Book Reviews

The Passenger By: Lisa Lutz

the-passenger-lisa-lutz

The Passenger By: Lisa Lutz

Plot:

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Spellman Files series, Lisa Lutz’s latest blistering thriller is about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it…

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time. She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past? With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.

Review:

I really loved the first few books in the Spellman Files, enough that Lisa Lutz almost became a must buy for me. However, I read her book Head you Lose and honestly didn’t like it too much. After reading the last Spellman Files book and The Passenger I think I know why Lutz isn’t a must buy for me. Her characters are very loose and fast with their morals.

The main character, that has several names, is a victim and at first I felt sorry for her. Something had clearly gone wrong for her and it was bad and not her fault, but the more I got to know the character the more I didn’t care. She was just so stupid. Part of that was because she was a teenager when event first happened, and other things I’m not going to go too into, but the book happened like ten years later. How had she not gotten any smarter?

At one point the main character has someone hold her up and she thinks of them as a thief, at no point in her journey does she really acknowledge all the bad she’s done. She is constantly defending her actions and even talks about the guilt she feels, but it doesn’t change anything for her. She still keeps doing the wrong things. It’s annoying.

I was disappointed by the story and I thought the ending was anti-climactic. Also reading the book blurb now I realize it’s misleading and I assumed a lot from it. Oh well.

2/5

Heart of Steel (The Iron Seas #2) By: Meljean Brook

Heart-of-Steel

Heart of Steel (The Iron Seas #2) By: Meljean Brook

Plot:

The Iron Duke introduced the gritty, alluring adventure of the Iron Seas. Now, Meljean Brook returns to the world where nanotech fuses with Victorian sensibilities—and steam. As the mercenary captain of Lady Corsair, Yasmeen has learned to keep her heart as cold as steel, her only loyalty bound to her ship and her crew. So when a man who once tried to seize her airship returns from the dead, Yasmeen will be damned if she gives him another opportunity to take control. Treasure hunter Archimedes Fox isn’t interested in Lady Corsair—he wants her coldhearted captain and the valuable da Vinci sketch she stole from him. To reclaim it, Archimedes is determined to seduce the stubborn woman who once tossed him to a ravenous pack of zombies, but she’s no easy conquest. When da Vinci’s sketch attracts a dangerous amount of attention, Yasmeen and Archimedes journey to Horde-occupied Morocco—and straight into their enemy’s hands. But as they fight to save themselves and a city on the brink of rebellion, the greatest peril Yasmeen faces is from the man who seeks to melt her icy heart.

Review:

Wow, those were some steamy sex scenes. Normally I end up skipping around those but holy cow, nice. They weren’t in your face too much, but they were hot.

Anyway, I read The Iron Duke, the first book in this series in 2012, loved it and then I don’t know what happened. This book has been on my kindle since then and I just didn’t read it. Not sure why because I ended up loving it.

Yasmeen was awesome as a heroine, she was so hard and filled with purpose. She knew what to do and did it, never backing down. I loved her. Archimedes was just as awesome because he recognized her strength and while he still wanted to protect her he didn’t try and take away any of her power. He accepted her for who she was and loved her because of it. I wish there were more books with couples like this cause they were incredible.

As much as I would love to jump into the next book in this series, I just bought a new phone and buying a kindle book for $7.99 is too much, so I’m having to wait on the library.

5/5

A Confusion of Princes By: Garth Nix

a-confusion-of-princes

A Confusion of Princes By: Garth Nix

Plot:

A grand adventure that spans galaxies and lifetimes, A Confusion of Princes is a page-turning thriller, a tender romance, and a powerful exploration of what it means to be human. includes exclusive bonus Garth Nix short story ‘Master Haddad’s Holiday’. I have died three times, and three times been reborn, though I am not yet twenty in the old earth years by which it is still the fashion to measure time. This is the story of my three deaths, and my life between. My name is Khemri. Taken from his parents as a child and equipped with biological and technological improvements, Khemri is now an enhanced human being, trained and prepared for the glory of becoming a Prince of the Empire. Not to mention the ultimate glory: should he die, and be deemed worthy, he will be reborn…Which is just as well, because no sooner has Prince Khemri graduated to full Princehood than he learns the terrible truth behind the Empire: there are ten million princes, and all of them want each other dead.

Review:

It took a while for me to get into this book, mainly because it had a teenage boy as the protagonist. I’m trying to steer clear of books with teenage boys as leads because I seriously cannot relate to them at all, but this was by Garth Nix, I had to read it.

The space setting was really cool and there was a LOT of tech and politics and stuff going on. The world was interesting, though, a bit more hopeless than I like.

Khemri was everything that I hope my children aren’t. Thankfully he grew as a character and that’s what made this book worthwhile. If he’d stayed how he was or only slightly changed it wouldn’t have been worth it, but he did.

Not my favorite Nix book, but it wasn’t bad, it’s also a standalone which feels rare now a days.

3/5

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) By: Patricia Briggs

fire-touched

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) By: Patricia Briggs

Plot:

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

Review:

At this point I’d read these characters doing their laundry and enjoy it. I seriously love Mercy and Adam and the entire bunch. That being said, this book wasn’t as—exciting, I guess, as previous books. Battles were fought, world plots moved forward, but the book didn’t grab me and refuse to let go like they normally do, maybe it’s because I never doubted that Mercy and Adam would figure everything out.

The beginning of the book presented a new problem, that I really wish they’d expounded on, but for the most part they just dealt with the Fae side of things. I wanted more detail, I wanted to know what else to expect. I really just want Adam and Mercy to become the rulers of the Tri-Cities and lord over everyone.

I love this series and couldn’t recommend it more. Unlike other series it hasn’t petered off with age, the characters are still fun, the world still interesting, this book wasn’t weak, it just wasn’t my favorite.

Now, I wait impatiently for the next Patricia Briggs book.

5/5

Calamity (Reckoners #3) By: Brandon Sanderson

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

Calamity (Reckoners #3) By: Brandon Sanderson

Plot:

When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.

David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners’ leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back…

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.

The last book in the series.

Review:

Sanderson really knows how to end a book. It’s always really exciting and has a ton going on, he’s not afraid to kill characters but he doesn’t go around killing everyone. I enjoy that, however, looking back, I’m not sure if I liked the Reckoners series.

I know, I know, I’ve given the previous two books 5 star ratings, but now looking back I’m not so sure. Maybe it was just Calamity that left me wanting, but I distinctly remember in Firefight, when Sanderson basically wiped out an entire team, not feeling anything. I guess it boils down to, I like the story in the Reckoners series, but I haven’t grown attached to the characters. Which, honestly is crazy because I get attached fairly quickly, I at least cry when people die, but each time someone died in this series the living characters didn’t really mourn so the impact of the loss didn’t hit me.

David was better in this book, he didn’t act like an idiot then have a flash of brilliance, but he wasn’t inspiring to me like he was to the other characters. He was supposed to be the new leader of the team and they certainly followed him, but why? He was smart and knew more than they did about the Epics, which is weird since their entire job was taking them out. Oh well, he was the brains they were the brawn.

The world was expanded and the ending opened up a whole slew of new possibilities which made me wish this wasn’t the last book. I liked the series, maybe I’m just down on it right now because I’m sick. I don’t know. It was good, but left me wanting.

4/5