Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy #1)- Jacqueline Carey

In the land of Terre d' Ange, the mantra is "love as thou wilt", and the inhabitants execute this rule with due diligence. Phedre no Delaunay is a girl born with a scarlet mote in her eye, which marks her as the chosen of the god Kushiel, the god of punishment. She will forever experience pleasure and pain as one in the same. Phedre is born into the Night Court, but is sold into service of Anafiel Delaunay. He trains her to be his eyes and ears in the court, by means of scholarly arts and mastery in the bedchamber (a standard training in this world). However, when Phedre stumbles upon a plot that could be the undoing of Terre d'Ange she must do everything in her power to stop those who wish to upset the balance and beauty of her homeland.

Overall Merit: I love this book, and I thought I'd review it since I just finished rereading it. All of the Terre d'Ange books are brilliant and I think I picked the perfect length of time to wait before rereading them. The characters are excellent and I would willingly follow Phedre and Joscelin to the ends of the earth. Carey's alternative historical world is excellent and filled with lavish details that are a feast to imagine. These books are a perfect example of erotica done in a tasteful and effective manner. There is a legitimate storyline and the sexual interludes enhance the characterization and plot rather than distracting from the point. Score- 12

Characters:  Phedre is a great character, I love her to pieces. She is witty and intelligent and brings dignity to the profession of courtesan, that I've never seen in any other book. Joscelin is excellent as well and his character arc is the most dramatic of any of the characters. Other supporting characters like Hyacinthe shine through as well. The main villain is a femme fatale of the worst kind, you love to hate her, but at the same time are loath to hate her. Great characters overall, definitely will make you want to follow them through the rest of the series. Score- 12

Blush Factor: Phedre and Joscelin might be one of my all time favorite fantasy couplings. They complement each other so nicely with contrasting, but not clashing personalities. This book is definitely explicit so keep the children away. Sex is at the forefront of this world and of Phedre's character so keep that in mind. There is also a lot of BDSM so if that isn't your thing, it might be a bit off-putting, but if you can see past that to the excellent story then please try and read this book. Score- 10

Structure: This book follows Phedre's perspective in first person, but she is such a fascinating character that it is effortless and enjoyable to ride along with her. The world structure is fantastic and I love Carey's laissez faire attitude about things that in our world are considered so taboo. Excellent juxtaposition of romance/erotica with plot line. What can I say? I can't stop raining accolades down upon this book. Score- 13

Plot: Courtly intrigue and culture clash. Not much more you can ask for in a fantasy/alternate history book. The civilizations that Carey brings together are each unique and intricate. She definitely did her research for this series. There is just enough magic to keep the story in the realm of fantasy, but not enough so that I'd classify it as strictly epic. However, the present elements are well-executed and the story is tight. The plot is well-thought out and complex enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Score- 11

Vervain says: "Phedre is a servant of both Namaah and Kushiel, two gods that are usually not juxtaposed. Josceline on the other hand, is a Cassiline, which adds even more absurdity in to the Phedre x Josceline coupling."

The Bone Doll's Twin (The Tamir Triad #1)- Lynn Flewelling

For centuries, warrior queens protected the land of Skala until the king Erius usurped his younger sister's throne and brought plague and drought upon the land. To make matters worse, the enemy kingdom of Plenimar drains Skala dry. The king fights to ensure that his son and heir is the next to take the throne and to do this, any females born to the royal line have all perished by 'mysterious' means. All except his sister's daughter who was given male form by dark magic to protect her until the time she can ascend the throne. The child, Tobin grows to manhood, ignorant of his true identity and haunted by the demon spirit of the twin whose body he stole. Only, Tobin's father, two wizards, and a forest witch know the truth of his identity and they will have to be enough to protect him until he can stand on his own as the queen of Skala.

Overall Merit: This book is beautiful. I loved this book and read it without stopping for three hours until I was finished. Tobin is a haunting yet bewitching character and your heart bleeds for him as you see him struggle to fit a male mold even though instinctively he wants to play with dolls. Then there is the issue of his deranged mother and the hideous doll she carries around with her that binds the spirit of her child's murdered twin.  The magic is dark and deliciously twisted and the characters are fascinating. Flewelling has created a fantastical story with unique magic. Score- 11.5

Characters: Tobin is wonderful as is his friend Ki, who shows up a bit later in the story. The camaraderie they share is touching and I enjoyed every moment I got to spend with them. Even the antagonists have depth here. The king is a cruel and twisted man, who still has affection for his mad sister even though if he knew the truth of the children she bore he would have executed the girl without a thought. Lhel is creepy, but in a good way, I get a very New Orleans witchdoctor feel from her, which is something I've never gotten in epic fantasy before. The other wizards are interesting I suppose, kind of generic, but perhaps they play a greater role later on in the series. Score- 10

Blush Factor: There is a bit of explicit content here, but I wouldn't exactly call it romance. Score: N/A

Structure: I am not a fan of prophecies in general. However, this novel did something different in that the prophecy had already occurred and it was lack of fulfillment that was causing a problem. Props for that, it didn't make me wince the way most prophecy books do. This was primarily through Tobin's perspective, but it also took a side plot to Lhel and the wizard Arkoniel, which was interesting enough, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out in the next books. Score-10

Plot: The plot didn't progress a ton in this book, but I didn't expect it to. A first in a trilogy is to set the stage, introduce the characters, etc. Flewelling did an excellent job with all the necessary components and I am half-dying waiting for the next books to come in the mail. True the content is a bit twisted and grotesque so if that isn't your thing, too bad, read this book anyway. I got a good feel for the characters and the story kept a good pace. Loved this book, so happy I finally decided to read it. Score-11

Vervain Says: "The reason Tobin's twin haunts him is because the body/soul was not disposed of properly."

Damian's Oracle- Lizzy Ford

When Sofia begins to suffer from strange, incurable symptoms, she cries out for help in desperation. Her call is heard by two forces: the White God- Damian and his counterpart, the Black God-Czerno. It turns out that Sofia is a Natural- a human with strong paranormal gifts. If she were any normal natural, Damian would not waste his time with her. However, she is an Oracle, the first in thousands of years and whoever controls the Oracle will tip the balance in their favor. When the Black God kidnaps her and tries to force her to go through a binding ceremony, she is rescued by Damian. Now, instead, Sofia must bind herself to the White God to stop the Black God from taking over humanity and to weed out the traitors he has planted among the Guardians (Naturals who belong to Damian's regime).

Overall Merit: Wait for it, wait for it...I actually liked this book. True I have to give it a bit of leniency seeing as it was self published (if it were published by a big house then I'd bump each of the scores down about a point), but that aside, once I got past the errors and looked at it big picture, I truly enjoyed this book. The characters had legitimate struggles and there were times when I thought Sofia was literally going to go insane. The only thing that really bothered me (aside from the minor typos) was the beginning. This book was good. It was a great concept with a great cast of characters and if it had gone through a more intense publishing/editing process, I think I would be in love. Score- 9

Characters: Wow, Sophia had kick in her. I was actually so proud of her for not being a typical fantasy heroine and being like "Damian is so hot. We MUST be soul mates." Nope. After the initial realization that he was indeed very hot she fought tooth and nail to keep herself from falling for him. Hell, they didn't even sleep together until the very end of the book! Damian was such a bad-ass, and a legitimate one too. So many times, writers will try to make a "bad-ass" character who just falls flat on his or her face. Damian did not disappoint and neither did his immortal siblings who were super fun characters as well. The only character that upset me a bit was the antagonist. There was the typical femme fatale character floating around and she was annoying, but not gut-wrenchingly evil. However, Czerno played a surprisingly small role. It seemed like his henchmen were scurrying around while he sat back and didn't do all that much. For the most part, solid protagonists and a few good supporting characters. Score-8

Blush Factor: This was refreshing. They were attracted, but they resisted. Key word being: RESISTED. It was like a dream come true (pardon my platitude). Most power couples will make a flimsy effort to resist and end up in each other's arms by page 100, Sofia whacked Damian upside the face and made him work for her attention. I'm not a crazy feminist by any means and would have been just as please if Sofia had to work to make Damian admit he liked her. Turns out they were a great couple, which made me even happier when they finally got together. So many romance novels smoosh the love interests together without making them do any work! Score- 10 (yes, look at that, a 10)

Structure: The viewpoints weaved a bit between Sofia and another character named Two, but I loved all the perspectives, which is rare. Usually I find I like on perspective over the other(s), but Ford kept me entertained throughout. The only issues I had with this were sometimes she didn't explain some of the technical inner workings of her world well enough e.g the way the powers worked, the hierarchy of gods/Watchers and the beginning. The beginning felt rushed, the characters didn't get fleshed out until later and the premise wasn't explained very well so I was sort of lost until I got a good 50 pages in. Score- 8

Plot: There were a ton of things going on at the same time and the non-stop action kept me reading. I liked the underlying storyline, which was essentially the timeless battle between good and evil. However, I would have liked more insight into the world of the "baddies". Great idea, great potential. I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel, but it's a possibility. Score- 8

In summation: Read this book and support a self-publishing author. Best part is, it's super inexpensive so I should hear no complaints on that front.


Vervain says: "There are three levels of deities: the primordial gods, the Watchers, and then the gods on Earth (Damian, Dusty, Jule, and Czerno). It's a bit hard to keep straight sometimes."

Insatiable- Meg Cabot

Meena Harper is sick of hearing about vampires (I think everyone in the world is sick of hearing about vampires), but this doesn't stop her bosses from forcing her to work on a project that incorporates the supernatural beings into her television show. However, Meena has a supernatural talent herself that seems to always get her into trouble: Meena can see when someone is going to die. So when she meets Lucien Antonescu, she can't understand why she can't see his demise--maybe because he's already dead. Meena and Lucien fall in love, a dangerous action seeing that he is being hunted by holy knights from the Vatican. Soon it will be up to Meena to decide where her loyalties lie and if love is enough to make her choose a new fate.

Overall Merit: I was actually so excited when I thought I found a book that was going to go against the stereotypes of a vampire romance novel, even the trailer suggested that this was the case. However, while it started off with the heroine renouncing the whole vampire love story nonsense, she ended up falling right into the hum drum cliche that Twilight started. I was desperately hoping for something a bit more snarky and satirical. Meena had the potential to turn this into a satirical biting novel, just by the nature of her character, but she was too busy swooning over Lucien and his "hotness" to channel that snark power. Also, making a vampire turn into a dragon does not count as original. It counts as weird and unnecessary, especially when it seems like it's being used as an excuse for a horrible metaphor. Score- 6

Check out the trailer:

Characters: I liked Meena, I really did. Or at least I thought I did. I thought she was going to do something epic with her death discerning powers, but she didn't. This element seemed extraneous and I wondered why Cabot even bothered putting it into the story. Sure, it gave Meena something to morally struggle with, but the moral struggle shouldn't be over something that takes away from the story. There was definitely humor brought mostly by Alaric Wulf (my favorite character in the novel). I mean he was pretty hilarious: a socially awkward, comic book collecting vampire hunter--doesn't get much better than that. Alaric was the saving grace of this book because he actually made me laugh. However, I had a real *bang head on desk* moment when he fell in love with Meena. I love geeky guys, but when they fall in love with the wrong person it upsets me. Lucien was a cliched vampire prince who could read minds. Cough Edward Cullen Cough. Do I need to elaborate? Score- 8 (because I loved Alaric)

Blush Factor: Yes, there is sex. This is a vampire romance novel, not written by a Mormon, of course there's casual sex. Keep young adolescents away from this book because the smut is pretty blatant. Nothing new happened here, you knew from page 20 that Meena and Lucien were going to get it on, and get it on they did--after one date. Score- 4

Structure: If you couldn't tell, this was mainly third person from Meena's perspective, with glimpses of Lucien and Alaric sprinkled throughout. Nothing new happened here, the technical writing was effective and clean. Score-8

Plot: Cliche. If I had to say it in one word it would be cliche. It was advertised as a parody or a satire, but what I got was a standard love triangle vampire story. This book was pretty much what Twilight would have been if Bella weren't such a block of tofu. The supporting characters saved it a little bit as some of their antics were mildly amusing, but overall this book made me very sad about the future of fantasy. Score-5

In summation: If you want the perfect example of a lovable and epic geek then read this book or at least skim the parts with Alaric.

Vervain says: "Meena's visions of the future aren't definite, she has the capacity to change them. However, this doesn't make the power any more useful as a plot device."

Angel Burn- L.A. Weatherly

Willow is gifted with the power to look into the future and decipher the hopes and dreams of others by touching them. She doesn't know where her power comes from as no one else in her family is gifted. It isn't until the assassin, Alex, shows up with instructions to kill her that she finds out what she truly is and why her powers exist. However, Alex isn't the only one who wants Willow, she is also being chased by legions of evil angels and their followers. She must team up with and learn to trust Alex to escape from the angels because she might be the last hope for the human race's survival and freedom.

Overall Merit: When I picked up this book from the YA section of the library, I was thinking one thing: this is going to be exactly like every single angel book out there. Weatherly tries very hard to break out of that mold and in some ways she does, so bravo on that front. Her angels are dark, soul-sucking creatures who lure humans in and feed off them. See this would be original if it didn't sound exactly like another type of supernatural being. Let's think, where have I heard that exact description before...? No way, it's a vampire!  Please, for the love of all things fantasy, come up with some new ideas! To be nice, I did like that people who interacted with the angels slowly withered away from disease. Willow's character disappoints because she is set up to be such a kick ass heroine and then she just isn't. My main issue with this story is the missing plot line. The story plods along for a good 350 some odd pages, but nothing actually happens until like the last 20 pages! Score- 7

Characters: The biggest issue I had with this category was that the antagonists didn't seem to be trying very hard to do anything. It seemed like they were like "oh, well we want Willow, but before we exert any effort getting her let's have some afternoon tea." Willow had the potential to be a badass. I mean come on! She fixes cars for fun and is a psychic, I wanted someone more quirky, someone unique. What I got was a gushing, lovesick girl, "oh Alex, I wanna snuggle!" Where are my villains!? Sure there was Raziel, but he seemed to spend a lot of time bossing people around and gloating about his wickedness as opposed to doing anything proactive. Score- 4

Blush Factor- The entire novel was consumed by a cheesy romantic "subplot" to the point that it would have been more productive to write this as an erotica novel. Weatherly went out of her way to put the characters in situations in which they would have "no choice" but to embrace each other or get all touchy feely. I'm just as much of a sucker as the next girl for a good romance thread in a novel, but this wasn't even well done. It was cheesy and to be perfectly honest a seventeen year old guy is not going to behave like Alex does. (Like I said, it would have made a better erotica, provided the characters were older.) Score- 4

Structure: This might have been the undoing of the entire novel. There were far too many POVs going on at the same time and therefore things were revealed to the reader before the protagonists were aware. If done WELL this can be effective and make a story better, but when I learn what the "villains" are going to do there is no element of surprise and in a story with an already weak plot line this just bangs the final nail in the coffin. As a reader, I want to experience the action along with the protagonists, I should be traveling on a journey with them. If I already know what's going to happen then the impact is minimal. Score- 2

Plot: Hmm...still searching for this...give me a second...ah there we go! 350 pages in, whew thought I'd never get there. I mean there was sort of a premise...? There was a definite deus ex machina employed at the end to try and salvage some sort of action from the extended period of nothingness. There was a lot that could have been done with this concept, Weatherly just didn't take advantage.

Vervain says: "Alex's full name is Alex Kylar, his job title: Angel Killer. If that doesn't make you cringe, shame on you."