Tag Archive: fantasy



Catacombs (Tales of the Barque Cats #2)Catacombs by Anne McCaffrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am so glad I was able to pick this up from my local electronic library, both the Kindle and the audio versions. I’m also glad I was able to purchase and read the first book in this series. It made this book easier to understand to know what happened before. But I think it might’ve been understandable to read it without the first book and still get it. Oh, how I miss Anne McCaffrey!

My favorite parts were the polydactyl cats who are proven to be the earliest space explorers landing in Egypt helping with the engineering of the pyramids, etc. With so many fingers and toes, and trained to use them in the ways humans use their fingers they were able to do far more than humans could.

This is my kind of space travel sci-fi getting to know other planets at the creatures. Getting to know the process of being in outer space for long periods of time. Done the way only Anne McCaffrey could.

If you get the chance please read these two books they may seem silly on the surface but they are deeper than they seem.

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Catalyst (Tales of the Barque Cats, #1)Catalyst by Anne McCaffrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While perusing my local library system’s site of ebooks and audios I saw the second book in this series by one of my favorite authors, Anne McCaffrey. Well, I hate starting in the middle of a series so I bought the first one and the Audible version to go with it.

If you love cats and space travel adventures, this is the book for you. I thought it was going to be too much fluff, a childish book, a book about kitty cats. I was wrong. This gave a new perspective about cats and space travel.

I just happen to have a polydactyl black cat and I have wondered if, with the right training, all those toes could be used like our hands. Could she be a Barque cat? Could she fly a space ship? My husband and I spend our retired days trying to read our cats’ and new dog’s minds. Sometimes we think we know them pretty well. We provide the words to the bubbles over their heads. Just imagine if instead of watching the mice for entertainment if they could kill the space alien?

Anyway, this was fun and I didn’t stop between the two books and got right into book two. I have to admit to wishing there was more! R.I.P. Anne McCaffrey. I miss you!

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Keep Austin Weird: A Lesbian Superhero Love Story for Grown-UpsKeep Austin Weird: A Lesbian Superhero Love Story for Grown-Ups by Mary Jane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Was this a waste of time? I don’t know. I liked being reminded of Boba Tea. I like that one of the main characters was able to see into other people’s future so they could become their best selves. But honestly I felt cheated for the most part. I felt the characters were rather flat. The relationships were weird. There was crying that seemed unnecessary. Come to find out, the author is not female. Mary Jane is a male writing about a lesbian couple. Sure he saved himself some remnant of grace in that he didn’t try to throw in deep emotional feelings or erotic entanglements. That is always a tell-tale sign of honesty. And he must be writing what he knows and loves with ‘super powers’ and the tea. But the book was just too hard to get into and truly enjoy.

Worst of all? It is all written in present-tense. Except in action-pack books, I find this trick to be disarming. It makes the story so unreal. Ugh!

But plenty of people love this book, so go for it. You may like it too!

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Demon Street Blues (Wicked Good Witches #1)Demon Street Blues by Starla Silver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Okay, I finished this book during a witchy book marathon. The two books before this one were: To Catch Her Death (Grim Reality, #1)

To Catch Her Death (Grim Reality, #1) and the second of the Accidental Leigh series, Serious Leigh (Literal Leigh Romance Diaries, #2)

Serious Leigh (Literal Leigh Romance Diaries, #2). Somehow my reviews got mixed up and into the Demon Street Blues series first book. I think it may have to do with the Grim Reality and this book having blue covers. So sorry for any confusion my own confusion added. But this is for Demon Street Blues, for sure!

Those previous books were more humorous compared to this one. This book takes itself more seriously. The story being about a young witch whose parents passed in an unknown manner. She is struggling to come back to reality from a mental break down leaving her agoraphobic. Her brothers are there to help her. They are witches, also. One is a sensitive that can sense how a person died. The other brother has been bitten by a werewolf so his future is very unsure. A family friend has lived with the family for generations. He is a vampire. Our main character, Melinda finds herself falling in love with the vampire. So already, from the start, I am not as in love with this book as the books before. I don’t care for vampires and that ooey-gooey, sparkly, bloody mess.

Even so I did like this book and wanted to know what would happen. Just don’t expect to laugh. I was interested enough to read the next book. And now I have even finished that one. All three of the first books of this series were free when I got them. Still are. I can’t afford to buy the next as I am only buying things that have to do with the move looming in my future. After the moneys settle I will come back and finish this series.

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To Catch Her Death (Grim Reality, #1)To Catch Her Death by Boone Brux

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

That was fun! If you like dark humor like the show, ‘Dead Like Me’, this may be up your alley. It is a quick read but not so quick that you feel cheated. I loved the main character, Lisa Carron, widow, mother of teens, and now, whether she wants it or not, Grim Reaper. Be aware, this is funny. I laughed out loud a couple times even though it was time to be quiet and get ready to sleep.

This book made me want to read book two, but I just can’t afford it yet. (Trying to save money for the move coming up.) But when I can I look forward to reading more about this wonderful reaper of death and her family.

By the way, I read this using the British female text-to-speech on 2x speed. Maybe that means nothing to you, but to me the TTS is very important to my reading experience and I think it plays well this story.

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Time and Time AgainTime and Time Again by Q. Kelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, this was fun. And different. But it is what I expect from Q. Kelly. I love the way she writes. I love her characters and her world building. Her plots are always just a little surprising and fun.

Don’t get me wrong, This story deals with some depressing issues, death and loss. But ghosts are involved and love. Lots of love. And growing of characters.

This story seems to be a short one as it stops midstory. But turn the page and a whole other twist arises. Nope. Not telling. Spoilers!

What pulls you in at the beginning of the story is the children who are now ghosts. Their world is just the vacation cabin and a small amount of land surrounding it. It is from their point of view. Gradually we get to know the author who is stuck at that cabin with writer’s block. Can you see the fun you are about to take by joining them her their world? You will be inhabiting many POVs by the end, but they all help the story to grow.

Though this book includes some lesbian love, it is mild for the straights that might find that sort of thing offputting. There is just so much love of all kinds in here that it all equals out. And it makes you think… what if????? I like those kinds of stories. But that is a hallmark style for Ms. Kelly. I love how she cooks a story to perfection. I was going to just give this four stars. But I think I will give five. I know I will think back to this story Time and Time Again, again. 😉 I may even need to reread it to delve into this vacation space again.

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Innocence Lost (For Queen and Country, #1)Innocence Lost by Patty Jansen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having finished Crux, then the prequel to this book, Whispering Willows, I was still not ready to go to sleep. So I thought I’d get started on this one. Yet, it was too short to do the job. I mean it did a good job getting me involved in the story and wanting to know more…then it ended. And the worst kind of ending! Yes, a cliffhanger! Argh! I hate those! Just as I finally am invested in the characters and outcome, it ends. The sad part of that trick is that if the next were free or even $.99 I would have grabbed it up and started reading. But this is just beyond my reach right now. By the time I remember that I need to read book two, I won’t care. Especially if it is long enough away to require a reread of book one. Note to self: Don’t do this when publishing my own books!

Now the story itself isn’t about the girl in the prequel, Loesie, though she plays a very pitiful part. I mean, you will pity that poor girl. Rather, it stars Johanna, a girl lucky enough to be a merchant’s daughter and high enough on the status scale to be invited to the ball. But Johanna wants nothing to do with frills and fashion of the day. She wants fun and adventure. Be careful what you wish for? She asks the question, if the aim for a young woman is to be married, why are so few of the married ladies happy. That attitude makes it well worth the read! Johanna is strong and cares about others. Cliffhanger be damned, she is worth learning more about. AND Johanna can ‘hear’ the willows just like Loesie. And she has more opportunities to do something about the warnings.

This is a bit of a cautionary tale about organized religion and reflects our own history of the witch trials. I found Ms. Jansen’s take on the subject refreshing. Again, that makes it worth the read. All in all, I think, if you can afford it, that this is a fun adventure and worth pursuing through the series.

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Dark Currents (Agent of Hel, #1)Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is for Kindle Version ASIN: B008RD2W58. And the Audible version.

Yeah.

Before I got mired down in the mystery and ghostly farts of Temple Secrets, I finished reading Dark Currents. I bought the Kindle and Audible versions a long time ago (a year, I think). I finally got into it, Friday, I think. It seems so long ago. Wish I would have remembered to write the review right after, but something happened and I only just saw that I hadn’t given this book it’s due.

First of all, I love Jacqueline Carey’s writing. I read almost all her stuff a while back. I still love her Kushiel’s Legacy series the best. This is a little different in that it is more on the lines of the demony-werewolfie stuff I have been reading a lot lately (wave to Sara Reine). Still Ms. Carey had a new take on the genre. I loved her characters and world. It all seemed believable, well, sort of.

Second, the narrator, Johanna Parker, was fantastic! She could change her voice according to character or mood and keep the story moving.

Oh and a note about the cat. Geeze, now I can’t remember his name. He was adorably real among all the werewolves, mermaids and other fantasy beings. As tense as the story got sometimes, Ms. Carey kept the banter light enough to not get to be too much.

There is a bit of romance but not sickeningly so. Mostly it is about Daisy, the half-demon, Hel’s agent (the goddess not the place), trying to live a useful life in this town full of fantasy creatures. And she and her partner have to solve a murder. Difficult enough with merely humans involved, but how did the boy die in salt water in Lake Michigan, fresh water?

Though the book didn’t leave us on a cliffhanger, I find myself wanting to enjoy the characters and the town more. So Now that I have my free credit on Audible I will download that version and buy the Kindle version when I get paid. I look forward to more.

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Atlantis RiptideAtlantis Riptide by Allie Burton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have always wanted to be a mermaid. I lived for my time in the water. I never understood my friends who spent hours working on their tans when a perfectly good body of water was there calling me. In late grade school, early junior high, my brother and I walked three miles over a hill. We stopped at the bottom of the hill where my aunt lived so we could get a drink of her Sparkletts water then continue our walk to the pool. There we would pay our first dime for the first session of swimming (I think it was an hour and a half) then we’d dry off and hang out in the park until the second session. Then we’d pay our second dime and swim some more. After all that swimming we would walk back to our aunt’s for another drink then attack that three-mile-hike over the hill. I loved summer and all that swimming! A secret I learned later was that our aunt would call our mom each time we stopped so that Mom would know we were okay. Thank goodness I wasn’t raised now. I can’t imagine not having that kind of freedom. Anyway, I say all this because I still wish I was a mermaid. The only difference now is that I cannot handle cold water with my fibro. I miss swimming so much. Thereby, I read.

I must have really wanted to read this book. I picked it up twice from BookRooster.com then once again for free on Amazon. (It is free right now.) The version I read was the BookRooster as I can listen and read on the same machine (MoonReader Pro). By the way, I don’t know what’s up with BookRooster site. I can’t seem to find it so I won’t be able to post the review with them. Anyone know what’s up with them?

Back to the book. It is a Young Adult/Romance. Romance is the part I hate most. For all the angst wondering about the love interest, this mermaid could have been swimming and enjoying the flora and fauna beneath the waves. More time could have been spent talking about the freedom there is in swimming, the sensations of water as the body slices through it. But the author did give me the best gift: if you are a mermaid you don’t notice the change in temperatures. Your body can stand the cold of deeper water or the heat of being near the volcanic vents. Now I wish I were a mermaid even more. Oh, and if a mermaid breathes into an air breather more than 5 times an air breather can then live in the water as a merperson. Where do I find a merperson to do this for me?

Romance or not, I was happy that this poor mermaid found a friend who cares for her since her life didn’t seem to have much of that. And having this extra person to help her opens her life for new experiences. I don’t know if my writing is coming across rather haltingly, I am trying not to give spoilers. Hope I succeeded at piquing your interest in reading this book without giving too much away.

This book is part of a series, but the book didn’t leave the reader on a cliffhanger. Whew! I was glad about that. It did leave me wanting to see what happens next. So as soon as I can afford it I will pick up the next in the series. My inner mermaid needs more!

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Legend (Legend, #1)Legend by Marie Lu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am SO impressed with this series! Especially since I had to read it backward. For the most part, I read it on my local library’s Kindle and listened to the library Overdrive version. This last book, book one, I actually had had the chance to buy the Audible version. I figured I will eventually buy all of this series (Kindle and Audible) so that someday I would read it in the correct order. If it is good and held together reading it the way I did, imagine how good it is reading it the right way!

Spoilers are hard to avoid as I write this. In fact, I thought by knowing what was to come I wouldn’t be able to continue. Then something happened between Metais and Day. Something seemed off as I remembered what was to happen in book two. Luckily, by the end of book one that issue revealed itself properly. Everything else held together very well. Again, I am so impressed with the world, characters and story that Marie Lu (author) built.

In this first book, you get to see how June and Day meet and start falling for each other. I had wondered about that. You get to see how Day meets Tess. You actually meet Day’s family. You meet all the people who play crucial roles later in the series and now you know why (if you read it back to front, that is).

Yesterday, I saw that Legend is on sale on Amazon. It is $3.00. If you can, I suggest you buy it. If I had more than a dollar to my name, I would buy it now. Alas, that will have to wait.

Now a comment on the narration by Mariel Stern and Steven Kaplan who play June and Day respectfully. I don’t know if this is their first narration gig or if they were finding their voices to these characters, but this one felt like they were new. Especially, Mariel Stern, whose voice appeared higher and a little crackly in comparison to the later books. Maybe she was attempting to sound younger? And, of course, if they recorded them in order that would still be the case, right? But as this story continues both voices become stronger and true to the characters. I was often in a situation where wearing headphones and listening were impossible and I had to read the book strictly by sight, and there were times my eyes were tired and I just listened, either and both methods hold up and maintain a fantastic story. An author who writes very well, combined with narrators who read very well, makes a wonderful experience, even in a dystopian world.

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