Accession - Review

Title: Accession
Author: Terah Edun
Series: Serath Web #1

Synopsis: “Sixteen-year-old Katherine Thompson wasn’t trained to rule a coven. That was her sister – perfect, beautiful Rose. But when a mysterious plane crash kills off the heir presumptive of the Sandersville coven she has no choice.
 “After stepping in to fill her sister’s shoes, Katherine realizes she didn’t have a clue – faery wars, depressed trolls and angry unicorns are just the beginning.
 “For centuries, her family has served the high Queens on both sides of the Atlantic but it is a well-known rule that mid-level witches stay away from high-level Queens.
 “But when Katherine’s youngest cousin vanishes without a trace in the Atlanta court and no one wants to investigate, Katherine decides to step into the darkness on her own. She will soon discover that nothing, especially in a queen's court, is as it seems.”



Review: I have no idea how I managed to read this whole novel. Was it strength of will? Was it great determination? Or was I punishing myself for something? I really have no idea. When you learn to write creative pieces in grade school you are taught to show, not tell. Based on this novel I would say that perhaps the author was absent the days they went over that in class. This novel could have used an editor or two, it's full of mistakes. For example: “Katherine narrowed her eyes. She didn’t want to debate lineage with her mother now. Although she was very much aware that the queen’s mother and her sister’s mother were different individuals. It was why the younger sister was Queen of Sandersville and the older one was not.” (ch. 25 Loc. 2907) There is so much wrong here. It’s all telling, no showing. This is an info dump (a lot of info crammed into a short narration), and there is a sentence fragment in there. The line that starts with although needs more. Although they were different individuals they had a lot in common? Although they were different individuals they were still very much the same? Although they were different individuals what? Finish the thought please! The entire novel is full of mistakes like this and then it doesn’t end. That’s right; the novel just abruptly cuts off. Each novel in a series should have its own plot that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Even if there is a larger storyline that continues into the next novel the current one must have some sort of fulfillment or your reader will feel cheated and be ticked off. Accession does not have a plot that ends (I really had trouble finding any type of plot at all). There is no ending.  And as a reader I do feel cheated and ticked off. At this point I don’t really care, but I would like to ask the author what exactly the plot was because I couldn’t find it. Don’t read this one, you’ll regret it like I do.
 **I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review via NetGalley.**

Publisher: All Night Reads

Skip this book and try one of these instead:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff

Catching Up

          

         

          So as many of my readers have noticed things have been kind of quiet around here for several months. I've been struggling with some mild depression and anxiety. At first I was embarrassed and I didn't want to admit it to anyone but my hubby and my closest friends. But then it got to the point where others started noticing. I've been hibernating (more than usual) and even the things I usually enjoy doing weren't bringing me any pleasure or joy. I've done a lot of reading (although not as much as normal) but when it came to actually writing the reviews I just couldn't summon the energy. 
           Then, 10 days ago, my Grandma passed away. She was a wonderful woman. The strongest woman I knew. She lived with us when I was growing up. She was there when I got off the bus from school. She helped us with our homework and our music practice. When my sister and I started being homeschooled she was the one who was home with us every day. She never said no when someone else needed something. She was always willing to give us a ride to the library, or to play cards for hours. She took us camping every summer. She was always there, and now she's not. After receiving the call that she was gone I sobbed. I bawled like a baby for more than an hour. I cried until I just couldn't cry anymore. And it wasn't all for her. Some of it was for me. Finally, the sadness that I had been feeling inside had an outlet. There was a viable reason for the release of my pain. And now I feel better. At first I thought I was a horrible person. My Grandmother dies and I feel better? But she knew how I had been feeling. She was one of the people that it was always safe to talk to. And she wouldn't want me to be depressed. She would be glad that her passing helped me to deal with my depression. 
           Don't get me wrong. I'm still sad. I'm sad that she isn't here anymore. I'm sad that when I go home to visit my Mom and Stepfather she won't be there with a smile and a cup of coffee. But I laugh, and I smile and I am finding pleasure in my favorite things again.  I'm not depressed. And that would make her happy. But now I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm trying to read more, I'm trying to write up my HUGE backlog of reviews, and I'm trying to do what's best for me. Because I can't be happy if I'm not taking care of myself. 
           Thank you to those of you who have gotten in touch with me to make sure that I'm okay. I am now.

Beauty's Beast - Review

Title: Beauty’s Beast
Author: Amanda Ashley

Synopsis: “Beauty:
           “Fair of face and figure, Kristine is young, innocent, pure. Yet she has been condemned to the gallows for killing a man. The only one who can save her is a lord so infamous that some say he is the son of the Devil himself…
           “And the Beast:
         “Erik Trevayne is called the Demon Lord of Hawksbridge Castle, but few know of the curse he lives under. Or the terrifying changes slowly gnawing away at his humanity. When he weds her, all he wants of Kristine is a son. But when he beds her, a wild hope is born – that love that can tame even the most monstrous of beasts…

Review: Beauty’s Beast started out great. I loved getting to know Kristine and I really felt for her when they were preparing to execute her. Then there’s a last minute rescue and it’s all downhill from there. Erik is selfish and condescending; I have no idea why Kristine falls in love with him. And there's the sex.  He practically rapes her and the language used to describe the act itself is old fashioned, archaic and clunky.  Kristine is a weak simpering woman until the very end of the story when she suddenly grows a backbone made of steel, which is not very convincing. And the ending is rushed. It’s as if author Ashley suddenly realized she had reached her word count and decided to end the novel in 2 paragraphs, which left me feeling empty and cheated. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.
 **I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review via NetGalley.**

Publisher: Kensington/ Zebra

Skip this book and try these instead:

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

Master of Shadows by Janet Lorimer

Doomsday Book - Review

Title: Doomsday Book
Author: Connie Willis

Synopsis: “In the year 2054, students research the past by living in it. So when Kivrin Engle, a history student at Oxford, enters Brasenose College's time machine for transport back to 1320s England, no one anticipates any problems. “But her two-week project takes a frightening turn. A mutant virus has been spreading through Oxford, and Kivrin arrives in the past delirious with fever. She is found and taken to a manor house, and when she recovers, she can no longer locate the time machine rendezvous point. “As Kivrin struggles to adjust to a past that's not quite what she expected, a past where the Black Death is beginning to ravage a mystified, terrified population. With the only people who know where she's gone seriously ill themselves, will Kivrin ever find her way back to the future? Or has she become a permanent exile in a deadly time?”

Review: A stranger approached me in Barnes & Noble while I was book shopping a couple of months ago. We started talking about the book I was holding, and then we started talking about what we both liked to read. We both like strong female characters. She said that she had recently discovered an author named Connie Willis and binge read everything that she had written and wished that there was more. So I wandered in that direction and looked at the Connie Willis books Barnes & Noble had in stock. They had Blackout, All Clear and Doomsday Book. Blackout and All Clear are a series. I had so many books already in my TBR pile that I didn’t want to try a new author by starting a series at that time. So I picked up Doomsday Book; and then there it sat in my TBR pile (which actually could take up an entire bookcase if you included all the ebooks I had piling up at that time). I actually forgot about it sitting there until about a month ago, during the stress of the holidays I was looking for something different to take my mind off of the stress. I saw Doomsday Book sitting there and remembered my conversation with the woman in Barnes & Noble. “It’s time travel” she had said “and the history is very well researched”. Good time travel novels are hard to find. I picked up Doomsday Book with some trepidation.
      Unfortunately it was a weeknight. I couldn’t stay up all night to finish. I read it in two nights and was a zombie at work for two days because I stayed up too late. I had trouble putting it down. Historians using time travel as a means of research is a fascinating idea. In Doomsday Book historians become adventurous heroes and survivors. History becomes real as Kivrin struggles to survive so far away from home.
      I loved this book so much that for two days I talked about nothing else. I talked about Doomsday Book at work and at home nonstop. And then, when I finished it, I stopped talking about it because I was sad it was over. I now also own Blackout and All Clear. Even if you aren’t a fan of time travel you will love Doomsday Book. The writing of Connie Willis is wonderfully complex and the story will draw you in and refuse to let you go. Go read it now. You won’t regret it.

 Publisher: Bantam/ Spectra
If you like this book you may want to read:

 Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis (read BookGirlR's review here)

 Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt