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Shifting Shadows

Book Review of Amanda Kelly’s Shifting Shadows

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Shifting ShadowsI downloaded a copy of Amanda Kelly’s Shifting Shadows (Sparks Collide, #1) from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
Party boy and werewolf, Jay Dellarson is stunned when his uncle hires a human to be his newest assistant. Kira Franklin is a sheltered girl with a mysterious past who’s finally taking charge of her life. When Jay and his pack begin to spend more time with the new girl in town, things start to unravel. Kira fights to keep her secrets hidden but when she finds out the truth of the town’s inhabitants it puts her in greater danger than ever before. While discovery of the werewolves’ secrets is dangerous, it’s discovery of Kira’s secrets that could place everyone in the middle of a vicious war.

Review:
This was an alright read if you like the kind of thing. It is told in first person, which I generally dislike. To complicate things it is told in first person from the perspective of two people. I found this really distracting and annoying. Now, I did appreciate being able to see both character’s POVs, but I’ve found myself constantly having to double check the chapter headings to remember who was currently narrating.

I really, really liked that this was not a case of insta-love. I found the romance a lot more realistic for the time it took to develop. But this was definately one of those books where the heroine manages to charm everyone effortlessly and by the end it starts to feel just a little too kumbaya for my taste–with everyone throwing wonderful affirmations around. This always strikes me as an underdevelopment.

The book seemed to throw the magic in all of a sudden. One moment Kira is going along as a normal girl unknowingly hanging out with the werewolves, the next she is suddenly off doing her thing. (I don’t want to give a spoiler, but suffice it to say there is no build up and so the reveal seems very abrupt.) I also didn’t quite grasp the seriousness of her situation. I understood she was in hiding because of the war. But she wasn’t anyone special to it, not a princess or the daughter of a leader or an active participant. She was just one girl so I saw no reason for her to be any more hunted than anyone else. Therefore all of her and her family’s precautions seemed really over the top.

It also ended without ending. I know that this is the first of a series, but my absolute, number one, literary pet peeve is…I would call it a cliffhanger, but that’s not right. A cliffhanger infers an actual conclusion of some sort while leaving some thread open for continuation. Nothing in this book concludes. There is one red herring event that substitutes an ending, but that’s just a cheat. The perpetrator of the mysterious attacks that plaque the whole book is not only not revealed it isn’t even addressed because it is still open and in the air.

I think this probably counts as New Adult as opposed to YA since the characters are all in their mid-twenties, but there isn’t any sex. I’m still figuring out what falls into that genre. I enjoyed the read.

Book Review: Jenala, by Cynthia Woolf

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jenala cover

Jenala Delasa is alone and in trouble. Someone wants her kalcion mine. They’ll stop at nothing, even murder. Jenala needs help.

Santro Baltin is just what the beautiful red-head needs. He’s huge, a master swordsman, and has a heart big enough to give her the room she needs to heal. When it comes to Jenala’s enemy however, he has his own agenda.

To defeat the notorious Zlaten Vandalar, they have to work together, mind to mind, shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart.

Review:

This was alright, I suppose. The story was pretty interesting, but I would have liked it more if it had been a little more fleshed out. Everything felt very rushed, and there was very little world-building or backstory. As a result, I was left with questions. What happened to the contract (or whatever it was) that Zlaten had that claimed Jenala would have to marry him if not paid? How did he get it in the first place? What is the difference between a claim and a marriage? This seemed important to the characters, but I couldn’t figure it out. Etc.

The book also tended to repeat itself a lot, with the narrative stating something and then a character saying the same thing and then later telling someone else about it. I think the reader is told three times in the first 10% of the book that Zlaten killed Jenala’s father, wants to steal her mine, and claim her through rape, for example. The narrative says it, then Jenala mentions it, and then the vet tells Santros about it. Once really would have been enough. This happened more than once.

I liked Jenala’s strong, upfront personality and Santro’s gentle, honourable way. I really did. But I also thought a lot of their dialogue was quite stiff. I honestly think Lottie was my favourite character. For a quick read (little more than a short story, really), it was entertaining enough, though. Plus, it was a freebie, so I can’t really complain. I have the sequel, The Swords of Gregara – Riza, which I’ll probably read at some point.

Book Review of Maggie Secara’s The Dragon Ring

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The Dragon RingAuthor, Maggie Secara sent me a copy of the first and second of her Harper Errant series, The Dragon Ring and King’s Raven. I’ve only read the first so far, but I figured I might as well go ahead and review it.

Description from Goodreads:
Reality TV host Ben Harper has a problem: he owes the king of Faerie a favor. So now he has to track down the three parts of a Viking arm-ring, and return them to their place in time. This takes him through the wolf-haunted forests of Viking Age Wessex, the rowdy back streets of Shakespeare’s London, and a derelict Georgian country house. Partnered with caustic, shape-changing Raven and guided by a slightly wacky goblin diary, Ben must rediscover his own gifts while facing his doubts and the queen of Faerie’s minions, who will do anything to stop him.

The Dragon Ring, the first in the Harper Errant series, is a time travelling epic adventure which takes you to Old England, and beyond.

Review:
The Dragon Ring is a bit like a grownup Harry Potter, with bawdy ballads and raunchy riddles. There’s a magic book or two, endless magical music, self-regulating clothing, time travel, mystic doors, mythical beasts, prophetic icons, bewitchments, bespelling, and even an imaginative curse on occasion. And poor Ben Harper is stuck right in the middle of it all.

Image a young Alan Titmarsh, or better yet, Justin Ryan or Colin McAllister contracted by the King of Faerie to save the world. Not the likeliest of heroes I’ll admit, but Ben does a decent job of it. He seems to have an amazing knack for simply accepting the absurdities that come along with the unexplainable magic in and around the land of Fae. If he hadn’t been American, I would blame it on that much-touted stiff upper lip. As a reader, I had a little harder time of it. Some of the ‘it’s magic, just accept it’ felt a little too convenient for me. Most especially when considering the diary that miraculously held ALL the answers.

I was extremely disappointed in the treatment of Mellis’, Ben’s wife, character. Her role was important as a motivator to Ben, but she seemed to be pointedly left out of much of the book. She might as well have been a cardboard cutout. Then, in the mere 10 or so percent at the tail end of the book that she was active for, she managed to fall and twist an ankle (though I give her credit for not whinging about it) and lose an important artifact. As enamored as Ben was with her, I would have liked her to have a little more depth.

The narrative style is marvellous. There is a lot of humour in it. The writing is tight and elegant. It strikes the right tone for a book about Oberon and Titania. The book does feel a tad like it goes on forever and a day, though. Plus, it isn’t the sort of book that builds to a peak and then settles back down before ending. It kind of builds to a plateau and then continues on until the end. Ben is given his tasks, and then he systematically goes about completing them until he is finished. It’s very much a ‘quest to collect the magical shards’ kind of story.

I’d especially recommend the book for music lovers. There are a lot of music references and melodies play an important role in the story. Additionally, thespians and Renaissance festival regulars will likely have little trouble relating to Ben and his personality. All-in-all an interesting read. I have the sequel, King’s Raven, which I also look forward to reading. (Speaking of Ravens, Raven was my all-out favorite character in the book.)