Amina Kara

This was an excellent read, but gosh it was so heartbreaking and depressing at times!

It was so tough to read at times that I honestly felt like walking away from it.

I read David Copperfield prior to this and it's sad to see that some things really haven't changed between then and now.

Saying that, I enjoyed the parallels between this and David Copperfield, not just in terms of characters but the odd quote here and there too.

It was dark, sad, heartbreaking and tough so whilst I do recommend it, I would urge caution because something like that might not be for everyone.

Thank you to PH and Barbara Kingsolver for the chance to read this book.

Another excellent book by David Jackson!

This time it involved Izzy. She worked in a bookshop, but her talent, or was it a curse? lay in being able to read peoples emotions and allowing her to know when someone is lying.

She tries to use her talent for good, but as you can imagine it doesn't go well. No one wants to believe her. They all think she's a crackpot, seeking attention apart from the lovely Detective Josh Frendy.

Despite this, through sheer determination? bravery? She keeps going. I didn't know whether to admire her courage, determination, bravery or tell her to stop putting herself in danger especially when noone seemed to believe her.

David Jackson definitely knows how to write a thriller with plenty of action, dark humour and wit and he's done it again with this one!

I definitely recommend this!

Thank you to PH, NetGalley, David Jackson and publishers Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books for the chance to read this book.

Merged review:

Another excellent book by David Jackson!

This time it involved Izzy. She worked in a bookshop, but her talent, or was it a curse? lay in being able to read peoples emotions and allowing her to know when someone is lying.

She tries to use her talent for good, but as you can imagine it doesn't go well. No one wants to believe her. They all think she's a crackpot, seeking attention apart from the lovely Detective Josh Frendy.

Despite this, through sheer determination? bravery? She keeps going. I didn't know whether to admire her courage, determination, bravery or tell her to stop putting herself in danger especially when noone seemed to believe her.

David Jackson definitely knows how to write a thriller with plenty of action, dark humour and wit and he's done it again with this one!

I definitely recommend this!

Thank you to PH, NetGalley, David Jackson and publishers Serpent's Tail / Viper / Profile Books for the chance to read this book.

A few days have passed since I finished this and I'm still thinking and thinking about it! I don't think I'll stop anytime soon. What a wild ride it was!

I saw a lot of mention of this on Twitter and having now read the series to date, I can finally understand what all the hype has been about! The hype, in my opinion, is well and truly justified.

Ryan created an amazing world, with some fantastic characters. Not just simple characters, but a few that were not as black and white as they initially seemed. Creating complicated characters that had you changing your mind about them again and again was something done really well.

Apart from Calen, Vaeril, Tarmon and Erik, shoutout to Gaeleron, Farda, Ella, Arden, Dayne, Belina, Dann, Alina and Valdrin. Oh, and who can forget Valerys?!

This one continued from where we left off in Book 2 and the high stakes and intensity never let up! You really didn't get a chance to catch your breath before you were pulled into yet more intense action. I'm still not sure I've caught my breath yet! I'm impatient for the next book in the series, but I'm also glad there's a bit of a breather between this one and the next because it's definitely needed!

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS SERIES THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GO AND READ IT!!!! Honestly, I can't recommend it highly enough! It is so damn good! Kudos to Ryan. He's done an incredible job with this series and I truly cannot wait for more! As fantasy series go, this is EPIC.

This was a very good read.

It was well written and the story flowed at a good pace.

I liked how well the characters were written especially with Sam and her anxiety and fears in relation to her pregnancy. I thought that was really well portrayed. I liked both her and Paul as characters.

I do have to admit though, that some of the scientific bits possibly went over my head. I'd probably have to read it again to properly understand it.

I haven't read the previous books in the Sam Shephard series, but I might give them a go.

Thank you to The Book Club Reviewer Group for a copy of this one.

As far as novellas go, Ryan's are the absolute best.

This was another excellent instalment that added depth to a story already well told! This time, it was following Aeson's journey to Valacia in search of the dragon egg. I'm glad we got this because it really helps us understand the perilous journey Aeson, Dahlen, Erik and a group of others faced just to get their hands on the dragon egg.

It also gave a real insight into Aseon and how far he was willing to go for the cause. The insight really helps us better understand him as a character. Understanding him better is definitely going to stop me from being as harsh on him in the next book.

After everything they went through, I can also understand Dahlen's frustrations when the egg didn't hatch for him. You went through all that only for the egg to hatch for someone else. Yeah, I feel your pain, Dahlen.

This was brilliantly written, with tension from start to finish. Even though we know how some things go, there were still a few heart in mouth moments!

Thank you so much to Ryan Cahill for my eARC of this!