Brianna Reviews // Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs

Published: 3^rd July 2003

Publisher: Arrow Books

Format: Paperback

Synopsis:  During one of the hottest summers on record, Dr Temperance Brennan is haunted by a string of horrifying events. First, the bones of a newborn baby are discovered in a wood stove. The mother is nowhere to be found. Next, a plane flies into a rock face. The dead pilot and passenger are burned beyond recognition, and covered in an unknown substance. And then a store of bones is found in a remote corner of the county. What has happened, and who will be the next victim? The answers lie hidden deep within the bones - but Tempe must find them in time to stop further disaster.

Bare Bones gets off to a sort of promising start and even answers the question of who she went on holiday with (hint: I’m happy) but personally for me it starts to go downhill, in the nicest possible way (because I honestly don’t think it’s a bad book I did enjoy it, and I still gave it 4 stars on goodreads) I think this is the worst Brennan book so far.

So this time Brennan is at home, she never went on holiday, work got in the way. She has just discovered that the bones in the stove are as feared from a newborn baby, she’s working alongside a local cop to try and find the mother. And Ryan is coming down to stay with her. Oh and she discovers human remains at a BBQ – or Boyd does. Turns out most of the bones are actually bear bones. And she stumbles nicely into a hunting, animal parts smuggling operation.

It’s not the main crime or investigation in Bare Bones that made it a less enjoyable read although it wasn’t the most thrilling. No it was Brennan herself that made this not so fun to read. This is a long running series, you expect a bit of character progression, and we’ve had that, she’s loosened up a little on the prospect of dating etc. but you would think that after 5 books she would have made a connection between running off on her own without telling anyone and her being in life threatening danger… but it seems that she hasn’t learnt any such lesson, and it annoys me as I’m sure I have gone over before… as I feel like I might have mentioned this in the last 3 reviews, if not then I should have! And I think if I’m honest my view on this entire book story, plot, characters and all is tainted by my utter exasperation and weariness over her yet again running into a clearly dangerous situation without telling anyone. Or maybe it’s just because she has a complete disregard for her own safety  in general; she receives threats from someone in the form of photos of her and Katy taken through a scope of a rifle and a warning telling her to back off (she doesn’t know what as she is working more than one case). These photos rightly scare her and they also worry Ryan, yet despite this she still runs off into danger on her own.

It was quite nice to see Ryan making an appearance while off duty, and to see Brennan being nice to him as well, it’s all very civil, almost normal. Proof that she can change and learn stuff. It’s a nice reward after so many books of them irrationally making it difficult (mostly Brennan).

So in summary, it wasn’t bad the case was actually okay, it’s just the damsel in distress thing is running thin -  I will of course continue reading the series but I hope she learns something sharpish.

Caragh Reviews // Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Published - 1st May 2011
Publisher - Orbit
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out that 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Harry is the best at what he does - and not just because he's the only one who does it. So whenever the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they look to him for answers. But business isn't just slow, it stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get . . . interesting.

The Dresden Files series is one of my boyfriend's favourites and he's been trying for SO long to get me to read them! Being the stubborn woman that I am, naturally i've put it off for over a year or so :P Just when he'd stopped asking, I decided it was time to see what the fuss was about.

I'll admit that I can be a bit snobbish when it comes to what books i'll read. When Storm Front was first described to me as a  'Wizard P.I crime book', I was quick to laugh, judge and cross it off completely. However i'm also someone who believes in 'a book for a book'. I've recommended a fair few books to him now which he's taken on board and read so it was only fair that I did the same. I've eaten a lot of humble pie since.

It was really surprising. A world in which magic exists and is kind of, normal, is really fresh and new to me! It got off to a slow start but honestly, i'm not sure whether the book was at fault or whether it was my own prejudices that went against me.  It didn't last long though as mystery will always suck me in eventually; so many lives were at stake, magic was turning nasty, humans getting caught in the crossfire.I'm not even sure if Storm Front could be placed into a genre as it covers so many of them. Because of this it's quite difficult to pin point anything to really talk about without spoilers. If I had to compare it to TV shows, i'd put in the same category as Castle - but with magic. 

Mostly what I got out of Storm Front was that reading outside of my comfort zone really can pay off!

Caragh Reviews // Talon by Julie Kagawa

Published - 28th October 2014
Publisher - Harlequin/MIRA
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

Talon was an incredible surprise and a bit of a whirlwind! I didn't really know much about it and i'm one of the few people left who haven't read anything by Kagawa before. Right from chapter one you are thrown in the deep end. Dragons! Enemies! Secrets! Missions! I mean come on, who isn't dragged into a book that is primarily about dragons!

I'll admit, it was a little weird to wrap my head around agiant, scaly dragon kind of morphing into a little frail 16 year old girl but you know what? The logistics don't really matter and I didn't spend too much time thinking about it as the pace of the book had me reading at lightning speed.

For me, Talon had the perfect balance between your typical crush story (hello, love triangle!) and a whole lot of excitement and adventure. Ember was really likeable and relatable which is super important to me. I think the only character that I didn't really connect with was Dante and considering how that goes i'm not totally surprised by it.

What spurred me on whilst reading Talon was the relationship between Talon (the organisation) and St George. I wanted to know where this war came from and why it mattered more than anything else (more on this in my review of Rogue, later!). The book was so fraught with tension over this and honestly, I was kind of stressed out just thinking about the possibilities. The end of the book was so explosive that it left me reeling. What was going to happen? Were any of them safe now? What is Dante thinking? There were so many questions that there was never a single doubt in my mind that the very next book I would read was the sequel, Rogue. Review coming soon......

Caragh Reviews - Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Published - 25th October 2012
Publisher - Penguin
Format - Paperback
Synopsis - Is death the end . . . or only the beginning? Ethan Wate always dreamed of leaving the stifling Southern town of Gatlin. But he never dreamt that finding love with Lena Duchannes would drive him away. Lena is a Caster girl whose supernatural powers unveiled a secretive and cursed side of Gatlin, so powerful it forced him to make a terrible sacrifice. Now Ethan must find a way to return to Lena - and Gatlin - as she vows to do whatever it takes to get him back. Even if it means trusting old enemies or risking their loved ones' lives. Can Ethan and Lena rewrite their fate and their spellbinding love story in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series?

The end is finally here. The best part of a series? Knowing that the last page just means the start of a new book and a new plot. The worst part of a series? Spending so many other pages with a world and it's characters that when the last page really is the last page, it hurts. I absolutely hate finishing a series of books. It's part of the reason that I endevour to read more standalones as time goes on because i'm just SO bad at it. I have been putting off this book for weeks now because I couldn't bear to end it all which is crazy! It just prolongs the pain. I'm so emotionally challenged when finishing a series, that even if I didn't LIKE the series.. it still kinda hurts. What's with that? Anyway. I did it. I finished the Caster Chronicles and here is what I think.

The pain. Oh the pain. I just cannot deal with the fact that the ending of Beautiful Redemption is really the end. WHAT THE HELL? You can't just go and make me so deliriously happy and then stamp, crush and shatter my heart into a million little pieces with the next sentence. No. Just no.

I'll try and be a little more eloquent with this review, but I don't promise anything.
I knew that Beautiful Redemption was going to be a difficult read giving the events of the previous book but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought. It was well explained and thought out and I didn't feel like I was being given a ridiculous story as to how and why things were as they were (hard with no spoilers - sorry!) even though it kind of was. Some new characters were introduced which was great as it kept the whole thing fresh even though we're 4 books in now. It felt a little like book 2 in the fact there was some kind of journey to take and something worth fighting for.

I really liked how to book was split into sections and finally getting to "hear" Lena's voice and not just Ethan's. It really worked, particularly as Ethan's POV would have really slowed down the story and definitely run the risk of boredom so it was nice to get that out of the way by having some action from a different POV.

Beautiful Redemption is a hard book to review and it's even harder to explain why. Had this book been earlier on in the series, I don't think I would have honestly enjoyed it. It felt arduous and "out there" but at the same time, because it was the final book and i'd spent a long time with these characters I loved it regardless of the events. It's hard to separate how I thought about this book specifically as opposed to the series as a whole. There are definitely a lot of things that I don't feel satisfied with - like the ending for one [see previous rant] but it's easy to gloss over them when I think about the enjoyment of the whole series. So with that in mind, i'm ending the review without really saying much about what the book was like. Sorry about that! But as a series, I definitely enjoyed the Caster Chronicles.

GUEST BLOGGER // Is this a sequel?

My long time friend and fellow book enthusiast, Brianna and I were recently discussing a problem that seems to be increasing as time goes on - figuring out what goes where! Please read her guest blog below and leave comments letting us know if you've come across this and what you think about it.

I don’t know if I just lack the required common sense, or maybe I’m just not looking properly, but I find that I am increasingly finding it harder and harder when it comes to series’ to work out which book is next (yes it is customary to put the title of the next one in the back of the first.) But if you haven’t read the first one and like me you refuse to go anywhere near the back of the book before reading it, or worse still you are buying the book either online of electronically, you miss this critical sign post.

So if you haven’t read the first book or don’t want to risk spoilers by looking for the title at the back of the book, how are you supposed to know which book is next?  Well we put our faith in the publishers and hope they have left us a clue, a small number on the spine takes the gold medal, runner up prizes go to having a sub-title proclaiming that it is book # in the series, mentioning it on the back cover, and having a page on the inside proclaiming its place in the series (although slightly disappointing). Sometimes if you’re lucky, the handy list of other book by this author may shed light on the correct order, but if you don’t know if you are holding the first book and it is helpfully left off the list, then it is not much help.

All of this is just if you are buying the book from a physical shop. The process just gets harder if you are buying online or if you are buying an e-book. In these situations you would expect that the retailers would help you out, but this seems to be pot luck.

So what is it that publishers find so difficult about clearly marking series’ and their intended order? Is a number on the spine so difficult? I can understand book 1 of a series not being marked, the author may not have intended to write more than one book, but the second book has no excuse.

The end result of this lack of numbering is that a lot of time is wasted trying to hunt down the rest of the series, the wrong books are bought and finally something which I suspect is just me, is that in order to find the right book I have read a lot of descriptions and blurbs, two things which I prefer not to read especially if a book is the sequel of another.

And ultimately the more obscure a series is or its chronology is, the less likely it is to be bought.

(And let’s not get started on the on multiple versions and the covers/size of the books in a series not matching!)