Review - The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

So, I was stuck flying during the whole Delta debacle when the computers went down and flights were delayed and cancelled and everything was just ridiculous. Luckily, I'd brought some books. And luckily, one of those books happened to be The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. The Raven King, book 4 in The Raven Cycle, is one of the most beautifully written stories that I think I've ever read. While I have come to expect nothing less from Maggie Stiefvater, this one went above and beyond anything else I've picked up by her.

Everything was just so magically descriptive and fantastical that I couldn't manage to put it down. It really did save my trip up to Maine to pick up my daughter. Flights and accommodations were significantly less than stellar so it helped to have something that could completely remove me from the situation I was in and transport me somewhere else completely. The book was terrifying and haunting and heartbreakingly sad and beautiful all at the same time.

It was nice to be able to come back to Fox Way and see Maura and The Grey Man again. To be able to follow Ronan and Adam and Gansey and Blue around one more time. Learning more about Blue's father was a bit shocking, but seemed absolutely fitting considering Blue. There were also some other great plot twists that perhaps I should have seen coming but didn't, i.e. Cabeswater.

I loved the inclusion of Henry and his bee. Henry, someone who had been on the outside and absent for 90% of the story telling played such a wonderful part in this last story. I loved that I got to see Ronan for who he really was. Not just some jerk who liked to fight and piss people off. But someone who loved, and who wanted to BE loved. Who wanted to protect and to fight FOR people... not just fight people. Maybe he was that way the whole time, but the development of a certain relationship in this final installment of the story just made him so much more... Ronan... to me.

Fantastic.

That's really all I can say to sum up how good this book was. Well, fantastic and wonderful and beautiful and all of the other synonyms of all the words. If you've read the rest of the series, please finish it out and pick this one up. If you haven't, then start. The story and the journey they go on will amaze you.

Review - Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes...but what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

Ok, so I finished Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater almost 3 weeks ago but I was putting off actually getting online and typing up a review because I am exhausted. Well, I'm less exhausted now than I was before... but still. So, sorry there hasn't been much activity on the blog as of late.

I was super stoked when I heard Sinner was coming out. I loved the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and I was so sad when it was all over. I was even more stoked when I learned that this one would be following Cole and Isabel. I love the Grace/Sam story with all my heart, but I wanted to know where Cole's story went.

Cole has gone to Los Angeles to find Isabel. In the process he's also supposed to be filming some kind of reality show and making a new record with a new band. Or at least, mostly new. Isabel is happy to see him, and she isn't happy to see him at the same time. She doesn't want to fall in love with him because she doesn't want to be hurt and she thinks that Cole is definitely the kind of person who is going to hurt her.

I have to admire Cole and his persistence. And the fact that even in the face of blatant temptation he didn't let his former addiction overcome him and cause him to undo all of the things that he's accomplished since becoming a wolf. I loved his carefree attitude and I loved being able to just be inside his head. He was trying so incredibly hard with Isabel.

Isabel kind of ticked me off a bit, but then I had to remember that she was putting up with a lot when it came to Cole's reality show. A lot that she didn't really have to put up with at all. And she was doing so quite well for the most part. I cut her some slack even though a few things she did still irritated me. Like insisting that Cole was doing things he shouldn't without really giving him a chance to plead his case.

She'd put up a wall though. One that she wasn't sure she wanted to put down for Cole. Well, in a way, she desperately wanted him to bust right through it and sweep her off her feet and carry her off in to the sunset with his mustang... but the rational part of her wanted to keep the wall in place because the lifestyle he was accustomed to (and she wasn't) was one that normally would have lead him to tear her heart to pieces and leave her broken on the ground. He had to prove himself. Over and over again. And I think he did that with flying colors. I love Cole. I really do.

And it doesn't hurt that when I read his chapters I hear Dan Bittner's voice in my head.

This was a great installment in the series. A definite deviation from the normal back and forth between Sam and Grace and their sort of ... innocence. Both Cole and Isabel are world weary and tired of the phoniness of people and the hurt they've gone through where as Sam and Grace were full of hope. Cole and Isabel hold each other up, though. They kind of find a new strength in each other and it makes the world not seem as bad.

If you've read the rest of the series, you should absolutely pick this one up. It's a fantastic read.

Review - The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff is different kind of book than I'm used to reading.

Mackie is a changeling. Or a Replacement. Whatever you call it he's not really human. He replaced something human a long time ago and it seems the only one who's ever truly loved him is his "sister". She's more or less what's kept him alive up until the point that the book really takes off, and the one person willing to sacrifice everything to make sure he stays that way for as long as she can keep him. His parents know what he is and while they've done their best to take care of him, he feels like he's never really fit in with the family. But really, who can blame them? Some monster came and took their TRUE son out of his crib when he was tiny and helpless and replaced him with something that looked similar, but was dying... and NOT their son.

He has managed to make a few good friends during his years as Mackie Doyle but when he starts crushing on Tate it kind of sends his world spinning. She indirectly and sort of directly almost brings about his downfall. Something his friends are trying to help him prevent.

Mackie is an interesting character. Kind of a typical stupid guy, in a way. Always going for the pretty girl with no personality instead of the girl with personality to spare but who may be a little bit of a hard shell to crack. He came around though. But it sure took him a long time to get with the program. You don't always see that. A guy who is reluctant to play the hero, even when it means he gets the girl. But Mackie doesn't want to be the hero. He doesn't want to be noticed at all. Even if it means disappointing Tate. Eventually he screws his brain back on the right way though. So he redeems himself.

Poor Tate. We first meet her after her sister's been taken and after the thing that replaced her has died. So she didn't get much of a chance to establish herself as anything but depressed and moody (and rightly so). But I did feel it was kind of unfair of her to expect Mackie to just automatically save the day when he's just as clueless as she is.

Roswell is a perfect best friend. And a seemingly unlikely one. He's popular and outgoing and fun loving. A complete contrast to Mackie. Which, I suppose, is part of what makes him perfect. With Roswell around no one really pays too much attention to Mackie. On top of the fact that he kind of lets Mackie hide in his shadow, he's loyal and understanding and would really do anything for Mackie. Despite the fact that Mackie's different.

When Mackie ventures down in to the Slag Heap it gets a little weird and disturbing. And kind of confusing. But they help him, in their own way. It was kind of hard to tell at some points if The Morrigan (sort of like the ruler of the "otherworldy" and "undead" who lived under the Slag Heap) was really supposed to be a GOOD character or a BAD one. At some points she helps, but then at others she really doesn't care what happens. She has something to gain with Mackie and if he fails to deliver then it seems she washes her hands of him.

It's a weird story, I will give it that. But it was a good one. A quick one. And different enough to keep me interested even when it moved kind of slow. I'd recommend it to anyone (probably 16 and above) who loves paranormal things or dark and creepy things. It fits the bill quite nicely if you're in to that stuff. Go check it out!