[Book Review] Masks and Mirrors (The Weir Chronicles, #2)

Masks and Mirrors

(The Weir Chronicles, #2)

Sue Duff

What rating would you give it?
4.5 of 5 Stars

Give us a summary.

(Taken from Goodreads)
Ian Black’s commitment to safeguarding Earth has come at a price. His career as an illusionist is at a standstill and attending to the planet’s needs has distanced him from his best friend, his guardians, and the woman he loves. When presented with an opportunity to perform, Ian seizes the chance. But moments before he takes the stage, Ian encounters the mysterious Jaered and a rebel force fighting to protect Earth alongside the Weir.

Jaered is determined to stop a malevolent Weir from releasing a drug capable of wiping out the last vestiges of their race and plunging Earth into self-destruction. But when Jaered is willing to sacrifice an innocent child to obtain the drug for himself, Ian risks everything to uncover the secrets of the rebel forces and their true intentions for Earth’s survival.

What did you think of the book?

What an explosive adventure! And that ending! ASDFGHJKLLJJGFCJFUFUFYDTVJVFD HOLY CRAP! That ending was a serious eye-opener!

This coming from a first-time reader to the series, I am definitely hooked! My biggest concern while reading this was that I wouldn’t understand what was going on (after all, I was missing the events of a whole book!), but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case. The story definitely seems to pick up right where the previous one ended, but that’s still okay, because the story read as though you walked into a crime scene, not knowing what happened, but your job is to figure it out as you go along.(Which was fantastic, by the way!!!!)

My number one question while reading this was, “Who the HELL is EVE???” And wouldn’tcha know it? My question gets revealed [HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER]on the VERY LAST FRIGGIN PAGE OF THE BOOK! [/END SPOILER] (How could you do that to me, Sue?? Hooooow?????) I don’t know if I’m upset or just simply mindblown from the revelation.

Note on the semantics of the book: writing, characters, plot, world-building, delivery, and finer stylistic elements all soooo well done. I was thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. ❤ ❤ ❤ I love when para-worlds, alternate dimensions, and all that jazz come together in a believable and seamless way. Really makes my day — and this book delivers on every note. I can only imagine how good the first book must be to get a sequel like this!

I’m going to try my hardest to get my hands on the first book and be on the lookout for the upcoming 3rd book in 2016!

Does it count towards any reading challenges?

Yup! A whole bunch. xD

• 2015 GoodReads Reading Challenge
• You Read How Many Books?
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• Read A Million Pages
• 105 Reading Challenge (1, 4, 5: YELLOW, 6, 9, 10)
• 2015 New To You Reading Challenge (New Series & New Author To Me)
• Ethereal 2015 (Understanding & talking to animals who act as spirit/animal guides)

Would you recommend this book?

I’d highly recommend this book, even if I haven’t read any others in the series, to just about anyone who loves a good Sci-fi esque, fantasy, dystopian-esque, secret-war-going-on-behind-the-human’s-backs-and-right-under-their-noses sort of book.

Reviewed by AMS (amomentsilence)

Publisher: CrossWinds Publishing Publication Date: April 2015 Format: eBook, RvC Pages: 274 Genre & Themes: Sci-fi, Fantasy, Dystopian, Secret War Going On Behind Your Back N Right Under Your Nose, Dysfunctional Families, Magical Chastity,

Age: Young Adult Reviewer: AMS (amomentsilence) Source: Provided through Roger Charlie services in exchange for an honest review. Challenge:  2015 Good Reads Reading Challenge (56), 52 Books in 52 Weeks, You Read How Many Books?, Read A Million Pages, 105 Reading Challenge, 2015 New To You Reading Challenge, Ethereal 2015

[Book TBBReview] In Despair (Princes of the Blood, Book 3)

In Despair

(Princes of the Blood, Book 3)

Megan Derr

What rating would you give it?
4.5 of 5 Stars

Give us a summary.

(Taken from GoodReads)
Prince Telmé Guldbrandsen has been groomed since childhood to become a Prince of the Blood and Commander of the Legion. He will be the youngest person to ever take the Blooding—if he can behave long enough to prove he can be trusted with the responsibility. But behaving is difficult when he is constantly forced to endure Korin: heir to the Reach of the House and the Temple of the Sacred Three, and the snotty brat Telmé is expected to someday marry.

Then the unthinkable happens, leaving Castle Guldbrandsen—and the Legion—in pieces. Overwhelmed by fear and grief, Telmé convinces Korin to help him attempt the impossible. But rather than relief, Telmé’s triumph is met with anger and rejection …

What did you think of the book?

Note of point, I originally sorta skimmed In Despair on 1/22/15, but didn’t actually pick up the book to read until later. 🙂

Now, onto the review!

I gotta say, this wasn’t what I was expecting. AT ALL.

Thankfully, that means it was FANTASTIC and HIGHLY ENTERTAINING and WHOLLY PRECIOUS all rolled up in one.

I think, this one might just be my favour–second favourite in the series. XD I don’t know if I can ever like it better than the first book, which absolutely captured my imagination and made me fall in love with the wonder of this world, its characters, its customs, and its obvious build-up of potential storytelling that only grew and grew with each and every book. As I mentioned before in my review of With Pride, I truly love the aspect of moving backwards in time as you read each novel of this series, how with each book it builds on the last even as you descend further and further back in the original cast of characters’ lives. This story tells of the fateful events that led to Telme and Korin becoming the serious power-couple they are, as the youngest EVER Commander of the Legion and High Priest of the Sacred Three. I always wanted to know how they came to be who they were, ever since the first book when it was so obvious there was a story to be told there. I couldn’t have been happier with the results this book provided.

Now, lemme first start by saying — what little shits you both were! XDDD

oh my GOD you are both SO annoying but I can’t help but love you even more anyway ❤

What I really, REALLY did not understand, or perhaps didn’t grasp from the first novel, was that they were betrothed and – at least in Telme’s case – Blooded so young. (Telme wasn’t so bad since he was at least 17, but damn! Korin was only 15!) Furthermore, I didn’t realize they were such… oh, what’s the word? oh yes – BRATS for pretty much the duration of their ENTIRE younger lives. XD Hell – in fact, they never grew out of it (which I LOVE, by the way! XD) and continued to be as infuriating as they grew older. They just got a lot better at hiding it in front of others. XD I was really happy to be able to see them in a light that showed… that they were normal, average teenagers too. (Well, as normal and average as one could be given their circumstances.) They fought each other. They got emotional. They were both the most adorable crybabies, completely warranted for crying at the horrifying, COMPLETELY UNWARRANTED, fucked up, unbelievable events that literally turned their lives upside-down in a matter of days. And then kept their lives IN DESPAIR (aha? Aha? See what I did there? ;D ;D ) for longer than I think MY OWN sanity would have allowed before I tore the whole kingdom down and showed them what it means to be a half-demon.

Which only shows that Telme is seriously a better person than me. I wouldn’t have endured that crap for as long as he did. And Korin, too – although he needed to stop whining so much throughout the book. That’s probably my only quip. That, and the abrupt… uh… sorta ending because I would have really liked to see what happened after they walked into that hall [highlight for spoiler] after they defeated the Incubus and went to check to see if people still hated their guts or not[/end spoiler]. I also think the book would have been better had Korin’s side of the story been seen as much as Telme’s… Y’know. So we could get the chance to sympathize a little more with his troubles and worries, instead of just hearing him complain about it or only seeing it from Telme’s occasional glimpses into the disrespectful actions of the Priests and the rest of the Legion towards him. Those mere glimpses seemed overshadowed by the utter ridiculousness of Telme’s situation, and I think if we had followed Korin around in some chapters instead of Telme, seen how bad it was for him as well, I (at least) would have had a bit more sympathy for him. As it was, I often found myself groaning whenever I heard Korin once again go off in a rage, and only sometimes caught myself to remember that he had it just as bad, if not worse in the long run.

That being said… I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t quite expecting some of the theatrics those two pulled in their misadventures or the turn of events that transpired in the walls of Castle Guldbrandsen, but hell, was it an amazing ride!

Highly recommended!

Any warnings you wish to make for your readers?

Ehh… not really. There’s the usual blood and gore and youngins in bad situations, but nothing too horrific or graphic that you’ll lose your stomach. Some underage sexual situations, but no actual sex in this book.

Does it count towards any reading challenges?

As per usual:

• 2015 GoodReads Reading Challenge
• 2015 LGBT Challenge (OTHER/YA)
• You Read How Many Books?
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• Read A Million Pages
• 105 Reading Challenge (Categories: 1, 3, 4, 6, 9)
• Ethereal 2015
• Readathon Day 2015
• 2015 Monthly Motifs & Keyword Reading Challenge (I’m skipping around with this one)
  • Keyword: (MAY) In = “In” Despair

Would you recommend this book?

I think I said that already!

A P.S. for any potential readers: Although this series does NOT have to be read in order, I have the feeling that the reader would enjoy it better if read in its proper book order (books 1-2-3) and not in its time order (books 3-2-1). And if anyone wants to completely skip around, I would still suggest this book be read last. Something about… getting to meet these two in their older and, ehem, “wiser” selves first AND THEN reading about their teenage bumbling (and super-duper-holy-crap-rockin-woozers! heroics, too) makes it so much more… refreshing, I guess? It all sorta comes full circle to see that underneath those masks of professionalism are still two boys, who are still brats, but are also still so very much in love.

Reviewed by AMS (amomentsilence)

Publisher: Less Than Three Press Publication Date: July 2014 Format: ebook, RvC Pages: 221 Genre / Themes: Medieval Fantasy, Bisexual, Paranormal, M/M Romance, Magic, QUILTBAG / LGBTQUIA, Shifters, Demons, Pseudo-vampires, Coming of Age, Idiot Teenagers, Royalty, Nobility, Misunderstanding, War, Monsters, Arranged Marriages, Love+Hate Relationships

Age: Young Adult / Adult (I think…) Reviewer: AMS (amomentsilence) Source: Provided upon request by Publisher/Author Challenge:  2015 Good Reads Reading Challenge (21), 52 Books in 52 Weeks, You Read How Many Books?, Read A Million Pages, 105 Reading Challenge, Readathon Day 2015, 2015 LGBT Reading Challenge, 2015 Monthly Motifs & Keyword Reading Challenge, Ethereal 2015,

[Graphic Novel Review] In Search Of Lost Dragons

In Search of Lost Dragons

Elian Black’Mor (Author, Illustrator), M Carine (Author), Jezequel (Author, Illustrator), Hannah Elder (Editor), Jason Ullmeyer (Contributor), Rodolfo M (Contributor)

What rating would you give it?
5 of 5 Stars

Give us a summary.

(Taken from Goodreads)
Gorgeous full-color paintings, accompanied by a unique story of world-wide exploration and dragon encounters! On the trail of dragons forgotten, an intrepid illustrator and reporter journeys from Europe through the Middle East and finally to Saigon in search of the dark caverns and mountaintop perches where the elusive winged serpents dwell. With the gift of seeing the invisible, our explorer friend records each encounter in a journal of gorgeous, fully painted artwork, capturing every majestic and fearsome visual detail of the scaly behemoths, and accompanies his findings with snippets of local lore as evidence that these hidden beasts continue to shape the world in ways we may never expect!

What did you think of the book?

So. DRAGONS. How could you expect this book to be anything less than AWESOME?

In Search of Lost Dragons is basically a field journal, but it’s done in really creative way – which I LOVE.

It’s kinda like what you’d imagine a field scientist or creature photographer would have if they were searching for dragons instead of lions and tigers and bears.

The illustrations were stunning. I love me some black and white, pencil drawings any day. Color is all fine well and good and all, but a stellar pencil drawing, good shading technique, and lots of smudging can mean all the difference in the world. ❤

I would say however, that this book – unless available in full spread pages – NEEDS TO BE IN PRINT FORM. An ebook copy just won’t do it justice, as I found while looking at the ARC I received from NetGalley. Because the pages were broken up, it seemed disjointed and the full effect was lost. Granted, IF the pages were viewable as full two-page spreads, everything would have been JUST FINE, which is why I’m saying for the finished piece, it needs to be in print or viewable as I previously mentioned.

A great reference, inspiration book on dragons that I think any dragon lover would want to have on their shelves! I know I  certainly do~

(Gods, this book is stunning!)

Any warnings you wish to make for your readers?

None that I can think of.

Does it count towards any reading challenges?

As usual, yes. However it ended up working towards one challenge I wasn’t expecting. It fits #11 Epistolary Fiction for The Eclectic Reader. It also fits all of these:

• 2015 GoodReads Reading Challenge
• You Read How Many Books?
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• Read A Million Pages
• 105 Reading Challenge (Categories: 1, 2, 4, 7, 9)
• 2015 Graphic Novel and Comic Reading Challenge
• NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge
• 2015 Monthly Motifs & Keyword Reading Challenge (I’m skipping around with this one)
  • Keyword: (FEB) CHASE = Search

Would you recommend this book?

I loved it, but I think unless you really like these sorts of books, for the sort of pseudo-scientific aspect of it… then… well… you might not. But if you love dragons, are an creature or concept artist, enjoy guidebooks, infobooks, and the like… then this book is DEFINITELY for you!

Reviewed by AMS (amomentsilence)

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Publication Date: Decemeber 2014 Format: e-ARC Pages: 224 Genre & Themes: Dragon Mythos, Fantasy, Art, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art, Design Full Color Paintings, DRAGONS!!

Age: Young Adult or Adult (I guess?) Reviewer: AMS (amomentsilence) Source: Provided by NetGalley Challenge:  2015 Good Reads Reading Challenge (60), 52 Books in 52 Weeks, You Read How Many Books?, 2015 Monthly Motifs & Keyword Reading Challenge, Read A Million Pages, 105 Reading Challenge, NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge, 2015 Graphic Novel and Comic Reading Challenge, Ethereal 2015