Review: The Doomsday Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana

The Doomsday Trial by J.A. Armitage  and Claire Luana 
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an advance copy via the author in exchange for an honest review.  This book was released on August 1st and is available on Amazon.

This is the third and final installment of Faerie Race Trilogy. This is by far the most creative of the 3 trials. I really loved that Jacq and Orin had to figure out and play a very strategic game, while also trying to thwart the very real danger of the Brotherhood. I don’t want to give too much away as I really enjoyed the twists and turns of this final installment.

This picks up just after the second books ends with Cass still reeling from her friends death in the 2nd trial and the knowledge that her sister is very much alive. She and Orin meet up with Cass and learn that the Brotherhood is in fact up to no good and find out what they are really planning at the end of the race. Jacq and Orin decide to head back into the dangerous race in an attempt to stop the Brotherhood and save both the Faerie and Human realms. Our favorite race team must figure out the rules of the game and protect their pieces of the game board because as we learn the battle their pieces face is deadly. I really liked that all of the contestants from the previous trials returned as pieces and that some of the pieces were very personal to Jacq and Orin, that was a nice addition and very authentic element of reality TV shows.

I think this was my favorite of the three books. It was fast paced, action packed, the plot was really unique and creative, and I liked that the romance was there but not in your face. Both Orin and Jacq are faced with very tough decisions and we see them develop throughout the entire series. I thought this series wrapped up in nicely, leaving the reader feeling satisfied. There were some good twists and turns and I really wasn’t sure which way this was going to go until the very end. This was such a fun series and I recommend it for lovers of fantasy.


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Review: The Elemental Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana

The Elemental Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana 
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This picks up right where The Sorcery Trial left off. Jacq and Orin have successfully made it through the first trial of The Faerie Race and they are on to the second trial only a few days later. This is just as action packed as the first book, but the trial is quite different. This time the teams have to work together to make it through.

First they must attend a ball and answer trivia questions or they will be eliminated. Next they must work together to navigate a goblin cavern and decipher a code to find their way out. Last they must transform and negotiate with mermaids or their lives may be at stake. Each step of The Elemental Trial proves to be more dangerous. In addition to the race, Jacq is still looking for her missing sister, and she thinks she may have uncovered a secret society. As Jacq and Orin continue forward in the race they find themselves facing more and more dangerous situations as sabotage, creatures, cheating, magic, and greed play into the game they are playing.

I really enjoyed this second installment. Much like the first one this is a really fun fast paced action, fantasy story with a really creative version of the fae world and the creatures within. This trial was a bit more focused on critical thinking and didn't have as much magic, but that was explained to the contestants. I'm looking forward to book 3 because of that cliffhanger ending and I really want to find out more about this secret society. I'm anxious to find out what the 3rd trial entails and how the ending all comes together.

While I suspected there would be a budding romance between Orin and Jacq, it was a bit insta-lovey for my taste. I do like them as a couple, but their relationship barely moved into friendship before they were in love. I like a bit more relationship development in my romance. They could have just kissed and acknowledged that they had feelings for each other, that would have been preferable and realistic given the circumstances. The one thing I liked about book 1 is that romance was not a plot driver, it was quite a heavy driver of the plot in book 2.

I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchanged for an honest review.  This will be out on July 15, 2019.

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Review: The Sorcery Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana

The Sorcery Trial by J.A. Armitage and Claire Luana 
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a really fun book, I can't wait to see what the rest of the series brings us. There is action, magic, creativity, and the characters are interesting. So far there is no romance, but there is the potential for something to happen in the future and I like that romance is not a driving factor in the plotline.

Jacq Cunninngham has landed herself a role as a gopher on an L.A. movie set in the hopes of one day becoming a stuntwoman. She is learning the ropes and hopefully will move her way up the ladder in Hollywood. When her boss finally lands his big show, Jacq finds herself running errands for all types of Fae and humans as they compete to be contestants on a new type of show, think American Ninja Warrior meets The Amazing Race, meets The Hunger Games but with all manner of Fae creature and with magic. Sounds good right? Jacq isn't interested in the Fae or magic as her sister disappeared after getting involved in a coven several years ago. Jacq is hoping to enter the Fae world in order to find her sister and bring her back, she is hopeful that The Fairy Race is her ticket in to that world and might provide some clue as to where her sister went. Unfortunately, Jacq isn't allowed to participate.

Jacq has a bit of a hero complex, she has to save everyone around her. She wants to save her sister, and when she is presented with an opportunity to save an injured contestant on the show, she finds herself a fan favorite and a contestant. Jacq no intention of using magic, and she doesn't care about winning fan favorite after her initial actions, she just wants to find her sister. She does well in all of the physical challenges, but when she is finally paired with Orin a surly fae who doesn't like anyone and only wants to win things start out rough as the race begins. Orin has his own motivations to win the race. He and Jacq eventually work out their issues and begin to work together.

Overall, this was fast paced and really enjoyable. I thought the characters could have used a bit more development and the world building could have been a bit more descriptive. Jacq is a bit all over the place and I hope we get more development from her in the next books. For a girl who wants to be a stuntwoman and win a game to save her sister, she is extremely irrational and impulsive when it comes to making decisions and she doesn't actually try to win said races. She is constantly stopping to help the other contestants to help them which I like about her, but I can't yet see how that helps her find her sister yet. I'm sure that will become clear as the series unfolds.

Overall I really enjoyed this and I'm very much looking forward to the remaining books in the series. I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchanged for an honest review.  This will be out on July 1, 2019.

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November Wrap Up

I had a pretty good reading month.  I read 9 books and 4 audiobooks.  I am finally caught up on all of my ARCs that I needed to review.  And I knocked out 5 reading challenge prompts.  

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
• Review
• This came out October 2nd.  I got super backlogged in October.  This was fairly long, and it took me a while to read.  This wasn't scary at all, and it was a bit slow paced.  Overall I liked it.  It had decent diverse representation and good character dialogue.
• Lies by TM Logan
• Review
• This came out on September 11th.  The plot was pretty good, and there was a great plot twist at the end.  Overall, I thought the main character kept doing really idiotic things to get himself in trouble, which played into the twist eventually.  It was certainly not the scariest or best reads of the year as promised.  It was an OK mystery/thriller and a quick read.
• Evermore by Sara Holland
• Review
• This is the sequel to Everless.  I really like the premise of how time is currency in this story.  This moved a bit slow for me.  There was a long time where not alot happened as the main character tries to remember her past lives.  It is a good conclusion to the duology, but what I was expecting.
• Cranberry Bluff by Deborah Garner
• It fits the prompt for a fruit or vegetable in the title.  It was a quick, cozy mystery type book.  I got it for free and it was pretty cute.
• Blue Water by J.A. Armitage
• Review
• This is a reverse fairy tale/retelling of The Little Mermaid.  It is a fun YA story line with some interesting mythology that I'm enjoying.  Overall I'm liking the series and am looking forward to the third book.  
• Pittsburgh Irish by Gerard F. O'neil
• I read this for the reading challenge.  I really enjoyed learning about the city I grew up in and walk around in everyday.  I learned so much from this and about the surrounding areas of Pittsburgh.  It was really nice reading about places that I know and learning about their namesakes and more about the events that took place there and the people who formed the city I call home.
• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
• I used this for my time travel prompt book.  I'm so glad I read this.  It was a quick enjoyable read.  I really enjoyed the historical and secret society aspects to the story.  I also like that the main character is not having he male chauvinism and she is speaking up for herself more and more as the story progresses.
• The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Loved this Lux spin-off series.  I always thought Luc was a great character and I'm happy we get to finally know him.  We meet some new characters, and see the return of some old favorites.  I would have liked to see Katy and Dee, but we got Daemon and Archer so...
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• This fulfilled another reading challenge prompt for a book I meant to read last year, though it could have filled several others.  It was a short, but powerful book.  I really loved it and the illustrations were as beautiful as the words.  So glad I finally read it!

Audiobooks

 I did pretty well in the audio department this month.

• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• I really enjoyed this.  It was a little heavy on the romance, but it was still great!  I loved the mythological and paranormal element to the story.  I can't wait to read more of Taylor's writing.  This didn't really go where I expected, but I liked where it ended up.
• A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
• I loved this installment of the series.  We finally get to know what happened to Sofos who kind of just disappeared from the story a while back.  It also kind of brings all of the political plotting of the 3 kingdoms together once and for all.  There is still plotting but it seems that finally all of the kings and queens will be united.  This series keeps getting better.
• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
• Review
• I got an ARC of this from Edelweiss after it was published, so in an attempt to get to clear my review list up I grabbed the audio book.  This was a great mystery with alternating times.  I really enjoy the way Sager tells stories.  If you liked Final Girls check this out.
• Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
• This surprised me by following a completely new character in the series.  It took me a bit longer than normal to get into the story, but it was just as good as the rest of the books.  The writing is amazing, and now I have to wait patiently for book 6 which doesn't come out until March.

Review: Blue Water by J.A. Armitage

Blue Water by J.A. Armitage
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an advanced copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.  This came out September 12, 2018.  I'm glad I finally got caught up and read it.  I'm also able to use this for a challenge prompt for a book title with my favorite color in it.  Only 9 more books to go to finish the challenge, no onto the review...

This story picks up shortly after the first book. The sea witch is dead and Ari and Erica are attempting to figure out how their relationship is going to work. Erica is still heir to her kingdom and preparing to be Queen one day, however she is bonded to Ari and exploring her feelings for him. The unofficial couple continues to spend as much time together as they can until Erica's father falls sick of an unexplained illness. When the mermaids of Havfrue and Erica's mother all fall sick unexpectedly, Erica expects that while the sea witch is dead her magic still lingers. Erica embarks on a quest to save both kingdoms and the people she is supposed to serve and protect as Queen.

As with the first book I really liked the mythology and magical aspect of the story line. It adds a nice twist to the reverse fairytale/retelling aspect of the story. This reads as YA, so the characters feel a bit impulsive and immature at times, but you have to remember that they are in fact just that. Their actions are fitting, and they do grow and develop from their experiences which is what I look for. The plot moves along at a decent pace as well. This is a fun story and I am enjoying where it is headed. I'm looking forward to Erica and Ari's next adventure in book 3.

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June Wrap Up

I think I read almost everything I planned to.  I didn't read as much as I wanted to, but I was on vacation for 2 weeks and reading wasn't the priority.  I still did a pretty good job and got all of my ARCs reviewed.  I hope to get the few outstanding reviews up in the next few days but I make no promises.  

What did you read in June?  Any recommendations for me?  Do you have any exciting vacation plans?  My family an I went to Orlando and went to Universal Studios and Disney.  It was ridiculously hot, but we had a blast.  It isn't much cooler here in Pennsylvania.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young
• Review
• This is a great coming of age story with a ton of character development.  It is heavy on the teenage angst, which I don't love.  I love Samatha's writing and the way she develops her characters and identifies their flaws.  The main character starts out pretty unlikable but she grows so much.  I also really loved the poetry in this.  This will be out on June 26th.
• Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
• Review
• This was pretty dark and creepy.  It was a pretty wild ride.  I would never imagine a child doing some of the stuff that happens in this book.  This has some major shock value for sure.  This comes out July 17th.
• Born of Legend by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• I've been a huge fan of this series for a very long time.  The main character Jullien has been a villian for the entire series up until this installment.  We get to know him and his backstory.  While he isn't perfect, we learn that he isn't exactly the jerk everyone thinks is.  He's no teddy bear, but he has a softer side that he only reveals to a trusted few.  
• Dark Water by J.A. Armitage
• Review
• This is a Little Mermaid retelling.  it is a reverse fairy tale and keeps in the spirit of the original tale of The Little Mermaid with its own twists and turns.  It is a YA retelling and I found it enoyable but predictable and kind of tropey.  Is tropey a word?
• To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
• Another Little Mermaid retelling, I have one more to read after this one.  This one is dark and instead of a mermaid the main character is a siren who kills princes instead of falling in love with them.  She has no desire to be human, but as a punishment her mother the Sea Queen turns her into a human.  To gain back her status as a Siren Princess she must fight her humanity and obey her mother.  This was awesome.  I really loved it.   

Audiobooks

I'm taking the same approach I did last month, I'm going to see what is available and what I'm in the mood for.  I have a ton of  challenge books I want to get to, and audio seems to be the best way to get to my challenge books and the other stuff I want to read.  If only there were more time in the day to read.

• The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
• I kept hearing great things about this and I'm so glad I picked it up.  I really enjoyed this and I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment.  I found some of the plot to be fairly predictable, but I was still very entertained.
• Till Death by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Review
• This is another book I have a copy of but haven't gotten to yet.  Hoopla had it and it wasn't terrible long on audio so I was able to tackle in just a few days.  I love Jen's thrillers and this was no exception.  She keeps the elements of the crime pretty vague throughout.  I really loved the reveal at the end and while I had my suspicions of who the villain was, I wasn't quite sure until the end.  
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Review
• I had this on hold on the library in e-book format, but I keep pushing it off.  My library finally got it in audio so I grabbed it.  This has a totally different feel than the original series.  The characters feel different, and it is almost as if we are restarting with Juliette and Warner and the rest of the cast.  I'm not sure if it is because I listened to it or if it really is because it has been so long since the original series.  Then again, they've been through alot and they were broken to begin with.

Review: Dark Water: A Little Mermaid Reverse Fairytale by J.A. Armitage

Dark Water: A Little Mermaid Reverse Fairytale by J.A. Armitage
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an advanced copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.  This is out already, so go check it out.

I actually took the time to read the original Hans Christian Anderson version of The Little Mermaid so I could speak to the accuracy.  I'm reading a couple of retellings this summer so I figured I should do my homework.

This is a reverse fairy tale retelling of The Little Mermaid. It stays fairly true to the original tale and has its own spin as any retelling should. This young adult tale follows Princess Erica who lives in a seaside kingdom, but she has been kept far away from the ocean for her entire life. Her mother is irrationally afraid of the water, she has a good reason but I won’t spoil why. On her 18th birthday, Erica ends up in the ocean and is rescued by Ari. Ari of course is the merman of her dreams.  The sea witch makes an appearance and the rest of the story, while not the same, kind of plays out like you would expect.

There is insta-love which is not my favorite and with any YA romance we have a lot of teenage drama going on. Overall, it’s not my favorite retelling and I found it fairly predictable and has a lot of YA tropes. That being sayd I liked the magical and fantasy elements and I did like it overall, and as a series it has potential.


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May TBR

I have a couple of things I want to get to in May.  I'd like to get caught up on all of the things I didn't read last month, and maybe knock out some of the ARCs I have for June and July to review.

• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• I started this but I haven't finished it.  It is much longer than I anticipated.  It is really good.  There are angels, elemental powers, spies, assassins, prophecies, so there's alot going on.  This comes out on May 22nd.
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
• I'm still working through this.  I'm learning alot and hoping to figure out my exective skill strengths and weaknesses as well as those of my 2 boys so we can figure out how to work together instead of against each other.
• Lucky Charm and Charmed by J.A. Armitage
• I need to to get to both of these in May.  I enjoyed the first one and I'd really like to see how the story ends up.  It is an interested reverse fairy tale about Cinderella.
• Beard in Mind and Beard Science by Penny Reid
• These are rolling over from last month.  I've been wanting to get caught up on this series for a while now.  I finished the Knitting in the City series a few weeks ago, and I need to get back to the Winston's.  The next one in the series is coming out in July and I want to be caught up by then.
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• I keep extending my hold on this.  I really want to get to it.
• The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young
• I received an ARC of this via Edelweiss+.  Sam is one of my favorite authors, and while contemporary isn't my favorite genre, I'll read it if she wrote it.  I just love the way she writes and develops her characters.  This will be out in June, but I'm anxious to get to it.
• Moonlight Seduction by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• I received an ARC of this and I'm anxious to continue the series.  I really enjoyed Moonlight Sins, it was a romance, a thriller, a mystery, and had a little bit of paranormal mixed in.  I expect the same from this installment which follows Gabriel another of the de Vincent brothers.  This comes out in June so I'm hoping to get it read and reviewed well ahead of it's release.
• Bad Boy Brody by Tijan
• I just received an ARC of this, it comes out May 7th, so I'm going to read and review that first then back to the regularly scheduled reading program.  I've only recently discovered Tijan, but I really like her writing style.  This one is about a grieving Hollywood starlet turned bad boy.  

Audiobooks

I have a couple of things on hold at the library, the only two I really want to get to is A Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss and Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare.  Lady Midnight is for my reading challenge prompt for a book with a time of day in it plus I've been meaning to get to this book for a while now.  Everything else would just be a bonus.  I'm hoping my library or hoopla gets the last book in the Titan Series by Jennifer Armentrout on audio, it supposed to be out in May I think.

I'm always looking for audio recommendations.  Who are your favorite narrators?  What are your favorite audio books?

April Wrap Up

I set out to read a bunch of stuff in April, you can see my TBR post here if you like.  I did pretty well.  I didn't get to everything, but I got to most of the stuff I intended to, plus a couple of things I didn't plan on reading.  I read or listened to 10 books total and started 2 that were on my list to read.  And I reviewed almost all of them, which is more of an accomplishment than actually reading the books.  Reading is the easy part, finding time to post reviews is the hard part.  I have a few more to review, but I'm almost caught up.  I'll update the links when I'm done.

Ebooks/ARCs I did read, I've put their goodreads links and links to all of my reviews below so you can go check them out:

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• My review
• I finished this and it was fantastic.  I highly recommend it.  I hear the audio version is fantastic as well.  
• Unbreakable by Sara Ella
• My review
• This took me almost a month to finish.  I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the first 2 books.  
• Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid
• My review
• This popped up randomly as an auto checkout from my library, which means they bought it on recommendation and I was next in line for it on the holds list.  This was really short and cute and I read it in a couple of hours.
• Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
• My review
• This was a surprise release by Pen Douglas.  It just came out mid-April, and I was lucky enough to win a copy in a giveaway hosted by The Lovely Books.  I really like her work, and I've read most of her books but I don't think I've reviewed any of them, yet.  I think I read them before I started on this blog journey.  I joined the blog tour so I had to squeeze this in to April's list.

Things I meant to read but will move to May:

• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• I started this but I haven't finished it.  It is much longer than I anticipated.  It is really good.  There are angels, elemental powers, spies, assassins, prophecies, so there's alot going on.
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
• I started this, but as I mentioned in my TBR, I didn't plan to finish it in April.  My goal was to start it.  I've read the first few chapters and I've learned quite a bit.  It has already give me some good insights into parenting.  I have 2 very intellegent children, but they both lack what I consider basic human skills.  I'm hoping this book can teach our whole family how work on those things and face the world more effectively.  So far so good.
• Lucky Charm and Charmed by J.A. Armitage
• I need to to get to both of these in May.
• Beard in Mind and Beard Science by Penny Reid
• I know I'm going to love these and I fly through them so they will happen very soon.  The next one in the series is coming out in July and I want to be caught up by then.
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• I keep extending my hold on this.  I really want to get to it.

Audio Books

I finished all of the books but one.

• The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
• I just checked this out today, so it is next up.
• Timekeeper by Tara Sim
• My review
• I really enjoyed this one.  I was expecting it to be about time travel, but there is no time travel involved.  Time control perhaps, but no travelling.  This has an LGBT male main character who fixes clocks and can feel and see time unlike us regular people.  I liked the premise and I'm anxious to continue.  My library just purchased Chainbreaker, and I'm currently listening to it now.
• One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
• My review
• This was another random checkout.  I forgot all about this series until I saw the cover in the available now section and I grabbed it.  I really liked the first book, but you know how it goes waiting a year for the next book to come out.  The 2nd book was a great follow up to Three Dark Crowns and I loved being back in the world and getting to know the Queens better.  I put the 2 novellas on hold as soon as I finished but it looks like I'll be waiting a while until we find out what happens to the sisters.
• Every Little Thing by Samantha Young
• My review
• Sam is one of my favorites, but this isn't my favorite book.  I haven't loved her books on audio.  I think I prefer to read them on the page.  It was still good, but the romance in this lost some thing for me in the translation.  I think I'll stick to reading her books in print.  This is still a good hate to love romance, and still recommend it.
•   Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
• My review
• This isn't my normal type of book but I really did enjoy it.  It hits on just about every problem facing today's society.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  
• Walk on Earth a Stranger, Like a River Glorious, and Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
• My review
• I picked this up randomly because I heard Regan from Peruse Project talk about it and she said it was good.  I needed a new audio book an this was available so I took a chance.  I really ended up liking it and checked out the next 2 books.  The books aren't terribly long, but I really liked the Oregon Trail vibe.  The series follows Leah a girl who can sense gold during the California gold rush.  I really enjoyed the series.