Darkfever, by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Darkfever

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Publisher: Gollancz (UK)/ Dell (USA)

Release Date: 8th September (UK)

Source: review copy from Gollancz

Notes: Book 1 in the 'Fever' series

Description from back cover: MacKayla Lane's life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she's your perfectly ordinary twenty-first century woman... until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister's killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae...

My thoughts: I have heard a lot about the Fever series from book bloggers in the states, so I was interested in finally getting to read it. I love the cover for this book, especially the cobbles! It's very simple, but gives a great feel for the book.

I feel like you get a lot more information about the Fae, and what's going on, in the prologue than you do in the next several chapters of the book. It gives clues to what the book's going to be about (and I hope the series) and I got really excited reading it, but I think there's a lot of things still to come that were hinted at here, then never showed up in the rest of the story.

Chapter One starts 'a year earlier', with Mac sitting by a pool, wondering when she's going to hear from her parents, and generally enjoying summer in Georgia. Then her sister dies, and her lovely happy world breaks apart. When she finds a voicemail message her sister left her the day of the murder, she realises that maybe her sister hadn't really been telling her everything, and, despairing with the Dublin police, she decides to go to Ireland herself. She's very lost and lonely there to start with, which I liked - it seemed much more realistic, and fit with what we have so far of her personality. She hasn't been there long before she starts seeing strange, horrible things, where it seems like no one else can see them, and understandably starts to think she's going crazy.

Then, enter Jericho Barrons. He and Mac are both looking for the same thing, and neither will tell the other what they know. When Mac learns more about what's going on in the city, and why she's seeing the strange things, she goes back to him for help, and they spend a lot of time together in the book - and Mac spends a lot of time wondering whether he's to be trusted. I'll be honest - I don't really know what 'role' he's supposed to play in the book - I've heard other bloggers speak reverently of him, along with the gorgeous heroes in other stories, but although Mac emphasises that he's attractive, I never felt like it was anything more than that. Barrons is more than a little intimidating and creepy, I think - he turns up at the inn where she's staying, in the middle of the night, and threatens her! And then she starts trusting him! Crazy girl, I think.

I feel like, with the way Mac's character was painted at the start, the book played out accordingly - everything fit with her, and the pace of her change towards a more kick-ass heroine was realistic - she doesn't just wake up overnight and lose the, well, bimbo-ness that she seems to have to start with. I enjoyed hearing the ridiculous names for the various nail varnish colours that she would wear, but that's about as far as it went - I'm very glad that by the end of the book she was growing up, and starting to be a bit more like an urban fantasy heroine. I hope there's a little bit of a time-period break between this one and book two, so that she's more mature again, but even so I would definitely read on.

I really enjoyed the plot, and the world that Ms Moning has created here. The writing really pulled me in - I started reading at abot 2:30, and didn't stop until I was finished later that night. I loved the portrayal of Dublin - I've only visited it once, very briefly, but I could relate a lot of the things described in Darkfever to Edinburgh (where I live) - the confusing streets, old buildings, general spookiness at times ;) I am really looking forward to the next book - luckily Bloodfever, book two, comes out in October, so I don't have long to wait!

Overall, I think I'll give this 7 stars.

Thank you Gollancz for the review copy!

One Salt Sea, by Seanan McGuire

Title: One Salt Sea

Autor: Seanan McGuire

Publisher: DAW

Release date: September 6th - Available now!

Source: Bought in Barnes & Noble, Philadelphia

Warning: This is book 5 in the series, review may contain spoilers for earlier books

Description: October "Toby" Daye is settling into her new role as Countess of Goldengreen. She's actually dating again, and she's taken on Quentin as her squire. So, of course, it's time for things to take a turn for the worse.

Someone has kidnapped the sons of the regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must find the missing boys and prove the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. Toby's search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves, and her deadline is firm: she must find the boys in three days' time, or all of the Mists will pay the price. But someone is determined to stop her-and whoever it is isn't playing by Oberon's Laws...

My review: I love these books, so I couldn't wait to see what would happen to Toby in this installment. This has to be one of the most consistent series', for me, in terms of how the characters are treated and how much I like what is going on. I think what I'm trying to get at is that McGuire doesn't mess readers around - horrible things happen to the characters, but someone you think is one thing doesn't suddenly become something totally different. We are 5 books in to the series now, and I've never ended up suddenly hating a character, or throwing a book across the room feeling betrayed betrayed, or wondering if I want to keep reading. I have loved these books since the first one, and I love how each new adventure manages to meet the standards of the previous one, or even improve on it.

In this book, we start with Toby being asked to attend a formal event to help prevent a war. Of course, that doesn't work out, so she enlists her usual allies and starts trying to find out who took the missing boys and where they might be now. You'll have to read the book to find out how successful they are ;) As part of the investigation, she gets to visit a sea kingdom, and learn about some of the cool creatures there, which I enjoyed reading about. I hope we get to see a little more of them in the future.

Something I really liked about this book was that we got a little more time between the things that were happening to see what 'normal' life for Toby and her friends, like May and Quentin, is like. There was still always tension, but it was like being able to surface to grab a mouthful of air before you go back in to the water again. There's also plenty of enigmatic Tybalt to keep me happy, and also a lot more Connor, now he's no longer married to Rayseline. I'm not sure how I feel about the relationship between Connor and Toby - in previous books it always seemed like it was never going to work out between them as well as they'd like, and I can't help feeling that there's still a little of that here. I'll have to read it again for second impressions. Another of my favourite characters, the Luidaeg, answers several reader/Toby question about her but raises some even bigger ones - I feel like this is another character we got to know a lot better in this book.

Although there's some very sad parts towards the end of this book (I cried a lot, I'll admit) I do like the way things finish up at the end of it for Toby. There's a lot of potential for interesting things happening in the future for her, I think. It's going to take a little while for her to be completely back on her feet after this book, just as with any of the others, but I'm looking forward to when it does happen.

I'll give it 9 out of 10

Returning from the summer

Hi guys!

I'm back to college on Monday, so book reviews from me will be resuming this week! One of my resolutions for the new school year is to be more organised in a lot of ways, so I'm really going to try and get at least one book review a week up on here, hopefully more, and the Sunday 'In My Mailbox' posts will start again too. I'm really looking forward to getting back in to the book blogging community, I've missed it :)

Hopefully my first review will be up early next week, it's going to be the newly released 'One Salt Sea' by Seanan McGuire, which I'm almost finished and really enjoying.

How has everyone's summer gone? Read any good books? ;)

~Ailsa

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Summary from Goodreads:

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings. Editor's recommendation.


Wither is the first of The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano.  And I have to begin by saying if you like Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, I felt like this story went along those lines with Linton and the young Catherine (kind of, not exactly)...it just felt like that.


First thing that caught my attention with Wither is the cover.  Isn't it beautiful?  The way the girls hands are gripping the skirt of the dress in such a frustrated and almost confined way and how the bird in the cage looks connected with the line and circles to those hands?  I love it!  It really defines the story as a whole once you've read it.


Rhine is an orphan along with her brother, Rowan and they try to make the best of things in the house their parents left them after they died.  They make it look like they are poverty stricken so as to not lure other orphans or anyone else not wanted to their door.  They lock away their most precious possessions and items so they aren't stolen.  They even take turns keeping watch each night with a gun to protect themselves and what meager things they have for themselves.  That is until Rhine goes for a job and gets kidnapped by the Gatherers instead and taken to a large mansion somewhere far away from Manhattan and ends up becoming a sister wife with two other girls who were taken, Jenna and Cecily.  


Being married to Linden Ashby couldn't be the worst thing in the world to Jenna and Cecily is in love with it all.  Rhine, however, hates everything about the place, especially Housemaster Vaughn who is frantically working on an antidote to keep his son alive past twenty-five and maybe even try to help the girls to live past twenty.  There's no way out unless you are escorting your husband to a party in the city and even then the way is blocked.  Rhine puts on her facade and grits her teeth through all this living until she can figure out how to get out.


I will say this first, the only bad thing I found is that there is a lot of whining from the all the sister wives.  I wanted to smack Cecily across the back of the head and say, "Chill out okay?  You don't need to be so stuck up and rude to everyone."  To Jenna, "Sorry about your life, but really, quit moping."  And to Rhine I'd say, "Do something about it or just quit whining."  Other than the whining that takes place, I love the characters.


Rhine is a strong willed heroine that determines after being forced into this marriage to Linden Ashby that she will earn his trust to be able to run away.  I love the fact that she can be so determined and it helps her remember everything about her brother and never gives up hope that he may be out looking for her.  I love that she is the favorite of the wives among the servants, they will do anything for her, even if it means they may lose their job, or even maybe, their life.  Even when she starts to believe in her own facade in certain points and ways, she is able to shake it off and remember what her plan is.


Jenna is a quiet character.  At first I thought Jenna was stuck up and didn't care about anyone else, but I loved her later on.  She does everything she can to help Rhine leave the mansion and Linden behind without getting caught by their father-in-law, Vaughn.  Cecily, yeah, I hated Cecily through the whole story until the last when I felt more sorry for her than anger.


Vaughn reminded me of Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights for parts of the story.  The unrelentless, merciless being he is and how he creeps all the sister wives out.  I shuddered with every moment Rhine had with Vaughn and even with what he may be hiding in the basement.


Overall, I really liked this story.  It has great character development and is a character driven story.  The imagery is realistic and Lauren weaved a fine new world for us to see and truly believe it may exist.

The Last Four Things

Thank you to Wunderkind-PR, for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

UK Cover

The Last Four Things, by Paul Hoffman is the sequel to 'The Left Hand of God' and takes place in a world similar but different to our own historical world, where a powerful religious order 'The Redeemers' wages war against 'The Antagonists' and other 'enemy' nations. The focus of a very brutal kind of affection from Redeemer Bosco, the story continues to focus on Cale - a young man numbed by a brutal childhood, betrayed by his first love and now is a fierce weapon for his mentor Bosco's plans.

To the warrior-monks known as the Redeemers, who rule over massive armies of child slaves, “the last four things” represent the culmination of a faithful life. Death. Judgment. Heaven. Hell. The last four things represent eternal bliss-or endless destruction, permanent chaos, and infinite pain.

Perhaps nowhere are the competing ideas of heaven and hell exhibited more clearly than in the dark and tormented soul of Thomas Cale. Betrayed by his beloved but still marked by a child’s innocence, possessed of a remarkable aptitude for violence but capable of extreme tenderness, Cale will lead the Redeemers into a battle for nothing less than the fate of the human race. And though his broken heart foretells the bloody trail he will leave in pursuit of a personal peace he can never achieve, a glimmer of hope remains. The question even Cale can’t answer: When it comes time to decide the fate of the world, to ensure the extermination of humankind or spare it, what will he choose? To express God’s will on the edge of his sword, or to forgive his fellow man-and himself?

US Cover

The book begins almost immediately after the events of the previous book, but Cale has become an even darker character, changed by betrayed love and alone without his friends, he becomes more susceptible to Bosco's manipulative behaviour and begins to see himself as an Angel of Death. Compared to the first book, The Last Four Things is more slow to begin, but seems to explore the dynamic of Bosco and Cale's relationship and its sudden change from student-mentor to soldiers in a holy war.

We also get to see more of the people of this world through Kleitze experiences and the battles between Redeemers and other nations/people. As before, Hoffman's strength lies in the description and detail of battles. His characterisation of the main characters is excellent and their actions remain true to the characters. My favourite moments of this book have been the interaction between Vague Henri and Cale - which shows a more boyish side to the later. I'm intrigued by the plot twists, characters and the world Hoffman has created and definitely am looking forward to the third book to see how this story develops.

My only fault is regarding female characters - there were a couple of good developed female characters in this book but considering the underlying theme concerning women and how pivotal it seems this is going to be in the future plot - more strong female characters would be nice. That being said, this is a high military fantasy set in a world where women seem to be worthless (and soulless) so it does make sense from character's perspective.

I can't wait for the next book in this series, especially with the cliff-hanger ending so I sincerely  recommend reading this series to anyone! 

The Left Hand of God

Wunderkind-Pr was kind enough to give me the second book of the Left Hand of God series, 'The Last Four Things' to review, so obviously I needed to read the first book.

When I say that I read this book and the sequel, 'The Last Four Things' over the space of two days, I think you can get an idea of how good these books are.

The Left Hand of God, follows the story of Thomas Cale, a 14-15 year old boy who has lived a brutalised existence at the hands of The Redeemers, specifically Redeemer Bosco - who takes a special interest in Cale. Following the discovery of a horrible secret, Cale with his two companians (Vague Henri and Kleist) escape the fortress, knowing that if they stay the will become 'An Act of Faith'. However Cale's escape becomes an unlikely catalyst for Redeemer Bosco's carefully laid plans.

From the summary I've given, you could be fooled into believing this is a typical young hero story, but that would be cheapening the complexity of the characters, the plot and of the world Hoffman has built. Cale as a character has no admirable qualities - he's cold, brutal and can kill a man in moments, but Hoffman makes you empathise with this character due to the horrible life he's lived. In the end as the story progresses, you realise that although all three boys have been trained to kill and seem to be mature beyond their years - their emotional maturity is that of a child. 

Hoffman development of the characters is excellent - although sometimes the female characters seem to be less developed (which isn't surprising considering the genre). From Bosco to minor characters, each character has been well developed - and given characteristics even when only mentioned in passing. Of all the characters, I believe the most interesting is Vague Henri - while Kleist and Cale seem to be numbed from the beginning (and slowly let others in as the series progresses), Vague Henri (which is such a wonderful name) seems to be the strongest character emotionally. He may not have gotten singled out as Cale was, but still he received the same brutality that Kleist and others received, but still seems to empathise, be loyal and make friends. I think he's an interesting contrast to Cale - and Hoffman has done exemplar job of capturing the complexity of their friendship which allows Vague Henri to almost act as a grounding force for Cale especially as the series progresses.

The world of The Left Hand of God, seems to be a strange alternative reality, where at some point in time - a moment of forgiveness was replaced with a moment of vengence/violence. Therefore, elements of our world like Jesus of Nazareth seems to be pushed to one side for the Hanged Redeemer. Similarly besides the mention of religion, familiar places such as Italy and Switzerland exist and cultures such as the Laconians. Although I found the mentioning of places like Switzerland slightly jarring, I found the whole idea behind the world of the redeemers to be very interesting and realistic.

Beyond the characters and the world building, Hoffman displays his skill as a wonderful story teller of military battles and political intrigue. Honestly, when I read fantasy I usually skip any battle scenes as I find them boring, but I was completely glued to those in this book. And as for political plot, the Redemers would do the Borgias proud with their mix of religious zeal and corruptive power.


To summarise I have given this book 9 stars, as a military and political fantasy it is well written with really good characters and plot, my only fault is concerning the female characters, especially in relation to the main characters. It is a small thing (especially in regards to the genre) but considering how important the relationship between Cale and Arbell and it's repercussions - I felt that there could have been more insight to it. Yes there are moments of 'fade to black' and I don't think there was any problems with the physical relationship but to me the emotional connection (which we're told of) is never shown to the reader. But like I said, this story isn't really about romance etc. so it's a small fault.

So, even if you don't read high fantasy - I would highly recommend The Left Hand of God series but be warned you won't be able to stop reading once you start :)

Review coming soon : The Last Four Things

Thanks to the wonderful people at wunderkind-pr, I received an advanced copy of Paul Hoffman's second book of the Left Hand of God trilogy, THE LAST FOUR THINGS.

The epic story of Thomas Cale-introduced so memorably in The Left Hand of God--continues as the Redeemers use his prodigious gifts to further their sacred goal: the extinction of humankind and the end of the world.

To the warrior-monks known as the Redeemers, who rule over massive armies of child slaves, "the last four things" represent the culmination of a faithful life. Death. Judgement. Heaven. Hell. The last four things represent eternal bliss-or endless destruction, permanent chaos, and infinite pain.

Perhaps nowhere are the competing ideas of heaven and hell exhibited more clearly than in the dark and tormented soul of Thomas Cale. Betrayed by his beloved but still marked by a child's innocence, possessed of a remarkable aptitude for violence but capable of extreme tenderness, Cale will lead the Redeemers into a battle for nothing less than the fate of the human race. And though his broken heart foretells the bloody trail he will leave in pursuit of a personal peace he can never achieve, a glimmer of hope remains. The question even Cale can't answer: When it comes time to decide the fate of the world, to ensure the extermination of humankind or spare it, what will he choose? To express God's will on the edge of his sword, or to forgive his fellow man-and himself?

Sounds amazing, I hope to review this book soon so stay tuned ;)

In the mean time, the book is being released tomorrow - if the first book is anything to go by, this sequel should be excellent!!