The Novice Review

So its official, The Novice was better than The Magician's Guild. It wasn't great and I didn't exactly love it, but it was better.
Unfortunately in this book I still don't relate to Sonea, I just can't. She endures some horrendous bullying which certainly earns my sympathy but that doesn't equate to like or respect. She never even fully protects herself unless someone else points out how it can be achieved. She never tells anyone and when someone finds out on their own she begs them not to do anything and to keep it a secret. The adults keep assuming it's out of pride but honestly no one ever gives a believable reason why she won't let anyone do anything about her tormentors. Especially since the few times they are caught she seems satisfied.

This kind of brings me to my next qualm with the book. The adults in this book are totally ineffectual. They spend more time being gossips than anything else. Whenever someone does something that is absolutely terribly wrong they brush it off with a slap on the wrist. In my opinion the main villain from the first book is never even properly punished even though they're all supposedly outraged by his actions and it's well within their power to make him pay for his crimes.

My third and final complaint is that smaller plot points were dragged out throughout the whole book, while larger turn of event type scenes are thrust upon you almost clumsily and with no build up. So there it is, overall the book was definitely better but still not a stellar book.

Will the third be better than both?

Ancestors of Avalon Review

After over 3 months I am finished reading Ancestors of Avalon. On the whole I'm an insanely fast reader, however it was only just recently that I was able to once again devote time to my favorite habit. Even still I'm generally only able to get in one chapter a day, two at most.

The writing style was not quite the same as Mysts of Avalon. Also for those of you who read Mysts of Avalon you know that the entire book is told from the points of view of the women in the story. The same is not so with Ancestors. The book mainly focuses on Tiriki and Micail. After fleeing their burning home within the Sea Kingdoms they are seperated and brought to different parts of the British Isles. From that point on we see how they are effected by the societies surrounding them.

The book jumps between the experiences of Tiriki and Micail. While her and her companions seek to live amongst and at peace with the natives, Micail's seek to rule them. I didn't connect with the characters in this book the same way I did with the characters in Mysts of Avalon. Despite that it was fun to see Igraine's vision of her and Uther in past lives played out. I also enjoyed how they explained the building of Stonehenge and the maze in the Tor.

I ended up kind of disliking Micail which I didn't want to do and absolutely hating Tjalan. My favorite character was Tiriki, I loved watching her find her strength.

Overall I liked Mysts of Avalon more but it was still an excellent book.

Honor Bound Review

I finally finished Honor Bound by C.J. Archer! It felt like it was taking me forever. It wasn't a bad book. On the whole it was pretty good but for some reason I had a hard time getting sucked into it. Some books grab me right away and I don't want to put them down until I'm done, this book kept giving me moments where I felt like I needed a break, and it wasn't very long.

It was mostly a romance novel complete with an evil mother-in-law who was very easy to hate, with a mystery flair. It had a nice twist at the end and I at the very least didn't see it coming.

The main characters were relatable and I really liked Isabel, a witch and apothecaries assistant who barely uses her powers for fear of being found out. She's brave strong and sure of herself good qualities in any woman. Her estranged husband Nick is fun, sexy and the perfect masculine stereotype. Enough boyish charm to keep him sweet and a nice hard edge to his personality to make him a man. All of the character's are fairly realistic and relatable.

I felt like the author could have boosted the witchy quotient but that's just my personal taste (although it was nice that she wasn't constantly flashing it around). The thing I liked the most is that she kept Isabel "normal", at least she's wasn't absurdly unbelievable.

I'd give it a 3 out of 5 star rating.

The Trouble With Spells Review

Today I finished The Trouble with Spells by Lacey Weatherford. I've mentioned a couple of times that the review of this book is not going to be pretty so if you're a fan of the book or the series, try not to take offense and remember that we're all entitled to our own opinions.

I said when I first started reading this book that I loved the Twilight series. Apparently so did the author. Before anyone gets huffy with me I've done my research and I'm pretty sure that the Twilight series started coming out first, if I'm wrong please correct me. There are just way to many similarities. He's the resident bad boy that all the girls want and all the boys are jealous of. He can read her mind (although she can also read his). She's asks him for sex while he turns her down to protect their virtue and to keep her safe. Also he says he wants to marry her when they've been dating for maybe a few weeks. He also sleeps next to her every night and keeps a quilt tucked around her to separate their bodies (just like the Twilight series).

The biggest difference between the two books is that they're witches instead of vampires. Also they're apparently Christian witches. Odd but not entirely unheard of. I'll give her a little credit for making an attempt to talk about the Rule of Returns and for getting the names of some magickal tools right. I don't have a problem with the Harry Potter or fantasy style of witchcraft writing but accuracy is always nice.

In my opinion it seemed like a combination of a Silver Ravenwolf 101 book and Twilight with a splash of Practical Magic and Sabrina the Teenage Witch for good measure. Other than that there were some small language quirks that I found irritating (two people who live in the same house are not "visiting" with each other simply because they're chatting). Also Portia was a little to vapid for my taste. Unless one of the sequels literally falls in my lap I don't think I'll be searching out the rest of this series.

Over all I'd give it a 1 out of 5 rating.

Bewitching the Werewolf Review

Last night I finished my first book for the Witchy Reading Challenge. What a sexy book, or rather short story, and not shy sex either, in your face sex.

I liked the main character Megan Stephens. She's funny and quick witted. Her client, Zachary Conner, seems like a man any woman would want to spend a little time getting to know. Both him and the animal inside.

It was a little rushed ever for a short story however but on the whole a very fun read, also it included a excerpt from her book Love is Darkness so that was nice to have.

All in all I'd say I give it a 4 out of 5 rating.