Endangered

 

I got  Endangered out of a local free library. I knew I had a plane ride so I took Endangered to read while waiting to board and flying. I had no clue it was a series. 

Summer is a fun character, she is at home in the mountains watching wildlife but also loves to have the comforts of a shower and a good meal. Not liking her name much she goes by Sam and is thrilled to be on assignment to update how the cougars released are doing. Finding two of the three Sam quickly takes her pictures and heads back down the mountain. It is there she finds a toddler who has a toy truck. Seeing no adults she asks him where his mom is, at that point Sam notices a figure down the path waving at her. Assuming it is the toddlers father she lets the child run down to him just as the last of the daylight fades away into the night. This is a mistake since the toddler goes missing and the cougars Sam worked so hard to get back into the wild are blamed. Determined to find the boy and the truth Sam soon encounters more then she was prepared for as she searches for the young boy. 

I really liked Sam she was spunky but believable. Everything she did was believable and made sense for someone trained to be in the wilderness. Despite being a mystery it had funny moments and tender moments. This was my first wilderness mystery read and I would give the genre another try. Despite being a series the story ended with no questions for me and everything was wrapped up nicely. 

Once Upon A Broken Heart

 

Once Upon A Broken Heart is a gem of a story I missed hearing about until browsing the bookstore recently. Carval is still one of my favorite books so I did not hesitate to buy more work by the amazing Stephanie Garber. 

The mysterious Prince of Hearts finally gets his time to shine in his own series. Jacks is just as cruel and demented as he was in Carval but this time he is free to grant as many deals as he wants. With the fates free from the deck of playing cards Jacks power has returned and he is happy to make bargains for a price. 

Evangeline is desperate and determined. Surely the prince of hearts understands heartbreak so he will grant her desperate wish of wanting to stop the marriage of her one true love to another. Guided by her heart and less by her wits I really have grown to like Evangeline, she is clever in her own way but without fail her heart always makes the decisions for her. 

The real reason I like Mrs. Garber so much is her world building, it is so vivid and delicious to read. Each area and even characters are painted in precise colors creating a world magic and clarity. Mrs. Garber's writing style is uniquely her own. I have already purchased The Ballard of Never After and cannot wait to start it. 

The Apothecary Diaries

 

The Apothecary Diaries is the first in a manga series. However I have never read a manga like it before. Instead of it being a comic it was like a chapter book with very few pictures. Despite this I really enjoyed the story and all the characters. 

Maomao is interesting, she just wants a peaceful life with out drama or attention of men. As the story progresses you learn how far Maomao goes to make avoiding men happen. Despite being a lowly servant Maomao has several things going for her, she can read, has strong wits, and knows how to diagnose and treat ailments of the women in the inner palace. 

The writing is smooth and easy to read. All transitions are easily marked and I never once lost track of what was going on. I really want to watch the anime now but I am going to finish reading the series before I watch the anime. Since I thought it was a picture manga I checked out volume one and two the same day. 

Iron Flame

 

Iron Flame is the second book in The Empryean series. 

I feel like Violet changed a lot from Fourth Wing to Iron Flame but to be fair she is most likely dealing with a lot of PTSD and exhausted from keeping her secrets from her friends. Instead of relying on people like she had previously Violet tries to find more and more herself. Digging deeper and deeper until she risks it all for answers she desperately needs. 

Xaden was left out of the story for a major part of it and when he reappeared I did not like his attitude much. He was even more cocky and secretive despite tying to be better with sharing stuff with Violet. 

Several side characters seemed left out as well which was sad since I like their relationship with Violet but she just tried to avoid all her friends and hide from them the majority of the time or ignore them.

My biggest gripe was another love triangle sort of thing being introduced. Violet already dealt with a love triangle in the Four Wing so need to do some odd Xaden love triangle with an ex that makes Violet feel even more insecure. Parts of the writing were too much, I felt like it repeated and did not provide enough new information but I did enjoy the story a lot overall. Like many others I am eager for Onyx Storm next year.

The time it took me to read the story has nothing to do with the story being slow, bad, or boring. Just things going on in my personal life are making it hard for me to want to pick up a book and try to read. 

Compete

 

Compete is the second  book in the The Atlantis Grail series. I actually bought the Ebook since the library did not have it. 

Having made it through the brutal qualification Gwen is now on a spaceship traveling through interstellar space towards and unknown galaxy and an unknown life on the alien planet Atlantis. As usual Gwen continues to be her difficult self and refuses to settle into the strict schedule the Atlanteans have created for the teens. Refusing to choose civilian or cadet Gwen is allowed more time to decided which she will choose. This comes with a price though and she has found herself an aide to the commanding pilot Aeson and learning more about the officers aboard the fleet. 

Despite it taking me a long time to read I really liked the book. The author was able to constantly add new information despite daily life being the same throughout the book. I like that you learned more about Aeson even though everything was told from Gwen's point of view. The writing continued to be consistent and easy to read. Despite tech not being my strong point I really liked how Nazarian broke down the more technical stuff and made it easy to understand. 

I have already purchased Win on my tablet and am eager to start it. 

Qualify

 

Qualify was a recent Free Friday by Nook book and it has been ages since I read an young adult book so I figured I would give it a try.

Gwen knows she is nothing special just an average dork trying to make it through high school with the least amount of embarrassing moments for her but that all changes when news hits that the earth is going to be destroyed by an steroid. However salvation lies in aliens who once lived on earth and offers a small hope to teens. Pass the tests and the aliens will take you to their home planet and safety. 

A double edge sword, Gwen can be saved but what if her siblings do not pass the coemption and no saving her parents. Still she must try. Soon Gwen is forcing not only her mind but her body to work hard to pass the Atlantis tests as she hopes to qualify for saving. 

It was easy to read large chunks of the story at once. I would easily get through a hundred pages or so at a time. The writing is smooth and flows well. Since Gwen is the main character you do not get a feel for most of the other characters but their dominate personality traits do show through. My biggest complaint is that Atlantis culture did not really go into much detail when she was in the class. I wanted more on how the aliens live every day not about how to bow to people above your station. Despite that I am eager to continue on with the story and I did buy the second book, Compete, I am hoping it will not suffer what I call second book syndrome. 

All the Dangerous Things

 

I saw a Facebook reel that recommended some thriller books and I happened to like one they had listed so I figured I would give All the Dangerous Things a try. 

Isabelle is a sleep deprived mother who looses it all when her son disappears from his crib in the middle of the night. Unable to trust anyone around her Isabelle begins a mission to bring her son home and find out the truth even if it is not the truth she wants to learn. 

The first major issue I had with the story was the fluff, so much filler, I skipped whole paragraphs and pages as reading and still got the whole story. Way too many twisted and confusing thoughts Isabelle was having the did not move the plot forward at all. Really it makes no sense to me that authors feel like books have to be a certain number of pages when it does not add to the story, I am fine with books 150 to 200 pages. The next issue I had was I did not really like Isabelle or even feel sorry for her she just went on and on about how horrible her life was and most of it was her fault from the horrible choices she made. Beyond that the mystery was solid with a clear conclusion.