Review: Unblemished by Sara Ella

Unblemished by Sara Ella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley for providing me an advanced reader copy. This has been out for some time already so I'm not sure how much the ARC differs from the final copy.  The next book, Unraveled will be out in July.  I received an ARC of that today, so look for a review of that in the next week or so.

This book is like Alice in Wonderland meets The Mortal Instruments. Unblemished follows Eliyana or El, a girl who has lived a pretty sheltered life due to a fairly unsightly birthmark on her face and has had a rough go at it because of it. Her birthmark in one world is ugly but in another Reflection or dimension is actually a mark of something exceptional. The plot starts out with a story we've seen before, chosen one has been hidden away until her 18th birthday for her own protection, when all of a sudden crazy stuff starts happening and she has to save the world with her magic.  Oh and there are two boys and a love triangle.

In this story there is a ton of family drama, starting with the death of El's mom and things just kind of get more chaotic from there. Her best friend Joshua ends up being her guardian in both the legal and magical protector sense, and El is dragged quite literally into a world she never knew existed. The unique twist was on the magic system and the world building. I really enjoyed the aspect of the reflections, a kind of multi-dimensional world accessed through Thresholds, where each is kind of a mirror image of the other. I really liked the Callings, some of the people in the magical part of the world whether light or dark has an ability and there weren't too many.  Sometimes when the people in a book have abilities there are way to many to keep track of, this one only had 7 so it wasn't too confusing.  I did find alot of the rest of the magic system pretty confusing though.  I thought that the Verity and Void, aka light and dark, could have been explained a little better. El's whole story is based on her being tied to the Verity and saving everyone, but I'm still a little confused about the whole Verity and Void concept as it applies to the vessels and the Kisses of Infinity.

Love plays a big part in the storyline, and I was hoping that El would eventually come to love herself as she was pretty self loathing about her birthmark and the fact that Joshua wouldn't love her back for much of the book. She seemed very love sick and immature in the beginning, but eventually she kind of figured out what she needed to do. I kind of didn't like her in the beginning, she was weak and always having a tantrum, but given all she was going through I guess that was kind of acceptable. She eventually accepted her fate as the savior and grew up a bit, and I ended up liking her by the end. I liked the kind of twist at the end regarding the love triangle where both boys have equal claim, and you just don't know where either of them stand. I know who I want her to end up with and I think I know where things are heading, but I'm not sure where the story is actually going to head. I kind of like that. I'm anxious to get to the 2nd book.

Review: A Mortal Song

A Mortal Song by Megan Crewe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm so glad I finally finished this. I ended up really enjoying this. I did find the pace a bit slow throughout the whole book, which is why I think it took me so long to finish it. That could have been a product of pure distraction on my part though.  I think I was reading way to many things the first time I picked this up, then I got distracted by library books and other books that came in. It took me a couple of attempts to get into it. Overall I really enjoyed the unique mythology, I don't know much about Japanese culture and mythology, and I really enjoyed getting to learn something new in this novel. You could tell Crewe did her research on Japan, the culture, and the mythology when writing this novel as everything was very detailed.

In A Mortal Song, the main character Sora, who you expect to have all these amazing magical Kami powers, finds out she's not the chosen one. Throughout the story, she has to come to grips with the fact that she's had magic her whole life, but it was just on loan and she has to help the real savior rescue Mt. Fuji and everyone Sora loves from destruction. She has to accept that her destiny is not to be the savior but to find the savior and help her save the world. Sora, raised as a princess, accepts this news with all the grace and honor you'd expect her to have, and takes on this mission with her trusted guard and friend Takeo. Upon finding Chiyo, the actual chosen one, Takeo and Sora, as well as a few others take on the ghosts that are plaguing Japan and Mt. Fuji. They have to find all of the sacred artifacts and awaken Chiyo's kami powers to save the day before the demon who has invaded the mountain and controls the ghosts completes his sinister plan. The ending felt really rushed and convenient to me. Given how much of a battle it was to get to the mountain, the ending was just so easy and nice.  I also felt the romance aspect of this book was unneeded.  The Sora-Takeo relationship felt a bit forced and it wasn't fully developed and never fully addressed.  The Sora-Keiji relationship was OK, but it wasn't needed to drive the plot.  I feel the story would have been better without the romance.

Overall I liked the book, and I'm glad I grabbed it.  I think had I been more focused and read in one pass I would have enjoyed it alot more.  I'd like to give it another go as I love stories with mythology and this one was well researched and well written.

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Review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most wonderful and beautiful books I've ever had the pleasure to read.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration was wonderful. I've been recommending this to everyone I've talked to since I finished this book and I'll be purchasing my own copy I loved it so much.I see a reread in my future very soon, I miss him already.  I checked this out from the library and wanted to restart it as soon as I was done, but I returned so someone else could enjoy the beauty that is Ove.  I've heard Backman's other books are just as excellent, so I hope to read those soon out as well.

This book is older, but I've been hearing rave reviews about it for the last few months.  When I was looking for suggestions for a book with a cat on the cover for my reading challenge prompts A Man Called Ove came up regularly.  I thought, why not, I've heard great things.  I requested it at the library but the waiting list as you can imagine was long.  I read a different book for that prompt instead, but I'm using Ove to fill one of the advanced prompts a book that takes place over a character's life span.  I think this fits much better than the book I originally had slotted in that spot.  If it weren't for this challenge I would have never picked A Man Called Ove, and I would have missed out on one of the most wonderful books I think I've ever read, and one of my new favorites.

I loved Ove so much!  He reminded me of so many people in my life (men and women alike), myself included. I loved learning his story. This was such a wonderful story about life, love, loss, strength, and a man who likes things the way he likes them. I laughed so many times throughout this book, and I cried when it was over. He endeared himself to so many people even with his grumpy demeanor and his my way or the highway way of doing things.  There was so much more to Ove than you would ever know, and I loved getting to know him.  He suffered the loss of his mother at a very young age, his father in his teens.  Ove has had much loss in his life, but the one bright spot in his life was his wife Sonja.  Much of the story is told in present day, after Sonja has passed, and Ove's wacky attempts to commit suicide are interrupted by his chaotic neighbors who are alway causing chaos that drives him crazy.  Ove likes things neat and orderly.  He wants people to follow the rules and read the signs.  His new neighbors are noisy and messy and loud, and they barge their way into Ove's life in a way he never thought he needed them to.  He very quickly finds that htis world isn't done with him yet, and Sonja will have to wait a little longer for him while he takes care of those around.  As the doctor tells Ove and Pravanah, "his heart is just too big".  You have to read the book to understand the irony of that statement.

Review: Fallen Flame by J.M Miller

Fallen Flame by J.M. Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Buoni Amici Press, LLC and Netgalley for providing me an advanced reader copy.

I loved Fallen Flame, fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I loved that this one was fairly unique. I loved that it kept me interested from the first page until the last. The writing was excellent as was the pace of the story. I also like that this is a series and the book itself stands alone, there's no major cliffhanger, the book closes nicely with the promise of a new adventure in the next book. I'll definitely be back for book 2.  This is my first J.M Miller book and I'll definitely be checking out more of her books.  I really enjoyed her writing style.

Now onto the book itself, Fallen Flame follows main character Vala, who is not like other people. Her skin is like that of cooling lava, hard on the outside, hot to the touch, and a burning ember underneath. Because of her "affliction", most of the townspeople are afraid of her and she has to hide her appearance, but Vala has found a place by dedicating her life as a guard for the royal family. She is the lead guard for the prince, and she and Prince Caulden have grown up together and have developed a close friendship. As the story progresses their friendship is challenged, and quite possibly broken as Vala begins to learn the secrets of where she came from and what she truly is. Vala’s story is wraught with magic and myth, and there are many secrets to be revealed. The story focuses on the suspicious events that occur with the arrival of Queen Meirin and Princess Anja on the island of Garlin. They are there to arrange a marriage with the prince in an attempt to strengthen relations between the island of Garlin and the main land of Islain. Prior to his impending engagement, Caulden’s friends take him out for Prince’s Night, a bachelor party style event with drinking, physical challenges, and mischief. During Caulden’s night of fun, there is an assassination attempt during which Vala meets another person who might be like her. This newcomer, Xavyn, turns out not to be a true enemy, however he knows about magic and that the Queen and Princess are up to something other than planning a wedding. As the plot unfolds, Vala isn’t quite sure who to trust, but she does decide that she is done hiding her true nature and that she is tired of hiding on Garlin when there is more out there that may tell her true story. As her lifelong friendships are challenged and secrets revealed, Vala learns a piece of her story, who she can really trust, and a lot about herself. I can’t wait to see where the next piece of her story takes us.

Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, Paul Boehmer (Narrator), Susan Duerden (Narrator), Rosalyn Landor (Goodreads Author) (Narrator), John Lee(Narrator), Juliet Mills (Narrator)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I highly recommended the audio book. The multiple narrators are excellent. This is a great "read", I read a bunch of reviews where the reader was confused about who was writing which letter, and the multiple narrators of the audio eliminated that issue. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm hoping to pick up a paper copy as I loved this so much.  This fulfills my book of letters prompt for the Popsugar Reading Challenge.  I would have never picked this up if it hadn't been so highly recommended in the Goodreads group for this prompt, and I'm so glad I was able to get a copy of the audiobook from my library.  This challenge has introduced me to so many wonderful books I would have never read otherwise.

This takes place after the German occupation of the English Channel Island of Guernsey and is written as a series of letters that take place between Juliette, an author, and her many friends that she has and makes along the way. Juliette corresponds with her best friend Sophie, her publisher Sidney, a man named Dawsey, and the many inhabitants of Guernsey.  Dawsey came across a book Juliette once owned and writes her a letter and they become pen pals. Through Dawsey, Juliette begins corresponding with the residents of the island of Guernsey in order learn about their Literary Society and hear their stories, they write to each other for years, and Juliette decides she would like to write a book about them and their experience under the rule of Nazi troops.  I very much appreciated the historical aspect of the story, there was respect payed to the very serious nature of the Nazi occupation.  I felt like I was transported to the various locations mentioned in the story, which is hard to do in a book told in letter format.  There were some very sad parts to the story, and I was heartbroken like the rest of cast of characters.  Much of the book was very funny overall and I laughed outloud so many times between the funny things people thought and wrote in their letters.  It was very realistic for the time, and what someone would actually write down in a letter when phone calls weren't the normal form of communication.  The characters were so well done, I felt like they were all my friends and as I was personally writing and receiving letters from a beloved friend

I loved that this was read by multiple narrators, as I always knew which character's letter was being read. They were really able to capture the emotions of the letters. There were really funny parts, and when they were talking about the Nazi occupation and concentration camps it was very sad and heavy, as it should have been. I felt they paid the proper respect to the sensitive topic. The vast cast of characters was a riot overall and while I was skeptical at first I fell in love with them and couldn't stop listening. I grieved when they did, I laughed when they did, I was cheering when things went well for the characters, I felt like I was transported and there with them. I had to listen to the next letter and find out what was going to happen.