Thursday, December 22, 2016

WAKE OF VULTURES/THE DRAFTER/THE OPERATOR/I HATE EVERYONE, EXCEPT YOU/DEATH AT ST. VEDAST/HOOKED ON TROUBLE

Wake of Vultures (The Shadow #1)


Nettie Lonesome lives in a land of hard people and hard ground dusted with sand. She's a half-breed who dresses like a boy, raised by folks who don't call her a slave but use her like one. She knows of nothing else. That is, until the day a stranger attacks her. When nothing, not even a sickle to the eye can stop him, Nettie stabs him through the heart with a chunk of wood, and he turns into black sand.

And just like that, Nettie can see.

But her newfound sight is a blessing and a curse. Even if she doesn't understand what's under her own skin, she can sense what everyone else is hiding -- at least physically. The world is full of evil, and now she knows the source of all the sand in the desert. Haunted by the spirits, Nettie has no choice but to set out on a quest that might lead to her true kin... if the monsters along the way don't kill her first.

What I thought:
The voice in this is spectacular. It's absolutely f*ucking amazing how well the author strings words together. The story is dark and gripping and the world-building is flawless. ♡♡♡♡♡

Rating: ***** (5 stars)


*I received an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and I honestly loved it.
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The Drafter (The Peri Reed Chronicles #1)


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The Operator (The Peri Reed Chronicles #2)

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

My Top 10 Books of 2016



The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1)

The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen #1)



And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga, #1)

And I Darken (The Conquerers Saga #1)




Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1)

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1)




The Casquette Girls  (The Casquette Girls Series Book 1)

The Casquette Girls (The Casquette Girls #1)


Seven girls tied by time.
Five powers that bind.
One curse to lock the horror away.
One attic to keep the monsters at bay.


After the storm of the century rips apart New Orleans, sixteen-year-old Adele Le Moyne wants nothing more than her now silent city to return to normal. But with home resembling a war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal needs a new definition.

As the city murder rate soars, Adele finds herself tangled in a web of magic that weaves back to her own ancestors. Caught in a hurricane of myths and monsters, who can she trust when everyone has a secret and keeping them can mean life or death? Unless . . . you’re immortal.
 



A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)



Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1)

Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Universe #1)

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good... and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission... and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair... and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.
 


Feverborn (Fever, #8)

Feverborn (Fever #8)

In Karen Marie Moning’s latest installment of the epic #1 New York Times bestselling Fever series, the stakes have never been higher and the chemistry has never been hotter. Hurtling us into a realm of labyrinthine intrigue and consummate seduction, FEVERBORN is a riveting tale of ancient evil, lust, betrayal, forgiveness and the redemptive power of love.

When the immortal race of the Fae destroyed the ancient wall dividing the worlds of Man and Faery, the very fabric of the universe was damaged and now Earth is vanishing bit by bit. Only the long-lost Song of Making—a haunting, dangerous melody that is the source of all life itself—can save the planet.

But those who seek the mythic Song—Mac, Barrons, Ryodan and Jada—must contend with old wounds and new enemies, passions that burn hot and hunger for vengeance that runs deep. The challenges are many: The Keltar at war with nine immortals who’ve secretly ruled Dublin for eons, Mac and Jada hunted by the masses, the Seelie queen nowhere to be found, and the most powerful Unseelie prince in all creation determined to rule both Fae and Man. Now the task of solving the ancient riddle of the Song of Making falls to a band of deadly warriors divided among—and within—themselves.

Once a normal city possessing a touch of ancient magic, Dublin is now a treacherously magical city with only a touch of normal. And in those war-torn streets, Mac will come face to face with her most savage enemy yet: herself.


Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)     

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1)

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager
A runaway with a privileged past
A spy known as the Wraith
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes
 

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world. 


The Drafter (The Peri Reed Chronicles #1)

The Bourne Identity meets Minority Report in this first highly anticipated installment in number-one New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison's sexy new romantic suspense trilogy, featuring a brilliant special task agent at the top of her field and set in a futuristic Detroit.

During a routine but dangerous Opti task, Peri Reed finds out her trusted partner has made her a corrupt agent. Her unique ability to jump back 40 seconds in time to correct a mistake leaves her vulnerable when her partner, who is responsible for replacing her memory of the event, gives her a false one. But Peri lives and dies on her intuition, and she begins to piece her twisted reality together as she flees her one-time secure situation at Opti and tries to find the truth with a sullen but talented psychologist named Silas who works for the very agency trying to bring the Opti corruption to light.

With Howard, tech and med specialist, and Taf, gun-toting daughter of the opposing grass-roots agency, Silas and Peri try to rebuild her memory of the night she killed her partner, knowing it will put her mental stability in danger. Peri remembers, and thoughts of revenge keep her alive and moving forward as she tries to put an end to Opti, working with the very faction that wants to see her dead.
 


The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1)

Once there was, and one day there will be. This is the beginning of every story.

Sefia lives her life on the run. After her father is viciously murdered, she flees to the forest with her aunt Nin, the only person left she can trust. They survive in the wilderness together, hunting and stealing what they need, forever looking over their shoulders for new threats. But when Nin is kidnapped, Sefia is suddenly on her own, with no way to know who’s taken Nin or where she is. Her only clue is a strange rectangular object that once belonged to her father left behind, something she comes to realize is a book.

Though reading is unheard of in Sefia’s world, she slowly learns, unearthing the book’s closely guarded secrets, which may be the key to Nin’s disappearance and discovering what really happened the day her father was killed. With no time to lose, and the unexpected help of swashbuckling pirates and an enigmatic stranger, Sefia sets out on a dangerous journey to rescue her aunt, using the book as her guide. In the end, she discovers what the book had been trying to tell her all along: Nothing is as it seems, and the end of her story is only the beginning.
 

So that's my Top 10. I cheated a little by counting books in a series as one ... and there were several other books that got five stars from me but I ran out of room on my list. Other recommendations:

WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT by April Genevieve Tucholke
SPELLS OF BLOOD AND KIN by Claire Humphrey
THE GRACES by Laure Eve
UNSCRIPTED JOSS BYRD by Lygia Day Penaflor
THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson
CHASING CRAZY by Kelly Siskind

Anyone else sharing their favorites of 2016? Feel free to drop the link in a comment.

Happy Reading,

Chelly


Monday, December 5, 2016

HOOKED ON TROUBLE by Kelly Siskind






Hooked on Trouble (Over the Top #3)


Hooked on Trouble (Over the Top #3)


I have been dying to read Raven and Nico's story, and it was everything I hoped for! *dies* 
Raven and Nico were introduced in My Perfect Mistake and they both made appearances in A Fine Mess, so I was already invested in them before I'd read page one. [This book can stand alone. But seriously, you want to read them.] 

In the first book, we know something happened between Raven and Nico, but not what. And OMG, I needed to know. This is my favorite book of the series. I loved seeing the vulnerability of these two tough characters and watching their relationship progress. There's a little bit of mystery, which, as a fan of complex stories, I adored. And holy habaneros is it hot! I'm a HUGE fan of Nico. He's the whole package. Ahem. Great end to the series. Very satisfying. 

Also, if you haven't read it, Chasing Crazy still holds the title as my favorite Kelly Siskind book. Because it was first... and because I think about it every time I see a tent. ;)