Title: Through the Arch
Author: Devri Walls
Series: Venators
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 300
Released: Oct 1st, 2016

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Six years ago, Grey Malteer was attacked by creatures he thought couldn’t possibly exist. They repeated a word, calling him a name he’d never heard before…Venator. Since then, his life has been a hellhole of secrecy—hiding old pain alongside strange new abilities.

Rune Jenkins has an itch, as she calls it, but it’s more than that. It's an anger that builds up like the inside of a boiler whenever she’s around anything remotely supernatural. The pressure is growing steadily worse and she can’t understand why. All she knows is—her control is slipping.

By order of an unknown council Grey and Rune are pulled through a portal in the St. Louis arch, landing them in an alternate dimension where creatures of myth and legend exist. A realm that calls them, Venators.

Made up of centuries old fae, vampires, werewolves, elves and succubi the council’s corrupt nature becomes obvious as they seek to wield the newly returned Venators as weapons. Wedged in an impossible position, Grey and Rune must decide their fate—do they go against the council’s wishes and help the innocents of this unforgiving land, or face the possibility of execution by the council.

Devri Walls is permanently cemented as one of my favorite authors to read, her fantasy novels always have me fully immersed in the world with the characters she creates. Through the Arch was no expception and was another exciting adventure of a read. With great characters, the start of some romance, tons of action and a plethora of different paranormal creatures, Venators is looking to be another 5 star series for me from Devris Walls.

The start of Venators immediately had me very intrigued, Rune gets an itch, a built up rage she feels she needs to release when anything supernatural/paranormal is around her, even a commercial making a slight reference to werewolves sends her into a frenzied feeling of anger that she has to work hard to contain. She knows this isn’t normal, but how can she talk to anyone about this without being thrown into the looney bin? As a reader this had me SO intrigued right off the back, why is she filled with such a rage over paranormal things? And on top of that what does Grey (male classmate of hers) know about Runes itch? The beginning was so strong and immediately sucked me in with tons of questions and me wanting answers.

Through the Arch was a perfect ‘first novel’ to a series, we are introduced to the characters, there is a sense that some romances will pick up in book two, and you get a general understanding of how the world works and how the politics work in the fantasy world Rune and Grey have been shoved into. It reminds me a lot of how I felt during Wings of Arian the first book to Devri’s other series Solus, it’s a first novel that gives you everything you need…but leaves you wanting soooo much more and dying for book two.

The only negative critique I would give Through the Arch would be the ending, this for me is a minor critique too considering this is the first book to a series, and not a stand alone. Through the Arch's ending had a pretty rushed feeling to it, the pacing felt off and I felt it was tied together rather quickly and then bam…the novel was over.

While the ending felt rushed the rest of the novel was flawlessly paced, through out Through the Arc you're on such a roller coaster as the reader. You're thrown around quick turns and then dropped down big plummets, but don't worry Devri always gives you a moment to catch your breath before throwing you right back onto the ride.

I really cannot wait to see where this series will go, knowing Devri's previous series though one thing is for certain.... this is going to be one hell of a good ride.

• Positive-Amazing world building
• Positive-Likable characters
• Positive-Start of a romance
• Negative-Ending
• Positive-BELTRAN 💖

Title: Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae
Series: Book 1 in the Hidden Wings series
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
Details: 204 pages, released January 16 2013
Source: Given for review

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Seventeen is a life changing age for Emma Wise.
As her family's sole survivor in a car crash, she is left with a broken arm and a few scrapes and bruises. But these are only outward marks; inside, her heart is broken and the pieces scattered.

Whisked away to Alaska, to an aunt she’s never met, Emma starts over. Secrets unveil themselves and now…she doesn't even know who or what she is.

A centuries old prophecy places Emma in the heart of danger. Creatures of horrifying and evil proportions are after her, and it will take Emma, her aunt, and six, gorgeously captivating Guardians to keep her safe. But, if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday... things will change.
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Hidden Wings follows Emma Wise, who has just found out she is the sole survivor of a car crash that killed her parents. Emma is broken, and on top of the loss of her parents she now has to move away from everything she knows to Alaska to live with an aunt she has never met. Here is where Emma is going to discover family secrets, a centuries old prophecy centering around her, and find out that she is in danger, a lot of danger.

Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae is my favorite angel paranormal romance next to the very popular novel Unearthly by Cynthia Hand. Anyone that is a fan of Unearthly I believe will enjoy Hidden Wings. This book had it all when it comes to an amazing read, it had adventure, forbidden love, secrets, friendship, action and a bit of suspense and mystery sprinkled on top too. From the first page of Hidden Wings you are pulled into Cameo Renae’s writing, I found myself soaring through this book and before I knew it I had read it in one sitting! Renae’s writing flowed so nicely throughout the whole novel, readers will easily find themselves getting lost in the pages of her work.

While all around Hidden Wings was an immensely enjoyable read, my favorite part was the romance between Kade and Emma. There was such a mystery behind their connection in the beginning, and you couldn’t help, but feel for Emma once she found out that a romance between him and her is off limits. I’m not always a fan of the whole forbidden romance thing that a lot of YA novels like to have, but in the Hidden Wings series it was done very well. While it was a great part of the story, it was never something that took center stage, which I personally was grateful for.

Overall Hidden Wings was such a great start to a great series! Hidden Wings ends on a cliff hanger and left me dying to get my hands on book two and find out what happens to the characters I learned to love, and dare I say book two Broken Wings was even better than Hidden Wings! This is a series that I believe is going to continue to get better and surprise the readers more and more, anyone that is a fan of YA paranormal romances must pick this series up!

Title: UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn
Series: Book 1 in An Unfortunate Fairy Tale series
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Details: 216 pages, released 2011
Source: Bought

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Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated; that is until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her High School status from loser to hero overnight.

But with her new found fame brings misfortune in the form of an old family curse come to light. For Mina is a descendant from the Brothers Grimm and has inherited all of their unfinished fairy tale business which includes trying to outwit a powerful Story from making her its' next fairy-tale victim.

To break the fairy tale curse on her family and make these deadly occurrences stop, Mina must finish the tales until the very Grimm end.
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Unenchanted by Chanda Hahn follows Mina Grime, Mina is unlucky, shy, clumsy, and very unpopular. That all changes the day that Mina goes on a field trip and saves the most popular boy in school, and her long time crush Brody Charmichaels. Now Mina is all anyone at school and the media can talk about, but being stalked by the media is the least of Mina’s problems now.

Mina has just discovered that she is a Grimm, a descendant of the Brothers Grimm, and she is next in line to try and break the families curse. The only way to do that? She must live through and complete every fairytale, only then can the Grimm curse be broken and the fae world cut off from the mortal world. Most of these stories are deadly, even with the help of a magical book and a frustrating fae, can Mina make it to the end of the story alive, or will she meet a grim end like all the Grimms before her?

Unechanted was a great read, it was a light hearted fantasy novel that is full of YA ‘fluff’. It was the prefect book for the mood I was in this weekend, wanting something light and cute that made me happy once I finished it. Even though Unenchated was a light hearted read, and could be very predictable at times, the author still left a ton of mystery in the book. Once I finished Unenchanted I had so many questions that I just had to pick up book two and figure out what was going to happen.

The characters in Unenchanted were each great on their own, you have Mina the main character, who even though she is usually so clumsy and shy she is taking on this huge curse so she can protect her mother and brother. There’s Nan who is Mina’s best and only friend, she’s the complete opposite of Mina, she’s outgoing, loud, fashionable, and semi popular, but also an amazing friend to Mina. You have Brody who is in the sense “prince charming”. Then you have my favorite character who can also be insanely frustrating, Jared. Jared was easily my favorite character just because of all the mystery that surrounds him, I felt he was a bit of a more in depth character compared to the rest of the bunch, and I looked forward to his part in the story most.

Overall if you’re looking for a light hearted YA fantasy novel, then I would highly recommend Unenchanted (ps: if you’re a kindle owner this book is free on amazon).

Title: The Assassins Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Series: #1 in the Assassins Curse duology
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Details: 298 pages, released October 2nd 2012
Source: Bought

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Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to another pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. When Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.

To break the spell, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks--all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic...and the growing romantic tension between them.
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The Assassins Curse was such an exciting read! Right from the start of the book you are picked up and thrown into a fast paced novel. Ananna is a pirate, not just any pirate though, she is the daughter of the captain of the Tanarau. Ananna is supposed to be married off to Tarrin of the Hariri to better her family in the Pirates Confederation. But she doesn’t want to marry a man she hardly knows, so when the first chance arrives, she takes off and runs away on a camel. By running away Ananna has disrespected the Hariri, and in return they send an assassin after her.

When Ananna runs into the assassin Naji and saves his life by killing a snake, she finds out he is cursed. She also finds out that she is now involved in this curse and Naji must protect her or die. A curse to break, pirates and otherworlds to run from, and a little romantic tension made The Assassins Curse a great adventure.

The entire book is from Ananna’s point of view and she made for a great main character. She was independent, strong, outspoken, resourceful, and witty. But while she was strong she was also very insecure and stubborn at times, this to me just made her more relatable, she wasn’t perfect, and no character ever should be.

Then you have Naji who throughout the novel is just a big mystery. He doesn’t tell Ananna much, he keeps quiet about the curse, and himself. Readers do get glimpses of him though, every once and while he will show his caring side, or his brutal side. While there is some very small romantic tension between himself and Ananna, it doesn’t really start showing till the end of the novel.

The writing itself was good, while something’s did seem repetitive, it was still an enjoyable adventure that flowed perfectly. The world building was good, it was very easy to picture everyone going on around Ananna, the magic, the sea, the desert, the fights, everything. The dialogue between Ananna and Naji was occasionally humorous. Just overall this was a well written adventure.

If you are someone that wants to read a fun young adult adventure, with pirates and assassins, then look no further. The Assassins Curse was a great start to what seems like is going to be an epic series adventure!

•  Pros: Strong realistic main character, good scenery and description, fast pace
• Cons: Repetitive thoughts, conversation and actions, small amount of romantic tension 

Title: Defy by Sara B. Larson
Series: Defy #1
Genre: YA, Romance, LIGHT fantasy
Details: 336 pages, released Jan 7th 2014
Source: For review from Netgalley

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A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and a thrilling love triangle.

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?
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Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

This is my first Kendare Blake novel, and I have to say it did not disappoint. Going into AntiGoddess I had NO idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised that I actually quite enjoyed this.

Lets go ahead and get what I didn't like out of the way. First off the beginning was a little slow pace in my opinion. It wasn't necessarily boring, but it was slow. Also in the beginning it's confusing as to what's going on, things start to piece together a little ways in though so don't worry. Basically the beginning of AntiGoddess for me was not all that great. Also while I did like the variety of characters, and their relationships with one another I didn't find myself caring all that much for them. I liked them, but just couldn't get myself to care about them.

Moving on! Kendare's writing was spectacular. Like I said earlier this is my first novel I have read by her, and now after finishing AntiGoddess, I cannot wait to pick up Anna Dressed in Blood (which based off of reviews, readers liked alot more than AntiGoddess). There was alternating perspectives in AntiGoddess that Kendare was able to weave together perfectly, I personally never felt like things were jumping around too much, or sloppy. Everything flowed together nicely.

Another thing about AnitGoddess is that it was very different than any other YA novel I have read, and in a good way different! It is very unique, and is also very twisted at parts, which I LOVED. There are quite a few 'dark' moments in this novel and quite a bit of cussing, so I would recommend this for MATURE YA. Kendare does a unique Greek Mythology story and does it awesomely!

Overall, I did enjoy AntiGoddess. I feel the beginning could have been alot stronger, and I do wish I felt more emotion or cared more about the characters, but I don't and that's okay. The ending was really good and I will be continuing this series for sure and hopefully will connect more with the characters in book two. If you are someone who likes Greek mythology, or just wants to try something different than I highly recommend giving AntiGoddess a shot.

IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: Before reading AntiGoddess I had read Giselle over at Xpresso Reads review of it (you can see her review here) and she had suggested looking into the Trojan war before reading AntiGoddess, just reading the basics on Wikipedia will do. Although you don't HAVE to look into the Trojan war before picking this up, I do along with Giselle recommend it. It only took me 5 minutes to learn the basics of the Trojan war, and it made the reading experience alot better, but again it's not required, if you know nothing about the Trojan war and pick this up you should still be able to easily follow along.

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Title: Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff
Series: Book 2 in the Lotus War series
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Steampunk
Details: 432 pages, To be released September 17th 2013
Source of Kinslayer: Blog Tour with Book Nerd Tours
Source of Stormdancer: Bought

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A SHATTERED EMPIRE
The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY
Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM
Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.
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Dear future readers of Kinslayer, Be prepared to have your heart ripped out and stomped on. I recommend to have ice cream near by at all times while reading Kinslayer...lots of ice cream, enough to drown your sorrows/feels in...or preferably alcohol. (If you are of legal age ladies and gents, if not, stick with the ice cream)  yaaholic does not in anyway shape or form condone underage drinking(:

Okay so in all honesty going into the Lotus War series, I was pretty worried...and maybe a tad intimidated (okay okay you got me I was all sorts of intimidated by this series). Why was I intimidated you may ask? Well from what I had heard from other reviews was that it was a super awesome series, but had alot of characters..and places...and could get confusing..and was a heavy fantasy series. This scared me because going into Lotus War series I was afraid it was maybe going to be too heavy of a series for me, and I would get lost while reading it..and then in turn feel maybe slightly like a dummy for not being able to follow the series while other book bloggers I knew could.

I am happy to report to you that I was able to follow both Stormdancer and Kinslayer (woohooo chest bump), and they were epic, and awesome just like everyone else said they were. (Seriously thank you to Kara from Great Immaginations, and multiple lovely people over at Cuddlebuggery for bringing this series to my attention first) Jay Kristoff is a writing genius! This is a series that if you really commit to it, will make you feel things you didn't even know a book could make you feel all at once (wow..that sounds almost sexual..but it's not..or is it...no it's not)

So lets talk about the magnificent thing that is Jay Kristoff's writing, it was perfect...well nearly perfect, but I shall get to that later. Right now I would much like to ramble about the awesomeness of his writing. This series is a Japanese, Fantasy, Steampunk series (Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds) With all of that awesome being put into one series, I was worried going into it that picturing what Jay was writing may be difficult if not done VERY well on his end. I was relieved when I started reading Stormdancer and was not only able to picture everything that was happening, but able to picture it insanely clear. While reading Stormdancer and Kinslayer you feel as if you are there with the characters watching everything play out in super high definition.(which is sometimes beautiful, horrifying, or heart wrenching) Jay has an amazing way of being very descriptive, but never crossing the line of being too descriptive.

Now if I were to have any complaints about Kinslayer (which I don' have many and this series is still epic enough to get 5 stars) is that at times while reading Kinslayer I felt the story didn't flow as nicely as it could have. Sometimes I felt it was jumping around a little bit too much, and not doing it as smoothly as I would have liked, keep in mind this is just how I felt while reading it. That would be my only bigger complaint on Kinslayer if I were to have any, and even that I did get over. (hence the 5 stars that it still received) Also now this is not a complaint of mine at all, but as a warning to other people I feel I should mention it, this is not a series you can skim through. So if you are a skimmer, you need to stay away. If you skim at all, I can guarantee you will end up very very lost. This is a series that needs your complete attention. There are alot of characters in this series, and places. This is a heavy fantasy, not a light one! If you don't skim through them though I do believe you will be fine and will be able to keep up with everything.

If I were to have a favorite out of Stormdancer, or Kinslayer. I would have to easily give my vote to Kinslayer. So if you have read Stromdancer, and are not sure about picking up Kinslayer...let me just say that you must pick it up. YOU. MUST. (you can't tell but I am giving you the most evil look right now! You must continue forward! Don't be a quitter!) While Kinslayer was mega heart wrenching, I found myself enjoying it so much more due to the so many more emotions you feel while reading Kinslayer. I also felt that even though Stromdancer was amazing, that Jay's writing did get even better in Kinslayer. I am hoping that with that being said, that book 3 will be the best out of the three novels. Yukiko I connected with alot more in Kinslayer than I did Stormdancer, don't get me wrong, I liked her in Stormdancer, but I really connected with her in Kinslayer. We are also introduced to some new characters in Kinslayer that I think readers will like the addition of to the story, I especially found myself liking Hana. I think she is a character any reader will fall for.

So overall, the Lotus War series is turning out to be pretty epic. If you have yet to pick up the series, and are someone that enjoys fantasy, or if you are someone that wants to give fantasy a try, then I think this is a series you should pick up. If you have read Stromdancer, and loved it, then I can easily tell you, you will not at all be disappointed in Kinslayer because Jay DELIVERS in Kinslayer. Kinslayer was even better than Stormdancer, so if you are someone that maybe didn't like Stormdancer, then I would still recommend you to give Kinslayer a shot. Seriously this series is awesome. Highly recommend.

Side note- Can I just mention how freakin bad ass these covers are?! Seriously some of the best covers I have ever seen!

Super side note- holy mothor of pearl this review is way longer than I wanted it to be.

Check out Stormdancer, book 1 in the Lotus Ware series:


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Jay Kristoff is a Perth-born, Melbourne-based author. His first trilogy, THE LOTUS WAR, was purchased in the three-way auction by US publishing houses in 2011. He is as surprised about it as you are. The first installment, STORMDANCER, is set to be published in September 2012 in the US, UK and Australia. Jay is 6’7, has approximately 13870 days to live and does not believe in happy endings.



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