Book Blog #364: Mate by Ali Hazelwood

 

Title: Mate

Author: Ali Hazelwood

# of Pages: 457 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her. As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe. But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…

Review: Not as good as Bride, unfortunately. It has the same addictive quality, but not as much. 

Bride already had its flaws, and Mate fixes some of these but introduces others. Serena and Koen actually spend more time together compared to Misery and Lowe (so the former's relationship feels more authentic). 

At the same time, Koen is a problematic male protagonist that makes me not want to root in the Serena x Koen situationship. He seemed blunt and cocky, but his confidence and charisma was still likable in Bride. But in Mate, his sarcasm and attitude toward Serena was super off-putting. It felt like the only reason why he cared about her at all is because she's his mate (rather than caring about her as a person). There's also the big age difference, which sometimes could be a non-issue, but Koen's (unlike Lowe's) Alpha personality came off as infantilizing (especially when Serena is new to all things Were). 

A lot of the problems the characters encounter come from character withholding information from each other.  Pretty tired of this poor communication trope and made me frustrated with Serena especially.

This could have been a three star read like Bride, but since I didn't love the Serena and Koen relationship as much as Misery and Lowe, I'm deducting a star. I'd only recommend reading this is if you already loved Bride.

Book Blog #361: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

 

Title: Bride

Author: Ali Hazelwood

# of Pages: 410 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again... Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was…. Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

Review: If I'm being honest, Bride is not a well written book.

If I continue to be honest, I still really enjoyed reading it. 

I've been a sucker for paranormal romance for years, and this was no exception. I was looking for an easy to read, romance heavy story, and this mostly fit the bill. My main complaint is that the build up is really slow (took days to chip away at the romance-less first ~50% of the book, but flew through the last half in one sitting). 

This book is definitely not going to be for everyone. Unlike the Shadow Falls series (young adult paranormal romance books), Bride is closer to The Fourth Wing in that large parts of the book are pure smut. Pair that with the simplistic writing (if only I had a dollar for every time Alpha Lowe's "pupils dilated" upon seeing Misery), sometimes these scenes came off as a bit cringey.

I read in Hazelwood's bio that she likes incorporating STEM topics into her books, but having Misery be a "software engineering major" and calling herself a "hacker" and throwing out random buzzwords ("fuzzly logic circuit") to prove how tech savy Misery was also pretty cringe and felt like Hazelwood didn't fully do her research to write about some in that field.

Characters also like to go on long expositions to tell you exactly what is going on or as an easy way to do character/world building. This makes it easier to follow along but doesn't exactly feel like an organic way for characters to actually interact with each other.

If you're a big fan of paranormal romance or romantasy like I do and want an easy read, this is a good book for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

Book Blog #164: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Heavenly Fire
Author: Cassandra Clare
# of Pages: 725 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Paranormal-Romance, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world changed in the sixth and last instalment of the internationally bestselling The Mortal Instruments series. Erchomai, Sebastian had said. I am coming. Darkness returns to the Shadowhunter world. As their society falls apart around them, Clary, Jace, Simon and their friends must band together to fight the greatest evil the Nephilim have ever faced: Clary's own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat him - must they journey to another world to find the chance?
Review: I've stayed up late in order to finish this book, so I'm going to try to portray what I am feeling right now as accurately but quickly as possible.

The first hundred pages were hard to get into. I was a little thrown off by the prologue with Emma and Julian, two characters who weren't very important in the previous book and who I had not recollection of. What threw me off even more is how big their role was in the book. The problem is, I didn't drag my way through five books just to hear about some random 12 year-olds. They wasted my time and made the book just that much longer.

The book really didn't need to be as long as it is. Most scenes could have been condensed with an exception to the final scene/climax. Clare's writing style is still rough in some areas (e.g. I didn't like how she wrote some of the dialogue for Emma, especially when she talks to Clary; 12 year-olds may be young, but they aren't THAT young).

I had been torn between three stars and four stars because of my continued dislike for Clare and Alec, along with the reasons I have mentioned above, but decided to go with the latter. The reason was because the last two hundred pages flowed really well. I was not expecting to read over three hundred pages today (my goal  was to read 150), but I was engaged in the plot.

I was a little upset for a while about Simon; I hated Clare for taking his memories away. I was ranting to anyone who would listen; why did she have to do it to SIMON of all people? She couldn't have settled for Clary or Jace or Alec or evnn Magnus? But I shouldn't have been so quick to judge because the epilogue made me extremely satisfied.

But the epilogue also felt like a giant ad for the rest of Clare's books. She mentions the Codex, hints at the Bane Chronicles, and the whole book was leading up to The Dark Artifices series. The only series I'm interested in reading is The Infernal Devices, which was also viciously advertised through mentions of Tessa and her mysterious relationships with various people CoHF.

Overall, one of the better books of the series, despite its unnecessary length. While I expect most of you to be TMI fans who I going to read the book regardless of what I say, I recommend it.

Book Blog #118: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Lost Souls
Author: Cassandra Clare
# of Pages: 544 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Paranormal-romance, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Jace is now a servant of evil, bound for all eternity to Sebastian. Only a small band of Shadowhunters believe he can be saved. To do this they must defy the Clave. And they must act without Clary. For Clary is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace's soul. Clary is willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?
Review: I have to give Clare a hand; this has to be my favorite book of The Mortal Instruments series so far.

I'm not exactly sure what was so great about it; whether it was because I didn't try as hard to look for mistakes or that it was because I wanted to enjoy it, but I just did.

I know in my review for the previous book, City of Fallen Angels, I complained about third-person point-of-view switching. However, I realized that this allowed Clary less time to annoy me (because trust me, I still found her annoying in CoLS) and more time for some of my favorite characters to shine.

I have decided that my top three favorite characters are Magnus, Simon (tying for the first and second position) and Isabelle. Along with Clare, one of my least favorites is Alec.

I am EXTREMELY happy that Alec and Magnus broke up (for now. If Clare loves her characters, she might bring them back together). Magnus was spot on with what he said about how Alec has no right to make decisions for him. Alec was way too insecure in their relationship, and I'm glad Magnus was able to see that.

I'm really sad that Sebastian was actually a bad. The story could have gone to new heights if he had some good in him..but still is mostly evil. I really hope Clare doesn't do that back-and-forth good/bad guy thing that James Patterson did with Ari in Maximum Ride.

By this point, everyone reading the series should be fans and not haters, so to this crowd, I recommend it.

Book Blog #110: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
# of Pages: 390 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal-Romance
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis:the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.
Review: This book makes Twilight look like the best book on Earth.

The POV switching sucked, the romance was cheesy, and the story line was boring.

Much worse than Twilight. Maybe if Shiver had a movie, I would enjoy the story better (because my interpretation of it isn't very good). Not recommended.

Book Blog #78: Chosen at Nightfall by C.C. Hunter

Title: Chosen at Nightfall
Author: C.C. Hunter
# of Pages: 400 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: When Kylie Galen left Shadow Falls, she thought it was the hardest decision of her life. Heartbroken and separated from everyone she loves, she has to embrace her abilities and what it means to be a chameleon. But as Kylie's journey comes to a close, she must return to the camp that started it all...and she must finally chose between the two boys who love her. The werewolf who broke her heart when he chose his pack over her, and the half-fae who ran from their intense attraction before they ever really had a chance. For Kylie, everything will finally be revealed and nothing will ever be the same.

Review: I'd like to start off by saying that the cover is absolutely beautiful! The many shades of pink are perfect and very girly (which I love!).

I have to say, I was a little worried. I thought Hunter was going to disappoint me with this book since, for some reason, I found the first hundred pages very unappealing. But once the romance started up, Hunter had me hooked.

I'm not sure what else to see. It was one heck of an ending. I LOVE The Shadow Falls series, and I'm a bit sad that the series is over. But I'm glad that Hunter did end it because, as I like to say, a good author knows when to end the series (unlike a certain other Hunter that I know. There's only so many ways to kill off a cat!). Do I recommend this book? Yes!

Book Blog #37: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Title: Tiger's Curse
Author: Colleen Houck
# of Pages: 403 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Paranormal-Fantasy
Rating:★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

Review: IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S STARING INTO MY SOUL. The cover is freaky. Like, really freaky. Imagine waking up every morning, and then glancing over to your bedside table to see THAT. It might not seem that scary on your screen, but your probably haven't just woken up from a deep sleep not exactly knowing what going on.

Like usual, I'm writing this review based on my notes, so I'm sorry if its really choppy.

SPOILERS AHEAD

It's really, really obvious that the tiger is the prince. The prologue, the extremely tame tiger, and it's human like actions are all clear signs that its not a regular tiger. So when it was revealed that he was Ren the prince, it felt like a magic trick gone wrong.

Our protagonist, Kelsey, is not all that bright. I don't care what kind of instinct you have, you DO NOT touch a tiger without a professional handler around. And even then, it's not safe. She's an idiot! It also seems really unrealistic that she'll just up and go to Indai with a strange man that she hasn't know for very long and a tiger. And who in the right mind would send an eighteen year-old girl who has pretty much not training as a handler to India to help the tiger settle in?

The author concentrates on too many little details. Like how fantastic the plane is. Or how awesome Ren's house is. I don't really care! Why does Kelsey have all this free time, anyway?

So, I was looking at the praise for the book and I noticed that two talked about how it's like Twilight. This freaks me out. If there's someone out there linking this book to Twilight,  then it must be really similar in some way. And, what do you know? It is! There's the stupid love triangle and a guy who's really old, but looks really young. And Bella's kind of an airhead, just like Kelsey!

Speaking of Kelsey, you know what really annoyed me? The fact that she ordered Ren to call her Kells. It's not cute if the other person didn't make it up!!! And the dialogue is really weird.

"'My favorite style, though, is the way you were wearing it earlier when you had it draped across both of your ram loosely. That way, I get the full effect of your exquisite hair tumbling down your back.'" (Pg 131).

Okay, seriously you guys? Exquisite hair tumbling down your back? I mean, who talks like that? ONLY FANTASY GUYS IN CHEESY ROMANCE BOOKS!

The action scenes are poorly written. I don't feel the suspense at all! You know they're going to survive, been there, done that.

I don't get the big deal about Kelsey leaving. Why is she leaving, anyway? It's not like she's doing anything important at home. Sure, she can say all that crap about Ren not being independent enough without her, but personally, I think he'd do fine. Who needs Kelsey, anyway?

Something else I noticed was that there wasn't really a bad guy. Sure you can probably find the opposing side, but it's not very obvious. This, in particular, bugged me. I love reading about the bad guys! They're usually brilliant masterminds (although I wouldn't set my expectations too high for one in this book) that are SO much smarter than the protagonist. Well, that is, until they're beaten at the end.

Of course, I could rant on. But I think of bored you enough. I DO NOT recommend this book!

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Read the first draft here!