The Acropolis
I finished The Acropolis, the first book in a new series by RK Ryals – I wrote about it over at BlogHer. #TeamGargoyle!
Sci Fi and Fantasy
Retribution — the final book in the Redemption series
I finished Retribution on my iPhone yesterday – and wrote about it in the BlogHer Book Chat group.
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11/23/63
It felt like it took weeks to read Stephen King’s 11/23/63 but it really just took three days – which seems pretty good for an 800+ page book, when sometimes it takes me three days to read a 300 page book. Heh. That’s what happens with Stephen King, I pretty much can’t put it down.
If you could step back in time and stop the assassination of JFK, would you do it? And if you did it and discovered that the world was in even worse shape after you did it – would you go back and undo it? And would you undo it and leave everything the way it was, even if people you cared about were hurt – and you could never be with them again?
And, do you think Oswald acted alone?
Good book. Creepy story, in a lot of ways – but not as creepy as King can be. I liked it – a lot.
Fang Chronicles: Amy’s Story
I tried to read Fang Chronicles: Amy’s Story while I was in Hawaii but I couldn’t because I had loaned it to RJ and it hadn’t been returned to my Amazon shelf yet. After I got home, it was returned so I could start reading it. Darn if I’ll ever do that again – the story was terrific, not the normal vampire romance.
One of the unusual things that I didn’t mention in that post over on BlogHer was that the story did not end where/when I thought it would.
I don’t know if it’s a symptom of reading on my iPhone via the Kindle App but I was very surprised.
You know how you’re reading a book, in a genre you’ve often read, and you begin to guess at what’s going to happen – and you expect the story to end shortly after X happens? If you’re reading a print book, you get that feeling even more if you’re close to the end – with the Kindle, I never really know where I am in the book so I was very surprised when X happened, to Amy, and the book did not end.
And then I figured ok, the book will end when X happens to Victoria but guess what – the story did not end there, either.
I guess if I’d been reading a print version, I might have been a little less surprised. Maybe? Even so – those were two key things that could have triggered the end of the book but neither did.
THAT was cool. Totally unexpected ending.
I’m looking forward to reading Emily’s Story next.
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Spy Glass
Weird. Spy Glass was the shortest book in the trilogy but it seems like more happened in this one than the others – yet it didn’t feel rushed. Nicely done. I’m not sure I really LOVE the ending – and it was just a tiny, tiny bit predictable where I didn’t find the others to be predictable but that’s not always a bad thing for the last book in a trilogy. Loose ends all nice and need. I hope there’s a series with the kids next…
Storm Glass
I had a little trouble settling into Storm Glass because I only barely remember enough about Poison/Air/Magic Study to figure out how Opal (the lead character in this series) was related to Yelena (the lead character in that series.) Thankfully, Snyder gave me enough info that I could find my way through the story without having to stop and go find some sort of synapses for the other series.
So basically, if you liked Snyder’s series about Yelena – then you’re definitely going to like this one. There’s a lot of magic. A lot of trying to figure out what magic does (and doesn’t do.) A lot of secret-y stuff. And just enough connection to that first series to make you feel like you know the places these characters visit.
If you haven’t read Poison/Air/Fire Study – I don’t think you absolutely have to read that series, but I think it’s useful.
Now I’m off to read the next book in this series.
Anna Dressed in Blood
I read almost NOTHING while I was in Hawaii. I had only a few non-fiction books with me and ebooks and none of the ebooks were holding my attention so I asked TW to bring me a book when she came – she did. She brought Anna Dressed in Blood and I was happy. However, I only read about 15 pages of it during that last week of our trip. I was just too tired to read at night and/or too focused on JMP to read.
But on the plane, I did read a bit and made it about 2/3 of the way through. I liked it but I wasn’t sure I loved it. We got home and I read a few more chapters and I really, really liked it a lot – but love? I wasn’t so sure. And then last night, I started reading and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I was exhausted and not feeling great but I had to find out what happened so it was after midnight before I turned off the lights – satisfied, very satisfied and in love with this story.
For anyone who loved ghost stories as a kid and loves horror fiction now – you must read this. Ignore the fact that it’s YA, if you’re not generally a YA reader. Fabulous, fabulous story.
Poor, poor Anna.
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Magical Mischief
Magical Mischief was a cute middle grade fantasy – about a magic bookstore. Or actually, a bookstore where magic resided – and caused all sorts of problems. We’re left hanging at the end – how do you actually MOVE magic from one place to another, particularly if it does not want to go… and I suspect the magic will not want to go.
Huntress
I really liked Huntress. The only problem was that I kept wondering what the heck Ash was about. I mean I remembered that it had lesbians in it. And that it was a Cinderella story. But other than that – I couldn’t remember a darn thing. TW kept saying, “just forget it’s a prequel” and I tried but it wasn’t easy.
And when I got to the end of Huntress, I looked up Ash and remembered it all. I should have looked up Ash before I started Huntress and saved myself the annoyance. Because this book was better than Ash. Much better. A whole lot happened at the end and that’s really the only thing I might have changed – I mean a visit to a unicorn really deserves its own book, or certainly more than just a few pages.