Review: The Clarity

The Clarity by Keith Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to the publisher, Atria Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I stumbled across this Read Now book on Netgalley and took a shot, and I'm glad I did. This was a fast-paced thriller that after the initial setup was basically nonstop action. It was such an interesting concept and was well-plotted. While I don't think the characters were as deep or developed as I would have liked, and the past lives thing didn't take as much of the forefront as expected, I still really enjoyed this novel. The little digital exchange in the epilogue hints at a potential sequel. If there is one, I'm there. :)

3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

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Review: Zero Day

Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars from me!

Seriously, if you are at all interested in movie-speed horror/thriller novels, then stop reading this right now, go to your local bookstore, your local library, Amazon, wherever you need to, and get your hands on The Hatching. Do it. Do it now, so you're prepared when the arachnapocalypse happens.

The final book starts with a few bangs -- some betrayals, attempted coups, crazy deaths, etc -- just like you'd expect if you'd read The Hatching and Skitter. And yes, you get quite a few more character deaths... duh. That's the point of Spidergeddon, isn't it? That some of the hoo-mens are going to kick the bucket. Or get infested with eggs and burst forth with a new swarm of spiders. Or get injected with a paralytic that eats away at your insides until they're mush while being wrapped up in spider-silk and dying a slow horrible death.

Seriously, you're still reading this? You haven't left to go to Barnes & Noble or The Shop Around the Corner or Fox Books to get your copy of the Hatching yet? LEAVE NOW. GO. SHOO.

While the ending is just slightly not as satisfying as *I* might have wanted, overall, it's a very satisfying ending and certainly shows the persistent fighting spirit of the human condition.

Okay, I'm not going to talk anymore because you're not listening to me. You're jingling those keys or whipping out that smartphone because you're hankering to get your copy, right? Well go on then. Don't let me keep you. Hey, what's that crawling up your leg?

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Review: The Raptor & the Wren

The Raptor & the Wren by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Saga Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm floored that a book that was mostly filler could be so much fun! I mean, fun isn't really the best word for it, because Miriam certainly isn't having fun. Losing people left and right, constantly surrounded by death and birds... it's not the best life, but she deals with what she's got. This book tied up a loose end or four (and some of those we weren't even aware were ends that somehow got loose!) and showed Miriam grasping more of her power.

I'm a little disappointed in how the book ended, and it felt like a copout. I guess I can kind of see how it could push part of the narrative of the next book, which is the last, but it just feels... copouty. Copoutlike. Copoutish. Whatever the made up word would be.

But still, I love how much Miriam has grown throughout the series, even though she's still got a filthy mouth (which I think is hilarious because she says what most of us are thinking, maybe in a cruder way, but she shares the feelings rather than internalizing them like most of us do).

So overall, I'd say 3.5 stars. One star lost for the copout ending, and half a star lost for being MOSTLY filler/positioning characters for the final book.

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Review: Edgedancer

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While Lift's style of speech and constant "food food food" talk is a little grating on my nerves, overall her character is a great one. I love the Edgedancer ideals, and the surge of Growth/Regrowth is really cool. The Slick thing is neat, but doesn't pique my interest as much. Wyndle is really adorable to me, a reluctant hero.

We see some growth (no pun intended) in both Lift and Wyndle in this one, along with her nemesis Darkness, and we get to meet another Surgebinder (who shares a little of Lift's gifts [hehe] but I feel like might be a Truthwatcher)... all in all, a nice little novella to keep us up to speed on Lift, since she's going to play a much bigger role in the back five Stormlight books, having one book as "hers."

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Flame in the Dark by Faith Hunter

Thanks to Netgalley and the amazing publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Five supernova, fiery, supernova, pick up this book (or book one) immediately stars!

Stop whatever you're doing and pick up Faith Hunter. Seriously, right now.  This woman's Jane Yellowrock series is AWESOME as it is, but she's at the top of her game when she writes about Nell Nicholson Ingram, PsyLED probie and all-around kickass protagonist.

This time around, a Senator's family survives (mostly) an assassination attempt, and a bunch of different law enforcement agencies are called in -- including the PsyLED unit composed of Nell and friends, thanks to some vampire presence at the location of the attempted killing.

Things burn out of control (fire pun intended!) from there, as the twisted maze of clues and suspects and paranormal creatures pile up into a giant plate of spaghetti, story threads twisted together into a top-notch entry into her already top-notch Soulwood series.  We get a ton of growth in a handful of the main characters, Nell included, and we even get a little more insight into her families -- her actual family in the church, and her "townie" PsyLED family.

Overall, Faith has created a very deep character that is easy to connect with, spun a fantastic yarn of a tale, and as always, left me begging for more... and thankfully, she's contracted for more now.  I'm so relieved to hear that this isn't going to end as a trilogy, because it (along with Jane) has a rightful spot in my top favorite series.

Seriously, you read all this, even though I told you at the beginning to stop and go read Faith Hunter?  I guess I'm flattered, but you're terrible at following directions! :)