Tabitha Tomala
I liked how Allie has the barrier to overcome in having no magic she can use. After being a character that predominantly used magic to defend herself, having her struggle to find new ways is interesting. Shame's quips are still as good making me laugh out loud, and the relationship between Shame and Terric is finally making progress and developing into the plot. I was glad to see some characters from earlier in the series come back and I was glad to see characters being unclosed. However given the amount of magic it takes to close/unclose and person I don't think it would have been possible to have so many occurrences in so few chapters. The final battle was well written, shocking and left me on the edge of my seat.
Wish I could give this book higher than a 5 star!! Another great addition to the Allie Beckstrom series!!! Full of action, great lines that made me grin and laugh out loud and she's one author who knows how not to overdue a relationship between characters. While Allie and Zayvion's relationship is progressing it only continues to add to the storyline. I'm glad she explained Zayvion's behavior in this book, it allows the reader to understand why his character has been going through some drastic changes, besides death and coming back right? Can't wait till I read the next one!
While I love this series, the first few chapters of this book is gushing with rehashed facts you know from books 1-4 that do not need to be repeated.
I did enjoy this book, though not as much as the previous installments. There was a lot of filler, especially repeated filler. When you state something at the beginning of the book there is no need to say it again in the middle and end as well. The plot was true to an elemental assassin book with Gin assassinating the bad guys and the elemental show down I thought was written well. I loved seeing Gin's family band together and stay by her side, it really helped me at least feel more for the characters. Being the conclusion of the first of Gin's arcs I am interested to see what else happens in later books.
This book just dragged. I normally love all the Dragonlance books (minus Murder is Tarsis), but I cannot for the life of me connect with any of the characters. The scene with the ogres when all they did was talk ogre, um hello! Translation please? That enter chapter was a waste. Not to mention the following scene with them chapters later where they talk about some agreement and never tell the read what the agreement is! There are way too many scenes of what Nephera's undead can do, really we don't need a hundred pages of filler detailing ever last traitors death. Give a few examples of her power and be done with it. The three main story lines don't even have enough detail! The group in the mines you barely hear about and I found I enjoyed them the most. I will attempt book two but if its a flop I won't bother with the third.
This book is only a two star for many reasons, first of all being that it took way too long for the plot to actually develop. I loved how the book picked up pace with the bad guys surfacing and all, but then it just plain stopped. There was too much extra in this book. Between each major action in the plot there was a myriad of filler that just didn't need to be there, almost like Hamilton was going for quantity over quality with this book. There was also a story error when Anita calls Claudia powerful for healing quickly when in fact chapters before Anita was the one who healed her. A major event in chapter 48 that was only briefly mentioned once upset me. I would have much rather seen a full detail if it instead if the amount of fluff in this book. I had hopes for Hamilton having read Skin Trade but she's just lost her touch.
I am sad to say this book was not as good as the previous two. The story seemed very rushed, such a long journey they had should not have been cut to nothing by Mina's powers. Maybe a quartet would have been better than a trilogy. This book was also full of mistakes, whether missing words, the wrong words or just plain bad grammar, I think this took away from the story as well.
Estep has done it again, I just couldn't put this book down! I literally sat in the parking lot of my work because I had one chapter to read and could not go a moment more without finishing it! One of those books where you get a giddy feeling and a smile on your face when it's final over. Gin never ceases to amaze me with her quick thinking and kick ass attitude :) can't wait for the next one!
This book was phenomenal! Where as the first book didn't delve too deeply into Mina herself, this book finally answered all my questions! About half way through the book I just knew what Mina was, so when they finally came out with it I went, I knew it!! Can't wait to read the next. I was happy to see that Majere made quite the appearance in this book too.
I have to confess that some parts of this book I just skimmed. There was too much detail to unimportant things to the story line. The best part of the book was probably the last few chapters in which place the final battle took place. Compared to the prior Meredith books this one was just not up to par, there was too much politics and too little action to progress the plot.
When Essallie’s boyfriend invites her to the opening night of his art display, she never expects to witness a murder. Fast forward five months and Essallie is still haunted by her boyfriend’s death. Everywhere she turns Kayden, the demon responsible, shows her grisly images of that night five months ago. To make things worse, Essallie’s starting to discover she might not be human. Essallie’s journey for the truth will involve angels, demons, and powers beyond anything she could have imagined.
Illumine was a rocky road. Essallie was not a likable character. At the start, she seemed to be forced into living among social acolytes. But as the story progresses, readers will learn she carries an attitude well worth being one. She’s quick to anger and does not think over situations. And despite not wanting to act like the popular crowd in New York, when she moves back to her hometown she steps right back into the party girl personality.
One of the main goals for Essallie as a character was to keep the origin of her abilities secret. Yet despite being told to keep her true nature hidden both she and various other characters begin to tell others. Not to mention a spectacular display of her powers right in her front yard. As I read the aforementioned scene I waited for the conflict to arise where a passer-by saw her powers. It would be the perfect moment to create drama and tension, yet it never happened. If the intention was to never keep her ability secret, the plot point shouldn’t have been brought up, to begin with.
What kept me reading was the conflict of interest between Kayden and Essallie. However, as the relationship between them switched from hostile to receptive my confusion grew. Readers will witness scene after scene of Kayden torturing and taunting Essallie. Trust should be gradual and difficult to grow between the characters, if at all. And without proper character development, the trust formed between Kayden and Essallie felt forced.
Illumine by Alivia Anders is a book for those who enjoy the theme of angels vs. demons. It’s fast moving and the writing style does more telling than showing. It’s also more of a novella sitting at 160 pages. The rest of the novel is previews of other books. Unfortunately, this is not a series I will be continuing to read.
Originally posted at www.behindthepages.org.
Every book in this series so far has left me wowed! The ideas are intriguing and fresh! It was great to finally see Sorcha's past and discover how she has the amount of power that she wields, and watching Merrick grow up so quickly. I am interested to see how the Rossin is in future books, given the amount of information that was revealed about the geistlord yet so many questions remain. As the story ends it leaves me craving the next novel!
Margaret Weis has done it again! This is a great addition to the Dragonlance series. Not as much about Mina as I would have liked but I can't be too greedy, the first part of the book was about her finding Chemosh. It was nice to see more of the gods and goddesses being brought into the story line instead of everything being about Paladine and Takhisis. I do have to say the ending caught me by surprise and I am more interested in reading about the first cataclysm now.
It was great to see Anita at work as an animator, it seemed like the series was forgetting that Anita has a daytime job and that she's not just a human servant, vampire executioner, succubus, etc. I also liked the essay Hamilton included on how the idea for Flirt began, it was interesting to read how a simple situation could turn into a novel.
Since Anita gained the ardeur, this series has been in my eyes mainly about sex and less about the story. I stopped reading the Anita Blake series because of that, ending with Blood Noir. My brother convinced me to give Anita another try so I picked up Skin Trade and was pleasantly surprised. Laurell Hamilton has finally gone back to having a strong base storyline and plot. The first few lines of this book instantly made me hooked, having Anita receive a head in a box was proof enough for me that this novel would be grisly and dark like the original Anita's had been. While there was sex in the novel as it should be due to her ardeur, it was just enough to support the story and not take it over the top. I am really looking forward to the rest of this series now.
Continuing the story of deacons Sorcha and Merrick and the young pretender Raed, this book is full of adventure and action. I couldn't put it down! It exceeds my expectations the author left me with from the first book! The world is so detailed and the plot so well thought out, bringing unexpected twists as it unfolded. Cannot wait till I read the third book!
Continuing the story of deacons Sorcha and Merrick and the young pretender Raed, this book is full of adventure and action. I couldn't put it down! It exceeds my expectations the author left me with from the first book! The world is so detailed and the plot so well thought out, bringing unexpected twists as it unfolded. Cannot wait till I read the third book!
I was very happy to see that the Wicked series had finally gotten the last book completed. While I thought it was a good read the ending seemed rushed. I am glad that it was a happy ending and made me feel good but I feel like the authors did it only to appease the fans and it's not how the book should have ended. Granted I don't think it is a bad thing that it ended on a somewhat happy note, it just doesn't really fit in with how things normally pan out for the girls.
This book did not have a very complicated plot. It was a very quick and easy read. I wouldn't give it 4 or 5 stars simply because the content was lacking but overall it was a decent book. The main character did not fit her personality the author was trying to portray in the beginning of the book, it was like half way through she was a different or maybe younger character with her actions and thoughts.
I got about 80 pages into this book and I couldn't stand to finish it. The characters have no depth! The story line is shaky at best. Max goes on a rescue mission and ends up eating cookies in a strangers house? Really? It's like the tone of this book wants to be serious but just can't be. Not to mention it jump starts you into a story line. Who is Jed? Why is there an entire life they are flashbacking on that I have no concept of? This was just horrible.