ARC Review | Marrow Charm

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Marrow Charm

Author: Kristin Jacques

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 333

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Categories: Dark Fantasy, Young Adult, Horror,

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

‘In his pursuit of the occult, the Third Reich opened the Gate to a realm of magic and brought the world to ruin. The Gate was eventually closed, but They were already in our world and They were hungry.’

-The Lost History, Library of Avergard

Azure ‘Azzy’ Brimvine lives in a world decimated by magic, where humans have retreated underground from the overwhelming dangers of the surface. But Below is no safer than Above.

Magic borne plagues continue to eat away at the remaining human cities, a sickness that doesn’t merely kill, but creates aberrations from the stricken: people twisted by magic into something dark, dangerous, and powerful. It is an existence of fear and constant dread. When Azzy’s brother, Armin, is infected and cast out into the Above, she sets out after him, determined to be there for him no matter what he becomes.

The world Above is full of monsters, both wild and cunning, some more human than Azzy was led to believe. Armin is captured and bound for the Auction block of Avergard, a ruthless city of inhuman lords and twisted creatures. To reach him, Azzy must brave the perils of the Above and the chaotic life forms created by the Gate. To reach him, she must find allies and forge new bonds in this broken world.

And Azzy must reach him, before Armin’s new power is used to open the Gate once more.

Thank you to The Parliament House and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I requested this book on NetGalley because of the cover, I love it. I guess I’m in a very dark mood lately with the change in seasons coming. The blurb sounded fascinating, and I love the words around the title, “as above, so below”. I have to say that intrigued me. By the way, I am NOT a horror fan usual, but I love this book.

The book blurb begins with some lost history of Avergard, but I forgot about the blurb when I started reading and I don’t remember anything about the Third Reich being mentioned in the story, unless I just missed it? 🤔 What did catch my attention was the writing. This is a beautifully told story, the words seeming effortless to describe this detailed world of the Above and Below. But let me just say, this is a dark tale.

The world in Marrow Charm is divided into the Above and the Below. Azure, or Azzy, has always lived below. And ohhhh boy did I not want to live there with her. Azzy grew up hearing about the monsters that live Above. But…as above, so below. There are scary things below! I was terrified for her life! And mine…even though I didn’t live there. 😂 Now I was trying to figure how to categorize this book…fantasy? But it seemed post-apocalyptic as well, so it is an interesting mix of both I suppose.

The world building is detailed and there was always something new to learn up until the last chapters when we actually get to Avergard. For most of the story we navigate the Below and Above with Azzy, as she tries to find her brother Armin. The separate journeys of Azzy and Armin in this book is harrowing, painful, suspenseful, and heart-breaking. But it’s not only Azzy and Armin trying to find their way, we meet secondary characters along the way that make this tale feel so rich with personalities, danger, mistrust, and hope.

Did I already mention this is dark? There is violence. There is a lot of blood, and despair and but I believed in Azzy. That girl is a survivor with powers we don’t fully understand yet. She is so determined to find her brother and I have to hope she will. And speaking of powers, this is a world of magic, especially in the Above where it seems valued in Avergard. Below, having skills like being an apothecary was very important. I loved learning about Brixby and his skill as an apothecary.

The story is emotional due to the relationship between Azzy and Armin. You can feel the love between them as siblings and I just pray Azzy can reunite with Armin. I just want it all to work out in the end for these characters I fell in love with. Is there a romance? A slight infusion of it with Azzy and a journey companion she meets. I hope to see where that storyline goes.

The story ends in the city of Avergard and once more I feel like there will be a lot to learn about this city. There is so much to uncover in this world of Marrow Charm, it seems to be unending, which I love. I love the layers I got to dig into with this story. I can’t wait to read the next book!

There are witches, shape shifters, high lords that rule with fear and we will most definitely learn more about them in the sequel. The thing I need in the sequel is to know the history of The Gate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and went looking to see where I could find a hardcopy or paperback for my shelf but so far I only see it in ebook form? It’s an amazing book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

ARC Review | Diamond City

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Diamond City

Author: Francesca Flores

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: January 28, 2020

Categories: Dark Fantasy, Violence, Drug Abuse

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

At twelve years old, Aina Solís was pulled off of the streets she slept on and trained to be one of the most feared assassins in Sumerand, a kingdom founded by immigrants and built by magic―and in recent years transformed by an industrial revolution. When Aina is given the most lucrative and dangerous job of her career―killing a wealthy industrialist named Kouta―she knows it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leave her impoverished roots in her past once-and-for-all: the payout is enough to free her from under her boss Kohl’s thumb. But when the job goes wrong and Kouta escapes, she is left without a penny to her name and in the crosshairs of Kohl, who is eager to show the world what happens to those that fail him.

With Kohl on her heels, Aina is running out of time to find Kouta and finish what she started. But the closer she gets to killing him, the more she begins to ask the questions assassins are never meant to ask: who wants Kouta dead? And why? In a city full of half-constructed subway tunnels, hidden magical dens, secret weapons markets, and wolf-sized spiders, Aina discovers a conspiracy that could rewrite her city’s history and―if it isn’t stopped―sink her country into a catastrophic war.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

I am a sucker for female assassins and here we have Aina Solis, a Blade, who works for the Blood King. Aina kills whoever the Blood King tells her to kill and her specialty is with knives. She has a history with the Blood King, Kohl, who runs the city with his motley crew of spies and assassins. Kohl molded Aina into the killer that she is, but is that all she is?

Aina is a survivor in Sumerand, a kingdom torn apart by war, rebuilt with industrialization controlled by the Steels. The world building is interesting. There is conflict between the Steels (industrialists) versus the Inosen, a sect of religious followers that believe in using magic from long ago. But in a kingdom where Steels rule, magic use is outlawed so it creates secret worship places and a black market for raw diamonds used for magic use. So far the book talks mostly about how the magic can be used to track people and also do healing spells.

Kohl presents Aina with a big contract hit, to take out one of the most untouchable and wealthiest Steel in Sumerand. The money she can make from the hit can bring her dreams to fruition – but what happens when everything goes wrong? Here is when I kept on reading, because Aina’s world starts to crumble and she’s trying to survive again. I wonder if she could do it and if she could get out of this book alive! Seriously at some parts, I was like, oh she’s dead – she’s so going to die! 🤭

There is an interesting relationship brewing in this story between Aina and the brother of the man she’s supposed to kill. I wasn’t sure this would work out for either of them and it was even somewhat sort of unbelievable how Ryuu handles the events that take place. I don’t think I’d be as forgiving as he is! Like…really?! 🤔 She also has a best friend in this story, Teo, who’s luck is as bad as Aina’s but he’s a really good friend. And around these men she finally makes some female friends too – because seriously, she needed that too.

The story is violent with lots of action, blood spilling, body counts and fighting, which I enjoyed because I love female assassins kicking butt. But there is also the issue of Aina’s past drug use and her unhealthy relationship with Kohl. I think it’s believable that it’s hard for her to break away from Kohl, because he manipulated her to get what he could from her. It was frustrating to see her waver though, stay strong Aina! But Aina, poor girl, she just seriously needs a break! I want to see her just take back herself and her power!

Overall, this story sucked me in and it’s a fantastic debut. I look forward to reading the sequel just to see if Aina can redeem herself and kick more butt.

Book Review | Wicked Saints

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Wicked Saints

Author: Emily A. Duncan

Pages: 385

Categories: Dark Fantasy, Romance, Blood Magic

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy..

This book is such a mood. A dark and bloody mood. There is a lot of self-harm in blood magic, so beware if that’s not something you can read. Now I keep going back and forth with my rating of this…sometimes I think okay it’s 3.5 because by the ending I was like hmmm, it was pretty good but for some reason I felt like something was missing…just don’t know what. But 4 stars because I really like the whole gods vs blood magic thing going on? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Nadya is a cleric living in a monastery in the kingdom of Kalyazi and the gods talk to her, giving her powers when she asks. The Kalyazi worship the gods. Neighboring Travania has been at war with them for fifty years. Travania is home to blood magic and blood mages, they do not believe in gods.

Right away this book throws you into action which I liked. The world-building is detailed as we learn the differences about Kalyazi and Travania which is inspired by Russia and Eastern Europe. This book was more focused on Travania and what a scary place it sounds like with blood mages called Vultures ruling adjacent to the king of Travania. Vultures are the monsters. They are the mages that have delved so far down into their blood magic that they are altered and now are becoming a threat.

High Prince Seferin has been on the front lines for a few years but back in Travania, his father is hatching a plan that could be devastating to both kingdoms. He needs to find out what’s going on and stop his father before his plans come to fruition but he can’t do it alone.

And then there is Malachiasz, who was once a Vulture, and will always be a monster. Is it weird to say that Malachiasz is who I wish the Darkling (from the Grisha trilogy) could be? I know it’s not a popular view, many people loved the Darkling and the Grisha trilogy but I didn’t even finish book three of that series. 🤭 For me Malachiasz was mysterious enough, that I didn’t know how far deep in his rabbit hole he had dug into. We find out later it is pretty far down and not even Nadya can save him from his plans for power. It’s tragic.

Nadya is light, and Malachiasz is dark and though they come from different kingdoms, they agree to work together to take down the king of Travania. Nadya knows that Malachiasz’s use of blood magic feels all kinds of wrong to her. Everything about him feels wrong but he still manages to get beneath her skin. Talk about falling for the bad boy – Nadya, falls for the bad boy, the one she thought she could trust.

Now as for my reading experience – I enjoyed this bloody, stark world these characters live in. But the names were challenging to say in my own head (yes, I shorted Malachiasz’s name to Malachi…because I didn’t know how to say it!) that it took awhile for me to warm up to a few of them. Also this is told in dual perspective between Nadya and Serefin and it didn’t flow easily for me because I was more interested in Nadya’s journey at first so the middle of the story felt like there was a slight lull. Despite the lull I was still intrigued with the whole gods versus blood magic theme of the story, it’s what kept me reading.

I’m intrigued enough to want to keep reading the series. I want to see how much lower Malachiasz can go and what this means for Nadya and Serefin. So if you like dark and bloody, with a pinch of a tragic love story and monsters, you may like this one.

Get it here: Amazon

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Arc Review: Dream Keeper (The Dark Dreamer Trilogy, #1)

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Amber R. Duell

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 288

Categories: Death, Dreams, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

The Sandman is seventeen-year-old Nora’s closest friend and best-kept secret. He has to be, if she doesn’t want a one-way ticket back to the psychiatrist. It took her too long to learn not to mention the hooded figure in her dreams to her mother, who still watches Nora as if she’ll crack. So when Nora’s friends start mysteriously dying gruesome deaths in their sleep, she isn’t altogether surprised when the police direct their suspicion at her. The Sandman is the only one she can turn to for answers. But the truth might be more than she bargained for…

For the last five years, the Sandman has spent every night protecting Nora. When he hid the secret to the Nightmare Lord’s escape inside her dreams, he never expected to fall in love with her. Neither did he think his nemesis would find her so quickly, but there’s no mistaking his cruel handiwork. The Nightmare Lord is tired of playing by the rules and will do anything to release his deadly nightmares into the world, even if that means tormenting Nora until she breaks.

When the Nightmare Lord kidnaps Nora’s sister, Nora must enter enemy territory to save her. The Sandman is determined to help, but if Nora isn’t careful, she could lose even more than her family to the darkness.

(Please note: This story contains vivid death scenes.)

Thank you to The Parliament House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eArc.

I didn’t have a specific expectation for this book. I’ve been following The Parliament House Instagram account and was intrigued by their posts. Their books seem dark and I decided to satisfy my curiosity by finally requesting their books on NetGalley.

I love the cover of this book! Now if only the story I read was as enchanting and mysterious as the cover. The story was creative but as I got to know the characters, it felt like the writing was targeting a younger audience. I get that I’m an adult, reading a YA book, but for a story set in a dream world with a character called The Weaver who is the Lord of Nightmares – I was hoping for darker aspects to the characters. The Weaver is pretty villainous but I was hoping for a hint of it in The Sandman.

The Sandman came off like a sweet teenage boy! He is immortal and stuck in his seventeen year old body but with all the power of dreams at his fingertips, I just wanted him a bit more haunting and mysterious..

Nora is our main character and right away in the book there is action. People start dying around her. And the deaths, are bloody and descriptive. It’s a dark story in that aspect. It reminded me a lot of Nightmare on Elm Street, yes…I’m an 80’s child. Anyway those movies freaked me out as a child! Nightmares indeed! Dream Keeper is creepy and scary in that the deaths in the book are pretty horrifying.

So The Sandman helped people sleep, the Weaver gives nightmares and he wants to bring his Nightmares to life in the Day World (the real world). Nora is needed for this to happen so he goes after her and the people she loves.

Now this is a quick read, it’s under 300 pages so it’s a fast read and the writing is actually really good. It flows nicely, and the author drew me into this fascinating dream world. But in the last few chapters of the book we get introduced to new characters! I’m sure they will appear in the second book, but I wish they made an appearance in the middle of the book at least. It threw me off just a little.

And the romance…well…for me at least, it wasn’t believable. The Sandman has been protecting Nora since she’s been twelve and she’s seventeen now. He tells her he fell in love with her a year ago…why? What is it about Nora that he loves? I just didn’t believe their love story.

I think the story is promising, and I loved the creepy/mild horror nightmare scenes. I’ll definitely pick up the second book and read it in the Fall around Halloween maybe – because this would be a perfect mood reading kind of book. I just wanted a bit more depth with The Sandman and Nora, other than I liked it.

Get it here: Amazon

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Book Review: What The Woods Keep

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Kataya De Becerra

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 365

Categories: Mystery, Psychology, Physics, Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mythology

Book Blurb:

On her eighteenth birthday, Hayden inherits her childhood home—on the condition that she uncover its dark secrets.

Hayden tried to put the past behind her, and it worked. She’s getting ready for college, living in a Brooklyn apartment, and hanging out with her best friend and roommate Del. But now it’s all catching up with her: her mother’s mysterious disappearance a decade before, her father’s outlandish theories about a lost supernatural race, and Hayden’s own dark dreams of strange symbols and rituals in the Colorado woods where she grew up.

As soon as Hayden arrives at her hometown, her friend Del in tow, it begins: Neighbors whisper secrets about Hayden’s mother; the boy next door is now all grown-up in a very distracting way; and Hayden feels the trees calling to her. And among them, deep in the woods, Hayden will discover something incredible—something that threatens reality itself.

MY REVIEW

This is one of those books where I borrowed it because of it’s lovely cover. The book blurb sounded interesting but I didn’t quite know what to expect.

What The Woods Keep, follows Hayden, who just turned eighteen and inherits her mother’s home in Promise, Colorado. Hayden has a quite a past: a childhood in Promise with memories of these dark woods, her mother disappearing, her dad who is a physicist but obsessed with Nibelungs. And yes I had to google Nibelungs to see if they were a real thing and they definitely are a thing, a thing of legend and lore.

This story is different and I was drawn into Hayden’s psychosis. She has dreams that haunt her, she’s a warrior on a horse. Hayden’s past also revolves on an incident of unexplained violence at her school – her counseling sessions are presented to us in the book like evidence.

When she goes to Promise with her best friend Del, more strange things start to happen. The people in town have eyes like her, one color different than the other. The woods around them are creepy and a white raven is constantly watching her. Plus there is a facility called Blue Haven Research Institute in Promise with security guards. What is going on? I kept reading to find out, so this book definitely kept me engaged.

This book is hard to categorize. It’s a mashup of sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery. I really loved how most chapters started off with some scientific tidbit on physics or psychology. And some parts were creepy too whenever it was about the woods. What is in these woods? What did Hayden’s mom do there? How did she die or disappear? Are the Nibelungs real? The story moved along quickly for me. I loved all the extra things in this book like Hayden’s case files, newspaper clippings and her mother’s hand written notes.

The only thing that didn’t grab me was the romance between Hayden and her old childhood friend Shannon. It happens a bit quick after they reunite but I guess I can surmise the feelings were always there because they grew up so close together.

Overall, this was a pleasantly surprising fun book to read! It is a really good debut from this author. I look forward to seeing what she writes in the future.

Get it here: Amazon

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