March Update

Hello, everyone! Greetings, and welcome to Fiction Fairies. Thanks for stopping by. 

I know it's been a while since we last posted, and I must apologize! We've been incredibly busy with the college process - acceptances, campus visits, scholarship applications... Yikes. However, have no fear. We will have a review up in the near future, this one on the fantasy novel The Warded Man by Peter Brett.

I also thought it would be cool to update you guys on how senior year panned out for us (or at least me) and wanted to share the acceptances, scholarship offers, etc. 

I applied to 8 places. Three of them were reaches: 

• Rice University
• Vanderbilt University
• Northwestern University

Then I had safeties:

• University of Houston
• University of Miami
• Ohio State University
• University of Minnesota,
• Loyola University Chicago

The results... Are you ready?

Yay for Jon Snow

Acceptances:

• all my safeties!

Rejections:

• Vanderbilt
• Northwestern

Unknown:

• Rice

Merit scholarship offers:

• University of Minnesota: ~8,500/year (OOS tuition waived)
• University of Houston: ~8,000/year
• University of Miami: 25,000/year
• Ohio State University: ~17,000/year (OOS tuition waived)
• Loyola University Chicago: 20,000/year

 I wasn't too surprised with Vandy and NU - I don't have any spectacular extracurriculars or hooks, and my ECs are all split up because I moved in the middle of high school. I really hope I get into Rice University, and will know probably Friday or Monday. 

Wish me luck!

If you'd like to know my stats, just shoot us a question over email and I can answer whatever questions you might have.

Kisses~~

Cassie

Review: F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher

Greetings, readers! Happy Saturday and welcome to Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher.



Helena Conway has fallen in love.
Unwillingly. Unwittingly.
But not unprovoked.
Kit Isley is everything she's not - unstructured, untethered,
and not even a little bit careful.
It could all be so beautiful... if he wasn't dating her best friend.
Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others.
Until she doesn't.
Summary from Goodreads.com



I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS.

Yay for Ron Swanson.

There. That was dramatic.
I mean, I knew Tarryn Fisher has a fantastic writing style, but I still wasn't expecting this.
I read her book Marrow several months ago and was captivated. Horrified. Amazed. Fisher's writing grips you by the throat and refuses to let you breath until you read the very last word of her book. The same thing happened to me with F*ck Love.

The first half of the book, I was just going along with Helena and Kit. I wasn't super happy with them. I hate angst, and this story has it in spades. Then, about 70% through, the truth of the book hit me.
Like a truck.
Fisher spoke to me in this book - a lot of the message she sends directly applied to me. She talks about holding yourself back, conforming to expectations, lying to yourself, wanting what's safe, being afraid to let go of yourself and show people who you really are. She even mentions at one point how reading romance novels is just an escape mechanism, a way to avoid reality and responsibility.

That's the nature of the truth, though. What's fun about being dropped into ice water? That's why half the world walks around wearing rose-colored glasses, watching comedies and reading romance books.

When I read the quote, I didn't want to admit how accurate it was.

Who wants to hide from the truth? Maybe people who have had too much of it. Or people who have had too little. Or people who are too shallow to appreciate its hard edges.

I was, once again, horrified after reading this book. But unlike with Marrow, I wasn't horrified by the darkness of human nature/how unfair the world is. With this book,  I was horrified with how much I hold myself back, how much I avoid reality, and how much life I'm missing. When I finished F*ck Love, I wanted to run outside and buy the next plane ticket to Iceland and start my world-wide exploration. I had this huge desire to just live the life I've always dreamed of and be happy and sad and heartbroken and exhilarated.
It's an inspiring book.
It pokes at all your rules and asks, "Why can't you be you? Why can't you do that? Don't regret never taking the leap."


ANYWHO.

The characters honestly bugged the heck out of me. I liked them 50% of the time and wanted to slap them the other 50%.

• Although Helena was cute and funny and a total Harry Potter dork, she was also weak, and melodramatic. While her stalker tendencies made me laugh a lot, she also frustrated me to no end.
• Kit... I... I didn't get it. What was so great about him? So many people freaking loved him. He was just a mysterious, hipster artist who loved passionately and spoke only when he had something meaningful to say. Not my type, but maybe it's yours?
• Greer was like a fairy with lavender hair who was free-spirited and sweet and sassy and brought out the "real" Helena.
• Helena's best friend was annoying and a horrible human being.

The romance was, like I said before, not my cup of tea. I loathe angst and broody, moody relationships full of passion and scorned lovers. But as I understand it, a number of people enjoy that.
The plot kept me captivated! I read the whole book in one day. No joke.
To conclude: 
I was quite frustrated with the characters, while at the same time morbidly fascinated. I was hooked, and couldn't put down the book. Fisher's writing style is magnificent... Spell-binding. The words flow beautifully. The main ideas behind F*ck Love really hit home with me, and seriously made me reconsider myself and my life ambitions. I'm going to have to re-read this one.


I'll wrap it up with one of the more moving quotes, which also represents a critical message in the book:

Don't be upset that you can't attain constant happiness. It's the quickest way to feel like a failure in life. If each of our lives represented a page in a book, happiness would be the punctuation. It breaks up the parts that are too long. It closes off some things, divides others. But it's brief - showing up when it's needed and filling tired paragraphs with breaks.

If you have any comments to share, I would love to hear them!

Kisses~~
Cassie

Review: The Wolf Queen (Arcadia #2) by Kelley Heckart

Greetings, readers! Happy Monday, and welcome to Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing The Wolf Queen, which is the second book in the Arcadia series by Kelley Heckart.


A new twist on Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Lycaon the werewolf. A Bronze Age fantasy, adventure, and romance set in Arcadia, the wild forests of the goddess Artemis... Game of Thrones meets The Iliad...

A tormented wolf man... A mysterious girl with a terrible secret...

Alara, a princess from a foreign land, is forced to wed the sorcer-king Aramond, a power-hungry warlord who discovers her dark secret and wants to use her to create an invincible army. When she meets Lycaon, she must decide if she should trust the cursed, tormented half-man half-wolf who might be her enemy or her true mate.

Lycaon, once a great king until her was cursed by Zeus to be a werewolf, is drawn to the mysterious princess. He is torn between helping Alara escape and using her to gain power over those who despise him.

Secrets abound and old enemies are reunited to battle Aramon before his terrible plan is unleashed. Time is running out as the dark moon approaches. Soon, Arcadia will be overrun with an unstoppable, vicious army unless Aramon can be defeated. To prevent his victory, the cost is high. As Lycaon's affection for Alara grows, it becomes more difficult for him to decide which to save: Arcadia or her.

Copy of The Wolf Queen provided by the author for an honest review




Tomorrow, I have an AP Chem test. Therefore, being the amazing student I am, I decided to binge-read a book. I chose this one.

I need to stress the fact that for the past month, I've been reading urban fantasy. Like, by the boatload. And a lot of the ones I've been reading are highly polished, very popular series. So the jump to a different genre was probably a poor idea.

The Wolf Queen is a blend of mythology and paranormal/fantasy romance - and I can honestly say I haven't read anything quite like it. Normally I stay away from mythology... It's not my thing, unless it's a Persephone re-write. So please bear this in mind: mythological fantasy romance just ain't my cup of tea. Not anything against this book or others like it, I just don't enjoy it as much.

That being said...

The characters in The Wolf Queen are an interesting bunch. We have a mysterious young woman Alara who is both fierce and vulnerable. Lycaon is a moody man cursed to be a werewolf (basically) and holds Alara's fate in his hands. He's... Well, you either like him or you don't. He was a bit dominating and broody for my taste, but I'm hypersensitive to bouts of brooding so

There's a ton of other characters that I'm too lazy to write about because I actually intend to study for AP Chem eventually.

The romance did not click with me. I'm not sure if I got used to a slow build (from the previous UF series I've been reading) or what, but this felt like insta-love and insta-lust to me. I mean... Hmm... Just... Less than a week to fall in love???

I'm sure it happens, but I'm more of the mindset "I'll believe it when I see it".

It probably works for ancient Greek times because, hey, their life spans were hella short.

The plot was very exciting and changed constantly. I never knew what was going to happen and it kept going places I didn't anticipate.

To conclude: If mythological fantasy romance is your thing, check it out! If not, I still don't see how it'd hurt. It was a fun, lighter read and all.

Disclaimer: I haven't read the first in the series so I was kind of confused when I read The Wolf Queen.

Thank you Kelley Heckart for providing the ebook!

If you have any comments to share, I'd love to hear them.

Kisses~
Cassie

Review: Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop

Greetings, readers! Happy Sunday and thanks for stopping by Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing Written in Red, which is the first novel in the The Others series by Anne Bishop.

No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities - vampires and shape-shifters among them - who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut - a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard - a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she's keeping a secret, and second, she doesn't smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she's wanted by the government, he'll have to decide if she's worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

Summary from Goodreads.com


First impressions pack a punch. Ever tried a dish - maybe tacos - for the first time, and it was horrible? And then you tell yourself, "Goodness gracious, I am NEVER eating tacos again! Tacos are evil." But a few years down the road your friend makes you tacos, and says they're the best thing ever. And after tasting this glorious creation, you decide that hey, tacos aren't so bad.

WORLD = TRANSFORMED.

This was my experience with Anne Bishop. Once upon a time, I tried reading her Black Jewels series. It did not go well. Then  I decided to give her another shot with Written in Red and I was quite happy with my choice.

The characters are funny, if a bit cliche? Simon is very wolf-y in that he thinks like an animal and can be quite childish or simple in his reasoning. It's cute, but frustrating too. Meg is kind of a Mary Sue, which apparently is Anne Bishop's tendency for MCs. Meg is sweet and innocent, and for some reason unknown, everyone likes her and wants to protect her. It sounds horrible, but it didn't get on my nerves too much. Everyone else is kind of just there... I mean, they play a role but eh.
Sam is Simon's kid nephew and is super adorable though.
The romance is ALMOST NON-EXISTENT.

And it bothers me. I'm halfway through Book 3, and it's STILL NOT THERE.
This is partly due to Meg's extremely innocent nature, and Simon's inability to recognize his own feelings. But maybe no romance is a plus for you! If so, kudos to you. You'll probably enjoy it very much. For me, though, romance is my sustenance. If it ain't there, I might just wither away to nothing.
The story is good - it kept me on my feet. But one complaint I have is that the action is very plot-driven and not character-driven at all. Things keep happening one after the other, and Meg/Simon/etc just have to keep dealing with it.

The world-building is spot-on though; you'll be happy to see it grow and develop marvelously with each book.

To conclude : it's a book that easily kept my interest (I kept sneaking my phone out to read during class) and I got sucked in very quickly. I wish the romance was heavier, but overall I think it's a fun read. The paranormal beings are ruthless in this series, and see humans as meat. I found it refreshing instead of having the same old romantic, lusty perspective most authors take on. 10% of me was "ew, they just tore the human to pieces and ate him" and 90% was "Whoa. MUST KEEP READING!"

If you have any comments to share, I'd love to hear them!!

Kisses~~
Cassie

Review: Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson #3) by Patricia Briggs

Greetings, readers! Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by. Today I'll be reviewing Iron Kissed, the third book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.


I could smell her fear, and it satisfied something deep inside me that had been writhing under her cool, superior gaze. I curled my upper lip so she could get a good look at my sharp teeth. I might only weigh thirty or so pounds in my coyote shape, but I was a predator...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether her wants her to or not.

Mercy's loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can't decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her...

summary from goodreads.com



If you've ever lived in a snowy, cold place, you know that ice can be a nasty jerk. You'll be walking across a parking lot, minding your own business, when BAM! There's ice on the pavement that you didn't see, and you just slipped and fell on your butt. In front of a lot of people.
Who may or may not have laughed.

(April = my spirit animal)

I've been there.

And Iron Kissed was a mean, nasty jerk like that hidden ice. It popped out of nowhere with this huge surprise, and smacked you around a bit. I CRIED. All of a sudden I was crying and I was like, "What is this??? Where are these tears coming from???? What have you done to me, Patricia Briggs????"

The storyline started out like every other Mercy Thompson book... Until the big, huge, shocking twist came. And even though it hurt and I was stunned, it was a good, a very good, story.
The characters are, as I've said before, charming and entertaining.
The romance is a LOT more defined and clear-cut. The love triangle died early on, and there's big development. Which made me happy.

To conclude: if you are a Mercy Thompson fan, you must read this book. It will kill a small part of you, but you will understand how necessary it is.

If you have any comments you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!

Kisses~
Cassie

Review: Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson #2) by Patricia Briggs

Greetings, readers! Happy belated holidays - hopefully they were awesome and you all had some fantastic food to keep you happy. Thanks for stopping by Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing Blood Bound, which is the second book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places - and in dark ones. And now hse owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary - and neither is the demon inside of him.

Summary from Goodreads.com



Over winter break, I stumbled upon the genre of Urban Fantasy. And I was HOOKED. I have read countless books these past two weeks... No, honestly, it's scary how much I've been reading. I think I found my favorite genre! It's awesome.

(Can we take a moment to appreciate Ron Swanson and the amazing show that is Parks and Rec? If you haven't already, WATCH IT. The first season is slow, but it's fantastic.)

Anyways...

In case you're looking for some good UF books to read, I recommend the following:

The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews

The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning

The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost

And a lighter, funny read (that can be, at times, frustrating):

The Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones

It is from this newfound obsession that I discovered the Mercy Thompson series. So far, it is extremely entertaining!!

The story is satisfying - enough action and mystery that readers are kept on their toes. The mystery is kept a mystery and it's hard to guess where it will go (at least for me). I never had the problem of knowing what the "big surprise" is. Patricia Briggs kept the details murky, so it was almost impossible to anticipate what the reveal would be.

The characters either charm you, or bore you.

For me, I enjoyed them and can see good stuff happening with the mix. Mercy is our MC and is a "walker" who can shift into a coyote, and also a mechanic. She's a tough, no-nonsense character who is hard to dislike. She lives next to Adam, the hottie Alpha of the regional werewolf pack. Samuel, another werewolf, is an old flame of Mercy's and recently moved to the area. As you can imagine, they have a love triangle goin' on... But somehow, it's not obnoxious or annoying. Mercy really doesn't toy with them or know what she's doing, so she sort of ignores their efforts. I'm interested as to how it all plays out.

Chris Evans as Dr. Samuel

Side note: I immediately imagined Samuel as Chris Evans. Don't ask me why, I just did.

The romance is pretty non-existent. I mean there are hints and whatnot, but the books mainly focus on the action. Being a romance fanatic, I thought this would frustrate me, but I think it works.

Overall, the series seems very promising and I know I'll be reading the next several.

If you have any comments to share, I'd love to hear them! Book recommendations are welcome too ;)

Kisses~

Cassie

Review: Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Greetings readers! Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews.

Fair warning: I think you should skim the summary and ignore the cover!!!

They really don't do the book justice, and trust me when I say this is a good one. I'm surprised not as many people are reading this!

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career-a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn't sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she's kidnapped by Connor "Mad" Rogan-a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan's after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she's getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

(Summary from goodreads.com)

Genres: urban fantasy, romance

This one was FUN.

The characters were spot on, the plot was fast-paced and interesting, and the romance was teasing and just enough there that I was satisfied. Ilona Andrews is now one of my go-to authors, and only after reading this one book!! The next book in the series comes out in May 2017 and I'm honestly upset. Why can't it be sooner?!?!

The story is boss. Basically, Nevada is a private investigator in her family's small firm and they just barely scrape by. Suddenly, the House/corporation that owns their debt calls Nevada up. They give her an ultimatum: lose the family business and have fun in the streets of poverty... or agree to a suicide mission. 

Of course, Nevada chooses the suicide mission.

S.O. to the infamous Adam Parson

Said suicide mission is catching Adam Parson (infamous bad boy wanted by the law who incinerates things for fun)... without being fried to a crisp.

Ah, I forgot to mention. He's incredibly attractive, never wears a shirt, and is C-R-A-Z-Y.

What a lovely mix!

While trying to apprehend Adam, Nevada gets kidnapped by Mad Rogan. He literally chains her to his basement floor and then interrogates her. Rogan thinks Nevada is connected to Adam and can help with his mission.

(Hmm. This is getting complicated. Just read the book and trust me that the story's awesome.)

I like to imagine Rogan as a savage Sean O'Pry,
but then again whatever floats your boat

After many exciting events, she and Rogan end up in a tenuous, strained partnership. (With mildly sexual undertones because Rogan, like Adam, is crazy attractive.) 

The romance was never absurd or over-the-top. Just a number of teasing hints, heated glances, and scandalous thoughts from Nevada that I'd do best not to repeat. It's a masterful build up, and I can't wait for the sequel to see what happens next between Nevada and Rogan. 

The characters are interesting. The villains or "bad guys" are multi-faceted and complicated, and I couldn't predict their next moves. I found them more interesting than the "good guys" for sure, but even I can admit that Nevada's family is adorable. I mean, her grandma tinkers with TANKS for goodness sake. And her mom is a sniper. And her cousin is a genius hacker. Need I say more? They're cool characters - all of them.

(Off topic secret confession: is it bad that I want more crazy Adam? I know he's straight up evil, and he's totally a murderer, but... There's something there. He needs some angst in the next book. He's messed up, but there's so much potential...

To conclude: READ THIS. 

Yeah. I went there.

If you have any comments to share, I'd love to hear them!

Kisses~~

Cassie

Review: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Greetings, readers! Happy Sunday and thanks for stopping by Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing the novel Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch.

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians' only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter's magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter's defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians' general, Sir. Training to be a warrior-and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather-she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter's magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she's scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she's always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn't go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics - and ultimately comes to realize her destiny is not , never has been, her own.

(summary from goodreads.com)

I've been meaning to get around to this book, but always got side-tracked by something else. So many people really enjoyed it, so I thought, what the heck? Let's do this.

And so I did.

And I'm not sure if I loved it like everyone else.

To begin with, the story is pretty good. I'm not sure if it's original, exactly, but then again, how many Young Adult books are truly one-of-a-kind? There's the whole warring kingdoms, magic, and politics thing. And the slavery, espionage, and warrior-training thing. It's an interesting mix - honestly it kind of reminded me of Grave Mercy. I'm not sure why, but something about it rang familiar. Perhaps it was the mix of historical/fantasy? Agh, I don't know. There is a twist at the end in the middle of the climax, and honestly I saw it coming. When I first started Snow Like Ashes, I jokingly mused to myself, "Oh, watch THIS happen and be the big surprise." 

AND IT HAPPENED.

So yeah, I wasn't impressed.

As for the characters, I'm not sure how I felt about them. They were... "nice"? I just... Meira was okay. She tried to be independent and tough, but it felt like an act to me. As if this was the role she wanted to be, and the entire book she was pretending to be a warrior. Meh. Mather was nice as well? He was all broody and closed-off, and that's just not my thing. Same for Theron - too broody and emotional for me. Everyone was all, "Ah, the angst! I'm just a pawn in the big scheme of things, and I hate it! Let me be my own person! I want to forge my own path and choose my destiny!"

Fantastic. I just love it when sixteen-year-olds rebel and declare their individuality and create unnecessary drama.

I had a lot of anticipation and excitement for the villain, King Angra, but he ended up being crazy. Not even cool crazy or seductive crazy (skeptical? Turn towards Warner from Shatter Me or The Darkling from Shadow and Bone). Just plain evil. The standard villain who's power-hungry and won't stop until he gets what he wants. Two-dimensional, dare I say?

Ah, and if you can't tell already there is... wait for it... A LOVE TRIANGLE.

Yes, that was the romance of the book. And it was unsatisfactory and chock-full of teenage angst and jealousy and bleh.

I mean, don't get me wrong. This was entertaining. I read this book in like one sitting. But did it have substance, was it worth a re-read? Nah. But I needed a well-written fantasy to procrastinate, and Snow Like Ashes gave me the perfect excuse to not study for finals.

To conclude: it's a fun read, definitely easy to get drawn into. But will you finish it and praise the higher powers for gifting you with this glorious story? Well... You'll have to find out yourself.

So, if you have any comments to share, I'd love to hear them!

Kisses~

Cassie

Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Greetings, readers! Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping by Fiction Fairies. Today I'll be reviewing the novel Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

This is a world divided by blood - red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart...

(Summary from Goodreads.com)

Title: Red Queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Reviewed by: Cassie

Anywho, let's begin!

The story, at first glance, is very intriguing. Not to mention that there was SO MUCH HYPE surrounding this book and its release. Of course I was curious! A girl with a newly discovered power? Stuck in a palace with people she hates? Rebellion? Sounds marvelous.
But as I continued reading Red Queen I soon became bored. There are so many plot faults! Coincidences should stay coincidences, you know? Royalty doesn't just magically visit your town when you're in the middle of a crisis. Even if they do, what are the chances that they offer you a very valuable job the next day? And it just so happens that the first day of your new job you discover you have unheard-of powers? So instead of killing you, a very large threat, the King and Queen decide to engage you to a very important person? It doesn't end there. I mean... Goodness. Mare goes from one event to the next so quickly it's dizzying. It doesn't make sense, is very loosely connected, and all serves to drive the plot. It got old quick. The huge plot twist at the end... Come on people. Was it seriously that shocking?

And the characters?

As you can tell, there were problems here as well.
At first I was optimistic. No one bothered me, I liked a few... And then stuff happened.
To start with: love triangles usually suck. This was proven yet again in this book. Mare was annoying and continuously wavered between the two guys.
Women instantly hated her. Men were charmed by her.

How boring is that? And cliche? Basically the three main characters are bothersome.

I REALLY wish I could have liked the villain of the bunch. I mean, I admit to being partial to the dark ones... the "monsters"... the ones who leave a path of destruction in their wake. They're interesting.

As you probably know, my boy the Darkling is my favorite. I will include a visual below to make myself less grumpy as I write this post. Perhaps you will enjoy it as well.

The Darkling

But the monster in Red Queen did nothing for me. I tried really hard to find a glimpse of depth, of brilliance, of anything! - but all I could see was a 2D, cliche, static character.

Boo.

Then we have the side characters: Kilorn, Julian, Elara, the queen, more people I forgot about... They're brushed to the side and never examined closely. Julian (her tutor) had potential... until he lost his integrity and logic, becoming out-of-character and reckless. Apparently, Mare inspired him to action. Also, she ruined his life.

 What's new?

The romance was so horrifying and unsatisfying that I won't even go there.

That bad.


I've also heard many people complain about how similar this is to Red Rising. I haven't read this book, but from what they tell me, it's basically the same. Only Red Queen is a shoddy imitation.

To conclude: I know people liked this. People really enjoyed it, in fact.

I was not one of these people. And I can't even come up with a reasonable excuse, like "it wasn't my cup of tea"... because this is usually right up my alley.
I just detested the book. Maybe it was the writing style?

If you have any comments to share, I'd love to hear them!

Kisses~~
Cassie

Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Reviewed by: Cassie

Summary (from Goodreads.com)

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction-if they don't kill each other first.

Greetings, readers! Welcome to Fiction Fairies and thank you for stopping by.

Today I'll be reviewing the much anticipated book Six of Crows by the fabulous Leigh Bardugo. Yes, that's right, you heard me. The one and only woman who brought us the Darkling in all his glory, the one who wrecked my heart and destroyed all other male characters.

So yes, I was ECSTATIC when I saw she had a new series coming out. Did I dare hope for another Darkling?

With caution and apprehension, I secretly longed for another masterpiece of male speciman. I knew the chances were slim, but I STILL HOPED.

Let's get to it.


The story is, as many other people will inform you, EPIC. Like, literally epic. Long, complicated, and intense. It is action packed in every sense, and the plot is kind of confusing. Not my cup of tea, I'll let you know that right now, but somehow I still kept coming back to this behemoth of a book. Perhaps that says something about Bardugo's talent as a writer; even though I would never normally read a book like this, I felt compelled for continue... I was quite enraptured.
Fair warning: there is a cliff hanger.

(Can we admire Johnny Depp for a minute?)

Yes. In all the many, MANY pages Bardugo conjures, she felt it necessary to draw things out and then cut it all short with a cliffy.

As for the characters, I enjoyed them. I thought I wouldn't ... After all, you've got 6 main characters and therefore 6 times the possibility of me despising any which one of them... But I didn't?
That's a confusing thing for me to admit.

Because how is that possible?
The 2 females are fantastic, strong, and both possess a complicated backstory.
Inej, the Wraith... The silent girl who vanishes into the shadows, collector of secrets
Nina... A girl who fell in love with the wrong boy and made a mistake she can never take back

The 4 males are all different and somewhat lovable in their own ways.
Matthias... Honestly he reminded me of a hot viking. I have a weakness for said vikings. Even though Matthias was (for a long time) an annoying jerk who refused to give up his absurd beliefs, I couldn't stop picturing a hot viking.
Suffice to say, I forgave him for all the blasphemy spouting from his mouth.

Side note: his relationship with Nina was AMAZING. Gave me tingles, made me swoon every now and then...

Jesper... Honestly I expected him to be funnier. He was the light-hearted, wild-card, gambler of the group.
Wylan... Not much to say except I ship him and Jesper and I don't even understand why.
Perhaps because Jesper jokingly (or not so jokingly) flirted with him? There were moments, I tell you.

AND LASTLY.
Kaz.
The demon. The monster. The one closest to the Darkling... But not nearly close enough.
He's ruthless, murderous, secretive, ingenious, mad. Crippled...

Second side note: his relationship with Inej was ALSO to-die-for. Much quieter than Nina/Matthias with less drama but just as striking. Two twisted, haunted people coming together beautifully.

I SHIP THEM ALL!!!!! Refer to this gem I found online to understand my fangirling.

Inej x Kaz

Jesper x Wylan

Nina x Matthias

But... I do have one complaint.
The romance was lacking.
I must say one thing though!!! There were some very, VERY provocative snippets interspersed in the text. Sometimes a fleeting thought just got my heart racing or a vivid image seared itself in my mind.
Very subtle, very classy, very teasing. I wanted more!

The sound of her voice, pleading with him. He'd dreamed of this. Sometimes she pleaded for mercy. Sometimes there were other thing she begged for. 

 Or:

She knew she shouldn't speak, but she couldn't help herself. "And what did you do, Matthias? What did you do to me in your dreams?" ... His eyes were blue fire. "Everything," he said 

Well then.

To conclude:
I'm not sure I'll continue the series (not my cup of tea) but I do recommend you read a chapter or two and see if you enjoy this sort of book.
Six of Crows is not at all like the Grisha trilogy; it's a very different story line and writing style.

Kisses~~
Cassie

Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Title: Walk on Earth a Stranger

Author: Rae Carson

Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Fantasy, Romance

Reviewed by: Cassie

Summary (from goodreads.com)

Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend- who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California-where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.

Greetings, readers! Thanks for stopping by. We hope our ever-present sarcasm and blunt nature do not scare you off. 

Today I present to thee a review for the book Walk on Earth a Stranger.

So...

Let me tell you something.

I don't do historical. I just can't.

It just REALLY bores me. 
So you may be asking yourself, then why did you read this book, you idiot?

Because I WAS DISTRACTED. By the gold. And the magic. And the dangerous people who want her powers.

Poor me.

I actually ended up enjoying Walk on Earth a Stranger. Weirdly, I had no urge to give up on it. 

Gasp. I know, shocking, right? Lately I've just been giving up on loads of books.

Anywho.

The plot!

It's a bit slow, I'll admit. It may not sound slow, but reading it was dull. Maybe that's just my aversion to historical stories though? I just wasn't interested in the long haul across America to California. I didn't particularly care for the details prevalent in the trek, like the constant struggles and pains of the times. Horses and campfires and petticoats and gender stereotypes and blah blah blah.

Meh.

I'm sure it's well-written and well-done (after all, I kept reading it even though I despise the genre) but it just wasn't for me.

The characters:

Oh, how misled I was!

Cue dramatic swoon.

I was led to believe Lee would be magical and gifted and SPESHUL and all that jazz, but alas, I was betrayed. How could you, Rae Carson????

Lee Westfall hardly ever uses her "powers". This may may appeal to some readers. However, I enjoy myself a cliche, SPESHUL protagonist because I think it makes the book interesting and entertaining. When they're advertised as being incredibly rare and intriguing, I expect results.

When books don't deliver on said characters, I get cranky.

Don't get me wrong, Lee is a solid character. Was I a wee bit disappointed she wasn't as witchy as I wanted? Sure. But she's also super feminist and strong and admirable and cool.

Jefferson was a strange one. I understood (I guess) the appeal, but I just didn't FEEL it. I wasn't entranced by him, I didn't find myself falling for him as Lee did. 

The rest of the characters were meh. As in, I understood their purpose but I wasn't particularly attached to them. No real emotional reaction to any of them.

The romance!

Ah, how tricky this one was, too. I kept waiting and waiting, hoping and praying... And yet it STILL didn't appear.

Can you call what went down "Romance"? I think not.

At least, not with my high-standards.

Don't get me wrong- I like slow builds. I find them scintillating and thoroughly enjoyable. But there has to be SOMETHING. Otherwise I get more cranky, and confused, and grumpy too.

So, what I'm trying to say is:

The book is unique. It's interesting. It's very well-written and strangely compelling.

Just not my cup of tea, you see. By all means, try it!

Side note: I did not enjoy the ending. I wanted at least a demonstration of her awe-inspiring powers (like a LEGIT demonstration not just some shoddy river voodoo where she crouches down and digs up a nugget).

Suffice to say, I did not get that demonstration.

Boo.

Kisses~~

Cassie

Review: With Visions of Red by Trisha Wolfe

Title: With Visions of Red

Author: Trisha Wolfe

Genre: New Adult, romance, mystery, crime

Reviewed by: Cassie

Summary (from goodreads.com)

Criminal profiler Sadie Bonds knows blood. Her affair with the gruesome, dark world of killers began long before she started applying her analytical skills to investigate gory crime scenes. She gets inside the killers' heads, breaks them down, relates to them on an arcane level. She prefers it this way- because it's safer to ally herself with the villain than the victim. At least, that's how she's coped ever since she was abducted and tortured as a teen.

She will never be a victim again.

Now, she's honed her skills in order to bring justice to these ritualistic offenders. Working alongside her colleagues, armed with sharp wit and a SIG, Sadie always catches her sadist. Until one ruthless serial killer gets inside Sadie's head, turning the tables. He knows her secrets. Her obsessions. The darkest, most deviant part of her soul.

When she meets Colton Reed, dangerous stakes are raised as he threatens to unravel her control and reveal her darkest fantasies. The sexy-as-sin bondage rigger at an exclusive BDSM club pushes her boundaries, forcing her to acknowledge that side of herself she fears. Plunged into a realm of torture and suffering, pain and pleasure, Sadie balances on the razor-sharp edge of two intersecting worlds threatening to swallow her.

Passion and lust ignite. Dark and light battle. This explosive first installment of the Broken Bonds series sets the exhilarating pace for a cat and mouse game where no one knows who's really pulling the strings.

Greetings, readers! Thanks for stopping by Fiction Fairies - hopefully you don't get scared off by our blunt nature and ever present sarcasm!

(Can you deny Ryan Gosling????)

Anyways.

Some of you may be wondering why there's a blank book cover for this book, and the reason is pretty simple: I felt the real cover is way too inappropriate to put on this site. Sorry everyone, but I try to keep it PG-13 around here. If you're feeling adventurous, go right ahead and look it up, but I honestly think it would deter a number of readers from reading the book. It gives off a completely different, bad impression of what the book is, so I didn't want the cover to taint anyone's first impression.

Let's begin!

With Visions of Red immediately reminded me of this show I watch: Hannibal. Anyone else a fan? It's extremely well done and fascinating . . . Well, never mind that.

When I read about Sadie "becoming" the killer, and envisioning herself as this person, I INSTANTLY thought of Will Graham. Adorable, haunted, damaged, and incomprehensible Will Graham.

(Played by the delightful Hugh Dancy)

So I was a bit skeptic when beginning the book. Was this going to have tons of parallels to the TV show? Yet I was also anticipating the possibilities; what if there was a Hannibal in this book? A truly repulsive yet magnetic killer, whose mind is a mystery to most of us mere mortals.

With Visions of Red was a bit too short for me to answer these questions. There are definitely similarities between the two works, but not so much that I question the author's originality. As for the evil mastermind figure? Well, there's hope. All I can say.

The characters

Sadie was interesting. I say that with caution, mind you. On one hand, she never became Will Graham - complex, haunted, paradoxically innocent/pure. But on the other hand, she did step out of normal NA heroine boundaries. She's not lust-driven, needy, suspicious, petty, etc. She is damaged, but she's also a fighter and wants to overcome her issues. She also has a unique job most NA main characters don't have. I'm not sure how I felt about her; it's too early to tell.

Colton was a strange one. For the longest time ever, I giddily thought he was the killer, until I dejectedly decided he wasn't. He's oddly obsessed with Sadie and it's kind of creepy, but I mean, who am I to judge? For some people, this works. I don't know, the two have a weird relationship. They secretly watched each other for 3 months, and suddenly they're romantically involved and shedding secrets left and right. Insta-lust? Perhaps.

Ah, but what of the killer?!?

"Unsub", he is called. 

. . . My opinion of him is neutral right now. I can't tell if I'm interested by him or not. He may turn into a cliche serial killer, ya know? 

The plot

Relatively compelling. I read it in one go, so that must say something, right?

The writing

Most of the time, it was really well done. It flowed nicely, drew the reader in, and had a decent contrast between the different POV's. At times, Wolfe's writing was a bit melodramatic and cliched. You know, those times when characters say something really deep and meaningful, but it just ends up sounding lame and unrealistic? Yeah, there were some of those in there. Sometimes Sadie would mention the "darkness inside her" or whatever, while she's doing scandalous things with Colton, and I would just go

Other than those fleeting moments of disbelief and scorn, I enjoyed the writing.

The verdict?

Try it out! I liked it for the most part. If you're looking for an entertaining read to kill time, or maybe you're craving a crime romance, go for it.

Hugs and kisses~~

Cassie