Latest Book Reviews

an excellent read, cannot wait for the next book in the series.  All Feist readers will enjoy this book.

Remind you that this is not a cozy love story, but a compelling thriller of our minds and souls. One of the best book I've read in 2017, strongly recommend!

Aiemmista romaaneista tuttu elävyys ja tarinan taianomainen värikkyys välittyy loistavasti jo näytelmän käsikirjoituksessa. Näytelmän näkeminen lavastuksineen ja äänineen jne. olisi varmasti mieletön kokemus. Pidin käsikirjoituksessa erityisesti siitä, miten tarinassa pureudutaan asioihin, jotka jäivät syvemmin käsittelemättä tai muuten vain (ainakin minun) mieleen pyörimään: esim. velhojen kategorisointi perimän ja koulutuvan perusteella sekä (hauskana yksityiskohtana) huomautus taikojen yms. kehittymisestä. (SPOILERIVAROITUS:) Kirja paneutui myös kiitettävästi vanhempi-lapsi-suhteiden (ja nyky-yhteiskunnan) ajankohtaisiin aiheisiin nostamalla esiin Harryn pyrkimykset kontrolloida Albuksen elämää ja ystävyyssuhteita jatkuvalla tarkkailulla.

Great ending for the story. Especially the final verbal exchange between Lucifer and his father was perfect!

"I've always been the one who said no to you, father. That was how you made me. So I presume you're only testing your workmanship.

- If you agree-- you would be the Maker. And you would be perfect again, Unfallen. Unscarred by exprerience.

Was this my function then?

- You escaped your function. That's exactly why I want to know you better.

Unscarred? You teach me, father, the difference between knowledge and understanding. This face is mine. This scar is mine. You may not have them. Not with my permission. My answer is no."

The WW3 destroyed the world. The radiation killed everyone. Although, not everyone because the founders of the tribe took off to Alaska and have been there ever since. And not the hunters out there either. The hunters keep looking for the Juneau's people but Juneau's tribe know how to hide. They use the Yara.

Okay, alarm bells. there are a few adults in the tribe. A teenage girl? The last Sage was her mother who died years ago. Nobody in the tribe has thesame skills as Juneau, which is why she's been specially mentored by a guy called Whit. He's honing her magic skills and her ability to work with the Yara. A magical connection to the earth which you can use to your advantage. Like hiding from hunters.

Juneau comes back from a hunting trip to find all her tribe are gone and their dogs have been shot. They haven't deserted, they've been abducted by those flying things in the sky. Hunters.

This is going to be interesting, Ithought. A bit of action and adventure, and out in the wild stuff. To be honest it all fell a bit flat after that.

Juneau grabs enough food for her and the dogs and heads off to find her tribe.

But she finds a fully functional city, where people are walking and talking. No signs of WW3 here. She's been lied to. All her life she's been told the world as it was died 30 years ago. But she's been betrayed.

Yes, there are signs of being hurt. She's angry. At last,some emotional response.

In comes Miles. The second POV of the book. He's a drop out from school. Some might say he doesn't appreciate what he has. Namely a father who basically leaves him alone but gives him enough money to do what he wants. The father also works for a leading pharmaceutical company that are hunting Juneau. Miles decides, after overhearing a few of his fathers phone calls, to go off to Seattle and find this missing girl. For his father.

Okay, he can'tstand his dad. And now he's going to travel from LA to Seattle and find a girl with only the briefest of descriptions? Seriously? This kid doesn't even have any skills. And Seattle's a big place.

What do you know? He finds Juneau. After a bit of traveling here and there, with the introduction of a rook (Whit's) and another witchy kind of lady who helps Juneau out, they're on their way to finding Juneau's tribe.

Then the romance starts happening. I didn't want this. Ididn't like Miles at all. And I didn't really like Juneau. In fact, Amy Plum did her best to make the two characters sound as unappealing as possible, what with Juneau's starburst in her eye and Miles lack of personality. But still, after knowing each other for a day or two they start having zings when they touch, and think of kissing each other. I don't think so....

The book ends on a cliffhanger after Miles gets shot.

This is probably what I would call a road-trip bookwith two unlikely characters learning about each other along the way. But I didn't get any of the emotional buzz I usually get when reading an Amy Plum book. Really, there was nothing enjoyable about it at all. I didn't really care for the Juneau or Miles enough. Every story arc felt too forced, too convenient, too much fell in their laps too easily.

I will read the next one, if only for closures sake but I was thoroughly disappointed. The plot of the story could have been so epic,so big, but turned into a very small one dimensional trek.

All the way from the start to the end the momentum was building, building, until near the end the worst thing in anyone's eyes happened.
And it's not over yet. Once I got to the end of this book I knew I had Tommy Nightmare(Paranormals #2) also in my TBR pile.
I'm so excited to see where this series goes! Definitely worth reading.

Pro's
A good steady slow build-up. A romance that's slow burning and surprise's everyone, with the guy who finally sees what's genuine in front of him, and with good reason.

A good solid story, well thought out.

Great writing. I've not read J.L. Bryan before but I'm looking forward to more.

A female protag you really want to rootfor.

Con's

Lots of references to religion. I'm not that religious but the strong emphasis of church 'for-and-against' as a euphemism to good v evil is almost overkill in parts.

I had this down as a YA and I know nowadays books are becoming more graphic than they used to be but there is quite a bit of sex in this. Yes I know sex and drugs are prevalent at this age but it could have been toned down a tad.

Instead of staying and moping, and let's face it, who wouldn't. shedisappears from the world. It's only after a few chapters we find out she's actually in Morocco and she's encouraged the demons (good and bad) to settle there while they regroup. she's also taken up the task of creating more creatures but what I love about this part is her character. She decides she isn't going to just recreate all of Thiago's close colleagues. She's ruthless and sneaky enough to pick and chose who gets remade.

One of the characters I loved most was Madrigal's otherKirin friend - Ziri. He's a nice demon, young and bit in love with Madrigal/Karou. His story really becomes the main character arc of the book. What Ziri does has a lasting effect on the rest of the demons to come, and on Karou.

Back to Akiva and what he's up to. With his two angel friends, they decide they're not going to openly kill the enemy anymore. To do so goes against everything Akiva was striving for when he dreamed the dream with Madrigal. He hasn't forgotten Karou, infact, he mourns her, even if she isn't dead.

The book finishes nicely, ready for book 3.
What I liked the most? The writing doesn't fail in the slightest. The story is still ongoing and you can feel the world's expand as you're reading it. Such an epic fantasy, I'm maybe a little sorry I waited too long read it.