Tag Archives: Annette Marie

Book Review: The Long-Forgotten Winter King & The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow

I borrowed audio copies of The Long-Forgotten Winter King & The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow through Hoopla. These are books 2 and 3 of The Guild Codex: Unveiled series, by Annette Marie. (Narrated by Tim Campbell and Cris Dukehart.) I reviewed book one, The One and Only Crystal Druid, earlier this year.

About the Book:

Everyone is keeping secrets.

Zak won’t reveal what really happened between us ten years ago. Ríkr’s been hiding so much I scarcely recognize him anymore. But the biggest secret belongs to my parents, and it’s the one I’m most desperate to unravel.

Finding out who they really were, and who I am, means solving their eighteen-year-old murders. For reasons unknown, Zak decides to join me—and that makes me nervous, especially when the trail leads us into the most dangerous fae territory in the lower mainland.

The questions keep piling up, but as I realize too late, my parents’ killer is no mystery. He’s been lying in wait all along.

But not for me.

I’ve led Zak and Ríkr into a hell with no escape, and I need more than answers now. I need power—because without it, none of us will make it out alive.

I generally enjoyed this. I still liked the characters a lot, the world is interesting, and Marie’s writing is easy to read (or listen to in this case) as always. However, it did feel a little like the middle book it is—you know, like you’ve been dropped into something but without any final conclusion. Maybe this wouldn’t have been such an issue for me if it hadn’t been so long since I read book one. But my experience is what it is. Basically I liked it, but didn’t feel overly invested in it. I’ll be continuing the series, however, and that says more than anything else.

About the Book:

I’m learning to embrace who and what I am, but there’s one thing I can’t face: the night Zak betrayed me. But even with the mysteries of our shared past hanging between us, I can’t turn Zak away when he asks for my help.

Powerful fae are going missing, and when he tried to investigate, Lallakai vanished too. Now he wants me to venture with him into the territory of the Shadow Court, but its bloodthirsty courtiers don’t welcome meddling druids.

Danger is gathering around us, seen and unseen. As we uncover incomprehensible clues about the missing fae, we realize this nightmare runs deeper than we imagined, and unveiling it means delving into the past—our past.

If I abandon Zak now, he’ll never make it out alive. But if I stay at his side, if I face the truth of that night, it will destroy us both.

I don’t really have a lot to say on this one. Three books into the series, and I’m still enjoying it. I’m invested in seeing how it all works out, and I appreciate that Marie has allowed these young adults to have made grievous errors in life that hurt each other horribly, but they be the mistakes of youth. Not need to complicate it with deep machinations. The writing, as always, is easy to follow, and the narrators are doing a fine job.

I have to admit that I’m not finding myself falling in love with the characters, though. It’s a story I flow along with easily, but I don’t think I’ll remember it next week. Regardless, the series is getting me through my ‘company is coming’ scramble to get the house clean.

Other Reviews:

Hidden Pages – The Guild Codex: Unveiled

Books of my Heart – The Guild Codex: Unveiled

Book Review: Chase the Dark & Bind the Soul, by Annette Marie

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I borrowed audio copies of Chase the Dark and Bind the Soul (written by Annette Marie and narrated by Jorjeana Marie) through hoopla. I’m not feeling super wordy today. But here are brief reviews…let’s call them mini reviews.

The Book:

Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: To become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are three obstacles in her way.

The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to annoy the crap out of her, but he isn’t as harmless as he seems. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive — and scary. Did she mention scary?

The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.

And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.

Now she’s on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She’s dead on her own, but there’s no one she can trust — no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons … See problems one and two.

My Review:

I enjoyed this. I liked the characters a lot and there is some real humor in an otherwise grim story-line. It maybe wasn’t as good as some of Marie’s newer works, —it has a pretty big info-dump/lag in the middle, for example—but still good. It does feel a little more YA than NA though, just an FYI. The narrator was also inconsistent—sometimes doing a really good job and other times speaking as if through a blocked nose and swallowing a lot. But I enjoyed more than I didn’t and I look forward to book two.

The Book:

The most important rule for an Apprentice Consul is simple: Don’t get involved with daemons. Well, Piper is planning to break that rule — big time.

After a near-deadly scandal with the Sahar Stone, she has the chance to return to the only life she’s ever wanted. All she has to do to keep her Apprenticeship is forget about Ash and Lyre. Ash might be enigmatic and notoriously lethal, and Lyre might be as sinfully irresistible as he is irritating, but they’re not bad for a couple of daemons.

There’s just one problem: Ash is missing.

Really, she shouldn’t risk her future for him. He lied. He betrayed her. But he also saved her life, damn it. Wherever he is, he’s in trouble, and if she doesn’t save his sorry butt, who will? But with every dangerous secret she unravels, each one darker than the last, she slips deeper into Ash’s world — a world with no escape for either of them.

My Review:

I struggled with the first half of this book. Piper was just SO WHINY. And while I realize she’s a teen thrown into huge events that are understandably beyond her, it was no fun to read (or listen to, as the case ma be). However, she seemed to firm up in the second half and I felt like she experienced a lot of personal growth. The romance is very slow, which I appreciate and I’m still liking the characters a lot. I plan to finish the series, but I think I’ll give myself a little break first.