Review: The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan

The Faerie Guardian (Creepy Hollow, #1)
by Rachel Morgan

Genre: Fantasy/Fae

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: November 5, 2012

Source: Kindle store

Age Rating: 13+

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Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamour follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? Not when you factor in evil faeries, long-lost family members, and inconvenient feelings of the romantic kind. Vi is about to find herself tangled up in a dangerous plot—and it’ll take all her training to get out alive.

My Review

 

Did I find a super awesome YA read with amazing characters and believable romance? And romantic tension? Lots of romantic tension? Did I? Oh, yes... Yes, I did.

This is one of my new favorites going on my “epic” shelf! Sweet babies, I adored this thing. Violet, the protag, is a very strong and snarky faerie—truly funny, and not just occasionally so. She's a tough chick and even a bit of a tomboy to boot, which makes her physical prowess that much more believable. And, she's a teenage girl with so little experience with boys, so she does allow herself to get involved with the human boy, Nate. But, she is not dreaming of their wedding day, nor thinking the fate gods had anything to do with their meeting each other.

She's a Guardian-in-training who goes out and protects people and fae folk from evil stuff that has the tendency to wreak havoc on innocent people's lives. She has a really sassy guy rival in her Guild named Ryn, an old friend-turned-enemy. A frenemy. He's just yummy and fun. I love characters like that!

Then, there's Nate who is really funny, too, and I don't know how I feel about him after having read the entire story, plus the bonus stories. He's just a complex character, I suppose, like any real person, so I'm left perplexed and wanting to know why he chooses to go down the path he does in the story SO badly. Why did you do it? Why, Nate?

Back to Ryn—delicious Ryn. Where you have an instant attraction between Violet and Nate, leading to a very immediate relationship worthy of high-schoolers, you have something far slower-burning with Vi and Ryn. They hate each other, but do they really? It feels like that kind of relationship where the two get off on making each other angry. Ryn certainly derives actual pleasure from doing so with Vi, as I learned from reading his POV story at the end. The potential for future romance between the two is seething through the words on the page and I cannot wait to read more about them. I totally ship it!

I think what makes this story work is that it goes deep and does it right away in Book 1. We find out why Violet has literally NO friends and why she and Ryn had a falling out. She starts out not having a clue as to why he hates her, but he fesses up and it really allows for the kind of character insight missing in a whole lot of novels I read, YA and adult. Because I can understand what makes these characters tick, I relate to them better and can now get hooked into their emotions, just like how they get hooked into each other, emotionally, after their big blow-up. It's something usually saved for a Book 2 or Book 3, but, seriously, why wait to put in the good stuff? This is why readers read!

My score: 5/5 stars. (Easily.)

Book Review: Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

Such Wicked Intent (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, #2)
by Kenneth Oppel

Genre: Dark Fantasy/Gothic/Horror

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: August 21, 2012

Source: hardcover purchase

Age Rating: 14+

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Devotion turns deadly in this second Gothic thriller from Kenneth Oppel. When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again—just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother’s betrothed.

If only these things were not so tempting.

When he and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with Victor’s twin, Konrad, and their friend Henry, the four venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledge to raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return. 

 

My Review

This was another epic installment in The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein series, arguably better than the first one. I really have no choice but to write spoilers, so don't read the MIDDLE of this review if you have any intention of reading the first book, This Dark Endeavor. The plot is centered around what takes place at the end of the first novel and, trust me, you don't want to ruin it for yourself!There are no significant spoilers for the second book.

*SPOILERS BEGIN FOR BOOK 1*

Victor has found a way into the spirit world where his twin brother, Konrad, now resides because he died at the end of the first book. (See what I mean? I told you not to read the middle of this review!) Victor vowed to himself that he'd find a way to bring Konrad back because he just can't leave well enough alone. With a special elixir taken orally, he, Elizabeth and Henry all run amok in the spirit world, which is literally in the same location as Chateau Frankenstein. It's so cool how they simply take the elixir, close their eyes, open them again and they're in the spirit world where the spirits of those who once inhabited the chateau still linger until they can be 'gathered.'

Victor's dark library was burned down along with almost all its books, except one, and that surviving book gives him the key to discovering more secret attics and other secret passages. Once inside the spirit world, he finds that everything there is the spirit of what once existed, thus the dark library is fully intact there. He finds more answers to his questions about how to grow a body for Konrad in the world of the living and he sets out to accomplish it.

Of course, nothing Victor ever does goes according to plan and chaos ensues when he, Elizabeth and Henry tread down that path. Along the way, he faces his own inner demons, again, his continuing feelings for Elizabeth, and his new found jealously of Henry for Elizabeth's affections. Despite how much he says he wants Elizabeth for himself, he still has every intention of bringing Konrad, her fiance, back to life. Blood is thicker than water, I suppose.

There is another love triangle and, in fact, there are two! But, they are done exquisitely and shouldn't worry those who hate love triangles in YA fiction. No one strings anybody along just for the sake of it. Jealousies and rivalries arise organically and work just like how they do in real life. It's well done and adds so much good drama to the story and never overtakes the plot. The plot always remains centered around getting Konrad a body to inhabit in the living world again.

*END OF SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1*

(Okay, now you can read this review again.) Does Victor obtain his goal? Well, you'll just have to read the book and find out for yourself. It's so beautifully written and such a well-told story with amazing characters, I can't see anybody not liking this unless you just don't like good storytelling and great drama. It's exhilarating and adventurous, although not adventurous in the same way as the first book, since they never really leave the chateau. But, I think I might have liked this book better because they journey, in a manner of speaking, so much farther away, despite never leaving home. Really cool little paradox there.

This is possibly the last book in the series, meaning it's a duology. Which is fine with me, if that's all the author has to say about the characters and the story. As much as I'd love another book, I'm all for authors writing only what really needs to be written and avoiding filler fluff as best as possible. At any rate, even if this truly is the end of this series, the story most definitely continues in the original classic Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

My score: 5/5 stars. (Total fave!)

Book Review: Wool by Hugh Howey

Wool (Wool, #1)

by Hugh Howey 

Genre: Sci-fi/Dystopia/Post-Apocalypse

Reading Grade: Adult (Novella)

Publication Date: July 29, 2011

Source: Kindle store

Age Rating: 16+

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They live beneath the earth in a prison of their own making. There is a view of the outside world, a spoiled and rotten world, their forefathers left behind. But this view fades over time, ruined by the toxic airs that kill any who brave them.

So they leave it to the criminals, those who break the rules, and who are sent to cleaning. Why do they do it, these people condemned to death? Sheriff Holston has always wondered. Now he is about to find out.

My Review

I read about this story in a blog post somewhere (I forgot where). It's very short (12,000 words), yet was making waves like it's the next great sci-fi/dystopia out there for adult readers. I had to check out how this self-published novella got all these people so riveted over it.

• Plot: Holston is an aging man, weighed down by his desperation over wanting to leave his home in an underground silo. His wife is already dead because she dared to break the stringent rules of their community, and the sentence was to go outside, above ground, and clean the lenses on the cameras that reveal the outside world's view. That outside world is filled with toxic gases that will destroy anything in minutes, so this punishment truly is a death sentence. But now Holston wants to follow in her footsteps. He wants to find out why she and all the others sentenced to clean the lenses have always followed through with cleaning them, as ordered, even though they all died shortly afterward. He wants to know what's really up on the surface outside.
• Characters: It mostly centers around the very depressed Holston and why he's decided to willfully break a rule, despite being the silo sheriff, in order to get the cleaning sentence. His wife is featured in a few flashbacks, and she's an amazing character, what little we see of her. She's the one that got this ball rolling because she thought she found some evidence that computer files had been deleted or altered from previous generations. Did it mean their ancestors had lied to them? She ended up wanting to go outside so badly, she broke the rule of declaring she wanted to go out, and thus, got exactly what she wanted. That happened three years earlier, and now Holston is unable to live without her anymore. He wants to put all the pieces of the puzzle she left behind together and solve it, once and for all.
• Writing: The writing is really top-notch. This author is quite good with words, not to mention his storytelling ability.
• Story: And, now to mention that storytelling ability. Wow. This one is impressive. I finished it thinking, “I couldn't possibly hope to ever think up something like this. What a story!” It left me questioning so many things about the society Holston and Alison (his wife) had been raised in. And, the shocker at the end.... Yeah, not a happy ending, but it answers the question of why the cleaners always end up cleaning the lenses. Leaves you wondering a lot about stuff like, what did Holston do to get his sentence? I either missed it or can't remember. Who is really in charge down in that silo? Holston is the sheriff and there is a woman mayor, but she seemed so uniformed about stuff. Alison said the IT guys knew everything. Did they? There are sequel novellas, but I'm unsure if they reveal these answers.
• Overall Quality: Super high! I don't think there was a thing wrong with it, unless you count how short it is.
• Favorite Scene/Moment: I can't even reveal it to you because it is a major spoiler, but it happens at the end when Holston does finally go outside the silo, above ground to see the real world with his own eyes. Craziest fake-out ever. O__o
• My Score: 5/5 stars. 
  
   

Book Review: Peacemaker by Lindsay Buroker

Peacemaker (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #3)

by Lindsay Buroker 

Genre: Steampunk/Historical/Adventure

Reading Grade: Adult (novella)

Publication Date: March 5, 2012

Source: review copy from author

Age Rating: 14+

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Half-breed tinkerer Kali McAlister doesn’t care that the gold rush has stormed into Dawson and prospectors are flooding the north—all she wants is to finish construction of her airship, so she can escape the Yukon and see the world.

Unfortunately, the world keeps chucking wrenches into her machinery: a mysterious gambler is pumping her for information on her bounty-hunting business partner Cedar; the notorious gangster Cudgel Conrad is after Kali’s knowledge of flash gold; and a series of gruesome murders is plaguing Dawson. Someone—or something—is ruthlessly slaying tribal women, and, if Kali and Cedar can’t find the killer, she might be the next target. 

 

My Review

• Plot: (This is #3 in a novella series.) A mysterious man is looking for Cedar and a town murderer is on the loose, killing tribal women. Cedar takes it upon himself to hunt the killer down, fearing Kali may be the next victim. Kali just wants to build her own airship so she can leave Dawson, but she never seems to get the time because people are always after her flash gold. She does get to ride on an airship, although she must go to extremes to make a special fire-rifle and rescue another tribal woman in order to experience it. What I like is that she finally got to meet Cudgel, the man Cedar has been hunting since the first novella. It lends itself to more encounters with him in future installments, I hope.
• Characters: I love Kali because she is so different from regular women of that era and even ours. She's always wearing overalls and carrying wrenches in her pockets, not caring about what she looks like. Cedar is a tall, handsome, swashbuckling hero who actually likes her, despite her being so different. At first, their romance seems to have taken a backseat, but in the end it rears its shy head. I also like this random old man on a boat who could curse his head off in old-fashioned-ese better than any character I've ever seen. “That boodle of a mother-kissing lickfinger pirates got all my cussed gold... Got me wrathier than a treed coon.” Can't get any wrathier than a treed coon!
• Technical Writing: It's always good in The Flash Gold Chronicles , never fancy or purple-prosey, but, practical and efficient. The voice is one of my favorite things because it's all Kali's. It's fun to be inside her sarcastic mind.
• Storytelling: There is a lot going on in this little story. Cedar has Lockhart after him, and Kali has to deal with Lockhart, too, and the perverted murderer, and Cudgel. All of these people have different reasons for being in the same place at the same time, wanting the same two people. It's hard to make this work in a novella, but Lindsay Buroker manages it easily. Like the other novellas, this one is high on adventure, and manages to raise Kali and Cedar's relationship up another notch. I want to see more of Cudgel now that he's been introduced. He seems like a really mysterious, intelligent villain.
• Overall Quality: Excellent. Nothing about this self-published story needs tinkering, editing, fixing up or anything like that. It's very professional.
• Favorite Moment/Scene: As much as I love all of Kali's and Cedar's romantic-like scenes, I'll say the part where she fires her makeshift flash gold rifle at the pirate on the airship is my favorite. The flames dance around in the air like nothing the eye has seen before. That was pretty darn cool, and Kali makes this rifle on-the-fly and under pressure. The girl is steampunk's answer to MacGyver.
• My Score: 5 out of 5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
  

*I received this title from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Buy this title from | AMAZON |

Read my reviews of Book 1, Flash Gold and Book 2, Hunted. 

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Book Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across the Universe (Across the Universe, #1)

by Beth Revis 

Genre: Science Fiction

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: January 11, 2011

Source: purchased paperback

Age Rating: 14+

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Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed. She expects to awaken on a new planet, 300 years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, Amy's cryo chamber is unplugged, and she is nearly killed. 

 

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader, and Elder, his rebellious and brilliant teenage heir. Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she? All she knows is that she must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again. 

 

My Review

• Plot: This one has a mystery “whodunnit” plot which keeps you guessing from beginning to end, so it never slows down nor drags in parts. Amy is a frozen passenger on board Godspeed and is awoken before its scheduled landing on a new planet. The other frozen passengers on board the Godspeed spaceship are being killed seemingly at random, and its up to Amy and Elder to try and figure out who's behind the killings and stop them. Amy's parents are at risk because they are part of the frozen crew. When the killer is finally revealed, it's surprising for sure. I definitely didn't suspect the guilty party.
• Characters: Amy is just a normal teenager who couldn't bare to be left behind on Earth while both her parents were recruited for a mission to colonize another Earth-like planet with their special skills. She is extremely brave for deciding to go with them, leaving behind her boyfriend and totally normal life. Elder is one of my favorite YA heroes because he actually has a good reason for being so fascinated by Amy. Most boys have seen millions of pretty girls before, but, not Elder. He's been trapped on Godspeed all his life, and has never before seen a person with her coloring (red hair/green eyes), so she looks like an angel to him.
• Writing: Fabulous writing—composed of short, quick sentences which make you feel like your flying through the story. That's my preference and it works for this type of story.
• Storytelling: Top-notch. There are so many layers to what's going on, and who's behind those actions, and why they're doing what they're doing. It opens with an unforgettable scene, and closes with a ton of shocking reveals that will leave you riveted.
• Overall Quality: Very high quality. It's a NY Times best-seller for a reason. Don't worry about not being a fan of sci-fi, if you are not. That won't factor in at all. It's just a great story set on a spaceship—that's all there is to it.
• Favorite Moment/Scene: When Elder first sees Amy frozen in her pod. He's so mesmerized by her red hair which looks like a flaming burst of color all around her head. He's never seen anyone like her before, and his feelings are portrayed so convincingly.
• My Score: 5 out of 5 stars. (I love it. One of my favorite books.)

Book Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)

by Cassandra Clare 

Genre: Historical/Urban Fantasy/Steampunk

Reading Grade: Young Adult

Publication Date: December 6, 2011

Source: purchased hardcover

Age Rating: 13+

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In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do? 

 

My Review

Wow... This book is amazing. I was so pulled into this installment of The Infernal Devices series, that all the characters became completely real to me. This doesn't happen that often, but it does when a story is so well-told that I forget I'm just reading a book of total fiction.

The first book (Clockwork Angel) is wonderful and I highly suggest everyone read it who hasn't already [see my review here], but this one (Clockwork Prince) is immaculate. Although, I don't think a reader would think that quite as much if they weren't already invested in the characters prior to reading it. If you haven't already fallen for Tessa, Will and Jem (even Sophie & Magnus), then you might not like this one as much, since its primary focus is on these characters' relationships with each other.

Cassandra Clare is an author who knows how to tell a story the right way. In book 1, we get a very plot-rich story wherein we spend 500 pages learning about the characters and seeing them showing off their true colors as they react to different plot stimuli. The romance is saved for late in the book, and even then, it is still very light. If Clare had decided to ram the romance down our throats from the onset of the story, it would have given us all indigestion, because we need time to get to know who these people are first before we enjoy that kind of intimacy. Who wants to watch strangers making out in public? Anyone? Not me. So, you need to learn to care about the people of that world first, then becoming a romance voyeur is not only acceptable, but highly anticipated.

In book 2, the plot is now able to take a bit of a backseat to the overall narrative (but, not completely), and we can focus on our lovable characters. We can get into all the drama of romance, broken hearts, disappointment, the mania of love and desire, etc., because we love these characters already and we want to see what happens—we want to see what they will do and say to each other. With perfect timing, Clockwork Prince definitely satisfies in that regard.

I personally adored this (that's not even the right word. It's more than that!) because it gave me everything I wanted. Any Jem fan, like me, will be able to dig their own grave and lie down in it, because they can now die happy. Go out on a high note! But, it is not without a semblance of sadness, too, because Tessa experiences her own complications with her brother (and, my heart goes out to her so much over that problem), and Will has a sort of epiphany of his wasted potential, which is tragic in its own right. Like any truly great book, there is a good mixture of happiness and sadness.

I'll just ask now, can I have Jem? He's one of those characters you want to be real so badly, you almost believe you can reach inside the book's pages and pull him out. Ah, if only... I have to add him to the list of fictional 19^th century heroes that make me squee, if only because he is the ideal gentleman. In this volume, we really get to see his true colors, see that he is a human being, flawed in his own beautiful way (different from Will's way), and prone to being overwhelmed by emotion and feeling. You get to see just how fragile his heart is, and how precious he is to his dearest friends.

If you've been harboring doubts about this series, you really shouldn't. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed by it. The world-building is thorough, the characters fully developed, their relationships with each other raw and real, and plenty of interesting things happen all the time. What more do you need? It's nearly perfect.

My score: 5 out of 5 stars. (Totally mesmerizing and amazing...)

P.S. There will be a manga graphic novel adaptation out later this year, starting with book 1, and I'm going to pee myself with joy! You can even pee yourself now if you want to read a new chapter every month over at YenPress.com/YenPlus where the story is already being serialized for $2.99 USD (monthly). Those boys are prett-ay!

Book Review: Hammered by Kevin Hearne

Hammered (Iron Druid Chronicles, #3)

by Kevin Hearne 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Mythology

Reading Grade: Adult

Publication Date: July 5, 2011

Source: purchased paperback

Age Rating: 17+

| Amazon |

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully—he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself... 

 

My Review

Ugh! Death by ravaging cliffhanger! After that one, I'm smarting a bit. I usually find it easy to wait for the next anticipated book in a series, even if it's a year before it will come out. But, this time I'm wasted at the intense presence of this cliffhanger. Beware the cliffhanger of DOOM...

Now, on to my actual review of this book. This installment is so fan-freaking-tastic that I don't feel like I can assemble the right words together. I'm also severely tired, as I have only just finished reading it, and it's 1:30 in the morning (this was written 1 ½ weeks ago). Atticus is gearing up to help pick a fight with a certain thunder god—Tall, Blond and Lightning himself. Yeah, we really get a good idea of what Thor, the Norse god of thunder and lightning, is really like, and it is not good. He has wronged far too many people and he needs to be taken down.

If you'll recall in Book 2, or not if you haven't read it yet, Atticus agreed to join his fabulously handsome and old-fashionedly quirky lawyer that I'm in love with, Leif Helgarson, on a mission to take revenge on Thor, who more rightly ought to be regarded as the god of douchebags. Leif has assembled a team of immortal dudes who are all sporting murderous rage against that lightning/hammer guy, too. I love how through the tales each of them tell each other around a campfire—good ol' male bonding—we learn their origin stories, not just how they were wronged by Thor and how awful he is.

My favorite character has been Leif since book 2, and we really get a vivid picture of who he is, how he became a vampire, and how old he is (very old), amongst other juicy tidbits. Leif fans will adore this one, although may find the ending to be a bit hard to swallow. But, I'm super happy with all the background info on him, and his strengthening friendship with Atticus. It's beautiful, man!

Anyway, again, I laughed so hard I nearly pooped a cow (I won't say this expression the Irish way because I am not in anyway Irish, and that would make me look foolish. Although, I've probably already managed that just now). I didn't hurt myself this time, at least, but Atticus reached new levels of funneh, and his questions to Leif about the secrets of vampirehood were just so friggin' hilarious, it made the whole book worth reading right there!

But, seriously, this book does everything—makes you laugh out loud (lolcat style), makes you cry (especially at Gunnar's and Leif's tales, if not at them directly when they battle the gods), and makes you gasp in horror at the Star Wars Force-infused cliffhanger that threatens to choke you like Darth Vader's death grip. You will fall in love with this series if you haven't already, and if you're already there, you will fall that much more in love with it. It's the best one, so far. With all this in mind, you have been warned....

My score: 5 out of 5 stars. (Wish I could award it more!) 

 

Book Review: Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Hexed (Iron Druid Chronicles, #2)

by Kevin Hearne 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Mythology

Reading Grade: Adult

Publication Date: June 7, 2011

Source: Random House online store

Age Rating: 17+

| Amazon |

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex. 

 

My Review

Okay, I'm pretty sure I cracked a rib laughing through this one, since I can feel the pain in my right side. This book went to epic levels of hilarity, and I could not—NOT put it down. That, for me, is saying a lot, because I usually have no trouble putting a book down and doing other stuff. But, not with Hexed. Atticus put a binding spell on my copy, so when I started to read it, I could only get about 10 feet from it before I found myself right back at the bookshelf I keep it on. It was the weirdest thing ever!

I say this only because I am completely convinced that Atticus is real, and so are all the other amazing characters in this series. Kevin Hearne does a brilliant job of giving each of his important characters detailed little nuances that all real people have—for example, Atticus loves omelets for breakfast and whole wheat toast with orange marmalade. Oberon loves steak (of course, what dog doesn't?). It's things like this that make me believe that they both actually live in the Tempe, Arizona area and that if only I'd drive over there, I might find Atticus' house, and run into his super hot vampire attorney, the famous Leif Helgarson!

Uh, oh... Here comes a long spiel (or squeal?) on how much I love the vampire Leif Helgarson, the famous vampire who isn't famous—or, at least everybody in the book seems to know who he is, yet Atticus can't figure out why, since the man himself claims he is not famous. He is the reason my rib is busted because he's just so ridiculously hilarious, I couldn't not laugh hard enough to crack it. I found myself obsessively reading this book because I just wanted to find out more about Leif… 

Here is he is in a nutshell: Imagine an English butler trying to talk like any typical college frat boy. Now, make sure he's pronouncing everything the way an English butler would, very stuffy-sounding and proper, but using all those hip and cool phrases, like “I'm chill, how 'bout you?” or “Throw down!” when he wants to start a fight. But, of course, he's not even using the correct slang, and saying these phrases more like, “I am cold,” or “Throw up!” Now, you have the most epic vampire in fictional existence trying to be cool, and that fella's name is Leif Helgarson. Leif is the raddest, baddest vampire dude ever, and he makes Dracula look like the mosquito of undead bloodsuckers. (He hates Dracula, by the way.)

If you're a nerd like me, and you want to read a fun and funny book filled with forever quotable quotes and quips, then look no further, folks. <— (This sentence has two sets of literary alliteration—go me!) This book is for y'all. If you want to read about crazy, wacky characters and all their antics, and how all the gods and goddesses in every mythology from world history are able to converge together in the same 10-mile radius, and, well, not get along with each other (as you would imagine they would not), then read the Iron Druid Chronicles. I just barely squeezed in reading these before the year ended, but they are already my favorite reads of the entire year of 2011. Mr. Hearne cannot write these books fast enough!

 My score: 5 out of 5 stars. (A-mazing!)

P.S. That is Alexander Skarsgaard from the True Blood TV series, as an FYI.

Review: Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles, #1)

by Kevin Hearne 

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Mythology 

Reading Grade: Adult

Publication Date: May 3, 2011

Source: Book Depository

Age Rating: 17+

| Amazon | 

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil. 

My Review

Can I just say that this is pretty much exactly the type of urban fantasy I prefer to read? I will, anyway. I LOVE this! It hits the nail on the head in terms of the characters, the plot, the humor, the fantasy aspect, and the urban-ness of it all. It is perfection... 

Atticus is that type of male protagonist that I usually fall very hard for, so I'm already a dead fish in a barrel for him. Or, to put it in Oberon's terms, Atticus' dog, I'm a juicy steak that landed on the floor right at his paws. I'm easily bowled over by these sarcastic, sexy heroes of urban fantasy. They are cool and relaxed, but will kick major bootay when necessary. They usually are not normal human beings, and for Atticus, that means he is an 2,100-year-old Druid who has a pretty clever way of staying perpetually twenty-one (give me some of that stuff!).

The entire story is told through Atticus' point-of-view, so we get a huge dose of his wit and wisdom, which comes in spades. He's always ready with a clever quip, and a remarkable way of humiliating the over-confident characters who think they're uber smart. But, he's not even close to being the only amazing character in this novel because it is chock-full of crazy, amazing characters.

Atticus owns probably literature's finest, funniest, most adorable pooch in Oberon, his Irish wolfhound. He has been able to establish a telepathic link with him, and over time, Oberon picked up on how to understand and think in English, thus allowing them to communicate with each other. These lines are some of the best and most hilarious parts of the story. How about the part where Atticus is yakking about something that has to do with ancient Druids, and Oberon very kindly admits, <I have no idea what you're talking about.> Nevermind, says Atticus in response.

One of Atticus' biggest problems is with the local witch coven, as their kind have proven to him many centuries earlier that witches can never be trusted. As one witch happened to forget that the SPCA stands for preventing the cruelty towards animals, mistaking it for a society dedicated to the cruelty of animals, Atticus says to Oberon, “See? Witches.” <I see what you mean now,> thinks Oberon, <She'd probably give me a sausage and it would have broccoli in it.>

Atticus finds he has to deal with all sorts of unwanted trouble because his old enemy, a faerie by the name of Anghus Og, the Celtic god of love, wants the sword Fragarach, which is one of the most powerful swords in the world. Addy spends the whole of the novel being chased by, and fighting off, the local police, other inhumane faeries, Fir Bolgs, which are these mean giants, and some seriously witchy witches all within his miles of his home. One of Hounded's many strengths is how it blends mundane reality with the paranormal in a very realistic way.

Thank goodness he has the raddest lawyers ever to help him out in more ways than to simply comprehend the fine print: not only are they tough-as-nails with the cops, keeping them in line, but his day attorney is a werewolf and his night attorney is a vampire (a hot Icelandic guy with white hair who speaks in iambic pentameter), so they can kick butt, too. Epic, and they do their heroic thing in only the way awesome lawyers can—Larry H. Parker's got nothing on these guys.

There's really no romance, but that doesn't mean Addy has no romantic interest in anyone. He's a guy, essentially a human guy at that, so we find out what goes through his mind every time an attractive female shows up. But, he's partial to the pretty red-headed barmaid named Granuaile, and they form a certain interesting alliance with each other. It's just the perfect sort of alliance for them that allows for a possible future romance, although does not guarantee it (but, how could it not?), thus making me want to see if it'll ever happen in future novels.

I think if you want to read something hilarious, super fun, and has plenty of action, then this is the perfect book for you (it certainly is for me!). I've already started reading the next installment, as I cannot even hope to put my mind to anything else. I'm completely addicted! It is one of the best books I read all last year.

My score: 5 out of 5 stars. (I LOVED this!)