Review: Smoke Bitten

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkeley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dearest Richard, brace thyself for ecstatic warbling.

Relationship woes affect even the best of us, especially when each of us brings our baggage from the past into the present, and Mercy and Adam are no exception. Of course, when you throw a bunch of supernatural into the mix, you have to expect a lot of hard to go along with the easy.

Also, it's really hard to deal with personal things when preternatural smoke monsters that control minds and can look like anyone show up. (It's best not to think of LOST when reading this book, even if smoke monsters made you go straight there!)

Throw in a handful of great side characters (Warren, Kyle, Honey, George, Ben, Jesse, Tad, Zee, etc), some mysterious ones (Underhill, Aiden, Marsilia, etc) and a handful of obnoxious ones (I dunno, Auriele ringing any bells?) and you've got yourself some chaos!

Honestly, while I'm a huge fan of this series so my opinion is a little biased, this might be my favorite in the series so far. It's definitely up there.

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Review: The House in the Cerulean Sea

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've heard a lot of good things about TJ Klune. As a gay man, I am constantly looking for gay writers to support, especially gay men writers. Most of the authors who write MM romance are females, often straight females, so I try to support "my peeps" when I can. TJ Klune has been on my radar for a year or so now, but I hadn't had a chance to pick up one of his books. I saw this one and thought it would be a perfect request for me on Netgalley. I'm so glad I got approved.

I'm also glad that I pushed through. My reading mood has been kinda blah lately, and the world-and-character building of the first 35-40% or so moved slow for me. By the end, I felt like that was more my mood and less the book, because the book overall was beautiful. All of a sudden, at certain points, I found myself loving the kids in this book. I cried at one big part, and then I realized... hey this wasn't blah or slow, it was my mood, and this book was helping me overcome that slump.

This book is about love - not just love between two adults blossoming, but about the love of family. It's about how family isn't always blood. It's about how family can mean something you build on your own. It's about how different isn't bad. It's about sometimes the way things are isn't the way things should be, even when the way things should be is so much simpler and so much less painful for everyone. It's about how we need to push out of our bubbles and build a better world -- for ourselves and those who will come after us.

Mostly, I loved this book because, like Linus, I grew to care for these supernatural children. They're well-developed and quirky and adorable and deep.

Highly recommended.

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Review: The Last Odyssey

The Last Odyssey by James Rollins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'd like to extend a big thank you to the publisher, Harper Collins, for mailing me a physical advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

James Rollins' Sigma Force is one of my favorite series. It's one I've followed for over a decade, and new installments never fail to have me tearing through the pages at a breakneck pace. This one was no different, and might have been one of the best in the series so far. I wasn't able to put it down... and I started it on a flight to Walt Disney World and finished it while there. You might not know this about me, but I'm a HUGE Disney junkie, so the fact that I was focused on this book while I was there means this was a REALLY GOOD one.

We find ourselves following the path of Homer's Odysseus, straight into the bowels of Hell itself.

There are twists, turns, betrayals, cute monkeys, ancient technology, and loads of adventure.

Pick this one up. You won't be disappointed. But seriously, seriously, start the series at the beginning!

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Review: Revolver Road

Revolver Road by Christi Daugherty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. It's most appreciated!

I really love Harper McClain. She's a great protagonist - dogged, determined, and head strong in the best of ways. She doesn't always make the safest decisions, but she fights hard to find the truth and is a damned good reporter.

This time, she's in semi-hiding, aiming to protect herself from the person who is threatening her life. Her mother's murder, while solved, still isn't behind her. It's still affecting her current life beyond just the normal grief that never seems to go away with events like that. But a murder close to her hideout means she's back out there, looking for the truth.

I guessed the killer in this one. It seems to be a running trend with this series. It also seems to be a thing that it actually doesn't bother me. Because the stories are so good. Because they are hard to put down. Because I really love Harper and the side characters. And because Harper's drive to uncover truth is so compelling to read.

Pick this one up. It's worth it. But make sure you read books 1 and 2 first, as the over-arching story is vital to your enjoyment, and reading ahead would spoil the hell out of the first two books.

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Review: False Value

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

I'm so glad I kept up with this series! As I said in my review of the last novel in the series, Lies Sleeping, I had gone through a slump with this series for a few in the middle. I had to catch up to get to my ARC of Lies Sleeping, and the book didn't disappoint. It made it worth it.

Well, this one keeps up the quality!

We've got technology and magic colliding in this one. While the beginning can be a tad bit confusing (it jumps back and forth between months), the opening really sucks you into the story. The new characters introduced in this one, while most are probably only going to be in this one, were deep and developed and interesting.

My favorite part of this one, though, was a little more development of Foxglove and a lot more of Beverley.

I don't want to say too much and risk spoiling things, but highly recommend this series. Again, the caveat that you should have read the prior books in the series applies here.

Four out of five stars.

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Review: The Warsaw Protocol

The Warsaw Protocol by Steve Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to get into this one, which is odd considering how long I've been reading Cotton's series and how much I've loved it overall, but I felt like the first 60% of the book or so was quite slow... but it paid off, because the slow burn led to a finale that left some of the characters a little salty. (Sorry, couldn't resist that one!)

Cotton's adventures are always a pleasure to read, and while I missed Cassiopeia Vitt in this one, we did get a nice dash of Stephanie Nelle, so that was fun. I also like the way that Steve Berry has not let the characters remain in a stagnant time bubble. He's shifted the presidential administration along with the rules of play for our characters, but found ways to keep telling their stories. This one contains a huge shift again, and that final event as the story closed... dang, that made me want the next one right away!!!

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Review: Imaginary Numbers

Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know how to write this review. I'm just in awe of Seanan's ability to change up the main character so often and still keep all the storylines straight and the character voices so strong.

CUCKOOS. That's right, what we've all been waiting for. More lore, more interactions, more HOLY CRAP CUCKOOS. More Sarah, who, after the events of the beginning of the series, has been mostly sitting out recovering. More Artie, who hasn't had a lot of screen time yet, but is very intriguing and even gets his own POV. More Annie and Sam and James, more Elsie, more of the rest of the family.

I can't say much more without giving away the storyline - and it's a doozy - so I'll stop there. Please please please don't read this one without reading the rest of the series. Most of the novellas are okay to bypass for now (but please catch up on those too!!!), but this one spoils huge portions of the rest of the series for new readers, as past events are definitely discussed AND have played a huge role in getting us (and Sarah and Artie) to this point.

ALL OF THE STARS.
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