Amy

There are a few things I dislike about this book that can all be summed up one way: Jason. I didn't care for him in the previous book, but in this one he is ten times worse because we get to spend part of it inside his head. (Interestingly enough, this is the first book in the series that has alternating perspectives. A trend that is continued in the final book of the series.) Jealousy is a trait I've never found appealing and, you could say he's jealous because he's insecure, but, really, I don't care why he's jealous. It's unattractive to me. Also, Jason's family, as a whole, doesn't approve of him being gay. So they ‘don't talk about it.' Fine, but then he takes Wolf into that setting, and pretty much tosses him to the sharks from the start. He isn't there to buffer the way at first - even though he knows how awkward Wolf feels. Meanwhile, he keeps saying that he's not going to choose between his family and his boyfriend. Okay... But your family is treating your boyfriend like crap and you still drag him into those situations and REFUSE TO DEFEND HIM. Finally, when he does say anything even vaguely standing up for Wolf (and to a lesser extent, himself) to his family, (his asshole father and brother) he's basically telling them that he's still going to date Wolf, but if they don't want Wolf in their house, that's fine because it is their house (the same house that all their other kids and their significant others are invited to fairly willingly) but that he (Jason) will still be there because he's still a part of the family. Ooh, way to make your boyfriend feel special. Jason also seems somewhat uncomfortable by the fact that his boyfriend is a cop - mostly because, I gather, he feels less than Wolf because he thinks his job is less than Wolf's. They tried to deal with it, but, really, that's going to cause some lovely fights later on, I think. Especially because where the other couples communicate well, (except for, occasionally, Kash because...Kash) Jason and Wolf have a problem actually talking things through. Jason especially has a habit of saying the wrong thing and making it worse and Wolf often doesn't understand.

There are a few things. First, if you're wanting to complete this series, this book pretty much has to be read before the finale. Also, we get to see a wedding (this coming from someone that doesn't like weddings) and it was gorgeous. And the rest of the Precinct is in fine fettle. (That being said, I was vacillating between two and three stars and settled on two because my frustration (and Jason-hate) outweighed my enjoyment, and because the ranking on Goodreads says three stars was ‘I liked it' - and I really didn't. It was okay. Ergo, the rating.)

DNF - PG 22

Why?

Annabelle. And Alec. Both of them. In almost equal measures. I loved the other LeMense book I read (the ‘sequel' of sorts to this one, Once Upon a Scandal) to a crazy degree and I am amazed and baffled that an author whose other characters I loved so much could write a book whose characters I couldn't stand from first meeting.

(Annabelle from first meeting, Alec from the moment his character shared page space with Annabelle.)

Sweet and cute and fluffy. While it might not have been exactly for me, I love that the crisis of this book had nothing to do with the romance. Daniel and Jeff are solid and it shows and that was so nice. (The synopsis is a bit misleading. Or you have to read between the lines. Or something.)

The funniest book so far. I mean, the others were funny in that weird, quirky way, but this one - mostly thanks to Wolf - was the most laugh funny. I was a little unsure of Wolf being the lead. I mean, he's a wolf that was turned human, so how's that going to work? But it worked really well, because he's not too human but nor is he too wolf. There's a lot of communication between Wolf and Jason, so that was good. However, I can already tell that Jason has problems and, truly, he's my least favorite character in the series so far. (And that's including all the officers of the 77th and Ras. That's including Vance.) So I'm a little worried about the next book being his part of the story.

Please note: My copy of this book does NOT contain Duties of a Knight by Sandra Bard. I don't know if this is an oversight, or if this book wasn't even supposed to be listed in this anthology. (Guessing the latter, but just putting it out there.)

The Queen's Dragon Rider by Cora Walker

Tess - one of the two main characters in this story, isn't easy to like. Sure, her disappointment is believable but, considering that she's a dragon rider, it's not endearing. I mean, she gets to ride a dragon into battle and she's unhappy about it? Once she starts improving though, the story becomes really fun. (And her and Aria (the female dwarf) are totally cute together.)

**The Silent Knight by Avery StilesI don't love one of the main characters being mute - especially in a pre-industrial society where it's pretty unlikely that everyone can read/write. That being said...there was a point that the story picked up. Mostly when Farris really started to play a part. Though the romance - that wasn't exactly what I expected and so much better than I'd hoped - was a little quick, it was still really sweet.To Tame a Dragon by Christina DZA MarieThe only complaint I have about this story is that it's only a short story. Honestly, the world that the author created could EASILY handle an entire series. And I would totally be there. Anyway, the romance was...kind of odd but super nice. And there were some gender hijinks going on, like a woman pretending to be a man, and actual gender bending. Which, honestly, took me a moment, but I love it.Blackberries and Buckthorn by TS PorterI thought this story was epic and amazing, a total 5 star read - right up until we have a totally out-of-place appearance by a pair of fae. ... I'm not a fan of fae and it was a total shock that they were even there. But... Well...The Heartless Knight by Heather MorrisThis was quite a departure from the other stories in the book. First, this is the first story that didn't have at least a partial lesbian romance (because one of the pervious was a F/F/M triad) and, also, it isn't even really a romance. The main male character is asexual and might possibly be aromantic and there was strong threads of self acceptance and friendship running through it. (And a totally awesome woman!)**Ser Rae of Del by B.A. HuntleyBlech. Established - unhealthy - relationship, emotional cheating on one side, physical cheating on the other, generic fantasy world, characters that I didn't feel anything for, very distancing writing style. Just, in general, a very un-enjoyable story.

A Shieldmaiden's Vow by Helena Maeve

While the plot is somewhat interesting, the world building is nonexistent except for a rip off of the Legend of the Seeker (whatever the book series was) where the male magic user basically always goes crazy from their power. And the ‘romance' was...bad. I HATE Maud, the main character, the relationship between her and her girlfriend/partner is power imbalanced and ... well, I thought they were cheating on each other, because Maud slept with another woman and felt guilty afterwards (and Alias, the girlfriend, ‘broke up' with Maud and Maud heard her and another person together and got all the hurt feelings). But, judging by the foursome at the end of the story, they might have been supposed to be in an open relationship. This might have worked, if they ever actually alluded to it, but as it was, they just felt like a pair of dirty cheaters. And Maud was a highhanded ass of the type I'm more used to seeing in men. (Also, this story is really preoccupied with making the characters have sex. I count at least four sex scenes and I'm not even trying to remember. ... And none of them were the exact same people involved. ...)

*

Honestly, I came close to loving all the first five stories and thought this was going to be a five star anthology. Then I got to the last two and hated both of them - because both were heavy with the cheating and light on the world building. This does not make me happy.

So, because I really don't know what to rate this book, I added the stars then divided by the number of stories and come up with 3.28 which, rounded down, gave us the 3 star rating. (That I feel totally guilty giving To Tame a Dragon, because IT was totally awesome and doesn't deserve to be contaminated by these last two stories.)

I...have mixed feelings. (Also, Swiss cheese memory because I didn't review this book as soon as I finished it.) I liked getting to read about a character that identifies as grey asexual - or grace - and I don't believe I've ever read a professionally published book where the character comes out as says it. I, however, would have liked a little more discussion about it. To me it seems pretty obvious that Seth doesn't know what grace is and, in fact, did research on the internet instead of asking Nate questions. (I can partially understand that, but I would have liked a frank discussion.) It might be partially due to that, or my own somewhat nebulous understanding of grace, but Nate wound up reading - to me - as demisexual. (Also, Seth reads a little like demiromantic, but that's probably just me.)

As this was my first foray into the Bluewater Bay series, there's a lot of people I don't know. I mean, a lot. Sometimes I did feel a little lost, but it was not a huge deal. Also, this story seemed like it was going to build into a bigger plot several times - what with the unpleasant family, the family secret, the big reveals ... but instead it just meanders along. Not to say that was bad, and getting to see Nate and Seth build a solid relationship was nice. But that's all it was to me: Nice. Also, there is a pretty big kerfuffle towards the end of the book. Both boys make mistakes, true, but throughout the book, it seems like you're supposed to side with one of them over the other and like one of them needs to ‘fix' himself. While I disliked pretty much everything about the argument - no, it was NOT a misunderstanding - and subsequent separation, I do feel that these two boys have the long haul in them. I think they turned out stronger for their argument - which feels like what authors are always going for but never accomplish. So, yeah, like the story, but not a caveat free recommendation.

This author seems to have a predilection for writing books that tackle serious, weighty subjects but are soft romances. (I say, after reading two books by this author.) This works moderately well for me. The romance in this book is nice and soft and sweet. It's also sort of slow burn and sort of not. I mean, they take until the 60% mark to kiss on the lips (prior to that there was one affectionate head kiss) but they are having sex by the 70% mark.

To me the first is completely explainable. Daniel just got out of an abusive relationship - in fact, is actually still in one at the start of the story. He doesn't need passion right away, he needs companionship, friendship that grows into something more. This part is lovely. But I'm not the sort that thinks slow burn ends with the first kiss. After that kiss, the relationship moves very fast, in my opinion, and, after how long it took to get there, was very surprising. And, I cannot deny, somewhat unwanted. (I think they have sex three times in thirty percent. But I did finish this book two days ago, so that memory might be a little...inaccurate.)

I have...very mixed feelings for this book and...am still not sure this is an author for me.

DNF - 31%

Why?

I'm sorry to say because I'm bored. Nothing happens in this story and I don't like the characters enough to actually stick around and read about them in their boring town doing boring things. Also, I like the banter of people bickering, but in this book Jahna, the main character, constantly has to put herself physically between her two friends - because she is genuinely afraid that one of them will literally kill the other. And these are friends because...

Love the two guys, love the representation and the diversity. Don't love the melodrama happening in the background/past. I mean, really? It's soap opera worthy. Even some of the stuff currently going on in the book is very soap-y and, while I liked this book because I liked the pair - and the e-mails while they were getting to know each other - I probably won't be reading more in the series. (Maybe more by the author, if I can find something else that catches my attention that doesn't sound so soap-y.)

I liked this story and when it was good, it was really good. After all, I wanted that friends-to-lovers trope and this book does a top notch job of showing friends and then lovers who didn't lose their friends chemistry. (As a side note, there was a lot of asking/waiting for permission. (No rape undertones here.) Which was sweet.) Also, also, I LOVE the fact that they both got tested for STD's. I'm pretty sure I've never read that in a book that wasn't about safe sex practices and that kind of stuff. So, yeah. <3

However, there were three big moments that totally annoyed me.

Right after their first kiss - or first makeout, I guess it should be - they have this real talk about taking things slow. They both want to take things slow. The next morning they have sex. ... Yeah, that's totally taking this slow. (But maybe I was supposed to be going well, it's not penetrative sex so it's not ‘real sex.' rolls eyes)

Also, every romance has to have that late story separation. You know the whole, will they get their happy ending? I'm not the biggest fan of those, but I've come to accept them. However, this one, I could see coming from before they even got together. The reason for it, the inciting incident, none of it came as a surprise. That was not fun.

Finally, there was a moment that should have been sweet and cute and endearing - but it was basically proposing marriage after you've been dating for a month. I know, they've been best friends for years, but this totally got the judge-y eye from me.

DNF - PG 14

This book makes no sense. I know, I know, I didn't read enough, but... stylistically, the word choices don't work for me. They don't make much sense to me when you get paragraphs like this.

‘Miss Pine triumphantly marched Jen into the main office ....... As she (the secretary) typed another monotonous daily report.'

Also, you have a teacher that's being encouraging to Jen and then five pages later, she's saying she can't get through to her. And then there's the sheriff who was reluctant to ‘investigate' two adults that have been ‘missing' for about two hours. Then he shows up a posse (basically, I think it said ‘townspeople') and their hound dogs...

I don't even know what is this.

Let's also not forget that the longest chapter is ten pages - and at least two chapters are one single page. Not even a full page.

(To be fair, this isn't a book I would have ever chosen for myself, but it was a gift and I had it for about ten months before giving it a shot. Honestly, I probably didn't have a chance of liking it, but...well, I gave it a shot and the writing style was a turn-off.)

DNF - PG 68

Why?

I was actually going to try to read the whole thing, for no other reason than to write a review - but, honestly, I don't like the book. I don't like anything about the book. I don't like the overly simplistic way it's written. I hate Kaylee and her tears every chapter and ‘cowering' and overblown fear. I had hoped for a quietly competent princess, instead I got this quivering wet blanket. Ugh.

I don't like how the story rotates chapters between our golden heroine and our ‘evil' character - mostly because the ‘evil' character is halfway interesting and it's ALWAYS painful to return to Kaylee. (But the ‘evil' characters chapters are still overwrought and juvenile.) I can also predict the ending and it's not at all what I'd want to see.

Also, and I can't believe I'm saying this, it's too fairytale like. I read retellings because I like the original tale and want to see a new take on it, and to see it fleshed out. But this book, it doesn't flesh things out. You have the ‘good' and ‘evil' pretty much defined and the ‘romance' is way too similar to the original Sleeping Beauty (okay, not the ORIGINAL, but the popular, Disney-fied version) as it just is there and ... that's about it.

Blerg. Nope, not reading any more.

DNF - PG 55

Why?

Taliah claims to be a whore the captain invited aboard and proceeds to convince the entire (all male) crew to send the captain to her. The captain goes, apparently unconcerned that he never invited her. We are told she's used this more than a dozen times and that she ‘always get's her man'. (She's not a member of the Mounties!) (Then her embarrassment and ‘I had to improvise'?)

She then feels some odd, motherly urges towards the poor young boy who's locked into the life of a pirate - after all ‘there was nothing she could say to change his mind; his time had passed'. And then she leaps around and decides to take him with her to be a sky knight. (And I can't help but feel that should be capitalized.) And it sounds like established kangaroo court justice to me.

I feel terrible, considering I got this book free from the author (won it and I was never asked to review it) but I just can't with it.

DNF - during chapter 6 of the audiobook - around 50%

As much as it absolutely KILLS me, I cannot force myself through any more of this book. It's bland and boring, I hate the main guy so very much - he's an entitled, self-absorbed, selfish creep - and time hasn't been kind to the story.

I've not been listening to the story and everytime I try to, I barely manage five minutes before I have to stop. That's not a pick at the narrator because I quite like his voice. It's very British and proper and easy to understand. But the book is just...ugh. It feels like you're supposed to be agreeing with ‘the time traveler' in that it's ‘a wonderful world but I'm too good to live here.'

Also, on a technical side, the story is first person narration of another first person narrator and that just doesn't work for me. And there is very little conversations in the book. None in the meat for the story. I had originally thought that I would have been better off reading the book instead of listening to it, but once I realized there's really no conversations, I also realized that my eyes would start to glaze over and skim the pages. (That always happens where there's a lack of dialogue. I like talky people.)

I just can't. It's a classic, I know. Definite kudos because without this book/author, I really think the science fiction genre would have developed differently. I've seen/read so many shows/movies/books that borrow from it and I WANTED to like this story so badly. That's why I pushed myself as much as I did. But when listening to five minutes of this actually makes me angry, it's time to find another book.

Audio book DNF after 20 minutes.

Maybe I'm being too hard on the book. (Honestly, I probably am.) But after a very graphic description of how to kill someone with a knife and ‘seeing' it done my ‘surprise gore quotient' was met very early on. Add to that the annoying voice the (male) narrator uses for one of the (female) characters and I was getting frustrated.

There's also the problem that this book seems to have omniscient third person point of view - which sounds an awful lot like head hopping which gives me a headache. The final straw was the accent slippage. (Seriously, I don't care if the narrator is british or not, I just want the accent when he's reading to stay consistent for the character.)

DNF - PG 70

Why?

Okay, I'll admit, I was probably in a bad mood, but this quote on page 67 set me off.

‘Cantor stepped between the girl and the stranger.'

Then, in an effort to motivate myself to read more, I skipped ahead and, with this quote, had the exact opposite happen.

‘The invasion riveted Cantor's attention, but he knew when the ladies withdrew and left the viewing of slaughter to the men. He had experience with Bixby in battle and counted her as reliable in the middle of bloody chaos. But as the Lymen slashed through everything in their path, he sympathized with her need to turn away.'

Blech.

Also, the little hints of romance felt so out of place - and, quite honestly, unpleasant - that I just was getting frustrated. Finally, the contract for book three fell through and the author currently cannot self publish, so even if I finished this, there's no telling when the end of the story would actually be published.

DNF
Why?
Just not feeling it. And I found an early fight sequence incredibly confusing.

I like it, but...

But I never really connected to the guys. I never felt that push, that click, that makes me really CARE.

But they start as friends with benefits and I much prefer a long, slow burn. And failing that, romance before sex.

But, besides the book hoarding being used as a hook, this story really didn't offer me much.

But it feels topical, like it just skims the surface. Even some of the big emotions weren't as impactful as they should have been.

I like it, but it's just an easy, forgettable read.

I love and adore the bi-rep. It is so so wonderful to see that and have it be done so well. (The author is bi, too, so that is even better.) However, Shulamit is kind of starting to grate. I mean, she read young in the first book, sounding more like a thirteen year old than the twenty year old she was supposed to be - but that was explained (and believable) as her being a sheltered princess. This book takes place, apparently, years after the first one and Shulamit doesn't read as though she's grown at all. I mean, she's queen now, been ruling for awhile, and she still seems as young as childish as she did in the first book. (I do still totally recommend the book, though, especially for the aforementioned bi-rep and the totally awesome characters of Rivka and Kaveh - who are my two favorites in this story.)

Honestly, I'm not sure why we're supposed to like Sabira. She's completely unrelatable and rather unlikable. So much of this plotline hinges on what happened in her past. However, I was never interested enough to know and, when I did finally find out about halfway through the book, I really didn't care. She was just so sure that she was always right and she really felt as though she was supposed to be this hard-nosed, tough, strong and sexy woman - and yet all I could buy was that she was a little brat that pouted when she didn't get her way and - really - was only a good fighter because the story said she had to be.

The plotline itself is rather weak. Basically, as a Marshal, Sabira gets to play lawyer for a dwarf that is accused of thirteen murders. Honestly though, it took until after the halfway point for that plot to show up. Prior to that it was just unimportant fight after unimportant fight. The resolution to the mystery was pretty obvious right from the start and the resolution to Sabira's problems felt very fake. (Please note: I do love the Eberron setting. It's simply awesome, so I did have foreknowledge about this world and what type of stories to expect. I also did discover that a hybrid legal thriller and fantasy jaunt just doesn't work for me.)

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

Having never read any of the Marvel novels before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Something fairly enjoyable and minorly diverting, I guess. So, I was pleasantly surprised when this book took all my expectations and shot them through the roof.

This is very much a comic book novel with quite a lot of action, (though not much of the extremely graphic kind - even if there is a reference to ‘bunny-eating vampires') humor and not much detail to bog you down.

The basic story is along the lines of what you would find on the ‘World Greatest Heroes' animated show (and explained well enough that I don't feel compelled to add anything to it). However, there was some added depth and inner turmoil for the characters that you don't usually find on an animated TV show.

As for the characters themselves, you could tell immediately that Mr. Lang is quite the fan of Reed, Susan, Ben, and Johnny - I felt that he did a wonderful job with them. And the collection of ‘bad guys' was very well (and uniquely) written. Each one had their own distinctive personality. In varyingly minor roles were several of the other Marvel universe superheroes - which I thought was a nice addition to the story.

The book was very upbeat, and several times I found myself laughing so hard at some of the characters antics (or Mr. Lang's brilliant way of describing things) that I had to stop reading for a moment. The story changed perspective quite often, vacillating between the good guys, the bad guys, and a few of the guest stars - which worked unusually well to pull everything into a cohesive unit. Through most of the book the Fantastic Four were limited to only one or two together at a time and - while each member had their storyline to follow - I felt as though the story focused on Ben and Johnny a bit more than Reed and Susan.

This book is definitely a fast paced read, I think all the action in the book takes place on the same day. All in all, I found Doomgate to be a very nice way to revisit my favorite superheroes, and a entertaining way to spend two days.

Warning
This review will contain some light spoilers. I've tried to keep them as vague as possible, but there is a spoiler.

Honestly, it's sad how much potential this book start out with - only to squander it before the end.

I liked the idea behind the story and was curious about the world - after all, I don't often come across Asian influenced fantasy worlds. That was great.

However...

The world never felt fully explored nor explained. If something was brought up, it was almost universally assumed that the reader would know what was being talked about. There was mention of The Book of the Dead - well, there were several things that made me thing it was simply a record of deaths. But then, there was also talk about it not being safe to read - and other allusions to it being a type of demon resurrection manual. So which it actually was, I'll probably never know.

This is mostly a book about one long journey - something I've never enjoyed much - and we are told every minute detail about Ai Ling's life. She wakes with a start most mornings, eats and then begins her journey. She travels a long time, hungry and her feet hurting. Then she finds a place to eat. Gets attacked by the evil demonic minions out for her blood. She walks some more then stops, eats and falls asleep. I cannot even begin to guess how many chapters ends with her falling asleep and how many chapters begin with her waking up. It's surprising that while all that is written, she never has to find a convenient bush.

Worse, for me, is how the journey doesn't stay in the moral realm. Ai Ling travels to the god/goddesses world and treks across it for awhile. I've never liked that much. Sure, I've read other fantasy books that do that and have enjoyed them - but that's mostly because I already knew and liked the author/s and/or liked the characters enough to over look that. This book had neither.

Let's talk about the main character: Ai Ling. I wanted to like her. She starts off gutsy and determined. She's lived a sheltered life - as most women in her country have - so I was willing to forgive her childishness, self-doubt, stupidity and inappropriate stubbornness. But then, someone close to her dies.

Sad. Terrible. Tragic.

There is mourning. The death was meaningless. Pointless. Ai Ling blames herself.

So, what does she do?

She decides to resurrect the character. So, she rips his heart out of his chest and crystallizes it - or something - to keep it because she only has one month after his death to restore them. And, as she says, she'll do it. Even if she has to use dark magic to do it.

What? Why you stupid, selfish girl. Why don't you think things through. I hate this type of plot device. It's a cheap death if it works and if it doesn't - well that's original. Stupid, selfish girl just made things worse.

Honestly, I wish that had cropped up in the first hundred or so pages because, if it had, I would have quit reading. As it was, I had to continue - partially because I was reading this for a challenge that I didn't have an alternate book for. Otherwise I would have stopped right then and there.

Then I do have to make special mention of Ai Ling's special ability. She can enter people's mind and read their thoughts. Okay... I rather agreed with the person that said it's like ‘spiritual rape'. Then she discovers that she can control the person, read all their thoughts and have all the memories that they have and make them do anything she wants. Now that's just plain creepy to me. And, even though she agrees that it is ‘spiritual rape' she keeps doing it!

There is also an odd distance between the reader and the narrator. Everything is told in Ai Ling's third person limited point of view. Usually that would work well for me - but Ai Ling seems detached from everything. It's like she'll describe to you everything that's going on, but never what she thinks or feels about it.

All in all, this was a book that I wanted to like, but it just fell incredibly short for me.

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

While not all the stories worked for me, I love what the book is for.

All authors involved have agreed to donate 100% of proceeds to charity, in the hope that one day discrimination in sports based on sexual identity will be a thing of the past.

If that's not enough of a reason to spend five bucks on this book, I don't know what is.

Even Strength by Cherylanne Corneille - **Rainbow-Colored. Skate. Laces.That is all.Next Season by Avon Gale - **Love Avon Gale's hockey series and this was really, really fun.Going Home by Heather Lire - *Kind of abrupt and I prefer when both people in the romance are hockey players/coaches. (Though this is, the author says, just the start of the story for these guys.)On Broadway by V.L. Locey - ***The story's kind of odd, and while I have more complaints than good things to say (first person POV, insta-love with a hooker) I did enjoy the story.The Brother and the Retired Player by Mary Smith - **This isn't a bad story, but the writing style doesn't work for me at all. The main guy (once again, first person) just doesn't seem authentic to me.Take a Shot by Samantha Wayland - **
My favorite story of the bunch. I just adore the way the two guys still sound like best friends even as they're becoming more.

First, you've gotta know something about me. I don't read many Middle Grade books. I've read a few, but they usually wind up sounding too immature and juvenile for me. I'm not going to name names, but there's this super popular series that I couldn't get past the first book of for that very reason.

There's a lot to recommend this series, and this book is even better than the first.

This picks up sometime after the first book, at the end of Abby and Derick's first semester at Cragbridge Hall. They're both settling in well, though not quite as well as either hoped.

In this book, a lot of focus is on the character development of Abby and Derick. Abby spends most of the book afraid and must overcome that if she's to save her family. Derick, on the other hand, spends a good portion of the book obsessed with being the best and must get past that if he's to help a friend.

Also, just like the first book, the adults and children respect each other. There's none of that ‘adults are useless' ‘adults won't listen' ‘children don't know anything' that seems so prevalent in MG and Young Adult.

However, even for how well the adults and children work together, it does (as it should in a Middle Grade book) come down to the children saving the day. However, the only reason they were able to was because they were underestimated for being children. Hmm... sounds like the villain could stand to learn a little something.

I like the people in this series. While typically the kids in MG lack backstories and history (after all, there's little backstory and history for a twelve year old - unless you go the orphan direction) all these characters are likable. There's a good amount of development to them. (And, I admit, I was quite happy to find out more of Rafa's backstory.)

The plot, much like the first in the series, started to follow typical roads and I figured certain things out long before the characters did. However, there was a couple of very nice plot twists that I never saw coming, so it all balances out.

Finally, there were a couple of moments that really gave me a strong emotional payoff. I think that's what was missing for me in the first book. In this one, though, I was more involved with the characters and - I don't know if this is because the author was more experienced or simply because I'd already spent one full book with these people) I felt for them a lot more than in the first book.

So, I highly recommend this series to anyone that wants to get in touch with their inner child, anyone that knows a child that likes sci-fi or boarding school books. And this book certainly recommend to everyone that liked The Inventor's Secret.

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

I had several problems with this book that makes it my least favorite in Torin's saga to date.

First of all, the number of characters. Oh my gosh. Okay, there is a list in the back that tell you the ‘major' players in the story as well as their race (and, almost without fail, nothing else). This is sort of nice, but only if you want to flip to the back of the book every three pages to remind yourself who these seventy people are. Yes. There is literally seventy names on this list. That is beyond overkill, but what makes it even worse is the way they are handled. In the narration, you are introduced to a minimum of thirty-one of them as three groups. (It takes until well past the halfway point for me to realize there are actually four groups.) Each individual is described only minimally, (to the degree that I got gender's wrong) and they will also often be referred to by race (which I would often get wrong) - though the actual, individual races are described even less than the individual. Some of these characters we actually met three books ago and they are described not at all.

(There is a reason that frequent writing advice is to not introduce groups of people at once. This book is an example of that reason.)

Next, this book is not fun. Not only do the ‘characters' not use humor to lighten things as much as they usually do, the very plot doesn't allow much humor. (Perhaps this is why, until this book, my least favorite had been the ‘rescue Craig' book. Because when attention is all on how worried we all are (or not) about someone, there are much, much fewer wisecracks.) What also contributes to this is the lack of di'Taykan's. We have four. The three on planet are...there. For a long time, I thought one of the Krai was a di'Taykan - which I think illustrates how di'Taykan the di'Taykan's were acting. Alamber was relegated to support with Craig (thankfully) and we hear him over comms only occasionally.

So, what about all the death, destruction and mayhem, what ex-Gunny Kerr does best? Yeah...First of all, there was none in the first nine (of eleven) chapters. This is a rescue mission. As such, once the skirmish starts, the battle will be, essentially, over. Then, when people do start dropping like flies, I don't care. Because this list of ‘characters' are little more than names on a page to me, even by the end of the book. I haven't been able to keep a third of our thirty plus supporting cast (everyone except for Torren & Co.) straight. Without having to think about it, I actually know who three of the hostage-takers are. Out of fourteen. I only remember who three out of fourteen are. Also, I've been known to confuse hostage for hostage-taker and vice-versa. I don't know them so I just don't care.

About out main group? Well, I dislike Craig. Always have. He's...so bland and nothing. If the gender's were reversed, Craig would be every ‘girl' the ‘hero' gets at the end of his quest. As it is, he's so boring. The rest of the characters...I like them, but we know nothing about Mashona, nothing about Ressk, that Werst grew up station-side, that Torin grew up on a farm (and, I think, has a brother) and barely a little more about Alamber. That's tolerable when we had a full company in the military that we were following. Now that we have six people and they have more of a job and less of a calling... To still know nothing about them is a problem for me.

Finally, a problem that was not the book's fault, I was doomed just a little from the start because the last two Huff books I read have been the first two in her Vicki Nelson series and they worked out poorly for me.

All in all, I will be finishing this series, but this author is yet another ‘favorite' that is falling in my estimation.

(Final notes: I do not like the relationship between Craig and Torrin. It's a little too...traditional for me. There are pet names and professions of love around near death experiences and I just don't like it. And the literal ending of this book, like the last page, was seriously creepy. I mean, super creepy. Not the best thought to leave me with.)