Book Review: Wicked Magic

 

Earlier this month I read an ARC (advanced reader copy) of Wicked Magic (A touch of Darkness, book 1) , written by Candace Osmond and Rebecca Hamilton.

Every Wicked Born must accept whatever fate the Sorting Ceremony grants them…

Being the Daughter of a Light High Priestess means Lydia Laveau has one fate: the life of a light witch. But when her ceremony chooses her for the Dark Faction—something deemed impossible—her world crashes down around her.

Soon, Lydia finds herself wrapped up in a clandestine whirlwind of blackmail, illegal magic, and betrayal. She has one goal: keep her head down, get through her five year pledge at the school for dark witches, and return to the human world she calls home.

But when she meets Anson Abernathy, a drop dead gorgeous third year Wicked Born accused of murder, she finds herself drawn to him…and all the danger that comes with their attraction.

Can Lydia survive her five-year pledge without unraveling centuries of tradition? Or will her own secrets unlock answers that threaten her very existence

I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into this novel. Being a fan of witches, magick, books like Harry Potter, I knew I would love this book from the start. It did not let me down! It was so good, that when I finished the roller coaster ride I would have lit a cigarette if I smoked. 😉

Lydia is certain of her life and its path. Turn eighteen, have her sorting ceremony, attend Arcane Academy and then get back to the human world and be a reporter with her best friend. But her life and her plans make a drastic turn when she is sorted into the Dark Faction, instead of the Light.

She is thrown into a world where she can’t trust anyone, aside from the small few who befriend her. But even when it comes to them she can’t know who to fully trust. Her fellow students dislike her, as she’s not ‘one of them’. On top of that she falls for Anson, who allegedly murdered another student, and the Dark Dean is pressuring her into an event she wants nothing to do with. Lydia is trying to find her place, get through her five years, but it’s hard when she’s being black mailed over a secret she can’t risk getting out.

Wicked Magic flows so well, is full of twists and surprises, and kept me wanting more. I needed to know the answers: who could Lydia trust, what was Anson really capable of and what are the Dark Dean’s real motives.

I can’t wait for book two, and to see what fate has in store for Lydia.

 

 

Book Review: The Murder Prophet

Back Cover: Kit Stablefield is a detective with a secret and a crush on a guy she knows only online, in a future where magic is a part of everyday life. But when millionaire Aleshu Coro walks into the offices of Darcko and Sadatake with a message from the Murder Prophet and fourteen days to live, everything changes.

Suddenly Kit is questioning the decisions of her past, trying to find out if the man she loves is, in fact, a man, and hunting for a murderer and a mysterious seer. With her eighty-six-year-old grandmother insisting on helping out, and a sentient goose who simply won’t stop pestering her to watch his “killer” video game moves, Kit has more than her hands full as she races against the clock to prevent Coro’s murder…and possibly her own.

My rating: 5 out of 5

My Review: I am a HUGE fan of Sherry D. Ramsey, and not just because I happen to know her in real life. I have read quite a few of her stories, including her break out novel ‘One’s Aspect To The Sun.’ And even though some of her stories aren’t typically in the genre I read, she never fails at capturing my attention and drawing me deep into the world she has created.

If you love science fiction and fantasy, then this book is for you! It has an intriguing story line with strong and interesting characters.

This novel has so much that I loved. I was hooked right at the beginning when we met Trip, a talking goose who is addicted to video games (and happens to have KILLER ninja moves). Then there is the mysterious man who goes by LemurCandy, an AI with some pep, a group of co-workers who are all very different but manage to work well together, magic, and a mystery when a millionaire has his life threatened.

‘The Murder Prophet’ is full of twists, suspense and secrets, and I was engrossed in the story. The only reason why I hadn’t finished this quicker is because life got in the way. (It has an unfortunate way of doing that sometimes, doesn’t it?)

This was a great read overall. I am really looking forward to the next book and finding out what adventures Kit Stablefield goes on next!

I really wish I could convey just how much I loved this story. With being home sick, I’m not functioning at high capacity. 😉 So if you really want to see for yourself how good it is, go grab yourself a copy and dive in! 🙂

Oh, and as for my Goodreads challenge of reading thirty books this year, I’m on track and this makes five books finished. How many books have you read so far this year?

Book Review: The Laughing Corpse

Yesterday I finished reading ‘The Laughing Corpse’, book two in the ‘Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter’ series by Laurell K. Hamilton.

The Book Jacket:

Harold Gaynor offers Anita Blake a million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. Knowing it means a human sacrifice will be necessary, Anita turns him down. But when dead bodies start turning up, she realizes that someone else has raised Harold’s zombie–and that the zombie is a killer. Anita pits her power against the zombie and the voodoo priestess who controls it.

In The Laughing Corpse Anita will learn that there are some secrets better left buried-and some people better off dead…

My Review:

I am a huge fan paranormal (fantasy/romance/horror/mystery) and when I read book one in the series (‘Guilty Pleasures’) I was hooked on the characters and where the story was going. If a book has vampires, zombies, witches and the like, I’m anxious to get it in my hands.

This book however…my feelings are as mixed as the other reviews I’ve read. And to be honest, it was a bit of a let down.

Just for kicks I looked online, to see how others felt about the book. The book has gotten everything from one star ratings (“TERRIBLE!” is one observation), while others have given is a five star review. (“Best book I have read,” was another thought on it.) Me? I am going to have to split the difference and give this a 3 out of 5.

There were parts of the plot that were fast paced and kept me interested. There were some great characters that came into play, like Jean-Claude, the vampire who wants Anita as his human slave. Then there is Anita herself, a strong female character who I love even though I sometimes want to slap her (her sass can come off as bitchiness, in my opinion.) Then there were the villains, my favorite being Dominga Salvador, a strong voodoo priestess. I would have liked to see more of her and what she could do, but I guess when you can have zombies do your dirty work, you can hide a bit.

There were parts, especially in the middle where it ran a bit long, that the plot lost some steam here and there. I’d skim along because I just didn’t care and wanted the story to “hurry up and get better.”

Also, when you are reading a book about a vampire hunter, it would be nice if she, oh I don’t know, at least had more interaction with a vamp aside from getting hit on. But zombies ruled this novel so there wasn’t much time or a chance for her to deal with bad vampires.

I am totally cool with gore. Both on the big screen and in books. My main issue with the gore in this novel dealt with the death of a child. That gore I really didn’t want to read. So that’s my least fave part of the novel.

My favorite part though, was pretty effing cool. Anita is an animator, which means she can raise the dead. And she raised an entire graveyard. The earth shook as hundreds of zombies began to climb out of their grave. She put them all back of coarse, when she was ready.

This book took me months to read, so that tells you right there my interest level. When I picked it back up again a week ago I was determined to finish it. But when I love a book, I devour it pretty quickly. (Unless life gets in the way. It has a way of doing that from time to time.)

Even though this was not even close to being my favorite book and I gave it a three star rating, I will still continue to read the series. It did have an interesting plot over all with a few twists added in. I also enjoyed the first book and want to keep going.

Have you read this? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I’d also love to hear if you read other books in the series and what you thought of them.