Month: August 2019

Review: Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4) by Robert Galbraith

~ megs14malloy

Lethal White (Cormoran Strike, #4)Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Well done! Goodness I love this series.
Cormoran and Robin impress yet again.

Lethal White, the fourth installment of the Cormoran Strike detective series, kicks off with a bang. A disturbed young man named, Billy, arrives at Strike’s office claiming that when he was just a kid, he witnessed a child’s murder and subsequent cover up. As in, he knows where the body is buried.

While it is clear that Billy is suffering from severe mental health issues, he seems sincerely distressed by his memories and Strike believes him. Before he can get any concrete details however, Billy flees the detective’s office and thus begins Cormoran’s fascination with Billy’s story.

When Strike and Robin begin investigating a blackmail case for a high profile family, they are surprised to discover the two cases may actually be connected.

I love this series so much. Strike and Robin are the best. Currently my favorite detective duo. These books are extremely intricate and the plots never fail to astound me. How Rowling keeps all of the details straight and coherent whilst writing is beyond me.

While this one is not my favorite of the series, I can’t deny how creative and well done this book is. It is really long. Like really, REALLY long and I had moments where I was confused and had to go back a few pages and reread but again, that didn’t turn me off to the series at all. I blame it more on the fact that I had a lot going on in my life when I was reading this than on any fault of the book.

I don’t think I am spoiling anything by announcing here that I ultimately want Robin and Strike to fall in love, get married, have little detective babies and live happily ever after in a flat other than the office.

Will this ever happen? It’s unclear but I feel like if I put it out there in the universe, there will be a better chance of it.

Overall, I really enjoyed being back in the twisted clutches of a Cormoran Strike investigation and am HIGHLY anticipating book #5!!!!

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Review: Priest of Lies (War for the Rose Throne #2) by Peter McLean

~ megs14malloy

Priest of Lies (War for the Rose Throne, #2)Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

This second installment to the War for the Rose Throne series picks up just months after the events of the first book, Priest of Bones.

We have our main man, Tomas Piety, leader of the Pious men, back in The Stink ruling the streets with an iron fist and some harsh justice.

I was so excited to get to this book, one of my most anticipated sequels of 2019, and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT! This grimdark adult fantasy series is so gritty and dirty, you can smell it, you can feel it. It’s immersive.

Less barroom brawls and more political strategy, I love the direction this series is heading in. As Tomas gains more power than ever before, he sees his position in society change to one he could have never imagined.

Once a champion of the people, does that stand true any more?

Traveling to Dannsburg, Tomas quickly discovers that while the nobility may battle with different weapons, it is no less dangerous. As with the first novel, this is action-packed from start to finish with a smooth writing style that is highly addictive.

One of my favorite aspects of this one was how our knowledge of the magic system is continuing to grow. The reader is getting more insight into the cunning as more characters with the gift are introduced. We also get to go inside the House of Magicians which was terrifying in the best possible way.

Additionally, the world building is continuing to grow and it is bloody fantastic!

I have no idea how long this series is projected to be but it left off in a great spot! I cannot wait to get my hands on Book 3. I will keep reading these as long as Mclean keeps writing them, I can tell you that right now!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. Love this series, love this author. Yes, please. Keep them coming!!!

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Review: Nyxia Uprising (Nyxia Triad #3) by Scott Reintgen

~ megs14malloy

Nyxia Uprising (The Nyxia Triad, #3)Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

MY BABIES!!!!

My sweet babies. From desperate kids to intergalactic space pirates. I love you all so much.

Guys, this action-packed YA scifi series is soooooo underrated. I loved each and every one of these books. It’s just the perfect series of events.

You watch these kids grow, from the earlier competitors that they were, to the strong and fearless young adults they become and it seriously added 10-years to my life.

As this is the third book in the triad, I won’t say too much on the plot, but I can scream from the rooftops that this was such a satisfying conclusion.

During the course of the series, you will become really attached to these characters. They are diverse, well written, each with their own distinctive voice…

That’s it. I am done. I’m not sure how much more gushing I can handle in one day.

I am so happy I made time for this. Finally! It has taken me way too long. I definitely plan to read this series again someday, back-to-back. I had forgotten some details in between Book 2 and this one so I would love to get a full immersive experience of bingeing them.

If you like YA scifi, if you like competition tropes, if you like found families, do yourself a favor and check this series out.

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Review: The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) by Jasmine Guillory

~ megs14malloy

The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date, #3)The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Maddie Forest first meets Theo Stephens, she thinks he is an uptight, over-organized, spreadsheet-creating jerk.

When Theo Stephens first meets Maddie Forest, he thinks she is a shallow, image-obsessed prima donna with her head in the clouds and no real ambitions.

After their mutual best friend, Alexa, becomes engaged, she asks them both to be in her wedding party. Initially chagrined that they will have to spend so much time together during the course of the wedding planning and event, they both agree with good grace and vow to get through it.

But as often happens, through their mutual distaste of one another comes a spark that soon grows into a full-blown FLAME!

They know they have to keep their relationship a secret. They cannot give Alexa the satisfaction of knowing they actually like each other and so begins their secret affair.

As you are probably aware, this is the third installment in Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date companion novels. I have read all of the books in this series and this one is actually my favorite.

Although it has a similar structure to the previous novels, I enjoyed Maddie and Theo and their hidden romance the most out of all the plots. I felt I could personally relate more to this story than the others and that kept me invested.

One thing I did notice was this one seemed less steamy than the others so if that is what you are looking for, you may be disappointed. We really focused here a lot on both Maddie and Theo’s careers and self-growth. I enjoyed following along with them as they navigated difficult situations in their lives and grew to depend on one another for support and insight.

I do enjoy this series a lot. I’ll admit that it isn’t perfect but it’s addicting and it keeps me coming back. I will definitely continue to pick them up for as long as Ms. Guillory chooses to write them!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. Now…who do I speak to about an early copy of Royal Holiday???

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Review: The Finder by Suzanne Palmer

~ megs14malloy

Finder (Finder Chronicles, #1)Finder by Suzanne Palmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fergus Ferguson is a repo man.
In space.

How cool is that!?

In this incredibly action-packed tale, we follow him as he tries to recover the stolen spacecraft, Venetia’s Sword. He ultimately tracks the ship down in the farthest reaches of human-inhabited space but due to complications, is unable to commandeer it right away.

Arum Gilger, the bad guy who stole the ship, transported it to a harvesting colony called Cernee. There he functions as a sort of criminal overlord and the locals aren’t happy with him or his bullying ways.

As Fergus arrives, the colony finds itself newly engaged in a civil war. Before long, Fergus ends up banding together with Gilger’s enemies and participating more than he would like in their local battles.

I had so much fun reading this book. Palmer’s world creation is incredible. I felt like I was part of the action which is literally, NON-STOP!!! At times, I was a little lost, I have to admit but once I refocused myself I was able to catch up pretty quickly.

Fergus Ferguson is a smart, creative, humorous, engaging and humble main character. I absolutely loved him!! I cannot wait to read more adventures with him at the helm.

There were great side characters in here as well who had well fleshed out personalities and motivations. I think this is a great start to a new series and y’all know, I will definitely be coming back for more!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group/DAW, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I know this series is going to keep getting better and better and I am totally looking forward to being along for the ride!

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Review: The Chain by Adrian McKinty

~ megs14malloy

The ChainThe Chain by Adrian McKinty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As Rachel drives to Boston for an early morning appointment with her oncologist, she thinks her daughter, 13-year old Kiley, is safe, getting on the bus and heading off to school. Then she gets a chilling phone call that rocks her world to its core.

The caller says Kiley has been kidnapped and in order to get her back Rachel needs to pay a hefty ransom and kidnap another child to take her place.

An entity known as ‘The Chain’ is on the other end of the line and they make their money by fusing traditional kidnappings together with the horrifying chain letter concept of the 1980s. They are very detailed in their directions to Rachel. She is not the first and she won’t be last.

Whatever you do, do not break the chain.

Rachel already knows she will do anything they say. Kiley is her whole world and she will stop at nothing to get her back! We follow along with Rachel and her brother-in-law, Pete, as they work around the clock to ensure Kiley’s release.

This dark, crime thriller is highly entertaining! It starts off with a bang and you instantly feel a part of the action. The premise is super creative and I love how intense the majority of the story was. Rachel has to almost immediately transform herself in order to play ‘The Chain’s’ game. She goes from meek, defeated suburban housewife to a criminal mastermind.

I can get behind that.

For me, the pacing was a little off. I did enjoy the first half of the book a lot more than the second half but overall, it’s a solid story. You have to be able to just roll with a few implausible details and have fun with it. That’s what it is meant to be, a fun, wild ride.

McKinty’s writing is engaging and I liked the different perspectives he offered us throughout. It provided a nice wide scope for taking in The Chain’s reach. I particularly liked learning about the villain’s background and early life. Seeing where they were coming from added to the darkness of the story and that’s basically what I am here for.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Mulholland Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and I know a lot of Thriller Readers will enjoy this one!

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Review: The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

~ megs14malloy

The Escape RoomThe Escape Room by Megan Goldin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Being summoned last minute to participate in a ‘team building exercise’ is not how Vincent, Jules, Sylvie or Sam saw their Friday night going. Unfortunately, participation is mandatory so they all dutifully arrive on time at a remote office building in a shady part of town. Greeting in the lobby, they enter the elevator together for the ride up to one of the top floors.

The express elevator ascends quickly and then abruptly stops. The lights go out and the heat cranks up. Suddenly, the team comes to the realization that this is their exercise. An Escape Room challenge where the competitive coworkers will have to put petty rivalries aside and work together in order to solve the clues needed for them to be released.

As dark secrets of the team are revealed, viciously pitting them against one another, they find themselves removed from their normal boardroom backstabbing and thrust into a definitive game of survival.

Megan Goldin’s thrilling debut, set in the world of high stakes Wall Street finance is incredibly ruthless, and that’s sort of my brand. I absolutely flew through this story. I could not put it down!

Following dual perspectives between our cast of characters in the elevator and flashbacks to a mysterious former team member, Sara Hall, the plotting of this is absolutely brilliant. It kept me engaged and guessing the entire way.

At its heart, a complex revenge thriller, this stoked my Slytherin heart, as I stan a character with the dedication to strategize a long game. If you don’t know what I mean by this, pick up this book. This is the epitome of a painstakingly planned ‘long game’.

I had so much fun reading this and it is now definitely one of my favorite books of the year. I recommend it to anyone who likes a solid, unique thriller. If this is what Goldin puts out for her debut, I cannot wait to what she comes up with next. You know I will be buying it and devouring it as soon as its released!

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and of course, love discovering ambitious new authors to obsess over.

This one is out now, my friends, be sure to pick up your copy and see if you can solve The Escape Room!!!

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Medieval-A-Thon Wrap-Up & August Reading Plans

~ megs14malloy

Hi, book friends! I would like to officially announce that I slayed the Medieval-A-Thon and am now officially a Queen.

Medieval-A-Thon was a super fun, month-long Fantasy readathon hosted by Holly over at Holly Hearts Books on BookTube. She did a phenomenal job creating this readathon and consistently following up with us all on Twitter. I really had a great time participating and completed six Fantasy books over the course of the month to meet certain challenges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above are the visuals created by Holly to help you keep track of the challenges and what you were earning by meeting them. Seriously, how creative is this? I am obsessed. Anyway, without further ado, here are the six books that I completed and what they earned me in weapons and my armour set:

  • To earn my fighting daggers, I needed to complete a book with assassins in it. For this I read Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) by Julie Kagawa. I had an ARC of this book and loved it so much. I was disappointed at all and gave this Japanese-Inspired YA Fantasy 5-full stars!
  • To earn my bow and arrow, I needed to complete a book with elves in it. For this prompt, I chose The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black. Again, I absolutely loved this YA Fantasy, 5-full stars!
  • For my crown, I needed to complete a book where a character fights for the throne. For this I read, Roar by Cora Carmack. This YA Fantasy that had a very unique magic system based on people who could control the weather really surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. The long awaited sequel to this 2017-release is actually coming out this month and I have already preordered a copy and plan to pick it up right away. I gave this 4.5-stars.
  • For my helmet, I needed to complete a book with a dragon on the cover. For this, I selected Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This beautifully written Adult Fantasy is a retelling of a Mayan legend modernized and set in the Jazz era. As I have found before with Moreno-Garcia’s writing, it was lyrical and truly beautiful to read. Her writing is simple but in a gorgeous way. I had an ARC copy of this and ended up giving it 4-stars.
  • For my breastplate, I needed to read a shiny book. For this I chose The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell. I listened to the audiobook for this and followed along in my hard copy and will admit, I was lost through at least the first half of the book. There were so many perspectives to follow, and time jumps, and I seriously had no clue what was happening. Overall, I did find the characters were interesting and it did have an interesting premise. I gave this one 3-stars and am not sure if I will continue on with this series. I own the second one so may or I may just unhaul them both.
  • Finally, for my cape, I needed to read something with red on the cover. On the very last day of the month I completed Lost Boy by Christina Henry. This book. Oh my goodness did I love this one. This is an origin story for Captain Hook, one of the most underrated villains of all time. This was so unique, bold, graphic and bloody brilliant. Best origin story I have ever read. EVER. No surprise, I gave this a full 5-stars! Loved it.

That wraps up my Medieval-A-Thon. So glad that I had the chance to participate. I love a month long readathon and this one provided me with a great opportunity to get some things off my TBR, as well as complete some ARCs that I really needed to get to.

On to August. What are my reading plans for August? I am actually not participating in any readathons but am participating in The Page Turners Book Club again, hosted by Chelsea Palmer from the BookTube channel of the same name. She hosts this Book Club on Facebook and it is a fairly interactive group. We are reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff the third week of the month. I have heard great things about this book and as it is dark and bloody, I anticipate really enjoying it. Plus, the synopsis for the main character gives me heavy Arya Stark vibes, which I’m down for.

Mainly in the month of August I will be participating in ARC August. This is sort of a movement going through the book community right now. Although not an official readathon or challenge it is something a lot of people are talking about an focusing on. Basically, it is just an entire month dedicated to reading all our ARCs. If you do not know what an ARC is, it is an Advanced Reader Copy provided to a reader by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Basically it is a way that publishing companies create buzz for and promote books before their release.

I personally have a ton of ARCs I need to get to. Some have already released so I will be playing catch up. Others come out this month and then a lot come out this Fall so I am trying to get a bit ahead.

I have a review post going up tomorrow morning for one of these ARCs, The Escape Room by Megan Goldin. I am part of the Blog Tour for the release of this book and am so excited to be taking part as, spoiler alert, I freaking loved this book!!! So stay tuned for that. Be sure to check back tomorrow if you want to see my spoiler free thoughts.

How was your July? Did you participate in any readathons? Are you taking part in ARC August? What are you reading plans for the month? I want to know. Leave a comment here or contact me through any of my social media links! I love to hear from you all.

Cheers & Happy Reading!

 

Review: Lost Boy by Christina Henry

~ megs14malloy

Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain HookLost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who is the most intriguing character in Peter Pan?

If you answered anyone other than Captain Hook, you are wrong.

Captain Hook is by far the most compelling character and this is the Captain as you have never seen him before!

This is the origin story of one of the world’s most underrated villains, straight from the mind of Christina Henry.

Y’all, Ms. Henry has a dark and wildly creative imagination and we stan that!

This story follows our infamous Captain before he is known as such. This tells of his earlier life, known as Jamie and chosen by Peter Pan to be his first and best boy.

As many of you are already aware, Peter is a spoiled, petulant little prig who also happens to function with the most murderous of intentions.

I have always considered Peter Pan to be a jerk and this certainly did not dispel that notion. Jamie tries his best to keep Peter on the straight and narrow and to protect the boys that he collects.

Overtime, he begins to see Peter for what he truly is. He also comes to identify this life he has been living on the island to be not at all what he was sold.

Coming in at under 300-pages, this is a quick read but in my opinion, you have everything you need to make this a moving and impactful tale. The final pages of this blew my mind. I was speechless upon finishing.

I have so much love for this story and truly believe this to be one of the best retellings I have ever read and certainly the best origin story that I have ever read.

This is dark with a constant feeling of menace that I cannot recommend highly enough to horror fans or just fans of darker works of fiction in general; not necessarily horror.

My dream would be for Christina Henry, in about 8-years, to come out with a sequel to this that completely flips the power balance between Peter and Captain Hook on its head! For those of us that would love to see the downfall of one, Peter Pan, this would be the most delightful tale to ever be penned, I am sure.

So, Christina, have your people call my people.
Kidding!!! I don’t have people.
DM me if you want to brainstorm and let’s make this happen!

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