K.M. Moronova: Your Knife, My Heart

K. M. Moronova put a whole new perspective of keeping those alive around you.

If you are wanted a twisted dark modern day military romance, then is this is for you. This book was all kinds of dark and Moronova didn't shy away from the details all the times. You really feel the stakes throughout the book as well as the tension between Cameron and Emery so your heart really gets going when you read this book. I personally did not want to put it down.

Basically Cameron is a Black MMC, who you don't really know if he is going to protect her or kill her, which is really his MO for all the partners that he gets. I mean he tries to kill her in their very first meeting even though he was told not to. You cannot help for feel for him though, the more you get to know him as a character. What he goes through to prove his worth is absolutely crazy.

Emery is a contradiction a lot of the time. there are times when she is the badass killer and other times where she doesn't seem capable of it and she is more timid than I thought she would be. I'm still not sure if that is Moronova writing her that way to keep the people around Emery on their toes or if Moronova really didn't know which way she wanted to take Emery as a character.

This has trial and games that many people will like, but these games are super super high stakes, as in fail and you die kind of stakes as well as you may complete them and still die, so you really don't know which side characters are going to make it in the end. Plus, everyone is out there for themselves except for Cameron as his main trial is to keep Emery alive. This may be seen as an advantage but often it is not as it creates more of a target on there back.

This is the first book that I have read by Moronova and I know it wont be the last, I need to read more by her and I can't wait to pick up another book by her. Truly one for those who like things on the darker side.

Enjoy!!!

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Laurie Forest: The Iron Flower

In the second book in Laurie Forest's Witch Chronicles series, things are about to get dark and desperate for the resistance.

I don't know why this series has does not have more hype about it. Forest has created an interesting world, plot/story and characters that rivals some of the popular books out there. The book is fast paced and you're not sure where Forest is going to take the story or characters and it is quite a ride throughout. This book had some amazing highs and some horrible lows that you didn't quit know where Forest was going to take a reader next. 

I enjoyed that Forest takes this book to a lot darker place and shows the Vogel followers ramping up in their hatred of people who are different from them. Forest also lets readers know that none of the characters are really safe in her books, and when I read the third book in this series that knowledge is now going to keep me even more on the edge of my seat. This book is bleak at times and you have to wonder what will break Elloren and what will keep her going.

Elloren is an interesting character as she is far from perfect. She has power within her that she cannot access, she make assumptions about people and events often. This is really seen when she interacts with the Amaz and not taking the time to understand their culture and their beliefs. However, Elloren is truly empathic to those around her, fiercely protect as well and she is not afraid to admit that she was wrong or to ask for help. Elloren feels like a full character who is changing and developing as the series goes on.

I think my one criticism is that I wish there was more than just Elloren's POV. We do get a few chapters that are written in third person to set the stage for some events but there are not many of them.

I can't wait to read the third book in this series to see where Forest takes the characters and plot and what she has instore for the resistance next.

Enjoy!!!

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Stacy Willingham: Only if You're Lucky

Stacy Willingham takes you to College where you can reinvent yourself and hope your past doesn't catch up to you:

This is the third book that I have read by Willingham and all I can really say is that I was expecting more. I was expecting a more interesting and fast paced plot with dynamic characters that would draw me into their story. The book moved at such a slow pace and personally i was able to figure out one of the major twists right at the beginning. Does Willingham throw a few more in there for good measure, but it all comes in the latter part of the book, I'd say with 20% left, that I was already over the story

The only character that I did find interesting was Lucy. You can tell there is more to her, you can tell that she manipulates everyone around her and is glad to be doing it. She had way more personality than Margot does in the story, which is probably why Margot is drawn to her over and over again.

I liked the dual main two timelines. There is a third one in there as well but we get so few chapters from when Eliza was alive that I don't count it as a main aspect of the book. personally I would have loved from the Eliza time frame, as it may have sped up the pacing of the book a bit.

This book wasn't for me. I have read a few college psychological books and this just didn't add anything new to the ones that I had previously read and was way slower. I understand that these books are often character led but there needs to be some interesting plot points to hold it all together.

Cheers!!!

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Riley Sagar: The House Across the Lake

Riley Sager show that spying on your neighbours may cause more trouble that it's worth and even murder:

I have read quite a few of Sagar's books and I find that they are hit or miss for me, but i seem to still keep grabbing more so I continue to give them a try. I was 100% into this book and was so curious how Sagar was going to pull the plot together and what was actually happening across the lake but then he totally took me out of it. If you have read this book you’ll know what I’m talking about and I think it is one of those things that you either love or hate. Did I see it coming, No, but after reading several books by Sagar I didn’t think his books took those turns. 

I love an unreliable narrator, whether you know they are unreliable or not. This one you know that Casey is unreliable because she is an alcoholic. She starts drinking from when she wakes up, till she passes out for the night. This plays with her perception of events and the time frame of things. More often than not the events she witnesses are from the darkness of her deck as she is watching things unfold across the lake and how one interprets the things she seems. Once again she is an alcoholic so there are times when things really can be questioned. I find it just adds something more to the story as we question what can be true and what cannot.

I enjoyed the main two timelines and it had me turning the pages pretty fast to get to where they meet as Sagar does a great job of characters in the book all could have committed a crime. You even question has a crime even been committed against Katherine as that is how well Sagar has laid out the plot of the story.

So this book was not for me in the end, but I was enjoying it up to that one point/twist in the book. So I know that I will read more books by Sager (plus I have two more on my physical TBR shelf).

Cheers!!!!

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Jennifer Lynn Barnes: The Naturals

In the first of a YA series, the FBI is determined to start it's profilers early with some teenagers who show a certain type of promise.

I have seen books by Barnes for a few years now and I thought the premise sounded really interesting, plus I grew up watching Criminal Minds and this had a similar air to it. And this totally has criminal mind vibes except with teens as the main characters. Each character really has a counterpart that you can point out from Criminal Minds. As the characters are Teens, they do act like teens with what they say and the decisions that they make. I did not find the "case" that they are part of in this book that interesting and found that this book was more character driven than plot driven as I was expecting it to me. I think this was part of the reason I was able to figure it out as the plot/murderer was not the main point for most of the book and it made me wish it was a bit more complicated.

Cassie is a good character, and you cannot fault her for wanting to join the team as she is looking for who murdered her mother. It was interesting to see Barnes Spin of what a profile would be and how one could be as young as Cassie and Dean. 

This book has the love triangle that I find seems to happen a lot in YA books especially ones that were written in the early 2010 and to be honest the love triangle is just not my thing whether it is YA or adult book. I probably wouldn't have picked this up knowing that it was there as it very much has the two guys playing against each other fairly constantly in the book. You can tell that there is going be one almost from the beginning when Cassie meets the main to MMC that are in the Naturals program.

I think better for a YA audience than an adult one, which is totally fine, that is who this is written for. I don't think that I will continue on in the series, as this was good, but I was hoping for more.

Enjoy!!!

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Sangu Mandanna: A Witch's Guide to Magical Inkeeping

Sangu Mandana takes readers on a whimsical journey of a witch trying to reclaim the powers she lost.

I was really excited to return to Mandanna and the cozy witchy reads that she has created and I really wanted to love this as much as the first book in this series but if just fell flat a few times and I think this was through the pacing of the book. 

I loved idea for this plot of this story of Sera loosing her power and having to live without it but always looking for a way to get it back. She is trying to survive in a world of magic and those who have magic around her and now she has very little of her own. Sera tries to put on a brave face to the world around her but she wants nothing more than getting her magic back and is willing to go to great lengths to achieve it. She has defined herself by the magic she has and lost and can’t seem to see that she is great and thriving without it.

Luke is amazing. Such a great example of a man, he puts other’s needs over his own, will go above and beyond for those he loves especially his sister.

I didn't really feel the romance. To me Sera and Luke relationship lacked a spark and their relationship felt more of one of friendship than anything else. Which I would have been fine with Mandanna having it stay that way, I don’t really see the found family changing much by not having them in a relationship.

I appreciated the ending of where the book end up but i don't think that it will be for everyone.

Overall, this book is a darling read and I did enjoy it I just preferred The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches more. I hope that Mandanna continues to write in this cozy witchy world as I will be there to read them.

 Enjoy!!!

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