Review: The Helm of Darkness (War on the Gods #1)

'' 'When the world is taken back, and monsters rule the trees, blood of a demigod will spill. Two mortals will rise, two from the Before, reborn from sacrifice. And when the sky is black and green, and the heavens cry, they will lead a war. A war on the gods.' ''

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Andy and Zoey are two normal teenagers living in the modern day—that is, until they’re knocked unconscious in a freak storm sweeping the United States.

When they wake up, the world they know has been tossed away. Their city is in ruins, strange creatures walk the earth, and worst of all, everyone is gone. They stumble across Diana and Spencer, two kids around their age who possess incredible magical abilities, and who claim to be the demigod children of Greek gods. Not only that, they also claim the year is 500 AS, five hundred years after the gods conjured a massive storm that destroyed most of humanity and helped them take the world as their own once again.

Andy and Zoey are soon handed an impossible task: To save humanity. To lead a war on the gods.

They’ll have to battle monsters, death, and their own inner demons to survive and to protect the people they love.

This middle-grade fantasy will begin by telling a story about the two most average mortals from the Before. The Before when the world was as we now know it, not the one where an apocalyptic storm killed almost entirely the population on earth. The Storm was caused by the Greek Gods, taking revenge on the humans who had forgotten all about the Greek Gods, causing them to fade away piece by piece.

Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1)

'' Why is it so hard to say no to him? Is this what it's like to be in love with somebody? ''

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

From Goodreads:
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

Looking for the perfect beach read? The book to read on your commute home? The companion for rainy-days and cups of tea? You've found it. And the best part? It's a trilogy.

Review: The Unexpected Inlander

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Agent Christopher Rockford has been the best assassin in the agency for eight years, and he loves his job. He loves his solitary lifestyle. He loves eliminating criminals. He loves his comfortable life as a member of society’s wealthy coastal upper class.

But in pursuit of a target, he meets Jenna, a mysterious civilian who belongs to society’s lowest and most shunned group. Being around her is fun and intriguing, but it forces him to see things through her eyes—causing him to reconsider the world around them and The Order he so obediently serves. As he falls in love with her, he fears telling her the truth about his profession may cause him to lose her.

But Jenna has her own secrets to keep.

I feel kind of betrayed by this book. It's a funny feeling, really. I went in with zero expectations like I try to do with each and every book I read from a new author. The synopsis promises the reader an assassin in love with his job. And that we get, but we also lose him quite shortly after the beginning.

Review: Between the Shade and the Shadow

'' ''Between the shade and the shadow lies a bond. Two minds intertwined. Two hearts beating as one. Two creatures who breathe and bleed together. And the stronger the shadow, the stronger the bond - the stronger the bond, the stronger the sprite that emerges.'' ''

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
In the deep heart of the forest, there are places where no light ever shines, where darkness is folded by pale hands and jewel-bright eyes, where the world is ruled by the wicked and kept by the wraiths. This is where the Sprites of the Sihl live.
But Sprites are not born, they are made. On the path to Spritehood, spritelings must first become shades. They do so by binding a shadow: a woodland creature, who guides them through their training. Together, they keep from the light and learn to enchant living things, to bind them, and, eventually, to kill them.
Yet, not all spritelings are born with malice—they must earn it or they are condemned. What happens then to the spriteling who finds a shadow where she shouldn’t? What happens if that particular spriteling wasn’t born with malice at all?
Ahraia was that spriteling. She ran too close to the light and bound herself to a wolf, a more powerful shadow than any that came before it. Now a shade, her shadow marks her for greatness. But a test is coming, and the further they wander out of the darkness, the deeper they wander into danger. Ahraia’s time is coming and what awaits her at the end of her test will either make her or kill her . . .

I have to begin with saying that I did not finish this book entirely. Most of the time, I had trouble keeping up with the surrounding world so much, that I couldn't concentrate on the plot. Here's the reason why:

Review: The Lion of Ackbarr

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Mika is to be married to a foreign boy she has only met a few times, despite her family mourning the recent and unexplained disappearance of her twin brother, Kaylan.

Forced to live in a strange land, far from her home in Cassai, she is resigned to her life as a lady until the day she discovers her new family dead around her. Mika escapes the city and disguises herself to travel to Ackbarr, certain she will discover the real reason for her brother’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, her dreams are filled with a predator stalking the forests of her homeland. Dreams that make her wake, trembling with the feel of iron blood filling her mouth.

Was I uncomfortable reading this book? Yes.  Was it necessarily a bad thing? Yes and no.