JJ superhero has illicit affair with Shadow agent Solange.
I still haven’t yet had time to sink my teeth into the first Signs of the Zodiac novel. Yet, I seem to keep picking up the novellas and thoroughly enjoying them. And this one was no different. Taking the idea of love and polar opposites and twisting it into a story that was both fun and kind of tragic. Especially when JJ is left at the end, clutching a broken heart and forced to face an unhopeful future.
There is something fun about a tale where total opposites
attract. And although mostly this is just slight personality quirks, in Dark Matters, it is actually opposites.
Yin and yang. Dark and light. And although you kind of spend a lot of the time
hoping that you’re not right about the darkness. That this is actually a story
about love and destiny. There are so many hints that it’s not quite what you
want, but enough that keeps you hoping. Which makes the crash at the end of the
story all the more bittersweet and powerful.
I can’t wait to see where this novella fits into the rest of the Signs of the Zodiacworld. And, well, sink my teeth into the novels that are sitting on my shelves, just waiting to be read.
Bones, faces New Orleans ghouls who eat victims alive – horror.
I really enjoyed this introduction to Bones. This story hints that he’s going to be a great male lead for the Night Huntress series. Or at least, one that is going to make me happy. He has a strong moral compass, is incredibly tough and has a slightly rebellious streak. All things which I love in any literary character… the fact that it’s wrapped up in a good-looking package with an English accent just makes it all the better…
I’ve read a lot of stories set in America. It’s a bit like
all forms of entertainment media, America seems to be the centre for a lot of
this. This is the first story I’ve read set in New Orleans though. And I’m
really hoping that the rest of the series is set here too. There is such a fun
and different flavour to this town. It is so unlike any other American setting
which I’ve read. Actually, it’s honestly the only place in the US that I’m
really interested in visiting…
The name Reckoning made this seem like it was going to be about revenge, or somebody turning, or the end of the world as we know it. It was a little bit about revenge, but mostly it was about hunting down the crazies. And the moral arguments that Bones has to make with himself while he does so. Becca is used to find the villains, but at what cost? Does the sacrifice of one person’s safety mean the survival of so many more? Is it a fair trade off?
You can’t tell by looking at me that my Dad is Poseidon, God of the Sea.
It’s not easy being a half-blood these days. Even a simple game of dodgeball can turn into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants – and that’s just the beginning.
Now Camp Half-Blood is under attack and, unless I can get my hands on the Golden Fleece, the whole camp will be invaded by monsters. Big ones…
This was such a fun, easy and enjoyable read. As an adaptation from a novel that includes a lot of detail, it works kind of brilliantly. It also swept me up in the world of Percy Jackson all over again. Enough so that I quickly picked up Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor as soon as I turned the last page – Riordan always takes you on such a great journey through mythology and teenage fun!
There were some parts of the novel that I missed in this
retelling – primarily the prophecy which Clarisse is given. It is vaguely
mentioned once towards the end, but it doesn’t feature as heavily in Clarisse’s
character development (what little there is) throughout the story. Although, since
this is a series about Percy, it is understandable that one of the first
aspects to be cut out is the development of a secondary character.
I love that this isn’t an overly bright and colourful graphic
novel. The series isn’t really one that lends itself to a bright and
deliriously happy outlook. After all, Percy spends the entire five years of
this storyline being attacked by numerous gods and monsters… but it is still a
little light and colourful, and that humour and enjoyment of life manages to weave
itself into the colour scheme.
Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God.
I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. Now I spend my time battling monsters and generally trying to stay alive. This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I’ve stolen his lightning bolt – and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea.
There is something about the Percy Jackson stories that I just can’t seem to get enough of. Actually, almost anything created by Rick Riordan seems to draw me in pretty fully and quickly. So I’m not really sure why it took me so long to realise that there was a series of graphic novel rewrites of the original series… and then why it still took me a little while to get my hands on the first one of these… and now that I have… I’m super, super glad. And looking forward to getting the other four and spending my afternoons in the beautiful illustrations.
It’s always hard to adapt a full length novel into anything shorter. I mean, there’s a reason that I very rarely like movie adaptations of well-loved books, there is ALWAYS something that needs to be left out. I might only just be sinking my teeth into graphic novels, but it’s definitely the same for these adaptations too. What do you leave out? What do you leave in? Luckily for me (and unluckily for my bank account), this adaptation was kind of perfect. Yes, there were many small details and moments left out, but the storyline was still able to move on quite happily. Within two pages I had ordered The Sea of Monsters, because this adaptation was able to meet all my expectations.
Passion runs as hot as a fever dream in these all-new stories by four New York Times bestselling provocateurs of the paranormal…
In Angela Knight’s Blood and Roses, a vampire warrior and his seductive captor join forces to stop a traitor from unleashing an army of demonic predators on their kingdom.
New in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is Whisper of Sin, in which a woman in lethal danger finds an unlikely protector – and lover – in a volatile member of the DarkRiver pack.
Virginia Kantra continues the haunting tales of the Children of the Sea in Shifting Sea, the story of a wounded soldier rescued by a strange and enigmatic young woman.
Meljean Brook launches a bold new steampunk series with Here There Be Monsters, as a desperate woman strikes a provocative – and terrifying – bargain to gain overseas passage.
I’ve had this collection sitting on my shelf for ages. I just haven’t gotten around to reading it… until now. And now I’m wondering why I took so long to sink my literary teeth in… I already had the Psy-Changeling series, but now I have another three paranormal romance series to obsess over… when they eventually arrive on my doorstep.
The themes and paranormal characters in this collection of
four novellas run the gambit. There’s a steampunk tale with pirates, a romance
with a leopard shapeshifter and one with vampires and their battles. The
romances are instantaneous and involve a lot of running away… the only thing
that these four novellas really have in common is the fact that they are all intense,
fun and have a good ending. Although, maybe not good stories to read when you
have to sleep alone….
I never realised that I was missing stories about pixies from my bookshelves until I read this novella. Now I want to see if I can find any story that involves these little sprites… and dig myself further into this series that has them as supporting characters. After all, Jenks isn’t a lead character, but he does (apparently) feature in the other Hollows stories and there was a lot of background to his character that I just haven’t got yet… but I’m trying to fix that right now.
Just before reading this novella, I had the privilege of sinking my teeth into Circe, so Greek mythology and stories were in the forefront of my mind while reading this. Which means that the moment that nymphs and dryads were mentioned, I started grinning like a school girl with a crush. The fact that the nymph is a warrior and a little unhinged and ran around with a great big sword made me all the happier. I always enjoyed a good mental case running around with a sword… it adds a sense of humour and entertainment to the storyline.
Harrison is able to add a great deal of detail in a very small amount of pages. I particularly loved the cultural and social backstory of pixies in this story. The creation of an entire paranormal race with their own motives, movements and beliefs is something that can be quite difficult to highlight by itself, but adding in a few fights with a sword-wielding nymph and a bit of a conspiracy that doesn’t really end in the best way… well, that is some fantastic writing.
Title: Blood Work Author: Kim Harrison Series: The Hollows #0.2 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves: Graphic novels, Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 16th April 2019 Pace: Fast Format: Graphic novel Publisher: Ballantine Books Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: Damn, she was fast.
When Ivy met Rachel, the result wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Sparks flew as the living vampire and the stubborn witch learned what it meant to be partners. Now Kim Harrison, the acclaimed author of Pale Demon and Black Magic Sanction, turns back the clock to tell the tale – in an original full-color graphic novel.
Hot-as-hell, tough-as-nails detective Ivy Tamwood has been demoted from homicide down to lowly street-crime detail. As i f rousting trolls and policing pixies instead of catching killers wasn’t bad enough, she’s also been saddled with a newbie partner who’s an earth witch. It’s enough to make any living vampire bare her fangs. But when a coven of murderous witches begins preying on werewolves, Rachel Morgan quickly proves she’s a good witch who knows how to be a badass.
Together, Ivy and Rachel hit the mean streets to deal swift justice to the evil element among Cincinnati’s super-natural set. But there’s more to their partnership than they realize – and more blood and black magic in their future than they bargained for.
I felt hooked on this series before I opened the first
novel. But if I was kind of on the fence about whether to buy more of these
books and truly sink my teeth into them… this graphic novel made me feel much
more certain about my newest obsession. I was almost late to a meeting because
I was so absorbed in reading through this. The imagery and the storyline just
swept me away beautifully.
I’ve been reading a few graphic novels lately and this one
was a little more sexualised than the others that I’ve been reading. A little
more expected from the medium than the other contemporaries which I’ve been absorbing.
But I didn’t find it much of a problem. There was sexualisation, but it wasn’t disturbingly
so. Actually, it worked incredibly well since this is aimed at more of an adult
audience and there is a very sexual component to the storyline and characters
anyway.
I’m not sure if I was supposed to read this before or after the first Hollows novel. It provides great back story, but since it was published after Dead Witch Walking, I’m very uncertain. Luckily, I absolutely loved this story and it won’t be a large time gap between reading this and the first novel (when the first novel arrives on my doorstep that is).
Title: The Turn Author: Kim Harrison Series: The Hollows #0.1 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 4th – 16th April 2019 Pace: Fast Format: Novel Publisher: Pocket Books Fiction Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: Hesitating, she went over it again to make sure the holes were filled.
Can science save us when all else fails?
Trisk and her hated rival, Kal, have the same goal: save their species from extinction.
But death comes in the guise of hope when a genetically modified tomato created to feed the world combines with the government’s new tactical virus, giving it an unexpected host and a mode of transport. Plague rises, giving the paranormal species the choice to stay hidden and allow humanity to die, or to show themselves in a bid to save the human race.
Under accusations of scientific misconduct, Trisk and Kal flee across a plague-torn United States to convince leaders of the major paranormal species to save their supposedly weaker kin. Not everyone thinks humanity should be saved, though, and Trisk must fight the prejudices of two societies to prove not only that humanity does have something to offer but also that long-accepted beliefs against women, dark magic, and humanity itself can turn to understanding; that when people are at their worst, the best show their true strength; and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found.
I really, really wanted to give this novel a much, much
lower rating. Actually, when I first put it down I did… but the more I think
about it, the more I realise that I loved it. Alright, I wasn’t a huge fan of
the ending (hence the slightly tanty that I threw when I finished this), but it
was an incredibly powerful and intense story. One that I won’t forget at any point
soon. And one that I will definitely read again and again and again…
I have honestly never wanted a character to die more than I
did in this novel. I even had to stop reading this for a while because I was
getting so damn ragey at Kal. And it’s probably because his villainy and
actions hit a little too close to home. After all, every single horror in this story
comes from the jealousy of a man, and his pride and belief that a woman cannot
possibly be smarter than him. Better than him when she doesn’t fit the roles
that he assigns to her. Like I said, it struck way too close to home. And it made me want to smack him around the
head, and make sure the vampires and witches actually managed to kill him… I’ve
really never gunned for a villain to die so badly. I’ve cheered before when
they have… but I’ve never screamed when they haven’t…
This might be the first book I’ve read that features a
female scientist. At least, the first fantasy tale (I’ve read plenty of
non-fiction stories by female environmental scientists, but never a fiction
tale). I may be an environmental scientist as opposed to a geneticist, but the
drive to publish and create new avenues of research for myself is still there. I
completely understood why Trisk was so determined to get her name on her own
research, and the fine line that she had to walk. Alright, I don’t have to deal
with many of these issues because the story is based in the 60’s, but there are
echoes of them in every researchers life. Which is probably why I was so
aggressively determined to see Kal end, and painfully if I had my way.
It’s obvious that I’ve been reading a lot of gushy, happily
ever after tales lately. Because I fully expected that of this story. I didn’t
for one moment think that I might not be happy with the ending. And I really
didn’t consider that it would make me roar a little bit in rage (my poor
partner was more than a little confused at my reaction). But, the more I’ve
thought of it, the more I’ve actually liked it. After all, there aren’t the
happy ending, everything tied in a neat bow finales in real life, so why
shouldn’t there be less-than-perfect endings in the novels?
What happens when “the happiest day of your life” turns into a nightmare? Forget the drunken best man or the bridesmaid dresses from the ’80s… none of these wedding day disasters can compare to a cursed bride determined to make it down the aisle, or a vampire who is about to disrupt you wedding.
My best friend is getting married this year. Which made it
feel like kind of a fun time to read this collection of four wedding themed
novellas. After all, I get to be a bridesmaid, and this collection will
definitely put into light the ways in which things can go seriously and
drastically wrong. Especially since none of these things are going to happen at
her wedding.
I was honestly expecting these to be four novellas about a
couple getting married and things going drastically wrong for them. Instead, it
was four tales of mayhem and magic where the weddings just happened to be the
backdrop event, or, in some cases, the instigating event. It made the storylines
so much less predictable and just that much more fun…
Nicki Styx sees dead people. Worse, she’s a replacement bridesmaid forced to wear a hidesouly yellow dress. If only the chatty ghost of the original bridesmaid will just leave her alone, Nicki may survive this ceremony yet.
So I maybe shouldn’t have read this novella right before
going to bed. Alone. Normally urban fantasy tales don’t really bother me right
before bed. Because, well, they’re so obviously make believe. But, this one
involves a dead woman who was sexually attacked right before being killed off. That
hit a little too close to home… and made it a little difficult to get to sleep
(even with my giant dog sleeping across my feet).
This is one of those stories that sinks beneath your marrow
and lingers for a long while. In the best way possible. It is fun and
adventurous, with a healthy dose of revenge and action. There’s also a little romance
thrown in for good measure, which just made me happy and tingly on the inside.
Although this was a bit of a whodunnit / find peace for the
dead girl kind of story, I really liked the secondary storyline of a honky-tonk
redneck wedding. It’s a reminder that you don’t get to choose your family, so
you may as well jump in and enjoy their company. Even if it does make you kind
of uncomfortable…
Earth and Skye 