Review: Arcana Rising by Kresley Cole

Title: Arcana Rising

Author: Kresley Cole

Series: The Arcana Chronicles #4

Publisher: Valkyrie Press

Publication date: August 15th 2016

Format: Kindle 

Genre: YA | Fantasy | Dystopia

Goodreads

Losses mount and deadly new threats converge in this next action-packed tale of the Arcana Chronicles by #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole. 


When the battle is done . . . 

The Emperor unleashed hell and annihilated an army, jeopardizing the future of mankind--but Circe struck back. The epic clash between them devastates the Arcana world and nearly kills Evie, separating her from her allies. 


And all hope is lost . . . 

With Aric missing and no sign that Jack and Selena escaped Richter's reach, Evie turns more and more to the darkness lurking inside her. Two Arcana emerge as game changers: one who could be her salvation, the other her worst nightmare. 


Vengeance becomes everything. 

To take on Richter, Evie must reunite with Death and mend their broken bond. But as she learns more about her role in the future--and her chilling past--will she become a monster like the Emperor? Or can Evie and her allies rise up from Richter's ashes, stronger than ever before?

My thoughts:

That ending. Whaaaaaat. I’m just blown away right now. 

 

 

I was scared I would be disappointed with this book considering so much has happened over the series so far. I just couldn’t imagine much more happening. But no, stuff happened. Stuff happened and it blew my mind.

This book was a perfect blend of character and plot development. While not as much happened in term of the fight between the Arcana, new alliances were formed in unexpected ways and a lot was revealed about the characters.

I do have to mention that I’m so glad I read Day Zero before this. It made such a big difference to the story to know what went on with each character before they made an appearance in Arcana Rising. Some new characters made an appearance and it was so much less confusing having already read their situation.

I am a little disappointed that Cole didn’t reveal a secret that I’m sure a lot of readers are wondering about…Jack. I need to know! I’m so much more excited for the next book because of Jack. I need to know what his deal is. I won’t say anymore for fear of spoilers but there are so many questions after reading this. I need my answers.

Also, this book ends on a cliffhanger. Guys, I think Evie has issues. I’m so intrigued as to what’s happened with her. It’s so weird - I was reading just assuming Evie was her usual self and then just BAM - nope turns out everything has just been turned on its head.

I honestly have no idea where this series is going to go from here. I love it.

My rating: 10/10 

Kresley Cole:

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Day Zero by Kresley Cole

Title: Day Zero

Author: Kresley Cole 

Series: The Arcana Chronicles #3.5

Publisher: Valkyrie Press

Publication date: August 1st 2016

Format: Kindle | 174 pages

Genre: YA | Fantasy | Paranormal

Goodreads

Arcana means secrets, and these Arcana Chronicles short stories from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole are filled with them. Experience firsthand the beginning of the end and behold the apocalypse through the eyes of characters you only thought you knew. 

Ashes to ashes . . .

Evie Greene’s story of the Flash is just one of many. All over the world, those connected in some way to the lethal Arcana game—like Death, Jack, and Fortune—must first survive a horrifying night of blood and screams. 

We all fall down.

Some will have to grapple with new powers; all will be damned to a hellish new existence of plague, brutality, desolation, and cannibalism. Find out who they lost, why they endure, and what they sacrificed in order to live past Day Zero. . . .

My thoughts:

I’m a serious fan of the Arcana Chronicles. Like big time, jump around when I find out another book is coming out, hold my breath when a character is in danger until I almost pass out kind of fan. Love these books.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, when I saw that Day Zero was going to give us a little bit of an insight into each Arcana’s Flash story I got really excited. 

For those not familiar with this series, the Flash is what Cole called the event that ultimately led to an apocalypse type environment. Fire raining down, oceans drying up, disease spreading like wildfire - you get the drill. Each of the characters in this series has their own story and it was, in part, why I liked them so much.

Before I even fully get into this novella I loved getting to know more about the main players. There are so many characters at play in this series that it’s amazing how all of them are so essential. I love most of these characters for one reason or another so to find out more about them and to have them be made even more three dimensional was brilliant. 

Since this is a novella it makes for a really quick but interesting read for fans of the series. There are some characters included that we hardly know anything about, but now I know I won’t be able to read the next book without some heartstrings being tugged at.

My favourite story was The World’s experience. Also known as Tess, she came across as kind of a weakling in the last book even though her powers are not to be laughed at. She didn’t have much control over anything but also, she didn’t have much of a presence in the story apart from one instance. I love Tess. Oh my God I’m already dreading what’s going to happen to her. She’s so sweet.

Joules ( The Tower) and Finn ( The Magician ) were both big surprises. Where Tess proved her strength, Finn and Joules came across as so much more sensitive than before. The emotion that came from both of those characters really touched me. Both of them are putting up a huge front and it’s amazing.

The only criticism I have is that I wanted something a little different from Evie’s perspective. Instead it was a recap of how the Flash went down in Poison Princess and while it was nice to think back and realise how much things have changed in a few books, I would have liked something different.

For fans of this series, I definitely recommend you read this novella. It will definitely change how you see the characters. For those of you who haven’t picked up this series yet, please do it’s brilliant.

My rating: 9/10 

Kresley Cole:

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Review: Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake

Title: Thief of Lies

Author: Brenda Drake

Series: Library Jumpers #1

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Publication date: January 5, 2016

Format: Kindle | 400 pages

Genre: YA | Fantasy 

Goodreads

 Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels - magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books - rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren't busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed.

My thoughts:

This was, I'm sorry to say, not a great read to start off the year with. I had so many problems with it, I can't even remember what I liked about it.

What I didn't like about this read ended up coming together into this convoluted mess where I started to hate any and all the characters and whatever was going on made no sense to me. It became so tedious to read and that, in turn, frustrated me to no end so it was just a cycle of generally not enjoying myself.

I will say, at the beginning, I liked the characters. I liked the relationships they had going and I liked all the different personalities going on. Arik in particular.

I think where it started to go downhill for me was when I noticed this repitition of the characters doing the same thing and generally having the same conversations. Not just in the sense that they would go to the same places over and over again but in the sense that every single supporting character was in some kind of romantic relationship. Why? There were a lot of characters to be paired up. So throughout the read there was no end to the protagonist noticing how other characters felt about each other, being curious about it, and asking if that's the case. Like 500 times. Not really, but it felt like it after a while.

The pacing was also a big problem for me. As in, there was none. So much happens in this book that I couldn't keep up and got so confused. It made everything seem so muddled and of course that caused me to see the characters as unbelievable and unrelatable since I was so confused but they were taking stuff all in their stride.

It might have been me, but the world this book was set in wasn't clear enough. I was fine at the beginning, but when things started happening too quickly I felt like a runner who'd been left behind after tripping up. I was just watching everything else race ahead of me. Everything going on was meant to be exciting! There was action - fighting sequences left and right, magic training, people being kidnapped and endless romances. The pacing of this read killed all of it. By the way, pair all that with the introduction of a love triangle. No thanks.

I genuinely feel this book needed to be cut in half. I can even imagine at what point in the story it would have been perfect to end it at. Everything could have happened at a slower, more relative pace and I most likely wouldn't have had anywhere near as much of a problem as I did.

All in all this was a disappointing read that had a lot of potential. The original aspect of 'library jumpers' held no excitement when I could see no end in sight to the story.

My rating: 4/10

Brenda Drake:

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Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee

Title: Angelfall

Author: Susan Ee

Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1

Publisher: Hodder

Publication date: 23 May 2013

Format: Paperback | 336 pages

Genre: YA | Fantasy

Goodreads

It ha been six weeks since the angels returned to earth and destroyed the world as we know it.

When they fly away with a helpless little girl, her sister Penryn will do anything to get her back…

My thoughts:

How has it taken me so long to get to this book? I'm fangirling so hard right now...

I loved this read. I loved, loved, loved this read. Guys…I really loved this book.

Raffe was just yum and Penryn was such an amazing heroine. They both kicked backside to next Tuesday and it was awesome. This duo is seriously one of the best things ever.

I don't even know what to say…I just can't even.

This book had everything I like in a read. It had tension between characters, I mean, they're meant to be enemies but Penryn is desperate to get her sister back. There's suspense coming out of your ears, there's loads of action that has you reading pages over and over again out of excitement and there's a little humour thrown in for good measure.

I don't have a bad thing to say about this one and I know that I'll never get sick of rereading it. I can't wait to get the next two. Please check this one out if you haven't. It's something special.

My rating: 10/10

Susan Ee:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter

Penryn & the End of Days:

1. Angelfall
2. World After
3. End of Days

 

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