Patricia Briggs

Wild Sign

Wild Sign (Alpha and Omega #6)

By: Patricia Briggs

Blurb:

In the wilds of the Northern California mountains, all the inhabitants of a small town have gone missing. It’s as if the people picked up and left everything they owned behind. Fearing something supernatural might be going on, the FBI taps a source they’ve consulted in the past: the werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham. But Charles and Anna soon find a deserted town is the least of the mysteries they face.

Death sings in the forest, and when it calls, Charles and Anna must answer. Something has awakened in the heart of the California mountains, something old and dangerous — and it has met werewolves before.

Review:

At book six in the Alpha and Omega series, we know the characters pretty well. And that’s kind of the problem with Wild Sign. I liked the story, but it conflicts with information learned in previous books in the series as well as in the Mercy Thompson series.

The government approaches Anna and Charlies to aid in the locating of a small commune that has disappeared. Since it’s on pack land, they agree to help and sidestep the request to join an alliance. The idea of an alliance is cool, and much like in Fair Game with its whole legal side of the story, nothing comes of that. The characters and what they do are the focus and not what’s going on in the world. This is perfectly okay, but I wish the characters had a larger role in the big issues.

Anyway, we end up finding a lot out about Lead, the Marroks wife. Her character in this Wild Sign doesn’t mesh with how she’s acted before. Neither does how the Marrok seems to feel about her. I went back and re-read Cry Wolf, and those changes really stand out. Leah is a bitch. She’s mean and openly hates everyone. We find out why she’s angry and filled with hate, but I didn’t feel like it explained all she’d done in the past. She’s described as a genuinely horrible person in other books. She’s tried to kill Mercy, and she’s said awful things to Anna. We’re supposed to believe it’s all because of memories she didn’t have until this book and because Bran doesn’t love her. Yet she’s also this super strong person that doesn’t care about anyone. It’s a bit of a stretch for me.

Wild Sign makes you question everything you’ve ever thought about Leah and her relationship with Bran. Revelations are made about how they became a couple, and it makes her even more sympathetic. Honestly, Bran does not come off well in this story. I hope there is some character repair in future books because my opinion of him has dropped.

All that being said, I enjoyed Wild Sign, which was a relief because I wasn’t a fan of the previous Patricia Briggs book. I prefer the Mercy Thompson series, and I wish the Alpha and Omega series tackled bigger world issues, but the characters are still entertaining and the stories fun.

3.5/5

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Burn Bright

Burn Bright (Alpha and Omega 5) By: Patricia Briggs

Plot:

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf–but can’t stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills–his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker–to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn…

Review:

Like all Patricia Briggs books I put off reading this as long as I could because I wanted it to last. Unfortunately, for the first time from her, I was disappointed.

When last we left Charles and Anna they were thinking about expanding their family, it wasn’t even brought up once in this book. It starts off with Anna feeling slightly dissatisfied with her life, since she became a werewolf nothing that she’d planned turned out how she wanted. I was hoping for some movement there but the book ended without really addressing it. Basically, she realized that she was going to live a long life so there was plenty of time to get around to doing what she wanted. Which is kind of stupid because the rest of the book was spent with Charles protecting her or almost dying.

Charles is really starting to annoy me, he’s forever thinking about how awesome his mate is, how strong and capable, and then he protects her from everything. I understand he’s an alpha werewolf and protects, but it’s just become too much for me.

I did enjoy getting to see more of the workings of Aspen Creek, but even that was a bit disappointing. A character that had been introduced in previous books ended up being a traitor and a new evil was presented but it was all a bit sloppy.

Burn Bright ended up dragging a fair amount for me. There was lots of talking and walking and buildup and while the last fight and revelation were good I was disappointed in the book as a whole.

Obviously, I’m still going to buy Patricia Briggs books day one, but I’m kind of concerned about the future for both of the series.

3/5

Dynamite Review Best of 2017

Movies

1.      Thor: Ragnarok – I don’t get to watch new movies much as they come out, but I was so lucky to get to see this in theaters. It was AWESOME! I’ve already pre-ordered the steelbook from Best Buy, I got the theatrical poster off of Disney Movie Rewards and it’s framed and in my kids bathroom, and I can’t wait to watch it again and again.

2.     John Wick 2 – Great action movie and addition to the series. Awesome world, I’m interested in the Stars series that’s potentially coming out.

3.     Kingsman: The Golden Circle – In your face, over the top action.

4.     Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – While not as good as the previous one I loved so many things about this movie. The colors, the characters, the relationships. I’m so glad that this is part of the Marvel Universe.

5.     Spider-Man: Homecoming – I really enjoyed this movie but what’s potentially more important, my daughter loves this movie.

6.     Moana – This is more an honorable mention since it came out in 2016 not 2017. Love the music and the story, reminds me of the Disney I grew up with.

Books

1.      White Hot by Ilona Andrews – The long awaited sequel to Burn for Me, so good.

2.     Wildfire by Ilona Andrews – Love this series so much, want more. Wasn’t too happy with the ending, but still love.

3.     Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan – Beautiful art, interesting story, need some answers though. The only comic I pre-order.

4.     The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague – Picked this up randomly and I ended up loving it. So happy when that happens.

5.     Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs – Not my favorite Patricia Briggs book, too many Doctor Who references, lots of other little things, but still a Patricia Briggs book so it’s going on the list!

6.     Heartstrikers Series by Rachel Aaron – This series didn’t come out last year, though they did have a book release that I haven’t read yet, but I had to put it on the list because I enjoyed it so much.

7.     The Guardians Trilogy by Nora Roberts – This is the kind of Nora Roberts series that I love. It didn’t come out in 2017, but after being wary of starting it because of her more recent books I got to it late.

TV Shows

1.      The Crown – I resisted watching this because I heard so much praise, but I’m glad I finally did. I destroyed the second season that recently aired and I honestly think it might be better than the first. Amazing show.

2.     Sense 8 – I love this idea so much and the second season wasn’t as slow as the first. The ending killed me and then when they canceled it, ugh, I never do TV show petitions but I signed them all. I canceled Netflix for the first time in years. I was furious. I’m hoping that the movie will be able to wrap things up but I seriously don’t see how that’s possible. I’ll probably never keep Netflix running continuously because of how they did this show.

3.     The Good Place – I had no desire to watch this last year, it just didn’t seem that funny to me. I ended up having the end of season one spoiled for me and that changed everything. I was able to binge the first season on Netflix and I’ve watched every episode of the second as it’s aired. So freaking funny.

4.     The Orville – Wow, I had no expectations for this show. I had hopes, but because of Seth MacFarlane I didn’t have many. I was certainly surprised and this has ended up being one of my favorite shows of the year. It’s like getting new episodes of Star Trek, only instead of the Enterprise team we’ve got the D tier crew. The jokes don’t always land and they’re reusing a lot of Star Trek plots, but I don’t care. I’m so glad that this has been picked up for a second season and I’m hoping that they continue to find their footing.

5.     Future Man – Loved this, it was so crude and hilarious and just came out of nowhere. Time travel, video games, the 80s, James Cameron’s AI, a terrible future, so many things that add up to funny. So glad we’re getting a second season.

6.     Legion – This is not my usual type of show. It’s wild and out there and very trippy. The only reason I watched it was because I needed something to keep me up during late night feedings and I ended up staying up just to finish episodes. Half the time I’m not sure what’s going on, but I honestly didn’t care. They gave just enough answers not to drive me crazy, but still left me needing to know more.

7.     Black-ish – I just discovered Black-ish this year and thank goodness Hulu has all of the episodes. Most episodes are nice, funny episodes, but the episodes that aren’t, the episodes where they “teach” you something are so good. This year there was one about postpartum depression that really resonated with me.

8.     Life in Pieces – I laugh in every single episode of this show. Love it.

9.     The Librarians – The third season was probably the weakest so far and I’m not overly thrilled with all that’s going on in the fourth season but I seriously can’t think of anything that would have me stop watching this.

 

Games

1.      Splatoon 2 (Switch) This was hands down my favorite game of the year. In an alternate universe I went pro, built a brand, and lived the life of the rich and famous.

2.     Stardew Valley (Switch) After putting in 160 hours on the PC version you’d think I’d be done with this game, but nope. As soon as it came out on the Switch I bought it and started all over again. Aided by the amazing guide my husband bought me for Christmas 2016 I’ve been chipping away at all the in game achievements.

3.     Lego City Undercover (Switch) I beat this once, then got halfway through beating it again before Splatoon 2 came out. I still plan on going back and working on unlocking everything, though, it’s not a priority because I certainly got my money out of this.

4.     Delicious Emily Home Sweet Home (PC) Really liked the story in this one, young married couple with a little kid get their dream house and fix it up. If I was crazy and didn’t mind construction around toddlers I could totally do this too.

5.     Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) I’m stretching things a bit including this to my list. I got it for Christmas after trying it out at Red Box and finding it interesting enough to try more. I didn’t start playing it until December 31st and at this point I’m only a couple hours in, however, I love the idea a lot. I love that she’s a real looking woman and she’s kicking ass. So far they haven’t put her in super revealing clothes which is nice too. The world is interesting, however, I wish I didn’t have to use a bow and arrow. If I ever beat it, or put a significant amount of time in I’ll write a review.

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10) By: Patricia Briggs

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10) By: Patricia Briggs

Plot:

In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy’s bond with the pack—and her mate—is broken, she’ll learn what it truly means to be alone…   Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes—only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe…   Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…
 

Review:

I put off reading this book as long as I could because I just knew that it would swallow me whole and I wouldn’t want to do the things that I needed to do, like take care of my children. When I finally did start reading, I didn’t have a difficult time putting it down. Part of that was because I’m so behind on sleep and some of the time I was reading was during night time nursing sessions. The other part of that was because I just didn’t like the story as much.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I love the characters, Mercy, Adam, and all the side characters, but most of them weren’t even in the story. Mercy was in Europe because she was abducted by the Lord of the Night or whatever he called himself. He’s been mentioned in other books and I was expecting someone super scary or something and he was a major let down. Adam was of course there, but the rest of the pack wasn’t. Also, I totally guessed the big “twist” and wasn’t shocked by it at all.

I love Patricia Briggs and everything that she’s written and I’d really love to give this book 5 stars because it was still good, but I almost feel like it was a paint by numbers Mercy Thompson book. Coyote showed up, Mercy got into trouble, she got herself out, Adam nearly lost control of his wolf because he was worried about her, etc… The formatting was also different in this book. I didn’t mind the jumps from point of view from Mercy to Adam, but the fact that the POVs didn’t line up was annoying and I honestly didn’t see why it was done it added nothing to the story.

All in all, the book was good, better than most urban fantasy out there, but I don’t think it lived up to the quality I’ve come to expect from Patricia Briggs.

4/5

Side note: I’m a big new Doctor Who fan but I thought the references were overdone. Matt Smith? Even the title is a call to one of the big bads. It really dates the story, I know there are pop culture references in the other books, but for whatever reason they were too much for me in this one.

2016 Favorites

Movies

Wow, so I did not see many new movies this year. I re-watched a lot of old stuff and caught up on some 2015 stuff. Overall, though, apart from the re-watches of favorites, I didn’t like many movies this year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens– I liked the new characters a lot, but was disappointed by the story so I’m not sure if I would call it a favorite. It was nice to see a new Star Wars, though.

Deadpool– I didn’t write a blog for this movie, at least I don’t think I did. I went through a period there where sitting in front of a computer screen made me physically ill so there were a few movies and books I missed. Joys of pregnancy. Anyway, I really liked Deadpool and was lucky enough to pick it up Black Friday and re-watch. So I guess that’s a favorite for this year.

The Big Short– Really liked this movie, even though it made me mad. Enough that I read the book, then read more by the author, and then purchased the movie even though it was on Netflix at the time.

Star Wars: Rogue One–This might be my favorite movie of the year, I need to watch it a few more times to decide exactly how much I loved it though.

Books

Book wise I also did a lot of re-reading but I was lucky enough to read several books I loved that were new to me.

Lois Lane: Double Down– This series has become such a surprise favorite of mine. Once again I gave this book as a Christmas present and I’m excited for the next to come out. I rarely find a YA book that isn’t filled with whinny emotional stupid teens and this really fills that void for me.

Carry On– Rainbow Rowell is now a must buy author for me. I’ve loved every book she’s written even though none of them are in a series or like the books I normally read. Her characters are awesome and this book was just perfect.

Stars of Fortune– I was really surprised by this Nora Roberts book. It was like reading an old favorite of hers but for the first time with no knowledge of what was going to happen.

Fire Touched & Magic Binds & One Fell Sweep– It wouldn’t be a list of mine without Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews on it. I’m so happy with the speed that Ilona Andrews is able to write at and wish that Patricia Briggs would pick up the pace. I read One Fell Sweep as it was posted on their blog and don’t have a review written, however I did buy the book and plan on re-reading it so I’ll post a review then.

The Last Dragonslayer– Loved finding this Jasper Ffrode series, wish it didn’t seem to end with a cliffhanger, but the first book is awesome.

TV

I didn’t have much patience with TV the second half of the year. These things happen when your hormones are in overdrive though. There were still a few shows that I really enjoyed.

Agent Carter– It still makes me sad that this was canceled. Peggy Carter is such an awesome character and a wonderful role model for women/girls everywhere.

Fuller House– Sometimes you need a junk food show. Something that is fun and doesn’t make you think at all. First episode of the first season was bad, but they eventually found their feet and the second season was really good.

Marvel’s Jessica Jones– Jessica Jones is not a character to look up to, but I thought the show was great. She’d been through a lot and still kept fighting. Hope things get better for her, but if Daredevil is any indication of what happens with a second Marvel season on Netflix probably not.

Marvel’s Luke Cage– This is my favorite Marvel show on Netflix. It was so good. Loved pretty much everything about it.

The Librarians– I wish there were more shows like this out there. It’s like Eureka and Warehouse 13, it’s fun and light and I know that things are going to work out. I really just love it and I’m so glad that it keeps getting renewed, I dread the day it doesn’t.

Dark Matter– This was such an awesome find for me. I miss SciFi that isn’t about the world ending or after the world has basically ended or just a constant sink hole of depression. Dark Matter isn’t light by any means, but it doesn’t fill me with a sense of dread.

Video Games

Stardew Valley– I spent so many hours playing this it’s kind of crazy. I love Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games and this was a perfect version of both with a little bit of Animal Crossing thrown in. It’s like this game was made for me and I loved it. It just came out on PS4 and XB1 in case anyone doesn’t want to purchase it on Steam. There’s also a freakin adorable guide available.