Carries Book Reviews

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sixty years ago dragons had come out of hiding and made their presence known but a treaty was formed to avoid conflict that sent the dragons back into hiding. Now Kay Wyatt knows that she is breaking the law by rock climbing near the border of where the dragon land begins but when she has an accident and is saved by a young dragon the two become friends not thinking they are hurting anyone.

Voices of Dragons had an interesting idea behind it but in the end I’m not really a fan of the direction the story took. In the story there isn’t much information given about what had happened in the past that made humans so afraid of the dragons so I was rather scratching my head at the fear shown towards them and the need for the original treaty that the book is based upon.

The interactions between Kay and Artegal are rather cute which of course the animal lover in me gets a bit jealous. Heck I’m thinking let’s all get pet dragons, think of the home security aspect alone…who would break in with you own amazing dragon there? But instead we end up with a testosterone fueled possible outbreak of war which really didn’t have any reason behind it.

All of that aside, I was also not overly impressed at how this story ended. It’s rather abrupt and a reader left with imagining what may or may not happen from that point. In the end I’d just say this one really wasn’t my cup of tea unfortunately.

The Form of Things Unknown by Robin Bridges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Natalie Roman just wants her life to return to normal after her brief time in a psych ward. Her ex had given her drugs and that was a bad combination with the mental history problems in her family. Now she maintains her meds and wants to put it all past her and start fresh after her family moves to Savannah, Georgia to care for her grandmother.

Natalie’s brother talks her into auditioning for a play over the summer where she manages to get cast in a good part and make a few friends. Along with getting to know a few of the local girls though Natalie finds that a boy from the psych ward is also involved in the play and she hopes he doesn’t spill her secret.

The Form of Things Unknown covers a lot of different things but mostly it centers around mental health as the story focuses on Natalie’s struggles with her own sanity when she thinks she begins seeing things. It’s touching to see her questioning everything around her after what she had been through but I still had a few issues with this one.

Mainly I’d say what brought this one down a bit for me was the fact that even though I know Natalie wants to be a “normal” teen while managing her health I was a bit put off when she immediately begins drinking and doing other things with the new friends. The ex is so horrible for giving her drugs but her she is falling into the same traps again.

Also, the ending to this one seemed a bit rushed once you find out what had been going on all summer. Sort of a here’s the big reveal you can stop caring about these characters now moment instead of a nice steady wrap up.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nikki Beckett has returned to her life after vanishing for several months without explanation. Nikki had actually traveled to Everneath during the time that she was gone and a few short months in our world was actually a hundred years living in this realm where immortals feed on the emotions of despairing humans.

Now Nikki has six months to return and set her life straight before Everneath will claim her again. She has longed for nothing but reconnecting with her boyfriend Jack while she’s been gone but there is a problem with that happening. Cole, the immortal that kept her in Everneath has come back to the surface with her to try to get her to be his queen.

Everneath was a pretty slow moving read in my opinion. We have the constant back and forth of this sort of love triangle between Nikki, Cole and Jack going on which is the main focus of the story for the most part. I would have probably preferred a book based on this world known as Everneath instead of one taking place in our world.

One thing that made it a bit slow for me to get into too was there are a lot of time jumping around to explain what had happened before and then keeping with the current story. This could sometimes get a little confusing in the beginning.

What saved my rating a bit on this one was the ending actually did become quite engaging and perked up my attention after being a bit bored up to that point. It didn’t end up being too bad overall but I’m not sure if I would want to continue after feeling this one only picked up at the end.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wavy has grown up the daughter of a drug addict and left to fend for her younger brother Donal even though she herself is nothing but a child. She doesn’t speak to anyone, she barely eats and the one person in her life that she is willing to let in is a tattooed ex-con who is a friend of her drug dealing father after witnessing Kellen’s motorcycle accident.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is just so sooooo wrong on so many levels but just as much as it’s wrong this book is also all kinds of right. The subject matter is very controversial and I can see a lot of readers absolutely hating it due to the contents of the story but the story is also so well written and a highly addictive page turner.

The plot focuses on this young girl who has been abused and abandoned and all other kinds of horrible things in her life. She doesn’t know normal but she lives each day doing the best she can to survive her surroundings. At only eight Wavy meets Kellen, an adult that’s a part of her parents drug world but treats her better than she’s ever known. This relationship grows into more as Wavy grows over the years.

Quite honestly I think I can compare the fascination of this story much to being similar to seeing an accident on the side of the road, you know that you shouldn’t be staring but it’s so hard not to look and hope that all is well with those involved. Wavy’s story is much the same way, it’s heartbreaking and emotional and extremely compelling to read.

Overall, this book was a well written, jaw dropping, emotional roller coaster that may make you just want to toss the book across the room and one that will haunt you long after reading it. Yes, I would definitely recommend this one if you can handle the tough subject matter involved in this story.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Evelyn Talbot has spent her life trying to find out what makes a psychopath and how to better understand them. She was tortured and almost killed by her high school boyfriend, Jasper, and is dealing with that as best she can. Evelyn obtained funding for her project the Hanover House, a maximum-security facility located in a small Alaskan town which will be the home to the worst of the worst killers to be sent there for study to try to understand how their minds work.

When there is a killing in the small town that Evelyn now calls home her facility is immediately under suspicion since it house so many killers. The investigation has now put Evelyn back to working with Sergeant Amarok to find out who is behind the killings, could it be that Jasper is back after Evelyn yet again?

Her Darkest Nightmare is the first full length book in the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles series from Brenda Novak. However, there was a prequel novella released to this series, Hanover House. In the prequel you get a closer look at Evelyn’s move to Alaska and meeting Amarok along with the man that has haunted her since her attack twenty years before.

Now with this first full length story it could be read as a standalone novel as you do get enough background into the characters to read the current story but I’d highly suggest picking up the novella just for the depth it will bring to the series.

The series focuses on Evelyn and her work as a psychiatrist trying to study serial killers after her own run in with one in the past. She’s a very flawed character who has shut herself off most of her life and only concentrates on her work. Local law officer Amarok is taken with Evelyn but she has every excuse as she battles her inner turmoil of being close to anyone. The pair end up working together to solve the brutal homicide and grow closer while doing so.

Overall, I’m a fan of this series and will definitely be continuing on with it.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.