Wake the Hollow

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the arc of Wake the Hollow by Gaby Triana! I absolutely love this book from beginning to end. Micaela goes back to Sleepy Hollow after her mother has passed away. She left her mother to live with her more stable father several years earlier. Her friend Bram picks her up from the train station and she stays with him in his apartment. She has night terrors often and hears voices and she is unsure who she can trust. The tone of the story is a bit ominous, which makes it difficult to put down. I enjoy the lines from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving at the beginning of the chapters. The mystery of Washington Irving’s descendants grows and so does the danger to Micaela. The suspense lasts throughout the book and the supernatural touch brings the right amount of thrill to the story. Wonderful spookiness!

The Keepers of Life Series

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Pubishing for the opportunity to read arcs with the newly designed covers of The Keepers of Life Series by Shea Berkley!  I love this series!  The covers are gorgeous and perfect.  I have heard, more often than not, my library patrons saying how they dislike covers with faces because they prefer keeping the characters’ looks alive in their imaginations.  These remade covers will please everyone; they are beautiful yet simple and embrace the world that Dylan and Kera are living in. The Keepers of Life Series by Shea Berkley reminds me of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series and Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven Series with a bit of flirting added.

The Marked Son by Shea Berkley is about a young man, Dylan, who lives with his single mom. He has never known who his father is or any other family members. His mom breaks up with her latest boyfriend and they move into her parents’ home. Dylan finally gets to meet his grandparents! While this is going on, Kera passes through the shimmering wall from her land into the human world and sees Dylan. The two of them have shared dreams and visions for as long as they can both remember. Something is harming the sheep on Dylan’s grandparents’ sheep ranch and Dylan’s family and the ranch workers are trying to solve the mystery, but it just keeps getting more and more strange. The suspense, mystery and the character dynamics make this book hard to put down. The writing flows perfectly and the alternating points of view between Dylan and Kera bring insight into the other realm. At a point in the story, I was wondering how everything could possible work out, but the author’s amazing imagination and creativity persevered!

The Fallen Prince by Shea Berkley begins with Dylan struggling to control his newly found powers, while Kera tries to fit into the human world. The realm seems to be seeping into the human world and Kera is captured and taken back to Teag. Dylan and his friends go to Teag to rescue Kera. The dialogue surrounding Bodog and Wyatt made me chuckle, actually all interactions with Bodog made me chuckle – very fun! “Right now, the only normal one of us seems to be Bodog, and he’s lit himself up like Casper the friendly ghost.” Full of action and adventure and I love the snark in this book, “How’d you get out? ”
“I used magic.”
“I tried and it didn’t work.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m better at it.”
Shea Berkley is a creative author and the dark souls she conjured up are ominously creepy. I love this book!

The Rising King by Shea Berkley jumps into Dylan’s and Kera’s lives where the barrier separating Teag from the human world continues to grow weaker and the townspeople help guard against trespassing creatures. The enemies become more dangerous and difficult to overcome. Dylan’s father, Baun, wants to rule Teag by taking everyone’s powers for himself. Dylan, his friends, the townspeople and Teag’s allies work together to balance the powers and bring peace once again.

I have enjoyed this series and want to read it again and I plan on buying the paperback editions of all three books! Highly recommended for all fantasy readers!

 

The Sound of Us

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to Entangled Publishing for the copy of The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle! I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy this book about a classical musical competition and scholarships, but I am very pleasantly surprised! The Sound of Us is so much more than just music, but, at the same time, is engulfed in the musical students’ world. I like the musical and literary references throughout the book and I grew to care about the characters, who are very dynamic as they mature and learn through their struggles. I am very proud of Kiki and all that she accomplished. She learned valuable lessons about herself and others and moved forward with that knowledge. Kiki is a teenage girl that gets into the classical music summer camp that she has aspired to. The camp is cut-throat and each student is competing and fighting for one of seven scholarships (four-year, full-ride scholarships to the college). This story is engaging, fun to read, enjoyable, intelligent and has the perfect ending in which the future awaits!

 

Trial by Fire

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the third book in the Going Down in Flames series, Trial by Fire by Chris Cannon! The bond between Bryn and Valmont continues to be tested and threats to Bryn’s life continue as well. She keeps looking for any signs of other hybrids while her grandparents and Jaxon’s parents assume that Bryn and Jaxon will be married. The book ends with a possible opening for another book, but who knows? The series is enjoyable and a very clean read, so a book or books being added to the series would be welcomed by me!

Bridges Burned

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ebook of Bridges Burned, the second book in the Going Down in Flames series by Chris Cannon! Bryn discovers who she can truly trust and depend on as she struggles through heartache. She loses her parents and moves in with her maternal grandparents while Valmont proves his bond with Bryn, building their relationship even more. Other hybrids are discovered, helping Bryn feel like less of an outcast. This is a clean read, through and through and the ending leaves an opening for the next book.

Going Down in Flames

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ebook of Going Down in Flames by Chris Cannon! Going Down in Flames is the first book in a trilogy about dragons. Bryn discovers that she is a dragon on her sixteenth birthday and, if that’s not enough, she is told by her parents that she will be shunned by other dragons because they cross-bred. Bryn’s father is a Red Dragon and her mother is a Blue Dragon. This makes Bryn a mix. Cross marriages are forbidden, so when her parents fell in love with each other, they ran away from dragon society because they felt as though they had no other choice. Bryn is forced by the Directorate (the governing organization of Dragon society) to attend dragon school and is placed in the Green Dragon dorms in exchange for letting them “study’ her scientifically. Bryn’s life is threatened more than once, conspiracies fly and new acquaintances are made and friendships are built. Going Down in Flames is a fun beginning to a series with a lot of potential!

True Born

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the arc of True Born by L.E. Sterling! True Born is the first in a new dystopian series involving twins, plague and plague resistance, elitism, fantasy, and a genetics mystery. This fun story livens up with Jared’s and Lucy’s interesting relationship and the mystery of the power that Lucy and her twin sister Margot hold. I wanted more but, alas, I will have to wait for the sequel!