Reviews Archives - Page 4 of 13

Vespertine: A Book Review

The Book:

Title: Vespertine

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Published October 5th 2021 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Pages: 400

“The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Sadly, this book was not as great as Rogerson’s other books I have read. I want to say that it was my fault because I paused in between reading it for like two months. So hopefully that is all my fault.

The beginning was a little confusing. There was not enough exposition. I also think throughout the book points of the plot were not explained well enough so I was confused about the overall plot.

Ugh, I feel so bad. Rogerson is one of my favorite authors, and I hate to put her down.

I still love the book, mostly because of her, but it just was not the best.

The premise was great. I loved how unique it was, but I didn’t get half of the background. The magic/religious stuff was not explained well.

I loved the main character and the revenant that occupies her body. They are great characters. They work well together, if not a little reluctantly.

I think the side character should have been more developed and less static. I think the main character had no real growth. I also have been loving the romance in Rogerson’s books. This did not have any.

I know this review is short, but honestly, I don’t have anything to say. I don’t think it was that great. And I am so sad about that. But, I still am rating it more than I normally would, because I love the author.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.5

Clap When You Land: A Book Review

The Book:

Title: Clap When You Land

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Published May 5th 2020 by HarperTeen

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Poetry

Pages: 432

“In a novel-in-verse, that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.” -Goodreads

My Review:

This book was good! I thought the two characters were pleasant. I thought their situations and duality were interesting.

Like with my last review, The Black Kids, I said I don’t like character-driven stories. I still don’t, but why do I keep reading them? I have no idea.

But, I did like that one just like I liked this one. Again, more plot would have made the story amazing, but I think there is a big place for character-driven stories (otherwise they wouldn’t do so well in the market).

This book had such a unique premise. I instantly was thrown into the heartbreak of these two girls after they both lost a father in a plane crash.

That was kind of the only real plot point that I can talk about without it being a spoiler. The book was also very predictable, except the ending was interesting and a little unexpected.

The two main characters had a lot of focus (obviously) but the side characters we did not see very much. I did not like that. The side characters made decisions or said things that I did not fully understand because I didn’t get enough focus on them to feel like they were authentic. They just were there.

The writing was amazing. This book was literally poetry. The words wove this world for me so well. I felt like I was literally there with the main characters experiencing their pain. I love poetry and this book blends both, poetry and narrative, together really well.

This book was so well written and I loved it. I don’t like character-driven stories, but this one was pretty good!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.8

Perfect ’80s Nostalgia Horror Piece: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

The Book:

My Best friend's exorcism cover
Designed as a VHS case with rainbow stripes on a black ground with a VHS sticker on the bottom. THe overlay picture is a collage in a 80s style art. Some of the pictures here include A blonde girl with red eyes wearing a cross necklace that is floating upside down, another blonde girl screaming as crows surround here, an owl flying past a picture of the moon, a shadow of some person across trees, two children rollerblading around some balloons, a girl swimming in a lake while two girls sit in a boat, a brick school building, and a clock tower with a person taking flight from it, all of these images are in counter clockwise order as read, — My Best Friend’s Exorcism Cover pulled from Goodreads.com

Title: My Best Friend’s Exorcism

Author: Grady Hendrix

Published July 11th, 2017 by Quirk Books (first published May 17th 2016)

Genre: Horror, Fiction, YA

Pages: 332

“The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act … different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby.

Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries — and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?” –Goodreads

My Review:

*This book touches on themes of self-harm, suicide, and sexual assault*

Like I said in my Roll for Initiative review, Stranger Things has become my personality recently. When walking around The Strand, I saw the cover of this beautiful book with its VHS design and ’80s-style art. I grabbed it and knew I had to take it home with me immediately.

I am going to preface this (because I am rather negative about the book) by saying that I loved this book. I am so happy I picked it up even though it will add extra weight to my suitcase when I leave New York.

While I do not read horror often, so I cannot give its horror aspects an expert review, I did think it did well.

It did have great horror scenes, but there was nothing that made me not be able to sleep at night. I might not have been able to fully immerse in the horror scenes or it just was not a thriller-type book.

Writing-wise the book was so-so. I thought some parts, especially near the end, there were great descriptions. We got some vivid characterization of the two main characters. But then sometimes, things were confusing and not fully explained. Hendrix did not tell us how certain characters got from point A to point B, especially with the side characters, Glee and Margaret.

The biggest flaw for me was the prologue/first chapter. The one thing about most horror/murder mystery books I have read (like You’re So Dead) is they spoil the ending in the first chapter. They show that they get through all of their struggles in the first chapter of this book. You know that nothing bad is really going to happen to the main character because she is sitting in her cushy office at the beginning of the story.

Also, when we get to the end, it does not loop back around to the first chapter, and it doesn’t really take about the exorcist dying like it says in the first chapter. (None of this is a spoiler btw because I am still talking about the FIRST chapter.)

The first chapter revealing the ending is such a buzzkill.

The last little bit I didn’t like was the use of outdated, politically incorrect language. I felt that many of the instances used could have been left out. None of the references were necessary to the storyline, like a super racist spirit day theme, and could have been left out. An ’80s timepiece can still be good without the use of racism, ableism, sexism, and many other things touched upon.

Now you might be thinking: Wow I really don’t want to read this book because Kat gave it such a bad review. NO! Read this book! I still loved it!

Yes, I hated the first chapter thing, and it took me out of the suspenseful moments because I knew the end goal. I was so happy with how it ended and I even cried.

I CRIED!!

If you are a reader of this blog, you know that means that I was so enamored by this book to actually cry. Despite the book having a major spoiler in the beginning and not having a spine-chilling plot (mostly because of the first chapter), I still loved it.

The whole book had this crazy tale of adventure and touched on friendship in a weird, but heartwarming way. Let me tell you that the last 150 pages were worth everything. It gained a whole extra star just for making me cry!

I loved it and I am sure you will too.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4

The Newest Graphic Novel About D&D: Roll for Initiative

The Book:

THe cover of Last Session VOlume 1 Roll for Initiative focuses on two characters, Cassandra and Lana, in their D&D alternate personas wth the other four character lined up in the background. All six of the character sit around a table on the bottom. — The Last Session Vol. 1: Roll for Initiative pulled from Goodreads

Title: The Last Session Vol. 1: Roll for Initiative

Author: Jasmine Walls

Illustrator: Dozerdraws

Series: The Last Session #1

Published on June 22, 2022, by Mad Cave Studios

Genre: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+

Pages: 136

“Roll for initiative! Jay, Lana, Drew, Walter, and Shen have played Dice & Deathtraps together since high school. Now, on the verge of graduating college and scattering, they’ve decided to finally complete their unfinished first campaign. But when Jay’s partner Cassandra joins as a new player, Lana’s afraid the party won’t ever finish their quest…” –Goodreads page

My Review:

Stranger Things has been the only thing on my mind recently, so when Roll for Initiative, a graphic novel about a group of friends playing D&D, popped up in my inbox this week, I was so excited.

I received a free copy of this graphic novel from a sweepstake I entered. Thankfully, Mad Cave Studios granted me access to read this arc. This graphic novel is out on June 22, 2022.

This was not a long novel, but I believe the story will continue since this is a Vol. 1. I would have preferred a bit more to read, but the shorter graphic novels are always fun and get my reading count up.

My most extensive critique of the story is that it probably should not have a sequel. The tale of these characters seems like it is over. There was absolutely nothing in the end that had a bit of suspense or openness. When I finished the story seemed over. There were no loose ends.

I would have preferred the book to have stopped in the middle of the conflict, like a few of the graphic novels I have read do. I don’t know if there is a reason some stories like Heartstopper do that and this one didn’t. It just left me not feeling the need to pick the next copy.

Another issue is there really was no time to develop the characters. Yes, we got little blotches of the character here and there, but we did not get to understand the characters. I will explain more in a second.

This novel does not center around one character. It centers around six characters, five of which who met in high school and began playing D&D together.

Lana is the character who is the most irritating. I feel like she would not have been as irritating if we got a bit more context of her character, I think that is one f those things that happen when books are shorter, we don’t know why she is the way that she is. It could have been something the creators could have tried to explain.

Drew is my favorite character. The illustrations of him make him seem so suave and charming. Who doesn’t love a barista? But, honestly, we don’t learn anything about him. We learn he has one struggle, that’s all. We don’t learn about his current projects, only his past writing projects.

Shen and Walter play more of a background duo. They do not have too much that makes them stand out, and the story does not focus on them too much. We get a bit of background, but it did not go to places that they reference in the present day of the story.

Jay and Cassandra are my two favorite people because I feel they were the most unproblematic of the group. Obviously, good characters have problems, but they seem to be at a point in their life where they can be themselves, and it is cool to see. I would love to get a background story of how they met and how Jay introduced Cassandra to D&D.

It was short and sweet to read, but I am left a bit unsatisfied. I would love for people to check this out and comment about their thoughts.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3

The Love Hypothesis: A Review

The Book:

Title: The Love Hypothesis

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Published September 14th 2021 by Berkley Books

Genre: Romance, Comtemporary, Fiction

Pages: 352

“As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding… six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.” –Goodreads

My Review:

I listened to this book over the course of two days and omg this was amazing.

Just like my review of One of Us Is Dead, I think this book uses modern-day speak without being super cliche and cringey.

The romance in this book was everything. I loved how there was not some big denial of feelings. The main character did not repeatedly say “I don’t like this man and I never will.” She realizes her crush and accepts it. I love the fake dating trope, but the whole not being truthful about your own feelings that run rampant in this genre gets on my nerves.

Adam Carlson was an amazing dream boyfriend. He is an academic. He is large and broody. He is rude to anyone but the girl, that is literally my favorite. And he has money!

The protagonist, Olive is sweet and charming. She is a good friend even though she goes about helping her friends in a weird fake dating your professor way.

I love how this book discusses some really important topics like the rampant sexism in academics, especially in STEM fields. There is a speech given by to Olive about how she is just a woman and must sleep with men to get higher in her field. This is a common thing in many fields. Men take advantage of women wanting to further themselves and force them into having sex with threats of blacklisting them. I was really impressed that Hazelwood bring this fact to light.

This book balanced everything so well. The science talk was not too much so that non-scientific readers would be confused, but the scene is still set. The romance was the main part of the story, but it didn’t override Olive’s life. She did not let her studies suffer because of her romance, which is something I always see and I hate.

I loved this book a lot. It was a really interesting and pleasing read. I wish I had more, but I am also happy with where the story left off.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4.5

Waistcoats & Weaponry Review

My Book:

Title: Waistcoats and Weaponry

Author: Gail Carriger

Series: Finishing School #3

Published November 4th 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Steampunk, YA, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 298

“Sophronia continues her second year at finishing school in style—with a steel-bladed fan secreted in the folds of her ball gown, of course. Such a fashionable choice of weapon comes in handy when Sophronia, her best friend Dimity, sweet sootie Soap, and the charming Lord Felix Mersey stowaway on a train to return their classmate Sidheag to her werewolf pack in Scotland.

No one suspected what—or who—they would find aboard that suspiciously empty train. Sophronia uncovers a plot that threatens to throw all of London into chaos and she must decide where her loyalties lie, once and for all.” –Goodreads

My Review:

Like I said last post, this is going to be short. Most of these books are similar but still so good!

Literally amazing. While the plot and the endings end up being near the same, this one was probably my favorite in terms of plot. I think we got to see a lot more of the side characters in action. We also got a super dramatic end. I loved it.

The series at this point gets very repetitive. There is one overarching theme and they all follow the same structure.

This one does have a bigger focus on the romance and how Sophronia negotiates a love triangle. I loved seeing her fall more in love with my top choice (I won’t spoil anything).

I love love love this series so much. This book was probably my favorite out of all four. I highly recommend this series and this book!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4.5

One of Us Is Dead: A Review

The Book:

Title: One of Us Is Dead

Author: Jeneva Rose

Published April 26th 2022 by Blackstone Publishing

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Adult

Pages: 272

“Opulence. Sex. Betrayal … Sometimes friendship can be deadly.

Meet the women of Buckhead—a place of expensive cars, huge houses, and competitive friendships.

Shannon was once the queen bee of Buckhead. But she’s been unceremoniously dumped by Bryce, her politician husband. When Bryce replaces her with a much younger woman, Shannon sets out to take revenge …

Crystal has stepped into Shannon’s old shoes. A young, innocent Texan girl, she simply has no idea what she’s up against …

Olivia has waited years to take Shannon’s crown as the unofficial queen of Buckhead. Finally, her moment has come. But to take her rightful place, she will need to use every backstabbing, manipulative, underhand trick in the book …

Jenny owns Glow, the most exclusive salon in town. Jenny knows all her clients’ secrets and darkest desires. But will she ever tell?

Who amongst these women will be clever enough to survive Buckhead—and who will wind up dead? They say that friendships can be complex, but no one said it could ever be this deadly.” –Goodreads

My Review:

The start of this book instantly hooked me. I was so intrigued to hear about these pretentious housewives and their lives.

One thing about the mystery books I have read, or just any book, is they cannot achieve the tension necessary to keep me begging for more. They reveal secrets to quickly. But this book… this book does it so well. It hints at things to come, but you dont know what the wives’ secrets are until it is necessary to reveal them. It keeps you ensconced in the story.

This one also had a play on the language is used. There are very few hints of death or talk of it in the beginning. But as the story grows more tense and more drama unfolds, more and more euphemisms and mentions of death are sprinkled throughout the end. It gave a good symbolism for that growing sense of doom the wives’ felt.

I did love the ending. There was a huge plot twist. I did not expect the ending, but I did, but I didn’t, if that makes sense. I cannot say much without spoiling, but the ending was good.

I have never read a book by Rose but let me tell you I definitely am going to check out more of her books. She wrote beautifully. I have not read a book in a long time that is written about a modern time that uses modern terms but is not cringey or cliche… if that makes sense. A lot of books using modern slang always come off so insincere and make me roll my eyes. This one didn’t though. I really liked it.

This book had everything. It had Real Housewives drama. It was a budding romance. It was about murder. It talked about how sh*tty adult white men are. I loved it so much.

I loved this book. This will definitely be on my top books this year’s list.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4.5

Curtsies & Conspiracies: A Review

The Book:

Title: Curtsies & Conspiracies

Author: Gail Carriger

Series: Finishing School #2

Genre: Steampunk, YA, Fantasy

Pages: 310

“Does one need four fully grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully grown guests?

Sophronia’s first year at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality has certainly been rousing! For one thing, finishing school is training her to be a spy–won’t Mumsy be surprised? Furthermore, Sophronia got mixed up in an intrigue over a stolen device and had a cheese pie thrown at her in a most horrid display of poor manners.

Now, as she sneaks around the dirigible school, eavesdropping on the teachers’ quarters and making clandestine climbs to the ship’s boiler room, she learns that there may be more to a field trip to London than is apparent at first. A conspiracy is afoot–one with dire implications for both supernaturals and humans. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot-and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

In this sequel to New York Times bestselling Etiquette & Espionage, class is back in session with more petticoats and poison, tea trays and treason. Gail’s distinctive voice, signature humor, and lush steampunk setting are sure to be the height of fashion this season.” –Goodreads

My Review:

This review is going to be pretty short because a lot of the things I said in the review about the first book still hold true for this book.

I loved it. I do think it gets a little repetitive, but each little adventure they have is different. This time they go to London.

This time we get a little bit more of the romance between Sophronia and Soap. It makes me so happy whenever I heard them interacting. He literally was so charming.

Felix, the other love interest, was also really charming. I think it could go either way and I would be happy with the outcome. But, I definitely would prefer Soap since he is such a kind person.

I love how Sophronia is not concerned with the romance that was budding up between the two men. She is not bothered but is developing feelings. She is more concerned with learning how to be good at espionage and about her friends thethan she is about the men in her life.

The names get even more ridiculous and its just so fun. This book series is just so fun!

It says YA but I honestly think this is for anyone. I think everyone should check these out.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4

Etiquette and Espionage: A Review

The Book:

Title: Etiquette & Espionage

Author: Gail Carrier

Series: Finishing School #1

Published February 5th 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Steampunk, YA, Fantasy

“It’s one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It’s quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners–and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine’s, young ladies learn to finish…everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage–in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year’s education.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Wow!

This book was fantastic. I could not stop listening to it.

I have become fully entrenched in this world. I finished the series within a week and I loved it. I thought it was so amazing.

My grandmother tried to have me read these book for the past seven years. Everytime I asked for a book recommendation, she would suggest this book. I always turned her down and now I really regret it.

I had picked this up back in high school and I didn’t like it. But I decided to try it out since it was available on my library app. I am in shock at how good it way.

It was so funny and light-hearted. The series takes us through the whole schooling of finishing school, which I love books about school, and then introduces the act of “finishing” meaning murder and espionage. How cool!

This Victorian age novel immediately trapped me in this world. As I said in my review of Stalking Jack the Ripper, I have been getting so into these Victorianesque novels. I would like to blame Bridgerton, since I have been into that Regency era, and this is similar.

I loved Saphronia so much. She was spunky and loved all things espionage. She was a strong female character, but I don’t think she goes through a lot of growth in the book. Sometimes that is okay, like in the case of this book. That just is a thing I like to see. I like the see characters becoming more. Her growth lies in her skills but not in her personality or character in this book.

All of the other girls in the series were awesome and I loved Soap and the other sooties. They are all so unique and I cant wait to see where they go in the series.

I loved all the funky names in this series. They are all so interesting like Frowbritcher the butler.

It also has vampires and werewolves which was just amazing. Carriger makes her own rules for these individuals. The world-building just with the use of these two species alone is amazing.

This book is such a nice fun light reading. I believe the narration probably made this book 100% better. The narrator is literally so fun and makes wonderful voices for all the characters.

I recommend this to anyone literally. I apologize to my grandmother who I said was wrong for liking this book. Grandma, you were right and thank you for introducing me into Carriger’s novels.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4.5

Hunting Prince Dracula: A Review

The Book:

Title: Hunting Prince Dracula

Author: Kerri Maniscalco

Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #2

Published September 19th 2017 by Little, Brown & Company

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, YA, Romance

“Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine… and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco’s haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer…or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?” –Goodreads

My Review:

Just like the first book, I loved this!

This one was almost more complex than the last one. The ending we never saw coming. The vampire lore that the story brought in was so cool.

I love how Maniscalco does so much research to make her books feel so real. I love everything about her writing so far. She spins real facts into this hauntingly beautiful story.

The library app I am listening to these books from is not giving them to me fast enough. I wait for a week for this book and I finished it within the day…again.

The story becomes even more intense. The stakes are so much higher. It is so enchanting how Maniscalco weaves death into a story about a girl making her way in the world of science.

A lot of people seem to dislike Aubrey in the first book and love her in this book. I would have to agree to an extent. I loved her last book, but she was kind of annoying with the whole “I am different” vibe. As I said in the last review, I hate that. I hate women putting down other women. In this one though, we get to see a more progressive side of her mind. She doesn’t shame the other women around her for liking the things they like.

That difference in the female portrayal also has a lot to do with how many more powerful and strong women are presented in this book. The last book, there weren’t a lot of females, and the ones there were not fully developed characters and their lives revolved around societal standards. In this book, Maniscalco provides a few women all with different personalities. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. It is important for fantasy novels to provide well-rounded portrayals of multiple people.

The book becomes so much more intense in this round. The protagonist is a lot closer to the murders. She also suffers from PTSD after the affairs of the last book. It adds more to that mythical “dead rising” that goes along with the story of Dracula.

I love this book series and cannot wait to start on the next one.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4.5