Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

Title: Carnival of Souls

Author: Melissa Marr

Reviewed by: Cassie

The Fairies Say: Deliciously Dark

Summary (from BN.com)

In a city of daimons, rigid class lines separate the powerful from the power-hungry. And at the heart of The City is the Carnival of Souls, where both murder and pleasure are offered up for sale. Once in a generation, the carnival hosts a deadly competition that allows every daimon a chance to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures-if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.

All Mallory knows of The City is that her father-and every other witch there-fled it for a life in exile in the human world. Instead of a typical teenage life full of friends and maybe even a little romance, Mallory scans quiet streets for threats, hides herself away, and trains to be lethal. She knows it's only a matter of time until a daimon finds her and her father, so she readies herself for the inevitable. While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans for Mallory, and soon she, too will be drawn into the decadence and danger that is the Carnival of Souls.

From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series and Graveminder, comes a brand-new tale of lush secrets, dark love, and the struggle to forge one's own destiny. 

Carnival of Souls is just as it is described: decadent, full of lush secrets, and dark love. The world built is incredibly creative and new. I've never heard of or read about anything like it. Not to mention, it's quite flawlessly created. The City is a place where daimons thrive, where the daimons massacred and exiled witches, and where pleasures and death are sold in the Carnival.

The book starts out from Mallory's POV in a coffee shop, where Kaleb is introduced. All that Mallory knows is that she can't endanger Kaleb with her world. Little does she know it's quite the opposite... Soon we move onto Aya's POV, where she is prepping for her death-match with her former betrothed. Pretty complex, huh?

With the varying POVs it's hard to focus on the protagonist when there wasn't a clear one. Instead, I'll describe each main character and then the lesser ones. 

First off, Mallory thinks she is human, but with an adoptive witch-dad. She trains each day for many hours on how to survive a daimon attack. She has to be compliant with her dad's wishes- in fact, we soon learn she may be magically persuaded to not contradict him. Mallory is a decently strong female character, but because of her dad's influences, we can't really tell if she's truly strong character-wise. She's a bit of a loner but likes everything any other teenage girl likes.

Kaleb is two-sided; to his enemies he is ruthless and deadly. To those rare people he cares for, he is warm-hearted and likable. He's intense and has the idea "survive by any means possible".

Aya literally has a secret that keeps her from fitting in to either world. She's a secret outcast and her reason for fighting in the death is valid and I liked her probably morally the most. She wants to help The City out of her selflessness and... yeah. She's definitely a strong female character and does what she believes in, despite the vary large repercussions. She's a feminist in a world where women are simply... lesser.

Because of the varying POVs there are two different romances going on. One between Belias and Aya (formerly betrothed) but it's not much of a romance. It's more of a bittersweet (maybe even just bitter) old love that got betrayed. I definitely want to know what happens!

The second is between Mallory and Kaleb. I'm not really sure what this is; we don't get much of how they met, flirtations, etc. They definitely have a connection but there's the problem of secrets between them. Kaleb is totally for Maleb.. Kallory? (ha, calorie) but Mallory on the other hand? She is really, really attracted to him (her words: if she had felt this way with the previous guys who had kissed her, she wouldn't be a virgin still) but she has issues with him and their situation. Hopefully, in the second book, this romance will be touched upon, too.

My only issue with the book is that a lot of things weren't described in detail. If they had, I think this would have been one of my favorites. Instead, I found myself frustrated with the varying POVs- while they were helpful to get a feeling for the story, they stopped me from getting a feel for the relationships, world, and people. Fret not, however, because the world is still very well created!

Overall I thought this was a great read with a lot of darkness and mystique about it. The City and the Carnival of Souls is not what I expected. The society they live in is not one we see much, but an interesting one nontheless. And I love the cover- I have a thing for masks (which there are a lot of in this)- and the title!

Off to study! Don't forget to follow us on the right! -->

Cassie :)

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

Title: The Near Witch

Author: Victoria Schwab

Reviewed by: Cassie

The Fairies Say: Magically bewitching!

Summary (from BN.com)

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. There are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger--a boy who seems to fade like smoke--appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion.

As the hunt for children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know-- about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab's debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won't soon forget.

The Near Witch is a story of intrigue and magic. The village has a timeless feel to it and the mystery involved in it is one that will have you wondering what happened. With witches and a budding romance, this book will has a definite fairy tale feel to it, possibly even a bedtime story feel.

Lexi is a rebellious sixteen-year-old who wants to be like her father despite her village's ideal feminine woman. She likes hunting/tracking, she loves carrying her father's knife and wearing his boots. He taught her his beliefs and opened her mind to more possibilities than anyone else would have. For that reason, she has an open mind and believes in magic. She's independent and loves her family. I'll admit, sometimes I felt like I couldn't relate to her, or like throwing the book at her head. I also had a minor issue with her name- Lexi? In a historic-feeling setting? Odd.

The characters are interesting, a bit cookie-cutter, but hey. Her mother, on the other hand, I liked. Even though her mom is broken after Lexi's dad died, she still has a bit of her old spark in her. She helps Lexi in a quiet, unspoken way that I felt was extremely cool for a mom. Lexi's fellow villagers were okay, but Tyler was the stereotypical "territorial friend-who-wants-to-be-more despite rejection." I kept waiting for him to, I dunno, be interesting and try to kiss her, but nope. Just glares- a no he does not have sexy-smolder-eyes, he has in-the-back-alley eyes. At least I imagine so.

On the other hand, the guy Lexi falls for is a witch. And yes, he even calls himself a witch, with a serious face, and does not even think of saying warlock. A male witch... that's like a male nurse! Only few can pull that off... Cole was intriguing, but I felt like he wasn't very developed and that he had younger-YA feel to him. He's mysterious, has a heart-breaking past, and he has powers he can't control. Lexi comes crashing into his life and wabam! he wants to learn to be different.

Overall, I felt like this was more of a younger book, and had a definite fairy tale feel to it. My only issues were that the relationships and characters felt a bit underdeveloped, along with the excitement for the climax.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to follow us!

Cassie :)

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Title: Pushing the Limits

Author: Katie McGarry

Reviewed by: Cassie

The Fairies Say: A sweet romance with a bite to it!

Summary (from BN.com)

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

You can take one look at the cover and judge it, or you can take one look at the cover and hear me out. Heck, you might be judging it now and thinking, "wow I really like that." Or maybe, "Hmm I need a pick-me-up romance." Either way, I'd like to put out there that Pushing the Limits is not a light-hearted romance and while it is contemporary, it focuses a lot on very deep issues. The author wrote in the back that the main idea of the book is of two teenagers, both lost and broken, finding hope and traveling that road of redemption together.

The beginning of the book starts with how Noah and Echo meet- they both have a new counselor and chance upon each other. What do you know and Echo ends up being Noah's tutor. Somewhere along the lines of her trying to persuade him to accept the lessons, Noah sees Echo's disturbing scars. And then the idea of hope comes into play. Hope of normalcy, hope of love, hope of redemption. These hopes develop as the story goes on. In the beginning, we learn that Echo can't remember how she got her scars. We also learn Noah is trying to reunite his broken family.

Echo is a complicated character. At times she's a smart-aleck and feisty and interesting. Most of the time she's stubborn, thoughtful, and artistic. She's pretty deep- she has two real friends, an overbearing father, her mom is bipolar and possibly tried to kill her, her best friend and brother died, and tons of other issues. Not to mention those ugly, ugly scars on her arms. She's understandably frustrated with her situation and you will find yourself rooting for her the whole story. However, at times I was frustrated with her for being a bit spineless. She doesn't really speak up for herself and at times her usually deep character will become shallow/annoying.

Noah is also very deep. We get varying POVs from him and Echo, and at first I was kind of annoyed with him. In the beginning all he likes about Echo is: she's feisty, she makes him have a conscious, and she's hot. Quite a few times I was cringing, seeing descriptions about Echo (and her cleavage and butt and how she smells...) Did I really need to read that? But as the story goes on, you will root for him just as much as Echo. He's a deep, caring guy beneath it all and some of his thoughts made me want to cry they were so adorable. He's the kind of guy who never tells a girl he loves her and this was just a small one:

"My heart swelled, causing my chest to ache and breathing to become nearly impossible. Paralyzed by her beauty, I hovered over her. She was no nymph, but a goddess." (p. 285)

Seriously, he and Echo were meant to be together.

My main issue was that the pages seemed to lag a little towards the middle/end. The plot seemed pretty dragged out- I'm not into purely romance books. I wanted to get into the issues more, but hey- I am not complaining. The romance was great. If you're looking for a nice sick book, this will be a good one!

Okay I'm off to do stuff, but don't forget to put your email in that box to the right!! --->

Cassie :)

Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein

Title: Cold Fury

Author: T.M. Goeglein

Reviewed by: Cassie

The Fairies Say: Amazingly action-packed; Sara Jane's left hook will get you!

Summary (from BN.com)

Jason Bourne meets The Sopranos in this breathtaking adventure

Sara Jane Rispoli is a normal sixteen-year-old coping with school and a budding romance-- until her parents and brother are kidnapped and she discovers her family is deeply embedded in the Chicago Outfit (aka the mob).

Now on the run from a masked assassin, rogue cops and her turncoat uncle, Sara Jane is chased and attacked at every turn, fighting back with cold fury as she searched for her family. It's a quest that takes her through concealed doors and forgotten speakeasies--a city hiding in plain sight. Though armed with a .45 and 96K in cash, an old tatter notebook might be her best defense--hidden in its pages the secret to "ultimate power." It's why she's being pursued, why her family was taken, and could be the key to saving all of their lives.

Action packed, with fresh, cinematic writing, Cold Fury is a riveting and imaginative adventure readers will devour.

Cold Fury is definitely one for those who love action, thrills, and tons of little new details/twists. "Jason Bourne meets The Sopranos"? That had me there; who doesn't like the two? And together? Impossible! Or, at least, impossibly amazing.

The story starts out with Sara Jane having flashbacks, explaining to herself and the reader the little hints she never picked up on about her family's business. The first a hundred or so pages are this and this alone, with a few bits and pieces of "very recently". And then... and then the action starts. She comes home from a mediocre-ly successful dance and bam! Her house is in shambles, she almost just died, her family is missing and probably dead, and she also has pretty much no idea what to do. That plus the Chicago Outfit/mob and crazy people trying to get at her, and you have one very promising story line.

Sara Jane is a very deep, somewhat emotionally-detached person. She's got the mindset of a fighter (which figures because she learned boxing at age six-something I greatly envy because my parents never let me) and I can very much see her character. She doesn't care about her appearance, doesn't care about making friends really, and has the mindset "if the world comes to me, great. If not, no big deal." She's an admirable, very strong heroine, and she definitely (let me stress definitely) kicks major butt. At points I felt her a bit too emotionally detached, but it may have been because of the fact a male author wrote this female POV.

The other characters were lightly touched base on, but I felt I could warm up to them in the upcoming books. Not many, except for Willy (who is awesome, by the way) are really examined. I'd like to point out, though, that the "bad guys" are very good at being bad.

The guy...s aren't very touched based upon, either. I felt as though this was because, again, it's a male author, so if you're looking for a kick-butt heroine who also happens to have a yummilicious boy in the background, you're in for a disappointment. However, there is a guy named Max from school who is a little (okay, a LOT) cute and wonderfully awkward. And then there's Tyler from the Outfit who is very handsome and quite the suave guy.

My issues, for the most part, were these: 1.) the action-packed promise was a bit of a letdown; I didn't feel as if it was super duper action-y 2.) Sara Jane was a bit too detached for me 3.) NO ROMANCE... for the most part

However, if these issues do not bug you, I think you will love it! It's a great read and I can't wait to read the next!

Off to bed now (don't forget to put your email in the subscription box off to the right)

Cassie :)