Devil's Daughter by Hope Schenk-de Michele and Paul Marquez - 3.5 stars

Book 1 in Lucinda's Pawnshop

Devil's Daughter by Hope Schenk-de Michele and Paul Marquez with Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
3.5 stars

This book was difficult to rate. I liked it but it took me a little longer to get through than most books. I was able to put it down and move on to other books in my to-read pile. I'm pretty good at focusing on one book but I kept getting bored while reading. It's also a difficult book to review. I've rewritten this thing 10 times already.

The plot of the book is interesting. We have the daughter of Eve and Lucifer. We have demons and fallen angels. Shape shifting and magic and people who are at the brink of choosing right and wrong. Lucinda runs a pawn shop full of dark objects that hold dark souls of the past. When a mortal purchases an object they are drawn to, it wreaks havoc in their lives. Lucifer has Lucinda sell these objects so he can further his plot to end the world.

Lucinda is interesting. She has the inner turmoil of being the daughter of Eve and Lucifer. She has a human side that she can't show to anyone because it is her weakness. Of course, this comes crashing down when she meets a mortal man who wandered into the pawnshop accidently. She actually starts to feel things she's never felt before. She has to be careful with this part of her life as well. Basically she had to tread a fine line and keep everything hidden from those around her.

While Lucinda is the main character,we have several points of view. Some of them were interesting. Others were boring. There were a little too many jumps between characters. Most of these characters aren't really fleshed out. It's definitely a plot driven book.

I wanted there to be more world building. There are aspects that aren't explained. What is the Between? Why was Lucinda taken from Eve at such a young age? There are many unanswered questions. Some of them are legitimate and are there to be explored in the upcoming novel(s). But some of them should have been more fleshed out.

I might read the sequel just to see what's coming next. I can only hope that there will be character and plot growth along with it.

Awakening by Catrina Burgess - 3.5 stars

Book 1 of The Dark Rituals

Awakening by Catrina Burgess
3.5 stars

We have Colina, a former healer. When her family is brutally murdered before her eyes, she knows she needs to get her revenge. She decides that becoming a Death Dealer is the only way to get back at the monsters who stole her family from her. It so happens that the men who killed her family also want to kill her so she needs defenses fast.

In this world, people know about different magic groups, or Guilds. Death Dealers have an understandably bad reputation. The connect to the spirit world and force the spirits to become their slaves. It's pretty disturbing but the main character, Luke, is able to justify why they're not so bad. I can see it from both sides of the spectrum.

I understand the need for revenge and I liked the concept of a good person gone bad. There were a couple of twists and I liked the darkness required of becoming a Death Dealer. Colina is instantly attracted to Luke and she was a little obsessed with him. I found this part annoying. She'd just met the guy! If the guy is hot, of course she has to fall in love. ::Eye roll:: There were a lot of cliches throughout the whole thing.

Warning: character death in the end. It was a definite surprise. Still, I didn't really care about it. I had no emotional connection.

The world building was lacking. When I'm reading an alternate universe book, I want to know what's going on. How does society work? What is the culture? What are the powers involved? Is magic considered good or bad? World building is important for me. I need to be able to be immersed in that world. There is a fine line when you're building such a universe. Info-dumps are terrible. But if you do it just right, it's a smooth transition.

This book was okay. Apparently that's not a popular opinion. It was well written but I just didn't enjoy the story line. It's unique but mostly I was bored. It was a quick and easy read for me but I found it slow and there was a little too much insta-love. I'm not planning on reading Possession.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - 3.5 stars

Book 2 in the Caster Chronicles

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
3.5 stars

Previous Caster Chronicles Series Reviews

Beautiful Creatures (#1)

When I first read this book, I found myself getting really annoyed. Mostly because of the actions of Lena. She just frustrated me. I understand the reasons why she acted the way she did but still, I just wanted to shake her and say "Get over it!" This has to be my least favorite book. As I mentioned in my review of Beautiful Creature, the next two books in the series are full of extreme angst. Don't get me wrong, the writing is good. Garcia and Stohl know how to write. I just found some of the plot hard to swallow. 

This book continues not long after Beautiful Creatures. Macon is dead and there is a funeral. His coffin is empty seeing as he in an Incubus and when they die there are no bodies. Obviously Lena is devastated over her uncle's death; especially since she's basically the one who killed him. Now every time she sees Ethan, she sees her uncle and how she killed him. Like I said, understandable. 

Ethan has no idea what is up with Lena. He desperately tries to get her to talk but she just runs away from him. She blocks him out, not allowing him to Kelt with her. Eventually Ethan learns why she is pulling away. Amma tells him what happened the night of Lena's Sixteenth Moon. But he doesn't want to give up on her seeing as he loves her. 

We get a few new characters in this book. Ethan is working in the library for the summer with Marion and he meets Liz. Liz is this crazy smart girl from England. She and Ethan become best friends and it's obvious that Liz really likes him. I really like Liz. She's just cool and she's a great friend to Ethan. Ethan runs across her in the tunnels with Marion. Turns out Liz is training to be a Keeper and she is studying with Marion. Ethan's mother had helped Ethan find his way through the tunnels to get to Liz and Marion. When Ethan told Liz and Marion that, they discovered that he was a Wayward. Wayward's a special mortals who guide Casters through their life. These Casters are important. They just aren't sure which Caster Ethan is supposed to be guiding.

When Ethan was at the graveyard for All Souls Day, Marion gives him a box with a small black sphere inside of it. Ethan's mother gave it to Marion and she decided to give it to Ethan. The stone is called an Arclight. It's the only weapon that can be used against an Incubus. It's basically a prison. Ethan begins
to have visions involving Macon and Abraham, the first Blood Incubus in the family. We learn a lot through the visions and that was one of my favorite parts.

The ending is huge and definitely has major effects. I like that Ridley and Link were included in their little adventures. Despite everything Ridley says, she loves Link just as much as he loves her. Poor Ridley and poor Link. Since the events of Lena's sixteenth moon, Link is now involved in the world of the Casters. He provide much needed comic relief. We also see how much of Gatlin actually is involved in the Caster world. It's shocking but also welcome. My favorite has to be Aunt Prue. I love that old lady.

This book does need to be read and it is still good. I just have a hard time when characters dwell on the same thing the entire time. It's understandable I guess but still, move on with the story already! Anyways, it's a good read but it drags on a bit. Things could have moved forward are little more quickly. Other than that, it was a good addition to the series and the consequences of the actions from the climax are seen in Beautiful Chaos. Exciting stuff right there.

Previous Reviews:

• Beautiful Creatures (#1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - 5 stars
• Onyx (#2) by Jennifer Armentrout - 4.5 stars
• Obsidian (#1) by Jennifer Armentrout - 4.5 stars

Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur - 3.5 stars

Circle of Fire by Keri Arthur
3.5 stars

I was a little hesitant to pick this book up at first even though it sounded interesting. I'm glad I did. It was a good book and I enjoyed it. Despite my enjoyment, I had a hard time rating this. I went back and forth between 3.5 and 4 stars. The concept is great but some of the things in the story bothered me enough to knock it down to 3.5. I would still recommend it though. Overall it's a good story with a good plot line despite some of the things I did not particularly like.

It's quite obvious from the first time Jon and Maddie meet that there is going to be a love story between them. Jon appears in an astral form in Maddie's bedroom. Maddie has been living alone ever since her husband died in a fire. She is afraid of hurting anyone with her power because she has no control. Jon is dying and something is forcing him to appear before her. Maddie thinks she's going crazy until Jon warns her about missing teenagers from the area her sister and her nephew, Ethan, visited two weeks prior. Jon begs her to find him and save him. When Ethan disappears like the other teenagers who visited AREA, Maddie decides to set out to save Jon and then find Ethan.


Along with Maddie's pyrokinesis, she is also clairvoyant. Ethan has inherited that power as well. Maddie's power helps her with trying to locate Ethan but since she doesn't have much control, the visions are confusing and unclear. Jon can't help her focus her powers because he is a shapeshifter, a hawk to be exact, and he doesn't know the finer arts of the craft. He does help her calm down when she sets the inn on fire by accident.

Maddie stays at an inn where there is a creepy owner named Hank. This guy is so well written that when you are reading it, you get that creepy vibe. He's nasty and you know that he is evil. He has a fascination with Maddie and it scares her. I would be scared too. We find out pretty early who is behind the kidnappings and murders. It was quite obvious from the beginning so I was a little annoyed by that. There really wasn't a sense of mystery. I'm not sure is this is what Arthur was aiming for but it was extremely predictable.

I was also a little annoyed by the hot and cold vibes Jon sent towards Maddie. I understand the reasoning behind it but it was a constant thing so I found it tiring.

I was a little surprised by the ending. I wasn't expecting the time difference, something you will understand when you read the last chapter. It did have a HEA which I am grateful for. Overall it was a good book. The next book in the Damask Circle series focuses on two different characters. It's one of those series that have different main characters for each book. I will be reading the next book in the series.

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter - 3.5 stars

Skinwalker (#1) by Faith Hunter
3.5 stars

I liked this book but it was a little slow for me. It took me longer than usual to read it. When I put it down I didn't always want to pick it back up. Once I got to the end however, it did pick up and I was really enjoying it. 

I really like Jane. I think her origins are very interesting. She's part Cherokee and a skinwalker. She's special in that she has another soul living within her. This soul is Beast. In the beginning of the book we don't know how Beast came to share Jane's body because Jane's early memories of her life are blank. Through the course of different things, Jane gains access to some of her memories and eventually remembers how Beast came to be part of her. It's a very sad thing and I can understand Beast's anger. 

There are several characters but they aren't hard to keep track of. Jane has a best friend, Molly, who is an Earth witch. She married a male witch and they've had two children. Apparently Molly's, Angelina daughter is a crazy powerful witch and it's extremely dangerous for anyone to know about her power. Beast feels that Angelina is her kit because she helped calm Angie down when her power exploded. Jane is hired by Katie, the first sane vampire she's ever met. I like how Jane handles herself and I like how good she is with her weapons. She's definitely a bad ass. Leo is basically king of the vampires in New Orleans and he is also the head of his Clan. Vampire politics are very complicated and Jane keeps finding herself on the sidelines watching it all pan out. 

What I really liked was how well Hunter wrote Beast's point of view. You can see her as an animal but also as an intelligent being. I like Beast a lot actually. There is also the curiosity about the vampires. Apparently they are cursed and it has something to do with God. I'm very curious about Hunter's take on vampires. Weres aren't well known but Leo confirms that they exist as well as the existence of elves. I do wonder if we will them in the future. 

This is not a love story but I do think there will be a love interest. 

I would recommend this book to someone who like urban fantasy. It was enjoyable and I will be reading the next books in the series eventually. 

Review on Goodreads.

Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey - 3.5 stars

Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey
3.5 stars

When I was reading this I kept getting mixed feelings. I honestly didn't know why I kept reading it but I did and in the end I found myself really liking it. It's one of those stories that makes you think even after you've finished, wanting to continue on with the characters even though it seems like everything is resolved in the end. 

I think why it has so many bad reviews is the writing. It's not well written sometimes. However, I really enjoyed the overall plot. It was a little weird at times because we have a mix of fantasy and reality. Everyone is Christian and they pray to saints and they kill those accused of witchcraft. But there are also dragon's and a prophecy. I found myself getting extremely annoyed with Rose's mother but I think that was how it was supposed to be. There were many deaths and many sad moments but it added to the story. 

Overall I ended up enjoying it and I'm glad that I picked it up to read. It's probably not something that I will reread like I often do but it is one that I think will stick in my memory.