Ninth House is Leigh Bardugo's first attempt at an adult series after writing a number of wildly popular young adult novels. Our heroine is Galaxy (Alex) Stern: a badass, street smart twenty-something who can see ghosts. And not the casper kind. The gritty, very dead kind. After her boyfriend is murdered and she almost dies in the same attack, she is given full ride to Yale and, while things are finally looking up for Alex, her new role as Dante in a secret society that is tasked with policing students using magic on campus may be more than she bargained for.. I ... Continue Reading...
Review: Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
Anne Rice has an interesting take on Atlantis and the vampire origin story in Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis. As a chronicle story, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis wasn't bad, but it deviates from what I expect from an Anne Rice novel. One part sci-fi, one part new age inspiration and finally a choppy, rambling narrative created a novel that was lackluster. Perhaps Rice has grown tired of her vampire tales hence the lack Ingenuity and character development in her latest (and last?) entry into the chronicle lore - I can't really say. I remember in ... Continue Reading...
Review: Adrift
Adrift is the debut novel for author Micki Browning – and it’s amazing. Mer, a safety diver who saves a man while babysitting a set of tourists, is thrown into an epic mystery about a ghost, a murder and starring the dysfunctional crew of a paranormal investigation team. Mer becomes part of the safety divers for a paranormal investigator’s documentary on a ship wreck that the diver Mer rescued had seen a ghost. The head of the documentary, Ishmael goes missing under water and Mer becomes the prime suspect in murder. Meanwhile, Mer begins to suspect that not all is ... Continue Reading...
Review: A Time of Torment
I wasn't really sure what to expect when I received an invite via NetGalley to read A Time of Torment. The synopsis is rather vague and doesn't really do this novel justice. I have never read a novel from the Charlie Parker series so I wasn't sure what this novel was really about. Paranormal creatures? Vigilante Private Investigator? Murder Mystery? It turns out A Time of Torment is actually a little bit of all three. A Time of Torment is properly dark, with some really captivating cultural lore behind the mystery of the "entity" that resides in the Cut. The Cut is a ... Continue Reading...
Review: Tell The Wind and Fire
Tell the Wind and Fire is based on Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and comes with a fantasy twist. New York City is divided between the Light City and the Dark City – a distinction that creates a world of inequality based on birth and magical abilities. Light is good, Dark is bad, or is it? Our story follows Lucie, a girl born in the Dark city who earns her way into the Light city. Her experiences border on shock that the Light city is so comfortable while those in the Dark City are condemned to live in poverty and darkness. Meanwhile, the Dark City uses Lucie’s rise ... Continue Reading...