#Stacking the Shelves / Bought, Borrowed, & Bagged # 63 - Books Are In The House!

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Bought Borrowed and Bagged is all about the latest additions to your library – virtual or actual, with books that are  bought, borrowed, won or ARCs  you will be reading soon. Bought Borrowed and Bagged is a homage to to Barron’s Books and Baubles from Karen Marie Moning’s amazing Fever series, and is hosted by Braine over at Talk Supe. 

Thanks for Shopping by! 

Have a great weekend!

Shelley

This Weeks Reviews: 

Monday - Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima (YA, Fantasy)

Tuesday - Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (YA, Fantasy)

Wednesday - Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray (YA, Fantasy)

Thursday - Free Space by Sean Danker (Science Fiction)

Friday - The Girl from Yesterday by Kathryn Miller Haines (Thriller)

Saturday - Darklands by Nancy Holzner (Urban Fantasy)

*Received from...

Publisher (Macmillan - Roaring Brook Press)

Library

Edelweiss

NetGalley

 

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Saturday #Review - Darklands by @NancyHolzner #Urban #Fantasy @AceRocBooks

Series: Deadtown # 4
Format: Paperback, 324 pages
Release Date: July 31st 2012
Publisher: Ace
Source: Borrowed from Library
Genre: Urban Fantasy

They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its border—but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human…

Boston’s demons have been disappearing, and Vicky’s clients are canceling left and right. While fewer demons might seem like a good thing, Vicky suspects foul play. A missing Celtic cauldron from Harvard’s Peabody museum leads her to an unwelcome conclusion: Pryce, her demi-demon cousin and bitter enemy, is trying to regain his full powers. 

But Pryce isn’t alone. He’s conjured another, darker villain from Vicky’s past. To stop them from destroying everything she loves, she’ll have to face her own worst fear—in the realm of the dead itself.

Darklands is the fourth installment in author Nancy Holzner's Deadtown series featuring Victory Vaughn as its protagonist. For those who may not have started this series yet, Victory is a Cerddorion shape-shifter. She lives in an alternative reality Boston where she makes a living hunting demons who prey on humans in their dreams. She shares an apartment with Juliet Capulet, yes, that Juliet who just happens to be a vampire. She used to have an apprentice name Tina, but Tina has chosen other paths. 

Tina, who still wants to learn more about demon hunting, also happens to be one of Boston's Zombies who was infected by a virus created by one of the Old One's. Victory's life gets even more complicated when her beau Alexander Kane, who also happens to be a werewolf attorney, gets a bit more serious with their relationship. A relationship that sees more than a few tests in this installment. Another important character in this series, is Victory's aunt Mab, who took Victory under her wing and taught her almost everything she knows. There is a storyline here which you might want to pay attention to that may lead to an end game somewhere along the line.

As the story opens, Vicky is doing a show and tell for her once apprentice & zombie, Tina. As Boston's only professional demon slayer, she slays personal demons that infect people's dreams. But, things turn in a new direction quickly. First, a Harpy attacks Victory. Harpy's can only appear if they have been conjured, so, who conjured the Harpy and why? Second, demons are disappearing. That doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, it is because it takes away from Victory's business. She makes her bread solving problems, but when the problems suddenly go away, or are stolen away for some unknown reason, she starts to question what is really happening. 

During one of her jobs, Victory discovers that Pryce, her demi-demon cousin, is collecting people's personal demons. Pryce, if you have read this series, was defeated by Victory in a previous installment. Pryce and Victory have a hate/hate relationship. Victory is perhaps known best as being a lone ranger. She likes to work by herself. She doesn't want anyone underhand because she is still dealing with issues of blame for her father's death years before. The only person she can fully trust, is Mab, and yet Mab is not fully telling her all she needs to know either.

Victory makes a deal with the Night Hag to enter Darklands. She not only has to stop Pryce from collecting back his demon side and ripping worlds apart, but she has to collect three prizes she agreed to in order to return to the human world. As the story shifts into the Darklands, Victory finds herself facing someone she never thought she'd see again. In the Darklands, we find a slew of new characters including King Arawn who once lost a cauldron to King Arthur and his knights. One of Victory's issues in this series, has been carrying a world of regret over believing she was responsible for her father's death. This issue is finally resolved and I will be curious to see where Holzner takes it from here.

Holzner intersperses her story with both Welsh and Demon mythology. Which works since Mab still lives in Wales, and her father grew up there as well. I have to warn you to be prepared to laugh as well as holding onto your seat in an action packed story. You will laugh over Victory's banter with a demon she names Butterfly, who just happens to prey on people's guilt. Victory's relationship with Kane has moved to a new place. I am not sure where the author will go from here, but the hot and cold between Victory and Kane truly needs to be decided one way or the other.

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Friday #Review - The Girl From Yesterday by Kathryn Miller Haines #Thriller #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: E-Galley, 304 pages
Release Date: April 17, 2017
Publisher: Pocket Star
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Thriller, Suspense

In the fast-paced psychological thriller traditions of Gillian Flynn, Jessica Knoll, and Liane Moriarty, Edgar Award nominated-author Kathryn Haines Miller (The Girl Is Murder) spins an engrossing tale of what might be the worst birthday ever.

Helen’s life is simple. She has a job. She has a boyfriend. She has her weekly NA meetings. No drugs, no drinking, no sex, not even any caffeine—not anymore. Because Helen knows this: once you’re an addict, you’re always an addict. There is no such thing as recovered.

And on her thirtieth birthday, the stability she’s cobbled together for herself will vanish. A call from the police, a body found, a dead woman with Helen’s name in her back pocket—it’s all so hard to believe. But then when Helen finds out the victim was her childhood best friend, a girl who went missing in high school, it’s too much.

Helen knows she has to stick to the routine that keeps her in control, and with the way the police are eyeing her for this, she’s worried about looking suspicious. But the unfortunate reemergence of her old friend—and the mysteries that always surrounded her—means Helen can trust no one, not even herself. 

The Girl from Yesterday, by new to me author Kathryn Miller Haines, focuses on a woman by the name of Helen Darden. Helen is a recovering drug addict, a woman who has been clean for (3) years, a woman who has been on probation for (3) years, a woman who is happy working alongside her Aunt, while avoiding caffeine, alcohol, or any other medications. She is about to become the woman who sees her 30th birthday come and her life twisted in ways that she never could dream of. 

It all starts with a call from a San Antonio PD Detective named Reggie Simmons. Simmons asks Helen to come back to the place she left (4) years ago in order to help identify a body that was found with Helen's card and name on it. Helen soon finds that her entire life is one tangled mess after Simmons hounds her to the point of ambushing her where ever she goes, where she lives, and where she works. 

But, there is much, much more to the story. This is a twisted story folks. I had no idea what was happening until pieces started to fall in place. Helen is by no means an angel. Her past is murky, she is a former meth head, a person now has a fear of dying, a fear of spending the rest of her life in prison, and a fear of someone setting her back on the road to becoming yet another sad story. She has a motto that says Tomorrow is a fantasy, yesterday is gone, there's only today.

Helen begins to set her own course of action. A course that will see her being set up, betrayed, while uncovering a plot that goes back 15 years to when Helen was best friends with Carrie Reinhardt. It is a story that will have you asking so, so many different questions. What really happened to Carrie? Is someone intentionally sending Helen back to the dark place where meth is her only friend, and outlet? Why would anyone go to the depths that pushes Helen into losing what she's worked so hard to overcome? 

Note: This book is now on sale for $1.99 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble. Links below. 

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Thursday #Review - Free Space (Evagardian #2) by Sean Danker #Science Fiction @AceRocBooks

Series: Evagardian # 2
Format: E-Galley, 320 page
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Ace Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Science Fiction / Military

In the follow-up to Admiral, the Admiral and others are kidnapped by criminals as peace talks approach that could end the intergalactic war for good.

The Admiral managed to escape an unknown and very dangerous planet, but the danger is far from over. He’s a man who knows too much, so the Empire must silence him at all costs. Barely surviving an assassination attempt, the Admiral reestablishes contact with Salmagard, a member of the Evagardian navy, and one of the one people who knows what he’s been through.

The Admiral and Salmagard take refuge in the lawless Free Trade system where there’s a thriving market built on galactic resentment for the Empire—only to discover that the system’s grievances extends to Evagardian’s citizens, making the Free Traders an even greater threat to their lives…

Story Locale: NA

Series Overview: The galactic war is over, but that doesn’t mean peace comes along with it. The Admiral navigates the system, never knowing who to trust, and with no one trusting him.

Free Space is the second installment in author Sean Danker's Evagardian series. The story once again dives into the life of a character who is being called Admiral by the author. The label was given to him while he and (3) others were abandoned on a dead ship on a planet filled with disasters just waiting to spring on them. Admiral had a helluva a time escaping with his life, but life isn't any easier this time out. What does change, a bit, is that we get more background information on how Admiral came to be. I do hope we get more in the next installment.

The Admiral knows things that others, most likely the Evagardians, would rather not get out. As the synopsis clearly states, he has survived more assassination attempts than anyone, and single-handedly brought two warring factions to the peace table. Which leads to some intriguing questions. So, as the story opens, and after the Admiral again faces another assassination attempt, this time with poison, we see another side to his character. It is his first date with Ensign Tessa Salmagard who is a trained negotiator, but really one of the characters who stood out in the Admiral, and once again in Free Space. 

There is something different about this story from the Admiral. There are actually (4) key players in this story. They are Admiral, Salmagard, Diana, and Sei who are both combat veterans. As the Admiral and Salmagard travel to Free Trade Space for what he hopes is a romantic time at Red Yonder, the group are kidnapped and separated. The men are sold to one faction, while the women find themselves in a place where they need to act fast if they are going to save Admiral and Sei. While the Admiral is good at certain things, it is Tessa and Diana that holds this story up for all to see. Diana is something science fiction aficionados will take an interest in.

As with the previous book, there are underlying reasons for everything that that this author does. With yet another stunning ending, readers will have to wait another year to figure out what happens next. Can the Admiral once again escape a bad situation? Will Tessa be able to help him, or will she face even more disciplinary actions? One way or the others, I am looking forward to yet another wild ride filled with action, adventure and plenty of surprises. Bring it on, Danker! 

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Wednesday #Review - Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray #YALit #Fantasy

Series: The Diviners # 2
Format: Hardcover, 613 pages
Release Date: August 25th 2015
Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher/Library
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy 

The second supernatural thriller in THE DIVINERS series by New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray

The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O'Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people's secrets, she's become a media darling, and earned the title "America's Sweetheart Seer." Everyone's in love with the city's newest It Girl...everyone except the other Diviners.

Piano-playing Henry Dubois and Chinatown resident Ling Chan are two Diviners struggling to keep their powers a secret--for they can walk in dreams. And while Evie is living the high life, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness are turning up across New York City.

As Henry searches for a lost love and Ling strives to succeed in a world that shuns her, a malevolent force infects their dreams. And at the edges of it all lurks a man in a stovepipe hat who has plans that extend farther than anyone can guess....As the sickness spreads, can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld to save the city?

In this heart-stopping sequel to The Diviners, Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray takes readers deeper into the mystical underbelly of New York City.

Lair of Dreams is the second installment in author Libba Bray's The Diviners series. After the events of The Diviners, Evie O'Neill has been labeled as "America's Sweetheart Seer." Her uncanny ability to read people's secrets, has given her an opportunity at her own radio show and stardom. Evie is a party girl, simple and without any arguments. She would rather hang around in speakeasy's, get drunker than a skunk, and is pos-i-tute-ly absolutely a flapper girl from her to her toe. 

Evie is pretty self-centered and perhaps a bit too-care free at times. Her distrust for her Uncle Will is still at the top of her emotional baggage. Thankfully, for the most part, Evie is shoved aside for a brilliantly written character named Ling Chan. Don't get me wrong, Evie does play a role in this story, but it is more as a character who makes more noise than offers anything of importance to what is happening to the other characters she supposedly calls friends. Even the way she treats her best friend Mabel Rose, or the way she messes with emotions of Jericho Jones and Sam Lloyd. 

Ling is a character who is part-Irish, part-Chinese, and totally amazing in the way she handles herself throughout this story. She has the ability to walk in dreams, just like another character we've met named Henry DeBois. Ling has problems that none of the others, except or maybe Memphis, can understand. Ling's problems begin when her best friend falls to what is being called the sleeping sickness. As Ling tries to find her friend, she discovers Henry who is searching for his lost lover. Ling also has a disability that makes others look sideways at her, but the most disturbing issue in this story is the bigotry and racism she faces as a young Chinese girl looking to make her way in the world. Especially when the sleeping sickness is blamed on her race. 

I appreciate way that Bray intermingles the paranormal with the historical setting of NYC. You can really put yourself in the story and feel the vibes flowing off the pages as the characters find themselves wrapped up in a multitude of issues and situations. For me, Evie was a huge let down, but I do have hopes that she rebounds in the next installment. The story could easily have been 300 pages shorter if the author cut out all of Henry's wanderings and bemusement, and gave more to understanding to what is happening between Theta and Memphis. This romance is hot, adorable, and filled with challenges most of us can't understand. The creepy factor in this story once again raises the bar. Holy Cats. I also think we need to talk more about Mr. Adams & Mr. Jefferson and the organization they work for. 

“Find me, Little Fox,” she whispered. “Before it’s too late. For all of us.”  

Oh Sam, whatever shall you do?

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Tuesday #Review - Strange the Dreamer by @lainitaylor #YALit #Fantasy @lbkids ‏

Series: Strange the Dreamer # 1
Format: Hardcover, 546 pages
Release Date: March 28th 2017
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Epic 


The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep. 

Strange the Dreamer is the first installment in author Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer series. Protagonist Lazlo Strange is a junior librarian at the Great Library of Zosma. He has spent his whole life dreaming about the mythical, lost city of Weep. Weep isn't really the name of the city. The real name was mysteriously snatched away from the world and nobody can remember its real name. Then one day, out of the blue, Lazlo see's the impossible. Tizerkane warriors, those from the mysterious city of Weep who he has searched and searched and even put a dossier together about the city, shows up looking for specialist to travel to Weep with them. 

How can Lazlo give up his fondest wishes of travel to the city he has spent years researching, writing about, and dreaming about? He can't. Since Lazlo has spent a majority of his life researching the language, customs, and the dangers of even traveling to the city, he jumps at the opportunity. 

Opportunity that manages to link him to the second most curious character in the book, Sarai. Sarai is a really cool character, if I say so. She has blue skin, she is the daughter of a God (Isagol) and a human (Eril Fane), and she has the ability to enter the dreams of the people living in Weep and create nightmares. 

As the author dives into the story, and the incredible world building that she is known for, we learn a whole lot about our characters Lazlo and Sarai. As we learn about these characters, they are also learning about each other. They become connected in ways that are both curious and emotion. The author also starts to unravel the question behind why Lazlo was abandoned as a child, and why he seems to know so much and is able to create really stunning places in his dreamscapes.

If you are looking for the villain of the story, look no further than Minya. Minya is crazier than a cat sticking its tongue in an electric shock, but even more dangerous because of her abilities to collect ghosts. Ghosts she uses in so many different ways, that you have to ask yourself if anyone can survive Minya's plots and machinations. Strange the Dreamer is a story about gods, goddesses, ghosts, magic, secrets, and yes, even romance that keeps you entranced. The ending has left me curious as to where Taylor goes from here. 

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Monday #Review - Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima #YALit #Fantasy @HarperTeen

Series: Shattered Realms # 2
Format: E-Galley, 551 pages
Release Date: April 4th 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy


A lifelong war.

Alyssa ana’Raisa is the reluctant princess heir to the Gray Wolf throne of Fells, a queendom embroiled in a seemingly endless war. Hardened by too many losses, Lyss is more comfortable striking with a sword than maneuvering at court. After a brush with death, she goes on the offensive, meaning to end the war that has raged her whole life. If her gamble doesn’t pay off, she could lose her queendom before she even ascends to the throne.

A life in peril.

Across enemy lines in Arden, young rising star Captain Halston Matelon has been fighting for his king since he was a lýtling. Lately, though, he finds himself sent on ever more dangerous assignments. Between the terrifying rumors of witches and wolfish warriors to the north and his cruel king at home, Hal is caught in an impossible game of life and death.

The shadow of defeat.

Shadowcaster is the second installment in author Cinda Williams Chima's Shattered Realms series. It is important to note that this series takes place 20 or so years after the ending of the Seven Realms series. While there may be guest appearances from some of the cast of that series, the current series focuses on the sons and daughters of the cast of the Seven Realms series. Flamecaster featured Adrian sul’Han, the son of Han Alister and Queen Raisa ana'Marianna, this book features the youngest daughter of the couple, 15-year old Alyssa (Lyss) Ana'Raisa, also known as Lieutenant Gray. 

4 years ago, Han Alister was assassinated, and it was also presumed that Adrian was killed at the same time. At least that is what Lyss has been told for years. (If you've read the previous installment, you know what really happened). With the death of her older sister, Lyss has become heir apparent to the crown, but she really doesn't want anything to do with it. After all, she's still young, and her mothers nagging does nothing to change her mind. Lyss is much, much more than a spoiled princess who loves dresses, and is eager to be married to the next available candidate. She is a warrior. She is a soldier. She leads her own army, and she loves and respects each and every single one of them and takes their losses personally. But, like her brother, and father, she isn't safe from the threats of being assassinated.  

In typical Chima fashion, Lyss finds herself being pulled towards another new character. This character, who is also featured as one of the voices of this story, is named Halston Matelon. He is a Captain in the Ardenine Army, and therefore he is supposed to be a villain. Yet, he is a soldier who finds himself conflicted between what he is told by his leader, and the girl who is supposed to be some sort of witch, or something like all the other women of Lyss's Queendom. Matelon is between a rock and a hard place. He can either follow orders, or find himself in deeper than he can imagine.

Lyss's connection to Matelon isn't one of insta-holy hell I'm in LOVE! situations. It becomes one of respect and admiration then curiosity. Lyss and Matelon meet several times in battle, and each instance, Lyss comes out on top. I think Hal's preconception of who Lyss really was, was melted away in a really brilliant way. Matelon comes to see Lyss as clever, a brilliant strategist, and one who would do anything to save her people. 

There are a lot of characters who make an appearance in this story that you've probably met before if you read the Seven Realms series. Raisa, and her sister Princess Mellony, Dancer, his wife, and kid, plus Captain Byrne. Micah Bayer, and others who made their marks alongside Han and Raisa in the previous series. Jenna and her dragon Flamecaster also make an appearance, as does one of the baddest villains we have really had the pleasure of exploring, Celestine. While sad villain shows up towards the end of the story, she leaves a lasting impression that one can not deny. Only real negative for me is the lack of Ash in the story. Where is he? Why is it taking him and Lila so long to return home? 

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