Review: Break Wide the Sea by Sara Holland

Break Wide the Sea by Sara Holland
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I was provided both the ALC and ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  

This follows Annie, head of the Fairfax family and the Fairfax Whaling Company, after a tragic accident at sea took the lives of both of her parents.  She must keep the stakeholders happy, take care of her younger siblings, and keep her curse from transforming her into a bloodthirsty monster.  All in a day's work, right?  Whales possess magical healing properties, but over hunting has caused their population to thin.  This brings more danger to the Fairfax company and those in its employ, but with the aid of her fiancée August, Annie is sure that they can make the stakeholders and the people who need the magic happy.  There is one other treat to whaling ships, the finfolk, ancient fae creatures who protect the seas and possess magic of their own.  Annie discovers that the finfolk may be able to lift her curse and that August may not have her best interest at heart.

I loved all of the twists and turns this had.  Annie is doing the best she can given all of the challenges she faces as a woman in charge of a traditionally male dominated business.  She is faced with keeping her curse a secret while trying to do the best for her family and the company, and trying to have a bit of a life for herself all at the same time.  When she learns that the people that are supposed to be on her side may have plans to betray her, she has to weigh her feelings, the facts, and what is right at every turn.  She learns that there are many secrets being kept and is torn between August and what she wants with him, and Silas and their growing friendship as he teaches her more about whaling and the finfolk.  As she spends more time at sea, she thinks her path forward becomes more clear but so many secrets and bargains may stand in her way.  I really enjoyed the world building and the character development.  I'm looking forward to the next book to find out how Annie's journey plays out and if she made the right choices.  

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Review: Havenfall

Havenfall by Sara Holland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  This book was released on March 3, 2020.

This was a fun YA fantasy that takes place in the mountains of Colorado at a magical inn called Havenfall. Havenfall in kind of the central hub for several different magical worlds, and is a safe and neutral location for the inhabitants of other magical worlds to congregate. Each summer, delegates from each world meet at Havenfall, with the Innkeeper remaining the neutral party and helping to broker deals between worlds and keep things running smoothly. Maddie's uncle is the current Innkeeper, and she hopes to run Havenfall someday. When Marcus is mysteriously injured and strange things keep happening at the inn, Maddie finds herself stepping into the role earlier than she planned.

This has a good mix of fantasy elements. The magic system is interesting, and I really liked the premise of each world having its own unique magic with Havenfall being neutral ground. I also appreciated that this kept you on your toes. Maddie wasn't sure who to trust and what was really going on at the inn as she was trying to keep the inn and its guest safe. I do wish she had more self confidence and didn't blame herself for everything. I prefer stronger female characters, and Maddie presented as a character that wants to be stronger than she is, but just can't put her past behind her. To be fair, she went through some traumatic stuff as a child and teen. She also never asks anyone for help. By the end of the book she is starting to develop into the person she wants to be and the strong young woman she will need to be to run the inn and fix what's going on at Havenfall. I think she has a lot of potential! I think the character development, while slow was good and will continue to develop in the next installment.

This was a bit slow for me. It took quite a while to reveal and develop some things that I had figured out very early on in the book. That being said, they did eventually develop and were explained. Because things develop over time, there is no big info dump in the final chapters to shock you and leave your head spinning at the end. The book closes nicely with no major cliffhanger, just the promise of more to come as there is alot left unsettled at Havenfall after the incidents in this book. I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series in the future.

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Review: Evermore by Sara Holland

Evermore by Sara Holland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an arc from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  This comes out December 31, 2018.  I enjoyed it and feel like it is a good wrap up to the duology.

This follows Jules directly after the first book (Everless) leaves off. She is on the run from the Sorceress after discovering that she is the Alchemist reborn and their ages old conflict after the Alchemist steals the Sorceress' heart. We do eventually find out the entire back story on the Alchemist and the Sorceress over the course of the book. Jules must put together the pieces of her past lives in order to save herself and everyone she loves before the Sorceress destroys them all. Jules and Liam return to places that the Alchemist once lived in an attempt to restore Jules' memories, and as she relives her memories she uncovers the truth of what she did to Caro and what she must do to save those she loves as well as her kingdom.

This was a bit slow for me, while the plot wrapped up nicely, I felt like it just moved a little slow for my tastes. Anytime you have a story that is told between the current time and an alternate time, in this case flashbacks to help Jules remember her past lives, it tends to slow down the plot, make things repetitive, and impact the flow of the storyline. I found that to be the case here. While those flashbacks were crucial to the development of the story, it just isn't my favorite type of storytelling. I think that's a personal preference thing, not a knock on the author's writing abilities.

I also didn't care for the romance, they went from enemies to in love very quickly. It just didn't develop naturally in my opinion. I always expected Jules and Liam to end up together from the very beginning, it just went from I hate you to I love you very quickly and without much development to turn the tides.

I would have liked more character development and more explanation on the "magic" system. I didn't really get a good grasp on why Jules' country is the only place blood-iron works and if there was other magic elsewhere in their country and outside their realm. I guess it wasn't really relevant to the story, but it would have been nice to get a better understanding.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. It wraps up the series well. I think I had different expectations based on the first book and how that focused more on the blood-irons and how people use their blood for currency and time. This focused more on past lives of the main characters not on the magic. I really loved the premise of the blood-irons and I think I wanted more on that and the mythology and magic.

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November TBR

I have a couple of ARCs in progress that I need to finish up and review, but for the most part I'm free to read whatever I want for the rest of the year.  I'm hoping to finish up the remaining books on my reading challenge list.  I only have 10 books left, that's not too bad with 2 months left in the year. 

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Everless by Sara Holland
• This is the sequel to Evermore.  This series centers around a world where time is currency and time lives in your blood.  I really enjoyed the first book and I'm looking forward to finding out where the story goes.  This comes out in December but I'm trying to stay on top of my ARCs.
• Vicious by Victoria Schwab
• This book will fulfill my anti-hero prompt.  I've heard great things about this book, and the sequel just came out.  I recently picked this up on Kindle for 99 cents, so I'm excited to finally have time to read this.  I hear it is about mutants or monsters and two completing frenemies, maybe?  I like Scwab's writing and I'm looking forward to reading this.
• Cranberry Bluff by Deborah Garner
• I've had this on my Kindle for a while and I forget what it is about.  I think it is a contemporary.  I do remember it was free and came recommended.  It fits the prompt for a fruit or vegetable in the title so I'm going to give it a chance.  
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• I've wanted to read this forever.  I've heard nothing but good things about her books and this duology.  I was holding out for the audio, but my library doesn't have it on Overdrive or Hoopla.  This will fulfill my challenge for an animal in the title.

Audiobooks

As usual I've got 7 books on hold at the library, and several more on my wishlist.  I do have 2 checked out currently that I'll definitely get to in November.  

• Must of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• I've been anxiously awaiting this since reading Strange the Dreamer earlier this year and I can't wait to find out what happens next.
• A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
• I'm really enjoying this series.  This is the 4th book in the series.  It is full of political intrigue, deceit, humor, and war.  I'm interested to see where things go from where they left off in the 3rd book.
• A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
• I won this in a giveaway via Libro.fm, a new audiobook vendor site I recently found.  I'm really excited to get to this.  I love Mafi's writing style and I'm excited to read something a little different from her.

Review: Everless by Sara Holland

Everless by Sara Holland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.  This book releases January 2nd, 2018, and I highly recommend you pick it up when it does.

I really enjoyed the unique storyline Everless had. I loved the use of time as currency. As with many YA fantasy stories, there is an upper class and a lower class. In Everless, the lower class are forced to pay with blood, literally which is turned into time coins which they use to pay for things. People can consume the time that lives in the blood to keep themselves young. Our main character Jules, is poor, her father was once a successful blacksmith at Everless. Everless is an estate where the noble family, the Gerlings live. Forced to flee from Everless, Jules and her father have managed to get by, but now her father is sick from all of the blood letting. Jules returns to Everless in an attempt to save her father and make enough money for them to live on. Instead she finds that the boys she knew as a child have grown up and no one recognizes her. Jules learns that what she thought to be true about her life was a lie, and she vows to learn the truth. To do so she must get closer to the Queen and her daughter. This brings her closer to the Gerlings, the Queen, and the secrets they are all hiding. I'm hesitant to say more without spoiling it.

As I kept reading, I thought I knew what was going to happen, but there were some plot twists I didn't expect. Some were predictable, and some were not which kept the story fresh an engaging.
You will find some of the typical YA themes, but that's why we read YA isn't it? There is a hint at a love triangle, but there really isn't much romance in the book. It kind of takes a back seat, but I expect it to take a bigger role in the story in the future. I expected alot more romance but was pleasantly surprised when it did not end up the way I expected. I really enjoyed the unique plot and cannot wait for book 2. The ending was excellent and nicely wrapped up to set up the next book.

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