YA Fantasy

 Nightshade by Andrea Cremer 

This was very L.J. Smith (Night World not Vampire Diaries to be specific). Not like it ripped it off, it just had that kind of vibe, in a good way because I LOVE Night World. I did figure out the twist before Calla but there were still plenty of surprises for me along the way. Calla is the female teenage alpha of the Nightshade pack. Ren is the male teenage alpha of the Bane pack. They are "engaged" or mated and have been since they were born which just so happens to be on Halloween. Which is also the day Ren's mother was killed when he was a year old. They are guardians, or wolf shifters, who are supposed to protect the sacred sites, specifically a cave. They answer to their masters, the Keepers. When they get "married" or complete the union, on Halloween, they will form a new pack which will be named after the cave they are supposed to guard. Enter Seamus, or Shea. A human who has a Keeper for an Uncle; who is his only family. They have been instructed to be nice to him and keep him safe. Well, Calla has already met him; she saved him from a bear attack. She and Ren are supposed to be dating but not be intimate. Now she is supposed to be guarding Shea. But she also likes him and she spends time kissing both boys, without either knowing. Enter the Seekers (maybe the Searchers); they are trying to overthrow the Keepers. Shea has a tattoo on his back that he can't see because of some kind of spell; it means he's the scion. The Seekers/Searchers are looking for him. While he and Calla are spending time together they discover this super old book, from his Uncle's personal (locked) library that includes a prophecy. About him. He and Calla decide to go into the cave to see what she is supposed to be guarding and there is an abnormally large spider. She gets bit. The only way to save her is with pack blood but there is no pack around so she turns him into a guardian and he saves her. Now he has to hide the fact that he's changed from the rest of the wolves. There is a woman in the cave and she gives him something that only he can hold. Fast forward to the Halloween. She smells him in the forest while waiting for the union. He is tied up. Turns out he is who she and Ren are supposed to hunt and kill together. She sets him free. They kill an incubus. Ren catches them. She tells him everything. He lets them go and creates a diversion so they can get away. They go back to his Uncle's house to get the book with the prophecy, but they get attacked by all of the paintings and the statues. Then the Seekers/Searchers show up. They grab Shea and take Calla too. She starts waking up to Shea arguing with one of the captors about they promised they wouldn't hurt her. So, was he in on it? That's how it seems. This ending makes me desperate for book 2! I had a hard time because Calla couldn't decide if she wanted to be strong or not; she kept saying she was the alpha and she was the leader and then kept backing down from everyone and everything. But she came around by the end and really had me rooting for her. I cannot wait to find out where this goes!

Made for TV cont (again x9)

 Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs 

This was hard if you can't handle when kids are the victims. I thought this was going to be fairly simple: prostitute is killing her unwanted babies so she can keep making money. It ended up being so much more complicated than that. For starters she wasn't really a prostitute. Her pimp was a pimp but he wasn't her pimp; he was trying to stop her from hooking because he was her step brother and he was looking out for her. Also, she had some sort of cognitive disability (it wasn't specified) and she didn't really realize she was pregnant until after she had given birth and the first time she had a baby the father had told her she made the baby sick and it was a stillborn so if she got pregnant again to just get rid of it. Real winner that one, but we will get back to him. So, Tempe and Ryan are chasing her all over Canada because she left their jurisdiction and went back home. When they get there we meet Ollie, the first person she was involved with after her break up with Pete, who is also a cop. And he knows one of the prostitutes that the original (Alice) lived with before moving. So he gets involved. Then there is a drug war. We meet Nellie, who turns out to be Alice's sister and the step sister of the pimp; Scar. Nellie wants her brother's body exhumed and during that investigation Tempe learns that there was a second body buried. So, in addition to the drug war, which gets Scar (the pimp) killed. Alice also gets killed while talking to Tempe. Nellie is the only sibling left. Tempe learns about gold and diamond mines. Turns out the siblings were killed because their deadbeat dad left them land that's worth millions. Tempe gets kidnapped; she did try to call Ryan but he was in an interrogation but the hotel desk clerk saw it happen, got the license plate number and called it in. They found her in an abandoned gold mine where they father Alice's first baby was going to put her, with Alice (who he killed). But Ryan, Ollie, and another local cop got there in time. Nellie was the only sibling left and she was easy to manipulate so they were going to get her to sign over the deed to the land so they could get the money but now she will be rich. See, much more complicated than I originally expected. Three cases got solved. Not as good as some of these books, but not as bad or hard to deal with as the first book that focused on child victims either. 

Final Book in the Series

 The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri 

This was a good ending to the series. We had the war, but not in the way I expected. Many characters had some very strong plot armor, but some important side characters, ones that I had grown accustomed to (and in some cases fond of) did not. It both did and did not have an expected ending, which was good; I liked that there were twists, turns, and surprises. In no particular order. Priya learns that her gods are bad. Like really bad. So, she allows herself to be captured by Malani so that she can help her destroy the Yaxa, but that will also mean destroying herself because she finally learned that when the Yaxa said hollow yourself they meant literally; she has to give her body to the oldest of the Yaxa. Meanwhile Bumica and Jeven are traveling to one of the temples of the Nameless because she has information that has to be told to them only. And the head priest turns her away. But then Rao shows up and he hears her and one of the Yaxa returns and one of the priests burns themselves and that kills the Yaxa completely. Meanwhile, Jeven is head over heels in love with Bumica and she is oblivious. Rao finally admits his feelings for Editia. Way too late, but it's helping him heal. Seema and he form a friendship. They travel and find this stone that was a legend but does strip the Yaxa of their magic. It is used to bind Priya when she is taken captive, but she is able to overcome it because she is the strongest. She and Malani are back together for a while, especially since there have been attempts on Priya's life while she has been captive. Back at the temple Guhnam is in charge and he is the only person I care about in this book anymore. He is trying to take care of the temple children, plus keep they Yaxa happy, plus follow Priya's orders which are undermine the Yaxa without getting caught, plus keep Rook and Padma safe, all with a broken arm which was necessary so that Priya could get herself captured. Then, he gets caught helping the temple children get out and he tells the Yaxa to kill him but he knows they can't because he's the only Twice Born left and the highest ranking elder left since Bumica and Priya are both gone and they need him. I love him. Then there is the Priest of the Mother's. He is conspiring to turn Malani's sister in law against her, but that doesn't work out. Malani tells her she is not like her brother and she will not take her son from her, but she will also not get a second chance. Then she tells the head priest he is retiring. He kills his guards and gets his followers and they are still convinced Malani has to burn, so they (except the head priest because he's a scared little bitch) set themselves on fire in the forest as they are marching on Priya's temple. Priya uses her body to protect Malani and one of the guards uses her heartstone dagger to protect Priya. Malani uses Priyas magic to carry her into the temple so she can get her to the water to so the water can heal her. Then Priya has to fight the oldest Yaxa in the water and Priya wins. Malani ends up outside of the temple on a bed of living black flowers. Rao says Malani burned and lived. Priya disappears. The temple is mostly destroyed, just enough to keep Priya and Malani alive is left. Malani reigns for 15 years. Her nephew grows. Rao and Seema continue to travel together. Malani decides to turn over things to her nephew when he is 15 and she goes out searching. Bumica and Jeven are married but do not have any children, just Rook and Padma. Priya and Bumica reunite after 15 years. Then Malani and Priya reunite after 15 years. Guhnam survives. So it both was and wasn't what I was expecting. I liked that we got the 15 years later. Rao healed and lived. Guhnam lived. This was a lot. There were a lot of characters. There was a lot of world building. Even in the final book there were still unexpected surprises about the magic systems and religions. Tasha Suri is definitely on my must read/listen to list!

Zombie Romance

 Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer 

I wasn't sure what to expect from this and was pleasantly surprised. It's a post apocalyptic YA/NA sapphic zombie romance. I know. That's kind of a lot. I watched (and loved) but never read Warm Bodies and this reminded me very much of that; not that is ripped it off, but very much in that realm (so not horror or even remotely frightening). Mara is the "zombie" but as long as she takes the medicine she is herself again and the tick inside her does not have control and does not make her attack humans. The medicine also makes her unappealing to the unmedicated or feral ticks. Aurora aka Rory is her human best friend and crush, and the daughter of her godparents so now also her roommate because she is being integrated into society and her godparents are her guardians. Rory is not happy about it but that doesn't last very long once she realizes that Mara is still in there, which happens when they are sent to the mainland to get supplies. When they get to the settlement they see that their integration is going much better and everyone is living in harmony. When they return home they find an attack in progress on the kids who are being watch while the adults are at a meeting; Mal the unofficial leader of the island has been keeping his infected daughter chained up in his house and he set her free on the kids leading to the infection of the two teachers and the death of multiple kids. Rory and Mara save the day but Rory realizes it's a set up to capture Mara and the others like her and execute them so she has her take the body and run. But the next day the body is missing. The others like Mara have been rounded up and denied their medicine. Rory and Mara try to leave the island but Mara's sister attacks them making it impossible for them to get away. Mal interrogates Rory then it's to the pit to fight to the death. Mara does her best to protect Rory, but she's been without the medicine for days and is struggling to stay herself. Then, Sam, Rory's mom, shows up with soldiers from the mainland and the soldiers put a stop to the fighting which is good since it's only Mara and Rory left and there can only be one victor. Mal gets arrested. The girls get taken to the infirmary. Everyone is worried because Rory got bitten before Mara could save her, but she never turns. Well, apparently she is immune because the girls have kissed and the exchange of saliva (multiple times) and the last kiss was pretty bloody because Rory had been beaten by Mal. So she is the only person in the world with immunity. Mara gets the medicine but it puts her into a coma because she has been without for so long. She finally wakes up and the doctor tells her that not only is she fine, but she has started aging again. She is healing from the tick.  It was interesting but I would have liked a little more science behind the zombie process. Otherwise, really enjoyable and I will probably read more by this author.

A Strong Finish for the Trilogy

 Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco 

This picks up right where book 2 left off. Unlike with book 1 I did NOT speculate about what or where I thought this was going and it was still surprising and unexpected. I know this falls into the Dark Romance category, but Wrath is barely an anti-hero so it's really Dark Romance lite. We do not start the bonding because Vittoria has Dominico, her werewolf "friend" grab Emilia and transport her to the Soul Realm so they can chat and it only lasts for a bit before Wrath finds her. Greed summons them because his military commander has been murdered and he thinks Vittoria is behind it. Meanwhile, Emilia is trying to not only save her twin but break the curse that's been put on her and she's succeeding a bit. Then she also has to break the curse on Wrath. She finds out that if he falls in love then everything he loves will be taken from him so he's been drinking a tonic to help control his emotions. Vampires try to kidnap Emilia, it goes badly for the vampires. We learn that the healer that lives in Wrath's kingdom is really the Crone who is also the mother of the twins. Emilia goes in search of Vittoria and ends up back home where she finds out that her entire life has been a lie and she agrees to let Vittoria rip out her heart to break the curse. Then she unlocks all of her powers. The witches attack and she destroys them. She point blank asks Wrath about his curse and finds out they have one day to break it so she goes to the Well of Memories and finds out that her bestie is really Prides wife and the only person who can help her save Wrath. She takes the memory stone, goes to bestie, gets the directions, leaves the memory stone and goes home. Wrath has to stab her and she has to willingly give up all of her powers to break his curse. He doesn't want to but finally they do. Curse broken. She's powerless. Time to crown her Queen. She invites her sister, who still has a price on her head, but it turns out she didn't actually kill Greed's second because she's very much alive and is in fact a werewolf who faked her death to go back to the pack. So, blood oath for vengeance is over. Emilia gets crowned. Later they complete the bonding ceremony. This sets things up nicely for a Vittoria-Pride-Cordelia/Lucia spin off series. I really enjoyed the Emilia Wrath series and will definitely be reading more from this author.

Final Book in This Series

 A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir 

This book had everything: action, adventure, love, loss, growth, pain and suffering, fear, sadness, and hope. I was actively yelling at the characters for decisions they were making that I didn't agree with and had to close the book and put it down a few times. I even shed a tear before the end. I did not get everything that I wanted out of this book, I did get some things I didn't know I needed. Cook aka Mirra aka the Lioness did not actually die at the end of the previous book but we don't know that until about 80% of the way through this when she shows up to help Helene. Oh Helene. She started the series as one of my least favorite characters and by the end I was crying over her. I was yelling at her to get over herself and go be with Harper. I mourned with her when Livia was killed and then again when Farris and Harper were killed. Especially Harper. If anyone deserved a happy ending it was Helene. When, at the end Quin stood up and went off script and named her Emperor, I cried. And when Laia had to break the prophecy down and show her. Then there's Laia. I have loved her character from the very beginning. And when Darin told her to not give up on Elias so she stayed to try to help him stop being the Soul Catcher and come back to himself. When she constantly got back up again after being knocked down. When she made mistakes and learned from them. Yes, she was hard headed and didn't listen to Rehmet but she didn't know why she needed to listen to her because she couldn't tell her. And after she killed the Nightbringer and doomed humanity, she realized that she could also save it and did. She was the definition of indomitable spirit and when she decided to join the Tribes to become a storyteller to keep her promise to Nightbringer, that was fitting. Then there's my sweet, stubborn, honorable Elias. Just like when he was a Mask he cannot fully commit to his new role as Soul Catcher because he cannot completely turn off his emotions. Thankfully Cain, who finally did something right, gives him back his memories and allows Elias to be better at his job because you need emotion to be able to connect with the souls to send them on their way. But, it also allows him to do what he does best, lead. He uses everything he has been trained for to unify the Tribes and keep them safe until Helene and her army can get there for the final battle. The battle where we finally have learned Keris's weakness and we discover that Mirra is not really dead and she is the one to kill her. But the same one where Harper dies. The same one where Darin dies. I knew characters were going to die; there was always going to be a war. But. I did not expect those characters to die. Fast forward to Quin naming Helene Empress and everyone except the Scholars and the Tribes are in support of this. Helene says it's not going to be like it was, there will be no more slavery or castes. There will be trades and equality. The Scholars and Tribes join in supporting her. She names her nephew as her heir and then agrees to send him to be raised among the Tribes so he can have a normal life and so he can know who he will be ruling. Mirra volunteers to take over being Soul Catcher so that Elias can have a normal life with Laia and they end the book engaged. We end on a happy, optimistic note. I would read more from this world. What does it look like after the war? How are the lives of our main characters progressing? I was so engrossed that I want the boring. I want the everyday. I will definitely read more from this author.

First Audiobook of the Year

 Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler 

Things I knew about the Fitzgerald's before reading this book: that Scott wrote "Great Gatsby" and that Hemingway was a misogynist, a cheater, and not near as good of a writer as he considered himself to be. I had no idea about anything else about them. And while this was historical fiction I am guessing that a good portion of it is more historical than fiction, including the dates and locations. The conversations, are where I am guessing most of the fiction comes into play. I cannot look at Scott and Zelda and their marriage as a product of their times because Zelda herself did not look at them as a product of their times. Despite the fact that she doesn't necessarily see herself as a feminist, she had some very progressive feminist ideals. And wow, Scott was so weak willed it's not surprising that he flitted from one thing to another and spent extravagantly. Frankly, I am disgusted that people like Hemingway and Scott are lauded as great American writers when they were such horrible people. Zelda deserved better. I'm glad the book didn't focus entirely on her time in the hospitals, and it's wonderful that we have made such strides in the care of mental health. Her death could have been prevented. His was the result of his lifestyle. This was interesting and renewed my hatred for Hemingway. It also made me upset that "Gatsby" is still one of the books that we require high school students to read; he doesn't deserve the notoriety but Zelda does.

Nothing Special

 Protecting What's His by Tessa Bailey 

 I read this in one day, but it was not that dense of a book. It was fine, but not great. The characters did not feel fully formed and the romance was a bit rushed. However, I did read it in one day, so it couldn't have been that bad because I didn't want to put it down. Derek was cop with commitment issues, except for his job. Ginger was raising her younger sister and running from their drug addict mother who she stole a lot of money from. They don't build a very good emotional connection, purely physical. Except they both feel very strongly for the other as evidenced by how he reacts when he sees a bar patron accost her and how she reacts when she thinks he got shot in the line of duty. Her sister is thriving in the new environment and it makes her realize that she needs a change, so she decides to do the right thing and takes the money back to Nashville and ignores all phone calls while doing so. He gets home from work, finds her gone and immediately starts looking for her. He has already been working to protect her from the issues chasing her, but since she ran right back to them he can't do anything but follow. She is sneaking the money back when her mom is brought back home and then beat. She shows herself and the money, but she is short because she used it as a deposit on an apartment. She says take me to a bank and I can get you the rest of the money. He decides to take her captive instead. Then Derek and the cops show up as she's being shoved into a trunk. Bad guy gets arrested. She gets saved. They have an awkward drive home-ish; they stop at a motel because he hasn't slept in days. Fast forward 10 months, she finally moves in with him. Little sister has graduated and is doing a study abroad with her boyfriend and everyone is happy. It wasn't great, but it was light and fluffy and easy to consume.

A Strong Second Book

 Kingdom of the Cursedi by Kerri Maniscalco 

This is why I should not speculate. Sometimes I can see it coming from a mile away (looking at you Hallmark) and sometimes I'm so far off it's like I'm not even in the same arena. That was case with this book. I was CONVINCED that Wrath was really Pride. CONVINCED. Wrong. I know they can't outright lie, they can skirt the truth but they can't lie so how he was going to end up being Pride, I had no idea, but I was convinced. Because there was NO WAY she was going to be married to someone other than Wrath. That was a clever bit of trickery he did before they entered the Sin Corridor to get her to make a blood oath to bind herself to the devil knowing full well that he is the devil even though she didn't know that. I love me an anti-hero. A burn everything to the ground for my woman kind of man. And Emilia spending time with Envy, and then with Pride and not having similar reactions to them as she has to Wrath should have told her something (it did eventually) but she was too focused on her plan to marry Pride to find out about his bride and find her sister to realize that she was falling in love with Wrath. And he was doing everything possible to make her comfortable and give her the she needed. I love the friendship she is developing with Fauna and Fauna's crush on Anir is adorable; I hope they get a happy ending. But the twist of Vittoria being alive; I did not see that coming. Wow. And finally FINALLY she decides to accept the marriage bond at the very end of the book. This was not the best book I have ever read but I enjoyed every minute of it. I cannot wait to find out what happens.

First Book of the Year

 A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir 

I carried this book around in my bag for a month and didn't crack it open. I was looking forward to reading it, was excited about it, but couldn't get in the right frame of mind to actually read it. Then, when I finally did read it, I blew through it in two days. We have action, adventure, love, loss, life, death, finding yourself, new alliances being formed, old alliances breaking, and a dawning understanding that what we thought we knew we didn't actually know. That didn't make what happened with and to our three main characters any easier to handle. Laia and Darin are running for their lives. Elias is in the waiting place and fighting embracing it until he can't fight it anymore. I hate what he becomes at by the end of the book. How are he and Laia going to get a happy ending if he is fully the Soul Catcher? And Cain, the arguer hand picked Laia, Elias, and Helene to what? set the jinn free but stop Keris from taking power but not let the jinn destroy everything once they have been set free? It's so confusing. All of the arguers except for Cain end up dead. Marcus is dead. Keris is still alive. Livia is alive and is now a mother. Helene gave up her mask which was the final piece of the star. Darin is making the special blades for the scholars. The arguer's are the reason that everything is the way it is; they are the ones who imprisoned the jinn all those thousand years ago and stole their power and they led to the rise of the Nightbringer, the slaughter of the scholars is because Cain was the scholar king who killed and imprisoned the jinn. All of this is his fault. And now there is a tribe that has magicians that can raise ghosts. Like, it's a lot. Laia is with Helene. We finally learn who Cook is; it's Laia's mother who we thought was dead but wasn't, but now is because she sacrificed herself so that Laia and Helene could escape. And Elias is just a shell of who he once was. I have no idea what or where or how this series is going to end and I cannot wait to find out. I am on the edge of my seat!