Pandragon Dan

You know, I’ve learned something – it sucks to be the main character in a paranormal story! I mean, nine times out of ten, they discover that they are actually not what they thought they were and turn out to be something entirely – such as a god, a spirit creature, or some other form of supernatural being. Usually this discovery ends up ruining their otherwise mundane life and puts a real damp on their day.

So imagine how our heroine Eve (the protagonist of Murdering Eve feels when she discovers that she may be linked to the Gods of Olympus, then charged with finding a Wind troll that was banished to Earth within a certain time period or else all hell will break loose. Oh, and add to the fact that someone is trying to kill her, I have to be honest – I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes!

But enough with the introductions, let’s check out today books, Murdering Eve by Kelly Lee.

About The Author

I was not given any information or bio by the author, but if you wish to check out her work, you can visit her website. Link below.

KELLY LEE FICTION

Cover

On the whole, this cover is ok – doesn’t really stand out for me though, but it is at least colourful. But I have to wonder, who is the girl on the cover? At first I thought it was Eve herself, but she’s described as having blond hair in the book. I’m guessing it’s Holly, the antagonist of the book, but then she’s described as having red hair. Just a minor nitpick on that really.

Overview

One of the first things I noticed about Murdering Eve was the blurb, which described it almost in a pretty dark way – so I was kinda expecting this book to be really dark as well as romantic. On the whole though, it was pretty tame compared to what I was expecting – but that’s not a bad thing at all. Once I got to grips with the book, I did actually find the story pretty decent. Any story with Gods and supernatural entities always tick a lot of boxes in my book (excuse the pun) and so the idea of Eve trying to find a Wind troll to bring back to Olympus was pretty cool. The story is very easy to follow and not as convoluted as some other books. I was able to keep up with the story pretty easily. It also helped that there were only a few characters in the book, so I didn’t have to keep reminding myself who was what – so props for having an easy to follow story.

My first gripe would be that there is maybe a little TOO much exposition in this book. Sometimes, we focus on a character and it then transcends into a flashback, or an explanation into the history of a certain race or magical force. I don’t really have a problem with flashbacks or expositions and realise that they can be important to a story – but too much can really slow the pace down. I honestly think that the author could have just used a few paragraphs in these instances to just give us a general gist rather than going into too much detail. Secondly, chapters tend to repeat themselves occasionally. There is one scene where the heroes get into a fight, and then the next chapter we see the villain and the chapter pretty much explains what happened before. Considering it was just after one chapter, I didn’t feel it was too necessary to go into this detail.

Also, there were quite a few formatting issues with the copy I was given to review. Sometimes, lines would be cut off mid sentence and then started again on a new line, it made the text look broken up and messy. I’d suggest a reformat if the author hasn’t done so already.

Now, let’s look at the characters. Eve, the heroine, I really wanted to say I liked and supported. But actually, I found her a little bit whiny and needy in places. I understood that she was trying to cope with the problems of finding out her real nature, but she just seemed too dependent on Whit (the troll she was sent to find, who eventually becomes her lover). I prefer heroines that aren’t afraid to take control of a situation when needed. Also, I felt that she was dangerously close to being a mary-sue on some occasions. On the same level, I wanted to support Whit as he had gone through a lot of pain since being banished from Olympus – but honestly I just wanted to slap him on occasions and say “Man up!” Or “Troll up!”

Actually, the character I enjoyed the most was Holly, the would-be assassin of the book. She had an interesting back story (being a Titan) and I could actually understand her motivations and needs. She also provided a lot of humour for the piece. In the end I hoped that she would come out ok and that nothing bad happened to her.

Aside from those points, I did like the way Kelly Lee tried to do something different with the Olympus myth and I give props to the way she portrayed the trolls in the book. It was nice to see trolls in a more heroic light (mostly) instead of the monsters that they usually are portrayed as. And, on the whole, I felt that the ending of the book did resolve itself satisfactorily, although (without giving away too many spoilers) it did feel a little “Scooby Doo” in places – and by that I mean I was expecting the villains to say “And I would have got away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids...” You know.

Admittedly, I felt that this book had a few flaws in it in terms of character and overall formatting, but it’s not a bad read in general. In should mention that at the beginning, it has a mini review that stated that fans of Twilight would enjoy this one. Well, I have to say that I enjoyed this MORE than Twilight, so hopefully Kelly Lee can take some pride in me saying that.

PROS (Eve-vangelical):

• Easy to follow plot, with a good resolution.
• Good twists on many supernatural tropes.
• Villain is extremely likeable (is that a good thing?)

CONS (Eve-ill):

• Formatting issues ruin the flow of the piece.
• Main characters slightly less likeable than they should be.
• Maybe a little too much exposition.

Summary

Whilst for me, it did have some flaws, the bits that were good did make me want to continue reading to the end and I’m glad I did. I would suggest that the author goes back and reformats the book again as the errors are glaring and need to be addressed. But overall, if you like paranormal romance, I’d give this one a try.

FINAL SCORE: 3/5

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PANDRAGON

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1)    To kick off this interview, can you tell me a little about yourselves?

Sasha – I’m a mom to four great kids, a wife to my high school sweetheart, and a big time fan of romance and happily ever afters. I grew up in a house chalk full of story-tellers so I guess becoming a storyteller was fate. :)

Anna – I’m a mining engineer by day, a writer the rest of the time and a huge lover of novellas and short stories. I’m also a mom to a very active toddler and married to the man of my dreams. We currently call Africa home.

Stacy—as of two years ago I was totally dedicated to my career as a figure skating coach!  I’m still dedicated, but only on a part-time basis. :P  Much to my amazement, my writing career has taken off kind of like a runaway horse, so I’m doing my best to hold on for the ride (and I can’t wait to see where it takes me!).

2)    What made you want to get into writing?

Sasha – Honestly, I just loved the stories I was writing for me so much that I wanted to share and connect with other readers.

Anna – I was a reader first. A voracious, read-anything-I could-get-my-hands-on reader. I was inspired by my favorite authors to try my hand at writing my own stories.

Stacy—I’ve always been into writing!  When I was a competitive skater I’d have long stretches in between events, so I began writing to pass the time.  I wrote my first 300-page novel when I was fourteen. :)

3)    To Sasha - I had the privilege of reading and reviewing your book Medusa: A Love Story and found it fascinating. What was your idea behind that novel?

Thanks Dan. Your review is one I’ve printed and have tacked on my wall to keep me from giving up now and then. I’ve always loved Greek Mythology – always – but sensed Medusa’s tale had more to it. Then I had a very vivid dream, the scene where the hero is running through a field looking up… I woke feeling so sad, hopeful, determined… The rest of the story came very easily – you could say I was a little possessed.

4)    So tell us a little more about A Galatic Holiday. What’s it about?

Sasha – well Carina Press put out a special submission call for a SciFi Holiday anthology. I’d never written for a submission call before, but thought the concept was too fun not to try… so I wrote it. All three of our stories have the same SciFi Holiday theme, but different (and awesome) tales.

Anna – A GALACTIC HOLIDAY is three sci-fi romance novellas that feature the holidays. But it’s more than romance under the mistletoe! There’s action, awesome sci-fi worlds, high-tech gadgets and plenty of adventure.

Stacy—If you can imagine a mash-up between any feel-good Christmas movie and Star Trek or Blade Runner, you’ve got A GALACTIC HOLIDAY.  All three of these stories have oodles of sci-fi magic and holiday cheer to satisfy lovers of both themes. ^_^

5)    How did the idea come about?

Sasha – for me, Riley (the heroine) came first. She was a complete departure from any heroine I’d ever written, which was fun. I used the old, make things bad –now make things worse tool to put her and Leo (hero) through the ringer. I loved the story that emerged.

Anna – when I saw the call for stories featuring science fiction and the holidays, I was intrigued by the combination. I decided to explode the winter holiday of Yule and instantly envisioned an ice planet called Perma. After that came Brinn and her rival intergalactic trade negotiator, Savan Bardan.

Stacy—The main characters of HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, Reina and Edison, are pushy; they’ve been nagging at me for a couple of years, at least.  When Carina Press asked for sci-fi submissions with a holiday theme, these two pushy personalities insisted this would be the perfect place for their debut, so I really had no choice. I had to tell their story. :P

6)    When is it out?

December 3! YAY!

7)    Who would you say are your writing heroes?

Sasha - Oh so many… and because I read all the time, I discover new authors I adore. I love Stephanie Dray, Suzanna Kearsley, Diana Gabaldon, George Orwell, etc

Anna – In the romance world, Nora Roberts and Nalini Singh. In the action-adventure world, Wilbur Smith and Matthew Reilly.

Stacy—oh, wow, there are so many!  Stephen King is the first one who comes to mind, along with Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.  But I also love the fresh voices of Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) and Lilith Saintcrow (Dante Valentine novels), and romance writers such as Shannon Stacey and Bella Andre. My #1 writing hero, though, will always be JK Rowling.  Always. (:)Professor Snape quote *sniffle*)

8)    For any aspiring writers out there, what advice would you give to them?

Sasha – Never give up. Write the story in your heart and keep at it. It will never be easy, but it wouldn’t be half as rewarding if it was. And Good Luck!

Anna – Just write. Sit down and write, write, write – no excuses. Make it a habit.

Stacy—write every day.  Even if it’s just a paragraph or two, and even if it’s terrible.  Don’t talk about it.  Do it.

Chilling Out in the Future

Did you know that television accounts for largest share of most people’s leisure time? On average, people watch 2.5 to 4 hours of television per day! It is by far the most popular way to chill out.

Ever wondered how we’ll chill out in the future? Will we still watch a lot of television? See what the characters in A GALACTIC HOLIDAY do to relax:

Sasha: There’s not much down time on Galileo Station, everyone has a job to do to keep the place running. But when they are chilling out, they’re normally converging in the cafeteria, enjoying a meal and conversation, together.

Since the heroine (Riley) has lived a primarily isolated existence, down-time doesn’t compute for her. Her idea of relation: fixing things. She’s kind of neurotic that way, tinkering and tweaking things until they’re at their peak performance. I guess it’s kind of a survival thing too. Leo (the hero) is a bit more laid back. He enjoys laughing and hanging out – and slowly helps Riley warm up to the idea. :)

Stacy: In HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, surfing the ‘net goes at the speed of thought if you have neurolinks wired directly into your wetware, like the hero Edison Wicke.  But even for those who don’t (like my heroine, Reina Vedette) multi-media goggles are all the rage and are nearly as fast as neurolinks.

But for Reina, what free downtime she has isn’t wasted vegging out on the web.  She has a need for speed, and she gets that on her slick bike, a frictionless Maglev cycle powered by hydrogen cells.  Though some critics say that people who ride these “death traps” are only quicker in finding their deaths, for Reina that’s all part of the fun.

Anna: WINTER FUSION is set on the ice world of Perma. The heroine, Brinn and her fellow Permas are used to ice and snow…actually, they revel in it. So no surprise that chilling out for them is quite literal!

Permans love to ski, sled, snow-skate and ice fish. Family is important to them, so these activities are family affairs. And when they need to warm up, relaxing centers around family get-togethers with lots of food and singing.

In contrast, the hero of the story, Savan is from Rendar—a high-tech, energy-dependent world. Everything they own and do consumes energy. They are constantly on their Syncs (future versions of a tablet), indulging their latest passions or catching a VelocityBall game. So yes, they watch a lot of futuristic television.

Needless to say, the heroine Brinn has her work cut out for her teaching Savan how to appreciate Perman life (-:

So if you’re looking for a different way to chill out these holidays, why not do it sci-fi style?

A GALACTIC HOLIDAY – Carina Press | Amazon | B&N | All Romance

Anna Hackett – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Stacy Gail – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Sasha Summers – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Thanks for joining me on my blog today, girls! Don't forget to get involved in the prize pack that they current have going on. Link is below! Get your entries in!

A GALACTIC HOLIDAY PRIZES

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PANDRAGON

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UPCOMING BLOG TOURS:

  - 5th December - Interview with Sasha Summers

- 7th December - Guest Post

 

- 8th December - Author Spotlight

Today’s book is published through Tor Books – a publisher which I actually tried to submit Trapped on Draconica to one time when I was first looking for a publisher. So I think it’s pretty cool that I actually get to review a book from one of their authors.

Today’s book is on the subject of the Templar Knights, another theme which I’m kinda fond of (but then anything with a medieval theme is cool in my book).  So expect plenty of religious elements and steamy romance as we delve into The Curse of the Templars series – Immortal Surrender by Claire Ashgrove.

Sadly I was not able to get a bio or a cover for the book (I downloaded one from Goodreads but it was a little too pixelated to be put up on here), so I can't really give any information about this author. But you can check out her Goodreads profile at:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3185565.Claire_Ashgrove

Overview

Before we start, I should point out that this is the SECOND of The Curse of the Templars series – and, like with The Pack: Retribution, I haven’t read the first book. So as such I’m going to treat this as a standalone book for the purpose of the review to be as fair as I can.

The plot is pretty basic – a standard good versus evil story whereby the Templars have been stuck in a long running battle with Azazel, a Dark Knight. In the midst of this battle, a young scientist called Noelle is taken into the custody of Farran, a Templar Knight. Realising that she has a special artefact that could swing the fight in Azazel’s favour, she is assigned to Farran as his seraph (or mate in other words) for her own protection. Problem is, Farran and Noelle just can’t get along with each other – so this arranged marriage is going to be a little tricky!

Being a romantic novel, I do appreciate that the bulk of the story has to be set around Farran and Noelle and the “will they, won’t they” relationship. And this book certainly plays on that – maybe just a little too much. Most of the novel, Noelle and Farran are either bickering with each other or having it off. But to be honest, most of the bickering got a little tiresome for me, at one point I half expected Farran to go “One of these days Noelle – POW! To the moon!”

I wouldn’t mind it so much, except that I didn’t really identify with the characters. Noelle was a good heroine and pretty feisty, but Farran I found way too stoic. I understand his motivations, and that he had been hurt before, but the book really made no attempt to make him likeable – for me anyway, so I couldn’t really support him as a hero.

The other problem I had was that the pace was a little too slow for my liking. Despite the main plot being about demons versus Templars, there was very little action in it. I really could have done with more fight scenes to balance out the romance. Also, there was a plot where one of the Templars (I won’t reveal which one) was a traitor and on the side of the enemy. That didn’t go anywhere and I was a little disappointed. Although I'm guessing it will be resolved in future novels.

That being said, when there was action, it was fun to read and actually well described. Had there been more of this then it would have perfectly balanced the story. And I will admit that I did like the idea of Farran’s point of view being written in “Old English” style. That was actually handled very well and gave a nice twist to the book.

As a Romance novel, it will definately appease those who want a straight forward love story. For me personally though, I wanted the characters to have a little more personality and be a bit more likeable than they were. It wasn’t a bad novel by any means and Claire Ashgrove clearly is a master in this field. Myself, I just needed a little more action in it to balance the plot a little more as it was a bit slow for me.

PROS (Heaven):

• Written in an Old English style when Farran is talking, which is interesting.
• Some good fight scenes.
• Good as a standard romance novel.    

CONS (Hell):

• Characters a little bland.
• Pace is a little slow for my tastes.

Summary

Despite a few pacing issues and some slightly uninteresting characters, Immortal Surrender will be a good read for those who just want a standard Romantic novel that isn’t too hard to follow.  But for those who want something a little more action orientated, I can’t really recommend this one. It has lots of good ideas and, if it expands on them beyond just the standard love story concept, this could actually be an interesting and underrated book series.

FINAL SCORE: 3/5

Pandragon

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I was very lucky to be featured on Avery Olive’s blog last year for a special 13 Days of Christmas giveaway that she did, featuring my book Trapped on Draconica. Later in the year, she reviewed my book and gave it some very good comments – which I’m thankful for. In return, I promised that I would read her book A Stiff Kiss and do a review of it. Well, it took me a while – but I am finally now ready to fulfil my promise to her!

A Stiff Kiss is a book that has been getting some very positive reviews on Amazon/Goodreads – which is fantastic given that this is her first novel, so I’m pretty sure that I’m in for a great ride here! Of all the books I’ve read and reviewed, I’ve yet to review a Teen Romance novel (with the possible exception of The Pack: Retribution), so I’m kinda excited about this one. So let’s dive into A Stiff Kiss and see what I thought.

About The Author (provided by the author)

Avery Olive is proudly Canadian. She is married, and when she’s not helping raise her very energetic and inquisitive son, she can be found working on her latest novel-where she devilishly adds U's into every word she can.

When she is looking for a break Avery enjoys cake decorating, losing herself in a good book, or heading out to the lake to go camping.

The release of Avery's first novel proves to her it won't be the last. As long as her family continues to be supportive, she can find the time, and people want to read, Avery will keep on writing.

Important Links:

Avery Olive’s Blog: www.averyolive.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002656782468

A Stiff Kiss Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Stiff-Kiss/255522414458899

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/averyolive

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13411964-a-stiff-kiss

Crescent Moon Press: http://crescentmoonpress.com/index.html
 

A Stiff Kiss Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Kiss-Avery-Olive/dp/193725433X/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stiff-kiss-avery-olive/1108801919?ean=9781937254339&itm=1&usri=a+stiff+kiss

The Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Stiff-Kiss-Avery-Olive/9781937254339

KOBO : http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/A-Stiff-Kiss/book-EVkI1tu1i0aIblX9rTpFgQ/page1.html?s=rV2OQX8vnUy_80fF6iZxGQ&r=1

Cover

Considering how most Teen Romances tend to have bright colours, this one seems a little morbid at first look, with its dark colours and image of our heroine Xylia lying next to a graveyard. But death is the major theme in this book, as is Xylia’s obsession with it. The cover could have easily been just the two main characters on the front, looking at each other lovingly like so many other romantic books – but I actually like the fact that Avery Olive didn’t go with the obvious and just describe the theme of the book. I also like the way the kiss is drawn and coloured (as red is both the colour of love AND blood).

Overview

Since the death of her mother, Xylia has had an almost unhealthy obsession with death – visiting graveyards and supposedly haunted places. Her father is worried for her and tries everything to quell her obsession, but to no affect.

Landon is the school jock and rising football star (yes, I know he’s a soccer player – but I’m British and we call it football, dammit! Ok, rant over, lol), and Xylia is head over heels in love with him – despite the fact he’s already taken. During a football match, Landon drops and dies in the ambulance. Visiting him in the morgue, Xylia steals a kiss from Landon’s corpse, which brings him back to life!

It’s a classic tale – boy meets girl, boy dies, girl kisses boy, boy comes back to life, balance of life and death is thrown out. It’s a classic tale!

Ok, all fooling aside, I did actually think this was a very well done story. Each chapter is told from the point of view of the main characters, Landon and Xylia – so it was good to get the different viewpoints of the characters. And both the main characters are finely crafted and likeable – Xylia is morbid and somewhat emotionally detached, but does still have feelings and Landon is a bit arrogant and up his own backside, but also pines for a better life and his world is turned upside down when he’s brought back from the dead. At times, I found Xylia a bit mean-spirited and nasty, especially towards her dad – but then, she’s a teenager, which teenager isn’t a pain in the backside sometimes?

The secondary characters are very well detailed also. I particularly liked Xylia’s father – he brilliantly written as a sympathetic man still coping with the loss of his wife and dealing with the stress of a daughter with a dark obsession. He does do some things that upset Xylia, but at no point did I ever think he was a bastard in any way – he genuinely wanted to help his daughter and I did feel sorry for him when Xylia was horrible to him.

In actual fact, this book is much darker than you would think – it deals with themes of loss, death, depression and also letting go. It’s not the typical “high-school romp” that you get with most teenage stories – it has genuine depth and layers that most other books lack. Landon and Xylia help each other through their particular problems and both come out stronger because of it – through love. The emotion is definitely real and very moving.

But, as much as I loved this story, there were one or two little plot holes that come close to affecting the story. WARNING! The next part includes spoilers, so I’m going to write it in italics to show this.

Firstly, when Xylia and Landon go on their trip to various locations (graveyards and churches), Landon doesn’t seem to be recognised. Given that earlier in the novel, his death and resurrection is widely publicised, it seems strange that no one would recognise him, especially since this is the age of social media where news travels fast. That felt a little strange to me.

Secondly, throughout the story, Xylia and Landon are chased by a couple of “angels”. Both of them seem to want to take Landon back to the dead and restore the balance – but one of them seems to hesitate. Why is never explained, especially given that their mission is of utmost importance. Also, it’s never really explained HOW Landon came back to life through Xylia’s kiss.

Finally, the ending was just really confusing. Did Xylia go back in time? Was this another day? If so, why wasn’t Landon dead? And how did the gift appear in her bag? I have no problem with the book having a happy ending, but this ending I found a little disjointed and, again, not really explained very well.

Despite all this, I did enjoy reading this book very much and the above points could easily be overlooked given it’s a brilliantly written novel. I would gladly read another of Avery’s books in the future!

PROS (love conquers all):

• Primary and secondary characters written very well.
• Deals with a lot of real life issues not really looked at in most romance novels.
• Has real emotional depth.
• Romance is heart-warming and fans of romantic novels will love reading it.

CONS (dead man walking):

• One or two plot holes almost spoil an otherwise brilliant story.
• Very little is explained in the plot.

Summary

This one I highly recommend! Despite one or two plot holes, A Stiff Kiss has much more depth and emotional layers to it than most books I’ve read. Even the secondary characters have depth to them that makes them as interesting as the main ones – which is a rare skill in writing. Definitely one to check out – read it!

FINAL SCORE: 4/5

Pandragon

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“Revenge doesn’t have a name, but has chosen a victim...”

When the first part of a book blurb starts off like that you KNOW you are in for a pretty wild ride! And this book certainly doesn’t disappoint in terms of action. And considering that the author, LM Preston, was recently was voted number one downloaded free ebooks for her book Bandits, I can tell that this author is destined for good things!

So, without further ado, let’s get into the review of The Pack: Retribution, book 2 of The Pack series.

About The Author (taken from the author information on her website)

LM. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl.  With a thirst for knowledge she attended college at Bowie State University, and worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her first published novel, Explorer X - Alpha was the beginning of her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

Check out her other works and contact LM at her website:

http://www.lmpreston.com/index.html

Cover

A pretty standard cover – but it works for me. It shows our protagonist, Shamira, holding a sword and looking ready to cut someone’s head off. I wouldn’t want to be the poor sucker that gets in her way! I do also like the sun and fire effect behind her. Kind reminds of a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Overview

Now, I have to be honest, I haven’t actually read the first The Pack book, so I was going into this one a little bit blind. The first (minor) issue that I had was that the book kinda relies on you having read the first book before this one so that you know the characters and what has gone before. As such, I did end up getting a little lost now and then – fortunately the book did fill in the blanks for me and give some back story now and then, so I was able to catch up soon enough.

The plot involves a secret organisation targeting our protagonist, Shamria, by threatening her friends and family as sort of revenge for Shamria foiling the criminal organisation in the previous installment (like I said, I don’t know the full details as I never read the first one). Because of this, she has to forsake her boyfriend as a way of protecting him – kinda like Mary Jane in Spider-Man 3. The romantic subplot is pretty standard, but it works well within the context of the story. The story has a nice few twists in it as well to keep the reader interested.

On the whole, I found Shamira a very good heroine – in the same kinda vein as Buffy the Vampire slayer. She’s not as stoic as most heroes in this type of book and she does have enough of a personality to make her likeable. I will admit that there were times when I felt she was dangerously close to being a mary-sue – but on the whole she was pretty well rounded.

There is a lot of cool action in this book as well and the action rarely seems to stop. Shamira is often confronted with several enemies that she had to take down – it almost feels like a comic book come to life. It has its fair share of violence, but no more then I’d expect from a YA story. I have to be honest thought, I wasn’t too fond of Shamira using torture on a few enemies to get information, but that’s just a personal preference of mine and in no way a comment on the character.

As this was a book that was submitted to me in paperback form, I also had a chance to give my view on the printed version – something which I rarely get a chance to do. Overall, it was pretty good, formatted quite well and with little spelling errors (though I did spot a couple here and there). The paper used to print is just very slightly floppier and not as sturdy as most other books, but that’s a minor complaint.

I can’t really say too much else as I did enjoy it and don’t have many complaints about it. I think it would have helped if I read the first book first so that I could understand the characters a little more, but from what I got from this book I did feel like they were very well put together.

I’d say this is the type of novel that those who like The Hunger Games would enjoy. It has a lot of decent action and a kick-ass heroine that I’m sure will appear to many female readers. And for those who have read the first book I’m sure they will enjoy this one just as much.

PROS (eye for an eye):

1. Strong heroine with a great personality.
2. Lots of decent action.
3. Plot has some decent twists and turns.

CONS (best served cold):

1. Does kinda rely on you reading the first book before this one and it is a little easy to get lost if you don’t know the characters.

Summary

The Pack: Retribution is out next month and I recommend it highly if you want a good action story. For those who haven’t read the first one, I recommend you do that prior to this book’s release so that you can learn about the characters a little better. But if you have read the first one then I’m certain that this will be a satisfying read. This is an excellent YA novel with a very strong female lead.

FINAL SCORE: 4/5

Pandragon

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