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Unforgiven
Unforgiven
Lauren Kate | 2015 | Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Title: Unforgiven
Author: Lauren Kate
Read Dates: April 25th-26th 2019

I chose to read this book because it's by my favorite author and an add on to my favorite book series Fallen. I loved reading a book about Cam and his love interest and think Lauren Kate should make another book adding on to it. Such as their lifes after leaving Hell. I love how they got a happy ending and honestly cried a little. I 100% recommend this book.
  
HL
Her Last Breath (Kate Burkholder, #5)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
An Amish father and his three children--traveling home in their buggy--are struck one evening in a terrible accident. The vehicle leaves the scene and in the aftermath, Paul Borntrager and two of his small children are dead. Chief Kate Burkholder (no stranger to awful crime scenes) is horrified by the scene.

This is the fifth book in the Kate Burkholder series, and honestly, if I knew Kate, I feel like maybe I would move out of Painter's Mill, as it seems well on its way to becoming the "Cabot Cove" of the Amish community. How many more terribly things can happen to this poor Amish community?

Anyway, I still love Kate, even if she's still wishy washy about her relationship with reliable Tomasetti. At some point, I just want to shake her. So I keep reading, even if at some point, I feel like there may be no Amish left in Painter's Mill to keep off.

Overall, this is a disturbing book and it was a bit hard for me to read, since it dealt with such a brutal death of two little kids. The plot is interesting, however, and as a I mentioned, I do enjoy Kate, even if I also find her frustrating. I'm amazed at how Castillo can keep things interesting - when I had my "aha" moment in this one and realized what had happened, I was impressed. A good read and I'll no doubt keep going through the series, though I really hope Kate gives Tomasetti a break. (And maybe the poor Amish of Painter's Mill can catch a break, too.)
  
MB
Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4)
10
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
All right, so the high school crap was taken care of. Kate was being a passive-aggressive douchecanoe and Curran was being the stereotypically boring alpha male and they called each other out on it, which is awesome.

I really don't want to give away the plot because it's a doozy. I loved this book and the only real complaint I have is Kate's internalized misogyny. I'm referring to the "slut" and "bimbo" comments. Come on, Kate! The only bimbo is Curran!

I also really enjoyed the Frienship between Andrea and Kate and hope it's explored more in the next book. It's really nice to see female leads in UF who like and respect their fellow women and don't think they're evil whores out to steal their man.
  
Her Every Fear
Her Every Fear
Peter Swanson | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Kate Priddy suffers from anxiety. Neurotic since childhood, her recent fears have good reason: in college, Kate was attacked in a horrific incident by her boyfriend. It's taken Kate years to recover from that day. So when her parents tell her that her distant cousin, Corbin Dell, is looking to move to London and wants someone to switch apartments with for six months, Kate jumps at the chance. Six months in Corbin's spacious apartment will give her a chance to start her life over on her own. But shortly after arriving in Boston, Kate receives some unsettling news: the woman who lived down the hall, Audrey, is missing. She soon discovers that Audrey was murdered. Even worse, she realizes that Corbin is a suspect in Audrey's death. As Kate tries to adjust to life in Boston, she meets another fellow apartment-dweller, Alan Cherney. Alan claims he didn't know Audrey, but he seems to know a lot about her. Kate suddenly regrets her temporary move to the States, and soon she finds herself wondering if she's even safe there.

This novel was the first Swanson I've ever read. It starts off from Kate's perspective, but switches over after a couple of chapters to Alan, and we hear from Corbin and others throughout the story as well. While doing this, the story sometimes double backs to get the same perspective from a different character. While it's effective in showing different sides to one plot element, it seems to drag the story on, and make things repeat unnecessarily. I enjoyed the character of Kate, though couldn't always find myself attached to her. She was probably my favorite of the group, though. For me, I found some bits of the plot a little over the top (the list of things that have happened to Kate seems extreme, for example).

I guessed a good part of the mystery plot early on, but was still confounded by other pieces, so I did find it interesting, and it certainly had creepy pieces. Still, I wasn't incredibly invested in this one -- either the plot or the characters. Things just seemed a little "too much" at times, and then by the time we did get to the dramatic ending, it tied up really quickly, which was a little anticlimactic. Overall, this was a good thriller, but not great.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available as of 1/10/2017.