SHADOWSONG by S. Jae-Jones

Shadowsong (Wintersong #2)

by S. Jae-Jones

Six months after the end of Wintersong, Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. Although she is determined to look forward and not behind, life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped. Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her. 

When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world—or the ones Liesl loves—is in her hands?

What I thought:

This is book 2, and the conclusion to the Wintersong duology. See my review for Wintersong HERE. 

I liked this book better than the first one. Obviously I liked Book 1 well enough, or I wouldn't have jumped right into this one, but Book 1 focused on the music a lot. In depth, very detailed accounts of Liesl composing and playing. And while the language was beautiful, it's not my area. 

Overall the pacing for both books was slow. As for the overall vibe of the series, it felt more adult literary than YA. I think I would have liked the first book more if had been for the adult market. I would have liked more of the physical relationship on the page, but, shrugs, maybe that's just me.  

Book 2 focuses more on Liesl's relationship with her brother, which I was okay with. Sure, I wanted more Liesl and the Goblin King, but we got a new location and a mystery, and pieces falling into place. I loved the way the ending came together. The last third of this book was perfection. Completely perfect. Breathtaking. 

I loved the darkness of this story and the rich settings and the gorgeous language. I can't wait to see what S. Jae-Jones writes next. (I hope it's smutty) I'm definitely a fan. 

Rating: ***** (4.5 stars)

Happy reading,

Chelly

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RATING SCALE: 

 5* = OMFG loved it. Will read it again. Touch my book and I will cut you. 

 4* = Really good. Highly recommend. Miiiight reread. Maybe. Don't touch my book. 

 3* = Good. I liked it. Go ahead and touch it. 

 2* = Not for me, finished but struggled. Didn't connect. Here, have a book.

 1* = DNF. Couldn't do it.

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Click on the cover to link to Goodreads and leave your book recs in my comments. Oh, yeah, and find me on twitter: @ChellyPike

WINTERSONG by S. Jae-Jones

Wintersong (Wintersong #1)

by S. Jae-Jones

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world..

What I thought:

Wow. This story was haunting and beautifully written. I loved the characters and the mystery. I did sometimes get bogged down in the descriptions and felt the pacing could have been quicker, especially toward the middle of the book, but, wow, I fell in love with the ideas and the music, swept along by Liesl's mania to create, create, create. 

I wanted more of the underground, more details to help me keep my footing when things were happening so fast. There was an important scene where I wasn't sure what had happened afterward. Like, did that just happen? Or didn't it? What? So, yeah, that was frustrating. The language seemed to get in the way of the action, where saying it prettily was more important than laying the scene out for the reader to enjoy. But overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and I can definitely recommend it.

I'm reading the 2nd book now. :D 

Rating: **** (4 stars)

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RATING SCALE: 

 5* = OMFG loved it. Will read it again. Touch my book and I will cut you. 

 4* = Really good. Highly recommend. Miiiight reread. Maybe. Don't touch my book. 

 3* = Good. I liked it. Go ahead and touch it. 

 2* = Not for me, finished but struggled. Didn't connect. Here, have a book.

 1* = DNF. Couldn't do it.

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Click on the cover to link to Goodreads and leave your book recs in my comments. Oh, yeah, and find me on twitter: @ChellyPike

HIGH VOLTAGE by Karen Marie Moning

High Voltage (Fever #10)

by Karen Marie Moning

There is no action without consequence…

Dani O’Malley was nine years old when the delusional, sadistic Rowena transformed her into a ruthless killer. Years later, she’s tough, hardened, yet achingly vulnerable and fiercely compassionate, living alone by her own exacting code. Despite the scars on her body, driven by deeper ones carved into her soul, no one is more committed to protecting Dublin. By day, she ensures the safety of those she rescues, by night she hunts evil, dispensing justice swiftly and without mercy, determined to give those she cares for the peace she has never known.

There is no power without price…

When the Faerie Queen used the dangerously powerful Song of Making to heal the world from the damage done by the Hoar Frost King, catastrophic magic seeped deep into the earth, giving rise to horrifying, unforeseen consequences–and now deadly enemies plot in the darkness, preparing to enslave the human race and unleash an ancient reign of hell on Earth.

There is no future without sacrifice…

With the lethal, immortal Ryodan at her side, armed with the epic Sword of Light, Dani once again battles to save the world but her past comes back to haunt her with a vengeance, demanding an unspeakable price for the power she needs to save the human race and no one—not even Ryodan who’d move the very stars for her—can save her this time… 

What I thought:

This is book 10 in the series. Book 10, y'all. It's Dani's HEA, and it has been a long time coming. So long that I'd built it up in my mind soooooo much that anything that showed up on the page would suffer by comparison. I wanted to love, love, love this book with my whole heart, and I did really love parts of it. 

The beginning has an amazing hook, and the ending is... *stares dreamily into the distance* ...so much swoon. That ending, y'all! Wow. 

Don't get me wrong, there's A LOT to love and, damn can KMM tell a story, but there was a little something missing for me. Maybe too much focus on the romance aspect. Or maybe too much effort (and words) devoted to new readers who hadn't read books 1 - 9? Maybe because we KNOW that this is Dani's HEA and are expecting it. 

I missed the tension of not knowing. I wanted to be shown less and dropped into the story world more, because there was a lot of real estate devoted to Dani's inner monologue. But, even so, the pages roared along at a nice speed, because, yeah, KMM can do amazing things with words. 

This was just a very different book than all the others in the series. I'd consider it a lot more Romance than Urban Fantasy. Not a lot of time is devoted to the big bad in the one, but things are neatly laid out for the next installment, and I can't wait to see what happens next. 

 

Rating: **** (4 stars, maybe 4.5 of those bright little fuckers.) 

I HIGHLY recommend this series, but don't start with HIGH VOLTAGE. Definitely start with DARKFEVER.

Darkfever (Fever #1)

by Karen Marie Moning

"My name is MacKayla, Mac for short. I'm a sidhe-seer, one who sees the Fae, a fact I accepted only recently and very reluctantly.

My philosophy is pretty simple - any day nobody's trying to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven't had many good days lately. Not since the walls between Man and Fae came down. But then, there's not a sidhe-seer alive who's had a good day since then."

When MacKayla's sister was murdered, she left a single clue to her death, a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone. Journeying to Ireland in search of answers, Mac is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to master a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae.

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho...while at the same time, the ruthless V'lane - an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women - closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: to find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book - because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control both worlds in their hands. 

Happy reading, 

Chelly

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RATING SCALE: 

 5* = OMFG loved it. Will read it again. Touch my book and I will cut you. 

 4* = Really good. Highly recommend. Miiiight reread. Maybe. Don't touch my book. 

 3* = Good. I liked it. Go ahead and touch it. 

 2* = Not for me, finished but struggled. Didn't connect. Here, have a book.

 1* = DNF. Couldn't do it.

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Click on the cover to link to Goodreads and leave your book recs in my comments. Oh, yeah, and find me on twitter: @ChellyPike

THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1)

by Melissa Albert

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong. 

What I thought:

Loved this dark, twisty tale. So atmospheric and the language is stunning. Alice is, maybe, a little unlikable, but I liked her just fine. I loved the mother-daughter relationship here. Finch I was meh about, but I would follow Alice anywhere. 

The ending left me wanting more. A little more. I don't know. It's hard to put my finger on exactly how I'm feeling about it, or, more specifically, hard to put it into words without being all spoiler-y. And I don't spoil. But I'm so very much looking forward to The Tales of the Hinterland, and book 2. Highly recommend.

Rating: ***** (4.5 stars)

Happy reading,

Chelly

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RATING SCALE: 

 5* = OMFG loved it. Will read it again. Touch my book and I will cut you. 

 4* = Really good. Highly recommend. Miiiight reread. Maybe. Don't touch my book. 

 3* = Good. I liked it. Go ahead and touch it. 

 2* = Not for me, finished but struggled. Didn't connect. Here, have a book.

 1* = DNF. Couldn't do it.

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Click on the cover to link to Goodreads and leave your book recs in my comments. Oh, yeah, and find me on twitter: @ChellyPike