See Jane Run:

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars. Recommendation: Eh, it wouldn't kill you to read this. 

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The Intrigue:

So listen, let's say you weren't you. Who would you be? Say one day you wake up, rifle through some of your parents crap and find something. A harmless little something that turns out to be less harmless than it had first appeared to be. Would you think simply because you've been lied to all your life that somehow you yourself are a lie? First, ask yourself what I found myself asking myself throughout Riley's adventure to find baby Jane: What makes up a person? 

So let me tell you something readers, if your still with me here trudging along through this absurdly long ramble of a book review. I did quite enjoy the beginning which is surprising for me because really have they not grown dull for you guys? It's always the same, introduction to a girl, most and underdog. Nothing remotely interesting happens until about thirty pages in (which if you ask me is really a waste of paper) and then bam a climax and shortly after: bam a falling action scene and again and again this plays out. 

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The Plot:

However this all being said, See Jane Run was just amusing, nothing more and nothing less. The "set-up" of characters wasn't so terribly long and tedious. It was enjoyable for a while (about the first 100 pages). Then I found myself at a stoping point where I was reading and realized there is only two ways this story can end. One seemed highly unlikely, so by default the other had to be true. After that I promptly and rather abruptly lost interest. Figuring out the "secret" does seem to make the plot useless, like treading water. 

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Bottom Line:

It was good, a nice read, albeit with a predictable plot line but not a mediocre book by any means. The structure was simple, world-building minimal, and character-building solid if semi-unrelatable.

Raised by Wolves:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Recommendation: You could read this, or you could not. 

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The Prose:

"Callum never used four words where one would do." (Bryn says descriptively of her legal guardian Callum as he scolds her into a confessing to her nights past misdeeds.)

One word then. Amateur. 

The writing style was in no way shape or form fluid. Pity. Because the concept of a girl raised from near birth in the woods by wolves was, needless to say, enough to pique my interest. It was a struggle honestly, I had to drudge through the monstrous writing style, like one drudges through swamp mud. Sometimes this feat was done without grace, and oftentimes with the use of far more curse words than I am comfortable admitting I know. But I stuck with it, solely for the plot and the strong heroine figure Barnes gave me. Four words to adequately describe this book's prose: "In Need of Revision." As the novel progressed and the story unwound itself I found myself adapting to the writing style and soon, dare say it, I fit with it like a old pair of faded Levi's. 

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The Girl With Too Many Names: Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare:

"'A kid from school offered me a ride on his motorcycle...I took it.'" (Bryn replies to Callum when he asks her about a stolen motorcycle report.)

Having come from a story where the main character had the backbone of slug and the self-esteem of a submissive introvert the dominating confidence ruffling off of Bryn was welcomed with open arms and stifled giggles at times. 

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The Intrigue:

"My entire body was shaking, and no matter what I said the ghosts dancing in the corners of my mind whispered that everyone did die." (Bryn says as Ali, her makeshift mother goes into a labor that very well could kill her.)

It is a slow going read, in which the author fully manages to impressively set up the world Bryn lives in. In fact, it was quite like the Twilight series, only without vampires and with a heroine who is able to defend herself from the onslaught of a supernatural's prowess. 

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Bottom Line:

The ending was bogus. So much so that I don't think I will even bother with the next two books in the series. I mean honestly you can't come back from that horrific ending. 

Promise of Shadows:

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Sure, read and be merry my fellow mythical creature lovers. 

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The Prose:

"I don't think I'll be kicking around here that long. Too many people want me dead. And the weather sucks." (Zephyr thinks as she contemplates how long she'll reside in the Pits of Tartarus shoveling piles of dirt around as half-bull-half-men wander around with whips.)

I thoroughly enjoyed Ireland's writing style. It was brisk and sharp like a double edged sword. One side sharp, one side dull. Prompt and glorious, it's dry wit malleable like molten smelted silver.  

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The Girl: Zephyr Mourning:

"I sigh, feigning boredom. 'What do you want? Can't you see I have a very important ditch to dig?" (Zephyr says to the Messenger of the gods aka Hermes after he's just got through killing a Fae for splashing mud on his couture.)

First off let us just take a moment to let the marvelousness of the girls name sink in. I mean is it not the exact name you expect to hear when you think: Harpy. Secondly let's discuss the character of the girl. Dry wit and logical emotional responses to horrid disastrous situations.  She's the sort of strong that isn't natural to come by, she doesn't have confidence in herself, she has to work for it. And there is something about that, that is just...so utterly refreshing. I, in the beginning, liked Zephyr's subtle backbone but then it started to get a bit mildly depressing the way she regarded herself as "less than" when she so clearly wasn't. I mean heck she did kill one of the "un-killables" didn't she. Take a bit of pride Harpy. I at points had myself thinking, throw her back in Tartarus for another year maybe the backbone will stick this time around. By the end I was completely done with Zephyr, she was a child, terrified and relying on other peoples strength and protection the entire novel, like a leech. A leech who constantly tells herself she's worthless. Talk about an endearing heroine. I sadly almost wanted Hera to kill her. Almost. 

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The Intrigue:

"They have a saying in the Underworld: Life's a bitch." (Zephyr thinks as she tries to reconcile what the prophesy says she must do and what she feels she wants to do instead. Run.)

I admit it was a wild ride. The adventure was demure and the sense of danger darkly electrifying (pun intended, if you've read the book). The rising action rose fast and the falling action stuck to the drumbeat of "slow and steady wins the race" just how I semi-like them to. I enjoyed the concept, anything to do with Greek or Roman mythology and I am hooked instantaneously. Literally. I thought the background information was well formed and that the author took liberties with the Classic Greek gods, the liberties turned out to work in this case. The development of each character was well-rounded and the perfect mix, I thought, of brief but explanatory.

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Bottom Line:

Con--The whole "Daddy kicks me because he loves me"mentality that Zephyr had going one was kinda disgusting, I'm not gonna lie. Anything remotely bad happens to her, and she thinks "I probably deserve it," or she runs away. Cowardice is not something I enjoy in my heroines.

Pro--It was a fast past read, the plot of Greek gods, and the concept of magic/power was unique.

A Breath of Frost:

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. 

Recommendation: Yeah, okay, sure. You can read this. Why not? Right. 

"Magic and witches and secret societies and murder."

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In an age were corsets are all the rage and women are supposed to be polite and silently fragile. Three cousins, one a lithe tomboy, one a perfectly curvy romantic searching for true-love, and one the belle, the beautiful girl with a sense of self preservation twisted up in love with a guy who is one moment distantly cold and in the next passionately smoldering. 

All threefold these daughters of earls live content and placid lives in London's sparkling aristocratic neighborhood. And all three discover the same thing, the sort of thing that leaves them remarkably stupefied. They are witches. Descendants of a long line of powerful regal witches. Follow these three young debutants as they attempt to blend their new magic with the duties of a proper lady who's trying to land a landed beau. 

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The Girl: Emma Charlotte Day:

"'I don't know your rules enough to break them.' But she was feeling decidedly in favor of learning them for the express purpose of demolishing them. Fear, apparently, made her contrary." (Emma says as she stands before the horrendously unmannered magisters of the Order. Whom, by the way seem to be in the business of torturing witches. Can anyway say Salem.) 

The gaul on this girl is marvelous. Given what she's been through and the horridness of being raised but a silent stoic father who is mainly absent from her life, I think the girl manages herself extraordinarily well. You know for a "pampered aristocrat".

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The Intrigue:

"It all came crashing back. 

Witchery.

The Order of the Iron Nail. 

Cormac...She was well and truly a prisoner of madmen." (Emma thinks to herself as she awakes in an albeit somewhat luxurious bedroom after having heard her sentence from the magisters.)

The girl barely becomes a witch and wham bam it's off with her head or rather in Emma's case to the river with lead slippers to see if she'll float. 

The poor girl and her cousins are chased by this secret society that somehow manages to micromanage witches. Then are ridiculously accused of (gasp*) murder. A finishing school, mystery gates to hell that periodically open and slam shut, and deer antlers are thrown into the mix so that by the end of this far-too elongated book (one could argue) I honestly was glad for it to be over. All the twists, turns, pivets, and bloody different p-o-v's was driving me bonkers. It's sort of like the author collapsed a dozen different albeit intertwined stories into one bursting at its seams novel. 

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Bottom Line:

Although I am sorry to say this, I shall: this book has made me realize there is such a thing as a "too long book." And yes I realize that is the most structured sentence in the world it does manage to get the point across well enough. By about page 270 things had taken a turn for the weird, and not the good weird mind you but the unsettling sort of weird that has a girl wondering 'Why?' Furthermore to my dismay the sense of adventure had died away, rather than fizzling like the slow crawl of a falling action normally does, it simply came to an abrupt disconcerting halt and then in a dozen or so pages the adventure like a rocket shooting into the sky would pick up again and form some sort of semi-ridiculous intrigue.

Kill Me softly:

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Recommendation: Positively, you should promptly stop what you are doing and read this marvelous creature of a thing. 

I admit at first I was skeptical, but by the tenth page I was hooked. The sort of hooked that has a girl staying up till 1:07 in the morning, eyelids drooping, and nerves tingling with exhaustion just to figure out all the complexities of this book. And which handsome devil-may-care brother is the brother to be rooting for. 

It was terribly lovely, sweetly-sickening knowing that this was a fairytale retelling, wondering who Mira was, and agonizing over which brother (Felix or Blue, older or younger) I was supposed to romancing backing. 

Bottom Line:

The whole thing was an interesting swell read. I adore fairytales and was appeased by this. The heroine was marvelous at times and at other times horridly pathetic (which I hated). The book seemed to me by the end to drag on I admit, and yet I feel like there is this whole last section that I missed. I am lacking a bit of finality to the book. 

Pretties:

My rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. 

Recommendation: Yes.

" The city always seemed to claim her in the end."

All I kept thinking throughout the entire book was, who the heck is Zane?

After Tally becomes pretty and is voted Crim everything changes. Quite literally, a costume party brings  New Rusties dressed as Specials and a bubbly feeling to Tally. And suddenly it is all Tally can do but stay bubbly. She adores the feeling and staying with Zane keeps her bubbly so what the heck right might as well kiss him. However, her bubbliness seems to be contagious and soon Tally is leading her and Zane's crims on an escape mission to New Smoke where her old ugly boyfriend is oh yes still awaiting Tally's return. Love triangles right. Always with the love triangles. 

Overall the writing is the same, just fine. Odd words that were used in the first book are carried over and used more frequently. Almost annoyingly. If I never hear "Bubbly"used as an adverb again I may be able to forget the horridness I had began to feel towards the middle of the book. I strongly dislike love triangles and so at first hated Zane. However, I am a sucker for a pretty face so I caved by the end of it. There wasn't as much adventure in this book as there was in the previous one which I missed. But I am intrigued with what Tally finds out in the woods and just what the writer will have her do about it in the next installment.