Kyrie

The Secret wasn't quite as good as The Quest in my opinion. The story ventured from the Lark/Raven perspective that was the set up of the first book, so now the story is following four characters instead of just the two. I think it might have been a bit stronger if it had stuck to Raven and Lark, but it was a break that was needed to set up more exposition. So, I can forgive it that.

You get to learn more about the royal family and the Ariane in this novella, which was interesting. Nearly the entire book was focused on politics: between the kingdom and the Var, between Raven and the people, and between Lark and the other Ariane.

I was surprised by what Raven ended up deciding, although I suppose I really shouldn't have been surprised. It makes sense. I hate the cliffhanger that it ended on, though!

And now, I'm starting on the third one...after which I'll have to wait for the second half of the series to be published.

This book was more focused on Sanae than it did on Akakiba and Yuki. That was a bit disappointing. However, this book provided a lot more action and plot progression than the first one did. So, I guess it all sort of evened out.

It took most of two books, but by the end of Fox's Quest, you finally find out what the major conflict of the series is. I have to admit, that was pretty cool. But then, once again...kitsune fangirl. I'm totally prejudiced.

I really would have enjoyed if the book had focused on Akakiba and Yuki more. They spent a lot of the book misunderstanding each other, or just not talking to each other. By the time they finally talk out their differences, and their relationship mends, the book is practically over. I was pleased that that whole situation redeemed itself (to me, at least) in this book.

It was left to Sanae to be the comic relief, and I will admit that some of those scenes were funny. Her campaign of terror against the shinobi was just priceless.

This book, unlike the first one, ended on a cliffhanger.

I do have to wonder why all of the fighting was necessary. The Fox Clan was attacked in the first book because the person in charge wasn't sure if they were in league with the actual villains. Okay...why not try asking them, or confronting them about it? Instead, they attempt complete genocide against the foxes without knowing which side they were on. The clan is famous for demon-slaying - it might have been a good idea to ask if they would help before trying to completely wipe them out. Not the best way to make friends, or find a champion for your cause.

I hope I won't have to wait till next year for the last book. I want resolution - to Akakiba and Yuki's relationship, to the conflict, to everything.

The Fox's Mask is set in a mythical world based on Japanese culture and folklore. Parts of it felt like I was reading the light novel version of a manga, but eventually I was drawn into the story and stopped thinking about the book like that. I'm always a huge fan of anything kitsune, but this book was enjoyable, even without the influence of magical fox people.

Though ninjas vs kitsune battles - I'm just sayin'. It's hard to deny the awesomeness of that combination. Oh, and there were demons, too. I swear, it's like this book was written just for me.

The story is told from the...not so much point of view of various characters, but...it was all written omniscient third person, but each chapter would be about what a certain character was doing. There were five characters the book followed, in total: Akakiba, Yuki, Sanae, Jien, and one of the shinobi. I forget his name. It started with an “m”. Each chapter announced whose story was being followed. I'd have loved to just follow Yuki and Akakiba, but I see why all five of those characters were included in the rotation. Each holds a piece of the overall story.

I really enjoyed the carefully balanced relationship between Akakiba and Yuki. It was very well-written, and done fairy tastefully. It also wasn't a story where the relationship happens instantly, love at first sight, you know they're going to be together by the end of the book sort of thing. I was a bit irked at the cop-out at the end, but it made sense based on what you were told about the Fox clan's traditions, dialogue between Akakiba and his mother, and the fact that kitsune are shape shifters. It's just...would it have been so terrible to leave that relationship alone?

The Japanese names were fun. It added to the immersion of the story. Sakura and Yuki, though...really?

I loved the folklore behind the story. It was all heavily based on Japanese/Chinese stories, of course, but there were little twists thrown in that helped make the world unique.

There's not much resolution by the end of the book. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but not much actually gets done. However, I just noticed that the second book came out on March 1st. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to my kitsune now.

Evan Burl and the Falling felt like a cross between the Resurrection of Magic trilogy, and the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy.

When I started this book, I didn't have a lot of information to go on. I didn't know what the plot was. I didn't know anything about the characters. All I knew was that people were saying good things about it.

After finishing the book, I can officially say...holy crap, that was awesome!

I can't go into the whole reason behind the awesomeness of sapience...not without spoiling the ending. It made for some wonderfully disturbing and creepy scenes near the end, though. Like the thing with Ani and the kitten. If you've read it, you know the scene I'm talking about. Good lord, that scene was creepy! Very few books manage to legitimately bother me, but that entire scene made me shiver.

The plot is a bit confusing early on, but as the story progresses it becomes easier to put together what's going on. There's also a lot of jumping between characters, but each character change is marked at the beginning of the chapter. I didn't think it was too hard to keep up with who was doing what, and when. It was a little obnoxious how slowly information was given out, but I can forgive the story that, as the mystery behind sapience helped make for some really great scenes.

I couldn't decide if I liked this book, or if it annoyed me. I think it might be a combination of the two. The world, the war, and the gods are fascinating - but the drawn out drama with Brad was frustrating every step of the way. Yes, I understand why it was set up like it was, but the “love triangle” was dragged out far beyond what it should have been. Especially considering there wasn't really a love triangle. More like a couple with a crazy stalker.

Brad did surprise me, though. At first, I was trying to figure out why he was even put into the story...I was prepared to crack jokes about how effective he was as a character. But then, you find out why he's in the story. It takes a good portion of the book to get to that point, but it's well worth it when you finally do!

I would also like to point out that this book has the chattiest gods I've ever seen in a fantasy story. I'm pretty sure they told Kate everything she needed to know to do her job right. That was impressive.

The romance between Kate and Arland seemed a bit too easy. I get that there's this whole prophecy thing behind it, and Kate has had dreams of him for years before they met, so she technically knew him...but the entire thing felt rushed. Kate even jokes about it in the book, that they've only known each other for a few weeks but they're already madly in love. They barely know each other. Not much time was spent developing the bond between the two of them. One second, Arland was trying to be professional and detached, the next, they're making out by a river. Their relationship might have felt a bit more...real...if more time had been spent letting the readers see them interacting with each other. They're together for all of a week, and then the book jumps to three weeks later, and the main conflict of the story kicks in. Slow down there, book!

As far as plot goes, this book is nothing new - it was at least interesting, though. The book leaves you wanting to read more, but answers enough questions so that you're not frustrated by the time you're done reading. I appreciated that.

Witches out to teach people a lesson? Check. Fairies trying to lure people into their realm? Check. World dragon? Check. Strong basis in Celtic mythology and folklore? Definitely. Now that's an Attanasio book!

I liked this book a lot more than I liked the Conjure Book. It felt more like what I was used to from Attanasio. The story was very poetic...not necessarily the way it was written, but the plot itself: girl gets taken by the fairies, her love has to win her back. It's a story of love and redemption. And writers always get bonus points with me for writing fairies properly.

I also noticed that Attanasio writes dragons well - both in this book, and The Dragon and the Unicorn. It's an interesting mythology, that the world is a dragon.

Another part I enjoyed about this book was how contained this story was. There's really only five essential characters that the book focuses on, and each of them has time to develop. All of the other background characters stay just there - in the background. The book doesn't stop to go into details about why Chester's family is vegetarian. That information isn't important to the plot, so there's no lengthy sidetracking to go into detail about it. I loved how focused the book was on the story.

The characters, while not the most likeable cast, were interesting enough. Really, it was the Daoine Siddhe that kept me reading.

For being so short, The Search is a very well set-up novella. In just a few chapters, the plot and the main characters are set up, their motivations explained, and a back story is given for everyone who matters. The world is described, not in depth, but enough so that you understand the lay of the land, as it were. This is a world at war, and the one person who has some hope of setting things straight is convinced that he doesn't deserve the role.

It was nice to read a story that tells you exactly what's going on, instead of explaining only part of the problem before you have to go out and buy the next book.

I thought the conflicts were very well done - both the struggle of the kingdom to survive without a king, and Raven's internal struggle between his past and the possibility that he's made everything worse by hiding for all of his life. He's a wonderful character, dealing with difficult choices. Lark seems a little dull in comparison, but she's not a bad character either.

I also had to giggle, because I occasionally use the name Lark (or some variant thereof) - it's what made me decide to pick this book up in the first place. As if that weren't enough, my husband's name is Raven. It was awesome.

I really shouldn't have read this book on an empty stomach. I can't begin to cook any of the recipes thrown in at the end of each chapter, but they made me soooo hungry.

The Queen of Minor Disasters was a light, fun read. I was expecting it to be more focused on romance. It wasn't. I mean, romance is a big part of the book, but it's not the sole focus. I enjoyed that. Instead of spending every moment she had throwing herself at men to fix what's wrong in her life, Stella works on improving herself. Even when she finds Mr. Right, she doesn't immediately settle down with him - she wants to travel, and try out baking school.

Although to be honest, I think I enjoyed the recipes at the end of each chapter more than I did the story itself. Not that I'm all that interested in recipes, but the way the recipes were presented, and Stella's snappy remarks that were thrown in just made me break into uncontrollable fits of giggling.

I especially liked the recipe for birthday sticky buns. “1) Decide that you are not cooking on your birthday...”

The Cracked Slipper is the story of Cinderella after “happily ever after” has worn off, and real life has set in.

Despite being based on Cinderella, this book breaks away from the fairy tale, and becomes its own story. Starting with the ending of the original story, Cracked Slipper tells the tale of Eleanor realizing that “love at first sight” probably isn't a good basis for a stable relationship.

This book is 80% Eleanor falling out of love with Prince Charming or attending parties, and only 20% action. The main conflict of the story didn't happen until the last few chapters. Well, I suppose you could argue that the whole Dorian thing was the main conflict of the story, but even that doesn't get wrapped up until nearly the end of the book. I was expecting the action to start somewhere around the middle of the story - three fourths of the way through the book, I was starting to worry that I'd never get to it. It felt a bit late to be introducing the conflict, and the entire thing was wrapped up quickly as well. To be honest, it almost felt like the action was just tacked on at the last minute to make the book appeal to a wider audience. I did enjoy the resolution; it just felt like there should have been more of a build-up than, “Oh no! The horn that we haven't mentioned in 10 chapters is suddenly missing!”

I liked how the world was set up. All of the animals talk, all of the nobles have pet birds to assist them (suddenly singing birds doing chores doesn't sound so far-fetched), and unicorns help the kingdom mine a stone found exclusively in places where dragons live. Instead of fairy godmothers, magic is worked by wizards and witches. All the changes take Cracked Slipper from being a rewritten fairy tale to being a full-fledged fantasy story.

There were a few grammatical errors, but none so distracting that it interrupted the story.

Also, is it just me, or is it hard not to picture Chou sounding like Gilbert Gottfried? >_>

Nathan Miller & the Binding Birch wants to be the next childhood epic fantasy. It tries. It tries very hard. But it doesn't quite reach “Harry Potter meets Narnia” levels of epic, like it intended.

It was a good book - don't get me wrong, I had trouble putting it down once I started reading it. It's a good story. It's just...

The book is littered with typos. Not just spelling errors, or grammar mistakes, but random punctuation and words thrown in where they shouldn't be - like a sentence had been changed at the last minute, but not all of the words from the old sentence were erased. It constantly broke up the reading experience, since I had to keep backtracking to figure out what the sentence was supposed to say. And this is not a rough draft - this is a finished book.

Another problem was the fact that the book tries too hard to be an epic fantasy. I understand wanting to make your story big, but when the story involves eighteen main characters that all need to be developed...and that's me being generous. There's actually more main characters than that. I settled on only counting the fourteen main children (FOURTEEN), Caul, Caetis, and those two Ulfa wolves. Though you could argue that Karsh was a main character, and Broch, and Hazel...

That's the problem. The book tries to focus on Nathan as the “main” main character, but it doesn't even do that! The story is told from the perspective of Nathan, Thalia, AND Ruby, and it constantly jumps from one character to the next. It might work if the chapters were split up into clear categories of whose point of view the story is being told from at the moment, but it doesn't do that. It just jumps from one character to the next, sometimes in just under a paragraph. It'll describe what Ruby is feeling one second, and then suddenly we're back to Nathan.

Those were the biggest problems I had with the book.

Otherwise, the mythology behind the world is wonderful, and done in such great detail. I love how Cascadia's stories and myths feel like they could easily be a part of our own world. A lot of this book was setting up Cascadia, so there were a lot more of these stories than actual action, but I didn't mind. I found myself as anxious as the children to learn more about the history of the world.

Caetis is an awesome villain. I wish more of the book had focused on him. His story is tragic, and he's really nothing more than the fulfillment of the birch scroll prophecy. If things had worked out differently, he might not have been a such a bad guy. And the fact that he's only evil because of how things worked out makes you feel a bit sympathetic for him. His tribe left him to be murdered by wolves, when he was just a year old - why wouldn't he be angry? Caetis has a legitimate reason to want to attack the others. It makes him a more realistic character. Villains are stronger characters when they're not just doing evil for evil's sake...or for money, or power.

All this book really needs is a bit more focus. Clean up the typos, maybe choose one or two characters to focus the story on, and it would be even better. We'll see how things go in the sequel.

UPDATE: I fear I might actually be the first Caetis fangirl...

I learned two things from reading this book: first, that “transcript of my D&D game” is apparently a genre and second, that if your story is essentially a transcript of a D&D game, nine times out of ten your main character is going to be a mage. It's much easier to explain how a person can suddenly use magic than to explain how they suddenly know how to pick locks, or wield a sword. It's the path of least resistance.

The entire book is written...weird. It's written in omniscient third person (which is normal in most books), but in the present tense. The style definitely makes the book harder to read. The book ended up sounding like someone was telling the author a story, and it was just written down word for word. “And then, the main character hears some wolves, so he climbs a tree for the night to avoid them!”

That's another thing. James is terrified of fighting some wolves, and because he doesn't do anything, Seth, a kid he knows from school, dies. Yet just a few scenes later, James badly burns some bandits to save the life of a man he just met. And I'm sorry. I just can't bring myself to feel sorry for Seth's death. He had already been missing for a few days before James showed up...did Seth not once stop to realize that he'd be safer in a tree than on the ground at night?

I just realized that after that initial fight with the wolves, James never had problems camping in the open throughout the rest of the book. Maybe Seth was just unlucky in encountering the wolves.

The plot/progression of events felt like it would have been more at home in a video game than in a book. Every single encounter James has directly helps him move forward on his quest. He meets a bard who he later has to save. The bard just happens to know the man in charge of the royal library, which just happens to be where James needs to go to research a symbol. The librarian, in turn, gives James a book and letter to deliver to the librarian in a city under attack, and it's only because he has that book that he's allowed into the city. I've seen video games with subtler plot hints than this.

And then, there's the magic. Why make your magic run on rhyme and meter if you character is terrible at putting together rhyme and meter? Why not just use the whole “word of power” idea? That bothers me in the best of books, but it's made worse in this one by the fact that about halfway through, James realizes he doesn't have to use rhymes to create spells. If he never had to put together rhymes to make magic, why would you subject us to that? Why?

There's also a...trope, I suppose you would call it...that's recently started getting on my nerves. For lack of a better term, let's call it the “Wide-Eyed Factor”. This is where a character gets brought in to a magical world from current day Earth - the character will try to explain something simple (like a flashlight) to a normal citizen of the magic world, and the citizen's response is to stare at the main character, “wide-eyed”. Because clearly the world in which magic is a common-day occurrence is FAR inferior to our own world.

I wouldn't harp on this so much in this book if it didn't happen ALL THE TIME. Every chapter after he meets Miko, James blows Miko's mind by telling him about things like “forensic science” or “how tornadoes work”...or, my favorite, “meteors are not magic, except that one might be”.

I've changed my mind. Mirandia is officially the most oblivious character I've ever seen. I knew from the very first sentence what the “twist” in this book was. Though I suppose one can hardly call it a twist, when everybody but the main character knows what happened. Now I'm not sure if it was ever meant to be a twist...

Despite wanting to scream in frustration every time she lamented her husband's disappearance, I really enjoyed this book. The book was very well written. There are no big action scenes. There are no epic battles. It's just the story of a woman trying to find out what happened to her husband. Yet I could not set the book down.

I loved the world the book is set in. It could easily have taken place in the real world, a few centuries ago. The way the world is set up made me think very much of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell...just not on as grand of a scale.

The characters were written well. I never had to stop to figure out why a certain character acted a certain way - everybody was developed enough, and had clear enough personalities, despite not being mentioned for more than a paragraph or two. Even the side characters had clear motivations. It was nice to read a book where everything was put in place for a reason, and all plots get tied up.

The only problem I had with this book was the whole Miranda not figuring out what happened bit. For as smart as she was, she really should have caught on sooner...or if not caught on, she should have at least started questioning things. Every time something new got pointed out, I just wanted to scream when she didn't think twice about her observations. But, aside from that, this was a very enjoyable read.

Though I do question that...semi-bestiality? Near the end. After reading descriptions of the change...why? Just...just why?

There was much more characterization put into this book. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that. Even characters that aren't around for the entire story (Thalia's father, the rest of their clan, the people in Skyfell) are described more than any of the main characters were in the first book. It was nice to see improvement there.

We were also finally allowed to see the main characters' histories. Thalia regains her memory, we learn more about Kael, and we find out that Joss actually has a family. There's also finally an explanation of who the villains are, what they're are doing to the people they kidnap, and why Kael seems to be stalking Thalia.

Skyfell was a fun city. I loved the fun descriptions of the city and its transportation.

Now, if only that obnoxious love triangle would end! (I may be a bit biased in this case, though. I'm totally rooting for Kael.)

Daughter of the Bamboo Forest was not what I expected it to be. When I read the description of it, I figured it would be closer tied to Chinese mythology. It was the dragon king bit that threw me off, I see that now. Thanks a lot, Amazon.

Instead of being fantasy, this book is more historical fiction, and follows the tale of Little Jade. The story takes place during World War II, and details the various hardships faced in China during those years. Little Jade was raised by her grandmother because her mother got separated from them by the war, and her father was studying in Japan. Most of the book is Little Jade being passed from one person to another as somebody dies, or some other tragedy occurs.

There is a happy ending, though.

I really liked this book, maybe - in this particular case - because it wasn't what I expected it to be.

Once Upon a Curse is an anthology of fairy tales that focus more on the evil aspects of stories than the good. Most stories still have their happily ever after, but there's always some sort of twist.

I enjoyed each of the stories in this collection. They were all an interesting spin on old stories. If I had to choose a favorite, though, I'd have to go with the last story, “But Can You Let Him Go”. It was based on Cinderella - not just the commonly used French version, but several different cultures' versions of the tale. The story was very well done - I loved how the story sort of spiraled in on itself, until only the ending remained.

This is a good book to read if you enjoy reading fairy tales with a twist, or just retellings of fairy tales in general.

This is the start of a whole new Star-Crossed series. While I'm happy that the story is continuing (and told from Avalon's perspective now), it means I've got to start waiting on new books to come out. Nooooo!

It's a nice change having this story focus on Avalon. He's more mature than Eden is, and it's fun following his thought process, and learning more about him. He was a bit glazed over in the first four books. Eden spent her time either ignoring him, or they were captured, so there wasn't really too much said about him.

The new villain is great, as well. They don't know everything about him or his plans. Actual work has to go into figuring out how to stop the guy. His actions against his own kind are horrible, but they make him an actual threat. This is no siege mission, where they know who they're going after, where he is, and what he's doing - this is everyone having to bond together to protect what they spent years creating.

I was a bit sad that the whole romance part of this book had to be so fast-paced.

There were also the expected typos.

All-in-all, this was a pretty good continuation of the series.

Finally, resolution! It's been quite a ride, but I was very satisfied with how things ended. I'm such a sap.

I loved, loved, LOVED how much Kiran grew as a character. Getting to see the man he became made me incredibly happy. And not just him...a lot of characters dramatically matured in this book. Sebastian, Seraphina, Jericho...I was proud when Jericho stepped up and did what had to be done. I'm looking at you, awkward love-triangle.

Once more though, Eden...oh, Eden. If you would just pay more attention to what's going on, you could have spared yourself SO much trouble. Really. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what Kiran was doing. Especially when it's an almost constant string of events.

There were still quite a few typos in this book...I guess I'll just start writing those off as staples of the series. It wouldn't be a “Star-Crossed” book without three or four typos left in.

As for the plot, there was a lot of pointlessness. Especially since Eden was so incredibly in the dark about what was going on. It made a few parts of the book slow - not because what was happening wasn't interesting, but because a lot of it was just Eden trying to figure out what exactly was going on. I'd say about half of this book was Eden going, “Wait...what?”

A fourth of this book was dance parties or school-related.

Lucan became just downright despicable, which was awesome to see in a villain. Before, he was just sort of petty. In this book, he became a monster - a worthy tyrant to overthrow.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, though. I do so enjoy happy endings. [Cue Book #5.]

spoilers! No, Eden does not stop whining. I want to like her as a character, I really do. But the constant whining...it might not even be so bad if “whine” wasn't the word used to describe her complaints every single time. I'm not exaggerating that, either. It was seriously used every time she voiced some sort of complaint.

The love-triangle trap Eden's fallen into irks me, too. That's just a pet-peeve of mine, though. I don't like stories that try to draw out the drama by just throwing in more love interest. It is NOT dramatic. It's annoying.

It was good to see some of the other characters being developed. Talbott, Lilly, Sebastian, and the Resistance...they all grew into characters you can connect with, characters you actually cared about. Which makes it a shame that the same can't be said for Eden. I felt sorrier for Kiran than I ever did for her. It's probably not a good thing when the book leaves you sympathizing with the villain.

There were, once again, fewer typos in this book than in the previous one. I only saw two or three. So, that was an improvement!

Well, I'm nearing the final book...let's see how all of this ends.

Wow. This book was exactly what I expected it to be, until the final 50 pages or so. And then, the entire thing changed dramatically. The best plot twists are the ones you never see coming.

There were also less mistakes this time around. Though there was one point where Eden introduced herself as Eden St. Andrews. I'm still trying to figure out if it was a typo, and was supposed to be “Matthews”, or if she really introduced herself that way. Because if she really did say her last name was St. Andrews, then she brought the ending of this book on herself, and I have no pity for the girl.

Eden was still incredibly whiny throughout the book, until the ending, when she suddenly grew a pair. I hope this means she'll be a lot more assertive in the third book! Good for her! I just hope she gets a bit smarter, too. There was a lot she should have been able to figure out that she didn't. If she had actually listened to people, a lot of pain could have been avoided. But, I guess that's what the book needed to happen for her to actually make a decision.

The best part of this book was definitely the plot twist. I was having fun reading it up to that point, but once the ending started unfolding, the book got so much cooler. I actually flinched while I was reading it.

This book started off so well. The description of the knoll was amazing. The tone was nicely creepy and magical. The apple dolls in the underground house were so well-painted by words that they gave me the chills just reading about them.

But then, Jane left the knoll.

I didn't mind cranky ghost witch. I accepted that to make magic work, the main character had to stop wearing jeans, shoes, or anything with buttons or zippers. I didn't say anything about her hairstyle making magic more effective. I sat through all of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch jokes. I didn't grind my teeth in frustration about the villain's name being Trick E. I didn't question the Jamaican gnomes. I didn't groan about the bad math equation pick up lines.

But I draw the line at “Life is horrible, but love is the reason for life!” Even I have my limits to how much hokieness I can handle.

The message itself wouldn't even have bothered me so much, if it hadn't been delivered the way it was. It was not at all subtle. They may as well have shouted, “PAY ATTENTION, THIS IS THE MORAL OF THE STORY!!!” before Jane comes to that conclusion.

I did love the descriptions.

Trick E, despite his name, was a very colorful and fun villain. (I might not be a fair judge though, since I always enjoy vulpine villains.)

I also totally want a digital witch.

This was a fun, silly book to read. And it would have been a much better book if it were just fun and silly, and didn't try to suddenly become all metaphysical at the end. Or, if the book had been serious and metaphysical the entire time. But you can't go from Sabrina the Teenage Witch jokes to seriously philosophizing about the reason for existence. The tonal change is just incredibly jarring.

I first read the description of this book on Amazon and thought, “I HAVE to read this.” I was expecting the book to be goofy, and it was. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it!

Gundarland is a sort of amalgam of several fantasy worlds - part LotR, part Shakespearean, part stereotypical fantasy realm. Really, the story didn't even have to take the characters from Hamlet and Othello. It would have been funny enough on its own. But, there were plenty of Shakespeare jokes, and they were well-executed. Even if you haven't read Hamlet or Othello, you'd still be able to pick up on the jokes: Halmet lamenting “to bee keep or not to bee keep” for instance.

Personally, I couldn't stop laughing at the half-pints and their decorative toe-hair.

It's parody fantasy.

This book was very fast-paced. And not really in a good way - it was too fast. The plot jumps from one scene to a next with no transitions or connection to the next scene. One second, the characters are hunting a boar, and Mara gets hurt. The next, she's fine, and they're winning a tournament. And for some reason, it's wrong for Mara to try to hunt a boar, but perfectly fine for her to compete in a contest known for regularly killing children. I'm sorry. I'll try not to harp on every inconsistency. But small things like that really took me out of the story.

Talis and Mara were...okay as characters. They had some decent characterization, and I will admit that Mara's reactions to anything even remotely resembling proper ladies behavior were amusing. The other two kids are just obnoxious. And they're main characters, for some reason, despite being incredibly unlikable.

I liked the descriptions in the book. The detail put into each scene was nicely done. I especially liked the landscapes. I just wish more attention had been put into the characters and the transitions.

The ending - I had been warned about the ending before I started reading the book. I figured it couldn't be as bad as everyone was making it out to be. It was.

The problem is, again, the lack of transitions. Nothing about the last two paragraphs feels like the book is being brought to a close. It just...stops. That's it.

This is the first non-fiction book I've read in a while. I generally stick with fantasy stories, or at least fiction. Switching between the two is occasionally jarring for me...being pulled from a made up world back to the real one. But this book kept my interest the entire time.

I never really thought about what teachers go through before reading this book. I mean, I know it's a tough job, but I never appreciated just how tough.

Growing up, I was lucky to have a lot of wonderful and caring teachers. Not all of them were great, but I definitely had more that I remember fondly than otherwise. These were the people who put their lives into their careers, rather than coasting through, handing out worksheets. So many of my teachers would volunteer their spare time between classes, during lunch, or after school if I ever needed anything. They'd always have a smile on their faces, a story, a joke, or a book recommendation for me. They made learning fun, and my time in school memorable.

I loved reading this book. You can tell that Mr. Jackson was very affected by his time as a teacher. Whether good or bad memories, they left a mark on him.

This book makes you really appreciate teachers, and what they have to put up with. I've never wanted to be a teacher, and this just further cements that idea in place. But you can't help but admire the people who can.

To any and all teachers out there - thank you.

Did I say in my first review that I loved my youngest brother for telling me about this series? Remind me to bludgeon him. There's still no information on when the last book is going to be out, though according to the author's blog, it was given to the publishers back in November of 2012. Maybe I won't have to wait long for the rest of this book. Maybe.As of 2016 - still waiting.*

My only consolation there is that he didn't know the last one wasn't out yet, so now he's as miserable as I am. Because I'm evil like that. Erm, back to the review.

Sacred Scars was as hard to put down as its predecessor.

The flow in this one wasn't quite the same as the first, however. I see where Sadima's story is going, based on bits of history Haph reads, but the breaking point in her story seems a bit sudden. It trails off for a bit, before coming back to where it becomes part of the story explaining how the world Haph lives in came to be in its current state.

I really enjoyed the sort of...message of the story. Magic cannot be fair.

Also, just when you think you can't hate Somiss any more...the man continues to surprise me.

Haph and Sadima's characters grew a lot in this book. In Skin Hunger, both hated the situations they were in, yet they were scared to do much to change that. By the end of Sacred Scars, both have matured a bit, and are working their way towards standing up for what they believe in. They've become leaders.

They're not “the chosen one”. They're not all powerful, or all-knowing. They're just two people. If they fail, they will die. But they choose to risk their lives anyway. That, to me, is much more powerful storytelling than having a god-like character who is pre-destined to save the world.

This book starts off incredibly slow. You don't even really get to know the main character, Thalia, until around chapter three or four. After that, the story picks up the pace. If you're one of those people who needs a bit of closure, this probably isn't the book for you. More questions get brought up than they get answered. By the end, you're left trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

You don't really get to know anyone in this book. You're introduced to characters, but very little about their motives or histories are explained. The main character has amnesia. Joss is just thrown into the story, without much of an introduction. Are his parents still alive? They're never mentioned. He travels with his godfather. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Darren is the most fully formed character in this book. And he's only there for all of two and a half chapters.

You've got a few more side characters in the Citadel staff and the Adepts. The only other student ever named is...you know, I can't even remember her name. Starts with an S. Cirrus' niece. The mean one. Her.

Faraway was interesting. I thought it was cute how he got his name, and it actually fit him rather well. I was very glad he wasn't named Cinnamon, or Snow, or some other stereotypical fantasy horse name. He was a rather well-written character. It says something about this book that the best written characters are barely there at all...and a horse.

Kael was just confusing. He's clearly an assassin-type character, which instantly makes me like him...but nothing about him gets explained. At all. He's one of those parts of the book where you're just left with more questions than you started with. That was incredibly frustrating. I really, really wanted to like him as a character...but I wasn't given a chance to learn anything about him.

The strange love...rectangle?...between Thalia, Joss, Kael, and Garit was obnoxious. It's annoying when writers do that. It does not add romance or suspense to the story in any way. We know what will happen. Lord, it's Vampire Dairies all over again.

For all my complaints, it really wasn't such a bad book. Just a bit frustrating. The next book is already out, so I guess I'll get around to reading it. Who knows? Maybe the next one will actually answer some questions.