Release Day Review: The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine

The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine

Ravenspire #2

An epic, romantic, and action-packed fantasy inspired by the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from C. J. Redwine, the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen. Perfect for fans of Graceling and the Lunar Chronicles.

The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother…and her soul.

I really enjoyed THE WISH GRANTER! Honestly it was a bit of a surprise for me as Rumplestiltskin never really was my favorite fairy tale, but the author has won me over with this retelling. I was fully hooked from page one until the very end. Not one moment felt slow or lagging, which is rather impressive as it's decent sized book. Sure it's not action, action, action the entire time, but there's plenty of time spent building the characters and the story. 

I especially enjoyed seeing how much Ari grew from the start until the end. In the beginning she's uncomfortable in her newfound princess skin, and it really shows. But as time goes on, while she'll never be a traditional princess (NOT a bad thing) she does truly start to find her way. Navigating court politics is tricky enough, without even adding in their troubles with the Wish Granter. Speaking of character growth, Sebastian, the love interest grew an incredible amount as well. He truly was rather admirable, and honestly the perfect match for the new found princess.

All in all, THE WISH GRANTER was a very enjoyable retelling, that kept me hooked from the start. C.J. Redwine is two for two in this fantastic series, and I can't wait to see what fairy tale she'll tackle next!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     The Eater of Books!
     Quite the Novel Idea
     BookCrushin

Previous Books:
     1. The Shadow Queen

Kirsten Reviews: Feedback by Mira Grant

Feedback by Mira Grant

Newsflesh #4

FEEDBACK is a full-length Newsflesh novel which overlaps the events of New York Times bestseller Mira Grant's classic Feed and follows a group of reporters covering the Democratic side of the Presidential campaign.

There are two sides to every story...

Mira Grant creates a chilling portrait of an America paralyzed with fear. No street is safe and entire swaths of the country have been abandoned. And only the brave, the determined, or the very stupid, venture out into the wild.

Step inside a world a half-step from our own in this novel of geeks, zombies, politics and social media.

Feedback by Mira Grant, aka Seanan McGuire is the fourth book in the Newsflesh series and picks up the story with an entirely new cast of characters.This isn’t the place for new readers of the series to start, as there are spoilers for other books, but it does connect with previous events, from a fresh perspective.

Following the Rising, there’s been a shift in journalism, that being, it’s now done through blogging. Aislinn, Audrey, Benjamin, and Matt are housemates who all happen to be bloggers. They cover different industries, from makeup to news and fiction. Events start to move quickly when they’re picked to cover the campaign of Susan Kilburn, the blue pantsuit-wearing Democratic presidential candidate. Covering the Republican nominee are the Masons, who readers will remember from Feed.

Of course, no presidential campaign has ever run smoothly, and a zombie outbreak is the kind of disruption that makes more than a few headlines. On top of that, there’s a bigger conspiracy at work, and the bloggers soon find themselves targeted for uncovering and telling the truth.

For anyone who wants to be up to date on the series and the world, start at the beginning of the series, but anyone who doesn’t mind potential spoilers can pick it up here and enjoy a story full of zombies, journalism, and an interesting cast of characters trying to report the news and stay alive.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     All Things Urban Fantasy
     Hot Listens
     Brad K. Horner

Previous Books:
     1. Feed
     2. Deadline
     3. Blackout

Early Review: The Turn by Kim Harrison

Early Review: The Turn by Kim Harrison

The Hollows #0.1

Can science save us when all else fails?

Trisk and her hated rival, Kalamack, have the same goal: save their species from extinction.
Death comes in the guise of hope when a genetically modified tomato created to feed the world combines with the government's new tactical virus, giving it an unexpected host and a mode of transport. Plague takes the world, giving the paranormal species an uncomfortable choice to stay hidden and allow humanity to die, or to show themselves in a bid to save them.

Under accusations of scientific misconduct, Trisk and Kal flee across a plague torn United States to convince leaders of the major paranormal species to save their supposedly weaker kin, but not everyone thinks humanity should be saved.

Kal surreptitiously works against her as Trisk fights the prejudices of two societies to prove that not only does humanity have something to offer, but that long-accepted beliefs against women, dark magic, and humanity itself can turn to understanding; that when people are at their worst that the best show their true strength, and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found.

Oh. My. Goodness. THE TURN was so incredibly good, I'm going to have a very hard time writing this review without overly gushing like an utter fan girl. This book is everything I've been missing without my latest hollows fix. I have to admit I wasn't sure a prequel could live up to the epicness of Rachel, Ivy, Jenks, and Trent, but oh it does. Trisk is fierce and incredibly determined, but an outcast setting her up to be the obvious favorite, and Kal is a privileged slimeball to say the least making me loathe him at times. However, what made this a truly standout read is that neither character fits fully into those good/bad labels. There's just so much more to either of them, but I won't spoil things, just suffice it to say there's MUCH more than first meets the eye with both of them.

Now onto the plot, which while I knew what the outcome of THE TURN would be, the journey was a pleasant surprise every step of the way. I really enjoyed seeing how everything unfolded and honestly now I want to go back and re-read the entire series to see if some of the details in this book were hinted at in the original books. It definitely won't be a hardship. :)

I have searched everywhere to see if this prequel is a standalone, or the start of a new early Hollow series, but I can't find any info. I truly hope it's the latter because this book was utterly fantastic and I want so much more. Simply put, THE TURN was everything I had hoped for, just an utter treat. Fans of the Hollows should have this on their auto buy list pronto!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Between Dreams and Reality
     Tome Tender
     Hidden in Pages

Previous Books:
     1. Dead Witch Walking
     2. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
     3. Every Which Way But Dead
     4. A Fistful of Charms
     5. For a Few Demons More
     6. The Outlaw Demon Wails
     7. White Witch, Black Curse
     8. Back Magic Sanction
     9. Pale Demon
     10. A Perfect Blood
     11. Ever After
     12. The Undead Pool
     13. The Witch with No Name