Review: The Snow Queen

The Snow Queen by Mercedes Lackey

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm leaning more towards a 2.5, but I can't muster up enough like to give it 3 stars outright.

As I have already mentioned in two status updates, this story started off extremely slow. The central conflict and the main adventure didn't even get underway until about halfway through the story. For some books, maybe this formula works, but if we're going to spend 50% of the book doing world building and story set up, I would have at least liked for it to be worth while.

While I enjoyed the parts concerning Godmother Aleksia and how her life runs as the Snow Queen, Ice Fairy, I got pretty tired of the Sammi and of Annukka and Kaari pretty quickly. There was nothing about either of the two women, or even of Veikko, to make me really care about what happens to them or him if the Snow Queen got her way. There was little to no mention of Veikko, himself, or of Lemminkal or Ilmari for me to really care about them either. Between all the main Sammi characters in this adventure, it felt almost as if the story was trying to introduce key players, but cut short their significance.

Once again, I honestly just didn't care enough about the characters themselves (save for Aleksia) to really put much stake in the final resolution of this story.

The other thing that bugged me a lot were the oh-so-convenient resolutions lain in the right places. It didn't take long for me to predict how the entire story was going to end based, not only on how The Tradition works magic, but also on how typical story boards play out. Every conflict had such a prettily packaged solution that it actually started getting a little irritating. Conflict in this book was merely conflict carefully placed in the proper progression to propel the story forward. I was not amused nor was I awed by anything that happened.

Nonetheless, it wasn't like I completely hated this book. The prose and the concepts and the background lore of the world of Five Hundred Kingdoms still really entices me. I honestly like the magic in this world and I like the world itself. Had this adventure been written a little better, I might have enjoyed the story itself, but ultimately, the two stars really came to be because of the Five Hundred Kingdoms world on its own. The including half a star is given to Aleksia who is quite the spunky Snow Queen Godmother whom I enjoyed following along with.

Other than that, I've got nothing else to say about this book. It wasn't terrible by my standards, but I could have passed on it any day if I didn't like the world it's set it so much.



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Review: Hard Evidence

Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Either I've easily settled into the world of the I-Team story board or I have more of a thing for a thrilling action-packed police case with intrigue, suspense, and hot undercover broody FBI agent who muscles his way through investigation and interrogations (as well as into our main female character's life). It could also be because I really liked the intense unfolding of the angsty romance between Tessa and Julian (I know the "Forced Living Conditions" plot device is ALWAYS a winner in my book). It wasn't that the first book was any less stimulating than or any less intriguing than Hard Evidence (you know, if we had to do a comparison and all), but somehow I managed to find this second book so much more alluring and exciting all at the same time.

To be fair, sometimes a first book in a series gets that whole "Strange New Territory" cautious once-over from me. I have trouble starting a series if there are multiple books to them, and unless they grab my attention immediately with something outrageous, things get a bit bumpy (thus the lower rating I had given Extreme Exposure). And so there's a very distinctly obvious bias towards Hard Evidence which has nothing to do with Extreme Exposure's ability to weave an awesome story and churn out outstanding characters and plot development.

In the simplest form: I became very comfortable with the setting, the characters, and the author's writing style as well as the entire I-Team world through the first book. By the time I picked up Hard Evidence, I was already in love with everything about the series' base world.

It also helped that I found Tessa Novak to be extremely charming and every bit the type of kickass strong female heroine I love to follow along and read about. Strong at all the right times, but possessing a more realistic presentation of her emotions and misgivings, as well as the right amount of control over her own ability to drive her own life forward... Unlike a lot of other strong female main leads in the fictional world, Tessa hit every factor that makes her such a memorable, wonderful female main character.

It wasn't that I didn't like Kara McMillan from the first book in this series, but in a very reluctant comparison, I lean more towards Tessa in my favoritism right now. I don't know why, but then again it could have maybe had to do with this girl's crazy devotion to her investigation to a point of stupidly putting her life in danger, not truly realizing the consequences of her frustrating, yet admirably professional hardcore actions. There were a lot of moments where I stood on the same side as Chief Irving and Julian, wanting Tessa to just stay put and keep her information to herself long enough for them to finish up their case. And then as soon as my frustration was there, it was replaced by an impressing admiration for her dedication to her job as well as that overwhelming need to fight through her own demons as well as do SOMETHING to help the poor girl she'd watched die in front of her eyes. I also liked the sweet sarcasm in her tone whenever she thought it necessary to put "kill them with kindness" into it's most useful moments when she tries to get her point across to any jerk-hole giving her a hard time.

The entirety of Hard Evidence was filled with tension from the very first tragic moment when Tessa watched a desperate teenage girl murdered, to the moment when Tessa's life is put into jeopardy, all the way to the ending when the case and the investigation is wrapped up and concluded. Every moment had me flipping through pages with that same "one more chapter then I'll stop and get some sleep" mantra; before I knew it, I was halfway through the book (so much for one or two chapters a day to keep a steady pace). And then after a long needed three hour nap, I dove right back into the book and finished it up with a few trips to the bathroom, one trip to the fridge, and a heck of a lot of anticipation for what would come next after each and every scene.

Character-wise, this book did not disappoint. Julian Darcangelo... *sigh*... While Senator Reece Sheridan was "Perfection on a Silver Platter" (what with his gentlemanly ways, his idealistic views on his profession, and his perfect body), Julian was pretty much the "Guilty Pleasure of Broody Darkness and Hotness served up with a box of yummy Chocolates" that all women wish they could have. There's that right amount of edge to him to satisfy that desire for adrenaline-induced excitement knowing that he's a dangerous man with a heart of gold and protective instincts like the best of them. If it's one thing Pamela Clare knows, it's how to write desirable men without making them too overbearing. Case in point, they're definite alpha-males, but they know how to appreciate their women and respect them at the same time.

As much as I hate seeing perfect men all the time (hot and sexy, perfect, well-managed bodies, heart of gold, strong and protective, caring and loving...), there is at least enough of that needed character flaw that allows me to not despise them a hundred percent. It also helps that these perfect men are matched with a respective kickass woman to balance out the pairing and add enough equilibrium and sizzle to the romance to make it seem worthwhile.

So yeah... Julian Darcangelo, hot special agent, dark and broody, protective and caring... I've found a new story book hero to obsess over.

As far as character creation goes in this book, we've introduced some new faces: Lissy and Will were in the short side story Heaven Can't Wait that I read for a dose of guilty pleasure romance and sizzle. But then there was also the introduction of Katherine James -- and I swear, with just one line from her first character appearance in combination with her stoic personality, I'm already anticipating her story in the 4th book. The appearance of Tessa's mother at the end of the book is also a pleasant welcome and surprise as well. And I'm glad that Kara and Reece are still a part of the ongoing lives of the rest of the I-Team girls.

In short: I loved this book! I loved the setting, I loved the intensity of the telling, I loved the development of the investigation, I love how the issues addressed hit a chord with one of the few things that are wrong with this world. I'm thinking I may have found a new favorite series, with Hard Evidence taking residence as my favorite book from the I-Team Series as of present. And I also find myself in a bit of a regretful frustration that I've met my book spending quota for this month already and will have to either wait it out or forgo my budgeting for the next book in this series.

And so now I just sigh and sit here in frustration as I tell myself I have plenty of other books that need to be finished -- books that I've already paid for an own and are just mocking me.





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Review: Extreme Exposure

Extreme Exposure by Pamela Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



4.5 stars

I stumbled into this book not really expecting much but a cute romance with some story line tossed around it and I got so much more. I'm typically the type who would blow off books that are based off of romance/erotica as nothing but "trashy romance novels" that have no significance other than making two hot and sexy strangers fall in love. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for romance and will pick up a romance (rom-com, drama with romance, etc...) just for the fluff factors. But I usually don't take them seriously. I enjoy them for their guilty pleasure values and if written well, I enjoy them even more. If written with lovable characters and a good sense of wit, they rank pretty high on my list of loves. But I still don't really take them seriously, only really caring that they fulfill my fluff desires for the time being.

Yeah, I know; I'm kind of a judgmental bitch about things like this. Romances are in abundance out on the market and you can only rehash the same cliched tellings so many times before they become trite. And with a lot of books based around romance, more times than not you just get the romance with a sprinkling of story so that the book has SOMETHING to get into when it's not really even necessary. I'm fine with those too, if they're written well with enough wit and charm; otherwise, it's just another love story with different character names and setting and could become pretty bland pretty quickly and I find myself flipping through pages without really reading lines. It happens.

This book, however, lives up to its multiple high ratings and reviews and so I'm glad I didn't just blow it off as just some random romance piece with forced story -- that kind of a description doesn't even give Extreme Exposure any justice. I don't need to admit my biases, but it's out on the table and so I will also admit my wrongly placed biases. This book was pretty awesome and the lives and characters created around it were... well, pretty damn awesome.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Extreme Exposure and found it to be written well and very detailed concerning the plot that it surrounded. Investigative reporting was never so intriguing to me before (I learned a lot about the whole process), and to be totally honest, the idea of politics kind of turns me off, but I didn't feel bored by the goings-on of the scenes revolving around Senator Reece Sheridan. They were pretty interesting... well, as interesting as I'll ever find political activities.

I liked that we don't spend too much time with a "setting information dump" to set up the series or the general story; we get right into the action and fill in the holes along the way. For a book series revolving around investigative reporters, you almost expect the usual boring text book explanations of what you'd expect to see... so I'm more than happy that the author doesn't feel the need to treat readers as a group who is less than capable of picking up the jargon and explanations as they are revealed.

The crime mystery was pretty intense, though I must say that by a certain point, I kind of figured out the mastermind and some of the secret key players behind the crime. There wasn't much surprise about the conclusion, and the suspense leading up to it might have been a bit flat for my liking; nonetheless, it was still a genuinely great set-up from the moment that Kara began her investigation with the anonymous tip, up to the wrap-up of investigation.

Characters do a lot for a story, in my opinion, and so I place a lot of stake on the main female character whenever I read books that narrate heavily from the female main character's point of view. While I also place a lot of stake on every character created, it's normally the female lead who either makes or breaks my love for a book. So seeing and following Kara in her kickass glory... I loved it. I mean, she wasn't a hundred percent perfect, but that's usually what I appreciate about a lot of main characters -- that despite their kickass potential, they still have flaws and breaks in their armor, and they know where their limits are rather than trying to out-stubborn themselves into remaining the strongest for their own benefit. Kara is a strong, loving, justice-seeking single mother who tries to take on the world all by herself, but who understands that she can't always take on the world without a little help every now and then. She's got a good head on her shoulders.

I loved the characters (even Tom the editor despite his ass-holery); the newsroom staff and journalist brought so much life to the story. They could have their own stories and didn't seem to just float around in the background like stage props; you've got to admire any author who can bring in significance of supporting and cameo characters even if the current story isn't about that person. Reece was like perfection on a silver platter which both made me love him and loathe him; I get tired of perfect men in most story lines, though at least he wasn't an arrogant jerk who knew he was desirable and hot. Reece Sheridan is a good man and, whoa was he open about his intentions and desires. I guess it beats being perfection on a silver platter with a side dish of macho arrogance; at least he was down-to-earth and knew when to let Kara do her own thing without smothering her with caveman ideals.

On that note, I truly am looking forward to reading the rest of the series about the rest of the I-Team members. This book sets up a good relation for the readers to jump into the next girl's story, because of what I've already read of Tessa Novak, I already love her. So I'm moving right into Hard Evidence as soon as I get some needed sleep after this long all-night reading.



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Review: Chosen

Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Seeing as how this book seems to be so well liked, I'm probably going to be of the minority here in my rating as well as my opinions. So if you don't like negativity, I would suggest not reading this opinionated post.

To be totally honest, while I DID enjoy reading this book and I DID get caught up in the suspense, the action, and the story line and the mysterious "What makes Emma so special?" and "Who are these strange men and what are they after?" plot device... a lot of things seemed to fall flat for me. I cared for the characters enough to follow through with them to their final destination, but at the same time, I feel like I followed through more on curiosity than actually liking what was going on.

I like Will enough: the smarmy, smartass with his dark past and possible daddy issues and personal demons. He was resourceful, he was charming when he needed to be, and he was definitely a hero, as much as he tried to brand himself an anti-hero. People with flaws who know how to deal with them usually help in my favoritism of them. Will isn't a bad man as much as he likes to think; he just has a lot of issues that he needs to learn to overcome. But with his level-headedness and his flexibility as well as that hidden heart of gold, it would only be a matter of time until he becomes every woman's ideal hero in that action/fantasy/suspense adventure that we'd all love to fall in love with.

I also liked Emma... to an extent. She was pretty kickass in the beginning as she did what she needed to do in order to protect her son. She was smart and fast on the uptake and quick to react. After the second half of the book got underway, I sort of started getting irritated with her. She became kind of whiny and frustrating. I mean, I understood a lot of why she acted the way she did, and I agree with her paranoia from the beginning of the book. But there was a point where she hit that "damsel in distress" mode with an added streak of bratty princess in the mix. Or maybe I was just reading it wrong, but there were several points in the second half of this first book where I physically rolled my eyes and said, "Okay, you're just getting annoying now," to something that Emma either said, did or thought.

On a side note, I'm not sure if it's because I'm female, but I place a lot of stake on the female lead swaying my love of a book. The female lead can be annoying to an extent before I start seething with frustration. It's not like I need her to be kickass 100% of the time, but damn if Emma didn't flip her switch from one extreme to the next overnight.

No matter. I'm still contemplating reading the rest of this series because I'm curious enough to follow it the rest of the way and see how the world will turn out. I'm curious enough to find out what happened to Jake, and what will happen to Will and Emma. And honestly, I kind of like Will even if we seem to keep trying to paint him as the asshole anti-hero. I think he's doing quite fine as Emma's protector as well as the guy trying to solve all the problems now that he's been dragged into them by fate.

I'm also curious about all of this prophecy stuff and how it'll turn out.

In the end, I still have to admit that I liked the concept of the story, I liked the fast-paced, no nonsense narration, and the book definitely kept me interested until a certain point nearing the end. (Somewhere around the last two or three chapters I started to get that dreaded "Oh good, it's almost over" feeling and that usually doesn't bode well. And believe me, I don't like feeling that with a book I've been enjoying as much as I'm sure people hate hearing about it. I don't do it on purpose you know.)

But anyway, overall, still enjoyable and I'll end up finishing the entire series anyway when I get around to it. For the time being, I'm trying to clean up my reading list by actually reading books I already own rather than buying anything new. Granted, this series seems to be on the cheaper side of pricing, I'm still weighing my options since I'm trying to scale back my book shopping addiction... at least for these next two months.



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Review: Stormdancer

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is actually a 4.5 because of the last half of the book which merited a 5 star rating. The beginning kind of caught me inattentive, which brought upon the lower rating which almost bounced back save for certain things. I don't know if I will express any further opinions on this book since it is 3 AM and I'm fairly sleepy after crunching the last hundred and fifty pages. But I DO know that after I finally got past what seemed like a slow start to the story, I dove right into the rest of it with this thought: "I physically NEED to finish this book... right now!" Which is always a good thing in terms of how much I ended up loving the story and progression and most importantly the characters both main and supporting.

Because a lot of the slow start may have been my own fault, just being unable to focus for reasons other than because of the way the book was written, I wanted really badly to give it a full out five star rating. This was an excellent book, written well, progressed magnificently, awesome characters created with a nicely planned dystopian society of Japanese steampunk fantasy glory. Unfortunately, before I finally DID get hooked into the story with its kickass heroine, crazy-awesome adventure, and selectively random humor that really DID make me giggle aloud several times... well, I still have to point out that the beginning somehow had a lot of awkwardness in the way it was narrated. True, I grew used to it and didn't care for the awkward dialogue and narration, but it still bugged me enough to start the book once a few months ago, set it aside because I wasn't getting into it, then try to start it up again and being unable to get into it once again until the adventure with the thunder tiger hunt officially began.

Anyway, aside from that, I have little to complain about. I know there's a large fanbase out there of readers who love this book to smithereens and any rating less than a five could be called blasphemous. But to me, maybe this is just a case of "It's not you, it's me," and it was really my fault that I had trouble getting through the first 20%; however, after getting over that hurdle, there is no doubt that the story from there on out held my attention unwavering.

For now, this is just a brief opinion about my thoughts on the book and I apologize that this small post doesn't offer more about whatever else there may be reason to love this book.



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