The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden

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At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.

I was immediately entranced by the atmosphere that the author was able to create. I was skeptical of people who had said to read this in the winter because the author makes you feel as if you are within that season in the book. It is absolutely true! I found that I had to have a space heater on because the author describes the hardships of winter for the characters in the book so well. 

The Bear and the Nightingale never seemed to go in directions that I thought that it would and I loved the unpredictability of it. There was still a great progression to the book and held my interest throughout. Vasilisa was a great main character that helped to drive the story forward. I loved her strength and wildness but I hated how she was described as being ugly so much. It bothered me that she was seen as having little to no value because she was not seen as beautiful and docile. I have to give the author credit for making me hate the way that society was at that time because I wouldn't have fully understood Vasilisa's perspective as well as I did without it. 

Early on in the book, the author makes it known that religion old and new is a part of the culture of the time in the story. I thought that this aspect of the book might make it hard for me to continue reading the book. I don't tend to enjoy preachy books but luckily I found the book exciting and fantastical even with the religious aspect. It adds more depth to the book and adds in unlikely villains. 

I had never read any kind of Russian folklore or fairy tales before this book but The Bear and the Nightingale has me wanting to read many more. I am hoping that I will enjoy the next book in the series as much if not more than this one. I would add that if you enjoy historical fiction or fairy tales or are looking for a way to begin reading either of the genres then you would probably enjoy The Bear and the Nightingale. 

An Unkindness of Magicians (An Unkindness of Magicians #1) by Kat Howard

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There is a dark secret that is hiding at the heart of New York City and diminishing the city’s magicians’ power in this fantasy thriller by acclaimed author Kat Howard.

In New York City, magic controls everything. But the power of magic is fading. No one knows what is happening, except for Sydney—a new, rare magician with incredible power that has been unmatched in decades, and she may be the only person who is able to stop the darkness that is weakening the magic. But Sydney doesn’t want to help the system, she wants to destroy it.

Sydney comes from the House of Shadows, which controls the magic with the help of sacrifices from magicians. 

Unkindness of Magicians thrusts readers into a world without any previous knowledge and teaches you about the dangerous world as the chapters progress. I was pulled into the story immediately and thought that it read a bit like a movie. There are quite a few perspectives but I think that it adds to the story as well as the flow of it. I usually have issues with so many points of view because it can be distracting and confusing but I was able to follow along easily. 

I thought that the author set the scene extremely well and brought readers into the world without info dumping. I thought that the magic system was really interesting and loved the elements that the author added in. I have often wondered what happens to those with magic as they use it and this book answered a question that no other book has before. 

I loved Sydney! She was by far my favorite character due to her flawed but righteous nature. She is a result  of her circumstances and an example of what can happen when your choices come back to haunt you. I enjoyed the simplicity of the questions that the novel posed through each characters experience with the magical world. It asks the question: How far would you be willing to go to obtain power? What would you do to fix a broken system?

There was one point that I felt was anticlimactic after so much build up to that event coming to pass. I would have liked to have had more tension within that part of the story as well as more detail in the rest of the story but found the book enjoyable enough to overlook the flaws. I recently found out that the author has decided to write a sequel which I am looking forward to reading. If you are looking for a fantasy book that doesn't require much brain power and is a fun read read then I highly recommend Unkindness of Magicians. 

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

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"Gosford Park" meets "Groundhog Day" by way of Agatha Christie – the most inventive story you'll read this year.

Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed... again.

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...

This book was not exactly what I expected but exactly what I needed. I'm always on the hunt for a mystery/thriller that is unique and takes things in a direction that I'm  not expecting. I had heard that 7 and a half deaths had a sci-fi element to it which is another genre that I enjoy so this book really intrigued me. 
The author throws you right into the fray with no information beforehand whatsoever. I was as disoriented as the main character probably was waking up in the body of a party guest having no idea where he was or how he came to be there. There were periods in the book that were thrilling and left me yelling at characters to run or not to trust certain people in the book. It was interesting and kept my attention easily because I wanted to solve the mystery right along with the main Aiden. There were points in the book where the pacing off and seemed to slow down considerably which was extremely frustrating for me. The slow pacing seems to happen towards the middle of the book and picks back up by the end. Everything happens so quickly and answers to questions are delivered. If you aren't paying close attention you could easily miss something and have to go back and read passages again. 
Something that I both loved and hated was that I couldn't figure out who the murderer was until the author spells it out at the end of the book. I'm usually really good at it but the end result was confusing for me. The murder mystery is a bit hard to follow and I'm not sure that the author left the appropriate amount of breadcrumbs for readers to solve it. 
Some of the questions that I had that were not pertaining to the murder but the rest of the story as a whole were never answered and I am still left wondering how certain things came to be or why. 

I have to say that I did LOVE the twist in the story pertaining to Aiden. I thought that it was so devious and clever. I wish that the author would have delved into that aspect of the story even more or would write another book focusing on that aspect of the book. I understood the end result of Aiden's stake in the story but would have preferred it end a bit differently than it did. 

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey

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Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

I watched The Expanse TV show with my husband and we both really enjoyed it. It took me some time to get into the show and word of advice...get through the first three episodes and by the fourth episode things really start to pick up. I wanted to read the books first but I'm a mood reader and have to be in the mood for something otherwise I end up putting it down. 

I decided to listen to the audio book which is good but extremely long. The TV show follows the book very closely so I would recommend reading the book first before watching. I had a hard time paying attention to the book because I felt like I already knew everything that was going to happen. 

The book follows two different points of view which are Miller and Holden. The world is vast and there are quite a few characters but by having only two points of view it helps the reader to not become overwhelmed by information. 

The world is built really well and steadily throughout the book which I appreciated. I wish that some of the characters could have been fleshed out better because Miller and Holden seemed to be the only characters that had much depth. There is some romance in the book but I wish that the authors would have just skipped over that. I don't think that it needed to be included and appeared more like insta-love which I hate. 

Caliban's War (The Expanse #2) by James S.A. Corey

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We are not alone.

On Ganymede, breadbasket of the outer planets, a Martian marine watches as her platoon is slaughtered by a monstrous supersoldier. On Earth, a high-level politician struggles to prevent interplanetary war from reigniting. And on Venus, an alien protomolecule has overrun the planet, wreaking massive, mysterious changes and threatening to spread out into the solar system.

In the vast wilderness of space, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have been keeping the peace for the Outer Planets Alliance. When they agree to help a scientist search war-torn Ganymede for a missing child, the future of humanity rests on whether a single ship can prevent an alien invasion that may have already begun . . .

Caliban's War is a breakneck science fiction adventure following the critically acclaimed Leviathan Wakes.

I was extremely happy to see that there were some new perspectives in Caliban's War including some of my favorite characters of the series (Bobby and Chrisjen Avasarala). I have been religiously watching The Expanse TV show since my husband got me addicted to it and have recently begun reading the book series. If you enjoy the show then it is pretty much a guarantee that you will love the books the show is based on. I really liked the first book but found that Holden and Miller were a bit bland and found my mind wandering somewhat during the book. That was not the case with Caliban's War! I loved reading Bobby and Chrisjen Avasarala's points of view. I also surprised myself with being interested in Prax's point of view even though he didn't do much for me in the show. It is important to keep in mind that characters and some of the situations in the book differ greatly from the show. For instance, Chrisjen Avasarala is even more of a spitfire and well....even more of a politician if you know what I mean.

I loved how there were so many action packed scenes as well as more political intrigue. I know that quite a few people think that the plot in Caliban's War is similar if not the same as the first book in the series and I agree somewhat. I suppose the crew of the Rossi are again going on a mission to find out more regarding the protomolecule which has them some into contact with a missing persons case again. I think that there was a different feel to this book though. I feel it was a great continuation of the story giving readers more clues and perspectives from people racing to figure everything out and have the most control and power. 

The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renée Ahdieh

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In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

I feel the need to defend The Beautiful and to set the record straight when it comes to this book. I know that everyone has been excited since Renee Ahdieh announced that she was writing a book that would feature vampires and thought that it would have a Gothic feel with seductive creatures of the night. It does have that and has managed to bring back the type of vampires that we knew before Twilight came onto the scene and changed vampires to sparkly vegetarians (I'm not trying to bash the Twilight books at all by saying that). 

I think that the disappointment and confusion with The Beautiful is coming in the form of thinking that vampires would be at the forefront of the book because it mentions them in the synopsis. The truth about The Beautiful is that if you are looking for a book like Twilight or Interview With the Vampire you may be disappointed. While there are vampires in the book and readers get to be in the head of one of them (the villain's point of view) the vampires are mostly hidden away in the book. I think that readers are going into this book expecting one thing when the book reads more like a paranormal murder mystery set in the 1800s. 

I am often skeptical of books set in time periods like this one but I have loved all of Renee's other books and knew that I would read it regardless. I love thrillers and this one was reminiscent of Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco which I loved as well. I thought that the mystery surrounding the villain was done well and I wasn't able to guess who done it. It always surprises me when an author is capable of stumping me. My issues with the book fall into this area as well. I think that the author should have given more breadcrumbs for readers to follow regarding the identity of the murderer. I was a bit thrown off when I discovered their identity. I also didn't really understand nor did I feel that there was much depth as to why the villain was committing murders in the first place. I am hoping that this will be remedied in the next installment. 

I still thought that the book was an overall success. The atmosphere that Renee was able to create was sensual and littered with temptations for the main character. It set the tone of the book beautifully. The author did a nice job of creating the setting with details about dress and culture of the time period included. I enjoyed the characters especially since there were not white knights or damsels in distress. I liked that the characters were flawed and moody rather than being run of mill characters that we see all of the time. I look forward to reading the next installment and feel that The Beautiful wasn't a bad foray into the world of vampires again after the drought of vampire books. 

Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep #1) by Mira Grant

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Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

I thought that the synopsis of Into the Drowning Deep made it sound like something that I have been waiting for forever. I have had yet to find a great mermaid/siren book that had the murder and mayhem that the species are known for....until this book. The author gave me what I have been craving and more. 
I could tell that this book was well thought although the pacing could have been better. That is where the book lost a star in my opinion. I felt like I had to push through the first half. It wasn't that the first half of the book was bad but it was much more scientific in nature rather than moving the plot along. The science was interesting but I wanted a bit more to be happening. 
That being said, the second half of this book was amazing! It was terrifying and thrilling at the same time! I feel like I was just as terrified as the characters in the book. I had no idea what was going to happen or if my favorite characters were going to live. It was fact paced just the right amount of blood and guts. I will say that anyone who is squeamish or has a weak stomach than this book is probably not a good idea. 
I think that some readers will have issues with how the book ended but I loved it. I thought that the ending was appropriate and almost exactly what I was looking for. 

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

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A space adventure set on a lone ship where the clones of a murdered crew must find their murderer -- before they kill again.

It was not common to awaken in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood.

At least, Maria Arena had never experienced it. She had no memory of how she died. That was also new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died.

Maria's vat was in the front of six vats, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it could awaken. And Maria wasn't the only one to die recently...

I was hesitant to read Six Wakes after hearing such mixed reviews on it including readers not understanding how it was a finalist for the Hugo Award. I tend to like books that have won that award since I began paying more attention to the finalists and winners of it. I kept coming back to the book because I enjoy sci-fi and thrillers and the plot sounded intriguing. 

I decided to finally take the plunge and read it to discover my own opinion on the book. Six Wakes begins right in the midst of murder and mayhem. The entire crew has been murdered and all of them wake up in their new clone bodies to discover the gory scene. None of them know how or why they were murdered or who the culprit is. I normally have a lot of trouble with thrillers because I find that authors make it entirely too simple to discover who the murderer is or their motivations for murder are not interesting enough. 

Mur Lafferty does a brilliant job of putting so many twists and turns into his book that it is hard to pinpoint exactly who committed the murders. It was thrilling to read and discover more and more clues to the mystery! 

I loved getting to have all of the different points of view and flashbacks for each character. The author does an excellent job of building the world through each of the characters and I loved every minute of it. Everything feels so realistic which makes the book even creepier. Many of the things that happen in this book could potentially happen with the advances in science and medicine that we have uncovered today. 

I was afraid that the reveal at the end would be disappointing but it was exactly what I would have wanted. Although, I would have liked more ending or at least a sequel. I'm not sure that a sequel would have the same effect or tone that Six Wakes had but I guess I just want more time in the world. 

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

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A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square-shaped hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved - the object's origins, architects, and purpose unknown.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top-secret team to crack the hand's code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the relic they seek. What's clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unravelling history's most perplexing discovery-and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

I heard about sleeping giants from recommendations and reviews from people whose book taste I tend to agree with. I haven't read a lot of adult scifi so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect going into this book. I tried to go into the book fairly blind but I knew it had something to do with a girl falling into a hole and having to be rescued by the fire department. She later finds out she had fallen into what appears to be a giant robotic hand and the book continues from that point.
The book is written in a mixed media format much like Sadie, Illuminae, and Daisy Jones and the Six. I'm sure that it would lend itself well to audio book like those but is still a great ebook read. I would say that the story is more character driven due to it being told through interviews, electronic journal entries, and experimental logs. I have found that I really enjoy this type of format because it is easy to read and makes the story more real somehow. I really enjoyed the characters especially Rose and "you know who"(we never get his name). I related most to Rose and found myself intrigued by "you know who". He appears like a shadow with the information he knows about everyone without actually being in the room and at times I felt he may have been a sociopath. I thought all of the characters were complex and drove the story very well. There were twists and turns which were sometimes due to the characters motivations whether well intention or not that had disastrous consequences. I think that if you liked a book like Illuminae or if you were wanting something more from Illuminae then you should read this book. It's a great intro to adult scifi. It's easy to read and not get lost in the science as well as thought provoking.

The Diviners (The Diviners #1) by Libba Bray

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Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened. 

I have tried to read The Diviners two times before without much success so I decided to try the audio book this time. I think that this helped me to work my way through the book even though I didn't love the narrator. The narrator made many of the male characters sound the same so it was difficult to differentiate between all of them. This forced me to pay close attention to when characters were addressing each other so I knew who was speaking. 

The first issue that I came across with this book was Evie. I hated her and continued to hate her through this read through as well. She didn't appear to have any redeeming qualities until the end of the book. I felt like I was able to see some change in her which made me think that she was growing as a character but then she did something towards the very end of the book that made me go back to how I originally felt about her. She is a selfish person that seems to disregard the feelings and wants of others in favor of her own. I also found her childish and annoying. She is the main reason that I had so much trouble with this book and had to start and stop it the few times before. I'm okay with reading books with characters that are different from me and flawed. In fact, I love flawed characters but Evie was not my cup of tea. 

I also had some trouble with the historical piece of the book but that is just personal preference and one that I was able to enjoy once I ignored Evie's slang and annoying personality. I thought that the author did a fantastic job of world building to the point where I felt as if I was living in the 1920's. I loved the little things that the author was able to do to bring readers into the world including how each of the characters have a different view of it and where they fit. I thought that it was interesting to see the difference in experience between Memphis, a black teenager, and Evie, a well off white teenager within the world. 

My favorite part of the book was the actual plot of the story. It was creepy and gave me chills at different points while reading it. It was different from what I have read before in paranormal thrillers and I loved how the author didn't hold back from being gruesome or scary. I wish that the book would have focused more on that portion of the story rather than having the book from the different points of view and Evie's whining. I'm not sure if I will continue reading the series. I loved the story but I still have a difficult time dealing withe Evie. She doesn't seem like she is going to change so reading the book might be like trying to move through quicksand. 

Foundryside (Founders #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

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Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. 
 
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims. 
 
Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them. 
 
To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

I guarantee that you have probably never read a book like Foundryside. I didn't know much information about the book before reading other than the main character was something of a thief. I'm glad that I went into the book basically blind and I think that it made the story so much more of an adventure. Since I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I want more people to read it, I will give a bit of a tease about the world the story takes place in. There are four main merchant houses that have control as a sort of council or ruling class. They have control over a kind of magic called scribing which entails using coded commands to change everyday objects with sentience. This makes for an extremely interesting world and interactions between characters from different parts of society. The main character, Sancia, steals something rare and valuable and now what seems like the entire world is chasing after her in order to have the object and the power it represents for themselves.

I thought that the stolen object in particular was a fascinating part of the story and something I had never seen in a book before. It was so new to me that it was disorienting. I felt like I had to change my mindset in order to continue reading because it was so strange. I thought that the story was thought provoking and a visual feast. I could picture all of the author's descriptions with vivid detail in my mind. I also thought that the pacing was well done. There were no moments in the book where I felt that the book was slow or drawn out. It wasn't too fast paced but just right in my mind. I thought that the characters were fleshed out well and were complex enough to give the story meaning that added to the plot. I can't wait to read the next installment. I'm just disappointed I have to wait until next year to get my hands on it. 

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty

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Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles. 

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound. 

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences. 

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for... 

I've been excited to read this debut from S.A. Chakraborty. I thought that the idea of a main character that is a con artist accidentally summoning a djinn was something that I hadn't heard of before. This book was an entirely new experience for me. I thought that the world building was interesting. The author introduces readers to the hierarchy of different types of djinn, their powers, and how their world came to be. I also haven't read a book that takes place in Egypt so it was fun for me to learn more about it and the culture.
I haven't been reading adult fantasy for long but I thought that City of Brass was excellent! I would recommend it if you are trying to transition from young adult to adult or if you just want to try reading adult fantasy. I think that some adult fantasy can read like it is trying too hard to be adult by being complicated or unnecessarily long. This is not the case with City of Brass. It was easy to read and to be drawn into the story. 
I loved the characters. They were clearly each products of their home lands and were shaped by the choices that they made as a result. They are each extremely flawed in ways that made me question if I even liked them at times while I was reading. This made me want to keep reading even more to see if they were able to be redeemed or would change as the book progressed. I decided that I enjoyed them by the end of the book and can't wait to see where the author will continue their development as the series continues. There are many layers to each of them already that can be explored in the next book. I'm also looking forward to learning more about side characters due to an intriguing ending to the first installment. 
The politics and social issues were interesting and I wasn't sure what side I fell on. I believe this was the author's  point. There is no right side. There should be equality between the races of djinn as well as freedom of choice. I'm not one for political intrigue and things in books but I found this topic to be particularly interesting. I also believe that it helped that there was so much action taking place periodically over the course of the story. I love battles especially if they involve magic and/or monsters!
There were portions of the book that were a bit slow for me but overall I thought that the book was excellent and executed extremely well. I'm excited to see where the author takes the series next. I thought that the ending was amazing and I cant wait to start reading the next book.

The Hollow City by Dan Wells

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Dan Wells won instant acclaim for his three-novel debut about the adventures of John Wayne Cleaver, a heroic young man who is a potential serial killer. All who read the trilogy were struck by the distinctive and believable voice Wells created for John.

Now he returns with another innovative thriller told in a very different, equally unique voice. A voice that comes to us from the  realm of madness.

Michael Shipman is paranoid schizophrenic; he suffers from hallucinations, delusions, and complex fantasies of persecution and horror. That’s bad enough. But what can he do if some of the monsters he sees turn out to be real?

Who can you trust if you can't even trust yourself? The Hollow City is a mesmerizing journey into madness, where the greatest enemy of all is your own mind.

I went into The Hollow City expecting to like it so I had high expectations. They were met when I read this. I have no complaints to talk about. I think that The Hollow City was very well executed with each reaction, clue, and event flowing into the next. The pacing of the book was excellent. It was fast paced but still managed to be coherent.

As far as characters go, I liked John Wayne Cleaver [I Am Not A Serial Killer] more than Michael even though he wasn't any less interesting. I think that I enjoyed the darker, creepier side to John that Michael didn't have. Michael had a depth to him that I appreciated and it was interesting to experience everything in the book from his point of view. He was an unreliable point of view. It was difficult to tell fact from fiction which I found to be exciting and frustrating at the same time. 

I loved the twist in the book even though I guessed part of it. It was an interesting way to take the story. I think that the paranormal elements in this book were more fleshed out and better done than in some of the author's previous work. I honestly don't think that Dan Wells can write something that I won't enjoy. I have liked all of the books that I have read by him. 

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

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Two struggling teenagers find an unexpected connection just when they need it most.

Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.

KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.

DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her. 

When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

I loved this book so much! I thought that the author did a great job of portraying a character that is autistic. It wasn't romanticized but it was shown to be something difficult that can make relating to peers difficult. David was my favorite character in the story by far because he was so real. He had struggles but also successes. He is a great example of how just because someone is coping with an issue like autism, it doesn't mean that they are worth less than others. He is able to contribute through his honesty, heart, and intelligence. I loved seeing his growth throughout the story which the author also did well portraying. It is not a magical, quick fix but rather a very slow and realistic progression.

I also thought that Kit was a great example of grief and how it can take many forms for each individual. Everyone around her expects her to move on and to be her old self but to her losing her father feels like it just happened no matter the length of time. The author makes her feelings on the matter apparent in such a way that in reading it readers can feel the emotions as if they were their own. 

I think that it will be easy for readers to relate to each of these characters if they have ever felt that they were different or have lost someone close to them. The author handles both of the main characters issues delicately but also pushes readers to feel different emotions and understand the characters in a way that can be painful to read. I loved the author's writing and will continue to read her novels as she has no let me down yet with her books. 

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

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Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I have been in a bit of a reading slump where I have started a few books but haven't been able to finish them because I just wasn't in the mood. I picked up The Unhoneymooners hoping that it would help me and it did. It was just the book that I needed. It was light, funny romance. Was it anything new? No. Was it a bit fantastical at times? Yes. I could see the flaws in the book but still thought that it was a fun and enjoyable read. I liked each of the main characters and found them even more realistic and relatable than the characters in the last Christina Lauren book I read, Josh and Hazel. They each had their issues but were good, solid people who needed to catch a break in different ways. Olive was unlucky in general and Ethan was unlucky in love. Put all of those factors together and I smell a romance....well except for the fact that they hate each other. I think that I may have a thing for Christina Lauren's writing and may need to read more of her books. If you enjoy fun, light romance then you will probably love The Unhoneymooners!

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) by Mark Lawrence

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I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin.

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive…

This book was insane! I should have expected it considering the summary talks about killer nuns but Red Sister still rocked my world! This is my first Mark Lawrence book and I will be reading more of his work after this. 
It wasn't quite as action-packed as I had expected but when there were action scenes....wow!!! I still really enjoyed Nona's journey even without much action. When the book begins she is a small child that is taken from her home to be sold. She is still naive in some ways, being a child, but understands some of the ways of the world. As she gets older, she is taken to Sweet Mercy as the summary implies and learns skills in the art of killing. I don't always enjoy the "special school" trope but I do love assassin schools because it makes the story more interesting. I thought that Nona was an interesting character. She was complex for so young a person. She grows a lot over the course of the book and really comes into herself and her skills. 
The glimpses of the present were interesting touches. Although, I thought that it was obvious who the person was. You'll have to read the book to know what I'm talking about. I liked how the author stuck with story lines and didn't add too many elements to the plot that would distract or confuse readers. It was clear who the villains were and what their motives were. The author didn't focus too much on other characters but gave enough to enjoy the personalities and differences in them. The author is not afraid of bloodshed or harm to children or animals so you have been warned. If those types of things are bothersome to you then you probably shouldn't read this book. If, however, you enjoy strong female characters who kick some serious butt with magic abilities thrown into the mix then I would highly recommend Red Sister!