BLOOD JUSTICE By Terry J. Benton-Walker

April 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

BLOOD JUSTICE By Terry J. Benton-WalkerBlood Justice by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Series: Blood Debts #2
Published by Tor Teen on 4/23/24
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, LGBT, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 463
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Cristina and Clement Trudeau have conjured the impossible: justice.

They took back their family’s stolen throne to lead New Orleans’ magical community into the brighter future they all deserve.

But when Cris and Clem restored their family power, Valentina Savant lost everything. Her beloved grandparents are gone and her sovereignty has been revoked—she will never be Queen. Unless, of course, someone dethrones the Trudeaus again. And lucky for her, she’s not the only one trying to take them down.

Cris and Clem have enemies coming at them from all directions: Hateful anti-magic protesters sabotage their reign at every turn. A ruthless detective with a personal vendetta against magical crime is hot on their tail just as Cris has discovered her thirst for revenge. And a brutal god, hunting from the shadows, is summoned by the very power Clem needs to protect the boy he loves.

Cris’s hunger for vengeance and Clem’s desire for love could prove to be their family’s downfall, all while new murders, shocking disappearances, and impossible alliances are changing the game forever.

Welcome back to New Orleans, where gods walk among us and justice isn’t served, it’s taken.

Short and Sweet Review

Blood Justice takes place nine months after the events of Blood Debts. Now that Clem and Cris have gotten justice for their family they realize that things aren’t going to be easier only more difficult because people are still coming for them. Clem is trying to figure out how to restore Yves back to his former self with very little luck, and Cris is out there trying to get blood justice and go after everyone who hurt her family. When the mayor ends up murdered and their mom gets the blame for it Cris and Clem get to work on trying to prove her innocence while also learning they have a lot of enemies in the city of New Orleans.

When I read Blood Debts I didn’t like it so I thought I was a bit crazy for requesting the sequel but this book exceeded my expectations. One of my biggest problems with the first book was the amount of different character POVs but I think in this book because I knew who the characters were it wasn’t too much of a problem. Clem and Cris are on different paths in this book, Clem is still trying to figure out how to fix Yves, and Cris has a lot of anger and she’s using it to get revenge. The thing that brings the siblings together is when they have to prove that their mom is innocent and find out who is actually causing all of the trouble. We also see Valentina who is still dealing with her grandparents death and she’s trying to figure out how to become the queen. There’s some new Gods in this book and one of them is not one to be messed with but he’s drawn to Clem and Cris. There’s a lot going on in this book but in a good way. I liked seeing Cris express her anger but also in the end she has a realization that she’s gone too far and someone who loves her pulls her back. Clem makes some sacrifices in this book. Out of the two siblings I think that Clem is the one who thinks more about how his actions will effect others, while Cris currently sees red. There was a lot of character development for both characters and I’m glad there was more to them in this book that I connected with. I will add that I enjoyed the mystery aspect in this book, we had murder, missing people, murdered peoples bodies being moved, it was great.

Overall, I loved this book. Blood Justice made me rethink how I feel about this series this was a redeeming book and now I can’t wait until the third book is released. The way this book ended just leaves you ready to see what will happen next and I’m excited to see what will happen to our characters and how they’re going to deal with the war that’s coming their way. I would definitely recommend Blood Justice, so go get it when it’s released!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE POISONS WE DRINK By Bethany Baptiste

March 5, 2024 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE POISONS WE DRINK By Bethany BaptisteThe Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on 3/26/24
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 474
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus's life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

Short and Sweet Review

Venus brews love potions illegally, but she does what she needs to keep her mom and sister afloat. In this book we see a divide between witches and humans. When Venus’s mom Clarissa dies from an iron bullet, Venus’s world is turned upside down, but when Venus is offered the chance to make a difference for witches and get revenge on her mothers killer by the grand Witcher, Venus accepts. All Venus needs to do is brew poisons that will have politicians follow the wishes of the grand Witcher. The further Venus goes on in this scheme the more she realizes that everything around her is corrupt and she doesn’t know who to trust including herself.

This was an interesting take on a book about witches. It takes place in current times but the country is divided and there’s laws that are going to be voted on soon that aren’t favorable to witches. Venus isn’t too worried about that yet, she’s more focused on making potions for customers. We see that Venus cares about her family and after the death of her mother she really feels like she has to keep her sister Janus safe. I think Clarissa’s death sets everything in motion, we see Venus start to work for the grand Witcher and stop the vote against the witches. There’s a lot going on in this book and I thought the pacing was off. There were times where things were picking up and then other times when it was so slow that it made me feel like I’ve been reading this book forever. I was thinking this book could have been a part of a series but its just a standalone and it kind of made sense why it was so long, but thinking back it could have been cut down a bit. I liked seeing the different types of magic that the witches had. Venus has a good support system behind her but we see through the book that Venus starts to lose herself and really has to dig down deep to remember who she is and what she should be fighting for. Venus had a romantic interest, Presley, but I feel like there was really no time for romance in this book. The book is good and you get some glimpses of amazing writing and story telling but there’s points in the book where it drags and you just wonder why everything has slowed down so much. The pacing is almost like a rollercoaster ride and not a fun one when it comes to keeping your attention.

Overall, I did like the story it was interesting and the world is really something different. Venus is a character that will have you rooting for her and just wanting her to be safe and get everything she wants especially with all that she’s been through. The only downfall was the length of the book and again the pacing, but besides that its a good read.

Filed Under: Reviews

A CROWN SO CURSED By L.L. McKinney

October 11, 2023 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A CROWN SO CURSED By L.L. McKinneyA Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney
Series: The Nightmare-Verse #3
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 9/19/23
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 406
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Alice and her crew are doing their best to recover from the last boss battle, but some of them keep having these. . . dreams: visions of a dark past—and an even darker future. Sadly, the evil in Wonderland may not be as defeated as they’d hoped.

Attacked by Nightmares unlike any they’ve ever seen, Alice will have to step between the coming darkness and the mortal world once more. But this time is different. This time, the monsters aren’t waiting for her on the other side of the Veil.

They're in her own back yard.

Short and Sweet Review

Alice and her friends are still recovering after their last battle, but they know that they have to stay on their toes because the monsters aren’t waiting on the other side of the veil anymore, they’re coming to find Alice.

This final installment of The Nightmare-Verse was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 and unfortunately it was not what I wanted. I feel like since the release of the last book and this one I’ve waited 3-4 years and I’ve forgotten everything that happened and why some characters didn’t like each other and failed to remember what they were going through. We have Alice and she realizes that things aren’t right especially as she begins to see more monsters on her side of the veil and this is a sign that things aren’t right in wonderland and that her and her friends should prepare for their final battle. Everything just felt messy to me from the characters and their relationships with each other and also the way the final battle occurred. It was interesting to see how Alice is more tied to Wonderland than she could have ever thought but I feel like that story line was kind of cheesy. I wanted to finish this book as quickly as possible and it wasn’t hard considering that the material felt pretty middle grade.

Overall, I was not jiving with this book the way I wanted to and I’m pretty upset about it. Although things were wrapped up and there were answers to what was occurring I feel like it just happened at a pace where you don’t feel invested. I may be feeling this way because of how long it took to read this final book but I also don’t want to go back and do a complete read through. I did enjoy the characters and the storyline from books 1 and 2 and I wish I felt the same about this one.

Filed Under: Reviews

BRIGHT BLAZE OF MAGIC By Jennifer Estep

April 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

BRIGHT BLAZE OF MAGIC By Jennifer EstepBright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep
Series: Black Blade #3
Published by Kensington Books on 4/26/16
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

Bad Things Always Come In Threes…

As a thief, I'm good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls.

Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families--and kill every last Sinclair. What they don't know is that I'm on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I've got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side…


Short and Sweet

Its time for the final battle! Lila and the Sinclair’s know that Victor Draconi is going to strike, but when? Everyone is trying to figure out how to stop Victor especially because they know what he’s planned. Everyone has to band together even the other families to stop Victor and his plan to take over Cloudburst Falls.

What I liked

~The characters! I love them all so much especially all of their different personality’s.

~ There was non-stop action.

~There was always something happening, which kept me on the edge of my seat!

~The scenes were so detailed that I can picture them in my head.

~The Lochness! So misunderstood by people but just wants a friend! I’m glad Lila realized how sweet the lochness actually is.

~The romances! I love all of the romances so much, I shipped them so hard! Devon and Lila, and Deah and Felix!

What I didn’t like

~That it was the last book.

Overall

I loved this trilogy so much! I love all of Jennifer Estep’s books! This book was an amazing ending to a great series. I’m so sad to have to leave these characters behind but this is a series I can definitely read again! This book was thrilling and action packed adventure. With touches of romance, humor, and mystery. Would definitely recommend this series!!!

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Filed Under: Reviews