Kill Me Softly

Kill Me Softly

by Sarah Cross

Mirabelle has been raised by her godmothers who have kept her as safe as they can.

No boys. No riding with boys. No sharp objects, especially near boys. And no going to the town in which she was born, Beau Rivage (which is filled with boys).

But these aren't ordinary boys, as Mira finds out when she runs away from homes just days before her sixteenth birthday.

Beau Rivage is a magical town filled with fairies, half-fairies, humans, and curses.  Some curses, like their fairies, are good.  Some curses, like their fairies, are bad.  And not everyone there knows what's going on, especially Mira.

Now Mira needs to find out the specifics of her own discovered curse, as well as the curse of the brothers who both seem strangely attracted to her and attracted by her.  Her birthday is coming soon and there is no time to waste.

Final thoughts:  I WANT to like this.  I want to give it a good review.  It's a very clever idea and there are so many bright moments.  I like Blue and I kind of like Mira, but the story is just poorly written.  Show, don't tell.  I wish more authors would get this and get this right.  Cross has the show in Blue and Mira's relationship, but she tells us everything else.  Mira thinks Blue is rude and annoying when they first meet (which Blue wants her to feel), so she keeps everything secret from him in the beginning, implying that she doesn't trust anyone enough to talk in the beginning.  However, his brother shows up a few minutes later, and after just a moment or two of politeness, she's telling him everything and considering getting it on with him.  We are told that she loves him, but there's really no reason why.  Most of the fairy tales are cleverly woven, but everyone seems to think they have no choice in the matter.  The guy with the Beast curse knows he's going to be a beast and even knows the girl who is cursed to try and save him, but he still believes beastly.  He KNOWS and he doesn't even try to change it; could he not try being nice once in a while?  It's so frustrating that everyone in the town who is cursed knows all the details and yet do nothing to fight it except for Blue.  Even Mira caves.  

Rating: 2/5

Re-Reading

I'm currently on a re-reading kick, getting the chance to sit and re-read some works that I love (many of which are guilty pleasures).  I have a dozen or so NetGalley ARCs on my Kindle, ready for me to read and I will work on them soon, but right now I'm just enjoying the worlds I've already come to love.

New reviews coming soon... promise.

The Goddess Hunt

The Goddess Hunt

by Aimee Carter

Kate Winters just became the wife of Henry, also known as Hades, King of the Underworld.  As part of the deal, she spends fall and winter with Henry, but spring and summer out in the mortal realm.

It being her first time out in the world, Kate as James (Hermes) to escort her and they head out to Greece.  But it's not all sipping drinks by the water and getting a tan.  James has taken a slight detour and Kate's relaxing summer has become something much more dangerous.

Initially going to just check up on his brothers, James leads Kate to Pollux and Caster (now Lux and Casey), fugitives in hiding from Zeus (Walter) and Kate's new hubby.  While the visit is supposed to be friendly, it becomes much more serious when the other gods discover where she is and who she is with.

Now Kate must fight Zeus's decree to do what's right, even if it means going against her new husband, as well.

Final thoughts: Reading this and The Goddess Legacy, as well as re-reading The Goddess Test and Goddess Interrupted, I now have a much better vibe about this story as a whole.  What I love best is really getting to know Henry in these.  With just the two novels on their own, Henry is hard to get to know, but Hunt and Legacy really let you get into his mind and make him much more sympathetic and helping the reader to understand why Kate loves him so much, with such little time.  I like this novella.  It's a super fast read, but adds so much depth.

Rating: 5/5

Book Blogger Hop

 

Book Blogger Hop

How long does it take you to read a book?

A good book = less than a day and then I immediately want to read another book

A mediocre book = slows down my whole cycle, often leading to me not reading for a week or more because I'm reluctant to read the so-so book and I don't like giving up on a book unless it's so horrible I can't stand it anymore (only two or three times ever).  I also hate reading more than one book at a time; I'm just not wired to go back and forth between worlds.

A bad book = these can go either way; I can slog through it slowly or speed through it in desperation to get through to the end.

No matter what, my Kindle has made my life with books so completely different and amazing.  NetGalley has been heaven sent and reading ARCs on my Kindle is so much fun!  If you haven't registered with them yet... do it!

The Goddess Legacy

The Goddess Legacy

by Aimée Carter

Thousands of years before Kate Winters fell in love with Henry/Hades and married him, becoming the new Queen of the Underworld, the gods had just defeated the titans and had to set up their new council and figure out how to run things.  The Big Six aren't exactly a solid team and there are problems from the start.

Zeus and his sexist ways (he blames his mother who let his father take the lead, so now humans will never follow a woman) decide to give the men the three kingdoms of the sky, the sea, and the Underworld, while the women will be given smaller specialties like marriage, nature, love, etc...  And Hera's not happy.  She believes that the women, especially her since she was the one who helped the most in the war against the titans, should be equal to the men and Zeus's rules are unacceptable to her.

But what she really wants is to love and be loved.  Though she is fond of Hades, he rejects her, so Zeus woos her and she finally consents to be his wife, as long as they are true equals.  Things go well for a while, but then Hera notices a disturbing trend; Zeus is stacking the council.  He's having affairs and bringing in his children, who are devoted to him, to help rule.  Hera believes that he's trying to create a dictatorship and shove her out, so she tries, and fails, to take the leadership from him.

From there, all the other stories in this book take place.  Hera affects all the others and their tales.  From Aphrodite to Persephone to Hermes to Hades, she's never far.  All of their stories intertwine and they are much different than the myths we learned in school.

Final thoughts:  I liked reading these versions of the stories, especially Hades and Hermes.  Hera started out being a little sympathetic, but mostly a pain.  I've often felt bad for Hera in the past and Carter tried to make her honorable with good intentions at the beginning, but she really just came off as self-righteous, a little naive, and kind of whiny.  Her story was interesting, but I got annoyed with how her story so infected everyone else's, setting up the "women ruin everything" plot.  It's sad that it was a female author who perpetuated that idea.  Overall though the book was well written and compelling.

Rating: 4/5

Grave Memory

Grave Memory

by Kalayna Price

Just moments after opening her first office for her private investigation firm Tongues for the Dead, Alex Craft has her next cased dropped on her.  Literally.

A man has jumped off a rooftop to his death just feet from Alex and her Tongues partner.  But what everyone from the eyewitnesses to the police say is an obvious suicide, Alex knows is murder.  

His ghost told her so.

So Alex sets off to investigate his murder, even when no one else believes her, and she comes across a disturbing trend; there has been a string of suicides around the city of Nekros and Alex begins to suspect that they are all connected.

As she gets closer to the truth, she also gets warned away.  Death, who Alex can see and hear, is telling her to run.  Her Fae lover has also become a danger to her.  And the Winter Queen is determined to make Alex a part of her Court, even if that means forcing her through raids against her friends and deception through her oath bound lover.

What's a grave witch (who is quickly losing her vision because of the powers that she must use) to do?

Final thoughts:  A nice addition to the story.  It's not a stand-alone and it ends with a semi-cliffhanger, but it has a solid plot.  I'm getting a little tired of this being in love with two guys thing.  Alex needs to make up her mind about which one is more important to her and drop the other one like a bad habit.  Personally, I say keep Death and drop Falin.

Rating: 4/5

Before I Wake

Before I Wake

by Rachel Vincent

Now that Kaylee's undead, you'd think things would be easier.

She can now become spectral or corporeal at will.  She and her undead boyfriend can be together without her father even knowing.  And she definitely doesn't have to worry about dying... again.

But her soul is still at risk from a hellion who is completely obsessed with her.  Other undeads are disappearing all around her.  And previously dead (absolutely, completely dead) people are starting to appear around town.

It's enough to make any undead girl a little worried, especially when she now has to work with her frenemies without screaming at them (very unproductive) and try to get her ex and her current boyfriend to work together (a herculean task all its own).

Time is definitely running out.

Final thoughts:  This one was starting to tick me off.  Kaylee's coming to grips with being undead, and I get that that's hard.  However, Nash was annoying and whiny, as was Sabine, Sophie, and Kaylee's dad.  And Kaylee herself has gone from being a steady rock of dependent kick-assery to being completely indecisive and gullible.  I kept wondering if being undead also meant that Kaylee had lost her badass-ness.  It looks like there's one book left.  I hope Vincent can bring it all together and make me love Kaylee and company again.

Rating: 3/5