The ​Missing of Clairdelune (The Mirror Visitor Quartet, #2) by Christelle Dabos Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can read my review of A Winter's Promise on my blog, now!

I am currently on a TBR roll and this book has been staring at me from across my living room in my apartment for years, and with the fantasy kick that has taken over me, I knew I needed to knock this one out before I lost my steam. And with the common theme of me continuing on with series years after I read the prior book, I knew I would have to jog my memory with the events of A Winter's Promise. The quick reminder that our leading lady, Ophelia, is constantly being a pushover in my eyes - while she does work towards uncovering a number of mysteries, she seems to allow others to order her around up until the very end of the book. 

It became quite a hassle to power through her inner monologue and lack of ability to stand up for herself at opportune times. When she did finally gather the courage and stopped taking the all the pushback from everyone and their mother - especially from her mother - it was towards the end of the book, but I admired that she grew a backbone and put some things into motion after about five hundred pages. It was kind of a shock to me when I realized that Ophelia is twenty-one years old in this book - obviously she has to be of age in order to be engaged, but her character reads so immature and juvenile compared to other twenty-one year old main characters.

Thorn's characterization in this book felt sidelined until the last 150 pages or so - I was halfway through the book and it felt as though his character was being hidden away from the readers. Sure, build up the mystery about the enigma that is Ophelia's fiancé, but he was so absent that at points, I would forget who he was, which is a major issue considering he is quite literally the male lead. Once we did get to see him in a more shelled-out view, he quickly became a very interesting character and definitely grabbed my attention more than Ophelia ever had during these first two books.

Ophelia's family is just as annoying as I remembered them - sure, her siblings are not nearly as bad, just a lot to handle - but my word, her mother is on another stratosphere when it comes to being overbearing. Even through postcards and letters, you could feel her energy through the page and it was not an enjoyable experience. When it came to other side characters, there were few times where I felt like their presence did not push the story further. Overall, the side characters just simply were not doing enough in the story to make me care about their development, aside from two or three that had more prominent roles in Ophelia's journey. I wanted to be able to form connections with these characters, but rather felt like an observer more than anything else by the end of the book.

Plot-wise, this book still moved just as slow as the first installment, with maybe being at touch faster after going beyond the halfway point. I wanted to be drawn into the story, but rather felt like I was dragging myself through some chapters after numerous chapters of Ophelia complaining or not fighting back. There was one time where I literally could not keep my eyes open when trying to read this book before going to sleep because the book was literally sending me into REM sleep within ten pages of me picking it up. I would only hope that the author has picked up the pace in the next installments, and with the cliffhanger she left us on, there is certainly promise heading in that direction.

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The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2) by Mary E. Pearson Review

This is a spoiler-free review!

Eleven years later and I have finally returned to continue on with this series, and I can honestly say I wish I picked up this second installment sooner! I have had the entire trilogy sitting on my bookshelf since high school and since I have been tackling my physical TBR pile like a madwoman, I knew this was just the book to keep the ball rolling. I have been in a fantasy kick as well, and I had a gut feeling that this book would somehow win me over from the mafia romance trance I have been in for the better part of 2025 and beginning of 2026. It definitely took me a second to reorient myself back into this world and remember what exactly transpired in The Kiss of Deception, but once I got a few chapters in, everything came back to me. While the beginning did feel a little slow to start, I want to blame it mostly on me waking up at four o'clock in the morning the day I first cracked this book open.

Lia - the princess of many names - has gone through horrors unimaginable after the events of the first installment, and now must navigate a new and dangerous game in order to try to save herself and her people, all while in the middle of romantic affections from Rafe and Kaden. The two men represent such different sides of her and her beliefs, and as she is constantly thrown between the two in order to survive and manipulate the Komizar, she must make a decision that will not only be the right one for herself, but for the future of her people as well. 

Kaden's attachment to Lia makes sense for everything that they have been through, but I found myself watching a one-sided attachment from Kaden's side. Sure, they had some chemistry, but it felt like Lia would only comply with some of Kaden's wishes because she just wanted to make everything they have gone through worth it and make it out alive. Rafe, on the other hand, has that natural energy and connection with Lia that I found myself rooting for. There was a very short period where the dark romance / forbidden romance lover in me came to the surface and thought that Lia and the Komizar may actually be an interesting pairing. However, that was quickly washed away some chapters later.

Side characters definitely helped propel this story forward - even with the perspectives of Rafe, Lia, and Kaden, the readers needed that additional aspect to get the full picture. These characters are truly put through it all, and unfortunately the brutality of the Komizar's reign looms over their shoulders, some more than others. I enjoyed seeing the other friendships that Lia formed as she got deeper into planning a way out that would have the best outcome not only for herself, but for those she cared about along the way. You can truly tell that she cares for others and her constant attempt to ensure safety for the most amount of people is prominent in her characterization throughout the book.

After a bit of a slow start, this book moved quickly and had me locked in when I was able to get a chance to sit down and really lock into the story. Especially with the ending Pearson left us with, I look forward to seeing the conclusion of the series along with the fates that lay ahead for Rafe, Lia, and Kaden. If you are looking for a more mature romantasy series that still hovers before reaching high fantasy, this series could be just the thing you are looking for.

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Black Wings Beating (Skybound, #1) by Alex London ARC Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC - any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review. Black Wings Beating is available to purchase as of September 25, 2018.

My ARC pile is starting to fear me as I tear through the quite literal tower of books in my apartment in an attempt to de-clutter and finally crack them open. This young adult fantasy definitely feels more mature than most - we see a number of instances where the male lead, Brysen, basically goes through The Horrors with the way his father treated him, along with the serious consequences of the world and environment he lives in. The female lead, Brysen's sister, Kylee, seemingly has the better end of the stick compared to her brother, and with her more natural calling to falconry and forming bonds with the birds despite her will to be free of it altogether, we see her destiny become more bright than Brysen's current state. While Brysen seemingly has a knack for impulsivity and leading with his emotions, Kylee is more reserved and level-headed - as they are close to finally paying off the debts their father left their family behind, they must be strategic.

The flashback scenes with the abuse that Brysen suffered at the hands of his father was sickening - to see such atrocity being inflicted on a boy for making small mistakes, or even in some instances, some major mistakes, was nauseating. Kylee certainly tried her best to remove Brysen from the path of pain, but she could only do so much when he was not in her line of sight. It seemed the second he was not in her direct view, there was always something that was going amiss.

While war looms over their lives, Kylee and Brysen find themselves on a hunt for the Ghost Eagle, they are confronted with their own personal interests and conflicts. As Brysen's quest is motivated by the boy he adores from the village and the glory that would come with capturing the Ghost Eagle, Kylee is determined to preserve her brother's future and leave her past behind for once and for all. I found Brysen to be so incredibly annoying - so much so that I had to push myself to finish the second half of this book before I threw it off the skydeck at my apartment building. He never seems to take anyone else's fate into consideration and is clearly solely motivated by glory rather than seeing the bigger picture. The fact that Kylee basically has to manipulate events in order for him to be remotely successful should tell you everything about their characters.

Kylee, on the other hand, seems to be the only person in this village with working brain cells, which is very concerning considering a war is literally crawling up the mountain at this point. She is reasonable and while on occasion a touch erratic, sees the bigger picture and only wants the best outcome for her brother that does not leave them drowning in more debt than they started with and him, well, still breathing. She had much more to tackle in this book - with all of the obstacles she had to overcome in addition to basically having to watch and babysit Brysen as he "attempted" to catch the Ghost Eagle - it was surprising that Brysen still thought Kylee was not on his side.

The pacing of this book threw me off - at times it moved at what seemed like a glacial pace while other chapters felt like I was being whipped around and could get a glance of what was happening before perspectives shifted or we were somewhere else. I was hoping that the maturity of this series would allow the story to be more complex, but considering curse words were replaced with made-up curses, I should not have been surprised. The ending did not have the build up that I was expecting and while the "betrayal" was significant for a character in particular, I saw it from a mile away. Maybe one day I could return to this series, but for now I am content with leaving the story here.

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Part of Your World by Liz Braswell ARC Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC - any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review. Part of Your World is available to purchase as of September 4, 2018.

I loved Braswell's The Nine Lives of Chloe King series and was obsessed with the television (RIP ABC Family and not getting a second season renewal), and with this ARC sitting on my shelf for years, it was finally the time to see what other genres she could tackle. If you are a regular follower of my reviews, you may notice the current theme of me trying to tackle all of the old ARCs that have been haunting me and begging me to read them. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this retelling / reimagining of The Little Mermaid, with the top being that I simply did not love the number of perspectives we were given in this book.

While I understand that there are a number of key players in the original story and in Braswell's reimagining, the pacing felt clunky at times when we were being thrown from one perspective to another, especially when it was for a character that did not seem to have a lot of actual impact on the plot of the book. Sure, the seagull was able to deliver important information to other characters, but was it necessary that she get numerous chapters in her perspective? There were times in other chapters where the perspectives were for multiple characters, which was not my cup of tea.

Eric's characterization definitely played off of his character in the animation, but it also took it a step further and gave us Ursula's perspective on how idiotic or "mad" he was, when he simply was a creative type rather than a rule follower. He is definitely the most care-free character of the bunch, which does give the book an element of innocence as the others work towards the common goal of saving King Triton. Ariel's characterization shows her maturity after all the time that has past since Ursula got her way - she is more reserved, no longer the free spirit we have seen in the cartoon. I did appreciate the way she was developed throughout the story, especially that she did not waiver on her feelings even after the major plot points were overcome.

A lot of the side characters felt unnecessary or just there to serve a purpose to provide nostalgia towards what we all know, but I felt as though they really did not add enough to the story to warrant their own perspectives at times. If the author rather chose to incorporate their efforts in aiding Ariel and Eric on their journeys as side commentary in Eric and Ariel's own chapters, then we might have been able to avoid the jumps making the pacing become choppy.

The plot and reimagining as a whole is a unique concept that could have benefited from some more structured plot development along with recentering how the side characters come into play in support for our leading characters. I probably will not read any of the other Twisted Tales reimaginings in the future solely because I am not typically drawn towards the genre. I wish I was able to get into this book like I was am to get into Braswell's The Nine Lives of Chloe King, but perhaps I am simply not the target audience.

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This Mortal Coil (This Mortal Coil, #1) by Emily Suvada ARC Review

This is a spoiler-free review! The version I am reading is an ARC - any changes made for the final publication are not reflected in this review. This Mortal Coil is available to purchase as of November 7, 2017.

I have been holding onto this ARC for what feels like a lifetime, and have finally made good on my promise to myself to crack it open and see it through. The concept of biohacking DNA is certainly something that has come up. in scientific fields over the course of time and this concept of engineering vaccines through people's DNA in real time was intriguing. The author sets up this story in an intriguing way - we are exposed to this post-apocalyptic / dystopian world where a virus has run rampant through people and those not infected are fighting for their lives to stay alive. Flashing forward we are transported to a more controlled society in the sense that the main character is not actively in danger - or so we thought. Catarina Agatta is suddenly meets Cole, a soldier who has the regretful news that her father, Lachlan, is dead, and he needs her help in order to unlock the vaccine hidden away.

The introduction of Cole into story has the readers curious - who is this guy, where did he come from, and can Cat - and the readers - trust him at his word? He definitely comes across as the "dangerous" option for Cat to go along with as opposed to other romantic interests, as his little soldier qualities appear to be set to keep her safe as she works towards unlocking the vaccine. I am a sucker for when the male lead is basically tasked or in this case, programmed, to protect the female lead and would do anything to keep her safe. Considering they just met, I can understand why Cat was hesitant to trust Cole, but he also seemed to be just as cautious towards her when she would propose doing some less than anticipated work on him when it comes to his panel and genes.

Cat's initial characterization was not keeping me entertained - she was irritating to me and her internal monologue was not something I was immediately drawn towards. I can give her some slack considering she found out some pretty impactful news and is now on this epic run to save millions of people, but there was just something about her that was driving me up a wall. While this is a young adult novel, I feel as though it could have worked better as new adult with some aged up characters to be in their early twenties rather than late teens. Cat's development felt stagnant until the last one third of the book and I was growing tired of her having the same thoughts every chapter.

The plot as a whole was lacking - we see the eventual addition of a love triangle but it seemed to overtake the actual plot of the book once it was introduced until the last few chapters where actual plot devices came back. I wanted to really dive into a dystopian novel and this story was just not cutting it for me even though the summary really had my interest locked in. When the action finally started up, I had hope that the story was turning around and would draw me back in, and it did for awhile, until the love triangle seemed to take center stage once again. The shocking twist towards the end of the book definitely has me intrigued enough into considering continuing on with this series, but it will later rather than sooner. Once again, I did read an ARC version of this book, so if there were any changes from that version to the final version, I may not be aware.

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