Tag: review

LoveReading Book Buzz: Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Hey everyone,

So today is my last review as part of the Dark Artifices book buzz, and Ill be sharing my review for Queen of Air and Darkness just a little further down!

About the book:

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

Click the link below to order your copy:

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

About the author:

Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts.

My thoughts:

Queen of Air and Darkness is the third book in the Dark Artifices series, and it’s the culmination of all of the action and information in the previous two books.

After the events in Lord of Shadows, the Blackthorns are struggling to come to terms with everything that has happened. Jules and Emma are also in massive turmoil due to the increasing issues surrounding their parabatai relationship.

I found Queen of Air and Darkness much more dense than the other two books. Physically, it is a longer book. But it also has a lot more details for the reader to take in, and a larger cast of characters to keep track of as well.

I really enjoyed this one though. It was a really fitting addition and it brought everything from the previous books together really well.

What I noticed most in this book is the overall theme of love. Love for your friends, love for your family. It just seems to be a continuous undercurrent in the series, but it’s evident most in Queen of Air and Darkness. I really liked that aspect.

Queen of Air and Darkness is a fitting end to the three books. It answered any questions I may have had left over from Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows too. It is dark in parts, but it also has hope between the pages.

Highly recommend this series!

Check out the other great blogs taking part:

LoveReading Book Buzz: Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Hey guys,

Welcome back to my second review for the LoveReading Dark Artifices book buzz. Today its the turn of Lord of Shadows, and I’ll be sharing my review a little further down!

About the book:

Emma Carstairs has finally avenged her parents. She thought she’d be at peace. But she is anything but calm. Torn between her desire for her parabatai Julian and her desire to protect him from the brutal consequences of parabatai relationships, she has begun dating his brother, Mark. But Mark has spent the past five years trapped in Faerie; can he ever truly be a Shadowhunter again?

And the faerie courts are not silent. The Unseelie King is tired of the Cold Peace, and will no longer concede to the Shadowhunters’ demands. Caught between the demands of faerie and the laws of the Clave, Emma, Julian, and Mark must find a way to come together to defend everything they hold dear—before it’s too late.

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices) by Cassandra Clare

About the author:

Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts.

My thoughts:

Lord of Shadows is the second book in the Dark Artifices series, and it picks up after the events of Lady Midnight. For fear of spoilers if you’ve not read the first book, I’m not going to go into the plot of this one because I don’t want to give anything away.

There is plenty happening in Lord of Shadows. With the return of Mark Blackthorn, and Emma and Julian still trying to figure out how to live within the rules of the parabatai, this book shows the complicated relationships of the characters.

There is quite a political undertone in this one too. Not least in relation to how the Shadowhunters are being policed. I found that Lord of Shadows was a much darker book than Lady Midnight. There is a lot going on, but the threads from the previous book are woven really well into Lord of Shadows.

There is a lot more focus on the characters in this on, secondary characters especially come to the fore in Lord of Shadows. I have to say, Ty is definitely one of my favorites and I really enjoy reading about him and Kit.

Lord of Shadows definitely lives up to the first book in terms of action and intrigue. The plot moves fast and there are more than a couple of shocking moments peppered through the book.

Lord of Shadows is a great read. It captures the imagination of the reader and it creates a tapestry of imagery that really helps to paint a picture of the Shadowhunter universe.

Recommended for sure!

Don’t forget to come back next week for my final review of the series, Queen of Air and Darkness!

Check out the other blogs taking part in the book buzz this week:

Night by Night by Jack Jordan

‘If you’re reading this, I’m dead.’

Rejected by her family and plagued by insomnia, Rose Shaw is on the brink. But one dark evening she collides with a man running through the streets, who quickly vanishes. The only sign he ever existed – a journal dropped at Rose’s feet.

She begins to obsessively dedicate her sleepless nights to discovering what happened to Finn Matthews, the mysterious author of the journal. Why was he convinced someone wanted to kill him? And why, in the midst of a string of murders, won’t the police investigate his disappearance?

Rose is determined to uncover the truth. But she has no idea what the truth will cost her…

Night By Night by Jack Jordan

It’s been ages since I’ve finished a book and reviewed it on the same day, but here we are!

Night by Night has been on my TBR for a while (too long really!) so I picked it up yesterday just to get it started. And here we are 24 hours later and I’m done.

I’ve read and loved all of Jack’s books up to now, and Night By Night is definitely another excellent read. It was really compelling and I just couldn’t stop reading it once I started.

Rose is an insomniac, and it’s essentially ruining her life. When we meet her, she is on the edge. Exhausted, paranoid, emotional, everything that goes hand in hand with being barely able to function with no sleep. And when she experiences a tragic event, everything she has known is thrown into chaos.

Fast forward a few years and she is a shell of her former self. When she collides with a man on the street, who promptly disappears, she becomes embroiled in a situation that becomes increasingly dangerous for her and those around her.

Night By Night actually broke my heart, repeatedly. It is a highly emotive book and the narrative is very taut throughout. There is an underlying tension woven through the book, and it doesn’t let up.

Even though the subject matter is really tough, and it made me quite sad, Night by Night is a really great book. Emotionally charged, disturbingly relevant and delivered with honesty, Night by Night is Jack’s best book yet in my opinion

Highly recommended!

LoveReading Book Buzz: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Hi everyone,

Today I’m going to be sharing my review for Lady Midnight with you all just a little further down! This is the first of three posts coming over the next three Tuesdays as I review this series! Make sure to check back next Tuesday for my Lord of Shadows review!

About the book:

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark-who was captured by the faeries five years ago-has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind-and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Click the link below to get your copy now:

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

About the author:

Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts.

My thoughts:

I haven’t read Cassandra Clare for years, but when I was approached by LoveReading to read the Dark Artifices series, I was delighted because YA fantasy is one of my favorite genres to read now.

Lady Midnight took me a while to get into, I’m not going to lie, but once it got it’s claws into me I was hooked.

Having read some of the Shadowhunters series some years back, I had some idea of the characters and the history that led to where/when Lady Midnight is set.

Emma Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, and together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, she sets out to find out what really happened when her parents were killed five years ago. I haven’t fully caught up with the Mortal Instruments books, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out having not read some of the later books in the series.

Lady Midnight is a big book, packed with characters and information, which can be a lot to take in. Once I found my stride though, I was thoroughly invested in the journey that Emma goes on. I don’t want to go into plot details, because I always think that I’m essentially rehashing the blurb, so you won’t find that here.

I really enjoyed Lady Midnight. The characters were interesting, and though the premise is dark, there are some moments of levity in the narrative. The story definitely grabbed me, and I was intrigued to see where the author was going to take me.

I had been looking for a new YA series to get hooked on, and I have definitely found it with The Dark Artifices. It has plenty to keep the reader turning those pages, and I found myself racing to the end to see what was going to happen.

As soon as I finished Lady Midnight, I dove straight into Lord of Shadows, so make sure to come back next week to see what my thoughts are on that one.

Check out the other blogs taking part in the book buzz this week:

Blog Tour: The Whisper Man by Alex North ~ Ellen’s Review

Good morning folks,

After a blip this morning where the draft post and not the full post went out, I’m back again with the proper one!

Today, Ellen is taking part in the blog tour for The Whisper Man by Alex North, and I’ll be sharing her review with you all just a little further down!

About the author:

Alex North was born in Leeds, where he now lives with his wife and son. He studied Philosophy at Leeds University, and prior to becoming a writer he worked there in their sociology department.

About the book:

If you leave a door half-open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken . . .

Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a much-needed fresh start.

But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago, a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys.

Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as ‘The Whisper Man’.

Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle in to their new home.

Except that now another boy has gone missing. And then Jake begins acting strangely.

He says he hears a whispering at his window . . .

Click the link below to order your copy:

The Whisper Man by Alex North

Ellen’s Review:

Stop the press! The Whisper Man is going into my top reads of this year! The perfect combination of supernatural and serial killer chills are exactly what I’m looking for in a book and I found it in this outstanding debut novel by Alex North. I devoured it in one sitting; there was no way I could put it down and carry on as usual until I knew what the outcome was going to be!

I loved Tom and Jake Kennedy – after the sudden death of his wife Tom is struggling with his new life as a single parent and Jake is obviously deeply upset at the loss of his mum. His way of coping with this loss appears to be in creating an imaginary friend to talk to but at times this friend tells Jake scary things. Tom hopes that a fresh start in the town of Featherbank is just what they both need to move on and create new memories but is oblivious to the fact that the town has a dark past.

Twenty years ago a serial killer nicknamed The Whisper Man abducted and murdered five young boys, luring them out by whispering at their windows…admit it, you’ve got the shivers right!? The culprit, Frank Carter, was found and imprisoned but now a young boy has gone missing; did Frank always have an accomplice like the rumours suggested or is there a copycat on the loose?

It is up to detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis to find the boy before history repeats itself but this means Pete has to delve into a past he would rather forget and visit The Whisper Man in prison. It all takes a turn for the terrifying when Jake starts hearing a whispering at his window.

This book totally got under my skin and I definitely triple checked all my locks before I went to bed that night. The thought of your child being abducted is nightmarish in itself and there is so much more in this book to give you the creeps.

It is really difficult to review without being spoilery so I’ll end on saying that I am stunned this is a debut and excited to read more from Alex North.

All the stars!!

Check out the blog tour:

First Monday Crime June Spotlight ~ No One Home by Tim Weaver

Hi loves,

So today I’m shouting about No One Home by Tim Weaver. Tim is one of the panelists on the upcoming First Monday Crime and I was lucky enough to get to read his latest book in the David Raker series. Before I get to reviewing though, here is all of the important FMC info you need to know!

The where and the when:

June 3rd, 2018

6:30 pm

College Building, Room A130

City University London

Join us for another killer panel, starring Tim Weaver, Angela Clarke, Doug Johnstones and Peter Hanington.

Click the link below to order your tickets:

Reserve Your Free Seat

AND, if that weren’t enough, stay for the Summer special – find the perfect book for your holiday with the Big Summer Book Blind Date!

The holiday is booked, the swimming costume is packed, but the big question still remains: who are you bringing with you?

No, not family (sadly you can’t escape them) – we mean what’s your go-to summer read? Big ones, small ones, fast ones, slow ones: there are so many fantastic thrillers and mysteries out there, how can you choose just one?

This year, to make life easier for us, we have some brilliant authors coming to tell us all about their books, and explain why they’re the one you should be sneaking into your suitcase.

Yes, back by popular demand, it’s First Monday’s SUMMER BLIND BOOK DATE

The who:

Tim Weaver – ‘No One Home’

Tim Weaver is the Sunday Times bestselling author of ten thrillers, including I Am Missing and You Were Gone. Weaver has been nominated for a National Book Award, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, and shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library award. He is also the host and producer of the chart-topping Missing podcast, which features experts in the field discussing missing persons investigations from every angle. A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter.

Angela Clarke – ‘On My Life’

Angela Clarke is the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Social Media Murders series. Her debut Follow Me was named Amazon’s Rising Star Debut of the Month, longlisted for the CWA’s Dagger in the Library, and shortlisted for the Good Reader Page Turner Award. Angela has appeared on CBS Reality’s Written In Blood, on stage for BBC Edinburgh Fringe and on BBC News 24’s Ouch comedy special Tales From the Misunderstood, at Noirwich, Camp Bestival, Panic! (in partnership with the Barbican, Goldsmiths University and the Guardian), at City University, at HM Prisons, and she hosts BBC 3 Counties Tales From Your Life, and the Womens’ Radio Station Three Books show. She won the Young Stationers’ Prize 2015 for achievement and promise in writing. A sufferer of EDS III, Angela is passionate about bringing marginalised voices into publishing. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Doug Johnstone – ‘Breakers’

Doug Johnstone is an author, journalist and musician based in Edinburgh. He’s had eight novels published, most recently Crash Land. His previous novel, The Jump, was a finalist for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Several of his other novels have been award winners and bestsellers, and he’s had short stories published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines. His work has been praised by the likes of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Irvine Welsh. Several of his novels have been optioned for film and television. Doug is also a Royal Literary Fund Consultant Fellow. He’s worked as an RLF Fellow at Queen Margaret University, taught creative writing at Strathclyde University and William Purves Funeral Directors. He mentors and assesses manuscripts for The Literary Consultancy and regularly tutors at Moniack Mhor writing retreat. Doug has released seven albums in various bands, and is the drummer for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He also reviews books for The Big Issue magazine, is player-manager for Scotland Writers Football Club and has a PhD in nuclear physics.

Peter Hanington – ‘A Single Source’

Peter Hanington is the author of A Dying Breed and A Single Source. He has worked as a journalist for over twenty-five years, including fourteen years at the Today Programme and more recently The World Tonight and Newshour on the BBC World Service. He lives in London with his wife and has two grown-up children.

No One Home by Tim Weaver~Review:

No One Home is the tenth book in the David Raker series, and I’ll be the first to hold my hand up and say I’ve only read book one. BUT that in no way stopped me from following the story or picking up on Raker’s backstory, it actually made me eager to read the previous books in the series because I enjoyed this one so much.

The book focuses on a small village called Black Gale, and a missing persons case. Raker is called in to investigate the disappearance of four households. The occupants literally disappear overnight with no trace, and the families are trying to find out what happened and where they went on that fateful night.

What follows is a taut, absorbing and thoroughly gripping story that reaches as far back as 1980’s America. I loved the timelines, past and present. I was completely sucked into the lives of the characters and the narrative as a whole.

Complex, dark and tense, No One Home is one of those books that keeps you guessing. It keeps you turning the pages as you become more and more desperate to find out just what happened that night in Black Gale.

No One Home also manages to deliver an emotional gut-punch. It was completely unexpected to feel that level of emotion, but it was pitch perfect in terms of how it all played out.

Highly recommended!

Blog Tour: Your Deepest Fear by David Jackson

Hey lovelies,

Today I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for Your Deepest Fear by David Jackson and I’ll be sharing my review with you all just a little further down!

About the author:

David Jackson is the author of a series of crime thrillers featuring New York Detective Callum Doyle. His debut novel, Pariah, was Highly Commended in the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Awards. When not writing fiction, David spends his time as a lecturer in a university science department. He also gives occasional workshops on creative writing. He lives on the Wirral peninsula with his wife and two daughters.

David can be followed on Twitter, where he goes under the name @Author_Dave. Join David Jackson’s Readers’ Club for all the latest news from David on his books, events and giveaways: http://www.bit.ly/DavidJacksonClub

About the book:

‘Sara! Remember! Victoria and Albert. All I can say. They’re here. They’re-‘ 

These are the last words Sara Prior will ever hear from her husband. 

As DS Nathan Cody struggles to make sense of the enigmatic message and solve the brutal murder, it soon becomes clear that Sara is no ordinary bereaved wife. Taking the investigation into her own hands, Sara is drawn into a world of violence that will lead her in a direction she would never have suspected. 

For Cody, meanwhile, things are about to get personal in the darkest and most twisted ways imaginable . . .

Click the link below to get your copy now:

Your Deepest Fear by David Jackson

My thoughts:

I’m a huge fan of the DS Nathan Cody series, and when I saw that there was a new installment I was thrilled! It felt like I had been waiting for AGES for it, but it was definitely worth it!

Your Deepest Fear sees Cody investigating a murder where the bereaved wife is displaying rather unusual tendencies. Not upset when she should be, and quite secretive at times. This leads Cody to thinking there is more than meets the eye with Sara. The reader gets glimpses into Sara’s train of thought, and as she becomes almost vigilante-like in her quest for justice for her murdered husband, even Cody is pulled into it unknowingly.

Parallel to this, and I’m mindful of spoilers here, Cody has his own problems. Issues in his past have led him to experience some emotional turmoil, and he’s still feeling the effects. Terrifyingly, his past is coming back to haunt him in a big way in Your Deepest Fear.

I’ve never seen him as vulnerable as he is in this book, and it works really well. You get a deeper insight into how his mind is working almost overtime to keep on top of everything and processing what’s happening around him in this book.

Your Deepest Fear is a supremely satisfying thriller. It gives you the creeps, pulls you in immediately and doesn’t let you go until the bitter end. It is clever, dark and downright scary.

I LOVED IT!

Highly recommended, as always!

Previous reviews:

A Tapping At My Door by David Jackson

Hope To Die by David Jackson

Don’t Make A Sound by David Jackson

Check out the blog tour: