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Variant Lost (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy #1)
Variant Lost (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy #1)
Kaydence Snow | 2021 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
1 of 250
Kindle
Variant Lost ( The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy book 1)
By Kaydence Snow

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

When Evelyn Maynard receives a scholarship to the exclusive Bradford Hills Institute, she’s determined to make a fresh start. The Institute is world renowned for educating and training Variants – the 18% of the population fortunate enough to have superhuman abilities. As a human, she’s lucky to be admitted.

She’s done with fake identities, running and lying but once again she finds herself surrounded by secrets.

Some she’s been keeping her whole life.

Some have been kept from her.

Some she finds herself dragged into…

Ethan, Josh, Tyler and Alec have some of the rarest Variant abilities Evelyn has ever seen. They fascinate, intrigue and attract her, but is it their abilities, their own secrets or something more that Evelyn can’t seem to stay away from? The secrets they keep could drag Evelyn so deep into their dangerous and exciting world that she’ll never be the same.

And the answers she finds could get them all killed.

I could not put this book down! It’s 4am in the morning and I needed to finish it! Been a while since a book has gripped and kept me completely enthralled. I love the whole idea of the book I think the characters are brilliant! Also an author not scared to kill of characters you’ve come to like so much! Really good start to a new year and a new book challenge!
  
Lennon's Jinx (Lennon's Girls, #1)
Lennon's Jinx (Lennon's Girls, #1)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Once again I was undecided on what book to read next so I Random Number Generator'd it and got #69--which may turn out ironic with this book.

I think this will have to be a 2.5 rating.

The beginning took me a while to get into, the style seemed to be all over the place during the party and I had no idea what the hell was going on. It seemed to me like we were just dropped right in the middle of it all.

Then by about the 10-15% mark, I'd been dragged into it, the story had settled in a bit by then and I was getting used to the style but I still didn't quite understand Lennon (poor bugger name wise, both him and his little sister Currie). Why was he the way he was?

The really low simmer thing he had going with Jinx sorta kept me reading but I didn't really feel it until about the 80% mark.

There were some really dark/sad elements to this story, and in a way it depressed me. The last 10% had me in floods of tears. I don't mind crying but it's generally due to my emotional attachment to a couple and them splitting up for whatever reason before working it out and getting back together.
Not because of a 9 years old death

I've looked at the rest of the trilogy and after getting invested in Lennon and Jinx's story, I'm not sure I want to read them.
  
This review and more can be found at my blog https://aromancereadersreviews.blogspot.com

A Romance Reader's Reviews

This has been borrowed from the Kindle Unlimited Library.

Firstly I'll admit that it's been a while since I read the first three books in this series - and I believed that it was only going to be a trilogy, for some reason, so I had forgotten some of the details of this book but things were rehashed a little.

With Alexis and her small group now known by all the other Demigods in the world, they are thrown into a steep learning curve of dealing with politics and trying to learn how to use her powers for other things. There's also the fact that a Hades Demigod is trying to get their hands on Alexis, any means necessary.

A lot happened in this and, as mentioned above, I hadn't retained a lot of information about this series, so I was a little overwhelmed by all the characters. I quickly picked up who the Six were and Daisy and Mordecai.

I did enjoy this and should hopefully now remember enough for future books - book 5 is coming soon! - so I'm looking forward to reading them and seeing the results of that last chapter. I can see it's not going to go well and this group of amazing guys may end up fighting for their lives. Again.

This review is rather lacking but I have no way of saying more without giving away important plot points and that's just not fair.
  
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Christopher Paolini | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Space Epic From The Author Of The Eragon Series
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Paolini's Eragon series, I looked forward to listening to the audiobook of his latest novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

Paolini did not disappoint. His work on this space opera spanned for nearly a decade. The research completed to make it accurate as possible shows he did not rush his writing.

Do not expect to read/listen to this in one sitting. The run time is 32 hours, 29 minutes, and the book is 880 pages. The book could have been released into a trilogy but do not let that scare you. The story may be long, but it is well built and full of completely fleshed out characters and worlds. My favorite character is Gregorovich, a ship mind. Paolini's sarcastic words and the narrator's voice makes him a character as memorable as paranoid Marvin from H2G2.
 
In 2013, the narrator, Jennifer Hale, was recognized by Guinness World Records as "the most prolific video game voice actor (female)." Her voice is instantly recognizable, and the array of voices she uses in the audiobook are separate and distinct from each other.

Paolini's story and Hale's voices make this an enjoyable story to remember.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/15/20.
  
Spirit Prophecy (The Gateway Trilogy #2)
Spirit Prophecy (The Gateway Trilogy #2)
E.E. Holmes | 2014 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
198 of 200
Kindle
Spirit Prophecy ( Gateway trilogy book 2)
By E E Holmes

Two sisters, haunted by more than their past...

Just weeks after discovering each other’s existence, Jess and Hannah Ballard arrive at Fairhaven Hall, where they will learn the clandestine ways of the Durupinen, an ancient sect of women who control the Gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Though they are considered outcasts by most of their classmates, Jess and Hannah are determined to learn what they can to fulfill their responsibility to the many ghosts that haunt them. But danger, it seems, has followed them as closely as a shadow to their new home, and they have more questions than ever.
Who is the desperate child spirit pursuing Jess, and what do her terrifying visions mean? What has happened to Dr. David Pierce, Jess’ friend and mentor, who has suddenly and mysteriously vanished? And just what is it about Hannah’s unique abilities that has the other Durupinen frightened of her? The Ballard sisters are about to find out, and the answers could destroy their newfound life before it has even begun.


I love this series! I enjoyed the first one but this was better if possible. The whole concept is so enjoyable to read the characters are those you love and those you hate! I enjoy the writ style and how much detail goes into the writing it never feels rushed! Interested to see more of the Necromancers and the trouble they cause.
  
The Court of Miracles
The Court of Miracles
Kester Grant | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Court of Miracles grabbed me from the first paragraph and kept me enthralled for the rest of the book. As I was reading it, I could fully picture the roads and alleys of Paris, see the inside of the Courts, watch Nina as she crept in to the Palace to steal from a sleeping prince. It was cinematic. And this was just the first couple of chapters. I thought that this couldn’t possibly keep up for the whole book: the pictures, the movie in fact, in my head would lose it’s momentum. It didn’t.

As for the characters, I was fully invested in them. Nina is brave, an adventurer with a strict moral code, the naive, innocent Ettie who needs protection from Nina’s wicked father, Thenardier, who would sell his own daughter to a ‘Flesh Trader’, as well as the evil Tiger (the man Thenardier sold his eldest daughter to). These are all such colourful characters - I could see them all as I read about them. I’m a very visual reader. I have a definite picture in my head of the characters I read about. This book made that easy.

I’m really looking forward to the next book in this (I’m assuming) trilogy. The Court of Miracles has really captured my imagination and my heart.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this, and the publisher for making it possible. And thanks again to The Pigeonhole for helping to put a dent in my NetGalley reading list!!