Author: Lady Nightwolf

Historian. Wife. Dog Mom. Book Hoarder. Gamer. When she's not working or studying, she can most often be found in a hammock devouring a book, buried under her 70 pound lap dog, or in the kitchen creating new delicious things to feed to her mountain man husband.

Categories
Fantasy Mystery Romance

Diamond City

By Francesca Flores

3 Stars. Best enjoyed when you’re feeling cagey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In a post-civil war city where religion is dangerous, possessing raw diamonds can get you executed, and criminals roam the streets freely, who can you trust? 

Aina is a blade, a hired assassin, who has worked for The Blood King since he found her passed out in a tavern from sniffing glue in her early teens. Orphaned at a young age after having watched her parents murdered for their religious beliefs, she never really hoped to make anything of herself before The Blood King, Kohl, found her and trained her to be one of his blades. Now, six years later, he has given her the biggest job of her life, one that may give her the chance to secure a future outside of the Dom where she can run her own trade house. 

Aina has been given the opportunity of a lifetime, even if her target is a member of one of the richest families is the city. But Aina is undoubtedly one of the best blades in the city. However, when something goes dreadfully wrong and she finds herself outside of the protection of The Blood King, she is given only one chance to make it right before the city eats her alive. Who can she turn to in a city that now has a price on her head and enemies around every corner? 

I enjoyed Diamond City. I pictured the city in tiers with a piratical edge. The world building was well done, the characters well rounded, and the cast was probably one of the most diverse I’ve ever experienced in a YA novel. There were twists, turns, and surprises all over the place. Was it a little predictable? For some people it might be, but for me, the various plotlines that were braided together left a lot of mystery and by the end I was kicking myself for not putting it all together. 

The issues that the characters face are also very relatable. Loss, addiction, and being unable to know who to trust as well as cleansing yourself of toxic relationships are all very relatable concepts. I didn’t relate that well with Aina as she was very self-serving at times, but she grew as a person throughout the book and I would really like to see where the the author takes her character arc. I did love Teo, Kyuu and Raurie, and I loved the descriptions of Tannis and Jane, I felt like they were the best described. However, the relationships that Aina has with each character could probably be fleshed out a little more, and perhaps they will be. This is one of those books that doesn’t feel like a stand-alone. Matter of fact, the action picked up a lot in the last 40% of the book. The end felt a little too rushed for that and things were only as tied up as a first book in a series would allow.

Overall, I think it was worth a read. I feel like the world is alone is worth it. The author does an amazing job building the world itself and the structural/social hierarchy. I enjoyed it.

Categories
Adventure Fantasy

Nameless Queen

BY Rebecca McLaughlin. Pub Date 01/17/2020

3 Stars. Best enjoyed when craving a somewhat predictable but enjoyable underdog story.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In The Names Queen, the magic of the land is bound to the person who rules it. When the sovereign dies, they must name their heir. In doing so, they pass on the magical tattoo that marks the ruler along with all the magic it entails to the person chosen next to carry the crown. The King of Seriden has passed, and there is a mad hunt to find the next king or queen so they can take their rightful place. No one could have predicted who would be named…or how.

Coin is Nameless, a member of the lowest class in a city called Seriden, a class despised by both the Royal and Legal classes that run the city. They are called Nameless because they are just that, nameless, and because they have no legal name, they are not deemed as a part of the fabric of the city itself. They have no legal standing. They have no rights. They live on the edges of society in Seriden off its scraps and what they can scrounge and steal. So when she finds the tattoo on her arm marking her as the next heir to the throne, she fears that she has been marked for death. She doesn’t have a name, how could the King have named her as the next heir?

After the only person she cares for in the city, Hat, is taken to prison, Coin has no choice but to reveal herself as the next ruler of Seriden, much to the disbelief of the citizens of the city, Legal and Royal alike. She doesn’t even want the responsibility…but she’s not the only one who doesn’t want her to have it. However, until she can save Hat, she has no choice but to play their game. Maybe in doing so, she can try to make life slightly better for the Nameless as well, but it won’t be easy.

Between dodging assassination plots, stuffy etiquette lessons, and side eyed looks from the heir apparent, who may have secrets of her own, she certainly has her work cut out for her. 

I liked the idea of the Nameless Queen, and it was honestly pretty good. I tend to be fascinated by worlds that are built on caste systems; it makes me root all the harder for the underdog to triumph! Coin was all rough edges, a fact that is unsurprising given where and how she grew up, which was easy to follow. Although not a character I can sympathize with, I could still empathize with what she was experiencing and it helped me keep up my pace. I found the plot twists to be somewhat unexpected, which is a rare occurrence in most YA books. However, there were other things that kind of fell flat. 

Also, if you’re looking for romance, you won’t find it here. It’s nonetheless a great book featuring a strong female lead who has been thrust into a situation that she has to fight her way out of using her wits, strength, and street smarts. Sometimes you have to pick up a book where the only romantic piece is between the main character and them self.  

Categories
Adventure Fantasy

Sorcery of Thorns

By Margaret Rogerson

4 Stars. Best enjoyed surrounded by books.

Sorcery of Thorns is a fantastic and surprising adventure from start to finish. So surprising and delightful, in fact, that I have struggled to come up with a synopsis that wouldn’t give away half the book! The world that Rogerson has built around this story is a beautiful and dangerous one, from the grimoires that quite literally live on the shelves to the wizards that roam the streets of the upper class neighborhoods. Magic is the lifeblood that pumps through every chapter and carries the reader on an intriguing journey between the stacks of the Great Libraries, the hearths of upper class homes, and even the doorstep of an asylum that holds more danger than the vaults of the libraries ever could.

Elisabeth has lived in the Great Library of Summershall for as long as she can remember–much longer than the rest of the orphans who find their way into an apprenticeship position within the dangerous and magical stacks of the Great Libraries. She has dreamt of attending the Collegium after her apprenticeship and becoming a warden, a caretaker of the dangerous magical grimoires that fill the library. 

It seems as if nothing can get in the way of her achieving her goals, until one faithful night when she is mysteriously woken from her sleep by…something she can’t recall. 

Upon investigation, Elisabeth finds the person she looks up to most dead by the hands of a Malefict, a monster which created from a dangerous magical grimoire that has set free from the vaults, which Elisabeth is then forced to defeat before it takes the lives of the inhabitants of the town nearby.

Elisabeth has a feeling that a sorcerer is involved in the attack on her home, and she has always been taught that sorcery is an evil practice and those who do such magic are dangerous to anyone they come across. However, because of a lack of evidence, Elisabeth herself is suspected of the slaying and is sent to the capital to stand trial. 

Terrified and unsure of who to trust, Elisabeth is escorted by Nathaniel Thorn, a sorcerer whose family is famous for their abilities with regards to necromancy, and his strange servant Silas, and soon after they arrive in the city, they find themselves thrust into a series of thickening plots that could spell disaster for their world. 

I was absolutely riveted. The characters were well rounded and believable and the world was well built. I found the entire story to be very intriguing, with the perfect balance of darkness and light. I also found the romance to be believable, it wasn’t insta-love by any means. 

This was a difficult review to write. Not because I didn’t enjoy the book—on the contrary, Sorcery of Thorns further solidifies Margaret Rogerson as a force to be reckoned with in YA Fantasy—but because there is so much going on throughout the book that it’s hard to tell the story without writing a Novella that would surely just confuse a person whose most basic reason for reading the review in the first place is to know if it’s good. Let me assure you, it’s good! Go read it!

Categories
Fantasy Romance

Queen of Nothing (Folk of Air #3)

by Holly Black

5 stars. Best enjoyed when you have no plans–this one will hold onto you until you finish.

In the aftermath of the event of The Wicked King, Jude has been exiled from her place in Faerie. Not only has she lost her place as her clandestine husband King Cardan’s queen, but also her hard-won place at court as his seneschal and her position in the Court of Shadows spy network. She has also pissed off her adoptive father, General Maddox, a red cap fae you truly don’t want to mess with, by scheming her own schemes with regards to the throne in which her seemingly estranged husband sits. However, if we haven’t learned already, dear reader: Jude can’t be knocked down for long. After gaining some respect with a fellow faerie exile, she uncovers a plot against Cardan that causes her to find a way past her exile and back into the beautiful, dangerous, and deadly land she has called home for most of her life and into the arms of danger itself.

Folk of Air has been one of my most favorite series to dive into over the last two years. I have loved every second of the heartbreak and intrigue and adventure that Black has offered to her readers, and this was most assuredly no exception. The dysfunctional romance between Jude and Cardan would be completely problematic in the real world, but reflects the and of faerie itself, a setting which could be described as lush, gorgeous, and vicious—like a carnivorous tropical flower luring in unsuspecting prey. Unfortunately, we are that prey, falling victim to the gorgeous words that we gobble up from the pages, while entirely unaware that they are devouring us in return, piece by piece, its sticky poison left on our very bones to warm our souls. 

A story that leaves the reader longing for more–such is the mark of the great book. However, one that leaves a reader yearning for more time in the world, yet entirely fulfilled by the end of the current story—that is the mark of an excellent series finale. I wish I could give you more about the book itself, but I would hate the spoil this one for you. 

Categories
Fantasy Romance

House of Salt & Sorrows

By Erin A Craig

4 Stars. Best Enjoyed on the coast in the fall.

The family of Highmoor estate is cursed…or at least, that’s the case according to the whispers amongst the townsfolk. After the dramatic and untimely deaths of four of her eleven sisters, Annaleigh is almost ready to accept it. However, the most recent death of her sister Eulalie, who fell from the cliffs of their estate, has her questioning the veracity of this tall tale. Eulalie had so much to live for, why would she have put herself in that kind of danger?

Her investigations lead to mounting evidence that something far more sinister is taking place amongst the Highmoor clan. With the her youngest sister Verity seeing ghosts and the girls discovering a secret door that has the power to transport them to nightly revels throughout the kingdom, she is beginning to expect that the happenings at Highmoor may be tied to the very sea god that created them from the brine.

As the story progresses, things keep getting more and more strange. As Annaleigh falls deeper and deeper into the dark mystery surrounding her family, the twists and turns of this eerie Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling will keep you guessing until the end.

There is one character in particular that really latching on, and that’s the island. The very salt of the sea plays an important part in this story, as does the rich tapestry that Craig paints–a brooding and eerie atmosphere, almost as oppressive as the stays of a tightly laced corset.

The story itself is part psychological horror, part fairytale retelling, and all fantasy. Although at times the main character seems to be a little too immature and naive for the part she plays, you nonetheless sympathize with her losses and empathize with her skepticism. There are definitely parts of the story that cause your heart to break along with hers.

I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. I also was not expecting this to be as much of a psychological thriller as it turned out to be. Some reviewers have called the story predictable, but I honestly don’t know how they would have come to the ultimate conclusion provided–this story twisted more than a pretzel machine! If she can keep writing such unpredictable tales, then I am very much looking forward to seeing the next thing that Craig puts out.

Categories
Adventure Mystery

The Gilded Wolves

By Roshani Chokshi.

3 Stars. Best Enjoyed in a room of luxurious appointment.

The Gilded Wolves is set in the late nineteenth century in the lush and luxurious streets of Paris beating with an undercurrent of ancient magic harnessed by some of the people who walk amongst its denizens. Severin Montagnet-Alarie is one of them. Hailing from one of the first forging families, he should be a part of the Order of Babel, which is the secretive body that governs the magical underground made up of the elite first families who received the gift of forging from God. Unfortunately, his seat in this glittering group has been taken from him. However, he has every intention of regaining his seat amongst the magical elite—even if he and his rag-tag team of talented misfits have to steal back his rightful inheritance.

The characters in this one are hard not to love although the story is missing some depth because of the jumping POVs, but with the mysteries that each character is clearly holding, it’s not hard to latch onto each story in anticipation of the inevitable reveal of each. Plus, there are a few romances at play that flash their bits at you from time to time to keep the reader longing for more. 

The rich setting and adventure are enticing. Chokshi is a literary artist when it comes to setting the scene. The descriptions provided are able to paint not only descriptions but also the very air of the places that Severin and his team travel through, bringing the reader along for the ride. 

Overall, the story is a fun adventure with magical settings, an interesting cast of characters, and an intriguing and fast-paced storyline that will keep readers rooting until the end.

Categories
Historical Fiction Romance

The Piper’s Pursuit

By Melanie Dickerson, Pub Date 12/3/2019

3 Stars. Best enjoyed when you want a light fairy tale with a chaste romance.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Piper’s Pursuit takes place in Hamlin in 1424. The city has been overtaken by rats and a beast stalks the forest outside the city gates, snatching children who wander too far from their parents. Katerina, the step daughter of the less than honorable Bürgermeister, will do anything to save her city. When the Duke’s son, Stefan, strolls into the city, Katerina is less than impressed. However, a partnership quickly forms between the two as sinister plots and plans begin to reveal themselves. It will take all their cunning and faith to save Hamlin and its people from the hands of evil that have enclosed themselves around them.

I enjoy Dickerson’s writings for a multitude of reasons. They almost always contain fairy tale element, and I’m a sucker for retellings, and the heroines are often dealing with some trauma or abuse that has happened in their life, and I love to see survivors rise. The Piper’s Pursuit contains all of this and more. There is personal sacrifice, atonement, a heartwarming romance, and young woman who would do anything to save her town from the beasts that have threatened it, regardless of who they may be.

K

Katerina and Stefan were both battling their own demons throughout the book. Some were ghosts of the past, a fight for redemption, while yet others were clear and present. I love these kinds of stories, where one must overcome something to gain something more, and learn to forgive in order to rise from the chains of the past. All of the characters were well fleshed out, and the setting felt very real, although I would have enjoyed a more in depth description of the town itself.

The twists and turns were often predictable, but it really didn’t even matter. The ride was still amazing and fun and you just 100% want things to turn out okay for the main characters. I was so there for it.

Categories
Contemporary Fiction Horror Mystery Romance

The Shape of Night

By Tess Gerritsen, Pub date 10/1/2019

4 Stars. Best enjoyed at night. Alone.

Tess Gerritsen has been one of my favorite authors for the last 15 years, so I was super excited to be approved for this one–thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for the below fair review!

Ava is a food writer who trades a few months in Boston for a new backdrop in Brodie’s Watch, a large, beautiful rental house on the coast of Maine. It’s the perfect place to finish her latest book on New England coastal cuisine, and also far enough away to try to escape the secrets that have haunted her since New Year’s Eve. However, it soon becomes clear that she is not the only resident haunting the stately home perched on the seaside cliff outside of Tucker’s Cove, Maine. It seems that the master of the house, Captain Jeremiah Brodie, also walks the halls of the historic home, and has his sights set on being more than just a spectral presence to Ava. However, it soon becomes apparent that there are dangerous forces at play both inside and outside of the cliffside estate…and that Ava is not the only person in Tucker’s Cove with deadly secrets.

The Shape of Night is a much different fare than I am used to coming from Gerritsen, but it was nonetheless a wonderful escapist read. It was part mystery/thriller, part paranormal romance. As always, she wrote characters that were well fleshed-out, places that I felt I could step into, and described smells and flavors that lifted themselves off the pages. I found my mouth watering at some of the descriptions of the food that Ava created for her book. There are other scenes that are delicious, hot, and completely unrelated to roasting meats and simmering soups. I also really felt for Ava. Her need for redemption for her heinous secret was palpable, and it was clear that no matter how much she tried to bury herself beneath empty wine bottles and distance herself from the place it happened, she couldn’t escape the pain on her own, and, not to give too much away, the house seemed to be well aware of that fact.

Gerritsen also proves that she remains a master of mystery–there were so many different questions that needed to be answered that it was enough to keep the reader guessing at every turn until the epilogue. The imagery lent a creepy, fall-worthy vibe to the entire story, absolutely perfect for the season.

Categories
Mystery

In the Hall with the Knife: A Clue Mystery

By Diana Peterfreund. Pub Date 10/8/19

4 Stars. Best enjoyed wrapped in a blanket with cocoa and a lead pipe. Just in Case.

When a disastrous winter storm hits the remote Blackbrook prep school on the coast of Maine, most of the students and faculty are able to leave. However, eleven people find themselves stranded at the historic Tudor House, the only building on campus that doesn’t immediately flood in the ensuring storm surge, which also eliminates all paths to the main land. Of course, wet clothes and what little belongings they could grab aren’t the only baggage they brought with them. When the Headmaster is found in the conservatory the next morning with a knife through his chest, the students and faculty that are left in the dark, cold mansion start to suspect that someone amongst them might have secrets they would would kill to protect.

In the Hall with the Knife is told from the revolving perspectives of five of the seven students left in the house, Orchid McKee, Finn Plum, Scarlet Mistry, Samuel “Mustard” Maestor, and Beth “Peacock” Picach. Each of them have secrets that they would protect at any cost, but would they resort to murder to keep them under wraps?

That very question is what kept me reading late into the night. Usually I don’t enjoy changing perspectives because there is always at least one character I don’t care for or want to hear about. This wasn’t an exception to the latter, there were two characters I found myself rolling my eyes at because they were just insufferable, but regardless, I still desperately wanted to know what their secrets were and if they may have had something to do with the murder. There was also the atmosphere of the post-disaster campus, which was described so well that I found myself shivering with cold at the mention of the ice surroundings and frigid pools of water that frequently popped up. Tudor House was also enticing with its rumored hidden passages, marble staircase, and parquet floors from the 1890s. I could picture the fire-lit rooms, dusty book shelves, and worm furniture so perfectly. Peterfreund really stayed true to the mood that so often defines other media based on Clue, which keeps fans like me super happy–that’s why I love the movies, books, and games that base their premise on the classic board game.

The best part is that this is the first book in an upcoming series, and I am super here for it! So many little questions left unanswered and enticing secrets yet to be revealed, like tendrils left trailing to tickle your curiousity. I can’t wait for the next!

Thanks to NetGalley and Amulet Books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. As always, the opinions written here are fully my own!

Categories
Horror Mystery Romance

The Widow of Rose House

by Diane Biller. Pub Date 10/08/2019

3 Stars. Best enjoyed with a hot cup of tea in a lavish sitting room. Beware of unexplained drafts.

Returning to New York, recently widowed Alva Webster finds herself in a hotbed of undeserved scandal at the hands of her less-than-kind late husband. Alva is bent on making her own small nest egg. She buys the abandoned–and notoriously haunted–Liefdehuis, planning to renovate it and write an accessible book about interior design for both the upper class and growing middle class. On her first outing with her publisher, Alva is approached by Professor Sam Moore, a famous inventor, who wishes to investigate the infamous paranormal goings-on in Liefdehuis. Alva is not one to fall prey to such superstition and–politely–declines the newly-smitten Professor Moore’s offer, unaware that Sam is not one to quit in his scientific pursuits. However, when Alva’s contractors flee Liefdehuis, refusing to return until something is done about the ghost, Sam’s offer seems to be the only way she will be able to pursue her dream of being published. As Alva and Sam search for the truth behind the haunting of Liefdehuis, they also find themselves falling in for one another. Unfortunately, Alva’s dark past comes back to haunt her in an entirely different way, and Sam finds that the fight for Alva’s heart is fraught with its own kind of ghosts.

Overall, I like this book. Not loved, but liked. There are definitely things I loved about it, and other things I was sore about, like the fact that the ghost doesn’t come into play as often as it should given the description (although other ‘ghosts’ certainly haunt the pages). There is also a section of about 30% of the book that felt drawn out to me. Way more than it had to be. Like to the point where I almost DNF’d. It was like a section of road under construction, like there was a struggle to provide some context and back story. It felt like a stretch of road under construction and it was rough, but I slowed down a bit until I worked through it.

Some of the things I loved most about it were Sam and the Moores. There’s something about fictional Sams that always has gotten to me. Not ‘real’ Sams, just fictional ones. Samwise Gamgee, Sam Winchester…now Sam Moore, the somewhat absent-minded professor trope that we all adore. Smart, sweet, somewhat socially naive, and protective Sam, who falls fiercely in love with Alva. He was so persistent yet also remained very aware of her autonomy and respected her wishes, no matter how much it broke his heart. I liked Alva as well, but moreover because I (like many people who have seen a bad past relationship) get where she came from with a lot of her decisions. She felt that being selfish with her problems rather than sharing them was the most selfless thing to do, even knowing how good they were together (spoiler: both in and out of the sheets).

And then the Moores! Remember that 30% of the book where I was getting so bored I almost DNF’d? Well, in those times of darkness and doubt, I thought of Sam’s family, the intelligent, scientific-minded, chaotic, loving, and fun Moores, and I needed…well…more! I truly hope that there is another book starring one of Sam’s family members, Maggie especially, although Henry and Benedict should also get their moment! They were honestly the highlight.

Overall, I did like The Widow of Rose House, especially the last half.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions written above are my own!