Review | Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Frost Burned
Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson #7
Published 5 March 2013 by Ace (Penguin)
Urban fantasy
3 stars

Mercy Thompson’s life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman—the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack—has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy’s life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more…

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.

Bite-Sized Review
While any fan of the Mercy Thompson books will probably enjoy Frost Burned, it doesn't really add much to the series. There's nothing here that we haven't seen before, and more than once.

Chocolate (things I liked)
-Frost Burned is not a bad book. On the contrary, there's a lot that's good about it. Mercy has now really accepted her role in Adam's pack, as well as the mate bond and all that comes with it, and the pack has, for the most part, accepted her as well. It's great to see how much she's grown throughout the series.

-My favorite character is the book is definitely Kyle. He's one of my favorites in the series, but in Frost Burned, he really shines. I seriously wish we could have seen some more of Warren as well, but I guess you can't have everything.

Brussels Sprouts (things I disliked)
-Although I certainly enjoy the series, which is why I'm still reading at book seven, I've never really been a fan of Mercy herself. She has always struck me as a bit on the annoying side of self-righteous, even (read: especially) when she has no reason to be. That's the main reason I prefer Briggs' spinoff Alpha & Omega series -- I'm pretty sure it's impossible not to love Anna.

WARNING: the next couple bullets are a bit spoilery. No actual plot details, but there are things you might not want to know if you really hate spoilers.

-I don't want to say too much about the plot of the book, but it really seems like every aspect of it has already happened in a way that's quite similar to what occurs here. The characters even reference those past events explicitly. Now I've heard that there's nothing new under the sun, but there really can't be that small of a range of options that it doesn't even last seven books.

-The pacing of the book is...odd. At the point where it seemed to be wrapping up, I looked at the progress bar on my Kindle and it informed me that I was less than halfway through, and unfortunately the entire second half turns out to be mainly tying up loose ends. Not to mention the fact that the conclusion sort of jumps out of nowhere and isn't even that clear in retrospect, which always leaves me a bit disappointed.

-I really expected there to be more fallout from the end of Fair Game. I guess it's technically a different series, so maybe more will happen in the next Alpha & Omega book, but it honestly barely affected the plot at all.

Recommended for
Anyone who enjoys the series.

Quality: Fair
Enjoyability: Good

Review | Ever After by Kim Harrison

Ever After
Kim Harrison
The Hollows #11
Published 22 Jan 2013 by Harper Voyager
Urban fantasy
4 stars

The ever after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing... for the worse.

While saving the world is important, it isn't Rachel's only motivation. There's also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place, setting off a chain reaction of unfortunate events. That little mistake has made her life forfeit unless she can fix it. It's also made her more than a few enemies, including the most powerful demon in the ever after—a terrifying entity who eats souls and now has an insatiable appetite for her. He's already kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to lure her out, and if Rachel doesn't give herself up soon, they'll die.

But Rachel has more than a few impressive and frightening skills of her own, and she isn't going to hand over her soul and her life without one hell of a fight. She's also got a surprise: elven tycoon Trent Kalamack. With this unlikely ally beside her—a prospect both thrilling and unnerving—she's going to return to the ever after, kick some demon butt, rescue her loved ones... and prevent an apocalypse before it's too late. Or, at least that's the plan...

Contains some inevitable spoilers for previous books in the series. Spoilers for Ever After are hidden and can be seen by highlighting the indicated text.

Bite-Sized Review
Although it had a few issues, Ever After was a highly enjoyable read and a good continuation of the series.

Chocolate (things I liked)
-They finally had to deal with the leaking ever after. That's been going on for about three books and it's about time they did something about it.

-Relationships in this series are always changing. I love that as the characters change, they don't just stay in the same roles; sometimes they grow apart, sometimes they grow closer, sometimes their opinions of people change. That's really one of the best things about this series.

-The pacing of this book was, for the most part, excellent. There was always something happening, some new escalation of the crisis, but it was all related, with virtually nothing extraneous or irrelevant. Even if I didn't know there were only two more books, it would be clear from the way things are starting to wrap up, which is good.

Brussels Sprouts (things I didn't like)
-Rachel has this incredibly annoying habit in the last couple books of thinking that she has to do something important, never actually doing it, and then thinking the same thing again 50 pages later, not as a reminder, but as if she hadn't already had the same thought 50 pages ago. I don't know if this is just sloppy editing or what, but it's getting increasingly irritating.

-Rachel also spends far too much time making her head Drama Central, thinking constantly about her feelings for Trent, her relationship with her friends, her relationship with her enemies, and so on. It's just too much. [highlight to view spoiler] I thought it was strange that, amidst all that, she spent surprisingly little time worried about Ceri and Lucy. Of course, she was concerned, but she seemed more worried about Bis than about her infant goddaughter. And she seems slightly confused as to which disasters are her fault and which aren't. It's like she gets them backwards.

-[highlight to view spoiler] I was not a fan of the very end of the book. If you can only declare your attraction for someone after drinking half a bottle of wine (and we've all heard "no really, I'm not drunk!" too many times in our lives to believe you), then you're clearly not ready for any kind of romantic relationship. That was not the way to have Trent and Rachel kiss for the first time in uncontested reality.

Recommended for
Fans of the series.

Quality: Acceptable
Enjoyability: Excellent

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

Fair Game
Patricia Briggs
Alpha and Omega #3
Published March 6, 2012 by Ace (Penguin)
Paranormal romance
My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Bite-Sized Reivew
Fair Game, though not my favorite of the Mercy Thompson/Alpha and Omega world, is a good addition to the series and contains some pretty great stuff. Any fans of Mercy or A&O had better get their hands on this one before any more books come out, because it contains a game-changer.

King-Sized Review
After an interesting prologue, Fair Game opens with Anna arguing with Bran. It's a great start to the book, because while the Anna of Cry Wolf would have backed down the second the Marrock expressed a hint of disapproval, now she's able to meet his eyes when other wolves are off cowering in the corner of the room. But now it's not Anna who's having problems; it's Charles. Ever since the werewolves went public, Bran has sent Charles out more and more for cleanup duty, and it's getting to him. To give him something different to focus on, Bran sends Anna to Boston to consult on a criminal case involving a serial killer who's moved up to werewolves.

Most of the plot of this book isn't terribly exciting. Although Anna is the type of person everyone loves without even thinking about it, and it actually works, Charles, who is supposed to be terrifyingly dangerous, spends most of the first three-quarters of the book brooding. It's not very scary. I can sort of see why Charles is supposed to be frightening, but only from the way other people react to him, and it doesn't quite feel real. I think that's because from Mercy's perspective, Charles seems more enigmatic than scary, and obviously he doesn't frighten Anna (at least not anymore).

There are occasionally cordially antagonistic interactions between different investigative departments, investigators and werewolves, witches and werewolves, fae and werewolves, Charles and Anna and local werewolves, and so on that are extremely entertaining, but other than that the book starts off rather slowly, with more discussion of things that have already happened than actual current happenings. When the story picks up, it does so quickly. All sorts of things happen, most of them slightly predictable except for one "holy crap!" moment at the end of the book. That one scene, and you will know it when you see it...ahhh, I can't say anything about it without giving something away. But wow I need the next book now.

Quality: Good
Enjoyability: Good

PNR or UF?
GARS Score: 0.71 (3/2/4/3)
What's a GARS score?

In the same aisle
Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Bloodrose
Andrea Cremer
Nightshade #3
Published January 3, 2012 by Philomel (Penguin)
YA paranormal romance

Bite-Sized Review
If you prefer romance to action and don't mind angsty teenagers and love triangles, this might be a good book for you. And if you've read the rest of the series, I assume you'll read this one as well, but just note that it doesn't live up to the promise of the first book.

King-Sized Review
**WARNING: This is the third book in a trilogy. This review contains spoilers for the previous books, and discusses in general terms the events of this book.**


Bloodrose sounds like quite the adventure. After meeting Shay, learning that her life was a lie, teaming up with the Searchers she thought were her enemies, watching most of her pack get hurt, and finally rescuing Ren from the Keepers, Calla was ready for this war to be over. But to accomplish that, they needed to find the Elemental Cross that only the Scion could wield to stop the wraiths. And Calla needed to choose between Shay and Ren.

The Nightshade series always had an interesting premise. Lies are a good start. Follow that up with exciting conflict, genuine characters, a little tragedy, and a dash of romance, and you probably have an excellent series.

It's the dash of romance that's a problem.

You see, as it happens, I enjoy baking along with reading. When your recipe calls for a dash of salt, and your final product ends up two-thirds salt, it is not palatable. Or even edible. The same is true for books. If you're writing a book that's supposed to be about truth and doing the right thing, but it's 90 percent melodramatic love triangle, it will not accomplish anything. I was under the clearly mistaken impression that the love story had been resolved when Calla slept with Shay in Wolfsbane, but sadly we had to revisit it ad nauseum in Bloodrose as well. So much of the book was devoted to the love triangle that the actual story, retrieving the swords of the Elemental Cross and using them to defeat the Keepers, was rushed and incomplete.

Not only did the attention to the romance negatively affect the book's pacing, it was also highly detrimental to Calla's credibility and likability as a character. It was obvious who she was going to choose, so dragging it out the way she did just made her seem cruel and manipulative.

Without actually saying anything specific, the ending was a huge cop-out. For one thing, the story itself went something like this: love triangle angst indecision whining EVENT angst love triangle infighting EVENT anticlimactic decision whining arguing angst banter EVENT THE END. It's not a structure that really promotes closure or satisfaction, particularly with the obviously contrived way everything worked out. It was neither logical nor believable, and while the last few chapters, in spite of their absurdity, actually did make the ending seem less easy, even then the characters never really seemed to struggle. Because of that, the conclusion had a fake quality that detracted from the book almost as much as Melodramatic Love Triangle did.

Despite all that, I did mostly enjoy reading this book. It was easy to get through once I got into the story, and as I said, the world is quite interesting. Most of the relationships were sweet, if a little too abrupt to be genuine (another disappointment to lay at Love Triangle's door). Nightshade was easily the strongest book in the series, with Wolfsbane and Bloodrose trailing far behind.

Quality: Poor
Enjoyability: Acceptable

In the same aisle
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Blood Warrior by H.D. Gordon

Blood Warrior
H.D. Gordon
The Alexa Montgomery Saga #1
Published September 5, 2011 by H.D. Gordon

Bite-sized Review
I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get into it. A combination of antipathy toward the characters, inconsistencies, and the lack of a discernable plot made it difficult for me to finish this book. However, a lot of people really enjoyed it, so just keep that in mind when you're reading what I have to say.

King-sized Review
I picked up Blood Warrior from the R2R program on one of my Goodreads groups. I had already heard a lot of people rave about how amazing it was, so I was excited to read it. It sounded like a great story: mystery, danger, inner conflict, magic – all the things I love.

Unfortunately, I didn't find it nearly as thrilling as most of my friends. Every time I picked it up, I read a few pages and then found myself doing something else. I'd switch to another book on my Kindle, go online, watch TV. I just couldn't focus on this book. Obviously I did finish it, or I wouldn't be writing this review, but it took me a week and a half, which for me is the approximate equivalent of forever.

There were a couple of reasons for my disinterest that I immediately recognized. First, the love triangle. This may have just been bad timing. At this point I am incredibly sick of love triangles. They are now a hurdle that a book has to overcome to get a good rating from me. That's something that happens occasionally, but in this case not only was there a love triangle, but I didn't find either of the love interests...interesting. In the scenes when Alexa was with Kayden or Jackson, I felt nothing at all. I don't even care who she ends up with.

Which leads me to my next problem. Alexa went through a lot of strong emotions in this book, and I should have felt something for her. The only thing I really felt was exasperation. I wasn't emotionally invested in any of the characters, and the closest I got to caring was wondering why everyone was so tolerant of Alexa's homicidal tendencies, because it just didn't seem reasonable that everyone would think it was perfectly normal for her to snap and try to kill people whenever they annoyed her. This is where "show, don't tell" really comes in; actions can sometimes be told, but emotions must be shown, or I don't believe them.

Inconsistencies and incredibilities cropped up with unfortunate frequency in this story. Why did Alexa's mom prepare her physically for her heritage, but not mentally? Wouldn't the training Alexa hated so much have been more palatable if she actually knew what it was for? And how can an obviously rather small society sustain the weekly death or severe injury of its elite? Either I don't understand how the competition in the Arena works, or there are way more warriors than it looks like. Why did Nelly, the younger sister, always seem to be older than Alexa? Individually, none of these are all that important (except for the first one, which really bothered me), but once they start stacking up, it becomes a problem.

Finally, the plot lacked direction. Mostly it was just Alexa barreling from one overdramatized crisis to another. There were a couple of good plot points, but they didn't really go anywhere. I really felt like this book was just painting the background for an actual story. I don't think I can stress how important this is. Stories need a point. The entire plot of this book was literally just Alexa learning various disturbing things about her new home, and then seeing something else weird but unrelated, and then doing something impulsive, and also unrelated. The ending had no resolution because there was nothing to resolve, although it did suggest to me that the plot in the next book will be rather better.

Okay. Having said all that, a number of friends have really liked this book, so it's entirely possible you will as well. I did find the world fairly interesting, with good twists on traditional legend. Alexa is a strong heroine who obviously cares about people, even though some aspects of her personality are rather off-putting. So if the basic idea here sounds like something you would enjoy, you should probably just ignore me and give it a try. Let me know how it goes.

Quality: Fair
Enjoyability: Poor

Stars of...Shapeshifters

The "Stars of..." series is a new feature I'm doing here at Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy to highlight the best books in different areas of the fantasy genre. Say you want a book about shapeshifters or wizards or mythology, or maybe you want to read some political or heroic fantasy. Stop by here every Thursday for the foreseeable future, and I'll have recommendations for you! Click on the book covers for links to the first book in the series and on the series name for a list of the books in it on Goodreads.

If you think there's something I missed in this category, feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments! I haven't read everything out there, obviously, and I'd love some recommendations myself.

Series are alphabetical by author.

Stars of...Shapeshifters
*click the book cover for a link to the first book and the series title for a link to the series list*

Adult

Kelley Armstrong

Women of the Otherworld
12 books, ongoing (3 werewolf books)

The Women of the Otherworld series, which focuses on women of various supernatural species, has several books featuring a werewolf, Elena Michaels. Elena's books are my favorite in a series I really enjoy. Her determination, humor, and spirit make her books fun and exciting. Also, Elena and Clay are lots of fun.

Keri Arthur

Riley Jenson, Guardian
9 books, completed

Riley and her twin, Rhoan, are half-vampire, half-werewolf, and working for the Directorate of Other Races keeps both halves plenty busy. I was hesitant to pick up this series at first, because it sounded like a constant sex-fest, but it's actually much more; Riley gets involved in some very dangerous and exciting situations, and I've really enjoyed what I've read of this series so far.

J.A. Belfield
Holloway Pack
1 book, ongoing

Even though there were aspects of this story that I didn't really like, it had that ineffable quality that makes you keep reading. It's definitely worth a read, and I want to find out more about this world of werewolves and magic.

Patricia Briggs

Mercy Thompson
6 books, ongoing

Mercy is a walker raised by werewolves. Her adventures, involving fae, vampires, the werewolf pack, and other supernaturals, are exciting and fun. Mercy is a great character with credible strengths and weaknesses, and she's grown a lot throughout the series. These books have some great lines and really touching moments, not to mention plenty of ass-kicking!

Alpha and Omega
2 books, ongoing

A bit more toward the romance end of the spectrum, Alpha and Omega features Omega werewolf Anna and her mate, Charles Cornick. Although Alpha and Omega takes place in the same world as Mercy Thompson and with many of the same characters, there's not a whole lot of crossover. Anna is actually one of my favorite characters; she's easy to underestimate but really quite strong. And Charles is surprisingly sensitive for a dominant werewolf.

Carrie Vaughn

Kitty Norville
9 books, ongoing

Yup, a werewolf named Kitty. And this werewolf just happens to be a radio host...for the supernatural. Kitty Norville is fun and interesting, and Kitty is always stumbling into some sort of misadventure. She grows a lot during this series, and her reactions are always fun to see.

Rachel Vincent

Shifters
6 books, completed

I've only read the first book in this series, but it was pretty good. True, Faythe can be pretty annoying, but she does care, which makes her a bit more likable. Plus there is plenty of action here.




YA

Kelley Armstrong
Darkness Rising
1 book, ongoing

I absolutely loved Maya, the main character in The Gathering. She's witty but friendly, and seeing the mystery of her town and her new neighbors unfold was fascinating. I can't wait for the next book in this spin-off of the Women of the Otherworld series.

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
The Kiesha'ra
5 books

In this highly unique take on shapeshifters, the avians and the serpiente have been enemies for longer than anyone can remember. Danica Shardae, heir to the avian throne, is tired of watching her family and friends die. So when her enemy and counterpart Zane Cobriana proposes a solution to the conflict, she's willing to try anything, no matter what difficulties come her way. I love the setting of this story, and the characters as well. Now I really want to read it again.

Andrea Cremer
Nightshade
3 books, completed

I couldn't put Nightshade, the first book in this trilogy, down, and I bought the second book right after I finished it. Worlds of lies are lots of fun (to read about). I just got Bloodrose from the library, and I can't wait to see how this story ends.

Maggie Stiefvater

The Wolves of Mercy Falls
3 books, completed

If you've been around here for any length of time, you know that I love Maggie Stiefvater. When I finished The Wolves of Mercy Falls, I couldn't even form coherent thoughts, but only rave about how amazing these books were. With unique characters, spectacular writing, and refreshingly, no love triangle, The Wolves of Mercy Falls is my favorite werewolf series out there.



Other books that include shapeshifters, just not as the main characters
The Edge by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Hollows by Kim Harrison

Darkness and Light by JA Belfield

Darkness & Light
JA Belfield
A Holloway Pack Story #1

Bite-sized Review
Darkness & Light is an enthralling read. Despite its relationship and character issues, I really enjoyed it, and I'll definitely read more in this series.

King-sized Review
*Contains extremely minor spoilers*

Married to a controlling, neurotic man, Jem is very aware of her place in life. Her days are routine, but her nights are filled with dreams of werewolves. Disturbed by the insistent calling of "Sean!" in her head, she's still surprised to meet the man from her dreams and visions in real life. He introduces her to a world she never imagined really existed. But dangers await her there as well.

Darkness & Light was a very absorbing read, perfect for my travel day. I lost track of the plane and was focused entirely on the story. It's just one of those books that you can't put down, and I'm very glad I read it.

However, whenever I did have to put the book down, I had a few issues with it. Jem and Sean's relationship didn't seem all that much healthier than Jem and Peter's, although it was definitely warmer and safer. For a lot of the book, I had the feeling Jem became the pack's housewife, though circumstances did improve toward the end. But something about Jem and Sean's relationship bothered me for a long time. I guess one of the reasons I dislike insta-love is that it severely decreases the chances of both partners being equals, and watching everyone hover around Jem trying to compensate for her vulnerability wasn't much fun. Happily, as I said, things did improve some by the end of the book.


I did like seeing Jem become more confident and willing to express herself during the course of the story. I was especially pleased that she was willing to fight with Sean, even though I kind of thought that making up five seconds later wasn't entirely believable.

For some reason I have difficulty accepting reincarnation (even in books about werewolves. Go figure.) So while it was an acceptable explanation for Sean and Jem's connection, I didn't really like it. Plus I'd much rather see an actual relationship develop, and regaining memories of a past life isn't really the same thing.

Even so, I did enjoy this book a lot and definitely recommend you give it a try.


Quality: Fair
Enjoyability: Excellent

GARS Score: 0.67 (4/2/5/4)
What's a GARS Score?

Darkness & Light is similar to:
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Stray by Rachel Vincent

The Wolves of Mercy Falls

The Wolves of Mercy Falls: Shiver, Linger, Forever
Maggie Stiefvater

Many stories are good.  Some are even excellent.  A few, a very few, are the kind of stories that take you outside of yourself for a while and set up residence inside your head while you're away.  Reading these, time stops and the world disappears, and when you turn the last page and close the book it's almost a surprise to find that the world is still there, still turning just the way it was before.  These are the kind of stories that make sifting through piles of average sameness worthwhile, the ones that make you laugh out loud, gasp, cry, the ones you can't read in public for the emotions that flicker across your face.  I don't know what it is that sets these stories apart from the rest; I think if anyone did, there would be a lot more spectacular tales out there.  I do know that for me, the Wolves of Mercy Falls is one of those stories.  


I was planning to make this a review of Forever, the third book in the trilogy, but this is one of those times where it's extremely difficult for me to separate books when in my head they're a single story, probably because of the whole time-stopping, climbing-into-your-brain thing.  For the same reason, I'm skipping a summary and only saying that the wolves of Mercy Falls aren't like any other werewolves you've ever seen.  Maggie Stiefvater creates a thrilling, unique world of bitten humans who change to wolves when the temperature drops (though it turns out there's a little more to it than that).  Her characters come alive in blue, green, red words on a page, each distinct and real.  Their concerns, hopes, fears, loves are more than words; they wind around you until you're caught, without regret, in the tangle of their tale.


These stories are the reason I hold back five-star (or rather, cupcake) ratings even when I think a book is really very good.  I've only read a handful of stories that startle with their shining*, but this is one of them.  This is what it means to be a five-star book.


Characters: 5 cupcakes
Plot: 5 cupcakes
Style: 5 cupcakes
Overall: 12 million cupcakes (not really.  Really it's five cupcakes.  But seriously, go out and read it.)


*It's from "To Juan at the Winter Solstice" by Robert Graves, one of the few poems I actually know.