ARC Review: Revenge is Sweet: DNF

Tags

vampire

Hell hath no fury like a vampire seeking revenge …
Life hasn’t been exactly normal for Ellie since she became a vampire. Although joining the legion of the undead was always going to take some getting used to, even if you are the partner of Will Austen, the Elder of London.

But when Daniel, a fifteen-year-old fledgling vampire, unexpectedly turns up at Ellie’s and Will’s Highgate home, things start getting very strange – and more than a little scary.

Events take a devastating turn as a mystery troublemaker leaves behind a trail of carnage – and it soon becomes clear they will stop at nothing to get the Elder’s attention, even if it involves hurting the person he cherishes the most …

But when it comes to Ellie, Will Austen is the wrong vampire to mess with.

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First off I did not know this book was a sequel, I did my research, I checked on goodreads and it said it was stand alone, so I requested it. Turns out it’s the second in the series. I decided to see if I could make sense of it and I could there was enough description in it to leave me more than enough knowledge as to what happened in the last book.

I only managed to get about 20% the way through this book, I decided that was enough otherwise I was going to put myself into a reading slump. (May happen anyway the new book I have just started is almost as bad).

I found this book very dry and the characters very dry. The storyline was fin but it lacked any oomph, the parts of the about the vampires either felt like I was reading from a text book or it was just cliched or trying very hard to make it not a cliche.

I did not like the relationship between Ellie and Will it seemed a little like the author was trying to fifty shades of grey and mix vampires in. Will was a very hot and cold character and I often cannot relate to characters like that. I know people change their moods but this was too often too quick.

Overall I did not think this book was or me. I will not be rating since I did not get past 50%.

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ARC Review: Sharcano: DNF

Sharcano by Jose Prendes

A burnt and half-eaten megalodon shark corpse is found beached. A priest commits suicide. A previously unknown volcano rises from the China Sea and brings about a tsunami that destroys Shanghai. Yellowstone erupts after 640,000 years of silence. A pit in Nicaragua known as the “mouth of hell” begins violently spewing lava.

When Reporter Mick Cathcart and Marine Biologist Agnes Brach set out looking for answers, they never expected to stumble upon the biblical end times. Yet with sharks made of lava shooting from volcanoes to devour anyone in their way, how could anyone deny it?

With the help of a beleaguered priest and a billionaire industrialist, Mick and Agnes scramble to shutter the volcanoes and put down the lava sharks before the whole world burns to a cinder.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I like films like this, ones that take a normal event like a volcano erupting and make it quite unbelievable, like lava sharks coming out of it, I thought I might like to read it to, I did not. The writing style was not to my taste and there was swearing where I personally felt it was not needed. The idea was a little far fetched, I thought it was going to be a comedy, but it was very serious and not what I expected. I did not think it was bad, just not for me, I could not finish it. I thought some of the storylines were unpredictable, which is a good thing and I did find myself wanting to know what happened in the end, but it was too tough going for me.

It was original and thought provoking, and if the writing had been more suited to me I am sure I would have carried on. I do hope it does well, it is unlike anything else I have ever read.

I would suggest this to fans of crime and far fetched books.

ARC Review: Chameleon: The Awakening

I received a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This look really good and inviting, different from anything else I had read, I saw some bad reviews but there was some great ones too.

I did not finish this book. The main problem I had with it was that there were terms that were not explained and they kept cropping up, they were integral to the story. I found myself getting confused a lot. I got a 5th into the book until I realised that the Agnoses where us. There were names of tribes and I still cannot tell you which was which, it was never explained. I am all for letting the reader figure things out for themselves, but this was too much for me.

I stopped at 20%, I thought if I kept going I would not be able to read anything for a while. I found it hard to read. The story line was great though. I just needed more explanations. In the last few pages I read a dragon appeared from nowhere and that was the last straw for me. A talking dragon needs more introduction than it got.

Maybe I am too used to YA now, but this book was not for. I am not going to rate it though. I do not think it fair to rate it when I did not finish it.

Happy reading

Emma

ARC Review: Stiltskin

“Stiltskin breaks through the cacophony with a finely tuned laugh-out-loud tale. Original, twisted and satisfyingly hilarious, Stiltskin will sing in the fantasy world.” –Audrey Kearns, Host and Co-Creator of the 5 Truths and a Lie Podcast

What would you do if you found an evil dwarf in your bathtub?

In Robert Darkly’s case you scream like a girl. And then you get taken on a journey to an entirely different world living just on the other side of our own reality; a world where fairy tales are real but not in the way we’ve come to expect them.

The aforementioned dwarf, Rumpelstiltskin, has escaped the Tower prison of Thiside determined to finish the sinister plot he started so many years ago.

Robert Darkly, oblivious that he is the son of the Mad Hatter, must partner with the mysterious ‘Agency’ to pursue Rumpelstiltskin across our world and the world of Thiside and uncover the treacherous secret that threatens to throw both realities into eternal chaos.

Fans of Stiltskin should also check out Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish, by Andrew Buckley.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I hate saying that I did not finish a book, I would rather pretend that it did not happen and not tell anyone about it. But since this was a review book I could not do that. I had to fess up that this book was just not for me. That is the one reason I hate admitting defeat is that people assume that it was a bad book. In this case it was a really well written, coherent book. I just found it too much, (reminded me of Terry Pratchett, who I really do not like to read).

There was some great concepts in this book. Like the idea of the rabbits building the building and the lightning happening whenever. It was too full on for me. I like to be able to grasp one concept before another is thrown at me. I know  a lot of people do like this style of writing, it’s just personal opinion. I was confused at times, I had to reread paragraphs to see if I was missing things.

I got to page 75 and decided that if I kept going I would end up hating the book, instead we parted ways on good terms, both determined to find the perfect partner, which sadly we did not find in each other, even after a very promising start. I am not going to rate it since I did not finish it and the fact that I know it is not bad, just not suited to me.

So if you like witty, clever and action packed books this is for you. Especially if you are a Terry Pratchett fan, you should delve right in.