The Glowing Review

The Glowing (The Glowing, #1) by Tom Rimer 

Nice guys often finish last, but sometimes last is all that's left. Majestic Mount Greylock always cloaked the small berkshire town of Adams in its shadow...until now. Until the skies illuminated. Until the Glowing began. When Kamryn Coe, her disheveled teacher, and a group of geeks that'd put a comic convention to shame witness the destruction of their hometown, they must combat a land teeming with drooling alien hordes, while Kam faces the truth of her own birth and its connection to the catastrophe unfolding around her. Time travel, extraterrestrials, humanity's end.

TIME TO SAVE THE WORLD. (Summary from Goodreads)

The Glowing has a definite 80s vibe to it, which I liked. A group of kids (and one adult) against a group of aliens, seems like such an 80s movie. It was really good. This book has trigger warnings for blood, gore, and death.

Kam is a good main character. She shows real emotions when things go to hell, but she also shows strength at the end of the book. There are some things about her and her family that are set up very nicely at the start. It has a great follow through at the end as well.

Kam, her friend Lucy, and her crush Olin have a love triangle that thankfully goes nowhere because they have more to worry about at that moment. There are also some nice moments between Heather, a bully type character, and a girl Dani, who he used to bully. The group of kids really do pull together to make it out alive. The one adult, Mr. Flowers, is just as messed up as the kids, but really tries to hide it for their sakes. It doesn't always work, but he tries.

The aliens are very interesting. They speak a broken English as well as their own language, are violent as hell, and have interesting powers. They sound terrifying in all honesty. They come down in purple stones in the meteors and are connected to them somehow.  Purple is very much a theme of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I wasn't sure how I felt about two characters being an unwashed, geek stereotype, but I suppose it fit into the 80s vibe of it all. The book has 48 chapters, but it a quick read. The pace really picks up when the aliens arrive and doesn't slow down. I am looking forward to the sequel.

The Mermaid, The Witch, and The Sea Review

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall 

A desperate orphan turned pirate and a rebellious imperial daughter find a connection on the high seas in a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic.

Aboard the pirate ship Dove, Flora the girl takes on the identity of Florian the man to earn the respect and protection of the crew. For Flora, former starving urchin, the brutal life of a pirate is about survival: don’t trust, don’t stick out, and don’t feel. But on this voyage, as the pirates prepare to sell their unsuspecting passengers into slavery, Flora is drawn to the Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, who is en route to a dreaded arranged marriage with her own casket in tow. Flora doesn’t expect to be taken under Evelyn’s wing, and Evelyn doesn’t expect to find such a deep bond with the pirate Florian.

Soon the unlikely pair set in motion a wild escape that will free a captured mermaid (coveted for her blood, which causes men to have visions and lose memories) and involve the mysterious Pirate Supreme, an opportunistic witch, and the all-encompassing Sea itself. (Summary from Goodreads)

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is an amazing book. It's filled with romance, pirates, and more. There is murder, torture, and blood, so beware of that. These pirates do not mess around. There is also mentions and hints of the rape of a young boy, but it is never shown or stated outright.

The story focuses on Evelyn and Florian as they navigate their feelings and the pirate ship. Evelyn has cold, uncaring parents who force her to marry a man she has never met. She, Lady Ayer, a friend of Evelyn's mother, and others are passengers aboard the Dove. Actually, the Dove is pirate ship lead by the Nameless Captain and they will be sold into slavery.

Flora is needed to watch over Evelyn so that the male pirates don't try to rape her. Evelyn doesn't know Florian's true identity until much later, but doesn't care as they come to fall in love. Together they rescue a mermaid, gain the Seas favor, and manage to slip away from the pirates. Then things just go wrong.

They are separated and Flora is trained by a witch to use their powers. They do and help Evelyn escape from her husband-to-be. In the end, everything works out for the best for the couple. I don't want to say more because of spoilers, but as a reader, I got hit in the feels right near the end.

I would love a sequel or continuation of the world, as it was interesting and well built. There was enough information about the world that you could extrapolate information, but I just want to dive into more of it. There is also a wonderful character called the Pirate Supreme who I would definitely read a whole book about.

The Lost City ARC Review

The storm and the orphan

Twenty years ago, a woman sought safety from the spinning ice and darkness that descended upon a small village. She was given shelter for the night by the local innkeepers but in the morning, she disappeared―leaving behind an infant. Now nineteen, Ulla Tulin is ready to find who abandoned her as a baby or why.

The institution and the quest

Ulla knows the answers to her identity and heritage may be found at the Mimirin where scholars dedicate themselves to chronicling troll history. Granted an internship translating old documents, Ulla starts researching her own family lineage with help from her handsome and charming colleague Pan Soriano.

The runaway and the mystery

But then Ulla meets Eliana, a young girl who no memory of who she is but who possesses otherworldly abilities. When Eliana is pursued and captured by bounty hunters, Ulla and Pan find themselves wrapped up in a dangerous game where folklore and myth become very real and very deadly―but one that could lead Ulla to the answers she’s been looking for.

(Summary from Amazon)

I received an uncorrected ARC of The Lost City from a Goodreads giveaway.

This book is set in the same world as Amanda Hocking's Tyrelle world, which I have not read. Because of that I was a little confused going in, but it was pretty easy to understand the world. It's Earth, but with Trolls hidden from the humans. There are five tribes of Trolls, each with differences. They are working together to find a way to stop the decline of the Troll population.

This is about a girl named Ulla, who doesn't know who her parents are. She gets to work at a prestigious college for a week or so. There she can look up any information about her parents, as well as donate her blood so that the college can have better information about their people. Ulla meets another college student/worker named Pan who helps her out. They have a nice little growing romance with each other. I don't usually like romance, but this one was cute.

Ulla also meets a young woman named Eliana, who has lost her memory. She can't remember anything of her past and has trouble remembering new concepts as well. She says she is from a mythical city, but no one really believes her until stuff starts getting weird. Ulla gets help from her roomate, Dagny, who works with a doctor that does genetic testing basically.

Meanwhile, Ulla has trouble getting information on her mother who is a cousin of royalty. Any other information is blackout and the tribe that Ulla is from isn't very forthcoming with information. While gathering information on herself, Ulla also helps Eliana try to remember anything and take a blood test, which has surprising results. In the end, Eliana is taken and Ulla and Pan go after her.

I liked the Asexual representation in Dagny, it was slight but it was there. I also liked how Ulla was able to bond with Pan because they were both different than other Trolls working at the college. At one point Ulla gets paranoid about all of her superiors and the information they aren't giving her about her mom, which I also thought was nice. Never trust people in power, in my opinion.

I also enjoyed how Ulla found out about myths, a cult, and the Lost City of the title and it all turned out to be semi-based in truth, like most myths. I also liked the Ögonen. They are tall, slender, leathery things that protect the city with a magic barrier so humans can't find them. They are creepy and cool at the same time.

However, I felt that this book was definitely the first in a series. It explained a lot, but gave no real resolution. Overall, I liked this book. It wasn't what I thought it was and I might have to check out the other books in this world, because it seems interesting. And I do want to pick up the second book, so I can find out what happens with Ulla and her family.

Here's an amazon affiliate link to help me out if you want to pre-order the book, which comes out July 7th:

The Sin in the Steel ARC Review

Heroes for hire. If you can pay.

Buc:
Brilliant street-rat
Her mind leaps from clues to conclusions in the blink of an eye.

Eld:
Ex-soldier
Buc’s partner-in-crime.

No. Not in crime―in crime-solving.

They’ve been hired for their biggest job yet―one that will set them up for a life of ease.

If they survive.

Buc and Eld are the first private detectives in a world where pirates roam the seas, mages speak to each other across oceans, mechanical devices change the tide of battle, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few.

It’s been weeks since ships last returned to the magnificent city of Servenza with bounty from the Shattered Coast. Disaster threatens not just the city’s trading companies but the empire itself. When Buc and Eld are hired to investigate, Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen who sinks all who defy her.

Now all Buc and Eld have to do is sink the Widowmaker's ship….

Unfortunately for Buc, the gods have other plans.

Unfortunately for the gods, so does Buc.

(Summary from Amazon)

I received an uncorrected ARC of The Sin in the Steel from a Goodreads giveaway.

Buc and Eld are a crime solving duo, who get into trouble right away. They are accused of a murder and basically blackmailed by a shipping company to find why their ships are not making port. In the ARC Buc is 16 and Eld is 22, but in the final version Buc is 17 and Eld is 19. So, that will be interesting to see any changes because Buc makes a joke right away about how old Eld is.

The Sherlock influence comes up pretty early. Buc uses a drug called kan to slow her mind and let her focus better. Servenza and the islands that the Buc and Eld go to, definitely has a Spanish/Caribbean inspiration. Buc also seems like Kaz Brekker from The Six of Crows because she has plans within plans and rarely tells Eld.

Her main plan is to bring down the Empire, which who knows how that will work in the long run.

Both Buc and Eld have a past that the other doesn't know about. These "failures", as they call them, are the reason the duo solve crimes. Very early on, a chapter focuses on Eld, and there are graphic depictions of war. There is also some blood during that scene and another later. There are wonderful scenes of navel battles and they were a lot of fun.

It is a little weird to go from Buc, who uses "I" to others who use the third person, but it doesn't happen to much. As I read, I wasn't sure if I liked Buc or not, which might be the point.

The world building is really well done. There is magic (telepathy and shapeshifting), pirates, and Gods. There are two types of Gods; dead ones and one living one. They are at war and have been for a long time. The dead Gods left their blood and bodies behind, which their followers imbue to become more powerful. The dead Gods followers can control the dead, which makes sense. The one living god followers are just very powerful, with something called Sin, which comes into play later.

The world has a vaguely sci-fi background for the Gods, but I'm not sure. Since this is the first in a series, that might be explored in more detail later.

Eld is very weird when Buc wants to wear trousers at least twice and I'm not sure why, since being in a dress doing what they do seems to be a hindrance. Also, "bitch" is used far too much by women against other women. It gets very tiring, especially when Buc and Eld meet the Widowmaker, who Buc dislikes a lot. The Widowmaker, Chan Sha, dislikes Buc just as much.

As the story goes on, Chan Sha explains a bit more, but not everything. Buc is able to figure out a lot of and make it work for her and Eld. I really liked the ending because it wrapped up this story but did also have a  good setup for the sequels.

Here's an amazon affiliate link to help me out if you want to pre-order the book, which comes releases July 21st: 

The Phantom's Curse

An old evil threatens to rise from the depths of the warded city… Sixteen-year-old Marianne lives a simple life as a healer in the Link, looking after her younger brother since their parents’ exile. Little does she know how everything will change after attending the blessing in the city of Obanac. After her brother is wrongfully imprisoned, Marianne seeks his release from Crawford Reign, the Lord of Obanac. But she’s faced with an impossible choice—the lord wants her in exchange. To save her brother she turns to the daring outlaw Robbie and his friends for help. Along with the help of Theo, the holy man’s son, a daring rescue soon uncovers rumors of an old sorcerer who may still live and whispers of the phantom’s curse—an evil that requires a host and seeks to destroy the world—threatening to resurface. With the threat of an old evil rising in Obanac and the attacks of the Black Riders throughout the realm, nowhere seems safe. To save the people of the land and everyone she cares about, Marianne must unlock the secret to who she really is and embrace the mage magic that stirs within her.

The Phantom's Curse by Shelley Wilson is a YA fantasy book. I received an ARC from Netgalley. The book comes out on June 11th, 2020.

 Marianne is just a young girl, living her best life in the poor part of town with her younger brother. Their parents have been forcefully taken from them a few years ago, so Marianne had to grow up quick. There is a party for all young people turning sixteen and Marianne is the only one from the poor section, so she's looked down upon. She brings her younger brother because she has no one else. This proves to be a mistake because he is imprisoned, using a pretty obvious trick, and Lord Crawford wants Marianne in exchange.

 At the party, she meets Theo, who is her inside man in the city. He helps not only with the rescue of her brother, but other things that Marianne needs help with inside the city walls. With Theo, Robbie and his crew, she plans a rescue. Then things take an even darker turn. Marianne isn't sure what is happening or why Crawford wants her so badly, but she will soon find out. And, no spoilers, but the situation becomes even stranger towards the end of the book.

 I enjoyed the book quite a bit. It's rather short only about 200-ish pages. It was a nice, quick read. It felt like this book is the start of a series, but it could also just be a one-shot. Hopefully, it is a series because I would like more in this world. An explanation for a lot of magic (especially the Phantom itself) and other stuff would be amazing. The characters were fun and well written. Robbie and his band of outlaws were a nice addition. The romance is light, but obvious to any reader of YA fiction before. All the lovely tropes are there, and I mean that in the best way. Sometimes a tropey, easy read is the best kind of thing, especially in this time of crisis (Yes I am dating this review for future readers!).

 I did like the rescue of Marianne's brother and also the rescue of someone else later in the book. It was full on Robin Hood stuff, which was a lot of fun. I sort of felt this was aimed for kids trying YA for the first time. It's a simple plot, the bad guys are bad, and the story moves quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. The book could have been a little longer. There wasn't a lot of set up for things, they just happened. But, again, if this is someone's first YA book, then none of these things stand out. Either way, it's a fun read!

 Here's an Amazon Affiliate link, if you'd like to buy it: Will be added when the book releases on June 11th

Madame Koska & the Imperial Brooch

Meet Madame Koska—a fabulous haute couture designer and the owner of a new atelier in 1920’s London who has a knack at solving crimes that simply baffle the police.

When a priceless brooch disappears from a museum in Russia, Madame Koska is suddenly drawn into the mystery. But who is Madame Koska? And what does the missing jewel have to do with her? Find out in her first adventure!

Madame Koska & the Imperial Brooch by Ilil Arbel is a historical mystery set in London after World War I. As historical mysteries are my jam, I was ready to read.

Madame Koska employs various people to help her with her new fashion line, including an ex-Countess and a rich English girl. Things start spiraling out of control when her new boutique is broken into. After that, secrets start piling up until Madame Koska carefully pulls them apart.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's not too long and almost hits that cozy mystery button. Madame Koska has a mysterious background, but still chooses to run in elite Russian circles. Well, as elite as they can be after the Boshelivk Revolution.

I don't know a lot about what was happening after WWI, so it was interesting to find out. I also liked learning about what happened to the elite Russians who had fled from their country. A lot of the things they left behind, jewelry, etc. are important to the plot and I think even still talked about today.

I learned a few things. One, was that mannequin was another word for model, not just the blank stand we see in stores today. The other thing the book talked a lot about was Catherine the Great and it told of her lovers and a small history of her. It was just so interesting.

Madame Koska is also a joy to read about. I want to know more about her and why she is like she is. She's like Phryne Fisher, but does less of the flouting of rules as Phryne does. I think they'd get along though.

The mystery was pretty good as well. I don't want to spoil it, so I'm trying to be as vague as possible. I wasn't sure who the villain was, so I was surprised at the ending. All the red herrings actually led somewhere and most things were tied up nicely. There were some subjects brought up that I knew would come back around, and they did, just not how I expected.

I would love to read more books about Madame Koska. I do enjoy a nice read with a good mystery and this book has that.

Here's an Amazon Affiliate link, if you'd like to buy it:

Raiders of the Lost Archives

Whew, it has been awhile! Sorry for that, but real life got a hold of me. Now, though, with time to kill and books to read, I am back!

My first review of 2020 is Raiders of the Lost Archives by Micheal Dahl. I received an ARC copy from NetGalley. The book comes out Aug. 1st, 2020.

The Librarian has long worked in the shadows to guard the Library of Doom and its collection of deadly books. But now, best-selling author, Micheal Dahl, is bringing the hero's adventure into the light with Secrets of the Library of Doom!

I thought this book was really good! The cover hooked me right away. The art is amazing. Patricio Clarey did an awesome job. The book is marketed for kids, but I think anyone can enjoy it. It's a short read, but a lot of fun. There is lore hidden away that makes me want to know more about this world. This is great for kids because it's action-y, but also explains any words they don't know at the end of the book. I also really liked how some of the text was illustrated. It really brought the story to life!

Here's an Amazon Affiliate link, if you'd like to buy it: