Review: A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan returns to the high-stakes, sweeping world of dragons, romance, and drama first evoked in her bestselling young adult Firelight series, in a brand-new epic adult romantasy series.

A FIRE IN THE SKY by SOPHIE JORDAN

Series: A Fire in the Sky #1

Publication date: September 24, 2024

Published by: Harper, Avon

Genre: fantasy, romantasy

 

SYNOPSIS

Dragons are extinct. Witches are outcast. Magic is dying.

But human lust for power is immortal.

Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous…especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it's her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. Her only friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard...though sometimes she thinks he wants more than friendship.

When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, descends on her home, Tamsyn’s world becomes even more dangerous. To save the pampered princesses from a fate worse than death, she is commanded to don a veil and marry the brutal warrior. She agrees to the deception even though it means leaving Stig, and the only life she’s ever known, behind.

The wedding night begins with unexpected passion—and ends in near violence when her trickery is exposed. Rather than start a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his bride...but can he accept the dark secrets she harbors—secrets buried so deep even she doesn’t know they exist? For Tamsyn is more than a royal whipping girl, more than the false wife of a man who now sees her as his enemy. And when those secrets emerge, they will ignite a flame bright enough to burn the entire kingdom to the bone.

Magic is not dead...it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.

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Praise for Sophie Jordan:

“Firelight soars to dizzying heights, combining forbidden love, scorching romance, and thrilling danger.” — Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of Paranormalcy

“Magnificent and masterful! A world so captivating, you’ll never want to leave!” — Kerrelyn Sparks, New York Times bestselling author on Firelight

Praise for Vanish: “With thrilling fights and several escapes…[an] impossibly handsome love interest and star-crossing impediments to love…[Vanish is] imaginative.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Just surrender to the sizzle.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Bestseller Jordan (the Duke Hunt series) will have readers rooting for adultery with this risqué and alluring series launch. Jordan conjures such chemistry between Tru and Jasper—and makes Lord Chatham so odious—that readers will leave any qualms at the door. The tantalizing struggle between love and honor at the heart of this delectable romance keeps the pages flying."  — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Scandalous Ladies of London: The Countess

"Sharp, sexy, and blissfully salacious, The Scandalous Ladies of London is an adrenaline-soaked, romantic delight. I flew through this in one sitting, completely unwilling to stop until I reached the perfect last page. This book is precisely what I love most about romance! " — Christina Lauren, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Soulmate Equation

"Jordan…makes a firm argument for more historical romances that dare to live outside the ballroom or even the aristocracy altogether. Her love scenes crackle (don't worry, the book makes good on its deliciously clever title) … for those looking for a historical romp that goes a bit further afield than a 19th century estate, The Duke Goes Down is a delightful diversion.”

— Entertainment Weekly on The Duke Goes Down

"Jordan gives readers a clever and high-drama twist on the traditional Regency romance but keeps the heart of what makes the genre so popular and beloved. Historical romance fans who like their romance with a dash of soap opera antics will eat this book up and anxiously await more scandals in future volumes." — Library Journal on The Scandalous Ladies of London: The Countess

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sophie Jordan took her adolescent daydreaming one step further and penned her first historical romance in the back of her high school Spanish class. This passion led her to pursue a degree in English and History.

A brief stint in law school taught her that case law was not nearly as interesting as literature - teaching English seemed the natural recourse. After several years teaching high school students to love Antigone, Sophie resigned with the birth of her first child and decided it was time to pursue the long-held dream of writing.

In less than three years, her first book, Once Upon A Wedding Night, a 2006 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Nominee for Best First Historical, hit book shelves. Her second novel, Too Wicked To Tame, released in March 2007 with a bang, landing on the USA Today Bestseller's List.

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REVIEW

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan


I gave this one a try because I'm a huge fan of Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison and I'm always on the lookout for another Dragon book that can grab my attention. It's very hard to find good quality paranormal/fantasy books with dragons-at least that has been my experience. This series takes place before Sophie Jordan's Firelight series and is supposed to give more background on the creation of the dragon shifters. I have never read her YA series, but I was excited to read this author for the very first time as she entered the adult romantasy genre. One positive thing that comes to mind about my impression of this book is that it quickly and easily engaged me in the story and I never struggled to continue reading. It took me less than 24 hours to read the book in its entirety which I can't say for a lot of stories I have read.

Based on the wording in the synopsis, one of my only concerns going in was that the hero becomes violent or abusive in some form when he learns that he's been deceived by the heroine. Yes, his character is a brutal warrior, but one thing I can't stomach is when an author romanticizes abuse. I took the risk and read it anyway, and luckily my fears were never realized. While he was understandably enraged and left feeling betrayed in a huge way, I never felt that he crossed the line in his treatment of her.

   Legions of warriors followed this man. 

He was the stuff of legends and nightmares. 

The strongest. The most vicious. The man 

who held this realm together.

Fell is a "border lord" who fiercely protects Penterra and its inhabitants-including the royals. Their freedom and safety are all due to him and his warriors, however they do not receive the respect they have earned. His people from the Borderlands are seen as brutish, uncivilized, and Fell himself is referred to as a Beast. When he marches upon the castle to greet the royals, he is greeted with artificial compliments and praise. Everyone has pretty words and bright smiles for them until he demands to marry a princess in return for his service. Suddenly their true feelings are revealed. These outrageously selfish people think it's laughable to reward the very person who has kept them all safe for many years. A scheme is quickly concocted to use their whipping girl to take the place of a princess and hide her identity until it's too late to reverse the marriage.

Honestly, almost everyone in the castle is despicable. King Hamlin is a spineless weakling who relies on his advisor to make his decisions for him. The chancellor is the man in charge of whipping the heroine for the princesses' transgressions and he finds sadistic pleasure while doing it. Two of the three sisters are vain and selfish. The majority of everyone else belittles Tamsyn for being raised with the royals but being "beneath" them.

   I might be trapped between worlds—royal 

and not royal, belonging and not belonging—

but at least I knew my place, my purpose.

One princess and Stig, the captain of the guard and Tamsyn's best friend, were the only people with any decency. Though even Stig quickly lost my respect as well. I just didn't understand why Tamsyn seemed so humble and giving towards all of these people who had her whipped because of an archaic tradition and only thought of themselves. Truly. She was willing to constantly sacrifice for them and never feel an ounce of resentment, even when they led her like a lamb to the slaughter to a man whom everyone deemed dangerous. It was sort of frustrating all around from every angle, but I suppose I gave her a little bit more understanding since they took her in when she was an abandoned baby and she felt indebted to them. She was also quite sheltered living in the palace and had no experiences with the outside world regarding how their political policies and decisions were negatively affecting the lower classes. Her marriage to Fell is supposed to gain him entry into political discussions so that he would be able to help the poor and struggling prosper. Unfortunately, that hope is destroyed when he discovers that he has been duped, and unsurprisingly he does not take it well.

After the marriage, the story becomes more of a journey/adventure type fantasy as they make the grueling trek back to his homeland. They encounter danger and hardship, and we get a lot of internal dialogue through alternating POV chapters. What the book is truly lacking is character depth, any development of romantic feelings, and detailed explanations on just about anything important in the plot. In general, everything is very surface level. It almost has the feel of how a novella reads to me because of how everything is briefly told to you instead of being shown or brought to life. Questions I had regarding the physical reaction Tamsyn and Fell had in their hands where they were blood bonded during their wedding were never satisfied. Why did the dragons start delivering human babies who could shift? There was a brief throwaway comment about a witch being responsible, but the full background was never explained.

This is the first book and a prequel to another series. Its main purpose is to tell backstory and history, yet it seemed noticeably absent. Maybe more will be introduced more in the next book? I couldn't help but feel disappointed in the worldbuilding and flat characters. How did Tamsyn and Fell even have such strong emotion for each other when they barely spoke to each other? When they did speak, most of the time they weren't getting along. The book ends very abruptly on a cliffhanger. I knew this was supposed to be a series, but the way the book ended was so rushed and jarring. There was a big reveal with Tamsyn and Fell and his reactions didn't quite come off as natural to me based on the lack of time he spent with his wife getting to know her. We are just to believe that he would immediately accept the things revealed and upend his entire life the way he did at a moment's notice? I'm not convinced.

I wanted to love this book, but I think it didn't meet the potential that I felt it had. Unfortunately this one was just okay for me.

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Review: Viscount in Love by Eloisa James

Two eccentric orphans bring together a grumpy viscount and the free-spirited heroine who steals his heart in the first novel in Eloisa James’s new Accidental Brides series, in which haughty aristocrats find themselves married to the wrong women. 

VISCOUNT IN LOVE by ELOISA JAMES

Series: Accidental Brides #1

Publication date: July 23, 2024

Published by: Avon  

Genre: historical romance

 

SYNOPSIS

He wants a nanny, not a bride…

Suddenly guardian to twins, Viscount Dominic Kelbourne is luckily betrothed to a suitable lady—until she elopes. With no time to woo, Dominic decides to marry his fiancée’s unconventional sister. Torie isn’t perfect, but their kisses are so passionate that society thinks he’s actually chosen her.

She wants to marry for love…

Torie has never been able to make sense of words on a page, so she has turned her talents to art. She longs for a man who values her as she is… but marries for the sake of the twins. She doubts Dominic is capable of love, let alone respect, but as their heated debates turn into something more, Torie begins to imagine a life as a wife, not a nanny. 

But when the arrogant viscount finds that his viscountess has stolen his heart, he’ll have to give all he has to win her love.

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Praise for Eloisa James:

“Eloisa James writes with a captivating blend of charm, style, and grace that never fails to leave the reader sighing and smiling and falling in love. Her style is exquisite, her prose pure magic. Nothing gets me to a bookstore faster than a new novel by Eloisa James.” — Julia Quinn

“Bestseller James’s fun third Would-Be Wallflowers historical romance (after The Reluctant Countess) sets itself apart in the depth of its interpersonal complexities. Lovers of historical romance will delight in these well-rounded, flawed characters learning to live their best lives.” — Publishers Weekly on Not That Duke

“The third smartly sexy and sharply witty addition to James’ Would Be Wallflowers series offers everything fans could hope for and expect from this romance genre luminary.” — Booklist on Not That Duke

“This enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance uses humor to show how a match that looks perfect on paper may be no match at all when it comes to chemistry… a compelling and delightful read. Enjoy this light and humorous historical romance.” — Library Journal on Not that Duke

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar"; later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists.

After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.

Eloisa...on her double life: 

When I'm not writing novels, I'm a Shakespeare professor. It's rather like having two lives. The other day I bought a delicious pink suit to tape a television segment on romance; I'll never wear that suit to teach in, nor even to give a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference. It's like being Superman, with power suits for both lives. Yet the literature professor in me certainly plays into my romances. The Taming of the Duke (April 2006) has obvious Shakespearean resonances, as do many of my novels. I often weave early modern poetry into my work; the same novel might contain bits of Catullus, Shakespeare and anonymous bawdy ballads from the 16th century.

When I rip off my power suit, whether it's academic or romantic, underneath is the rather tired, chocolate-stained sweatshirt of a mom. Just as I use Shakespeare in my romances, I almost always employ my experiences as a mother. When I wrote about a miscarriage in Midnight Pleasures, I used my own fears of premature birth; when the little girl in Fool For Love threw up and threw up, I described my own daughter, who had that unsavory habit for well over her first year of life.

So I'm a writer, a professor, a mother - and a wife. My husband Alessandro is Italian, born in Florence. We spend the lazy summer months with his mother and sister in Italy. It always strikes me as a huge irony that as a romance writer I find myself married to a knight, a cavaliere, as you say in Italian.

One more thing...I'm a friend. I have girlfriends who are writers and girlfriends who are Shakespeare professors. And I have girlfriends who are romance readers. In fact, we have something of a community going on my website. Please stop by and join the conversation on my readers' pages.

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REVIEW

Viscount in Love by Eloisa James
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I have quite a few Eloisa James books under my belt at this point, some have been enthusiastic five star reads, some have been just middle of the road. Despite not knowing which way things will fall each time I pick up a new book by this author, I keep coming back for more. Typically she pays meticulous attention to historical detail. Her cast of characters in each series are ones that I'm eager to revisit to watch find their personal HEAs. The dialogue is witty, and the backstories typically well fleshed out.

Unfortunately a lot of the things I usually love were missing in this new release and I felt the absence of that magic to the point that I almost DNFd. With the exception of Torie's best friend and Dom's 11 year-old wards, every single character is infuriating and unbearable. The romance was frustratingly inconsistent, lacked any true chemistry, build, or anticipation. As well, the reader is left in the dark about the hero's internal conflict until late in the book leading you to almost despise him at points due to not understanding what drives his thoughts and intentions. The heroine is similarly not fully shown to her full potential until the end and I don't understand why this was done.

I read this title because I was intrigued with the heroine's learning disability and how it would affect her life in the 19th century. Torie has dyslexia in the year 1800 and I was excited to read this fresh plot point going in. It's obvious that a woman would face prejudice about the inability to read as part of the upper class. That is certainly a realistic representation, but the verbal abuse was constant from everyone around Tory in almost every conversation. Little jabs about her being "addled" with pitying looks and disparaging comments about her worth. At one point her father compared her to livestock. It felt very overdone to have the prejudice that constant and extreme when she is clearly a well-spoken woman perfectly capable of carrying on a well-informed conversation. She has a strong vocabulary, an eidetic memory, and she's a gifted painter. She just learns through experience or verbally rather than textually. Yet she's treated as if she's a babbling loony without a thought in her head at all times. It could have been shown without beating us over the head with it.

  Why shouldn’t a lady be frivolous? Why should 

a woman read or write? It’s like asking a pig to 

sing opera.” Torie didn’t flinch. It wasn’t as if 

she hadn’t been compared to livestock before.

She is so used to the verbal abuse from everyone around her that she lets it roll right off her back and ignores it. Her sister and father make these humiliating comments in front of other people and she never gets angry or upset. That's just the tip of the iceburg of what her father does to her. 

Dominic's character was so incoherent. In the beginning of the book he is portrayed as a very serious sort with no sense of humor to speak of. He's described as intimidating to others due to his temper in the House of Lords, but we aren't really shown that-it's more that he's stern and emotionless. When he's engaged to Leonora, he has no passion or affection for her. He simply chose her based on her perceived intelligence and refinement. He goes from very little personality or emotion at all to flirting with sexual innuendos once he's jilted and sets his sights on Torie. How does he go from one extreme to the other literally overnight? He goes from seeing Torie as silly and shallow with a lack of intelligence (and ZERO sexual attraction after three years) to lusting over her and getting offended at people's rude comments towards her in one day. I found his outrage so hypocritical due to his own insulting internal dialogue about her.

   It had taken him several months to find a lady 

who could be a true partner and offer an intelligent 

assessment of current events. Most ladies fell into 

Torie’s camp. Granted, she kept the nursery 

laughing with her wry observations about 

Odysseus’s adventures, but that wasn’t 

the same as sharing lucid analysis.

  Torie was charming, fresh, and 

funny. Useless, perhaps, but enchanting.

True, he had hoped to marry a woman who 

would challenge him intellectually, 

but he could reconcile himself.

These are the thoughts of someone with honor? He jumps from cold to flirty and back again without the reader having a deeper understanding of why. On top of that, he had fully intended to keep his mistress when he was engaged to Leonora and was outraged when confronted by Torie about it days before their wedding. He literally got angry when she demanded that he be monogamous because he doesn't like being told what to do. I wanted to drop kick him so hard I almost rage quit. It isn't until MUCH later that he finally explains himself over this and a certain humiliating situation that occurred two days before they married. Even though it did ease my anger some, he still acted clueless and insensitive towards his wife. When an 11 year-old child is more insightful and intuitive about your wife than you...you have a problem. He doesn't start to genuinely see his wife for the brilliant, talented woman she is until after 80% in the book. *sigh*

The sexual scenes didn't work for me because we are led to believe they have instant chemistry overnight after completely platonic interactions and thoughts for three years. It just comes over them like an epiphany that she is a "buxom" beautiful woman, and he is her preferred buff, bulky, muscular body type. It was like flicking a switch with them. The dirty talk and spice comes off as very artificial when they consummate their marriage one day after the wedding. Not to mention, Torie is supposed to be a virgin whose only knowledge of sex is having seen rabbits copulate and yet she jumps on him with no timidness or lack of skill. She does things that she wouldn't even know existed in bed. We are just told that she may be incapable of the written word, but when it comes to this, she's a "natural." It doesn't work that way! It made everything so unrealistic and unbelievable. 

This book was a little under 400 pages and it was really noticeable. The page really dragged, especially in the middle of the book. I kept checking the percentage constantly only to see that barely any progress had been made. I think the lack of connection to the couple and the two MCs separately made a big contribution to that. Their communication issues over important matters and very little time spent understanding each other outside of bed caused their relationship to feel very superficial to me. Dominic did redeem himself late in the book a little bit, but overall the characters were just messy and unsatisfying. Unfortunately, this one was a miss, but I have faith that others in this new series may win me over.

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Review: Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman

Just when she thought she’d gotten far enough away . . . a life-changing phone call throws an antisocial scientist back into her least favorite place—the spotlight. A hilarious and insightful new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

CHRISTA COMES OUT OF HER SHELL

 by ABBI WAXMAN

Series: N/A

Publication date: April 16, 2024

Published by: Berkley

Genre: contemporary romance

 

SYNOPSIS

After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Liddle has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father—long thought dead after a plane crash—turns out to be alive, well, and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on . . . if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and—most importantly—any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.

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Praise for Christa Comes Out of Her Shell:

“Abbi Waxman has done it again! I laughed out loud, I swooned, I … unexpectedly learned a lot about snails? (And they’re awesome, by the way). I live for Abbi’s awkward, lovable-yet-socially-anxious heroines, and Christa Liddle is hands-down my new favorite.”

—Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

"If I could go on vacation inside Abbi Waxman's books, the utterly charming Christa Comes Out of Her Shell would be the centerpiece of my itinerary. Waxman's witty voice, complex and oh-so-loveable characters, and knack for writing romance that's both swoony and sexy absolutely shine in this hilarious, tender story about family, fame, and marine mollusks. I'll definitely be screaming about this one to anyone who will listen!"

—Sarah Adler, author of Mrs. Nash's Ashes

"Waxman displays her usual talent for creating main characters who are wry and great with a one-liner... Christa is endearingly antisocial…and it’s satisfying to watch her come out of her shell as she accepts the chaos of her family and learns to make peace with the past."

—Kirkus Reviews

“Readers who find comfort in Waxman’s likable nerds will enjoy smart and snarky Christa. Christa’s mother and sisters add delightful color and humor as they make clear where Christa’s personality originated, and Christa’s second chance at romance with an old family friend feels natural and genuine and full of heat.” 

—Booklist

“Readers will relish this lively take on legacy and manipulation.”

—Publishers Weekly

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abbi Waxman was born in England in 1970, the oldest child of two copywriters who never should have been together in the first place. Once her father ran off to buy cigarettes and never came back, her mother began a successful career writing crime fiction. Naturally lazy and disinclined to dress up, Abbi went into advertising, working as a copywriter and then a creative director at various advertising agencies in London and New York. Eventually she quit advertising, had three kids and started writing books, mostly in order to get a moment’s peace.

Abbi lives in Los Angeles with her husband, three kids, three dogs, three cats, a gecko, a snake, five pigeons, four chickens, and two guinea pigs. Every one of these additions made sense at the time, it’s only in retrospect that it seems foolhardy.

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REVIEW

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I haven't read an Abbi Waxman book since The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. This one immediately caught my attention because it has one of my greatest female character weaknesses: the introverted nerd. If she is socially awkward (even anti-social is acceptable), quirky, super intelligent, or shy...count me in. All of the above? Even better! After many years of reading many variations of this heroine, IT has finally happened. I found one that unlikely unicorn that I don't like. Christa is a contradiction, an anomaly. On paper, I should like her, but for me but all of her flaws overshadowed the things that should have endeared her to me.

Humans talk so much and look at you 

expectantly, as if you’d been 

paying attention. Fools.

Christa Liddle grew up in the public eye because of her famous father. He had his own television show, and was co-founder of a copycat beanie baby toy company. He was a charming media darling until he took a flight to Alaska and disappeared. Christa was two the last time they all saw him off in that plane, so his absence is more memorable to her than his brief presence was. The media and internet were like a pack of wolves fighting over the bloody carcass of their lives, but Christa especially got the brunt of their unwanted attention. To lose a father is hard enough, but to try to work through everything emotionally while the world watches your every move is near impossible. She doesn't handle it well as a young adult, and her rebellious ways escalated until one traumatic event sends her running to isolate herself on an island in the Indian Ocean. There, she finds quiet, serenity, and only the snails she's studying as her companions. For four years, she was happy hiding away from her uncomfortable past, but her father had to go and "return from the dead."

From the start, Christa was rubbing me the wrong way. She's prickly, quick to get angry and defensive, pushes everyone away around her, and is emotionally closed off. I'm all for a socially awkward character, but when you throw rudeness into the equation, that's not a good side. Even her "crush" Nate is victim of her sharp tongue, but he can't see past the hearts in his eyes whenever he looks at her. These two grew up together, but there was an age gap as kids. Now, they discover an almost immediate attraction for each other, but I genuinely couldn't see why he was so enthralled with her so quickly. She doesn't spare him much attention, and when she does, she makes sure to emphasize that if they get involved, it will only be a fling until she jets back to her solitary life again. They go on one walk, and one date on the beach and suddenly are supposed to be on the fast track to falling for each other. I never saw any reason why they would feel this way. It all feels very manufactured based on their completely platonic interactions growing up. She never fails to dismiss him like his wants are unimportant when making decisions about where to take her life in the next stage. Even up until the last 15% of the book she's making decisions purely on her own needs making me feel that she hadn't grown at all throughout the book. I felt that he deserved someone who would make compromises and sacrifices for him some of the time, because he was all in, wasn't afraid to express that to her, and he deserved it.

   It’s fine, it’s just a fling. We’ll both get over it 

soon enough. I had a brief flash of the 

previous night, the connection I had felt—

and feel—with him. I shoved it down because 

this girl has no time for love. 

Who even mentioned love?

Aside from the weak romance, the plot was a little out there. The disappearance, assumed death, return "from the dead", amnesia, and cartoonishly one-dimensional villain were very soap opera over-the-top for my taste. This came off as a rom-com rather than a women's fic that you would expect from this author, but without the humor or charm. For me, it really fell flat. There wasn't enough exploration into Christa's broken relationship with her family, and a lack of time spent of mending it. All of that was glossed over in a quick and tidy way, while the chaotic antics surrounding her dad were always the focus.

Personally, whatever story her dad was currently spinning, I never had any sympathy and I wouldn't have been so quick to let him back into the family. It was a little annoying how they just accepted the pain that he put them all through (let's just say that his original version of events didn't actually check out). Even Christa who was the only one giving any resistance, quickly caved and spent time with him without any discussion of the turmoil she suffered because of him. However, ignoring uncomfortable situations and conversations is on brand for her I guess.

   “I can’t do this now,” I said, 

suddenly restless and uncomfortable. 

“Maybe I should be a stronger 

person or something, 

but all I want to do 

now is hide.

My problem with Christa is that she needs character growth, badly, and I didn't see it happen. Her big flaw-running from her problems is not addressed. At all. At 90% in the book she runs from her uncomfortable feelings again. Nate shows that he is willing to uproot his entire life and fit his alongside wherever she decides to go. What does she ever do to show him that he is as important to her? I didn't feel any chemistry at all, and I wasn't ever really rooting for them. Overall, more time should have been spent on developing Christa's familial and romantic relationships rather than the OTT drama. While I was a fan of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, this one was a miss for me. Not every book can be a winner, and that's perfectly okay.

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Review: A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton

Angels walk among us, but so do other unearthly beings in this brand new series by #1 New York Times Bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton.

A TERRIBLE FALL OF ANGELS 

by LAURELL K. HAMILTON

Series: Zaniel Havelock #1

Publication date: August 17, 2021

Published by: Berkley

Genre: paranormal, fantasy

 

SYNOPSIS

Meet Detective Zaniel Havelock, a man with the special ability to communicate directly with angels. A former trained Angel speaker, he devoted his life to serving both the celestial beings and his fellow humans with his gift, but a terrible betrayal compelled him to leave that life behind. Now he’s a cop who is still working on the side of angels. But where there are angels, there are also demons. There’s no question that there’s evil at work when he’s called in to examine the murder scene of a college student—but is it just the evil that one human being can do to another, or is it something more? When demonic possession is a possibility, even angelic protection can only go so far. The race is on to stop a killer before he finds his next victim, as Zaniel is forced to confront his own very personal demons, and the past he never truly left behind.

The first in a new series from the author of the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PHOTO CREDIT: Ma Petite Enterprises

Laurell K. Hamilton is one of the leading writers of paranormal fiction. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Hamilton writes the popular Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels and the Meredith Gentry series. She is also the creator of a bestselling comic book series based on her Anita Blake novels and published by Marvel Comics. Hamilton is a full-time writer and lives in the suburbs of St. Louis with her family.

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REVIEW

A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I just finished a four hundred page information dump on demons, angels, witches, spirit guides, animal guides, guardian angels, a baba yaga descendant, a voodoo priest, a "remote viewer," different specialties in the College of Angels, and abrupt, abstract descriptions of otherworldly interactions in the heavenly realm. As you would imagine, I'm feeling just little bit mentally exhausted after such a marathon of data. There was a slew of characters from Zaniel's past at the College of Angels, there was another huge set of police force characters-and if that wasn't enough, some of the characters had three different names. (Zaniel couldn't even get his best friend's name straight for the life of him.) So in other words, there was so much to compute that my brain is feeling a little numb right now. I'm going to try to sum things up as concisely and clearly as possible.

This was my first read by this author so I have nothing to compare this new series to. I've always been curious about Ms. Hamilton's work because of the popularity of her Anita Blake books. However, as a blogger I just didn't have the time to attempt an established 28 book series when I have so many ARC obligations on my plate. That's why I jumped at the chance to try out her new Zaniel Havelock series. My first impression here was that she's a big fan of detail. Normally that's a good thing to have intricate world building in urban fantasy. In this case, it was on the opposite side of the spectrum from "too little, too late." There were supernatural lessons like these littered through every chapter- even in the middle of character building, internal dialogue.

“Infernals take on the appearances of the human imagination nearest them,” Charleston said. “What?” Miller asked. 

“What he said,” the female security guard said. 

“It means they look like what the nearest human thinks they should look like, but they won’t appear in their true Hellish form, not here on Earth, except maybe for a second, then it changes,” I said. I didn’t add that a second could be enough for insanity or death for the human seeing it, but our minds protected us from so much, including demons. If a person could survive that second, then what they thought changed what they saw; demons used it to appear as our worst nightmares, but even that was usually less soul-destroying then the demon’s original form.

You take your time to get a good grasp on what is being explained, but the problem is that the infernal creature committing murders in the central mystery plot breaks all the rules in the rulebook. So this thing has abilities that contradict everything we've been told and by the end of the book, there was only the barest hint of why that could be. I understand that this is the introduction to a very long series and we should expect things to be drawn out far into the future, but I felt that the purpose of this book was to simply teach us who the characters were and begin to explain the world they live in. There were many different plot arcs such as Zaniel's marriage difficulties, his friend Levanael's mental illness recovery, his mysterious past affair with a Seraphim, the events that broke his faith in the college of angels, and attempting to piece together the mystery of the demon possessed/merged Cookson. The plot was so erratic, jumping from one point to another, that your attention never truly has time to engage with any one thing. To be frank, my favorite parts of the book were the action sequences where Zaniel was facing off with the demonic being. All of the other parts were often rambling, disjointed scenes stuck together.

For instance, why was Kate introduced? She is supposed to be from the lineage of a russian folklore witch called Baba Yaga. Zaniel seems notably attracted to her (despite his conflicted feelings about putting his family back together). He has an odd wound from her that keeps strangely seeping blood which we're led to believe has some deeper meaning. Then it just heals at the end and nothing ever comes of it. She never enters the story again, and we don't know why the wound behaved that way. Then there's the conflict that occurred with the spirit animal raccoon. We were told that this was a very strange and worrisome thing that the raccoon had been separated from a witch named Ravensong. She and Emily were both so distressed over the matter and then after the climax of the story it was never addressed again. Lila and Adam got only a hint of a romantic connection before disappearing from the story. Then we have the tangled mess of the College of Angels. I can't seem to get a cohesive picture of that place at all.

Zaniel grew up in the College of Angels. For a long time, he believed that he was training for a higher purpose and putting his supernatural gifts with angels to good use. He and his best friends Surrie and Lev were like the three musketeers in the strict religious faction he lived in until he broke away and joined the military. Something happened to severely disillusion him and I sensed that it was caused by the leaders in particular. However, what they were being taught about angels and demons actually seemed valid. Zaniel himself truly has the ability to communicate with angels and yet he feels as if he has just been indoctrinated by the group.

   She was still comfortable and secure in the College of Angels

and everything they taught us there. 

No, not taught, indoctrinated. 

How do you know you’re in a cult? 

You usually don’t until something happens that is so terrible 

you can’t ignore it, or pretend it didn’t happen, 

and then you start questioning everything.

Zaniel is able to withstand holy fire and speak with the higher forms of Celestial beings without dying or going crazy. Surrie helps heal people who are demon touched-once again, a true ability. She's even called in as a consultant for one of Zaniel's jobs on the force. And yet, the college is classified as a cult by Zaniel and the rest of society. There was even a Netflix documentary about their cult-like practice of recruiting children and then permanently keeping them from their parents. Why would the police force recruit help from a cult? That would be like recruiting a Scientologist even though its been established that they are brainwashed at best and criminals at worst. The definition of a cult is a religious sect considered to be extremist or false. Most of the time led by one charismatic or deranged leader. Holding the kids captive fits, the extreme rules forced on the members, the disassociation from members who leave...they fit. So then why are they teaching them legitimate skills rooted in truth? Why did Zaniel feel loyalty towards the "masters" at the College when they very clearly failed his friend and ruined his mind for over a decade? I was baffled as to why he seemed to be defending them when Levanael confided in him that they played a large role in his tragic break from reality. It didn't begin to come together for me.

“So, you are no longer Christian,” she said. 

“I am still a follower of Christ.” 

“How is that different from being Christian?” she asked. 

“I find organized religion difficult to deal with.”

Again, I get that there will be many books to come in the series that will potentially shed some light on all of my questions and inconsistencies. I just don't know if I am suitably invested in our hero Zaniel enough to wade any deeper into these murky waters. I felt like he was a good guy for the most part, but I didn't get a full grasp of what shaped him to be who he is now. And by the time book two comes around, the characters and plot points will need to be refreshed in my mind all over again. If you love complex stories and paranormal series with very detailed world building this could very well be the book for you. Unfortunately, this one was just okay for me so I think I may have to throw in the towel here.

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Review: Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson

Isda does not exist. At least not beyond the opulent walls of the opera house.

SING ME FORGOTTEN by JESSICA S. OLSON

Series: Standalone

Publication date: March 9, 2021

Published by: Inkyard Press

Genre: YA fantasy

 

SYNOPSIS

Cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can manipulate memories when people sing, she was saved by Cyril, the opera house’s owner. Since that day, he has given her sanctuary from the murderous world outside. All he asks in return is that she use her power to keep ticket sales high—and that she stay out of sight. For if anyone discovers she survived, Isda and Cyril would pay with their lives.

But Isda breaks Cyril’s cardinal rule when she meets Emeric Rodin, a charming boy who throws her quiet, solitary life out of balance. His voice is unlike any she’s ever heard, but the real shock comes when she finds in his memories hints of a way to finally break free of her gilded prison.

Haunted by this possibility, Isda spends more and more time with Emeric, searching for answers in his music and his past. But the price of freedom is steeper than Isda could ever know. For even as she struggles with her growing feelings for Emeric, she learns that in order to take charge of her own destiny, she must become the monster the world tried to drown in the first place.

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Praise for Sing Me Forgotten:

"A lush mysterious adventure. A girl with a terrible secret. A deliciously magical feminist twist on the beloved classic The Phantom of the Opera."

-- "Kester Grant, author of The Court of Miracles"

"Enchanting, lush, and decadent, Sing Me Forgotten had me absolutely spellbound. Olson's delivered a captivating debut that's sure to please fans of magic, romance, and ambitious heroines."

-- "Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author"

"Hit all the right notes."

-- "Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica S. Olson claims New Hampshire as her home, but has somehow found herself in Texas, where she spends most of her time singing praises to the inventor of the air conditioner. When she's not hiding from the heat, she's corralling her three wild—but adorable—children, dreaming up stories about kissing and murder and magic, and eating peanut butter by the spoonful straight from the jar. She earned a bachelor’s in English with minors in editing and French, which essentially means she spent all of her university time reading and eating French pastries. Sing Me Forgotten is her debut novel.

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REVIEW

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I think the most dominant emotion I felt throughout this novel was disbelief. I felt disbelief over the heroine's actions and the events that occurred because of them. I kept thinking, "Is this really happening??" with a sort of disturbed, uncomfortable feeling crawling under my skin. The heroine is a bit of a sociopath. So there's that. Then there's the fact that she has many TSTL moments. Translation for the newbies: Too Stupid To Live. There are few things worse than a stupid heroine, but a stupid sociopathic killer probably wins top prize. That has to be the oddest combination I've ever heard, because if she's going to be a killer, can she at least be badass? Instead I was shaking my head more times than I can count over her gullibility.

In this gender-bent Phantom of the Opera retelling, there are two types of magic holders. gravoirs and fendoirs. gravoirs are the most powerful with the ability to suck the memory out of people and use it as a power source. They can also manipulate memories like Jedi knights. (Sorry, Star Wars nerd here) They can kill an entire village of people if they so desire by sucking out their entire memory "life force" for lack of a better phrase. fendoirs extract the elixers from people's minds. This is the substance that gives gravoirs enhanced powers and strength, and when consumed by the average person will keep their minds perfectly sharp. The poor are generally forced to give up some of their elixer in order to survive, and some sell so much that their children are erased from memory. Then there are those who sell too many memories and become walking zombies with no recollection of their own identity, doomed to shuffle through the streets, fighting to survive.

    When people sing, I see their memories, 

starting with the newest. If I want to, 

I can comb backward through time, 

sifting through the liquid swirl of moments 

in their minds as though rippling my fingers 

through water in a creek.

Isda is a gravoir who lives in hiding in the opera house. The law states that all gravoirs must be killed at birth because society was once overtaken by the monstrous Les Trois females who killed and destroyed indiscriminately. Because of their fear that the gravoirs will grasp power again, they believe it's not safe to let them live. However, the fendoirs are enslaved and used for their powers because of the benefits that they provide. Isda was spared a quick death after being thrown in a well as a baby. The opera house owner, Cryril, fished her out and kept her underground in order to use her abilities. In addition to his personal business, he is part of the King’s Imperial Council. The council is in charge of monitoring the fendoirs and gravoirs, and they hunt anyone in hiding if they happen to escape execution.

Here comes the part that just did not add up for me. I understand that Isda is sheltered. I understand she's young and naive. BUT...her guardian is literally in charge of hunting down her kind and killing them. He doesn't hide his hatred for those like her, and yet she has blind faith in him. She honestly believes that he saved her out of the goodness of his heart and thinks of her like a daughter. Does she not understand the concept of a lie? She doesn't even question his intentions on the flimsy excuse that he couldn't bring himself to kill her after looking into her eyes as an infant. So why does he still have no qualms about all of the others? He asks her to harm people (even a child) in order to help him get promoted in the council.

    Whimpers gurgle out from underneath Cyril’s desk. 

I glance back toward the sound. 

I should feel a bit more remorse for causing the child 

so much trauma, but I’m so high on the pride 

in Cyril’s expression and the satisfaction 

in my gut that I can barely hear the sobs.

He asks her to alter people's memory of opera performances so that people are fooled into thinking that they saw a good show, and buy more tickets. He asks her to make his superior go mad so that he may take his spot. She does all of these things with either a sliver of remorse or none at all because she's more concerned with pleasing him. What does she think is going to happen when he gets his boss' job? He will have more power and better opportunity to kill those like her! I just did not understand why she believed his blatant lies!

Cyril’s methods may be a bit extravagant at times, 

but it is only because he is so determined. 

Although giving a man hallucinations 

makes me a bit queasy, it does seem to be a solid plan.

Even early on, Isda shows her sociopathic tendencies. Every time she would harm someone and feel pride in herself I figured her moral code fell in a grey area and there would be some character growth by the end. She's an anti-heroine I told myself. I do get that this is a spin on Phantom of the Opera which isn't hearts and butterflies and sparkly rainbows to begin with. But I'm sorry, I could not get behind Isda or root for her. Not only because her lack of intelligence grated on me until my nerves were RAW, but she slipped slowly into homicidal maniac. One could make the argument that the townspeople deserved for her to run amuck on them because of their treatment of her kind. Killing gravoirs on sight, and enslaving fendoirs for their own personal benefit. I suppose you could say she's an unfortunate product of her environment. But on the other hand, doesn't her killing spree validate their fears? That her kind easily slips into a monstrous state that can't control their vicious impulses? She doesn't kill just out of a state of revenge. She loses control of herself and goes into a kind of frenzy that urges her to suck every last bit of life force out of people.

    For all his words, he has not seen the corruption of my soul. 

The beast who burns me from the inside out. 

The fury that lives deep in my veins. 

This boy, with his caramels and his dimples 

and his lullabies, 

is too good for the things that lurk below my skin.

I didn't find any redeeming qualities about Isda. There were no boundaries for her. At one point she even stole some of Emeric's elixer without asking him and it didn't even occur to her that it was wrong. Emeric is her only friend-the only person who treated her with respect and doesn't take advantage of her. The fact that she could even betray him without a second thought doesn't sit well. Yes, she does make a sacrifice in the end for him, but in my mind, she was too far gone at that point to ever be redeemed. Perhaps this leans more towards horror for my taste? I cannot recommend it, but I will say that I found the magic system to be really original which is why I gave it two stars. Also, I was invested enough in the outcome to actually want to finish it, though maybe that's because it had the train wreck effect on me.

While I didn't love this one, I could see how it may be a better fit for others. If you love Phantom of the Opera, and you enjoy darker fantasies, this might be for you.

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