May Life Update; Books and More Books!

Hi readers, 

So I've now finished all the Harry Potters and I will get around to writing about them soon. I really need to get better at writing on here but I've just been busy and ill again and the whole job hunting is just a never ending spiral. Then when I think I should write on here, it's either gone past Monday or like today; I just didn't have time. 

Well, tonight I'm staying up a bit to listen to the new Five Finger Death Punch album and it seemed a good time just to catch up on here. (Though, I have my doubts if anyone actually reads this blog anyway. But it's been my corner of the internet for awhile now, so I just carry on anyway!) 

Take a look at the photo above! That stack of 24 books is my current to read pile! Not counting the 8 DeathNote mangas I have left in the series read and I hope I can review that at some point too. Yeah, so that pile should see me till the end of the year. I also have 9 books on amazon of which about two are out now and the rest on pre-order for autumn time and because some of those books I really want to read, I'll be pushing my pile further down when October comes! 

The book aren't actually in my 'to read' order, yeah I do actually have one of those! So if you are interested here's my plan; 

1. Rumblefish - actually finished last night! 

2 and 3. The Outsiders and That Was Then And This Is Now - currently reading. 

4. Fool Moon - 2nd Harry Desden, a surprise cheer up gift from boyfriend. 

5. Wuthering Heights - had cravings for some English Lit classics. 

6. Neverwhere -one of my favorite books. 

7. American Gods - taking on holiday to Cornwall in July. 

8. Dracula - Classic vampire novel! 

9. Frankenstein - Everyone needs to read the true original novel. 

10. The Monk - written in 1796! A true Gothic novel which I studied at uni. 

11. The Handmaid's Tale - dystopia from one of the best writers on the genre.  

12. Fight Club - 'the first rule of fight club is we don't talk about it!'

13. All Quiet On The Western Front - World War 1 was just as bad for the Germans. 

14. Empire Of the Sun - surviving WW2 in Japan. 

15. Alan Shaw - new steampunk fantasy story by an writer I'm supporting. 

16. The Haunting - ghost story for Halloween 

17. Dolly - creepy haunted doll. 

18. The Small Hand - carry on being scared. 

19. The Man In The Picture - last of the set. 

20. Haunted Nights - An anthology of ghost stories. 

22. Viking Myths and Sagas - Meant to be one of the best collections of Norse stories.

23. The Hero Of Ages - the 2nd in a fantasy trilogy, read the 1st last year. 

24. The Well Of Ascension - 3rd one. 

Of course, this list might change but that' a rough plan. At the moment the first 4 books are certain and so are 6 and 7, I guess it depends how much time I've before I go on holiday for Wuthering Heights as it might take me awhile to get back in to it. Shall see. 

I really need to starting doing more book reviews on here. I've read some good books lately, including one that still haunts me! Plus, some of the books (about 13) in the list above I'm re-reading for like the 3rd or 4th time as part of my plan to re-read books I read at uni/ college/ high school. That was meant to be the whole idea this year because I was on a book buying ban, but I just can't help it. Books are my drug and I find my favorite writers publishing new ones and books I like the sound of and then people buy me them too and it's so hard not to give in. At least it's healthy, right? 

I'll have to keep this list updated now and that'll probably happen on Goodreads which is my record of books now. https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10477493/ My goal this year was to read 50 books and I've read 29 so far. Though, I might end up reading more then that but not 100 again, that was too much for me! 

The other thing I wanted to share tonight is this;

My mum has been knitting elephants for the past few months and not because of some weird craze but because I want one for a friend of mine. The rainbow one was too small and so cute that I wanted to keep her anyway. The pink and white one is made of squares that took my mum ages to do, so she decided she wanted to keep her, (I'm currently pressing for an 'Elmer'  multi-colored one like this!) Then grey one is the one for my friend because that turned out as I wanted and the two smaller ones were free in mum's knitting magazine this month. 

I still hope that one day I can knit something like this but my brain finds it hard. I've been knitting a play cube, booties and mittens though and they've turned out fine. My next challenge is to knit a baby jacket in a single piece and get to grips with more decreasing and increasing! I'll share that one here if I get it right. 

The album is almost over and it's just turned midnight so it's time for bed now. I'll have to come back soon to do my Harry Potter review. 

Till then readers, goodnight. 

Book Review: Rosario + Vampire Season 1

Hi readers, 

Today I wanted to share with you this manga series that I've been reading. It was written a few years back and its still popular enough. It's a short series with only 10 books in the first season and like 14 in the second. 

The plot is that a high school boy finds himself at a high school for monsters! They are all pretending to be humans as they are practising to fight into the human world. He doesn't have any easy time fitting in though and in fact a group of girls ends up forming around him because they are all in love with him! 

He has a crush on the vampire in the title and she likes him too, however due to her giving him some blood to aid them in the battles with other monsters, he gains vampire powers. 

The plot feels very simple and it's not until a good few books in, once all the main characters have been introduced, that things get interesting. There is a lot of fights and action scene which help speed things along and creates good conflict. There is also conflicted between the girls but this made to come across as being cute. 

The art style is pretty good to, but there are lot of - what I call 'fanboy shots of the girls - lots of down the tops and up the skirts. Which if you don't mind is fine, but there's just too many placed in for my liking. I guess that it helps make this manga more appealing to the young male audience it's aimed at. 

The characters come across well, with each their own wants and problems. I'm hoping that that the second season of manga sees them all further develop. Of course, the vampire is my favourite! There's also the typical manga characters too but they did get little lost in the background, which I don't really mind. 

I really enjoyed reading this series because it's fun and simple. There's enough to keep you entertained too and it's really short which also helps! 

I can't wait to read the second season now and find out what happens. 

Book Review: Cemetery Candles

Hi readers, 

Today, I'm reviewing a book I read in early January. I can't remember how I heard about this book, maybe it was on a list of good vampire novels or I just stumbled across it whilst looking for something else. Anyway, the price tag of this book was high and I don't know why really, maybe it's self-published? but I had to wait till it was reduced to get it anyway and I'm glad I did. 

Candles is far from a typical vampire romance novel. Actually it's a little confusing because it starts with a vampire, Victor, - though he does a god job of hiding it - hiring a tutor for his young nephew and we get introduced to Victor, his nephew, Teo and their world through the eyes of the tutor, Valentina. It becomes clear that Victor and Valentina are falling in love but then Valentina sees Victor with another woman, Suzette, and they appear to be very close. 

Then there's a total switch in the story and we leave the 'present' with Valentina and Victor to go back into the past - 1700's-where we get most of Suzette's story. This is a really nicely told historic tale and it also has typical tragic events. Suzette meets and falls in love with Ivan who is a vampire. Ivan turns Suzette, who has a good job working as a doctor, into a vampire. Years later, Suzette and Victor met and fall in love. Sadly, the novel ends before we get to see Suzette make Victor into a vampire though we are aware it will happen. 

Whilst reading this book I wasn't sure what to make of it. The style of writing is a bit odd because its' third person present tense which isn't often written in. The flow though is fine and it doesn't jump around the years too badly. I don't think that being divided into two different time settings works though and I think it would have been better to take out the first part with Valentina and just expand the second part with the vampires. Clearly, it's been written like this to draw more people in and to set things up for later books. Yep, this is the first in a series. 

The one thing that really made me like this book was the different portraying of vampires. There is hardly any violence and fighting and love making that is very often attached to serial vampire books. I do enjoy all of that but its nice to read something different and see vampires in a different light. The real conflict in this novel comes from a strange problem to do with true love. A vampire can fall in love and be with a mortal, but when the vampire turns that lover into a vampire, the lover no longer feels true love for the vampire. 

So, there's a load of heartbroken vampires trying to be with other vampires who can't love them back. A good example of this goes; Ivan and Suzette fall in love but then when he makes her into a vampire, Suzette finds she can no longer love him so deeply back. Then she falls in love with Victor. She actually puts off making Victor into a vampire because she knows that will change the love between them. 

I do understand the workings of this, but for me and especially as this is supernatural romance, it doesn't sit that well with me. However, I do like the originality of this but I feel that being a vampire is cursed enough and not being able to be with your true love is just frustrating!    

The characters are very interesting and you do get a lot of development. I wish more time could have been spent with Valentina though, I feel she got pushed to the side by Suzette's story. I do feel like more work was needed on these characters and maybe because it's the first book the characters will grew further. 

Overall, this is a nice different vampire novel and once you get into it and over the style of writing, it does draw you in. It's a quick read too and interesting enough to keep you turning the pages. Am I going to buy the second book though? It's on my list, but until next year and when the price has really come down! I won't be getting it. I've far too many books and manga on my list right now that unless - like with with Miss Peregrine - I find another book I'm seriously addicted too! 

Thanks for reading and see you all next week. 

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25798192-montenegro-book-one)

Book Review; Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

Hi readers, 

So I know this post was meant to be up early last month, but I've not been very well and sadly, I'm still ill. For ages I've been thinking of writing a post about my long term health problem, but I've not got up the courage to write it. That's the problem with personal issues, sometimes you don't need the whole world to know what you're going though. Perhaps, one day I will get around to it. Though if you read last Monday's post things might be a better clearer now. 

What I had planned to do was write about the first three vampire chronicle books for October then review some writing handbooks/help books ect for November and National Novel Writing Month. But I decided not to take part this year due to illness, my new job and the overall lack of time. Plus, I just couldn't come up with an idea. So, now things have fallen as they have. Also, I've decided not to read Queen Of the Damned. I did state last time about this, so I won't repeat myself now I've just remembered that.    

Anyway, today I'm looking at one of my favorite novels. I'm totally surprised that I've not reviewed IWTV before, but I know I've brought it up and compared it to other vampire stories. I did review Prince Lestat like last year. I thought with it being autumn and the normal time to be reading creepy stories that I would re-read IWTV for like the fourth time, plus in my review of Glass Houses I stated that I really wanted to read IWTV. I thought it would be perfect to review this, Also the new Lestat novel, Prince Lestat And the Realms Of Atlantis, is out soon. So, that will also be a nice tie in. 

One of the main problems is the physical reading of these novels. I forgot how hard my dyslexic brain finds reading them and though it's not taking me long to get into them and enjoy them, it's very hard going for me, which means I'm reading slowly in small sections. Anne Rice is also a master of the English language. She has this way of writing which draws and holds you in, it's old fashioned romantic poetry. And that's something I really love. She goes into great detail about the scenes and characters too, which for some people doesn't give them a change to imagine things, but I really like the depths she goes to when she describes things. It feels like I'm there and I don't have to try hard to picture it. 

I could write a lot about Rice's writing style etc, but I won't because we'd be here awhile. Let's move on to the characters. I often think that Lestat must be like the second greatest vampire. Dracula comes first! But then in terms of famous vampires, Lestat must be second because he's just so well known and Rice has written so many books about him now. Yes, he has only two movies - one which wasn't so great, but there's a third coming out soon. I don't think the Vampire Chronicles would work as a TV series. Perhaps, though all the most recent vampire books and TV shows have slightly over shadowed him? I guess if you asked a mixed group of people to name a vampire, Edward from Twilight would be the highest outcome. And we all know how I feel about those books.....

(Lestat and Louis from the IWTV movie)

Lestat as a character is very interesting. He is unpredictable and what he wants he gets. He is a total rebel, going against the world. In IWTV he's mysterious and keeps his secrets to himself. This just makes him even more interesting, but when you read his book, it all becomes very clear. 

IWTV is Louis' story, so for now I'm going to leave Lestat till next week. I do have a soft spot of Louis, I guess because he has that human nature to him and he is a very likable character - more so then Lestat in this book, but you can understand why Rice might have done that. Louis has an interesting background and if you've only seen the movie then it hardly touches his history before he become a vampire. Louis has a whole family, which tragic things happen to leading to Louis entering a downward spiral. 

Then he meets Lestat and becomes a vampire, which causes him more problems because he can't carry on living a human life now. He has to give up everything that he's known and try to move on. But the answers he wants from Lestat he just doesn't get. He decides to leave, but Lestat decides this can't happen and so makes another vampire to bind them together. However, Claudia is a child, not yet 6 years old and being made into a vampire gives her the mind of a fully grown woman. 

I read that Claudia was inspired by the Anne Rice's daughter who died young. I find Claudia really interesting, she is the opposite of Louis and totally a vampire because she had very little time as a human. She does have a likeness to Lestat because she is a rebel, but she is manipulative. This really comes across when she is hunting and Louis descriptions her as playing with her victims and using them to get what she wants. Claudia also has a thirst for knowledge and it's actually her that ends up destroying everything.

Unable to get answers from Lestat about where vampires came from and where they can find others, Claudia plots to kill Lestat with Louis help. She does achieve this and they escape. However, Lestat's death haunts Louis and he often falls into wondering if they are the only vampires in the world. They travel around the world seeking others and finding only stories and creatures that are like the old Nosferatu vampires. 

Finally in Paris, they meet other vampires, but don't get much further in answering their questions. It also turns out that these coven vampires have strict rules, two of which Louis and Claudia have broken; killing Lestat and the turning of Claudia into a vampire so young. Armand, who is kinda leader of the group does warn Louis about this, but as they are sort of falling in love, Louis doesn't leave Paris. This only leads to total tragedy as Lestat, who survived Claudia's attack, joins in a trial to declare what happen. The vampires decided Claudia has to die. She is burnt by the sun before Louis can save her and he turn is only saved by Armand. Louis then seeks his revenge and destroys the coven.

Then Louis is officially alone for the first time in his life. For awhile he wonders the world for Lestat until they meet again. Lestat is still recovering from Claudia's attack and Louis decides not to go back to him, but to carry on alone.                 

                                                  (Claudia from the IWTV movie)

The narrative is actually as the title states, because Louis is telling his story to a young journalist. The whole interview takes place across one night and the structure of the book reflects this. The journalist does sometimes ask questions and there is a bit of a conversation between them which helps to break up Louis story. The novel has long chapters with line breaks and it feels like a continuous flow of speech. You do get a good sense that you are in the room hearing this too! 

The dialogue is fantastic and Rice has got the feel of eighteenth century/ nineteenth century speech down well. Like I said at the start, Rice has a way with this flowery romantic old fashioned language that fits in well with the timeline and characters. Even though my brain sometimes does struggle to understand some words, the more time I read it the more I understand it. To be honest I read Rice more for the images she creates and the characters then her style of writing. 

Of course, I would recommend this book to everyone. It really is a turning point in fictional vampires and gives you a new look at how and why vampires draw writers and readers in. Rice has created this whole history and world which feels very real and comes across well. At some points, I did have to wonder if this actually happened and if these vampires are out their somewhere and they just used Rice to tell and publish their stories. Though of course, it does feel weird why they wouldn't have just come forward themselves, but that's getting into the world of True Blood. I do have that series on my bookcase and maybe next year I might read them. I've seen all the seasons of it though, wasn't the last one so bad? I can't believe the books would end like that! 

Anyway, I so have to stop there because if I don't I'll just carry on writing and I want to move on and review The Vampire Lestat now. Going to get them both out of the way whilst they are fresh in my head. Then I can fully move on to something else.....Another vampire novel actually! But one that's in a totally different class. I wonder actually if someone has written some fanfic cross over of Lestat meeting the Black Dagger Brotherhood? That's be interesting to read, might look for some later..... if you know any please comment, also I'd love to hear you thoughts about Interview With The Vampire and vampire fiction in general. 

Thanks for reading and see you next week!       

Book Review: Blood Kiss by J .R. Ward

Hi readers, 

So, I'm finally reviewing this! I read it like in July but it's only now I've got around to writing about due to everything else that I've been writing about. I double checked the publishing date and this came out last year, but as normal I had to wait for it to become paperback and then to get around to reading it. I remember being super excited to hear that Ward, who is my second favorite author, was bringing out a new series that connected to the Brotherhood and that she'd gone back to how she had originally written those first few books, which I fell in love with.

I didn't feel disappointment, nothing has changed in her writing style or characters, but I was hoping that the story would focus more on the new characters and what seems to be the next generation of the Brotherhood. Instead though, the plot is divided into two; Paradise and Craeg's love story and Butch and Marissa murder mystery story. Both do work well together and it's typical of Ward's Brotherhood novels to be divided into two or three story plots that feel equal balanced. 

However, this means that if you've not read any of the Brotherhood books it's harder to understand. All, the characters have already been set up and everything. Though, the history between Butch and Marissa is gone over so readers can remember and understand it, I think if you haven't read their story it can be difficult to get into their relationship. I would have much preferred the Butch and Marissa story to have been in an actual Brotherhood book, but Ward has tied in the plot nicely, so it doesn't feel as jarring. 

The plot is that Paradise gets recruited into the Brotherhood's training program. Finally, she has a chance to prove she's more then just a pretty face! Of course, falling in love was never a part of the plan, but we know from one of the previous Brotherhood book when Paradise and Craeg meet that something is going to happen between them. Paradise and the other recruits have a trail to get through and of course she and Craeg pass and then like so do three other guys. Then they begin their training. Alongside this is Butch's story and he's having problems in his marriage - basically it's a communication break down brought on by a problem in the past. 

The characters are really good and do feel realistic with their true to life problems. There is a good develop for all of them too, with Butch and Marissa overcoming their problems to save their marriage and Paradise and Craeg overcome their barriers and let the love between them grow. Time is spend with some of the other characters, but not much becomes of them due to the fact there's so many and they each have their own novels. 

Overall, this novel is good and fits well into the Brotherhood series and its nice to see different and new characters. I still would have liked it if this novel had just been about them though as then it would be easier for new readers to pick up and there'd also be less focus on the Brotherhood. Hopefully, this might come through more in other books in the series. I'm looking forward to reading to reading the second one now and also the next Brotherhood book, I think it might have all ready come out but I'm still awaiting it. 

Thanks for reading.           

Book Review; Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Hi readers, 

Today, I'm continuing with clearing off 'easy' books on my to read shelf and this was next on the list. I know this book came from my one of my favorite shops - The Works- cause it still had the price sticker on it, but the date I got this I don't know and it's more then possible my mum could easily have brought it for me as it's been on the bottom of my bookcase with other vampire novels for a good few years now.

I was a little bit worried that this story would be another 'Twilight'. I feel bad that I'm now judging teenage vampire fiction and sometimes other teenage supernatural novels by that marker. I think the Twilight books just annoyed me a lot, like Fifty Shades Of Grey did and now I'm too quick to say, 'oh, it's just another Twilight!' Every time I start reading that kind of novel. Also, when I took Glass Houses off my shelf I saw it had been sitting behind Interview With The Vampire and I so wanted to read that instead. It's my all time favorite book and favorite vampire novel. I resisted temptation, but my reading of Glass Houses was over shadowed by that urge, which so didn't help.

I'm please to report though that Glass Houses, isn't anything like Twilight, which makes me feel totally better about writing this review. However though, the story and the characters didn't really grab me enough to make me want to buy the next book. When I looked into it I found there was 15 books in The Morganville Vampires series and there hasn't been anymore since the last came out in 2013. Glass Houses is the first and was published in 2006. Which makes me safer to talking about some aspects of the story and characters, that people might see as spoilers. And I do try hard in all my reviews not to do that to people because I so hate it when it happens with me and then it makes me not to carry on or actually start reading a novel. So, you've been warned now.

There's so much I actually want to write about this novel, which isn't a change for me because I normally want to go into a whole essay and pick everything apart, just like every English Lit class has taught me. But I know people don't like reading long in-detailed reviews, more often then not they just want to hear if it was good or bad and worth their time reading. But I feel it can't be helped, I love vampires so much and tonight I'm in the mood for an in depth reviewing - which is shocking cause I've been struggling to write for the last month or so on all my blogs and personal projects! I guess sometimes it can take just one thing to get you back on the writing track.

So anyway, the plot of Glass Houses is that a 16 year old girl called Claire moves into a town called Morganville in Texas, USA where she attends college due to being super intelligent and her parents wanting the best for but not wanting her to grow up too fast and let her go, basically. American readers will get that more then UK readers as here 16 is like the starting age for going to college and we don't really have the very intelligent people fast tracking through the education system either. I think also the divide between 16 and 18 must be bigger in the USA. when I was a teenager I didn't feel like there was a such big gap between the ages like this novel makes out there is.

Claire is being bullied by a gang of girls due to making the leader like stupid in front of a hot boy. She over hears the girl call Monica say that World War 2 had been a Chinese thing and without really thinking about it, Claire corrects her. From that point on, Monica and her gang the Monickettes, which sounds like some pop band of the 1980's or 1990's, have been bullying her. Thus, the opening of the novel begins with Claire returning to collect her clothes washing and finding a note saying all of her clothes have gone down the rubbish chute.

Monica and the Monickettes are waiting for her as she leaves and Claire gets pushed down some stairs. Not wanting to return to the girl's only dorm, she finds an ad for a housemate and goes to visit the house. There she meets Eve - a goth, Shane - who has a tragic past and Micheal who turns out to be a ghost. She moves in with them and Eve tells her that vampires are real and they rule the town. Claire then falls prey to a young vampire and to free her Shane makes a deal of having his blood drunk instead. Claire doesn't want that though and after asking if there's anyway they can get out of, Eve tells her about this power book that the vampires have been searching for.

Of course, Claire finds the book and in the dramatic final a vampire finally gets their hands on it. Turns out this book is about how to turn people into vampires, a knowledge that vampires have lost and it was written by the vampire who gets it back. It also turns out the house they are living in use to be her's as well. The vampire agrees to grant the group protect against other vampires and their human friends so Monica can't bully Claire anymore.

Then though, Shane father's turns up and starts causes trouble after Shane phoned him to ask for his help in defeating the vampires who were attacking them for the book. His dad is like a vampire slayer after revenge. The novel ends on the cliff hanger of Michael being killed.

I found all the characters to be quite well written. I liked how they all had secrets and I can see how they'd develop into friends and couples in the other books. The bully and her gang were also interesting, but there wasn't enough time spent on their characters for me - this might happen in the other books though. As for the vampires, they were mostly in the background and we only got to see like three of them - not counting ones that briefly appear. This to me doesn't satisfy my vampire need enough. Though the actual backgrounds and lore of the vampires did, which I'm always very interested in, especially if it's a different take on how vampires came to be ect. Hopefully, there's more of that in the other books.

The narration of the book is first person and Claire tells the story, so we did only get one point of view. However, she's not your typical 16 year old girl and her high intelligence and scientific mind were a nice changed from the 'stereotypical' teenage girl that has a tendency to appear in this young adult supernatural novels. Though it did take me awhile to actually get into the story. I think the overshadow from one of the best vampire novels as well as one of the worst, didn't help, but it's also the pace, which happens a little bit too fast at the start so we didn't get to know Claire all that well before she get's pushed down the stairs.

That set aside though, I did find this novel easy and fast to read. It's written simply, but effectively and even if the age of the main characters don't give the target audience for these series the writing clearly does. I can understand why a lot of teenagers and young adults would like these books, but they are not for me and I need a lot more 'adult' to satisfy my needs now. (Anne Rice and J .R. Ward are clearly to blame here!)

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book and maybe if I was younger or had more time or had never read/seen Twilight I would look into reading more. As it stands though I'm not interested at the moment. I would recommend this book to teenagers and young adults who like this kind of thing and perhaps haven't read Twilight or are seeking some better vampires to read about.

Thanks for reading and if you've got the time check out my other blogs. Next week is going to be a Life Update post, as hopefully I'll have finally finished a post I started late July/early August about sewing projects for kids. If not, it'll be another book review, so till then.

Image from; Amazon uk and www.korsetpelangsing.biz

Book Review: Imprudence by Gail Carriger

Hi readers,

I finally finished this! I know it's like two week over due now, but the first week I had like four days to read it in and that wasn't happening. Then last week, I realized I was rushing through reading the book and losing my enjoyment fast. I decided it wasn't worth speeding through it just to write about this novel on my blog. So, I slowed down again - at least until the last few chapters! 

So, this is the second book in a new series by Gail Carriger, which follows from The Parasol Protectorate and is the story of Alexia and Conall's daughter, Rue. She has the power to steal supernatural forms and can become a vampire, werewolf or other were-beast by touching said creature. This can led to some funny moments, but also very useful. 

This novel is about Rue's trip to Egypt to relocate her parents as her father is under the werewolf alpha curse and going crazy. As we know from the other series and get reminded a little in this book, there is a God-Breaker-Plague which is made up of dead soulless's bodies that makes all supernaturals mortal. Of course, this was all set up at the end of the last series, so people who've read them will be able to make more sense of things, but of course enough information is given for those that have not. 

There's a lot more going on then just a pleasure trip to Egypt though, as news of the werelion, who Rue and her friends met last time has gotten out. The werelioness is still traveling with them as The Spotted Custard starts getting attacked, Rue decides it's due to people hunting the werelioness. Throughout the novel they are chased and often engage in fights with unknown enemies. Rue decides they need to warn the Pride of werelioness they are all being hunted, but just maybe the enemy isn't after werebeasts after all?

As with the first book, I thought the chapters were too long and they were too broken up. The pacing too was slow, which might be the reason I didn't read this as fast as I've done the other books. I know that most people won't made these facts and maybe I'm being too fussy. To be hones those are the only downsides for me. 

The characters were really good and it was nice to spend more time Alexia and Conall, even though I think this might have been their last appearance. They both come across as being their good old selfs', if just older! There is also the appearance of a very old friend too. I kinda don't want to spoil that though, I wouldn't say the introduction is a plot twist, but there is one later on. I do see why this character has come back though and I think it'll be useful in the other books too. We do get to see a lot of development of the characters in this book.

I think this happens especially to Rue as at the start and later on, she 'loses' her family. She can't be part of the werewolf pack now her father is gone and she doesn't want to stay with her parents now they have moved to Egypt. She has to find herself again and also her own family. That's really what this story is about, though it stays mostly in the background. The romance between Rue and Qusenel finally takes off and they get together. Though and I'm still not sure how I feel about it because of me it just feels wrong, especially with the historic setting, but they end up sleeping together before they enter anything else. 

I also don't feel that the same level of bedroom activity language that was in the first series is present here and in away I feel a bit let down by this. I get the narrative is trying to stick within the historic time zone and the over all theme of the novel is not sex. I think maybe I found the whole thing jarring and just thrown in there when so much else was happening. I think that I'd have liked the characters to have more time, instead of the danger of their adventures, as it were, pressuring them into falling in love. Anyway, they are together now and we'll see where things go. 

The novel has a good ending, which does leave one thing open ended for the next book and it'll be an interesting read. Looks like Rue is uncovering more of her family history. I also wonder which country she'll end up in next. I'm guessing it might be a little bit of a wait now though! 

Overall, I did like reading this novel. The setting and characters interested me greatly and find them all so likable. I don't think I'm that excited for the next book though because I still feel that compared to the original series this one doesn't quite hit the mark for me and that really comes down to pacing and now the narrative is structured. I would add don't read this one without reading the first one as they are not stand alone books, but you don't have to have read the first series as enough information is given. 

Thanks for reading and next week I'm going to be looking at the first book in a new series by my favorite author.      

Soulless: The Manga, Volumes 1-3 by Gail Carriger

Hi Readers,

Just had to take a moment there because for some reason I thought it wasn't Monday! It was really weird because I knew it was Sunday yesterday so why would my brain think it was any other day? I don't know. Anyway, so today I'm continuing to review Gail Carriger's Soulless/The Parasol Protectorate Series with the Manga Trilogy. I decided to write about these three books together as they just re-tell the first three novels and nothing new is added.

I'd so recommended reading my reviews on the novels before reading this because I don't plan to go into the same level as detail as I did for them. Also, I'd say to read those novels before you read the manga. This is because I found that somethings that happened in the books don't appear in the manga. Those things were mostly details about the other plot lines and characters, which just had more depth. In a way, I wish I'd read something else to clear my head before racing through these mangas, but it was also good because of the things I noticed.

What I did love about these was that the opening pages are colored in so you get a sense of how the manga artist has interpreted Carriger's descriptions. I found that the drawings were also good and it sparked my wanting to read more manga! The opening to the first book is actually something that is set a little bit into the first novel. Alexia and her family are at breakfast and her step-sister is reading the newspaper that tells of how a woman was attacked at the ball they all want to last night. Then we get the flash back of this event. Though that is the actual opening to the novel.

So, basically the manga trilogy is a condensed version which focus on the main plot from the novels. This actually works very well and I couldn't see it done any other way. I love the drawings of the different dresses and the wolves! The characters do come across well, but I got a lot more about them from the novels then I did from the manga trilogy. It was interesting to see the characters in a different way though.

I did enjoy the first book and it was a refreshing read for me. The second one followed on from the first and covered most of the second novel.
  

The opening pages were once again in color and I do wish that the rest of them were too! But I'm guessing that would be real expensive. Anyway, this time Alexia is on a trip to Scotland to catch up with her husband and solve the loss of supernatural elements. I did like the flying airships and the sense of adventure in this one though. It does stick more true to the second novel then the first I thought, but once again it's a very cut down version of the main plot and it didn't seem to have much of the other plots that the novel had. 

I liked reading it though and I think it shows that novels can convert in manga easily enough. I don't think it took me very long to read and the others either, though I did try to space it out to enjoy them more. Also, I wouldn't say these books are aimed at children. They were done for the fans and readers of the novels. There's some nudity and a bit of violence, but not that much that easily offends. The dialogue is simple and short like in other mangas and comics. For my dyslexic brain it was a nice break! And I did really enjoy reading them.

The third book fits in well and it's a shame they only decided to do a trilogy! I think books four and five would have worked out okay, but for some reason they stop here. The actual ending is nice enough, but I really felt the wanting to read more! I did try to see if I could find anything in the same vein of Victorian Steampunk, but I haven't found anything I liked. If you know of any manga series comment and let me know. 

Overall, I enjoyed this manga trilogy. I think they fit in well and go along side the novel series. I'd recommend these for fans of the series, but I'd say if you like this kinda of manga but didn't want fancy the novels for whatever reason then give them ago! 

Thanks for reading and next week I'm looking at the spin off series which follows Alexia and Conall's daughter Pru.      

Images from: Amazon UK. 

Book Review: Timeless by Gail Carriger

Hi readers,

Today, I'm reviewing the fifth and final book in The Parasol Protectorate series. I'm please to say it didn't disappoint! The plot of this one feels very different to the others, which is great because it feels fresh. Alexia and her family have been summoned to Egypt to meet the queen vampire there because she is interested in meeting Alexia's daughter Prudence. In order to get there under some reasoning and disguise to protect themselves, Alexia arranges her best friend, Ivy's acting group to preform their new play for the queen.

Of course, the trip goes with many funny hitches and that is something I really enjoyed about all the books is that the humor in them is light and very 'Victorian' styled as it were. To make things even harder Ivy had twins and so there's three babies to also deal with, though there has been a move forward in time and Prudence is about two years old. And as we know from the end of the last book, Prudence is no normal child! And she does spent time as both a werewolf and vampire baby in this story, which I think is so cute.

When the group finally arrive in Egypt it is wonderfully described and I do like the change of setting from London because it gives the reader a feel of a greater world. Also, the Victorians were very interested in Egypt, so having this as a setting is realistic for the time period, even if it is an alternative history.

The rest of the plot is that the Queen meets Prudence and it seems she wants more from the toddler then it first appears. Alexia starts to solve the curse-breaker plague that seems to have been spreading across Egypt and finds that her father was involved in it's growth. It seems no surprise there though because that has been a running theme throughout the series. However, to me it doesn't seem to become stale and I think uncovering her father's past is important for Alexia to discover who she is.

The mystery is of course solved when they arrive at a temple and find that someone has been collecting the bodies of the soulless and using their still lingering powers to create the plague. Which then brings back in Alexia's father and the vampire queen, because as it turns out the queen wants to die. Now though, the queen can use Prudence's powers to pass on, which she does and this leading into the other reason why Ivy is needed. I'm not going to spoil it though!

There is one heart retching moment close to the end, which works as part of the climax of the novel. And I don't really want to spoil that either, but I'm just so glad that actually it didn't happen! I was a bit shocked that the writer decided to do that, but I get it was all part of heightening the drama to the max. It also gives a good turning point to the story, which is needed to push things forward.

Finally, the ending of the book is really good and everything feels tied up at the end. I actually feel sad that it has ended now, but in away I'm glad that it's not going to drag on and the quality of the writing falling as I have seen in other series. Though I do feel I am going to miss reading Alexia's adventures.

So how do the characters far up in this final book? I love Prudence! she is such a good character and I like her development, even though she is a toddler, due to her being a supernatural she progresses quickly and it turns out at the end that actually she doesn't like her name. Which is so cute. I do feel that she is a good a character and does fit in well with the other characters.

Alexia and Conall's characters do show further signs of progression, including when Conall finds out that Alexia has been keeping a secret from him and they have an argument. I liked how they fixed things like a married couple and were able to move on. I do love the relationship between them because it is so strong and they seem perfectly matched.

Once again, the other characters do have all their parts to play and I do like the feeling of them actually trying to up stage the main characters, especially Ivy. Though, I'm not 100% with 'the butler did it' cliche, but I do understand it and it does work, but I I guess I didn't slot all the pieces into place quick enough to work it out before it happened. Beside from that though, I'm still happy with the other characters.

Overall, I'm happy with this last book. I really enjoyed reading the series and am sad to see it now finished. I liked the changing in settings and meeting some new characters. I would so recommend this series to people who like supernatural romance stories and also people who are interested in steampunk. This to me is a great first introduction to the genre because it uses it lightly. The main characters are very likable and easy to understand, which means you can deeply connect with them.
     
Happily, it looks like the story isn't actually ending here! I found out there is more just in a different form!

The first is that a Manga trilogy of the first three books was made and I of course ordered these when I found out and I'm going to review them next week or the week after because I need to do a life update post. I might do them as one review, because I believe there's nothing new about the plot and characters and it's just a Manga retelling of the first three books. Have to see.

The second is that there is a sequel to The Parasol Protectorate called The Custard Protocol, which follows Alexia's daughter. I really like this idea and can't wait to started reading them. The first book is out now and the second should be out soon. 

The third link is that Carriger has written another series of books called Finishing School of which there is four books. I read that this isn't a pre-sequel to the other two series but does speak of events and characters that appear. They are on my wish list and I'd love to get them but I have too many others books on my to-read shelf and even more listed first on my wish list. Hopefully, I'll get around to them though.    

Image from: Amazon.uk 

Book Review: Heartless by Gail Carriger

Hi readers, 

Today it's the turn of the 4th Parasol Protectorate book; Heartless. The plot of this one does follow on, though there is a bit of a time gap of a few months. A now heavily pregnant Alexia has decided to have her unborn child adopted by her vampire friend Lord Akeldama as a hope to stop the vampires from killing her and the baby as they believe the child to be a threat to them. Of course, Alexia then ends up moving next door the Lord Akeldama, but secretly living in his second best closet, so she can help bring up the baby. 

For the moment though, she has to deal with a threat from a ghost about the Queen being killed and that is the main plot of the book. The twist about the Queens is nice and I think it took me awhile to figure it out. What's also nice that we get cut scenes to the ghost thinking and talking. Of course, the name of the ghost is hidden up till the end, but if you close read the book, it's easy to pick up. I know some readers can find cut scenes likes these jarring, but they fitted in well enough for me. I guess because the plot does cut to a number of different people anyway. 

I did think it was a little too much for eight month pregnant Alexia to deal with though and I get that the author is going for high drama, but I just felt given the historic time setting that Alexia should have really been aware of of how dangerous chasing after the supernatural and hell-bent inventors can be for a mother and unborn child. The only time we see Alexia resting is when she twists her ankle chasing a burglary and even then she's out of bed too soon! For me it just felt like it was pushing the reality lines too much. 

I still enjoyed how fast pace this one was though and it was good that the story was centered on mother's and children, since Madame Lefoux has to save her kidnapped son from the vampire queen and of course the only way she feels she can do that is to build a mechanical octomaton to battle the vampires who stole him. Of course, she does get her son back in away as she now has to go and live with the vampires in order to do so. 

And Alexia has her baby, though it does arrive early! She has a daughter, who does as Alexia has researched turn out to be a skin stealer, which means the baby can take a supernatural's power. So, she becomes a baby vampire at the end of the book. I think that's so cute and I can just imagine some of the trouble she might course in the next book now. 

The development of the characters is still good, though it feels to have slowed down for me. I like how the second characters are used well to support Alexia and I don't feel they are just in the background. They all have their own parts to play in the story and the whole group of characters works well together. It's nice they come together to solve all the issues too and at the end of the book everything is tied up. 

I think I would have liked to see more steampunk elements coming in, but that really is a secondary genre as the main one is really supernatural romance. And this book actually focus a bit more on married and family life, which is slightly different from the other three books in that everything is being set up for the baby coming, but also that Alexia has to revised Lord Maccon's past to find out what really happened for him to become the leader of the werewolf pack. The knowledge she finds out is does keep a secret, but I get a feeling that isn't going to last long.  

I was a bit sad at the end when the werewolves had to move out of their home though and into London center, due to Alexia's too fast thinking, but this does show the progress on the characters and I get all the werewolves need to be in one place and not split between two as they end up becoming. Also, this could be a plot element in the next book.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and it ended on a high with a supernatural baby being born. The plot and characters were as good as the other books too. I'm looking forward finishing the fifth and final book off now, but also a little sad too because I've grown attached to the characters. Hopefully, it'll have a good ending. Till Next Monday.   

  

Image from: https://www.amazon.co.uk

Book Review: Blameless by Gail Carriger

Hi readers, 

Today, I'm reviewing the third Alexia Tarabotti/The Parasol Protectorate book. If you've not read the first two in this series review, it might be useful to you to do so. The opening of this book sees Alexia moved back in with her mum, step-dad and step-sisters, who don't know about her secret and the true reason her husband, Lord Maccon, has kicked her out after their return from Scotland. However, a newspaper announces it and Alexia is dismissed from her former home. She has also lost her job with the Queen too. 

Alexia goes to stay with her vampire friend Lord Akeldama, but finds he has gone missing. Having no choices left she decides to gather her butler, Madam Lefoux who is becoming a close friend and Tunstell who is a former connection to the werewolf pack but has left since his marriage to Ivy, Alexia's best friend. They decided to leave for Italy in the hope to uncover more about Alexia's unexpected pregnancy and to try and prove that Lord Maccon is the father. 

The other plot in this novel is that the vampires are trying to kill Alexia due to the fear of what her baby is. This carries on from the second book and as I'm now finding out it is also continued in the four book. I do like the second plots that appear in this series of books because it gives the story more depth without over complicated things and the second plot lines fit in well with the first.  

The rest of the primary plot sees Alexia and company finding out more about the pregnancy and ending up meeting the Templars, who had been brought up in the other books but not seen till now. this very religious group who stand strongly against the supernatural turn out to have the information Alexia and she discovers that her unborn child is a skin/soul stealer and possible has the power to take different supernatural forms. They are so rare that her baby is the second one and the vampires fear the child due to the power it'll have. 

At the end, there's a great escape moment and Alexia meets up with everyone including Lord Maccon who has finally come to his sense about the unborn baby being his. I liked the happy ending and felt this showed a good relationship between Alexia and her husband. The main plot and second plot were also good and though I did like the second book better, I read through this one quick because I wanted to find out about the baby. 

The new characters in this book are; Madam Lefoux's friend who she went to school with and is a clock maker.  A German scientist who is a member of the Brass Octopus group, but turns out not to follow their codes and his fascination with the pregnancy gets to him and the Italy Templars, who take Alexei captive because they are also worried about the powers her child might have, but her interested in her own too. I was happy with this new characters again, because they all brought a fresh insight into the knowledge of being soulless and the pregnancy. The fact that they were out for their own goals and the last two were the villains was a good switch up. 

The pace and dialogue were fine again and everything felt well written and gripping. It will be interested to find out what's going to happen in the fourth book now! 

Overall, I'm still enjoying the series and the characters. 

    

Image from: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blameless-Book-3-Parasol-Protectorate/dp/1841499730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464184211&sr=8-1&keywords=blameless

Book Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger

Hi readers, 

I know this post should have been up last Monday but I wasn't feeling well. So, now I'm a week behind in my reviews of this series, however I'm ahead in reading, which is good news because I've been researching what other novels Gail Carriger has written and I'm going to write about that when I review the last book. 

This book continues from book one: Soulless. I'd so recommended reading that review first because I don't plan to go into vast details about characters etc. The plot of Changeless is that Lord Maccon takes off to Scotland as a strange effected starts happening in London; the immortal suddenly become mortal. Alexia of course becomes involved in it and ends up setting off to Scotland to follow the strange effect and her husband. There she learns of her husband's last surviving relative from a long ago marriage. She also solves the mystery of the strange effect, which turns out to be an Egyptian mummy and leads into learning more about the soulless state. The twist at the end is also very good, though there are hints throughout the book about this that readers will pick up on, but I'm not going to spoil it here. However, in book 3 I shall have to write about it because it's an important plot point.  

I did enjoy the plot of this one as we get to learn more about Lord Maccon's past and werewolves. The change of setting to Scotland was also refreshing and new characters are introduced too, which all adds to giving a freshness to the second book. The pace felt just as fast as the first one with things going wrong quickly throughout and a mystery to be solved. The second plot line involves things happening behind Alexia and her life seem to be in danger. This to does get resolved, but I feel there is more to it. And of course having now read the 3rd book I know this sort of carries over.

The new characters that get introduced are really good. The first is Madame Lefoux who is a French scientist that dresses as a gentleman. I enjoyed her character and the fact that she likes men's clothing. She also has a connection to Alexia French maid, who actually isn't all she seems.... I love Madame Lefoux creations and underground lab. The second character that I want to talk up as Lord Maccon's great a few times granddaughter. She has been made leader of his old pack, even though she's not a werewolf and badly wants to become one. She is interesting because of her attitude towards things and the fact like nearly all female characters in this series she is going against the Victorian ideals of gentle women.

Like the first book I love the use of different dialogue and the Scottish accents. They are much more broad this time and it took my brain a few seconds to figure out the words. But it was easier enough to understand. It just makes the characters and settings more real.

There is slightly more steampunk elements this time and I enjoyed the traveling on dirigible scenes and the messaging machine. Was again the steampunk was light and in the background, meaning that characters could be more focused on. I do hope that the steampunk will grow stronger throughout the next three books, but I wouldn't mind if it did remain in the background.   

Overall, this is a good second book and I still find the characters enjoyable. The change of setting and the additional new characters as well as the two plots helps make it feel fresher.

Next week: the 3rd book Blameless.

Thanks for reading. 

Image from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6933876-changeless

Book Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

Hi readers,

Today, I'm kicking off a review of a series of books called The Parasol Protectorate subtitled; An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, with the first book; Soulless. I have reviewed series of books before on this blog, namely the Black Dagger Brotherhood, which is still ongoing and actually I'm not sure I've reviewed them all come to think of it!

But it's been awhile since I last read a series all in one go. I think this is because I have this habit of wanting to have all the books and being able to read them one after another. I think my brain finds it easier and I don't have to keep the memory of character, settings and plot details in my head for months or years as I wait for the next book/s to be published. Does anyone else do this too?

Anyway, I'm not sure how I found out about this novel, but I did read it close to the time it was published or within two years. I did enjoy it the first time I read it then upon finding out it was a series I had to collect the others. However, I just never got a round to reading them afterwards. Well, the time has come and I've started now and hopefully, got something of a time table to read them all in and review them!

The Parasol Protectorate novels are set in an alternative Victorian history where the supernatural has come to the surface and been mostly accepted. Alongside, this is is a bit of Steampunk and I say this because it features mostly in the background and in Soulless appears very little. Which is why if you are someone who's into the supernatural genre and wants to get into Steampunk then this series would be a good start. Or if you find Steampunk a little hard to get into for whatever reason and/or you are looking for a new Steampunk book to read then it's really worth a go.

The narrative is in third person and follows the heroine, Alexia Tarabotti, who is described as a half Italian spinster who has no soul, on a mission to find out where the lone vampires and werewolves have disappeared to. I really like Alexia, she is a great female character who doesn't seem to let the Victorian suppression of women get to her. She stands out above the rest and is seemingly happy with the fact she's been 'shelved' and won't ever marry. This gives her liberties which she wouldn't have otherwise, but it also leads into the situation she ends up in at the start of the novel.

Having sneaked off from a ball to have tea in the library, she is attacked by a vampire and accidentally kills him. She is saved by a werewolf, Lord Maccon, who then helps to cover the situation up. It turns out her mother, step-sisters and step-dad don't know she is soulless. In fact not even her best friend, Ivy, who has a very poor but funny choice in hats knows about it. Alexia then ends up helping to investigate why she was attacked as Lord Maccon is part of a BUR - Bureau of Unnatural Registry and it's part of his job. This all leads to the discover of a group of scientists who are experimenting on the supernatural.

There is a second plot line sees Alexia and Lord Maccon falling in love. I was a little worried that this would draw too much away from the main story, but it actually works well. They have a kinda cliched friendship were they don't seem to get on, but they actually enjoy annoying each other. Their interested and love for each other slowly comes though and I loved the scandalized (well, it would have been in the 1800's) scene were they are caught kissing by Alexia's family and have an argument about getting married. Which of course then does happen!    

The plot is really well written, funny in many places and serious in others. I love the revealing of the mystery behind what is going on and it just keeps you reading on. The setting works really well too. It does feel like Victorian London and the description of all the places just lets you imagine this alternative history highly. The description of character and clothes is very well done too. I love all the dresses Alexia wears and every time Ivy shows up in a new hat which is often so ugly the other characters' reactions are just priceless.

Speaking of, the other characters are really good. They all seem to be written as if they were the main character and their dialogues work well. Lord Maccon is Scottish though he tries to sound more London, but I love how it comes through in small doses. His background is kinda kept in the dark, but I think this might appear in one of the other novels. The other characters also seem set up for more, but their development is good anyway.

The ending actually makes Soulless feel like a stand alone book. I was thinking there'd be a cliffhanger or lead into book two, but the ending is kind of closed. I actually like that as it makes me feel more satisfied about finishing it.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I'd so recommend it to everyone, even if you are not big or the supernatural, or steampunk or history or romance as there feels to be something for everyone in this novel and even if you dislike all those genres the characters and plot are just really good.

Thanks for reading and next week I'll review book 2!          

Image from: http://www.gailcarriger.com/books/parasol-protectorate-series