August 27th Book Releases

    So, its not a book review, but on August 27th (less that 2 weeks away!) there are not one, not two, note even three or four, but FIVE books on my wish list coming out. I thought I would share those titles with you (along with the book cover and the blurb from the back cover).

    I am excited for all these books, but I am excited for one more than all the others. So without furthur ado, I present to you:

1. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass book 2) by Sarah J. Maas

An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. 

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

    If you remember, way back in October I wrote a review on the first book of this series Throne of Glass (click HERE, to see my review). I was absolutely in love with the book, and its 4 novella prequels, from the first page; so you can imagine my excitement to have the release date for book 2 to be out than less than a week! This book is TOTALLY getting reviewed, so stay tuned people!

2. Origin (Lux Book 4) by Jennifer Armentrout

Daemon will do anything to get Katy back. 

After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.   

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?  

Together, they can face anything.   

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together?  

    This too is another excitement for me. I have followed the Lux series from day one and RIGHT when things started to get super interesting plot wise (not that it wasn't interesting before... just more so now) a road block comes crashing in, as they always do, and I can't WAIT to see what the author does in this next installment.

3. Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin #9) by Jennifer Estep

The hotly anticipated ninth novel in the hugely popular Elemental Assassin series finds Gin Blanco on a dangerous mission to rescue a friend. 
When a terror from the past threatens Gin’s friend and body-disposer, Sophia, Gin will stop at nothing to protect her, even if it means walking straight into a killer’s trap. Meanwhile, the rocky romance between Gin and Owen reaches a turning point—can they reunite and rekindle their love? Or will the things Gin has been forced to do in her line of work as the deadly assassin the Spider keep them apart forever? Assuming, that is, she survives long enough to find out…

    I too wrote a review on the last book of this series, Deadly Sting (which you can read HERE) and in that review I expressed how the series is getting kind of old now. It's basically the same plot over and over: Someone wants to kill Gin (aka the Spider) and Gin goes all badass and saves the day, almost dying in the process, but she is saved by her dwarf friend who can heal all injuries with her Air magic. Yup, got it. And honestly, with any other series, by book 9 I would call it quits and give up. HOWEVER, Jennifer Estep, being the tricky person she is, is dangling a bone over all her fans noses to make sure they stay with her: Will Owen and Gin get back together?! That seems to be the question of all questions! Well Jennifer, you better not dangle that bone in front of us forever. Like all dogs, we get bored when we realize we aren't getting our reward anytime soon.

4. The Bitter Kingdom (Girl of Fire and Thorns #3) By Rae Carson

The epic conclusion to Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy. The seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen will travel into the unknown realm of the enemy to win back her true love, save her country, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny.
Elisa is a fugitive in her own country. Her enemies have stolen the man she loves in order to lure her to the gate of darkness. As she and her daring companions take one last quest into unknown enemy territory to save Hector, Elisa will face hardships she's never imagined. And she will discover secrets about herself and her world that could change the course of history. She must rise up as champion-a champion to those who have hated her most.

    I don't think I ever reviewed the first two books of this series, but if you have read anything by Tamora Pierce (one of my favourite authors) or George R. Martin you will LOVE this series. The main character is the furthest thing from a Mary Sue, she is full of faults and she isn't described to be all that pretty, but she was born with a marvellous destiny and she does everything she can to overcome her faults to live up to what she was born to be. I'm going to have to review the first book now, it's just so good. This is going to be the conclusion of the Trilogy, so look forward to it!

5. Descendant (Starling #2) by Lesley Livingston

The last thing Mason Starling remembers is the train crossing a bridge. An explosion . . . a blinding light . . . then darkness. Now she is alone, stranded in Asgard—the realm of Norse legend—and the only way for her to get home is to find the Spear of Odin, a powerful relic left behind by vanished gods.

The Fennrys Wolf knows all about Asgard. He was once trapped there. And he’ll do whatever it takes to find the girl who’s stolen his heart and bring her back—even if it means a treacherous descent into the underworld. But time is running out, and Fenn knows something Mason doesn’t: If she takes up the Spear, she’ll set in motion a terrible prophecy. And she won’t just return to her world . . . she’ll destroy it.

    I am excited for the mythology in this book. I reviewed the first book, Starling (which you can read HERE) and it was average at best as far as ratings went. I have a feeling that this book has a lot more to offer and I am excited to see if Descendant will live up to my expectations.

ALRIGHT! So there you go. While there are more books that come out this August and this coming fall, these got an honourable mention because they are all coming out on the same day, and I am excited to read them all. Look forward to their reviews. You are going to get a bunch of them in the span of 2 or 3 days! See you guys in a fore night when I give you all another review!

Book Butterfly

Vampire Academy By Richelle Mead

Title: Vampire Academy

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Vampire Academy #1

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Vampires, Romance, Magic

Source: Kindle

Pages: 340 pages

Rating: 5 stars

Available at:

Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever

My Review:
So this is a reread for me and by far, one of my favourite series of all time (there IS a reason this is turning into a movie people!). Not surprisingly, Richelle Mead is also on my Favourites List, earning a spot in both Young Adult and Fantasy categories. Now before I start the review, let me stress: THIS BOOK IS NOT TWILIGHT! While twilight wasn’t the best written book (and written by an inexperienced author) with the whole novel revolving around a huge love story, this is not the case in The Vampire Academy series. While the love story does play a role, sometimes even driving the plot along in certain instalments of the book, there are other plots and subplots at work throughout the series that have NOTHING to do with the love story within itself. Now on to the review:

Let’s get straight into how and where this book excelled, shall we? First of all, the plot is fantastic. It holds plenty of mystery, but gives you enough subtle clues so that you don’t get infuriated trying to figure everything out. And surprisingly, the plot is more complex than one would think, some minor sub plots from this book lead off to play parts in the next 5 books of the series, but that’s a tale for another review. The writing is also outstanding as well. One of the reasons so many books and series fail is because they have the perfect plot, but no writing talent to back it up. I see it ALL the time. That is not the case with Richelle at all. She is an outstanding author and her writing gets me so utterly captivated I fell like I am walking right beside Rose (the main character) the whole way through. That’s TALENT people!!

The romantic side of the story is absolutely perfect. There’s a bit of the love/hate thing going on, a complicated age difference, and a career conflict that all make the relationship impossible and forbidden on so many levels, and yet, you route for it the entire way through this book. Of course, it HAS to be complicated, it wouldn’t be fun if it were easy, but Richelle Mead writes the romantic side of this story so subtly, intricately and beautifully, that you can’t help but get caught up in it. You enjoy the book because of the fantastic plot and characters, you keep reading the series because you want to know if the love interests will ever get together ;)

Lastly, and absolutely most importantly, is character development. Each character has their very own distinct personalities that are consistent and brilliant all the way through. Not only that, but the types of characters are diverse in every sense of the word. Rose is sassy and rebellious, but has this urge to protect those she cares about and fight for what’s right. While Lissa is calm and collected and bursting with intelligence, loyalty, and wisdom well beyond her years, and yet, there is this other dark and crazy side of her that is brought out when she uses her magic that few get to see. They balance each other perfectly, and there is a whole range of characters in between that play on both sides of the spectrum.

I don’t think I can rave about this book, or this series, more than I already have. It is fantastic. And although I am well past the Vampire Craze stage when it comes to picking a new book, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone into the Fantasy/ Young Adult reading scene. Seriously people, read it!

Five stars for me, A+, no questions asked.

**UPDATE** As mentioned before. This book (series) is turning into a movie. It's called Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters that comes out February 14, 2014. You can click HERE if you want to learn more about it, and HERE if you want to read more about the series.

Starling by Lesley Livingston

Title: Starling

Author: Lesley Livingston

Series: Starling #1

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Mythology, Magic, Fantasy

Source: Kindle

Pages: 341

Rating: 3 stars

Available at:

Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

Mason Starling is a champion fencer on the Gosforth Academy team, but she's never had to fight for her life. Not until the night a ferocious, otherworldly storm rips through Manhattan, trapping Mason and her teammates inside the school. Mason is besieged by nightmarish creatures more terrifying than the thunder and lightning as the raging tempest also brings a dangerous stranger into her life: a young man who remembers nothing but his name—the Fennrys Wolf. His arrival tears Mason's world apart, even as she feels an undeniable connection to him. Together, they seek to unravel the secrets of Fenn's identity as strange and supernatural forces gather around them. When they discover Mason's family—with its dark allegiance to ancient Norse gods—is at the heart of the mystery, Fennrys and Mason are suddenly faced with a terrifying future.

Set against the gritty, shadowed back-drop of New York City, this first novel in award-winning author Lesley Livingston's epic Starling Saga is an intoxicating blend of sweeping romance and pulse-pounding action. 

My Review:
So, as the first real book I have read in a while, I was extremely excited to read Starling by Lesley Livingston. Not only was it a real book for once (as in realistic), but it was largely centred around Mythology, albeit it was Norse mythology and its not my most knowledgable subject. Still, it was a great experience.

So lets start off with the loves about this novel. I loved the whole mythology side of the story. As you guys know by now, I am a HUGE mythology fan so when I found out that this book had everything to do with it, I was pumped. At first I though it was just Norse Mythology but aspects of Egyptian and Greek mythology were in there as well. Greek is by far my favourite and my most knowledgable subject and I wish I got to see a bit more of it, but Livingston did an AMAZING job at incorporating Norse mythology in the story, so I can't complain.

I also loved how the main character had a great story to her. She had flaws, and downfalls and was over all well rounded. Fenn was also pretty well rounded, well, as well rounded as a guy with amnesia can have. The major flaw character developmentally wise was that most of the other characters weren't very well rounded. I found that Rory (the main characters brother) was faulty at best in the story. It seemed like the author tried to make him as well rounded as possible, mostly by putting things in his point of view and having other characters give insight about him, but there were a lot of holes. We never actually find out a clear reason why he hates his sister, its mostly just speculation. I normally wouldn't mind this so much, but since Livingston actually put the story in his point of view several times, I don't really think she has an excuse. Other characters were just largely underplayed. Heather had so much more potential in the story. As did Cal, but I am going to assume they will play a larger part in book 2 of the series.

Where character development lacked, plot came in to save the day. It was a great plot. My biggest wish was that the book was longer so that you got to see more of it. As with most first books in a series, most of the book was establishing characters, book 2 usually takes care of most of the plot explanation. However, saying that, I think that Livingston did a pretty good job of explaining things given how long the book was and everything else she had to establish in the story.

The only thing I really didn't like was the switching of POVs. One point of view is preferable, 2 is tolerable, 3 is getting annoying and anymore than that is just frustrating. Livingston changed POVs a lot and not in a comfortable way. I found that it greatly took away from the story.

Thats mostly all I have to say on the subject. Overall, I found this book very average. There were a lot of downfalls but a lot of things that also made the book really interesting. So, I would give the book 3 stars. Saying that, I think that the second book will be way better.

Have you ever realized?

    So, I went to Chapters today to buy real life books for the first time in forever. I was browsing the fiction section when I stumbled upon a couple of books I had previously read via Kindle and I was absolutely AMAZED on how thick the books were! I don't think I fully realized how many pages 400 pages brings you thickness wise. I was completely dumb founded.
    Anyways, bought some new books. Starling by Lesley Livingston, Incarnate by Jodi Meadows, and Ruby Red  by Keristin Gier. I am reading them in that order. Look forward to the reviews guys! THey will be coming up in the next couple of days!

Your BookButterfly!
-Ness

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Title: Until I Die

Author: Amy Plum

Series: Revenant #2

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery

Source: Kindle

Pages: 353 pages

Rating: 5 stars

Available at:

Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.

As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy.

In Die for Me, Amy Plum created a captivating paranormal mythology with immortal revenants and a lush Paris setting. Until I Die is poised to thrill readers with more heart-pounding suspense, spellbinding romance, and a cliff-hanger ending that will leave them desperate for the third and final novel in the series.

My Review: 
You can read my review of the first novel in this series, Die for Me, HERE. GAH! Yes, that is m first word after rereading this book, GAH! Now I remember why I was pining away for the third book in the series... because Until I Die leaves such a huge frikken cliffhanger!

Okay, let's be a bit more professional about this, shall we? Or rather, shall I? Until I Die was a definite step up from the first book of the series, Die For Me. Amy Plum still has an amazing way with words and completely captivates her audience into her supernatural world of good and evil. Revenants whose sole purpose in this world is to die over and over to save others, and Numas, who have the opposite purpose to take away lives. I loved every second of every word I read, even the infuriating, frustrating and heartbreaking ones that made me want to do something drastic... somewhere between punching or strangling my pillow.

Going straight into the good parts, Plum sets up the story line so much more in Until I Die. Book 1, Die For Me, was more focused on the love story with a subplot of the evil numas. I loved Until I Die because now that Vincent and Kate's love life is well established, a majority of the focus was on the antagonistic aspect of the longterm story plot. It plainer words, we get to see a lot more of the battles against the bad guy. Something that was severely lacking from Die For Me. I also loved this book because the ending kind of blind sides you. I mean, all of the signs were there, I just got so wrapped up in the lives of these fictional characters that I went against my instincts and missed all of them. I don't know if I should credit that to Amy Plum's fantastic writing, or go check if I have a fever or something :p

Now, looking at the bad side, it's more of the same. Vincent and Kate's blinding love. They do stuff that worries and infuriates each other, and BAM a sorry is said and al is forgiven. No resentment or anger left at all. I am sorry, that may happen in a perfect world, but no love life is like that. No WOMAN is like that. Maybe I just don't have a lot of faith in my very own sex, but especially for Kate's personality and character, and how she is written, I can't see her being the girl that just blindly forgives people like that.

Now I just have one last comment to leave y'all on... and WARNING! THIS IS A TINY BIT OF A SPOILER... Is it just me or is Jules kinda in love with Kate? I mean all the signs are there... genuine concern for her safety, the obvious hints hidden behind the shamless flirting... I wonder if something will come of it in book three... something I am going to start reading the second I post this review.

Anyways, I have now voiced my opinion. Amy Plum did a better job with this book than she did with the first in the series. Bravo Amy! 5 stars for book 2 and an A. I can't wait to start book 3!

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Title: Die for Me

Author: Amy Plum

Series: Revenant #1

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery

Source: Kindle

Pages: 341 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Available at:

Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

My Review:
Let me start off by saying that I love Amy Plum's work. She is a beautiful writer and it is only made better by an amazing imagination and an outstanding story. Die For Me is actually a reread for me. The third book in the series recently came out and I am rereading the first two so I am not blind sided when I go to read the third. The first book is exactly what I remembered it to be, a wonderful and creative story.

It is hard to write a story that takes place in a country or place that the reader is unfamiliar with, let alone incorporating a completely different language into it. Yet, somehow, Amy Plum has managed to ease her readers in with grace and to a degree where, if you are ever confused, it isnt for long. She explain unfamiliar settings in a way that doesn't get too boring and you start skipping paragraphs (a terribly bad habit I have, especially with rereads) and not too little as to the point of being utterly confused. Plum found a happy medium that satisfies her audience as well as doing Paris credit.

Getting into the story more, we stumble upon a familiar love story. A supernatural being falling in love with a human against all odds and reason. With what is probably the most common and cliche basis for a story, Plum works her magic. Not that the story is entirely unique on its own, but with a setting not commonly seen and a supernatural race that hasn't really reached mass media, Plum makes and old story her own.

A common problem when incorporating a lot of characters is forgetting about some here and there and under playing some while over playing the ones you have had time to develop. Plum didn't seem tot have this problem. All of her characters that came into light got their fair share in the spotlight, which is something I highly respect as a reader. Amy gives you enough information to keep you guessing while not giving enough that it gives the story line away and makes you feel like the author thinks you're stupid.

The biggest problem I had with this story was in the romantic aspect. Vincent and Kate (the main characters) remind me too much of Edward and Bella... but in reverse almost. Kate runs away every time things get hard and after brooding for a while she runs back to Vincent who takes her back with open arms. And, at the same time, she blindly accepts so much of his world, while rejecting the human aspects of it. Oh the calming touch superpower thing? No problem. The dying thing.. not so much. That and the fact that Kate just seems to be the exception to all the supernatural rules. Warning, tiny spoiler ahead in my examples! She just happens to be able to hear Vincent when he is in his spirit form, something no other human can do, Warning, BIG spoiler ahead! and there is the fact that she suffers no side effects from begin possessed by him, another HUGE no no... hmmm, makes me wonder.

Overall, not a bad story and beautiful writing. The character development was fantastic and while the plot line was a little over played, Plum worked with what she had to make it her own. I am giving the story 4 stars. You can read my review for Book 2, Until I Die, HERE.

(Mis)fortune By Melissa Haag

Title:(Mis)Fortune

Author: Melissa Haag

Series: Judgement of Six #2

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Werewolves, Fantasy

Source: ARC

Pages: 315

Rating: 5 stars

Available at:

Amazon(.ca) • Goodreads • Amazon(.com)

Blurb: (via Goodreads)

Michelle, another young woman with an unexplainable gift, finds herself surrounded by the previously undiscovered werewolf society. Kept prisoner for the predictions that torment her, she meekly follows orders waiting for her opportunity to run. When her stepfather dies, she takes a chance and escapes. 

After witnessing Blake, her captor, grow canines, she knows he will do anything to find her. She needs a place to hide and someone to listen to her predictions so her head doesn’t explode, but knows there’s nowhere she can hide forever, and no one who can protect her… unless she can find someone just like him.

Part of the fur wearing faction wants to use her, another part strives to keep her safe. The second book of the Judgement of the Six series will raise more questions about the purpose of these gifted few and Michelle will need to fight for answers. Will what she discovers be enough to help her keep those she loves safe from an emerging evil?

My Review:
Melissa Haag contacted me giving me the joyful news that her second book in the Judgement of Six series was available and, in exchange for a free copy of her book, she would like it if I would give an honest review of her book. I replied to her with a calm email saying that it would be my pleasure. I hope that email didn't show how absolutely EXCITED I was to do just that: read her book that I had been waiting for, and post about it! You can read me review of the first book, Hope(less), HERE.

So, lets get started. Let me start off this review by warning all of those Hope(less) fans out there that (Mis)fortune does not follow the same plot line. I was aware of this ahead of schedule so I wasn't too disappointed although I do like it a bit better when we get to follow the same people throughout a series. No, this story takes place following the life of Michelle, who has the unique gift of getting premonitions about the stock market, and for most of her life she only has premonitions about the stock market. This is what has drawn me into the Judgement of Six series so much, Melissa Haag creates these interesting characters that posses unique abilities that you probably haven't even thought of before. Her creativity may be my favourite part about her writing.

Anyways, back on track. (Mis)fortune takes place mostly before Hope(less) and ends about midway through the Hope(less) story line. As a whole, the story only had two problems in my eyes. 1) I felt that a lot of detail was unnecessary. I found myself skipping some description paragraphs (often to do with breakfast... there was a lot of breakfasts in this story) to try and get to the point. It slowed the plot down a little bit, but the plot itself was so addicting, I didn't mind it too much. It creative suspense... in a frustrating kind of way. 2) I found it extremely weird that she wasn't carded... anywhere. I get that she looks older than 19, but she goes to pubs and gets wasted and no one looks twice, or even once, at any ID. I don't think that would actually happen. Actually, legal age is 21 in the states, right? Well, my comment still applies regardless of the legal drinking age. 

Now lets talk about the good parts! In (Mis)fortune we finally get to see more depth into the bigger picture of these novels. With Hope(less), it was more of a love story with a bit of a cliff hanger as to whats really going on in the supernatural world. In (Mis)fortune, you get to learn and understand so much more, and you finally get a grasp on what is going on long term plot wise. This was awesome. If we got this much from book two, I can't wait until book 3. I also loved how (Mis)fortune focused more on Michelle's ability. I found that was a major lacking in Hope(less) and I am glad that Melissa added more of the supernatural into her second instalment. It really added to the story. Lastly, I like how we got a sneak peek into all of the other girls lives. We have a glimpse of what there abilities are and how they are living, and even though it is only a small glance, it really sets up the future novels. I can't wait!

Overall, I give this book high praises. The bad DEFINITELY didn't outweigh the good in any aspect and the bad things were really nit picky preference things for me as a reader. Melissa is an amazing writer that manages to captivate her audience and write the most unique stories. Beautiful. Simple Beautiful. A wonderful 5 stars for Melissa Haag!