Their Stories

It's my second time reading the series and I love it even more than the first time. 

I enjoyed the mystery part immensely+ we're introduced to interesting side characters like Stetphen's small crew of justiciars, the Big Scary Council...

And we have more Merrick, y'all! 

One of the reasons why I love the books is the way it's written, the great dialogues:

"Inspector Rickaby turned Crane's card over and back as though he expected to find a clue on it. 
"Earl Crane. Shouldn't there be an "of" in that?
"No. It's like Earl Gray".
"The tea?"
"The lord" 

And did I mention am totally crazy about Stephen and Lucien?
On to the next part, because I need more time with those two. 

The book follows the story of three boys -Crispin, Myles and Jude who have been taken as ward by a mysterious rich man. 
The three get the life most people can only dream of. 
Too good to be true, right?

As it turns out later there's something common between the adolescents and they were not just chosen randomly.
The very way the story is told gives off the feeling something is going to happen. And I mean something very, very bad. 

It was suspenseful at first, all right.

However I felt like at some point I am just waiting for THAT something to happen...

And WOAH, it actually happens- literally in the last chapters. 
Now here comes my problem. 
I know, the action was building for that moment of discoveries and revelations/ realizations the whole time. But to me it all felt a bit too over- dramatic and over the top. 

In short- there is a lot of mystery, a pinch of romance /although not much focus on it, but there are some hot scenes among the whole waiting-for-the-storm-to-come /.

And I love the way Erastes works with the very language. It was the plot development that didn't really work for me.

"And jazz- it didn't sing sweetly, like the music he'd been raised on. It shouted out, fierce to lift the weariest spirit. It could own a fellow's soul if he let it- and even if he didn't " 
I wish I could hear that jazz, played in clubs in New York at that time.

It's one of those books whose characters I want to know personally.
I wanted to listen to Sutton play, go wander the streets at 2 am with Jack, go to their parties and have a drink with them. I wanted to have a friend like Harry...

The author has done an amazing job composing the setting, building masterfully a character at a time when PTSD did not even exist as an idea, when free jazz and "Dixieland" did not hold the significance they do now, and the Prohibition knocking on the door.


This is my favorite book by Tamara Allen and for some strange reason while I read I remembered Palahniuk's words describing the world we live in now : 
" We're the middle children of the history man, no purpose or place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives " 

Whistling in the dark is that one work that made me want to time travel and shake the hands of those characters, who've lived and experienced all that we / for better or worse / can never have

Office Romance by Tamara Allen- 

" There has to be more to life than measurable benefits. What about values we can't calculate in hours or dollars? If this is all we fought for... " 
Tamara never fails to send me emotionally exactly where she wants me to be with her stories...I loved the way she portrayed the historical period with all its difficulties and struggles. The main characters are two men who seem so improbable to to fall for each other at first and i really liked their interactions and the way their relationship developed. 

Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers-

My first encounter with the author. I found her story quite entertaining. So entertaining, that I got some of her other books, which I can't wait to read. 

The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles-

What did I get into with that one...
I will not praise the style of writing, the story or the characters. I will only confess I finished the rest of the books in the series for less than a week after reading this short story. 

Unfair in Love and War by Kaje Harper- 

It definitely made me feel differently from the way the other stories in the anthology did. For some reason it made me feel nostalgic and even sad in some moments. The characters seemed quite honest and real - I really liked that one.


Carousel by Jordan L. Hawk

I have read the Whyborne and Griffin, Books 1-3: Widdershins, Threshold, and Stormhaven, and Carousel was another entertaining episode of the two characters' adventures. I cannot say if the story would appeal to me the same way hadn't I read the rest of the books though...

Deliverance by Aleksandr Voinov - 

I have a special attitude towards Voinov's books, since he's one of the first MM novelists I encountered, and I always, always have great expectations from his works. I haven't read The Lion of Kent yet, and perhaps this is why I could not fully understand the characters' motives. I might get back to Deliverance again, having read William's story.

I am not sure if the romance blooms slowly, to me the story had a certain flow and then at some point it made a very sharp turn which I totally didn't see coming...

My opinion about Jonah changed dramatically and I think I began understanding his reasons.
I liked Reid / of course/ as well as the side- characters. Tamara Allen is great at creating strong and likable side characters.
Beautifully described historical setting as usually for this author and I am always in love with everything she writes. 

The tale of Drusus Germanicus , who was a Roman politician and military commander / January 14, 38 BC– summer of 9 BC / , is told from an interesting perspective. I will not focus on this-
overall, just as in the first book, the whole depiction of the setting is great. 

Please, keep in mind the book is quite heavy on historical facts and with not so much focus on romance. 

What I expected was maybe to see the characters more as humans, not so much as heroes. 
I wished they would surprise me, I hoped to think and feel with them. In stead, I felt more like a bystander, and they were more untouchable than ever. 
Which I didn't really expect, since the first book laid the foundation for different understanding on the image of the Classical Hero. 

As far as I checked, the author is planning on writing a third book- Valerian's Legion: The War of Illyria - maybe that's where the surprises I hope for will be. 

As I have mentioned before, I've always thought preference for poetry is very strictly individual, this is valid for all genres of literature, of course- it's just that to me poetry gives more freedom for interpretation of forms and compositions. 

It feels like interpreting poems is something VERY intimate.

I am not going to actually review the book, since I lack the vocabulary I need to express my admiration, so I'll only share my favorite part of a poem : 

“For a while I thought I was the dragon.
I guess I can tell you that now. And, for a while, I thought I was
the princess,
cotton candy pink, sitting there in my room, in the tower of the castle,
young and beautiful and in love and waiting for you with
confidence
but the princess looks into her mirror and only sees the princess,
while I’m out here, slogging through the mud, breathing fire,
and getting stabbed to death.
Okay, so I’m the dragon. Big deal.
You still get to be the hero. " 

The very fact I called one of my colleagues at work Stephen / and his name is nothing close to that/ just because I couldn't stop thinking of the book it's explanatory enough how much I love it . 
Thank you. K.J. Charles for not naming one of your main characters some name like Jabari or Aloysius, cause that would've gotten me in trouble.

This will not be an actual review, I will just put together a few thoughts on the series. 

What happens every time I read a JCP book is after I finish it, it's like I've spent time with her characters in real life and they are actual people. 
If a book makes you go and read two more books and articles on the topics discussed in it, that undoubtedly proves how great it is. 

Mnevermind is perfectly well thought and built. Great characters- I loved Elijah, and at the same time I felt very emotionally involved with Daniel. The way the interaction between them was progressing was beyond unpredictable and I really appreciated how their problems wouldn't just disappear if they closed their eyes
Amazing concept and focus on the detail, I don't even want to think how much research JCP has done before writing the series

As usual, I don't know what I get myself into when I read a Jordan Castillo Price novel...

Stephen King meets Mark Frost / and why not David Lynch /

"Welcome to the world of paranormal investigation. Even when you experience something first hand, you're left with more questions than answers and no proof whatsoever. " 

This is a very good, dynamic story for all the fans of suspense and mystery. 

There isn't much focus on the romantic side of Pierce and Haven's relationship, but I think that fit the story very well. 
I liked how the action is composed with chapters set in present day and past. I will not spoil anything about the murder case from 12 years ago, the investigation of which brings back our main characters together,I'll only admit I couldn't really predict who the culprit was, so the book kept my interest to the very end. 

And let's not forget we have a paranormal element. 
I won't dwell on that, since I think my fellow readers have shared some great thoughts on that side of the story, let me just share my favorite example Pierce gives about human perception:

"Let's say I stand in front of a room full of people with a little vial of water. I tell them it's peppermint oil. Then I open the vial and spill it on the floor. I tell them to raise their hands the minute the smell of peppermint reaches them. Without fail, about half the people in the room will eventually raise their hands. Now, are they lying? Or is just the thought of peppermint oil enough to convince their brain they smell it? And if their brain thinks they smell it, and our brains create our reality, then how is thinking we smell something any different from actually smelling it?" 

This was my first of Marie Sexton's stories and I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of her works. 


**Copy kindly provided to me via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.**