The Story

From the back of the book:

They may have stolen my past, but I’ll never let them take my future.

When the walls between Man and Fae come crashing down, freeing the insatiable, immortal Unseelie from their icy prison, MacKayla Lane is caught in a deadly trap. Captured by the Fae Lord Master, she is left with no memory of who or what she is: the only sidhe-seer alive who can track the Sinsar Dubh, a book or arcane black magic that holds the key to controlling both worlds.

Clawing her way back from oblivion is only the first step Mac must take down a perilous path, from the battle-filled streets of Dublin to the treacherous politics of an ancient, secret sect, through the tangled lies of men who claim to be her allies into the illusory world of the Fae themselves, where nothing is as it seems – and Mac is forced to face a soul-shattering truth.

Who do you trust when you can’t even trust yourself?

The Response

This is seriously one of the sexiest series’ I’ve read. Goodness, Jericho Banes, what ARE you? You enthrall me like few fictional characters ever have, and I’m left wanting to know more and more and more about you with each installment in this series. Those scenes when Mac was all Pri-ya? SWOOOOONING.

I was a little wary starting this book. The first three have all just been so good, and I had a couple of people tell me that this one wasn’t nearly as good as some of the others. I wasn’t sure how I would respond to this one. But it turns out that I worried for nothing, because I ended up loving it as much as the others – perhaps moreso, just for the first quarter of the book, which was crazy hot and steamy. (Also, I didn’t think it possible for there to be MORE unresolved sexual tension between two characters after the amount of crazy sex they had, but goodness! The UST is thick and heavy and so so so awesome to read through.

This was a much darker installment than the other three in the series so far – as it should be, what with fey running rampant across our world. It had some extremely dark and disturbing parts. One part, in particular, sent utter shivers down my spine. Mac discovers that fey are telling people that if humans consume enough fairy flesh, they could live forever – and in exchange for giving humans some of their flesh to eat, these fey wanted teh sexy time. It was along the same lines of trading sex for drugs, and you can just imagine what kind of chaos that would result in after even just a short period of time. I really wish that Moning had more fully explored the dynamics of human beings interacting with fey, especially those “groupies” who were enamored with fey. That could’ve been extremely beyond interesting.

That said, there was just so much other stuff going on in the book, that even though I wanted to see that situation expanded on, I don’t think it would’ve fit in with everything else. There really isn’t much of a pause in the action at all in this book – between battling fey, trying to discover what’s hidden in the forbidden sidhe-seer libraries, trying to outwit the Lord Master, oh! Not a dull moment at all, which made this book crazy hard to put down.

I have the last book on my TBR pile already. Part of me really wants to start it and part of me really doesn’t want to – I really don’t want this series to end at all!

The Bottom Line

If you’re an urban fantasy fan, and haven’t read this series yet, what are you waiting for? Gah! It’s so good!

The Story

From the book cover:

Maeb Lantofte is lucky, she knows, to have gained a position in the household of the Earl of Pengraic – one of the most powerful men in England, a man whose holdings rival even King Edmond’s. She is lucky that his wife, Adelie, whom Maeb serves, is a kind, pious woman (in contrast to the Earl, whom Maeb finds dark and secretive). But when word arrives that a plague is sweeping through Europe like a human wildfire, everyone in the Earl’s household is put on edge. It is whispered that victims of this plague are spontaneously engulfed in flames – as if the flames of Hell had suddenly leapt up to claim them. It is also whispered that the Devil himself is to blame.

As the disease spreads into England, so too does civil unrest. King Edmond calls his lords and their armies to return to London, and the Earl obeys, leaving Maeb and his family to fend for themselves. But it turns out that the Earl has been hiding far more than simple state secrets, and that his family, left alone, is at risk of losing not only their lives but also their souls. To her horror, Maeb will learn that, indeed, the Devil himself may have arrived on her doorstep. And worse, what he demands may, in fact, be running through her very veins.

The Response

Even now, I greatly mourn the fact that Ms. Douglass has passed away. She definitely left us way too soon. Reading this book was extremely bittersweet – going into it knowing that it was the last novel of hers that I will ever read was heartbreaking, but it’s always so exciting to read a new book by a beloved author. Ms. Douglass was one of my favourite authors, and I don’t like that I will never again get a chance to read one of her novels for the first time. I envy all of you who are only starting to discover her works.

The Devil’s Diadem was a pleasant surprise in a number of ways. First of all, and perhaps most importantly, this is a stand-alone book. It’s not the beginning of a series! I was so afraid that it would be, and then so ecstatic when I found it wasn’t. Douglass has written a couple of other stand-alones, and in my opinion, those are some of her most enjoyable books. The story all gets wrapped up nicely at the end of one book, and you don’t have to wait a year until the next is published, but also because it is a standalone, you don’t really have the resources to develop a huge epic that deals with dozens of people – typically there’s only a couple of main characters in standalones – so you get to know those who the main ones are better, and see them developed more intimately.

The other reason this was a pleasant surprise was due to how different the narration of the story was. It still had the same “cannot put this down, must read just One More Chapter” feeling to it, but there were so many ways it differed.

I’ve mentioned before how a lot of Douglass’ characters are very similar – Axis, Boaz, Brutus and Thomas Neville all seem to be the exact same character at times, only set in different universes. The characters in The Devil’s Diadem were simply so different than anything I have ever seen her write before. The men (aside from Prince Henry) weren’t caustic or arrogant to the point of me wanting to throw the book across the room whenever they graced the pages of the book. And Maeb herself was one of the most innocent, yet real and believable female characters I have read in a long time. Maeb was the helpless victim through all that is going on around her, and yet still managed to maintain her pure likability and non-Mary-Sue-ish-ness.

I really like how Douglass weaves real-life events with the fantastical – in this instance, how the Black Death really WAS something sent to our world by the devil, but also how even faerie weaves into the story. It’s always so enjoyable to see how Douglass can bring together things from so many mythologies and cultures and tie it together so seamlessly. It really gives me even more appreciation for her other works, where she even created these mythologies before bringing them together (ie – how so much stuff from her other works ends up tying together in her Darkglass Mountain series). You can really tell that she not only did a lot of research and planning but it shows exactly how meticulous she is in it.

I am really going to miss reading new stuff by Douglass. The world has lost a great storyteller. I still haven’t read her collection of short stories that was published last year (The Hall of Lost Footsteps) so there is still that to look forward to… but it’s just not the same. Instead, I will go back and reread some of my old favourites from her, methinks.

The Bottom Line

Highly recommended to fantasy fans. I couldn’t put it down. Loved it. So much.

The Story

From the back of the book:

He calls me his Queen of of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him too.

When MacKayla Lane receives a page torn from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hung: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil that it corrupts anyone who touches it

Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shapeshifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, a lethal Fae prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man of deadly secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

The Response

This was a lot darker than the first two in the series. It’s like it’s suddenly gotten serious and the world’s gone to hell and our lovely MacKayla Lane is in the middle of it all and seriously what kind of ending is that? I don’t have the fourth one and I’m off to England today and so don’t have time to stop off at a bookstore and pick up the next one and what the heck am I supposed to do until I can read the next one? WTF.

The fact that this book still mentions exactly what shade of pink nail polish Mac is wearing every few chapters still makes me roll my eyes exasperatedly. So there are things that every once in a while pull me out of the story… but that can be overlooked in the awesomeness that is the rest of this novel.

So, tell me, do we ever actually get to figure out what Jericho Barrons is? Really? Because every book I am both more intrigued by what he is and more in love with him. He’s dangerous and sexy and wonderful all at the same time.

As someone who loves books that are more character-driven than plot-driven, I love to see how much Mac has grown in the past few books. She went from someone, at the beginning of the first book, who was happy without any responsibilities at all, and now we see someone who wants to fight to save humanity from the Unseelie that want to do nothing but feast on humanity.

One of the things that Moning does really well with this series is bring the city of Dublin to life, make it a character in itself. You can practically feel its heart beating through the pages of the book. And I didn’t even realize that she did this so well until close to the end of the book when you see the city being torn apart by the fae. It was utterly heartbreaking.

The afterward by the author was muchly appreciated as well, as she reminded her readers that this isn’t a story about darkness, it’s a story about light. That was definitely needed, as right now I’m unsure how Mac’s world can ever survive through the darkness that it was plunged into at the end of this book.

The Bottom Line

So good. Want next one ASAP. Need next one ASAP. Highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy.

Other Reviews

Beyond Books, One Literature Nut, Jenn’s Bookshelves, The Good, The Bad and the Unread. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

From the back of the book:

What Fables does for fairy tales, Kill Shakespeare does with the greatest writer of all time.

This dark take on the Bard pits his greatest heroes (Hamlet, Juliet, Othello, Falstaff) against his most menacing villains (Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Iago) in an epic adventure to find and kill a reclusive wizard name William Shakespeare.

The Response

Oh, this is definitely a fun read! Juliet, Othello and Falstaff versus Richard III, Lady Macbeth and Iago? Both sides trying to convince Hamlet that theirs is the good side? Both trying to use Hamlet to get to Shakespeare – one to kill him, the other believing he is the saviour of their world. WHAT FUN!

In the first six volumes of this twelve volume series, we meet up with all kinds of lovely Shakespearean characters, other than those mentioned above – including Puck, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, the three witches and many others.

I really enjoyed the story in this book. The writing was quite good, and the characters were all very true to themselves. Well, aside from the Hamlet not being mad, but that’s always debatable in the play anyway. Lady Macbeth, one of my favourites, was just as evil and conniving as possible, which was wonderful and lovely and evil, huzzah!

The art was rather beautiful too, which is always important when you’re reading a graphic novel.

Aaaaaand….. even though I don’t normally like book trailers, this one is kind of fun:

All in all, highly enjoyable and super fun – love love love!

The Bottom Line

Am definitely looking forward to reading the second volume in this – it was a lot of fun, and anyone who wants to revisit some Shakespearean characters should definitely pick this one up.

Other Reviews

Fyrefly’s Book Blog, Fashionista Piranha. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

From the back of the book:

Fat Charlie Nancy’s normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn’t know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider’s on his doorstep – about to make Fat Charlie’s life more interesting… and a lot more dangerous.

The Response

I thoroughly enjoyed this one – surprisingly enough, more than any others of his books (which seems highly unlikely considering how much I enjoyed American Gods and Coraline, as well as the fact that most people seem to enjoy the other two more than this one).

But oh, I love the characters in this. Fat Charlie, Spider, Daisy, I love them all! And for someone who gobbles up character growth, this certainly had A LOT of that. Fat Nancy, for instance, was a little bit of a wimp at the beginning, but by the end he had come into his own as a son of a god.

The best part, though, was definitely the folklore aspect of the book. I studied a little bit of African folklore in a college course, but since then I haven’t had much exposure to it. It was a good way to be re-familiarized with bits of the story of Anansi, and I will definitely want to be reading more novels based on African folklore in the future. (Anyone have any suggestions?) Where most of the books that deal with folklore these days (or at lest those that I’ve read) seem to be relating to western folklore or greek mythology, this was a very nice change.

The Bottom Line

Loved this! Highly recommended to those who like fantasy novels that are based on real folklore/mythology.

Other Reviews

BookLust, Things Mean a Lot, Jo’s BookShelf, Bookshelves of Doom, Stella Matutina. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

The second book in Moning’s Fever series starts up very soon after the first finished. From the back of the book:

“I used to be your average, everyday girl, but all that changed one night in Dublin when I saw my first Fae and got dragged into a world of deadly immortals and ancient secrets. . .”

In her fight to stay alive, MacKayla must find the Sinsar Dubh – a million-year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over the worlds of both the Fae and Man. Pursued by assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she can’t trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and powerful men: V’lane, the immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man as irresistible as he is dangerous.

For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them.

The Response

Oh my. Barrons makes me SWOON. I haven’t SWOONED over a fictional character since… perhaps Miles Caverleigh in Heyer’s Black Sheep… or maybe even as long ago as first discovering Rochester in Jane Eyre five or six years ago! Oh! He is utterly deliciously dangerous and deep and OH SO SEXY.

He alone makes these books worth reading.

But, that’s not the only good stuff in this book, don’t you worry your lovely little self about that. Because there was action! Magic! Danger! Fae! Unresolved Sexual Tension! And lots of other lovely stuff that made this book nearly impossible to put down.

Normally I don’t like it when books leave me with all sorts of unanswered questions, but I have to say that in this case, I’m enjoying the series so much that I’m okay with not needing to start the third installment immediately. I have it, but I want to savour the series, so will probably put off reading it for a couple of months. I really DO NOT want this to be over too soon.

I’m still having a little bit of a problem with dealing with the fact that Mac is a bit of a flake, but she really has gotten much better in this novel. Character development! Growth! Huzzah! Some of my favouritest of favourite stuff to read in books – hopefully by the end of the series, I can count her as a serious kick butt heroine. Oh, please!

But the rest of the characters (especially Barrons, sigh!) are all quite well developed. I have to say that I am QUITE looking forward to getting to know some of the new ones that were introduced in this installment a little better.

The Bottom Line

Fun! Such fun! Highly recommend this series to urban fantasy fans.

Other Reviews

Dark Faerie Tales, Byond Books, Literary Escapism, Truth, Beauty, Freedom & Books. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

Richard St. Vier is a master swordsman, hired by the nobles of the city to lay challenges to those who have laid some sort of insult to them. Living with his lover Alec, a mysterious ex-scholar who seems to only find delight in potentially harming himself, makes things much more interesting as Alec seems to have an insight to how the nobles operate. When things get more intense with within the circle of the nobles, it of course has its fallout on St. Vier – including the kidnapping of Alec.

The intrigues of court, the double dealings of those who would see themselves promoted within court, and how honour motivates every person, are the beginnings of the adventures that St. Vier and Alec go through in Swordspoint.

The Response

Okay. First of all, one of the author’s other books, The Privilege of the Sword should DEFINITELY be read AFTER this book. Because having read The Privilege of the Sword, I found that A LOT of the mystery and uncertainty of the story had already been made known to me. And really? THAT sucked big time.

But, well, other than that, the book was fabulous.

The cast of characters in this is brilliant! I have loved them all, even those who are all evil and not cool. They all had so much depth to them, and all were scheming in some way, and you never new fully what to think about what motivated each of them. So amazing and wonderful! My most favourite was the Duchess, who was a very smart woman and highly political and smart and charming. Loved it all!

One of the things that seemed so fitting about reading this book now is the fact that it FEELS very regency. It has all of the elements that I love most about regency books – the intrigue in the upper class, the elegance, the focus on honour, etc etc. And since I’m hoping to read a whole bunch load of Georgette Heyer’s books this year, it just seemed to fit in so perfectly theme-wise. And while it is a fantasy novel, there isn’t the magic or the supernatural beings or anything like that that is so prevalent in a lot of fantasy novels. And I have to say, that this is the type of book that drew me to fantasy in the first place, many a year ago – it was quite nice to return to it!

I will admit, however, that I started this book numerous times over the course of the year before I really got into it. It’s one of those types of books that I really had to be in the right mood for. And once I was in the mood for it, I discovered how beautiful it is – especially the first few pages, where it seemed that the passages seemed to be beautifully describing snapshots in time, pictures that are introducing us to the story of St. Vier and Alec. Looooved.

The Bottom Line

I didn’t love this nearly as much as I loved The Privilege of the Sword, because I knew how things were going to kind of end up in a few years time, but it was still VERY wonderful! Highly recommended to those who enjoy fantasy and might want to get into regency books, and vice versa.

Other Reviews

Stella Matutina, Rat’s Reading, Bookshelves of Doom. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

After the death of her sister, Mac heads off to Ireland to investigate who – or what – was behind the murder. And what she finds is the last thing that she expects – an ability in herself to see fey and feel the presence of certain magical objects.

The more Mac digs about, the more she learns what kind of world her sister had gotten herself into – where mobsters, vampires and fey are all on the hunt for a very old magical book that, according to Mac’s reactions to it, seems to be nothing but pure evil.

Along the way to discover what happened to her sister, Mac man a man, Barrons, who has decided to both take Mac under his wing (in order to teach her to use her gift) and use her as his secret weapon (in his search for this evil book). And, obviously, although Mac doesn’t know anyone else in Ireland, she doesn’t know if she can trust this man, or if he only needs her for her ability to find the magical objects he desires.

The Response

GAH!

Okay, the first couple of pages I was extremely skeptical. The author seemed to spend way too much time describing what Mac looked like, what she was wearing, etc etc. And yes this continued through the rest of the book to a point, but! The rest of it was so good that other than a few eye rolls at the fact that every chapter Mac was wearing a different shade of nail polish (“Ice Princess Blush” and the like) it sort of faded into the background.

Because how can you be annoyed at something like that when the rest of the book is filled with SO MUCH AWESOME? It’s got everything I love – dangerous fey, all kinds of unresolved sexual tension, snarky characters, danger, adventure, so much unresolved sexual tension, character growth, and did I mention that the sexual tension between Mac and Barrons is the best part about the book? SWOON.

The only thing that I really really didn’t like about the book was the fact that every so often, Mac would say something along the lines of “I didn’t know it then, but…” and it was, well, extremely distracting. Foreshadowing is all well and great when it’s done subtly but when it’s done in a way like that, it only pulled me out of the story. And looking back, a character knows so much more than what they did going through it – you know, the whole hindsight 20/20 stuffs, right? So her telling the story is going to have some sort of bias to it that didn’t really add anything to the story.

And yes. Barrons may be my newest fictional crush. FYI, yo.

The Bottom Line

Okay. Okay okay okay. People who like urban fantasy. People who like paranormal romance. If you haven’t read this, you need to. NEEEEEEEEED to. Drop everything you are doing and go get this book immediately. It is utterly delicious. And as soon as I’ve made my way through a few other books on my TBR I am going to be hunting down the second one in this series.

Other Reviews

The Story Siren, Beyond Books, Dark Faerie Tales. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

Raine is a seeker – she finds things. She is an elf with average magical powers, but in an attempt to help her thieving friend, Raine comes into the possession of a magical amulet that greatly boosts her magical abilities. But this amulet doesn’t come without any baggage – it seems that everyone is interested in her new amulet. Only problem is, if she takes it off, she will die.

Now, in her search of answers about the amulet, she must decide whether she should trust one of the two waring factions of the goblin royal family, or that sexy hot elf dude who wants to take her into his protection.

The Response

I have had this book sitting on my TBR for over a year now. I have attempted starting it three times previously. This time, I was finally in the mood to get past the first chapter.

And I enjoyed it for the most part. It was a fun fantasy novel, the heroine is strong and independent and there was plenty of adventure.

I loooooooved the chemistry between Raine and Mychael – and wish there had been much more of the two of them together. I wonder how their storyline will progress in the upcoming books. (Have to admit that the moment Raine accidentally finds herself in Mychael’s bedroom in the middle of the night was what really got me into the book – unfortunately, that happened at 3am on a weeknight and so I didn’t get any sleep for the rest of the night and went in to the office extremely zombie-ish the following day.)

My largest disappointment when reading this was that I never really felt sympathetic or empathetic towards any of the characters. I may have if some of the secondary characters – mainly Quentin and Phaelan – had more screen-time but sadly they didn’t. Especially Quentin. There could’ve been A LOT of hijinks including him, but he basically got the ball rolling and then pretty much disappeared. Alas alas. And since my favourite books are always character-driven where I can really understand and feel for the characters, the fact that I didn’t care too much about them made this book not as enjoyable as I had hoped it was going to be.

But other than that, it was good. I know that a lot of people loved this book, and that a lot of other people will… but it just wasn’t, sadly, for me.

The Bottom Line

Not quite the book for me. It was fun, and I can see why a lot of people like it, but surprisingly not my thing. Probably won’t be reading the rest of the books in this series.

Other Reviews

Stella Matutina, Amergina!, Ink and Paper, Today’s Adventure, The Book Smugglers.

The Story

In the final installment in Gaiman’s Sandman series, we read the story of Dream’s wake. Or at least, the three first chapters are about Dream’s wake. We meet up with a number of people who we were introduced to in previous installments, and even get a few cameos of other DC comic book characters (Clark Kent, Batman, etc.).

The last three chapters in the book are all stand-alone stories in the Sandman universe.

The Response

I think this book was one of the stronger ones in the series… but that said, it wasn’t without its flaws. I really wish the three standalones had been included elsewhere in the series, because the series ended so perfectly after the wake. SO perfectly – normally, I hate the sort of endings that implies everything was a dream, but since the series is about Dream of the Endless, WELL, it was so very, very fitting.

I also quite liked the fact that we got to see other characters again – though I have to admit that because there are so many characters and it’s taken me so long to read through the book, I forgot who half o the characters were… Whoops.

I feel like I have to go back and reread the rest of the series again.

As for the last three chapters… well, they could not capture my interest. It felt as if the story was over before reading them, so even though I tried to get into them, I already had that sense of closure and they felt… well… unnecessary for me.

The Bottom Line

Wish that this had ended after the third chapter, In Which we Wake…. it was a perfect ending to the series right there. The rest seemed like “oh yeah, I forgot to tell you this story.” Anyway, other than that, was totally a solid ending to a wonderful series.

Other Reviews

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.