Review: Grounded

Grounded by Heather Young-Nichols
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those super rare occasions whereby I spent the entire book flickering between ratings. I can give reasons for all of the ratings between one and four stars. In the end, I settled for the three stars. I’m sure many will enjoy this much more than I did, but I flickered between ratings far too much to give it anything higher. Due to this, I’m going to try something slightly different with my review. I’m not one hundred percent sure as to how it will work out – other than lengthy, as it feels like another one of those kind of reviews – but I’ll give it a try anyway. What I’m going to try and do is explain why it was deserving of each of the four different ratings that I considered giving it.

We’ll begin at the bottom and work up, meaning we’re starting with the one star. For me, it was the romance. Anyone who has read any of my reviews about romantic books will already know what is to come. That is, I’m so picky when it comes to romance. I can think of but a handful that have managed to pull five stars from me – in the contemporary romance genre we have The Rosie Project by Don Tillman; in the romantic suspense we have Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen; in the paranormal romance we have the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor and the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness – but as I read more and more I am offering up more of the four stars that I would usually hold back on when it came to romance reads. So, whilst I’m more accepting of romance, I’m still super picky.

My issues with the romance in this story… well, there are a few.

First, we have the instalove. This is my biggest annoyance. I understand lust at first sight – I’m sure we have all encountered people where our minds have made comments we’d rather not repeat to anyone else – yet with this one, it was very clearly love. But wait, the second issue complicates things!

Second, we have the love triangle. At times, I hate this even more than I hate the instalove – with this read, though, it falls to second place. It is the most overused literary device. It seems as though every female in the written world is doomed to have two men battling it out for her. Such is true in this book, like so many others. That, however, was the least of my problems in regards to the triangle.

Third, we have the pacing of the romance. This links in with the instalove, but it continued beyond that. Things happen instantly, the romance taking centre stage. I wanted more of the story, more of the fantasy, instead of dealing with the boy trouble. We were thrown in head first, which was bad enough, but then it took far too long to be sorted out. There was no real pacing for the romance, it was as though the author simply threw it all together, allowing her to sail a ship she had created.

Of course, I’m sure many will love the romance. I’m simply extremely hard to please and I found myself unable to connect to the romance at all in this one. It bugged me every time something related to the romance happened, which was quite often. In the end, I managed to overlook things. However, whenever it started to overshadow the main story I became distracted and less than pleased all over again.

I should stop ranting about the romance now, though. This review is already growing rather lengthy and I’ve yet to move beyond my one star musing. Without further ado, the musing of the two star rating. The pacing. I sort of covered this with my final point about the romance, so I’m sure this will be a rather quick section.

For me, the pacing seemed all over the place. Well, it wasn’t so much pacing, as it was the lack of real action. In the first chapter, it seems as though things are going to be all out. We’re introduced to our main character and her actions leave you thinking that things will move at a wonderful pace. Then we reach a standstill for over a quarter of the book as we deal with the romance drama. It pulls away from what I wanted. We have very little by way of the fantasy. It is all shrouded in mystery. Whilst mystery is wonderful, I would have liked to have some kind of information as we’re reading. It’s quite late on before we receive the real information regarding the fantasy aspect of the book. Once we’re done dealing with the dragged out initial romance drama, it looks as though things are going to pick up. Whilst they do, we never had the real action that I had been hoping for. There were constant threats of action only for them to sizzle out or be over too soon. I wanted more.

Up next, we have the three star possibility. This is all relating to clichés. I’ve given a few of them already. I mentioned the love triangle and instalove, but there is more than that. We have the conflict at home. We have the characters destined to be the most amazing of things since sliced bread. We have the relationship with those who are supposed to be enemies. There are some others, but then I would be giving too many spoilers. Whilst it was all thrown into a new story, it was much of the same. It was fun, but it wasn’t quite enough to stand out completely. At times, I could have been reading any book in this genre. When it came to the storyline, in short, there wasn’t really much to distinguish it from many others in the genre. It was enjoyable, but it wasn’t something new and crazy.

Finally, we have the four star potential. This comes in two parts. We have the level of addiction, and we have the creation of the fantasy aspect. I’ll cover these separately.

The story was addictive. I know I have sounded extremely negative thus far, but I was addicted. I managed to work through the book in no time at all – and that wasn’t simply due to the length. If I’m one hundred percent against a book the length does not matter, it will take me forever to finish. With this one, however, I was turning page after page. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what was to come. I was able to overlook my issues, as I needed to see where things were heading. I really wasn’t expecting to find myself so addicted, especially considering how long it took me to get into the book.

As for the creation of the new fantasy world… well, that one is easy to explain. We’re give new creatures to learn about, new ways of life. I was disappointed that more attention wasn’t given to this aspect, and I wish things had been a bit more informative from the onset, but I did enjoy how the author came up with something new to give us. It was a nice change, and there is a lot of potential for the future books in the series. There is no telling what more is to come.

Ergo, as you can see, I was a bit all over the place with this one. I liked it but I didn’t love it. I was annoyed yet I wanted more. Hence the three star rating.

Part of me wishes to continue with the series, but I’m not yet sure if I will. Part of me wants to – the ending left me wanting to see what comes next – yet another part of me has no wish to carry on. We’ll see closer to the time. Honestly, it could go either way.

As it’s a first in the series, and as it’s my first book by the author, I probably will give the next a try. If not the next, then I will at least try something else by the author. The female does have talent – the voice of the main character was more than enough to pull me in, and I love it when such a thing happens.

Plus, I’ve joined her mailing list. Which is actually how I knew this was free for a while. I’m not quite sure how I ended up on her mailing list – I have recently found myself subscribed to many I was not aware of, but I’m willing to give them all a try. As Grounded seems like something I would be interested in, I went ahead and gave it a read straight away. For a freebie, it was a decent enough read. For a first in the series, it sets things up. For my first read by the author, it left me curious to see what else she has to offer.

Despite all of this, I still couldn’t bring myself to love it as much as I had wanted to.

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Review: A Beauty Dark and Deadly

A Beauty Dark and Deadly by Heather C. Myers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a massive fan of Beauty and the Beast retellings. There are so many out there, and yet I never grow bored of them. It’s a tale that can be told in so many different ways. You always know how it is going to end, and yet you cannot help but enjoy the ride. Thus, I was more than happy to jump upon this one.

To begin, I would like to say a massive thank you to the author for allowing me to advance read this one. I ended up on her mailing list by some unknown means and since doing so I have downloaded a number of her books. Prior to reading this, I had only managed to read one of her books – Tempting the Flesh, also known as An Education in Royalty – yet I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was no doubt that I wanted to read more, and that I’m going to read more. Despite the length of my to-read list, I have a feeling the books I have will be read sooner rather than later.

Anyway, I should get back to this read.

As I’ve already stated, I love Beauty and the Beast retellings. What I have read very few of, however, is contemporary retellings of the story. Rather than having some kind of paranormal element to it, this one is pure real world Beauty and the Beast. It’s not some hidden inner beauty on behalf of the beast, either; it’s a case of the beast being the hidden aspect. In short, our beast is a monster. A suspected murderer, let off on technicalities. How could I not be pulled in after hearing such a thing? I love anything crime related, so of course I wanted to know more about this one.

From the start, the story does pulls you in. The building romance. The mystery of whether or not our beast is guilty. The building romance. Oh wait, I said that already. But it needs saying again. It was such a fun build up. I admit that things moved a bit too quickly for my liking – but I’m simply one of those people who always complains about quick building romances. I prefer the slow build. Whilst we do see the changes in our characters, watching as their views towards each other change and they change as a person, it all happens a little bit too quickly for my liking.

Nevertheless, I was pulled into the story. You never quite knew just how it was going to end. You knew certain things would make an appearance… but the ending was a lovely surprise. Honestly, I cannot begin to go into detail when it comes to the ending. Believe me when I say you will not be disappointed by the way it turns out. It was such a poetically beautiful way of ending things, something most authors would never do.

Without a doubt, having finished and enjoyed this, Heather C. Myers has ensured that I will be reading more of her books.

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Review: City of Light

City of Light by Keri Arthur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If the truth is to be known, I was expecting something more from this one.

I’ll start with a little confession: I wasn’t overly excited to read this one. It’s one I picked up in an offer as it had potential, yet I didn’t feel the need to push it to the top of my to-read list as I sometimes do with books. It grabbed my attention but it did not leave me with an obsession to read it. Nevertheless, as I was interested, I was more than happy to see whether or not it would be a series I would want to continue.

Throughout there were a lot of ups and downs, and I could never quite decide how I felt towards the book. In many ways, I felt as though it dragged. This, however, was due to the fact that I was never really given much of what I had expected. As I said, the book had potential. Unfortunately, I feel as though it didn’t quite live up to the potential.

The blurb suggested we would have a little bit of everything. Magic. Supernatural creatures. Science fiction. All of the good things combined. I’m always tentative about such combinations – they are either wonderful or fall flat on their face – but I was happy to give this one a try. Surprisingly, it left me experiencing something new. This one feel short in a way I had not expected of a potential genre mix. It seemed to be lacking somewhat. There was certainly magic and the supernatural creatures, yet the science fiction aspect seemed to fall short. I had wanted more than just the mystery that surrounded that aspect of the story – an aspect that could just as easily be attributed to another fantasy element rather than the science fiction element I was made to expect.

Despite this, I did love the magic and supernatural creatures. The two were brought together wonderfully, the story being a really interesting one. There is much potential for where things can go, with that aspect of the story being great. Creatures we know of exist, along with giving us something a little bit different. Wonderful, in short.

However, the way in which the story progressed seemed to take the attention away from how great the creatures are. At first, I thought we were to be free of romance – yet I was naïve, and soon proven wrong. I quickly realised that the romance was going to keep slipping into the storyline, complicating matters where emotions are concerned. It is a tale as old as time, and I do not need to tell you what to expect. Whilst things do not progress to the extent of some other stories in this first book, I know more is to come.

Honestly, the story would have been just as fun if I wasn’t distracted every time the main character seemed to have a sudden thought tangent related to romantic aspects of the world. Then again, I also had trouble with the pacing. It wasn’t simply the romance that caused this, but it did seem to progress slowly. The action was all held off until the end. Things would build and never really reach the point I was expecting them to. I wanted more in terms of action.

Mostly, I feel indifferent to this one.

Actually, that’s not quite true. I was disappointed, and yet at the same time I want to know where things go. As my friend informed me after I told her I was done with this one (having spent my reading of the book complaining about how it seemed to be taking me forever to progress through it), I’m a masochist when it comes to my reading.

Whether or not I’ll find out what comes next, however, has yet to be decided. Somehow, I feel as though it is unlikely. There are many other sequels I’m a lot more interested in.

Nevertheless, whilst this one didn’t quite hit the right chords with me, I know there are many who will enjoy it.

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I'm A Terrible Blogger!

Alas, I have been a terrible individual!

I’m not one hundred percent sure why I stopped posting, but once it started I found myself unwilling to get back into the swing of things. That, however, is to change. I’m not promising that I will be overly active in the fun and games that I’d been enjoying before – I’ll certainly participate when I find the time – but I do plan to be active in posting book reviews.

If nothing else, Goodreads now ensures such a thing.

Thank you Goodreads, for linking with Blogger and allowing me to actually put reviews up. I won’t ignore you so much now.

Stacking the Shelves.

Stacking the Shelves exists to help us share the books we are adding to our to-read piles. This includes books brought in physical stores or online, books borrowed from friends or the library, review books, eBooks, and gifts. In short, if you have got your hands on a book then share.

My list this week is, unfortunately, extremely short. My shelf is overflowing, again, and I’m trying to work through them before I start lengthening the list once more. It’s unlikely, but a girl can try.

I got a couple of books from NetGalley this week:

·         Love Hurts: A Speculative Fiction Anthology byTricia Reeks.

·          Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen.

I also downloaded a single E-book:

·          Free Four: Tobias Tells the DivergentKnife-Throwing Scene by Veronica Roth.

As I said, it’s not much but I’m trying to work through by overloaded bookshelf and overflowing advance reads on my Kindle.

Make It A Monthly Thing.

I know, I’ve done it again. It is Sunday, not Saturday. Saturday is such a busy day, therefore I’m debating making this a monthly thing instead. After all, my reading varies massively week by week. We have some weeks where I read one or two books and then other weeks where I read multiple. This week is one of the later. They’re mostly from one series of books… but oh well.

Anyway, a roundup of the books I read this week:

·         Virtually Dead. Whilst it is not my favourite Peter May book, it was certainly an interesting read. It was something completely different compared to what I’m used to reading by the male, and I certainly enjoyed it.

·          Poison Study. I’d been eyeing up this series for a very long time. It is such a wonderful read. It wasn’t at all what I expected – I expected more of the magic, if I’m honest – yet I adored it anyway.

·          Magic Study. I enjoyed the first book so much that I started the second straight away. It did not disappoint. The story continues, helping the world to build beyond what we saw in the fire.

·          Assassin Study. A short story linked in with the Study series. It wasn’t overly magical, but it was interesting enough. It was nice to see more of one of the main characters.

·          Welcome. Honestly, I didn’t find this all that interesting. It was one of those things that you can read, only to forget about it shortly after finishing it.

·          Protect the Children. It was an interesting idea, but it wasn’t really fleshed out as well as it could have been. Again, it’s one where you can read it and forget after a short time period.

·          E-Time. As with the aforementioned, it is nothing overly amazing. It is fun at the time, yet it doesn’t really do much.

·          Fire Study. Another wonderful addition to the Study series. Continuing in the direction that the first two took us, this one is a great book for giving us answers for many of the questions we had.

·          Power Study. A fun story containing characters we want to read more of. In all honesty, I’d be happy with more short stories about these characters.

·          Ice Study. Another fun short story, adding more to the series. It was a fun read, although it is not a necessity to read (although it would be beneficial). Still, if you enjoy the series and plan to continue on with the rest of the books, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.

·          Storm Glass. Whilst I did not enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed my foray into the Study series, this is another wonderful book in the same universe. It carries the story forward, whilst giving us an entirely new cast to follow.

·          Sea Glass. Whilst I did enjoy this one a lot, I feel as though this series has too much focus upon the romantic life of the main character. It is still enjoyable, but I wish there was less of a focus.

·          Spy Glass. A fun end to the Glass series. The romance part of the story took some turns I did not particularly enjoy, but as I was never really all that engrossed by that aspect of the story it didn’t bother me much. Plus, we get to see more of characters from the Study series, with the characters being better-rounded in my opinion.

·         Playing with Fire. This was so much fun. I admit that I didn’t completely agree with the ending, but as a whole it was a wonderful read. Tess Gerritsen never fails to entertain!

Waiting on Wednesday: Strange the Dreamer.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking the Spine. The idea behind it is to share upcoming releases you cannot wait to get your hands on.

My pick for this week has limited information and is without a cover – but do not let such a thing deter you. It is Laini Taylor’s next release, meaning you know it is going to be good. The author easily made it into my favourite author list when I started her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. Since finishing the series I have read her short stories, and now I know what is coming next and I cannot wait.

Strange the Dreamer is the first in the duology. It sounds as wonderful as ever!

“Strange the Dreamer is the story of:

the aftermath of a war between gods and men

a mysterious city stripped of its name

a mythic hero with blood on his hands

a young librarian with a singular dream

a girl every bit as perilous as she is imperiled

alchemy and blood candy, nightmares and godspawn, moths and monsters, friendship and treachery, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.”

Out September, I cannot wait to see what she has given us this time!