REVIEW: Shadow Study (Study #4) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Yay! Yelena, Valek and Janco are back for more adventure! And this time it's Yelena who's gonna lose her magic. But as the group struggles to determine what caused it, Yelena has now become extremely vulnerable to the danger around her—for magic can be inflicted upon her, but she can't react with her own. What's a girl to do? Investigate of course!

All the usual troupe is here and we're introduced to a mysterious new character, Onora, whom I've very much dying to read more about. She's an assassin like Valek and claims to be after his job. Maybe that's exactly what Valek needs so he and Yelena can spend more time together instead of always being apart on their own adventures.

And I won't give it away here, but Yelena ends the book with a surprise! I'm looking forward to reading Night Study next.

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REVIEW: Spy Glass (Glass #3) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

In this final installment of the Glass series, Opal is attempting to get her magic powers back by trying to track down vials of her blood that were previously siphoned from her. Traveling all over Sitia, attacked several times in the process, she is at the mercy of those who will do whatever they can to stop her.

As usual, the action is non-stop, the pace and storytelling superb, and I enjoyed seeing a lot of my favorite characters from the Study series here—Yelena, Valek, and Janco in particular. But it's Opal and her story here that keep me from rating this too highly. Because Opal is just a train wreck!! What was otherwise a great read was ruined for me by several of the things that happened with her, or to her.

For a good portion of the book, I was pleasantly surprised to see Opal gain more confidence and assertiveness (goodbye doormat!) and become better about not withholding important information from others—the Master Magicians, her friends, and family. I actually started to like her! And then, lest we get too used to that behavior, let's completely take away all her self will and make her a blood slave to this Galen/Finn guy! Because Opal isn't Opal if someone isn't taking advantage of her!

And then there's the fact that she decided to hook up up with Devlin instead of Kade in the end!! Yup, the dude that tortured her, not just once but twice! Addicted to blood magic as he was at the time... Okay fine, addicts don't always have control over their actions, and when they're getting clean, usually seek forgiveness from the people they've hurt. But forgiveness is one thing; actually marrying her abuser is another! *shakes head* And then poor Kade—beautiful, tormented Kade whom Opal managed to save from himself—is relegated to nothing in this book!!

Overall, I'm still happy I read it (and the rest of this series), just so that I can remind myself why I dislike Opal so much in case she decides to show her face in the Soulfinder series, which I'm going to start on next. I'll be so happy to revisit Yelena and Valek again!

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REVIEW: Sea Glass (Glass #2) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Opal Cowan has just discovered a terrifying and substantial new power that can render any magician powerless. Despite being ordered to house arrest by the Council and Master Magicians, Opal defies these orders and sneaks out in an attempt to find Ulrik, whom she believes to have been deceived by blood magic. But as she heads deeper and deeper into hostile territory, and the people she once trusted turn their back on her, Opal must shift alliances and reevaluate her choices if she's to survive.

Sea Glass picked up right where Storm Glass left off, with Opal leaving the Northern territories of Ixia. Like previous titles, there was a whole lot of action going on, but Opal is still as frustratingly idiotic as before—withholding information, making incredibly stupid choices, and basically putting herself and everyone around her in danger.

The whole incident with the sea glass was kind of anticlimactic and didn't add anything to the story. Stormdancer Heli had been so intent on attempting to decode the hidden message in the etched numbers and letters, only to have her and Opal later dismiss the etchings as the rogue magician's way of categorizing his collection. I can only hope this seemingly meaningless plot line is a foreshadowing of something that will become more relevant in the next book.

I was sorely disappointed to see Opal relinquish her powers at the end. Which is leaving me to wonder how I'm going to feel about Spy Glass, the final book in this trilogy. But I'm holding out hope for a turnaround and a good outcome for Opal, because although she's not my favorite character, I'm still a sucker for a happy ending.

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REVIEW: Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Opal Cowan became known as the Glass Magician after helping Yelena capture the evil souls of the Warpers during the Daviian War. Now several years later, and in her 5th year at the Magician's Keep, she's still no closer to discovering what else she can do with her magic other than trap it in glass. But all that's about to change when she's called upon for for a mission to help the Stormdance clan. The orbs which they use to trap storms have been shattering and killing Stormdancers, and her expertise with the molten glass should help them determine the problem and how to fix it. Of course, she runs into plenty of other trouble along the way, and even discovers some additional powers laying dormant. But whether these new powers will put her life into even more jeopardy remains to be seen.

Obviously, this trilogy centers on Opal Cowan and is told from her POV. It should be read after the first three Study Books—Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study. At first I thought I'd miss Yelena and not like these as much, but yay! Yelena is still referenced often and makes plenty of appearances here.

Opal is okay, but not nearly as badass as Yelena. She managed to piss me off with her stupidity several times in this book, particularly when she refuses to listen to her intuition or pay attention to the warning bells going off in her head. For example, after everything that she went through, taking direction to go on a mission from Ulrick instead of directly from Zitora??!! What's up with that?? Towards the end, she's learning to become a little more confident in herself, and I seriously hope that trend continues because I don't want to end up throwing my Kindle across the room again! 🤣

If you didn't read the first three Study books, a lot of this series may be lost on you. While the author does share about past events through Opal's thoughts, it's not really enough. But because I did, and am reading them in the order MVS recommends here, everything flowed together nicely for me. And I know I'll have more Yelena-specific titles to look forward to as well after this trilogy.


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REVIEW: Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor by Shawn M. Warner

My Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Leigh Howard is simply a wreck after the murder of her parents sent her on a downhill spiral. Orphaned, she's sent to live with distant cousins at Simmons-Pierce Manor, a large sprawling estate, where she's welcomed into the family by her "aunt" and "uncle", her ebullient cousin Myra, and an ancient ghost with a personality disorder. Unfortunately, not much is known about the circumstances surrounding Leigh's parents murder, and as Leigh struggles with her grief, she's determined to find the answers herself since the investigation seems to be going nowhere. But just what can a 16 year girl with a mental health condition accomplish on her own... or with the help of her new friends? The answer might surprise you!

I simply had to read this after all the fuss, so here's my thoughts:

THE GOOD:
The story itself was interesting and entertaining! It had a good premise and strong characters. I appreciated that Leigh was headstrong and determined, despite being a bit emo due to her seemingly insurmountable depression, and her cousin Myra was the perfect counterpoint to that. The relationship between Leigh and Myra was sweet and loving, with Myra being a loyal companion to Leigh from the start.

The ghost, or ghosts in this case, also made for quite a bit of fun. Especially Little Bodie who was as mischievous as any 11-year-old boy.

THE BAD:
It started off a bit boring and cliché, and the writing style was a bit hard to get into. Perhaps it was because I'd just finished a book by Sarah Waters prior to this, her writing style so very emotive. But here, I felt the author was continually telling—she saw, she felt, it was, it looked like, etc.— instead of showing or describing. But alas, this is the hallmark of many newly published authors, so I attempted to overlook this when I could. Hopefully Mr. Warner can tighten up his style as he continues to publish because he has a good story here; the writing of it could just use a bit of polish.

While I hate to dwell on the negative, I also didn't think that Leigh really sounded like a 16 year old girl, especially one who just attempted suicide. I believe this is the author, an older gentleman, attempting to project how he thinks a 16 year old girl thinks and talks, but he was pretty far off the mark in many respects. Some of her thoughts sounded as if she was 20 something, while others like she was 12. Again, I attempted to overlook it as I read.

THE UGLY:
I believe this book should've come with a trigger warning. Suicide is a very serious mental health issue, and I don't think it was handled properly in this story at all, kind of blown off as if it's something every 16 year old has done or attempted to. At the very least, a warning at the front of the book and a public service message at the end with a number to call. As this book is directed to teens and young adults, the author needs to keep in mind that there are impressionable young minds reading it too.


Overall, I'm glad I read this, despite my misgivings stated above. Every author has to start somewhere and I believe this is a promising start, and that with proper guidance, Mr. Warner's fanciful imagination can conjure up some great stories!


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REVIEW: Affinity by Sarah Waters

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Margaret Prior is a proper lady in 1870's Victorian England. After her Pa dies, she becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank women's prison to help deal with her grief. And while visiting the various inmates there, becomes quite taken with a spiritualist named Selina Dawes, whom she comes to feel was wrongly imprisoned.

The atmosphere was very dark and gothic, and Ms Waters has a great talent for writing that really pulls you into that place. While the first 50-60% of the story was rather slow and plodding, the next half, once Selina began to pull Margaret in, began to pick up the pace. Unlike one of my other friends who reviewed this book, I didn't see this ending coming and was quite surprised and distraught by how things turned out.

If you like dark tales of Victorian England, then you'll probably like this, even the slower beginning which help to build a very strong atmosphere. While I didn't like it as much as some of Waters other novels like Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, I still found it quite worth the read.

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REVIEW: Fire Study (Study #3) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Yelena is again fighting for her life! Now that she's been told she's a Soulfinder, her new Sitian friends are afraid of her. There hasn't been another Soulcatcher in the last 125 years and that one was wicked to the core! As a new threat descends upon Sitia—or same threat, different book really—Yelena travels through various realms, including some not of this plane, to go up against some very strong magic—so strong that just might kill her!

I loved that this book explored the Sandseed culture—it was something I was hoping for after reading the previous book, Magic Study. However, to my dismay, it wasn't long before most of the peaceful Sandseeds were killed off, and only their offshoots, the evil Daviian Clan, remained. 😢

Yelena seemed a little less brash, and wasn't always flying off to wage battles without proper consideration this time around. (They had a funny name for it in the previous book, though I can't quite recall it exactly.) So to that end, I found her behavior less annoying than the previous book.

However, and it's only because I enjoyed Poison Study so much that I have to make this critique, but did MVS switch editors for this book? Little things like misplaced semicolons, or dropped pronouns, prepositions & articles irked me, sometimes forcing me to go back and reread a sentence or paragraph several times. A few plot inconsistencies—like I could've sworn Valek previously told Yelena that he helped to smuggle young magicians out of Ixia, not kill them—yet that's exactly what she thought he did. There were a couple others... I can't recall now as I didn't write them down.

Overall, still a very good read, and what was initially supposed to be the end to the Study series... though further books were later added. I look forward to reading more!

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REVIEW: Magic Study (Study #2) by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Yelena is trying to settle in after her emigration from Ixia to Sitia. She's met her family, including an angry, spirited older brother, and begun her lessons at The Magician's Keep in the Citadel, where she's treated with wariness and suspicion. It's definitely not smooth sailing! Especially as a rogue magician is kidnapping young girls and straining her magical limits because yup, she just has to jump in to be the savior!

Magic Study picked up right where Poison Study left off. The world building of the Sitian Zaltana and Sandseed clans was really unique and interesting. I hope we get a deep dive into some of the other clans in future novels because I really did prefer the magical, Sitian landscape of this book as opposed to the military structure of Ixia.

Character-wise however, Yelena really bugged me quite a bit with her rash decisions, ignoring the Master Magicians, and constantly jumping into dangerous situations on her own without regard for anyone or anything else. As if after only two seasons in at the Keep in Sitia, she suddenly knows better than all the Master Magicians. Often times, her lack of foresight just gets her into trouble until someone else has to come to her rescue. Definitely not a very accommodating team player!

Despite my aggravation with Yelena, I did enjoy the story as a whole. The action was pretty intense and there were a few twists that I didn't see coming. I really hope that Yelena goes to spend some time with the Sandseeds in a future book though... she could really use some of their influence.

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REVIEW: The Study of Poisons by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Having just started on the Study trilogy, I read this right after Poison Study and LOVED rereading the story from Valek's point of view. Everything fit together so perfectly. A few times when reading particular scenes, I even jumped back to Poison Study to remind myself what Yelena was thinking (or doing) at the time. Since Poison Study was still fresh in my mind however, I only did that a couple times, and never once did I find any inconsistencies in the story between the different points of view. Well done! On to Magic Study next!

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REVIEW: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

I can't believe I waited this long to read this... it had been sitting on my TBR since it was first released, but I was in the middle of so many other series at the time that it just kind of fell by the wayside. I'm sorry now that I waited so long.

The story here is a very unique concept and an engaging and quick read... lots of detailed world building and action kept me reading well into the night, hard to put down. Fortunately reading on my Kindle helps with the late night readings. ;)

I love strong, female leads, and while Yelena was knocked down and broken at the start of this book, when given a second chance at life, she quickly bounced back to reclaim her strong-willed, iron-clad demeanor despite all the odds against her.

As a potential love interest, Valek presents a mysterious picture. He keeps his emotions close to his chest and we never really know what he's thinking throughout the story. To that end, I have a copy of The Study of Poisons which is this same story told from Valek's POV, and I'm currently reading that one now. Based on how Poison Study ended, and the relationship that developed between these two, I'm really intrigued to reread this story from his point of view and delving into his mind.


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REVIEW: A Court of Silver Flames (Court of Thorns and Roses #4) by Sarah J. Maas

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

This installment in the Court of Thorns and Roses series centers primarily around Nesta and Cassian. As the rest of the gang are strategizing to prevent another war, Nesta is fighting the demons inside her. We get a deep dive into her character, find out what makes her tick and why she is the way she is. Yeah, since the change she's got that whole PTSD thing going on, causing her to push people away... but she was a major bitch even before then as a human. And I like that we get to find out more about that too. While I didn't really appreciate the way the rest of the "Inner Circle" went about forcing her to deal with her issues, I'm glad it was effective. For in the end, Nesta has gone from a cold, uncaring individual to a passionate, headstrong badass!

While her struggles and sacrifices are laid bare for the reader to see, she continues to build a wall around herself throughout most of the book to keep from opening up her emotions to others. The new friendships she develops with Gwyn and Emelie (and the house) are heartwarming, and eventually help her to grow and develop, to open up and overcome most of her issues. Plus the whole Vakyrie warrior thing was awesome! (My computer is actually named Valkyrie so yeah, I've got a thing for them!)

This book definitely fell outside of the Young Adult category for sure though... the sex scenes were pretty hard and explicit. Not really any complaints from me, but it wasn't until I got to these parts that I understood SJM abandoned the YA category for this title completely.

While the outside plot here was a bit minimal, it's the character development of Nesta that was the primary focus of this book. And I can't believe I gobbled down all 757 pages in just 4 days. I only hope Nesta didn't completely lose all her sharpness to become a meek flower like Elain. I'll be looking forward to upcoming books in the series to find out.

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REVIEW: A Court of Frost and Starlight (Court of Thorns and Roses #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Very little "action" happening in this novella, but from what I understand, it's meant to be more of a "bridge" anyway from A Court of Wings and Ruin (book 3) to A Court of Silver Flames (book 4, or possibly book 5 if you're looking at Amazon since Amazon considers ACOFAS as book 4, while Goodreads calls it book 3.5) *shrug* 🤷🏼

That said, it's a fun little read that takes place during the Winter Solstice... and since the characters should be taking time to spend with family and not putting out fires anyway, it fits. I mean, they can't be at war 365 days a year. Even the bad guys like to take a little time off to celebrate the holidays! 🤣

We get a bit more insight into Nesta and Cassian, which will actually be expanded upon in much greater detail in ACOSV. Yay! So was this book really required? NO. Could it's contents have been seamlessly incorporated into the following book (ACOSF) instead? YES, definitely! Should this book have cost less than the others in the series? I think so, yes. Though I rented it from my local library anyway, so that didn't really affect me.

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REVIEW: Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2) by Leigh Bardugo

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Much more action in this one than in King of Scars. It was exciting and edge-of-your-seat moments pretty much the whole way through. I always liked Zoya's character, but even more so after this book! And Nikolai... such a rogue! For some reason, the Mad Hatter 🎩from Alice in Wonderland would pop into my head every so often during his dialogue. 🤣 He is just so downright odd and spunky most of the time! I'm glad Nina (view spoiler)[finally got her happy ending with Hanne. She totally deserves it! (hide spoiler)] I will seriously miss these characters and hope that there will be further books taking place in this universe in the near future.

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REVIEW: King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

King of Scars was a fine addition to the Grishaverse series, though I didn't really like it as much as the Shadow & Bone trilogy. As another friend of mine claimed, I think this was probably the weakest of the Grishaverse books so far. Not to say it wasn't a good read, but I just miss the (mis)adventures of Alina and Mal! This story centers around King Nikolai as he's trying to fight the darkness that was left within him by the Darkling... so there's a lot of internal struggle going on within the king. There's also a lot of Nina, who's acting as a spy up in Fjerda... not my favorite place. The book ends with a bang however, an obvious lead up to a lot more action to take place in the sequel, which I'm looking forward to reading next.

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REVIEW: Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

While I was vaguely familiar with the name Baba Yaga, this was actually the first book or story I'd read about her and wow, I enjoyed it immensely. It was steeped in history and so engaging. I love the story of the sentient little house with chicken legs, how the story takes place in today's times but through flashbacks and memories, tells the full story of Baba Yaga, her daughters, and the house, Thistlefoot. I was also glad to have read this on my Kindle so I could easily look up unfamiliar words and terminology, since it used a lot of Yiddish vocab.

Story-wise, I was disappointed with how the siblings held so much back from one another, but I suppose that was in their nature... Bellatine not trusting Issac because he ran away when they were younger. But when Isaac tried to hide the truth from her about the Longshadow Man, that was frustrating... if anything, he should've been trying to get her to trust him. But who's to understand men and their thinking. LOL

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REVIEW: The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Hundreds Hall had its heyday back in the prewar era and since then, has fallen into a state of disrepair and gloom. It's current inhabitants, the latest family of Ayres, are gentry stock that have fallen victim to the times and their lives are slowly being chipped away. But when Dr. Faraday, a local family physician visits the house, he invariably becomes entwined with the family and their various ordeals. But just what is torturing this family and driving them to such decline and madness... that is the question!

This was a spooky tale of a family slowly drawn to the brink of madness by the supernatural events going on in their house. Of course, during these times, any mention of supernatural occurrences was met with disbelief and claims of hysteria. So you've got the good Dr. Faraday, who is the narrator of this tale, trying to explain everything away with what he believes to be very rational explanations. I felt like screaming at his close-mindedness... but then again, during these early days of science, parapsychology, and even psychology itself, was still looked upon with so much skepticism, so I guess having a doctor believe in that sort of thing back then would've felt completely out of context for the time.

It was the atmospheric writing and sense of dread that kept me engaged however. For Sarah Waters is a fantastic writer that, even when I don't care for the characters as much, I'm still very much drawn into the story. I think I'd have to say little Betty was my favorite character by far!


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REVIEW: A Court of Wings and Ruin (Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As Pyrithian is preparing for war, Feyre goes undercover at the Spring Court to do a bit of investigating. When she later meets with all the High Lords of all 7 kingdoms, her and Rhysand must decide who to trust—who is ally and who is foe—and as usual, things are not what they seem.

This third book in the series was perhaps my favorite, just barely inching out ACOMAF. Feyre has really come into her own and started to embrace her new powers, which she was just learning to use and control in the second book. And because of that, I grew to like her so much more in this installment. While there were some sad bits, there were also a lot of happy and victorious ones as well. I had originally thought this was to be the end of the series, but I believe SJM determined she'd be continuing prior to the release of this, so a few minor story lines were left open, such as with Lucien, Elain and Nesta. I'm looking forward to reading book four, A Court of Frost and Starlight, soon.

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REVIEW: A Court of Mist and Fury (Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series picks up right where the first one left off. Feyre is back at the Spring Court after having barely survived the devastation Under the Mountain, but things are very, very different now. Her new immortal strength, along with everything she endured Under the Mountain, has made her into a very different person from who she was before. Now struggling to escape the suffocating, virtual prison Tamlin has placed her in, Feyre feels she's destined for something more, and is determined to help save both Fae and human from the horrors that lie ahead.

I enjoyed this second book even more than the first, and really began to enjoy Feyre's character even more as she came into her own. I was so happy when Feyre and Rhysand finally got together. I knew that was destined from the previous book, and his story of when he knew was so heart-rending. The ending? LOVED IT! And knew I needed to jump right into book 3 as soon as this one ended.

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REVIEW: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Feyre is torn from her family and dragged off to the faerie realm, all she knows is based only the stories she's heard growing up. But she soon discovers that while some of the stories have an ounce of truth to them, not all that live in the realm are the cold, heartless animals she'd been led to believe. And when she opens her heart to her captor, Tamlin, her world is indeed changed for the better, even as danger lies around every corner.

I originally read this book awhile back in 2015, but couldn't remember how it ended (nor had I done a written review), so I wanted to reread it again before starting the others in this series. I think I enjoyed it more the second time around, gobbling it up in only 5 days vs a month the previous time. The author has a very descriptive prose that allowed me to immerse myself in the beautiful, magical world she created... well, sometimes beautiful, but other times quite dark and scary as well. And I felt like I was right there next to Feyre seeing everything through her eyes. I'm anxiously looking forward to see what happens with Feyre and Tamlin next... and while Rhysand was indeed a "bad guy" even he got to me, so I'm also looking forward to finding out what became of him too since we were left with a bit of a cliffhanger there.

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REVIEW: In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's 1918 and the world is on the brink of collapse. People are dying from the Spanish Flu or being shipped overseas to die in the war over there. The Spiritualism movement is in full swing in the US and 16 year old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort. She never believed in ghosts herself, but when her childhood sweetheart, who had went off to war, begins to appear to her, she starts to question her previous beliefs. But what does he really want, and how is she supposed to help?

This is the second book I've ready by Cat Winters, the other being The Cure for Dreaming which I also enjoyed very much. She has such an evocative style of writing that really pulls you in and makes you feel as if you're right there living everything right alongside Mary Shelley. The depictions of the Spanish Influenza had so many parallels to our recent COVID-19 virus, but it also made me realize that the Spanish Flu was soooo much worse! I guess since medicine wasn't as advanced then, it would make sense that more people died. I really enjoy it when a book not only tells a very interesting story, but also teaches me a thing or two!

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REVIEW: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's 1860s London and life is hard in the Borough. So when a con man who goes by the moniker of Gentleman proposes a scheme to swindle a rich heiress out of her fortune, young thief Susan Tinder is happy to oblige, especially if it means it'll help her family. But all is not as it seems and inevitably things don't go as intended. I can't say too much without spoilers, but suffice to say, there were many twists and turns, and surprising plot twists, that kept me deeply engrossed in this engaging story.

This is the second book I read by Sarah Waters, the first being Tipping the Velvet and I enjoyed this one just as much as the first. The author really kept me on my toes with all her surprises and I appreciate that even when things weren't spelled out fully, and the reader was left to intuit certain things, it was eventually all spelled out in the end.. for those who may not have been paying close attention. A fantastic read, highly recommended!

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REVIEW: Jigglyspot and the Zero Intellect by P.D. Alleva

Jigglyspot and the Zero Intellect by P.D. Alleva
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cannibalistic killer clowns, Aliens, Demons... all this and more within the pages of this book. I received an ARC directly from the author and wasn't sure how I'd feel about it going in. It's definitely not for the feint of heart, and while I love a good horror movie, I usually can't watch the gory parts. But honestly this was so very engaging and action packed that I didn't really have time to dwell on the gory bits.

Most of the characters in this book you're gonna love to hate! While I didn't really feel a kinship with any of them, except maybe Kera, in no way did that keep me from wanting to see what crazy, depraved thing was gonna happen next. And some of it was downright disturbing! LOL

Buckle up and get ready for a wild, scary, and sadistic ride!

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