Tuesday 28 April 2015

Feature and Follow (17)


Here's this weeks question:

 

How did you come up with your blog title and address? Does it have a special meaning to you?

Well my blog name refers to Alice in Wonderland which I adore, and I feel like it fits so perfectly with reading and getting lost in another world. As for my URL, I guess it comes from me living in New Zealand and having a connection to the LOTR fandom :D



Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community.

Friday 17 April 2015

Review- Magic Bites (Ilona Andrews)


Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)

Synopsis


The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. It comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail.


It’s a volatile, screwed-up world. Magic feeds on technology, gnawing down on skyscrapers until most of them topple and fall, leaving only skeletal husks behind. Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst for knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.


In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But sometimes even trained killers make friends and fall in love, and when the universe tries to kick them in the face, they kick back.                                         Goodreads.com


My Review 


Oh Urban Fantasy how I have missed you. It’s been a long time since I’ve visited your realm of kick- ass heroines, muscled spunky men, vampires, shape-changers, lust filled nights and just a whole lot of bad-assery, and you did not fail too deliver. While most urban fantasy has a relatively formulaic plot and characters, this did not deter me from Magic Bites. If anything it drew me in more, knowing what I was getting myself in to.

Kate Daniels, is a mercenary living by her own rules in a magic fuelled Atlanta city. After her mentor and father figure is gruesomely murdered. She takes on the case of finding his killer, which leads her down the path of trouble. Along the way she forms a sort of union with the local shape changing pack who have lost their own men in the recent Atlanta killings and together they begin to unravel the mystery of the killings.

While I really enjoyed the plot of this book, at times I felt there were things that definitely could have been explained further. I felt like the book throws you in right at the start and the explanations of the world are a little sparse until later down the track. For example Atlanta is both magic and tech fuelled, at one time or another either one is in control. In times of magic, beasties gain more power etc and anything tech driven goes on the fritz and vice versa.

Kate is an easily likeable character, and reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s a bit of a bad ass, and a lone wolf. But at the same time I get the feeling she’s lonely and seeking more from her life, although these emotions aren’t explored in too much depth in this book. Curran, leader of the Shapechangers, is hot as hell. But I’m not completely convinced on him yet. There are times when he make my ovaries explode and others when his attitude and actions border on abusive, but then again his animal form is a lion, so I guess anger and rage are intermingled into his character.

Overall a really great read if your into urban fantasy or even if your new to it. Definitely filled with action and adventure and a few steamy scenes here and there (that unfortunately don’t actually come to fruition), but set us up for a great series of sexual tension. 
My rating: 4/5

Friday 10 April 2015

First Impressions- TV Edition



Outlander


So after a long awaited weekend off, I was left with the house to myself, and what better activity (besides reading) than to spend my time starting a new TV series.

I was first introduced to the Outlander book series a few years back when a close friend of mine was reading it and raving on about how good it was. However the premise didn't really grasp me. I had not developed a love of historical fiction back then and I stuck almost exclusively to YA. Plus the idea of a girl who goes back to 1700's just didn't at all sound appealing to a 19 year old me. However with the hype around the recently released TV series I thought I would give it a go. Gif's seem the way to go with expressing my emotions throughout the pilot. 

My First Impression

So I'm kind of excited...ok alot excited. Everyone keeps talking about this show.


Wow being a war time nurse looks intense and look at all that blood.

*Cough* Sexiness in a creepy dungeon looking room. It looks highly unsanitary. I feel weird for watching...but can't look away.

Oh Claire, don't go back to the stones. This can only end badly.

Franks's ancestor is a  (insert all manner of bad words here).

*Swoon* Accents just do it for me and Jaime you have one helluva accent.

Oh...it's over already... Well let's snuggle up and marathon the rest.

Overall I really enjoyed the pilot of this series. I adore historical TV shows, but they always manage to break my spiritand cause all the feels (I'm looking at you 'Reign'). I feel like the actors were well matched to the characters. I've even been inspired to start reading the book series which is very close to the TV show, with quotes taken out to use as dialogue in the show. This is one I will definitly continue with, even if it does break my heart.  

Are you watching the show? Are you enjoying it? What was your first impression of it?

Thursday 9 April 2015

What's Next? (3)

What's Next? Hosted by IceyBooks



What's Next? Is a cute little weekly feature hosted by IceyBooks, where you can get readers to help you decide what you should read next from your TBR.

Readers can rank the books, or just give their opinion on which was their favorite. If you want to join in head over to IceyBooks and link up your post :)



So I intend on participating in this feature monthly (rather than weekly) and posting 3-5 books at the start of the month which I'm interested in reading next. Instead of posting a synopsis, I'm  going to post the first sentence of each book as a teaser, and see which ones you guys vote for. You can also click the book which links back to the Goodreads synopsis. 


This Month

Anatomy of a Misfit


"Pedaling fast fast fast, this is the moment. One of those movie moments you never think is going to happen to you, but then it happens to you , and now it's here."
- Andrea Portes (Anatomy of a Misfit)


Gone Too Far

"Late. So late. I slam the car door behind me and race across the parking lot. My hair is tangled in the strap of my bag, my shoes are untied, and I have no idea how i'm going to get to my locker without getting caught."
- Natalie D. Richards (Gone Too Far)




After the End (After the End #1)

"I crouch low to the ground, pressing my back to the ancient spruce tree, and raise my crossbow in one hand."
- Amy Plum (After The End)


From the first lines of each book (or based on if you enjoyed them) which book should I read next?



Wednesday 8 April 2015

Quarterly Challenge Update #1 (Jan- March)

I can't believe were already 3 months in to 2015. It's surprising just how fast time flies.  I haven't really been keeping up with my challenges this year. So I thought it was about time I updated all my challenges (since I don't do it regularly in my monthly wrap-ups) and see my progress so far. Hopefully it'll give me some motivation to push forward with some much needed reading. So without further adieu...



Flights Of Fantasy

My Goal: 10 Books

- Throne Of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)
- Magic Bites (Ilona Andrews)
- Of Beast and Beauty (Stacey Jay)

Completed: 3/10




2015 Debut Author Challenge

My Goal: 10 Books

Unfortunately I haven't  read any 2015 debut authors yet.  Hangs head in shame :(

Completed: 0/10






Around The World

My Goal: Try and read a book from each continent.

Continents:
- The Trouble with Flirting (Rachel Morgan)- Africa
- Biggest Flirts (Jennifer Echols) - North America

Completed: 2/7

Saturday 4 April 2015

February Wrap-Up



I must say March was a pretty terrible reading month for me. I only read one of the books on my TBR and overall I was just in a bit of a book slump. However I think I'm over that for now and I'm pretty excited for some of the books planned for April (Wow Ican't believe it's April already, that's insane). I also didn't get to post as much due to work commitments. So one of my goals this month is to be a bit more organized with getting posts scheduled. Overall I read only 2 books and 2 graphic novels and they were all a mix of ratings.


Finished


Saga, Volume 4 (Saga #19-24)Serenity: Those Left Behind (Serenity, #1)Biggest Flirts (Superlatives, #1)Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)
  
Of course with 5 stars was Saga Volume #4, this series just keeps getting better and better and the ending of this one was a bit of a cliffhanger. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews was a 4 star read. It got me out of my book slump and filled my need for a good Adult urban fantasy. Unfortunately the Serenity Graphic novel (based on the sci-fi TV series Firefly) was only a 3 for me. Something about it was just missing for me, but I think i'll continue on to see if they get better. Biggest Flirts was my biggest let down of the month with only 2 stars, the story and writing weren't all that bad, but I had issues with the main character which I just couldn't get past.

Up Next In March 


Since I've been blessed with having Easter off, I'm going to try and do a bit of a mini read-a-thon, to get a head start on the month. This month I'm super excited for the books I've got, firstly Mosquitoland which I've just started and am really enjoying. I've also planned to read the Walking Dead Volume #1. In addition to this I'm also wanting to read Cross-stitch by Diana Gabaldon, the first Outlander book over the next month or so, however it's 850 pages long so we'll see how long it takes me. 


MosquitolandThe Walking Dead, Book OneCross Stitch (Outlander, #1)

   

What books did You read in the Month of March?  Which was your favorite? 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...