Tag: dark fantasy

Book Review | Wintersong

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Wintersong (Winterstong, #1)

Author: S. Jae-Jones

Format: Paperback (owned)

Pages: 436

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Dark Fairytale

The last night of the year. Now the days of winter begin and the Goblin King rides abroad, searching for his bride….

All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her mind and spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family’s inn, Liesel can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her own sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl has no choice but to journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds–and the mysterious man who rules it–she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.

Dark, romantic, and powerful, Wintersong will sweep you away into a world you won’t soon forget.

Wintersong is a perfect fall read and winter read actually, I mean it is called Wintersong.

When I heard this was part Labyrinth (one of my favorite movies) and Beauty and the Beast (one of my favorite Disney movies haha) I knew I had to read this…and I tried when it first published but for some reason it didn’t catch my interest at the time. I heard some good things about it lately and decided to give it another go and I can see how readers can be entranced by this story! And why didn’t anyone say it’s part Phantom of the Opera too? Without the opera of course.

In this dark, sexy and magical story, the Goblin King has been eyeing Liesl since she was a child. He is entranced with the untamed music that lives inside her and he sees someone who maybe can appreciate the wildness in him. We follow Liesl and learn how close she is with her exceptionally and musically talented brother. Whereas her beautiful and passionate sister, Kathe is left to her own devices. As Winter approaches she is reminded by her grandmother about the Goblin King coming to take a wife. When he steals Kathe away and makes a bargain with Liesl, she knows she has to win or pay the consequences. Who will Liesl choose? Her family, the Goblin King or herself?

  • This book is sexy…I mean, it has sex and though it’s not explicitly described because this is a YA book, I like that it went there because this is a dark attraction between a human and the Goblin king, who is basically fae and powerful. You can’t deny the connection between Liesl and the Goblin King.
  • This story is dark and the story telling is enchanting. The writing is lyrical and poetic. I loved the folklore Constanze told about the Goblin King, it’s that spooky fairytale, not the ones with a happily ever after. There is nothing very happy in this book, Liesl is consumed with music, so much so that it brings her absolute joy but she is obsessed about it. Same with the Goblin King and how he covets Liesl and her joy with music. They both desire and want but you also see it in Liesl’s family, her brother the musical virtuoso, her sister Kathe who dreams of finer things and a rich husband. This story explores desire, and what length one goes to attain them.
  • It’s interesting that the book ends with a Beethoven quote, because music is central to this story. I mean the Goblin King plays Liesl body like a violin (ahem-ahem 🔥🥵) – talk about sensual. But music IS sensual, it’s full of emotion and this story wove it’s enchantment on me like Beethoven’s music does (he’s my favorite). Liesl is a genius composer, her brother is a gifted violinist and the Goblin King is a musician as well.
  • The love story between Liesl and the Goblin King as mentioned is scintillating. It is full of dark desire and sweetness too, but tragic.
  • I enjoyed the games Liesl and the Goblin King would play because the stakes were high. It was interesting and maybe predictable what path she chooses but she did kind of give in pretty quick.
  • Liesl and the Goblin King…had that push and pull relationship that kind of made me crazy. I wanted them to make up their minds, especially when she decides to go all in and then he backs off. I understood why it was that way, but I also got tired of it too.
  • I would like to know more about the Goblin King. I know he is all mysterious but I was getting confused about how he is the Goblin King but his looks keep changing when he is with Liesl. She sees a boy of her age and then he looks like the fae he becomes. I mean her grandmother wanted to be the Goblin King’s wife at one point and I’m just hoping it wasn’t HIM has the Goblin King that time. 😅 Because…awkward. He is a fascinating character because he used to be human, worshipped God and brought some of those customs with him into the Underground. But I’d like to learn more about him.
  • The ending was…okay? I guess in a sense it was the right thing to do, but damn did I just want them to go all in and make it work. If I was Liesl, I’d be all about being the Goblin Queen and never leave and die a dark death. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I mean, the story was dramatic in every other aspect, might as well make the ending one too!
  • Triggers: mind manipulation (I mean, the Goblin King does mess with Liesl!)

Even with the few issues I had with the story, it wove its dark enchantment around me. I feel like I’ve been waiting so long for a story about the Goblin King (ever since Labyrinth) and wow, there haven’t been any that I remember reading about. I’m about to pick up the second book in the duology so stay tuned for my review on that one soon. If you like dark fairy-tales written in a poetic, lyrical style, you might want to give this one a try.

Book Review | The Hazel Wood

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Hazel Wood

Author: Melissa Albert

Format: eBook (borrowed)

Pages: 359

Categories: Urban Dark Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure, Dark Fairy Tales

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

I think I tried reading this when it first published but I wasn’t in the mood and put it off until…now. But honestly, I don’t think I would have picked it up again if I wasn’t approved for the sequel on NetGalley. 😅

I finished this in two days which is surprising so I guess it really caught my attention this time around. Alice and her mom Ella is basically living on the run, but from what? Curses? Bad luck? It’s not clear but there is an undercurrent in this story, a mystery about a book called Tales from the Hinterland that Alice’s grandmother, Althea Proserpine, wrote. Alice and Ella are settled in New York City but the bad luck that seem to stop following them has found them again and Ella goes missing. The only clues Alice has are linked to the book. But what is Hinterland? She thought it was just a book of fairytales, that it was just a story. Alice and her friend Finch, go on a quest to find The Hazel Wood, her grandmother’s estate, so she can figure out what has happened to her mom, Ella. Instead they find out some stories are very real.

  • Alice’s voice is very unique. Is she likable? Most people wouldn’t like her I think but she’s a fascinating character, very mysterious, blunt, full of this unexplained anger. But she loves her mom Ella very much. Her gypsy upbringing (not by choice but survival) has shaped her greatly. When we find out more about her then it totally makes sense why she is the way she is.
  • There were words in this book that I had to google! I was intrigued by the writing, it’s very lyrical – if you don’t lyrical writing you will not like this book.
  • I liked the scary fairy tales that are told throughout the book. They remind me of the fairy tales we grew up. When you think of Snow White, as a child it was supposed to be cute because the singing dwarfs singing hi-ho, it’s Disney! But it’s actually a scary tale of the Queen wanting to kill Snow White and she poisons her. Like…that is not cute! The Tales of The Hinterland is straight out frightening, nothing cute about them at all.
  • I like the world of the Hinterland but it is mostly revealed in the later half of this book. When regular people cross into the Hinterlands they are called refugees. So the Hinterlands was almost like another country but in an alternate universe! I liked meeting Janet who explains a lot about this world. Thank you Janet!
  • A lot of things in this book made me go hmmm! Like I mentioned I liked the writing BUT I was also thinking wow, does Alice really think like this? It didn’t feel realistic that a teen would use these words, words from like an SAT test vocabulary list, to narrate her story but then again, her grandmother was a writer. Alice seemed very well read and a lover of literature. Of course we find out more about Alice, and when we do…it makes sense that she’s “different”. Because she IS.
  • There is a part in this book, 60% in where I felt like my brain BENDED, it was a total mind-bend and as someone who has vertigo when my sinuses get clogged/affecting my ears and such….when I read the part when Alice gets into The Hazel Wood, I got dizzy. Literally. A lot of the first part of the story is a mystery about The Hinterland and The Hazel Wood and when it is revealed, it was a bit too much for my head because the way it’s written. It almost feels all over the place and I couldn’t pin things down and that was disorienting until the story stabilized again. It was like Alice in Wonderland when she gets to Wonderland…🤔. I felt like I was Alice. It was jarring.
  • Alice gets kidnapped in the beginning, and she literally says she went into a car with this strange guy but he wasn’t a perv…he told her stories, etc…and I’m like say what? 😳 We also find out it’s not the first time she was kidnapped! What is with the kidnapping in this story? I guess it’s reminiscent again of the fairy tales we grew up with like Rapunzel. And there is a purpose to her being kidnapped but just reading it in the beginning I was a bit wary of where the story was going.

When I finished this I needed a moment to digest what I just read. Overall, I liked it because of it being so dark, weird, and fascinating. I liked some of the fairy tales that were told in the story, it is very Brother’s Grimm fairytales instead of the cutesy Disney ones.

If you like stories like Alice in Wonderland, then you will like The Hazel Wood. I’m about to read the sequel and we’ll see how that goes. I think it might follow more of Finch’s adventures because there is more to discover in the Hinterlands. Overall a fascinating, mind bending story that probably wouldn’t appeal to everyone.

ARC Review | An Unholy Magick

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: An Unholy Magick (Vile Sacraments, #1)

Author: Kali Rose Schmidt

Format: eBook (provided by The Parliament House)

Pages: (can’t find this info)🤷🏻‍♀️

Publication Date: October 22, 2019

Categories: Dark Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

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

She’s an assassin with a gift her parents died for.
He’s a reluctant prince content to drink himself into oblivion.
And hiding in plain sight amongst them both, a monster is searching for redemption.

In a kingdom where magick is forbidden and spoken of only in whispers, they must each face their own demons, walking the line between loyalty and betrayal. 

Enter a dark new world full of forbidden love, painful loss, and a growing war between those with power and those who crave it. An Unholy Magick is a bloody and spell-binding fantasy debut, the first from Kali Rose Schmidt’s shadowy series, Vile Sacraments.

Thank you to The Parliament House Press for giving me a chance to review this eARC or An Unholy Magick.

An Unholy Magick is the story of a girl name Elena, she is part witch, part Elf and one hundred percent cold blooded assassin. She’s also beautiful and knows it. She’s defiant, stubborn, sometimes arrogant and ignorant but she learns quickly and cares deeply for her friends. Elena is also very brave. I wasn’t sure if I should categorize this as New or Young Adult but I went with NA because Elena is 18 and her romantics interests are 20 years old and above. There is one steamy scene but it only involves a kiss.

The kingdom of Anglar is just a part of Terra that King Nicolas rules but he wants to expand his domain. And what better way to do that than by using a witch-assassin to infiltrate the neighboring kingdom of Garcari and slay their ruler Queen Raytha. But to get to Garcari, Elena would need to travel and survive the legendary Dark Forest. Will she survive the mission? And will King Nicolas set her free after her task is done?

This book was a pleasant surprise for me! I like the world building of Terra. There is the Dark Forest where legendary monsters like vampires, werewolves and many more beings make their home. The story takes place mostly in Anglar at King Nicolas’ castle where Elena is training with her guards and a sorcerer to be ready to go on her mission. Magick use is forbidden in Anglar and many people who used it were persecuted or fled the kingdom. Elena’s parents were killed when she was young and she harbors hard feelings against the king because of it, but she has no choice but to take on this mission – it’s kill Queen Raytha or die by hanging.

There are a few interesting characters that I enjoyed. Matvey, the vampyre disguised as a sorcerer, is helping Elena access her powers. I don’t know why but I totally wanted Elena and him to hook up. 😅 His true self under the glamour is a monster, a “bloated corpse” as Elena describes him but why did I so approve of their attraction to one another? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Except Elena is very much into Prince Zoran. And he may be charming and besotted with Elena but he just seemed too weak for my taste. Seems like the two of them may end up together though, or…who knows, maybe the book will surprise me? So it seems like a love triangle but I don’t think it really is – I think Elena’s choice is made.

Elena makes friends easily which is a part of her personality that I liked. Her friendship with prison guard, Aranka, was a fun aspect of the book. I also loved that she had Tabitha, her maid who really took care of her. And then there is Jaime, her friend who grew up with her like a brother. They are close, but are apart for most of the book until the end…where things get a little crazy in the Dark Forest and Garcari. I like Elena’s character growth and in the end she realizes her position as an assassin can be used to help make some changes in Anglar, like helping witches regain the freedom to use magick again. She has power, more than she knows.

Most of the book is about Elena training, building relationships and learning about the history of Queen Raytha, Saint Ragnhild, the Death King, witches and elves but I enjoyed it immensely. A lot more of the action comes in the second half of the book and it kept me quite engaged! There was even one scene as I read in the dark that creeped me out for a quick minute! 😆

An Unholy Magick is the first book in a series and it is entertaining, bloody, dark and full of witches and monsters. I look forward to the sequel!

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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