House of Leaves

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
     

I'm truly not even sure what to say about this book. Never before have I read ANYTHING like this, and in a way I hope I never do again. But do not take that as my regret at having read it in the first place. The amount of work that went into the creation of this book was immense.



I found myself constantly blurring the lines of fiction/non-fiction, going back to read what it was classified as and not sure if it was real or imagines.



This book is so many things: Crazy, witty, horrific, imaginative, intellectual, a mash of so many things, I really don't even know what to classify it as.





It touches upon the paranormal, the mythological, architecture, math, science, spirituality, abuse in all forms, good and bad passions, the imagination and what can come from it and a house that attunes to all who enter to find the darkness which knows no light.



There are 3 stories and more within this tome. The story of Navidson's Documentary and how it was made and those involved. Zapano, a blind man who worked up until his death to compile this story of the completion of Navidson, and then the unlikely Johnny Truant whose footnotes cause loads if entertainment and unrelated adventures during his own compilation of the works of those before him.


This is one of those books that could never be recreated and should be read once for the sheer curiosity of it, but it's not one you are likely to want to keep close to you in life, for it must travel on to others, and be shared as a contemplative genius of being put together. Those prone to fright from a simple horror/psychological thriller may want to shy away from this one... or let their curiosity get the better of them. 5 stars for originality alone
     

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Creation Theory and Parenting

I am currently taking a Mythological English class, and last week we explored our beliefs and the beliefs around the world in creationism.  As a response I had to talk about how I was raised and how I would raise my son.   I spent a lot of time with this, and realized that although I have had many thoughts about it in the past, that I have never actually written down any of those thoughts.  I wanted to share them now in the this public forum:

I have always been fascinated with much in this story of creationism due to all that surrounds it in numerology given the number seven as well as the many similarities that can be traced back to religions of many different eras.  The contradictory beliefs that I have personally experienced within the rigid followers of Christianity have both confused and intrigued me.  I do claim Christianity as a base belief with an open mind to other beliefs and science.

To speak openly and truthfully, my son is now four and I approach small issues as they arrive.  Living in the state of Texas is an extremely religious state, at times to the point of zealotry.  I have no issues with my son learning positive values from any religion such as how to treat people and be a kind and compassionate individual.  As far as it pertains to creation, I have always treaded a line between religion and science.  I do believe that evolution exists as it happens every day, but I also do not think that Darwin was entirely correct in our origin.  I believe that in Science one can also deduce an evolution from a much more man-like species, which is still created at some point.  Given the newness of Christianity within our history as mankind, I have a hard time trusting that it is the “end all, be all” theory in regards to life. 

I choose to let me son explore what feels right and true within his own soul and heart and not force-feed him beliefs in the way that they were thrust upon me.  I feel that my role as a parent is instead to guide him to sources of knowledge and be there to answer his questions as best I can; free from judgment and bias if he comes to a different conclusion that is right for him, than that which is right for me.  I think that this is an issue that will continue to be a debatable enigma for as long as mankind exists.  For me I do not need to know the answers to everything, as I am constantly in search of information to quench my thirst for knowledge and I am open to concepts that are knew and feel more correct than what I know at this point and time.  I know that is not a complete or popular answer on this question, but that is best I can provide at this time.

The Lobster Kings

The Lobster Kings is written by Alexi Zentner is a fictional semi-fantastical story about Loosewood Island located between Canada and the US.  The book revolves around the history of the Kings family.

Cordelia Kings is the daughter of Woody Kings, and comes from a long line of Kings which can trace their ancestry back to the original Lobster fisher of the islands Brumfit Kings three hundred years earlier.  Cordelia’s only wish is to follow in her father’s footsteps, living on the sea which calls to her and fishing for lobster. 

The Kings live with both a gift and a curse.  Brumfit was promised by the sea to always have the bounty of the sea and never want for lobsters.  In return the sea will claim the first born son of every Kings family.  With so much of her history wrapped up in myth, Cordelia never quite knows the line between truth and fiction.  Woody, her father believes every tale of their family ancestry wholeheartedly.  He delights in telling them to his family. 

The story begins with Cordelia as a pre-teen and the oldest of three girls when her little brother is born.  Instantly Cordelia as her father’s favorite feels a jealousy in having to share her father, the sea and her inheritance with her little brother who does not feel the call to the sea as she does. 

The Lobster Kings is a tumultuous tale of both the beauty and the tragedy which is being a part of the sea.  There is a roller coaster of emotions as we follow through the story with Cordelia as a young girl and as she enters into adulthood and is finding he own as a hardworking 30 year old with her own lobster boat. Cordelia's challenges range from her fight for inheritance of the sea to keeping meth out of her town.

My only complaint was that in the beginning of the book, I wasn’t sure that the narration was still following Cordelia in youth between chapters.  However, as the story went on, I found myself so vested into the characters that I felt joy and sorrow with them and even had tears in my eyes in several places.

I give this book 5/5 stars.  I loved the connection of grandiose description in relation to the Brumfitt paintings.  I love the way that myth was interwoven with life in a way that it couldn’t be true…  and yet…  it just might be.   I also loved the way that Zentner created realistic characters, realistic struggle and real growth in the story.  I highly recommend this story for anyone interested in the sea, fishing, woman empowering, mythology, fantasy, fiction, adventure, suspense, family, etc.

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

The Doppler Affect

The Doppler Affect is written by Shawn H. Phillips and features several different POVs throughout the story.  There is an original Doppleganger aka Shapeshifter and a banker named Chris Sands. 
Dr. Phillips has created a story unlike any you have ever read.  His combination of scientific explanations of mythology in the fiction arena are astounding.  The characters are creative and original and each has their own agenda and fight.  Depending upon world views, the "bad guy" can shift from time to time.  Overall the changing points of view allow for a well-rounded vision of the playing field in the story.


My biggest complaints are that the timeline does shift forward and back to fill in the story and sometimes I would have to go back and forth to the dates to figure out what time I was reading about.  The POV shifts were easy to follow for me, but the timeline in the first third of the book jumped quite substantially, this was not an issue in the remaining parts of the book unless a large amount of time had passed.  It could have been a bit more seamless, if there was a specification of years passed since the last passage (such as 15 years later, 20 years earlier, etc.)  My only other complaint is that each character is so in depth, that it was almost too many main characters in such a short amount of page coverage in the last half of the book with so many additional characters added.  I LOVED all of the characters and their descriptions, but I had a hard time grasping many personalized identities about many of them.  I would have loved to have a bit more background and time spent getting to know the characters where appropriate. 

All in all, I felt as though this book was a great "pilot" for setting up the reader into a much larger scheme that is to come.  I definitely hope that Dr. Phillips will continue on with the amazing abilities and identities of these characters and the book definitely ended with a huge opening for a possible continuance of the story.  The character I would most like to explore more of would be the cross-breeds and Candice.  I was never able to full determine if the dark and light sides were all here or a mimicking doppleganger.  I also would have liked to see more of DeSean who seemed to disappear.  Ultimately I am left wanting more details, and hope to see these in the likely future installments of the story.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars for creative and originality.  There is a bit of a rushed feeling in the end, and I would have liked the pace to remain with the detail oriented feeling that was felt in the rest of the book.  The possibilities of all of the introduced characters and abilities are endless.  I highly recommend The Doppler Affect, especially if you are into fiction, paranormal/fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, romance, mystery, suspense, etc.  

*I did receive a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair an honest review. 

**This is an 18+ novel as there are some graphic adult scenes. 

Air Riders Review and Author Spotlight

REVIEW

Air Riders is written by Echo Fox and is book 3 in the Equilibria Series.  It is featured around the main character of Tai who is from a race of people that live in harmony with the wind. 

The Zephyrus build things with wind, create wind weapons from any semblance of a sound and live in a world with two other races.  There are the less flying creatures known as the Daiku who seem to resemble some sort of flying reptile that are a defensive breed by nature.  Then there are the ground bound Riku who are described as fast and reptilian like  that will attack either Daiku or Zephyrus for food if they are within reach. 

Air Riders starts out with a Prologue that shows us the character of Aiko going through an intense defensive and emotional time.  As I woman I felt for Aiko and was intrigued by her as a character.  This prologue painted a picture of her which would stick with me through at least the first third of the book.  Following the prologue we are immediately introduced to Tai, who is a young up and coming leader in the Hunting Wing who has proven his skills in hunting and earned much respect.  He is pledged to bond with a beautiful Zephyrus from the Teaching Wing named Keiko. 

Tai lives and breathes his hunting wing and can only be distracted by his love for Keiko.  The Daiku have all of a sudden begun attacking the Zephyrus, which leaves me as a reader quite suspicious and also throw the entire lives of the Zephyrus into chaos.  Tai must do all that is in his power to defend his love and his people from succumbing to the attacks coming from the Daiku, but more importantly those coming from within his own people. 

I did not read the first two books and initially I thought that they may have answered some of the questions that I had within Air Riders, however as I have looked into them, they seem to overall be standalone books about entirely different races and main characters with only an end game lead up in common.  With that being said I want to talk about the few negative aspects I felt were found within Air Riders.  There were many things that were described that seemed to need to be assumed by the reader, whereas I would have liked to have gotten a better grasp on things.  For instance, the other Zephyrus, there was not much talk about their living arrangements, how they would communicate across distance and what would happen to them during the coming together of the battle.  I also was never able to fully grasp just how many people we were talking about.  In a way, I found some of the Zephyrus qualities akin to Native Americans had they held mythological beliefs.  Although many of the Daiku and Riku are talked about, it was hard to get a really clear picture of exactly what they would look like, for me anyway.  Lastly I felt as if they Zephyrus were a bit TOO ignorant and unquestioning of anything going on or of all the people who wound up missing.

Brilliant points to this novel will first start with the sheer genius possessed by Echo Fox in her creation of many aspects of this world.  The air elements and how many things that she utilizes them within her story were wonderful.  It was nice to use a familiar religion base that was not overbearing but still was able to shed light onto some of the beliefs and culture of the Zephyrus.  Tai and Keiko was real, as was the pain that was felt by Aiko in the rare moments that it was glimpsed.  The end held a big shocker for me and I definitely found myself with tears in my eyes.  Echo did a superb job of creating relatable characters with real personalities.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars.  It was definitely a wonderful read, it could use a tad bit of extra explanations within the story for lesser aspects but overall it is a solid good book.  I would love to read the first two books in the series as well as any that follow.  I highly recommend her writing style and her genuine sense of great story telling.  This book held aspects for any interested in fiction, mythology, fantasy, romance, suspense, mystery, young adult, etc. 

Author Spotlight

Synopsis of the book:

Tai is in love and he wants to fly across the mountain shouting it to the skies. He is ready to share his life with Keiko, when a strange event turns his world upside down.

The Daiku, long-time prey of Tai’s tribe of Zephyrus, start fighting back. With the whole tribe in danger from the reptilian creatures that roam the dark forest below, Tai must put all his knowledge of hunting to the test to help safeguard his people.

With the Daiku becoming an ever more erratic threat, control of the hunters is given to a fast-rising star of the Hunting Wing, Aiko, and for a while all seems to be going to plan. The Daiku can be defeated and Tai can finally live his life with Keiko.

However, is everything as it seems? Is Aiko really the Zephyrus’ salvation? Or will Tai need to gamble everything – and everyone – he loves for the greater good?

See the book trailer on Youtube

Excerpt:

Tai closed his eyes and was transported back into his memory. He remembered the rush of cold air over his shoulders, pressing against his head as he rose through the hair. He was following Keiko,
upwards, towards the Ororan undulating through the sky above the mountains.

Keiko dipped through the gossamer curtain, the waves of light flickering over her skin and casting rose pink tones to her hair. A glimmer of soft sea foam green swept over her shoulder as she glanced
back over her shoulder at Tai.

‘Race you!’ she called.

Tai grinned and summoned a wind to bear him along but before he could gain on her, she flipped; diving deep into the curling colours, riding the air faster and faster, disappearing from view behind
a deep purple wave of light.

Blinking in shock at her speed, Tai shook his head in wonder and then jumped onto the back of the wind he had summoned.  Whooshing through the air, Tai clashed through the delicate ripples of
colour. He raced along on the wind, glimpsing the ground in the distance as he flew above. 

Every other second or so he caught a glimpse of Keiko’s long white blond hair whipping fast around a pattern of deep pink or coloured pale green as she dove alongside a curtain of moving light. She
was so fast!

Tai felt an exhilaration bursting in his chest, he was smiling so widely he could feel his cheeks begin to ache in the cool air rushing over his face. His own white hair flickered around his neck and
back as he flew. He wondered briefly what they would look like to anyone down below.

-How did you make Hunter when you’re so slow?- Keiko’s voice snickered joyfully in his ear as she darted over a shimmering wave of lilac. She laughed, he could hear that without her pushing her voice to his ear, and blew him a kiss.

Determined to catch her; Tai stopped chasing and dropped through the light like a stone. He plummeted down, feeling his adrenaline spike as he went into free fall through the glimmer. Catching
himself in a bundle of warm air, Tai eyed the wheeling and dipping Ororan above him and spied Keiko following the movements of the light ahead of him. Sneakily, he flew straight underneath the colours, watching to see where the next ripple would place Keiko.

Smiling, he rose up through the air and appeared directly in front of her, catching her startled face just before she crashed into him.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding them both still in the air as she pummeled his shoulder.

‘You cheated! Couldn’t catch me after all, huh?’ she squealed, laughing.

‘What do you mean I cheated?’ sputtered Tai. ‘I think you’ll find I’m the one who tracked you down and caught you. And that’s why I made Hunter.’

She curled into his chest, allowing him to carry both of them through the soft streams of colour as they descended back to the ground. Tai alighted and started to stoop, to put Keiko back on her feet
but she stopped him. Her hand crept up his arm and caressed the side of his face and they looked at each other.

Tai saw himself reflected in her violet eyes as she leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. Tai felt his heart race and he hugged her tighter.

‘I think I may be falling in love with you Tai.’ whispered Keiko in his ear.

He smiled and kissed her again.

‘I know I’m in love with you.’ he murmured. ‘Absolutely, irrevocably, in love with you.’

Buy Links:

Amazon Amazon UK 

About the Author:

Echo Fox lives in a sleepy town in the south of England with her partner and supremely fluffy cat. She studied Classics and Archaeology at university and is forever inspired by the myths and legends of the past. Echo finds the best writing fuel is freshly baked cookies and she is always 100% more productive on a sunny day.

Connect with the Author:

• Twitter 
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• Mailing List
• Amazon Author Page
  
• Goodreads
  
• 1st book Wave Singers on Amazon
  
• 2nd book Earth Drummer on Amazon
• 1st book Wave Singers on Goodreads
  
• 2nd book Earth Drummer on Goodreads
  
• 3rd book Air Riders on Goodreads

Giveaway:

Win a $20 Amazon gc (open internationally) or an arrow charm necklace (restricted to residents of the USA or UK). This giveaway will run 10/1/14 – 10/29/14. Enter through Rafflecopter! 
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First Blood: Rise of the True Immortal

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First Blood: Rise of the True Immortal is written by Chelsea Ballinger and is a book that revolves around vampires. Jericho is a man that has lived a lonely life and is currently biding his time until Leukemia takes his life and he can finally give up on his lonely existence.

In a moment of darkness, while drinking at a bar he is approached by a man named Mathias who will alter everything he knows about his entire life. Jericho will come to question everything he thought he knew and everything he believed, and open his heart up to feelings he never imagined were possible.

First Blood is a quick read and hard to put down. Chelsea has done a spectacular job at creating relatable and likeable characters. You get to know a lot about these characters and can feel the suspense in the action. The dialogue is not over done and I love the insight into the thoughts of others.

I must commend Chelsea on taking a topic such as vampires and still finding a way to twist it into a whole new light. The process of change and some of the abilities are entirely new. As is the back story of Jericho and his roots.

Overall I give this book a 5/5 stars. It is familiar and yet unique enough to entertain. The dialogue is full of entertaining banter and the characters are well portrayed. The end of the book left me wanting more and I can’t wait to read the next installment in this series. If you are into Vampires, mythology, fantasy, romance, suspense, thriller, fiction, you will definitely enjoy this book.

The Forgotten Ones

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Forgotten Ones is written by Laura Howard and is book one in the Danaan Trilogy. This book is based around a woman named Allison O’Malley who has just finished college and is planning to attend grad school. She lived with her grandparents and her schizophrenic mother. Allison knows nothing of her father except that his name is Liam and that her mother met him while visiting Ireland.

Laura has definitely chosen a subject matter that is near and dear to my heart with the subject of the Tuatha de Danaan and their amazing lore. The Danaan are the Celtic Fairies that were most prominent before Christianity took over. From the glimpses that were to be had in this novel I am intrigued by her interpretation of them.

Although The Forgotten Ones is supposed to be written about college age kids, everyone lives with their parents and seems to almost be more like high school kids on Summer break with the feel that you get for them. The story is entertaining and a quick read. I did enjoy the characters, but I didn’t really feel a connection to them. Instead of being a fully integrated part of the story, I felt more like I was on the outside looking in.

Allison’s mother Beth was schizophrenic, but it seemed more like a clinical approach than the connection I wanted to feel from a situation that had affected Allison her entire life and that she was preparing to take on for the rest of her life in the care for her mother.

The only relationship that seemed to truly take on any emotion was the one between Allison and Ethan. Although this relationship felt like it was between much younger characters, it felt real and heartfelt. You could actually feel Allison’s real hesitation to pursue anything with Ethan, and also the warring of her yearning to try. The only thing that seemed the most unrealistic was his almost instant change to a gentleman from a player.

With all that being said I give this book a 4/5 stars. Regardless of any errors, it was still enjoyable to read. It was a great light read, and I would definitely like to read more in the trilogy. It felt like the book was really just getting started in on the action at the end of the book. If you are into fiction, fantasy, Celtic Lore, romance, new adult, etc, then you would enjoy this book.

Locks

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Locks:Rapunzel Unhinged is written by Sarah J. Pepper and is a modern retelling of Rapunzel.  In Locks, Rapunzel (or Zel) is determined to escape her tower prison but is brought back and put under watch by a Mercenary that she finds herself insanely attracted to, despite her better judgment.  

I was REALLY excited about reading this book.  I absolutely LOVE the cover art work.  I had to settle for The Death of the Mad Hatter while I was waiting for this one (which I ended up really enjoying).  Needless to say I came to this story without much time in between the two books written by Sarah.  While Death of the Mad Hatter is a young adult book, Locks is written for a vastly different audience.  

Locks starts out as Rapunzel has escaped and is cornered about to be caught.  The sexism of the book is really right in your face right away.  I have no problem with this, but I was caught completely unaware after the darker, yet much more innocent Mad Hatter.  Although the only actual “sex scene” in the book is more PG-13 than rated R, just a lot of sexual tension throughout the story.

Sarah has written a lot of creative characters that I was able to connect with on the level that I could know them through Zel’s feelings.  Unfortunately I feel that the description of the majority of the characters fell a little short.  I could talk a lot about how everyone made Zel feel, but if I had to draw a picture of most of them I would be left wanting.  The environment does lend itself to better descriptors though.  Flynn, is described in magnificent detail, as he is the object of much sexual tension throughout the story.  

Locks reads like a mystery novel, trying to constantly assess and reassess the allegiance of many of the characters and figure out how it will end.  With that being said, I feel like there was a lot of lead up to a slightly fizzle of an ending.  The wow factors of things missing from Zel’s memory were written superbly, but the battle was short and not overly detailed.  The biggest disappointment for me was the Epilogue…  I wanted to know what happened to the ancillary characters as well. 

My biggest negative points were the weird technology references that seemed thrown in.  If Zel has been locked into a tower and no one speaks as she does, I wonder where she learned some of her “potty mouth” language from.  It didn’t bother me, but may deter a more prudent reader.  My issues was with talk of things such as cell phones, and then have nobody use them, while the kingdom doesn’t really deal in technology, it seemed rather out of place, and like Zel wouldn’t know much about it since she spends most of her life in a tower locked away from people.  

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars.  Sarah has a lot of ingenious ideas; she created some really great ideas for characters and some crazy twists and turns to the story.  I love the spunk and fire in Zel’s personality, I love her development as a strong woman throughout the story.  I love many of the ancillary characters and the possibilities that could come about with them.  I love the twists and turns that the story takes.  I have to hold back a star for the seemingly out of place tech talk, the weak ending and epilogue.  Otherwise, it is definitely a story worth reading, there is a lot to love in it.  If you are into fairy-tales, especially Rapunzel, mystery, fantasy, mythology, Romance, etc., you will like this book.  

Corcitura

I was given this book to read for free in exchange for an honest review.  

Corcitura is written by Melika Dannese Lux is a mythological, thriller, suspense, historical fiction novel.  It entertains the reader with a lot of new and in depth vampire mythological ideas, as well as a surrounding environment that you can imagine being in.

I feel like this book had a lot of great ideas.  I loved the vampire mythology and having the book told from the perspective of the “victim.”  It was also interesting to have nothing told blatantly about a vampire type until about a quarter of the way through the book.  With that being said I had a lot of problem really connecting with the story.  There are wonderful landscapes and buildings described, but it felt like the characters were lacking and that the events had a lot of holes.  

Given the longer length of the book it allowed for the characters to slowly come out over time, but there were many déjà vu moments, and I had a distinct problem with the scene in the first Part of the book where Eric was in the wax museum and it described him taking the necklace and then after an action filled romp he returned to the same wax figure and took the necklace again…  It felt like there were a lot of little sections of the book that would have ended up in a “movie errors reel” if this was a movie to show different things that didn’t add up. 

The biggest problem I had with this book was that there didn’t seem to be any backfill between some of the characters.  There would be a scene with something going on and then skip forward and be into another scene like walking into a room halfway through a conversation and never getting filled in on what was missed.  Reading this book was like watching a movie about a book but there were certain parts that had to be cut and so they were just left missing.  

Don't be discouraged, it was still quite an interesting story.  Lux did a lot of extensive historical research and mythological research in regards to different creatures of the night, with her main focus on vampires.  I enjoyed reading from the different perspective, but by the end of the book, I still felt like the relations between characters were lacking somewhat, and could have gone more in depth.  I still think it is worth a read, but I would love to see an edit of it with more character relationships expounded upon and brought more to life.  I wanted to feel more of the connection with Leonora; I wanted to feel more of the betrayal that Eric felt from other characters.  I wanted to feel the anger and the rage and the in depth emotions that were talked about, but not brought to life enough for me.  

Description of environment was superb; character ideas were great, but just give them more life and more depth and this would be a phenomenal book.  Given the way things stand right now I did enjoy the book, but it felt like some parts were missing, so I leave it at a 3 out of 5 stars and love this start to the story. 

The Slayer and the Sphinx

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

From the book description I was interested in my love for all things “mythical.” I then saw the cover of the book and wondered what in the heck I had gotten myself into. The cover of the book made me think that I was about to read a tween book. The first chapter of the book followed with this notion, with a younger type of dialogue and I was hesitant to press on.

Luckily I felt an obligation to give this book a fair shot and see it through to the end for a review since I had committed myself to it. Thank goodness I felt that way, because every chapter following just drew me into the story even more and was nothing at all like the first chapter. The book completely redeems itself from the youngster scene setting of the beginning.

The Slayer and the Sphinx is written by Adam Bolander and Adam has created a new and exciting fantasy world in this novel. The main characters that we are following are a female Sphinx named Sarah (whom I secretly wanted to have a majestic name) and a Slayer name Porter. As a slayer Porter is trained and lives to kill creatures referred to as mythics (and sort of creature we now like to say doesn’t exist that has gone into hiding). During a raid on Sarah’s house, Porter is hit in the head and get amnesia as to his past. This unlikely event leads Porter and Sarah to have to rely on one another for survival and they end up as close friends. Together they set off on a journey and encounter many new creatures that you don’t often find in stories and a great scene setting for an epic series. Alas the ending is such a cliff hanger that I felt as if I was watching a series finale on a tv show and wanted to yell “Noooo” at the book and get started on the rest of the story right away as this is merely Book 1 in a series already written out to Book 3.

Overall this book did not start well for me as stated before but it was spectacular after that. If not for the tween-like dialogue in the beginning I would give it a 5 star rating. Otherwise this book was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to read fantasy. It was a tiny bit on the young adult side, but that concept was lost as you get immersed into the story and journey that Sarah & Porter have embarked upon. There are so many pieces set up for action to come that I am interested to see what will happen and hope to see more the of same kind of great storytelling. I was captivated and couldn’t put it down, finishing it in a few short hours with minor life interruptions. Overall 4 stars and an eager hope for a 5 star remainder of the trilogy.

Loki's Wolves Review

I finished reading an unexpectedly great book the other day.  I was doing so much cooking lately that I had to post the recipes first.  Now I am finally getting around to this book review that I have been meaning to write.

Let me start by saying that Kelly Armstrong (or K. L. Armstrong) as she goes by for this book is one of my top 3 favorite female authors of ALL time!  She is most known for her Women of the Otherworld series which has sucked me in and is actually being made into a Canadian television show which I am praying will also air in the US.  When I saw that there was a book coming out by K. L. Armstrong I immediately knew it had to be her and did the research to make sure it wasn't someone else trying not to be associated.  I guess in my total excitement in another world and book series by Kelly that I read what the book was about.  It focuses around Norse Mythology, I had just gotten done reading Jacqueline Carey's Agent of Hel which was also amazing, and so I was thinking that it must be a Norse Mythology kick going on in my amazing women authors.  Beyond the description of the book I was just so excited to read it that some of the surround details seemed to escape me. 

One day in a Amazon browsing sort of day where I make wishlists and add dreams to my cart I went to check on my cart items (where I store all of my pre-order books desperately awaiting their release so that I can finally read them) I discovered that Loki's Wolves was FINALLY released.  I immediately got it to read and was so excited for it to come. 

FINALLY it arrives in the mail (ok it wasn't really that long, as I have Amazon Prime and next day mail for free).  I excitedly rip open the box with some assistance from Liam and I pull the book out of the box.  Initially I kind of had my excitement bubble lose a bit of air.  I was thinking what the heck IS this book, it is really small for a Kelly Armstrong book and I open it up and the writing is enormous and I thumb through and there are some drawings.  My enthusiasm drains away and I think NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  I accidentally bought a young adult novel.  I was utterly disappointed.  Anyone that knows me knows that I do not really get into young adult series, I prefer the vocabulary and visualization (and the romanticism and sex of course) of a more adult novel.  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the stories within young adult novels, I have all the Twilight movies (although I just recently got all of the books for $10 so I can finally read them, I wanted the movies to be over first). 

Unfortunately I didn't pay as close attention as I could have to the book description which done in conjunction with another normally adult author Melissa Marr (writing as M. A. Marr) goes on to explain that they wanted to work together to create a world for their teen-aged children, as their other novels were a bit too old for them at this point.  I spent over a week really angry at myself and just feeling my heart drop as I thought about this being a young adult novel. 

Finally I decided, what the heck I will just take it to work and it can be a quick read in my down time.  I figured that I was into Holly Black's young adult atmosphere and I had to remind myself that after all this WAS the amazing Kelly Armstrong and she makes you forget that you are merely reading her stories and not living inside of them. 

There I was giving it a try, admittedly a little embarrassed that my book that I had at work had some picture drawings in it.  Needless to say I got over my pride and dove in.  I read about 1/3 of the book in the first sitting.  I was thinking wow this has a really great set up, and I was looking forward to more. 

By the time I started on the 2/3 I was totally immersed into the story the lead up was a little slow, but I felt it did a great job of filling in the back story of the Norse Mythology and the town Blackwell South Dakota.  How the people there actually live like they are descendants of the gods Thor & Loki.  Of course the descendants of Loki can be werewolves or shape-shifters, whereas the descendants of Thor get insane strength.   The three main characters are Matt Thorsen  (yep you guessed it, he's a descendant of Thor).  He just turned 13 and is now considered a man, and has just found out that it will be his duty to fight against the serpent at Ragnarok (the end of the world).  Then we have Laurie & Fen, cousins and 2 of Loki's descendants.  Fen has inherited the ability to take wolf farm, but Laurie has her own unique set of powers.  Matt does not get along well with Fen.  So we have some conflict here but they end up being thrown in together and have decided that they will not allow the end of the world to come to pass and will instead work with one another instead of against one another to try to prevent the myths from coming to pass the way that is has been historically written (which would ultimately resort in Matt's death). 

The rest of the book really picks up speed and the trio of 13 year old soon discover that in order to stop Ragnarok from happening that they will need the help of others.  They begin their journey as runaways and go in search of the rest of the descendants of associated god's to help them along the way.  There is intrigue and deception, courage, and the hesitant learning of an early teen.  I love that there is no sexual tension and that the story carries itself without that being necessary.   There is slight flirtation, but this book was truly intended for the younger young adult reader, and any parent could feel comfortable allowing their teen or pre-teen to read this. 

I also recommend this to anyone not of the young adult persuasion.  Armstrong and Marr do an amazing job of telling this story and I my main complaint was that I wished the book was longer.  I cannot wait for the next book to be released (Odin's Ravens).  This book started a little slow but quickly picked up pace and stayed there full steam through the end!  It is definitely one that I would suggest and pass along as an all around great story!  Especially if you are interested in Norse Mythology! 

*I feel like I couldn't tell the transition between where Kelly ended and Melissa began, this definitely means that I need to check out Melissa Marr's more adult novels, I can't wait to read them!

You can check out the entire Blackwell Pages series at http://www.blackwellpages.com/index.php

You can check out Kelly Armstrong's website at http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/loki-wolves/

Seer of Sevenwaters Book Review

Tonight you get another book review from me because I finished it earlier today and it was one of those treasures that leaves you feeling disoriented like the real world is so lacking and you want to dive back into the world you just left.

For some background on the book it is called Seer of Sevenwaters and is authored by Juliet Marillier.  This is a book from a series that started with the Sevenwaters trilogy.  I actually thought upon reading this book that it was number 4 and felt that maybe I had just forgotten a few things since it had been awhile since I had visited the Sevenwaters world.  Looking for great site resources to share with you all I actually discovered that this is the 5th book in the series and that I skipped over one.  The sevenwaters series consists of  four generations of the same family and is based around the Celts and Britons.  The books are as follows (in chronological order)


Daughter of the Forest is about Sorcha our first heroine.  And is loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Six Swans." Sorcha must sew shirts made of painful nettle for her brothers to return them to human form from swans.  During this time she must remain completely mute. 

Son of the Shadows is about Sorcha's younger daughter Liadan.  Liadan is a skilled healer who also receives visions. Liadan is able to silently communicate with her twin brother Sean.  Liadan is kidnapped by a band of outlaws to save one of their members. 

Child of the Prophecy is about Fainne.  The daughter of Niamh and Ciaran.  She is raised by her single father the sorcerer Ciaran.  She is sent by her evil grandmother to murder one of her cousins in Sevenwaters and must find the line between good and evil, determining which side she is on.

Heir to Sevenwaters is the book that I need to now go back and read it is about Clodagh the daughter of Sean & Aisling.  She shares the same mind link with her twin Deidre that Liandan and her father Sean shared.  She has to go on an unlikely journey to save her little brother (Finbar) from the Fair Folk.

Seer of Sevenwaters is the book that I just finished which has been the best one thus far.  It is about Sibeal and her last Summer to spend with her sisters (to include Clodagh) before she will take her final oath to become a druidess.  An unusual ship wreck turns her world upside-down.

Twixt Firelight and Water (which I haev yet to read) is about Conri, who ends up becoming Ciaran's familiar in the form of a Raven. Flame of Sevenwaters (I also have yet to read this)  is about Maeve, one of Sean's daughters and sister to Clodagh & Sibeal.  Maeve was horribly burned in a fire when she was little and is hesitant to return to Sevenwaters but ends up on a journey with her brother Finbar to save her family.

Now that we have a little bit of background of the series I am going to focus on just Sibeal's story: Seer of Sevenwaters.  Sibeal is 16 at the start of the story and we are introduced to her as she is on her last Summer with her sisters before she takes her oaths to become a druid which will lead her to a quiet life in the forest in solitude.  A shipwreck leads her to encounter Felix, a man that has amnesia.  She helps to nurse him back to life and help him to remember who he is.  In doing so he must go on a periless journey to safe comrades.  Sibeal also must partake on the voyage and in doing so shows more of her amazing druid skills.  The journey's impending end leads Sibeal torn apart between her vows of solitude and celibacy as a druid and her heart and visions of life if she were to be with Felix.

No words that I write could truly do this book justice.  I find that Juliet Marillier books start out a little slow but intriguing which leads you to keep reading and gets you more and more interested.  Before you know it you are completed wrapped up in her Sevenwaters world and have a hard time coming up for air.  I find that Seer of Sevewnwaters has been my all-time favorite book of hers thus far.  Somehow I felt as thought I could relate to Sibeal in a way that I rarely relate to a character so completely.  I feel as thought perhaps in another or past life I had a druidic connection.  I could hear a lot of my mother's words about me in my reflection about the book today.  Sibeal is always being chastised by those around her for not allowing her emotions to control her.  She is always feeling the turmoil inside and feels the strength of her feelings within herself as she knows that her duties are what needs to be at the forefront for her.  My mother is always telling me that it is ok to feel love and it is ok to be excited about things.  I do feel love and I do feel excitement I just don't show it in the way that some people traditionally think that I should all the time.  I consciously make the effort to show someone that I care about how special they are to me and how much I love them.  The amount of things going on in my mind do not always lead this emotion to be portrayed constantly in the outer part of me. 


I highly reccomend this series and especially this book.  Due to the time span in between most of her stories it IS an option to read one book as an individual but if you want the backstories of the other individuals you will encounter along the way that may help explain why they are the way they are or why they do certain things, than I would suggest reading the previous stories to fill in the blanks.

Juliet Marillier also has 3 other factions of books in the Celtic Realm to include the Saga of the Light Isles of which I have read the first book Wolfskin and it was an excellent read.  She has also written the Bridei Chronicles and last but not least the Wildwood Series.

You can buy Seer of Sevenwaters currently on Amazon for less than $8.  

For Juliet Marillier's official site visit : Juliet Marillier's official site