On McPig's Wishlist - Milayna

I loved PODs, a Post Apocalyptic YA by Michelle K. Pickett, so I'm really hoping to get my trotters on this one once it releases.


Milayna (The Milayna Series #1)
by Michelle K. Pickett

From the bestselling author of PODs comes an unforgettable tale of action, intrigue, and following your heart in the midst of betrayal.

It’s hard being good all the time. Everyone needs to be bad once in a while. But for seventeen-year-old Milayna, being good isn’t a choice. It’s a job requirement. And it’s a job she can’t quit. Born a demi-angel, Milayna steps in when danger and demons threaten the people around her, but being half angel isn’t all halos and happiness. Azazel, Hell’s demon, wants Milayna’s power and he’ll do anything to get it. But he only has until her eighteenth birthday, after which she becomes untouchable.

With the help of other demi-angels, Milayna thwarts the trouble Azazel sends her way. Fighting by her side is Chay. He’s a demi-angel who's sinfully gorgeous, and Milayna falls hard. But is Chay her true love… or her nemesis in disguise?

When she learns of a traitor in her group, there’s no one she can trust… not even the one she loves.


Expected publication: March 17th 2015 by Clean Teen Publishing

Ironskin - Book Review

Ironskin (Ironskin #1)
by Tina Connolly

What is it about:
Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

What did I think of it:
What surprises me is that apparently you do not have to credit the story or author you used when you write a retelling. I noticed this when I read Ten by Gretchen McNeil, a clear retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, and noticed it again with this book, which is a retelling of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

That wonderment aside: I really liked this book.

You may know I have a soft spot for retellings, if they manage to bring a cool new twist to the original, and Ironskin certainly succeeds in that.

I was immediately drawn into to the story, both because of the familiarity of the original story and the fey elements Connolly added to the tale. I really liked how Connolly took bits and pieces from the original story,enough for fans of Jane Eyre to recognize them, but wasn't afraid to throw out or change the things she didn't need for her story. It made this book stronger than it would have been if she stuck too close to the original.

I was intrigued by the idea of fey curses being put on people, and ironskin being used to contain these curses. This element plays a large role in the story and I was impressed by how well Connolly had thought her world building through, making it fit seamlessly into the story.

All in all this is one of the better Jane Eyre retellings I've come across, and seeing how it ends I'm glad I've got the sequel Copperhead in my tbr-pile already. I'm interested to see if Connolly used another classic, or if she struck out on her own. From what I've seen of her storytelling skills so far, I'm pretty sure she can easily pull off the latter.

Why should you read it:
It's a very cool Retelling of Jane Eyre

Teaser Tuesdays - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Karou caught his wrist with one hand and grabbed a fistful of beard with the other. A crack; a bullet blazed over her head.

(page 145, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor)




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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Tears of the Rose - Early Book Review

The Tears of the Rose (The Twelve Kingdoms #2)
by Jeffe Kennedy

What is it about:
Three sisters. Motherless daughters of the high king. The eldest is the warrior-woman heir; the middle child is shy and full of witchy intuition; and the youngest, Princess Amelia, she is as beautiful as the sun and just as generous.

Ami met her Prince Charming and went away to his castle on the stormy sea-cliffs—and that should have been her happily ever after. Instead, her husband lies dead and a war rages. Her middle sister has been taken into a demon land, turned into a stranger. The priests and her father are revealing secrets and telling lies. And a power is rising in Ami, too, a power she hardly recognizes, to wield her beauty as a weapon, and her charm as a tool to deceive…

Amelia has never had to be anything but good and sweet and kind and lovely. But the chess game for the Twelve Kingdoms has swept her up in it, and she must make a gambit of her own. Can the prettiest princess become a pawn—or a queen?

What did I think of it:
You might know by now that Voodoo Bride and I are big fans of Jeffe's work, so it won't come as a surprise we were very happy to get an ARC of The Tears of the Rose.

Book one in this series was about Andi, the middle sister of three. The Tears of the Rose is about Amelia, the youngest.

Now I will confess Amelia didn't really make a good impression on me in the first book. Not that she was unlikable, but she came across as a bit shallow and spoiled. Amelia being the heroine of this book I expected these flaws to be downplayed.

And that's where Jeffe proves to be an amazing writer. Instead of downplaying Amelia's flaws, they're right there for everyone to see. Amelia is spoiled, shallow and selfish at the start of this story. She might have some cause, seeing she just lost her husband, but still she's acting like a toddler who doesn't get her way at times.

Still... The way she is written made me see the good and kind person Amelia could be, if only the people around her had given her the chance to become that person. It's easy to dislike Amelia because of her spoiled attitude, but looking at how she grew up, how life has treated her, I could really understand why she became as she is. It made me root for her to open her eyes and see the world for what it really is. To change for the better.

And then a mysterious figure steps forwards who makes Ami question her world views.

The White Monk drew my attention from the first moment he is mentioned by the way Jeffe describes him. Her descriptions are always beautiful and vivid, but some of the descriptions of the White Monk felt like poetry.

My favorite line in the whole book is probably this:
"He laughed, raven voiced, threading his hands inside his sleeves as if he restrained himself from something." *
This is so beautiful and tells so much in just a few words. I could not just picture, but also hear and feel this scene.

I could go on for ages raving about how beautiful this book is written, but I know you want to know about the story.

It is a beautiful story!

Ami has a lot to learn, a lot to overcome on her path to find herself. Jeffe doesn't make it easy. Ami's road to happiness, to a life where she's more than the spoiled, pretty princess is long and filled with pain and heartache. I had trouble putting the book down, and kept rooting for Ami to reach her goals.

The ending...

Agh!

The ending gives closure on some things, but also gives a new challenge that has to be faced, making sure I will be counting the months until the release of book three. I need to find out what happens next to Ami and her sisters!

All in all this is a wonderful Fantasy Romance filled with emotion and suspense. I felt like rereading it the moment I finished it, and you can bet I will put this ARC on my keeper shelves, just as I've already preordered the book to put next to my treasured copy of The Mark of the Tala (book one).

Why should you read it:
It's a beautiful Fantasy Romance





*quote is from the ARC, so might be different in the final version of the book, although I hope it will not be changed.

Haunted - Book Review

Haunted (Dreaming Anastasia #2)
by Joy Preble

What is it about:
Anne Michaelson "is trying to forget everything that happened last year. But it's hard to do when her heart aches for Ethan and there's a wild-haired woman stalking her...

Ethan Kosinsky is embracing his newfound mortality. But something is drawing him back to the girl he left behind--back to Anne and back to the magic...

A mysterious stranger is hunting Anne wherever she goes. No one sees her but Anne. When she searches for the woman's identity, Anne exposes secrets about her own life-- things that will change her life forever. And when the gorgeous Ethan returns, her life gets a lot more complicated.

Anne thought her journey with the Romanov family had ended, but it was just the beginning...

What did I think of it:
I really liked the first book in this trilogy, but must say I was a bit reluctant to read the second book, because I feared it would ruin the ending of book one.

Luckily that wasn't the case.

This book did of course introduce a second love interest for Anne, to be able to create a sort of love triangle...

Overall this book didn't draw me in as much as the first book. It felt messier. Anne is flopping around, not knowing what to do for a large part of the book. When she does what she has to do, it feels more like luck, than that she actually figures out what's going on.

Still this book was pleasant enough to keep me reading. There also weren't any difficult fonts used, like in the first book, making it easier to read. There are some interesting developments and discoveries in this book, that make me curious what will happen in the next book. Having come this far, I think I'll see if I can get my trotters on the last book to find out how this trilogy will end.

Why should you read it:
It's a nice Paranormal YA read.

On McPig's Wishlist - Dark Triumph

I very much enjoyed the first book in this series, so I'm very curious about this book.


Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2)
by Robin LaFevers

When Sybella arrived at the doorstep of St Mortain half mad with grief and despair the convent were only too happy to offer her refuge—but at a price. The sisters of this convent serve Death, and with Sybella naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, she could become one of their most dangerous weapons.

But her assassin's skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to the life that nearly drove her mad. Her father's rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother's love is equally monstrous. But when Sybella discovers an unexpected ally she discovers that a daughter of Death may find something other than vengeance to live for . . .

My Soul to Save - Book Rant

My Soul to Save (Soul Screamers #2)
by Rachel Vincent

What is it about:
When Kaylee Cavanaugh screams, someone dies.

So when teen pop star Eden croaks onstage and Kaylee doesn’t wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can’t cry for someone who has no soul.

The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad’s ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend’s loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls: a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can’t possibly understand.

Kaylee can’t let that happen, even if trying to save their souls means putting her own at risk...

What did I think of it:
What is it that makes that when a bad guy does something it's evil and wrong, and when the good guy does the exact same thing it's OK?

That's the question that stayed with me after finishing this book.

It's something that I've encountered before in my reading (Allegiant anyone?) and that annoys me.

It also took away from my reading enjoyment in this book. Overall this is a really cool story, and I was enjoying it, up until Kaylee decides on her 'Holier Than Thou' solution, in which she gets to do the things the bad guys do, without it being the horror it is when the bad guys do it.

I grumbled, I growled...

I finally decided to try to ignore it, and see it as the double standard that is used for good guys and bad guys. I decided to pretend Kaylee doesn't notice she's acting in the same manner as the bad guys.

Then I reached the ending, and Kaylee started angsting over a morally questionable action made by someone else. Really?! Now she did see how wrong it was, but not when she was doing it herself?! ARGH!

So... I think I will stay away from the next book in this series until I've calmed down a bit.

Why should you read it:
Mostly it's a fun and original Paranormal YA read.