), Mild Swearing, Alcohol References

No Drug References

Available On: Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble

Author's Blog: No Blog, But Here's Her Twitter: @lynnsere

May Contain Mild Spoilers (Though No More Given In the Full Version of the Synopsis)

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Alice Ayre is no ordinary teenager. She took her first name from a statue in Central Park, pulled her name out of the air (literally), got her clothing from a homeless woman who had once been a gnome, and she's actually almost a thousand years old. In fact, the only "ordinary" thing about Alice is that she's hopelessly in love.

                                                                   Review:

Aeris is a sylphid, a spirit of the air.  She is considered especially beautiful, even for her fair kind, and is desired by all the sylphs, even King Paralda himself.  But none of them are of any interest to her.  Until Aeris does the forbidden: she falls in love with a human called Daniel.  All she longs for is to have the chance to be with him, but as a sylphid, that is impossible.  So Aeries makes the only choice that seems bearable for her, even though it has been banned by Paralda.  She chooses to be transmuted – transformed into a flesh-and-blood human.  Changing her name to Alice Ayre, she sets out to find her love.  The worst she was expecting was that she would have to compete with Daniel’s current girlfriend.  Instead, her past catches up with her.  And it will not let go, will not go away, until…

I expected an airy-fairy tale when I picked Thin Air up.  That was not what I got.  Sure, there were fairy beings.  But there were also humans.  There was the worst of humanity – assault, death – and the best – love, hope, friendship.  Altogether, this combination of magic and realism was outstanding – above and beyond anything I expected.  It had the beauty of faeries and a gritty realism that almost made everything one-hundred-per-cent believable.

Aeris was rather proud, although she loved her friend Tempesta, her home and her sister spirits.  And she really did love what she was – being at one with the air.  She was so full of life, of passion, so strong.  Once human, Alice Ayre became less proud and more vulnerable.  Some of her reactions to human things were really cute and funny!  Although, some of them were totally cringe worthy.  She was really naïve, yet really mature at the same time.  I can’t wait to see where her character goes.  The one thing I hope for?  That she may be more sure in herself, more confident in her strength.  She was just a little damsel-in-distress at times…  Which was unnecessary, ‘cause she was stronger than she thought she was… 

Daniel Field was a sweetie, artistic, a musician.  He was really nice to Alice, even when she made big blunders.  And he was the cutest!  I mean, he had a collection of pigs.  And he named them.  How adorable?  I love him.  He was strong, sweet, accepting, darn adorable.  The dream boyfriend.  The only thing he may lack: witty sarcasm!   Which is made up for by…

Dante Sinclair, who was wonderful.  He was warm, fun, sweet and great.  And he was in the theatre program at NYU, “studying to be a drama queen”.  Plus: such a sweetie!  He was hilarious, slightly snarky and eccentric.  And my own personal favourite!     Dante rocks!

The rest of the characters were wonderful, a wide variety of personalities.  Shane, Dante’s wonderful boyfriend, who had a snake called Lady Gag-Gag (he and Dante were the cutest!).  Wren, who was blind and got “feelings” that were never wrong.  Her boyfriend, Nicky, who was a real sweetie.  The rich Giovanni Accello, jolly, kind and an aspiring jeweller.  Delilah, Daniel’s girlfriend, who was cold, evil, possessive and plain horrible (in my opinion).  And another favourite of mine, who wasn’t in it much at all: Terra, an air spirit who helped Alice out at the beginning.  I loved him, and would really, really like to see more of him in the next book… (hint, hint).

What was amazing about this book was the world Seresin created.  All the different beings were intriguing.  The sylphids and sylphs of the air.  The undine of the water.  The gnomes of the earth.  The salamanders of the fire.  Flower spirits.  Forest spirits.  For them, there was no death, no pain, no hunger.  They were practically immortal. And, of course, the whole seeing-the-world-through-a-spirit’s-eyes was fascinating.  Aeris had no idea what pain was, or hunger.  She had no clue about anything.  I mean, she didn’t know what a statue was. 

This was a great read.  It was addictive and new: wonderful.  I may not have been a big fan of the violence, but – while it shocked me at times – it was needed in an odd way.  Alice had to see the bad side to get the most from the good side, if that makes any sense.  Horrible, yes.  But Alice just had to know – how horrible humans can be, I mean.

As for the writing… it was beautiful, lyrical and so Alice.  I was entranced by its style, actually stunned.  From the way this lady writes, this book should be sitting on a shelf at Waterstones, if you ask me.  She even made love-at-first-sight work!  Which is, as many of us know, an impressive, impressive success.  Still not 100% convinced by the sex scene... it didn't really seem to fit, in my opinion...  And, while some twists were rather obvious, others took me completely by surprise.  ‘Though, I gotta say, not entirely convinced by the justice in the book…

Even so, I can’t wait to see what Lynn brings out next – especially if it has Dante and Alice and Daniel in it!  (And maybe Terra?)  I loved the airy-fairy side to the story: the romance, the characters.  The humanity was shown at its best, its worst.  It was completely new and different.  I can’t wait for Friendly Fire!

Star Rating:
4 Out of 5

Previous stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: Silver Thistles

Next stop on Thin Air Blog Tour: Words That Fly

To see all taking part in the Thin Air Blog Tour, Go to The Magic Attic

Read this book if you liked:

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

Need by Carrie Jones

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

Happy Reading

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

2011 eBook Challenge (Hosted by The LadyBug Reads)

Megan

* This book was received from author in exchange for an honest review