*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: The Wicked King

(The Folk of the Air #2)

Author: Holly Black

Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publication Date: January 8th, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Adults

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

4.5 “Scheming and Twists in the faerie world” Stars

These first days of 2019 haven’t exactly been the best reading-wise. I’m not saying that because of Wicked King (hello, I’m rating it 4.5 stars), but because Holly Black’s sequel is the first book I’ve managed to finish since the year started.

On one hand, that sucks, because I’ve DNF’d a lot of books already. On the other hand, at least my first read of the year was a great one! For starters, Wicked King is better than Cruel Prince, which was already a good book.

Again, though, the romance (full of sexual tension and hate-me-love-me-can’t-have-me angst) was still a little too on the background for me. I still love Jude and how badass she is; Cardan and how you can never really tell what he’s hiding behind his don’t-give-a-crap attitude; and all the other characters that scheme and twist reality even though they can’t lie. But I wanted more Cardan and Jude. A lot more than the amazing scenes we had between them. That’s my only complaint, to be honest.

The plot was once again full of twists and turns, though Jude seemed to be more on the receiving end of those twists and turns than in Cruel Prince. Still, I love being surprised, and the last part of the book did that to me time and time again. I will say that Jude and Cardan’s choice near the end was a obvious one; one she should’ve come up with before he did and a lot sooner in the book (or so I kept trying to tell her), but I was still surprised by what Cardan did in the last chapter.

Taryn still annoyed me too much—I don’t know why Jude insists on protecting the sister who clearly doesn’t care for her at all. Locke was still useless. Madoc and Jude still reminded me of Olivia and Papa Pope’s troubled complex relationship. So none of those things changed much since the first book.

In a way, Wicked King kept the same elements I noticed in Cruel Prince (both the ones I liked and disliked), but it still read somewhat better than the first title in the series. Maybe it’s because I’m still thinking about that “Tell me you hate me” scene.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

Release & Review - Hunting Annabelle by Wendy Heard

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Hunting Annabelle
Author: Wendy Heard
Publication Date: December 25th, 2018

Publisher: MIRA Books
Category/Genre: Adult Mystery/Thriller

Sean Suh is done with killing. After serving three years in a psychiatric prison, he’s determined to stay away from temptation. But he can't resist Annabelle--beautiful, confident, incandescent Annabelle--who alone can see past the monster to the man inside. The man he's desperately trying to be.

Then Annabelle disappears.

Sean is sure she’s been kidnapped—he witnessed her being taken first hand—but the police are convinced that Sean himself is at the centre of this crime. And he must admit, his illness has caused him to “lose time” before. What if there’s more to what happened than he’s able to remember?

Though haunted by the fear that it might be better for Annabelle if he never finds her, Sean can’t bring himself to let go of her without a fight. To save her, he’ll have to do more than confront his own demons… He'll have to let them loose.

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

3.5 “Dexter in the 1980’s” Stars

ARC via NetGalley

Thank you, Harlequin – Mira

This book isn’t coming out until December, but it’s been on my “most anticipated reads for 2018” for a while. I was lucky enough to get to it now and I can tell you, if you’re a fan of Dexter, you’ll probably really enjoy this.

Told from the POV of a killer—no spoilers, since this info is on the blurb—Hunting Annabelle is a psychological thriller filled with twisted and interesting characters, tension and even some moments that made me laugh a little (even though I know I shouldn’t).

The first chapter is so freaking good. It had a lot of mystery involving Sean (what he was/what he had done) and the chemistry between Sean and Annabelle was undeniable. I was so ready to fall madly in love with them and ignore the fact that Sean was a freaking killer. I’d done that with Dexter, so why not again, right?

Well, I did like Sean a lot, but there was a few things that kept this book from reaching first-couple-of-seasons-Dexter level of perfection to me.

First, I went into this under the impression that Sean and Annabelle were a thing. Don’t know why. I just read the blurb that way. So I expected a relationship (old or newish, but still something solid). Problem is, Sean and Annabelle spend so little time together before she’s kidnapped that it was really hard for me to connect with them and Sean’s love for her. Insta-love rarely works for me, and despite the awesome chemistry in the first chapter, this one didn’t. And because I couldn’t connect with “their love”, I ended up questioning a lot of Sean’s later thoughts and actions.

Second thing that didn’t work for me was the big twist. Not that there was anything wrong with the twist per se. It was a good one if you didn’t see it coming. Unfortunately for me, I guessed it on Chapter 4. I can even tell you the exact paragraph that made it all clear for me, because I highlighted it on my Kindle and added a note. Because of that, when the twist was revealed, it ended up having little impact on me.

BUT, big BUT here, the story was still intriguing, so I kept reading. I think what made this book the most interesting was the choice of POV. Being inside Sean’s head was at times confusing (in a good way), entertaining and disturbing. He was going through so much and trying so hard to keep it together, I couldn’t help but root for him. And the times he let go and embraced the darkest parts of him made for some shocking and entertaining scenes. Those were probably the moments I got Dexter-feels the most.

 I love Dexter-feels.

I can’t get into details about the last part of the book (after the reveal) and the ending because of spoilers, but let’s just say those of you who didn’t guess the twist and enjoy messed up characters doing messed up things will enjoy the heck out of some scenes.

Overall, Hunting Annabelle was an interesting read from a debut author that shows promise. The fact that it, at times, reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows only made it better.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

*Grabby Hands* Review - Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Sometimes I Lie
Author: Alice Feeney
Publication Date: March 23rd, 2017

Publisher: Flatiron Books
Category/Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 
1. I’m in a coma. 
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 
3. Sometimes I lie. 

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

4.5 "Twisted like a Pretzel" Stars

 

Three things you need to know about Sometimes I Lie:

 

1. Don’t look at spoilers before or while you’re reading

2. You probably won’t guess all the twists and turns and that’ll make the experience even better

3. It’s as good as everyone else is saying

 

Sometimes I Lie has been on my TBR for a while, but the library waiting list was LONG, so I had to sit and wait. I did, and I was rewarded with a great reading experience.

 

I can’t go into too many details (read #1 above), but I have to say it’s been a long, long time since I read a book that kept me guessing. The last psychological thrillers I read were good, but the surprise elements fell short because I guessed them pretty early on. This didn’t happen this time. I had a bunch of theories about the accident, the diary, the people involved in all of it, like I normally do, and but while I guessed some of the small twists, the major ones caught me by surprise.

 

The whole thing was so well-planned that, every time a twist was revealed, I had to stop, go back and reread some scenes just to make sure they fit the narrative. I’m glad to say most of them did.

 

The characters were another great surprise. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Amber, but she turned out to be smarter and stronger than I expected. I almost threw my Kindle across the room when the last chapter started (that’s how mad I was at what I thought was her “decision”), but then, once again, BOOM!

 

 

Again, reviewing this book and keeping it spoiler free is almost impossible, so I’ll stop talking. All you need to know is that the book is well worth the read, even if the twist at the end was confusing and unnecessary, in my opinion.

 

Grab your copy, get ready to for all the twists and reveals and enjoy the ride.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: To Kill a Kingdom
Author: Alexandra Christo 

Age Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publication Date: March 6th, 2018
Publisher: Feiwel Friends
 

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

4.5 “I didn’t even like Ariel” Stars

OMG, how is this book not a big thing already? I totally blame the lack of publicity this book got on the fact that it came out on March 6^th with a thousand other books. I mean, it was astonishing the number of YA released that day. LOL

All I can say is To Kill a Kingdom deserves your attention and love.

Honestly, I was never a big fan of Ariel and the Little Mermaid. When I think of Disney princesses, she’s one of the last ones to come to mind. So, imagine my surprise when I read the blurb and go, Ohhhhh, Ariel has turned dark and I like it.

To Kill a Kingdom is the story of Lira, a siren princess that lives to kill princes and steal their hearts to prove to her Sea Queen mother than she’s strong and powerful and cruel enough to take her place when time comes; and Elian, a human prince who lives to kill sirens. You know where this is getting, right?

Lira is a badass siren, but she shows a link to her humanity from the start, and it comes in the form of her also siren cousin. Elian is also a badass, and his charm is partially due to his respect and friendship with his crew of pirates.

This is how we meet Lira:

                       

“I HAVE A HEART for every year I’ve been alive.

There are seventeen hidden in the sand of my bedroom. Every so often, I claw through the shingle, just to check they’re still there. Buried deep and bloody. I count each of them, so I can be sure none were stolen in the night. It’s not such an odd fear to have. Hearts are power, and if there’s one thing my kind craves more than the ocean, it’s power.”

This is how we meet Elian:

“TECHNICALLY, I’M A MURDERER, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.”

The first third of the story is full of heart-stealing (literally and not) and siren-stabbing scenes, and bad attitude and good humor and “OMG, I’m already falling hard for this book” screams from me.

Then, we move on to what the curse. Not a spoiler since the blurb gives it away. Also, this is a retelling, so Lira will obviously become a human at some point. So, yeah, the evil Sea Queen curses Lira and gives her legs and a human appearance so she has to steal Elian’s heart without her powers, or say goodbye to her siren form and probably her life.

I’ll say this, the Sea Queen isn’t joking around. She’s evil and she won’t spare anyone, family or not. So Lira has a reason to be scared and to have turned into the killer she is. But humans aren’t always trash (despite what our current global situation implies), and Elian and his crew have a chance to change Lira’s mind about humans even though they have zero idea she’s a siren.

As for Elian, rescuing a drowning, naked Lira also ends up being a chance to end a war without having to kill the entire siren species. Since he also doesn’t that’s a real possibility, he spends his time searching for a magical item that will kill the Sea Queen and her daughter.

So here we have these two beings that are planning on killing each other, but end up stuck together and I’m obviously loving all of it.

The banter is incredible from the start. The humor is there, although I’m not sure everyone will appreciate it. I did. The characters are amazing! I loved, loved Madrid and Kye, two members of Elian’s crew. I LOOOOVED how Madrid was so eager to have another female pirate on the crew that she welcome Lira with open arms. I loved how Kye was protective of Elian and made sure Lira knew he was keeping an eye on her. I love how Madrid and Kye were together in a healthy, no-drama-needed relationship. I loved that Kye was protective of Elian, but he didn’t suffocate Madrid. I loved when all of that interacted and joked and teased and made me laugh.

Dude, this book made me laugh.

I can’t even with the world building. I CAN’T. It’s just so amazing. All the countries/kingdoms we visited with Elian and Lira were so rich and unique. I’m still OBSESSED with the love country that sounded like a chocolate-filled heaven. I want it!!!

And the romance?

The freaking romance!!! Five words: Slow Burn + Hate to Love.

They were perfect together and that last scene was the end of me. I’m just dead.

Seriously, that entire last chapter was perfect because it gave me everything I needed. First, my happy ending, thank you very much. Second, my ship being adorable on a literal ship. Third, an ending that showed me a powerful female main character who followed her destiny, an equally happy male main character who found a way to fulfill his dream and the two of them engaged in a healthy relationship that survives distance and is built in mutual respect for each other’s responsibilities and dreams.

And a real ending. No cliffhanger, no need for sequels. A freaking standalone. When was the last time I read a YA Fantasy standalone that had a perfect ending that left me wanting to read more, but also knowing that maybe I shouldn’t because it’s already perfect? I can’t remember.

Now that you read this long and rambly review, go show this book some love, PLEASE!

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

*Grabby Hands* Release & Review - The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: The Cruel Prince
(The Folk of the Air #1)
Author: Holly Black
Category/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publication Date: January 2th, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Adults

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

4 "Teen Scandal in Fae  World" Stars

The Cruel Prince didn't turn out to be the five-star read I was expecting. But it was close.

A mix of ACOTAR, Game of Thrones and Scandal, it was one of my most anticipated reads of 2018. Still, it was still a lot different from what I expected. Maybe it was how light on romance and high on scheming and betrayals it was. Maybe it was my lack of experience with anything Holly Black. Whatever it was, it was different--but still pretty amazing.

Cleverly plotted, The Cruel Prince stood out in a crowded YA Fantasy market because of the main character’s arc and also because it was smart and focused on more than world building (thought that was beautifully detailed). It was a story about finding/making your place amongst those who don't respect you, about making tough choices, about fearing and overcoming fear, about loyalty and family. 

Despite the fact that I guessed early on the turns the story took, I still thought it was a smart book. It made the main character, Jude, seem smart. Sure it reminded me a lot of Shonda Rhyme's Scandal, but in a good way. And though the TV series hasn’t been as stellar as it once was, I guess I can’t fault the writers’ intelligence and creativity when it comes to plotting intrigues and betrayals. The same can be said about Holly Black regarding The Cruel Prince.

Jude is my kind of heroine. Lost at first, but desperate to find purpose. Badass with and without a sword. Clever and cunning. She's a no-white-hat (fans of the show will get the reference)  and yet likable Olivia Pope. Jude is the Olivia Pope Shonda Rhymes wished she had written these past couple of seasons, because Jude managed to become the big player, the powerful one without turning into the person everyone hates. I can't go into details about how she gets there because of spoilers, but she is the one to fear now and I wholeheartedly approve!

Now, I didn't care much for Jude's relationship with her twin sister, despite the interesting drama in the end. Nor did I care for the lackluster romance with Locke. But I loved the borderline absurd and extremely complex relationship between Jude and her "father"--the man who killed her real parents and kidnapped her into the fae world. Side note: despite my comparison to ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas, The Cruel Prince presents a fae world much more complex and detailed, and also much darker. Anyway…Jude loved her “father”, just as much as she feared and hated him for who he was and what he'd done, and in the end, she almost became him. Once again, I have to compare that relationship with the one between Papa Pope and Olivia. The man is a monster who loves his daughter but will still does monstrous things to her. And the daughter fears and admires him while she travels down a path that will lead her to become him. It’s as dark and emotional as it sounds, and it’s what made this story so interesting to me.

That, and Cardan, the Cruel Prince himself. Fear and hate mixed with something else were also themes for Jude's relationship with Cardan. And I loved it and him. Sure Caran was a huge jerk during the first part of the book, but it was clear that there was more behind that facade. I got major Rhys from ACOTAR vibes from him. *swoon*

Since Jude was convinced Cardan hated her and was intent on destroying her, she ignored the signs that he wasn't as he seemed, but those signs were still there and they were many. I also adored how Jules acted/reacted when it came to him. For those worried that she'll turn into a love sick puppy because "Oh, Cardan is a prince and he's oh so pretty despite being so cruel", you have nothing to worry about. Jules is too smart for that. She knows better and she'll make Cardan work to get her forgivness. 

I’m already obviously Team Cruel Prince all the way, because what were the chances I’d resist a smirking, antihero hottie?

The romance fan in me wished we'd seen more of Cardan and Jules' awesome dynamic in this book, but I'm betting we'll get plenty of that in the sequel. With everything that was going on in Jule's life, the hints of romance were left for the later chapters, and I was beyond ready for it. Again, spoilers will prevent me from saying much, but I can't complain that things are still unfinished and even more complex now, because that makes me desperate for book 2. 

Overall, The Cruel Prince was a stunning start to what I can see will become a favorite series, introducing a smart, complex and likable main character, a strong world, tons of intrigue and the hints of what will be a enemies-to-lovers, slow burn romance that will make my heart beat fast. Basically, it's a lot of what I wished I had seen in the past few seasons of Scandal, one of my favorite shows.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.

Release & Review - Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao

Image and blurb from Goodreads

Title: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
(Rise of the Empress #1)
Author: Julie C. Dao
Release Date: October 10th, 2017

Age Category/ Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Retelling
Publisher: Philomel Books

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

Goodreads

Amazon

3 “East Asian Evil Queen” Stars

I’ve had my eyes on this book for a while, which means I was eager to finally start and ready to love this story. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.

I went into this book knowing it was a retelling of The Evil Queen in a East Asian-inspired fantasy world, so I was expecting to have mixed feelings about the main character—wanting to murder her and loving her at the same time. That’s pretty much how I go about villains I love.

The problem is that I never got to fall in love with Xifeng.

Last year I read Heartless by Marissa Meyer, and I absolutely loved how I went from loving Catherine to watching her become the Queen of Hearts. The thing is, I could root for Catherine and I did understand why she turned into the villain we all knew.

I can’t say the same about Xifeng.

First, I felt like I was thrown into the story after it’d already begun. The romance had already started (and that’s normally a big problem for me because I don’t get to fall in love as the characters do… not that I necessarily felt like Xifeng loved Wei, anyway). The darkness inside Xifeng had already developed to a point she seemed sort of comfortable with it, and I never really felt like I watched her as someone with a good heart battling the darkness. She already seemed almost defeated and conformed to the idea that she would become a powerful and evil person at some point. It made it hard to root for her to overcome this destiny, even when I knew she’d get there eventually.

But the whole point of reading about anti-hero/anti-heroine stories for me is exactly that: rooting for something impossible. Getting so involved in the story that I forget the fact that, yeah, no matter how hard the main character fights to stay good, she’ll become evil in the end. Xifeng never felt good to me. She was too vain and selfish, and too willing to manipulate and use everyone around her to get to her goal, which made her too unlikable for me. There was no motivation for me to root for her.

Speaking of motivation, I didn’t even understand why Xifeng wanted to be Empress. Sure, there was that speech about her wanting to be someone and not to be controlled, which, YES, GIRLFRIEND, GO FOR IT. But was being evil the only way she could get there? No. That was clear, since the Queen of the Forest (I’m sure that’s not her title, but that’s how I thought of her) specifically told her there was more than one path and Xifeng didn’t have to believe she was meant for evil. But again, there was never a real struggle.

There was never the true fight between the good and evil inside of Xifeng. She continued to look at other women and call them jealous and afraid of her beauty (the girl hate was pretty obvious in this story). She continued to manipulate and use Wei (I honestly felt like she never really loved him) and the friends she made along the way to further her agenda. And that was just the beginning. It made the rest of the things she did as the book progressed less impactful, because I already didn’t like her from the start, so nothing cruel or evil she did later had a real impact.

Besides, some of Xifeng’s views of the world were truly problematic. The whole “I can’t stand under sunlight without an umbrella because I want to be pale like the Empress and don’t want to look like a lowly farm girl” thing? Oh, man. That was bad. I cringed when I read that part.

Having said all of that, I still liked the world this author created for her debut. The East Asian inspired vibe I got from it was nice and beautiful and different from what’s out there, which is a plus. I loved seeing a diverse fantasy world. The world was also dark, which worked because of the Evil Queen theme.

I also liked the writing. It’s clear the author is talented. I was a little confused at first, because the opening paragraph made it look like this wouldn’t be a close third POV, but it shifted after that and I enjoyed how the author told the story.

Judging from the tons of five-star reviews I’ve seen, my disappointment with Xifeng and her journey isn’t the norm. The majority loved the story, and I can see why. I can see its appeal. It simply didn’t work for me personally, because I need to be able to root for the character even when she’s a clear anti-heroine, and this didn’t happen here. So, my advice is: if the premise interests you, give it a chance. Maybe you’ll love it as much as the majority of readers did.

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.