Book Review – Page 2 – For the Sake of Reading

Book Review: Deadline

Published on January 16, 2019January 8, 2019 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

Disgraced witch Harrietta Lee has made a lot of mistakes in her life; there’s a reason she’s got a sizable burn scar slapped across the side of her neck and a formal letter of excommunication from the international underground magical community. But who has time to dwell on the past when you’re trying to make rent in New York? Things are mostly clean and simple, until her next odd job is brought to her by a representative of a powerful corporate family—a family she once had close personal ties to. As she unwillingly digs through six years’ worth of personal baggage, she’s also got to contend with an inhuman admirer shadowing her in the street.

But hey, maybe it’ll be worth it for the beautiful women she gets to kiss…

Note: Contains elements of BDSM, this isn’t a YA novel.

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Book Review: Marked by Stars

Published on January 9, 2019January 7, 2019 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

A wolf without a pack and a boy in need of roots become founders.
After a heavenly visitation, one young wolf turns his back on his pack and on the moon in order to tread a lonesome path. A blaze of stars. A brand of copper. A burden of trust. First of Dogs, he takes a new name, makes peace with group of weary humans, and helps to found the In-between. This is a tale of the Kindred. This is the lore of the Starmark clan.

Note: (from the author) Songs of the Amaranthine is a collection of short stories set in Forthright’s Amaranthine universe. Before the Emergence, the clans were nothing more than whispers and mysteries and legends and lore. But every so often—in out-of-the-way places or shockingly close to home—an unsuspecting person stumbled into a fateful encounter with someone who was decidedly other. An eclectic collection, spanning continents and centuries. Tales of adventure, discovery, friendship, rescue, belonging, and love. Each short story stands alone and can be read in any order.

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Book Review: Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox

Published on January 2, 2019December 27, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

Tsumiko inherits an ancestral home, a vast fortune, and a butler who isn’t exactly human.

Humanity is rocked by the Emergence of a people who call themselves the Amaranthine. They are our myths and legends come to life. Neither human nor animal, yet embracing qualities of both, the inhuman races inspire both awe and fear. Every newsfeed is clogged with updates about the peace process, but some places don’t concern themselves with worldly affairs. Like the girls’ school run by Saint Midori’s of the Heavenly Lights, where Tsumiko Hajime grew up.

A letter from a long-lost aunt names Tsumiko heiress to an ancestral estate and its accompanying fortune. Only the legacy comes with an aloof heirloom: an inhuman butler. Argent has served the Hajime family for centuries, and Tsumiko must renew the generational bond or he’ll die. Argent hates her for the hold she has over him, but he craves her soul almost as much as he craves his freedom.

Note: I have nothing but love for this book, series and author So. Yeah my bias is apparent.

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Book Title: In an Absent Dream

Published on December 28, 2018December 27, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

This is the story of a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

For anyone . . .

Note: This is a prequel to the series, but fourth in publication. Because time means nothing.

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Book Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky

Published on December 28, 2018December 27, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

Beneath the Sugar Sky returns to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the “real” world.

Sumi died years before her prophesied daughter Rini could be born. Rini was born anyway, and now she’s trying to bring her mother back from a world without magic.

Note: This is a direct sequel to EVERY HEART A DOORWAY.

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Book Review: Patchwork

Published on April 6, 2018April 4, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

Renata Lake thought her relationship would be the only casualty of prom. Then the bomb went off.

It was supposed to be a night to remember—a cruise through Boston Harbor, dancing beneath the stars. But when an explosion tears the ship apart, Renata wakes up in Patchwork, an ethereal world where all her memories have been stitched haphazardly together.

In order to catch the assassin who murdered her friends, she’ll have to navigate the twisted landscape of her mind and relive critical moments from her past in search of clues. Can she uncover the killer’s identity and find her way back to the man she once loved before it’s too late?

Note: a version of this review was posted on my GoodReads page. I’ve minorly edited this review for some obviously bad goofs on my part and to clarify certain points.

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Book Review: Greta and the Glass Kingdom

Published on April 4, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingya1 Comment

Once upon a dark time…

Greta the human bounty hunter never quite fit into the shadowed, icy world of Mylena. Yet she’s managed to defeat the demon Agramon and win the love of the darkly intense Goblin King, Isaac. Now Isaac wants her to rule by his side—a humanqueen. And the very announcement is enough to incite rebellion…

To make matters worse, defeating Agramon left Greta tainted with a dark magick. Its unclean power threatens to destroy her and everything she loves. With the Goblin King’s life and the very peace of Mylena at stake, Greta must find a cure and fast.

Her only hope lies with the strange, elusive faeries in the Glass Kingdom…if she can get there before the evil within her destroys everything.

Notes – This is an older review from my old blog, Poisoned Rationality. As such I haven’t read this book in a while. That said, I still like this review. I’ve made slight edits to it. Beware of spoilers.

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Book Review: A Choice of Crowns

Published on March 29, 2018March 27, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

Olivia Geroux knew her king was reluctant to marry her, whatever the negotiations had arranged. But she never expected to find handsome, arrogant King Rowan obsessed with his stepsister instead. And before she can determine what course to take, she overhears her greatest ally plotting to murder the princess.

Olivia must act quickly—and live with whatever chaos results. As the assassin hunts his prey, a magic mirror appears to show Olivia the three paths that open before her . .

~ If she hesitates only a moment, the princess will die—and she will become queen.
~ If she calls for help, she will gain great power—but she must also thrust away her own happiness.
~ If she runs to stop the murder herself, she will know love and contentment—but her whole country will suffer.

As she lives out each path, her wits and courage will be tested as she fights to protect her people, her friends, and her heart. And deciding which to follow will be far from easy . . .

Pros – Olivia had an actual tough decision to make, personal sacrifice is neither glorified nor condemned

Cons – honestly speaking I’m going with none that are worth mentioning

Notes – There are spoilers for each path here. If you would like a spoiler free review, please head to my Goodreads review

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Book Review: Greta and the Goblin King

Published on March 28, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingyaLeave a comment

While trying to save her brother from the witch three years ago, Greta was thrown into the fire herself, falling through a portal to a dangerous world where humans are the enemy, and every ogre, goblin, and ghoul has a dark side that comes out with the full moon. To survive, 17-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter–and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape. But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil being knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the boys she finds stranded in the woods will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back . . .

Notes – This is an older review from my old blog, Poisoned Rationality. As such I haven’t read this book in a while. That said, I still like this review. I’ve made slight edits to it.

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Book Review: 8 Simple Rules For Dating a Dragon

Published on March 27, 2018March 27, 2018 by forthesakeofreadingya3 Comments

Gwennore has a talent. An Elf able to track down the cause of an illness and heal it, she’s a valuable asset to her people. When the kidnapping of a young girl thrusts Gwennore into the very heart of the realm of the dragons, she discovers not only a place of power and magic, but also a haunted land, plagued by an ancient curse that all but ensures extinction to the royal family. But when she meets the smoldering General Silas Dravenko, they strike a bargain—save the country from its cursed illness, and he will return the kidnapped girl. She’s been raised never to trust a dragon, but never did making a deal with the devil feel so good…

Silas has no way of curing the family he’s loyally served for years. But when a beautiful elf, long considered the enemy of the dragons, comes bursting into his world, Silas is awakened to passion and desire in a way he’s never felt before. But can he trust a sworn enemy to save the very existence he holds dear? And can their love survive those that threaten to tear them apart?

Pros – Olenka, banter ahoy, Puff the Magic Dragon/he lives by the seaaaa

Cons – A little repetitive at times, plot acrobatics to keep a secret, miscommunication anarchy

Notes – Third in the series, so this book, and some of my commentary therein, spoils the outcomes of the first two books.

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