December Box of FairyLoot + Secret Santa Gift

 

I discovered this program in Tiktok and to make a point: they have a huge waitlist! 

I never understood how it was possible but guess what: it is and it took me 6 months of waiting!

But the true is that I really didn't mind to wait.

They have beautiful editions, a lot of bookish stuff and new collectable itens! 

So I got lucky to received the December box and of course I'm charing with you all!!

If you want to received lovely book just go to: https://www.fairyloot.com/ and join the list 😉

Let's start explaining each item:

• Letter opener (the sword) inspired by The Prince of Hearts (Jacks) dagger from the book Once Upon a Broken Heart
• Iron patch features Nasir's tattoo from the book We Hunt the Flame
• 2 mythology foil bookmarks with Hades and Persophone (its a new collection)
• A Book Sleeve inspired from the book These Violent Delights 
• 2 Tarot card (9 and 10 of Pentacles)
• 2 books: Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier and The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling

I also received this lovely Planner from a Secret Santa:

A Corpse For Christmas by Rena Leith

 

Language: English

Format: PDF

Pages: 184

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Rating: 4⭐

"Cass Peake's web design company accepts a job to bolster the local college's efforts in attracting new students. With the winter break, she and her colleagues expect a very quiet campus. What they don't anticipate is the reunion of a strange secret society called The Black Triangle Club on the grounds… and a dead body. Then corpses start piling up like gifts under a Christmas tree. Coincidence or not?

With the help of her ghostly friend Doris and other allies, Cass works frantically to uncover the real killer. But it might take a real holiday miracle to solve this Yuletide mystery."

This book have mystery, Christmas vibe and it was easy to read and to understand even if its the book 3... 

Since I was focused in not 1 but 3 murders, I simply ignored the fact that Cass have a past that maybe make more sense if I've read the previous books.

I wasn't excepting that resolution of the case but seems logical even if my expression was a total chock. I mean wealthy people usually can get away from a lot of problems.... but it was how easy is to claim something not totally true that made my rating go to 4. The resolution of how the murderer will be convicted just drop my expectations but it make sense at the end. (let's be open mind)

My list of suspects was quite... little. (at first it was 2, pass to 1 and comes back to 2 but with a feeling that THAT character was the one!) So I was happy with myself as soon as the murdered was found and was the one I suspected!

I liked more Doris than the rest of the characters. Probably because she is a ghost, she can change outfit and go outside with Thor (the big cat that Cass have). But also because she is very credible and a comfort. (can't denied that I though she was really done in some point 😔)

Special thank to Bookstagrammers.com Program and Cameron to provide me the possibility to read a Cozy book :)

Once Craved by Blake Pierce (Riley Paige Book 3)

 

Language: French

Format: Paperback

Pages: 208

Genre: Thriller and Mystery

Rating: 5⭐

When prostitutes turn up dead in Phoenix, not much attention is paid. But when a pattern of disturbing murders is discovered, the local police soon realize a serial killer is on a rampage and they are in way over their heads. Given the unique nature of the crimes, the FBI, called in, knows they will need their most brilliant mind to crack the case: Special Agent Riley Paige.

Riley, recovering from her last case and trying to pick up the pieces of her life, is at first reluctant. But when she learns of the grievous nature of the crimes and realizes the killer will soon strike again, she is compelled. She begins her hunt for the elusive killer and her obsessive nature takes her too far—perhaps too far, this time, to pull herself back from the brink.

Riley’s search leads her into the unsettling world of prostitutes, of broken homes, and shattered dreams. She learns that, even amongst these women, there are glimpses of hope, hope being robbed by a violent psychopath. When a teenage girl is abducted, Riley, in a frantic race against time, struggles to probe the depths of the killer’s mind. But what she discovers leads her to a twist that is too shocking for even her to imagine.

How to explain that I was not surprise but surprised at the same time?

This book have some warning triggers that can make you leave the book there and never picking him up again but it's a reality: kids and teenagers going on prostitution to survive is something that we all know is true but sadly we don't know how to act.

In this one I was very happy to see a bigger changes and events in Riley private life but gosh..... that impression that the daughter's boyfriend is a bad apple never left me so I'm hopping in the next book I can check my guts!

It was disturbing, it was dark, it was a perfect book! 

Once Taken by Blake Pierce (Riley Paige Book 2)

Language: French

Format: Paperback

Pages: 199

Genre: Thriller; Mystery 

Rating: 5⭐

Women are being murdered in upstate New York, their bodies found mysteriously hanging in chains. With the FBI called in, given the bizarre nature of the murders—and the lack of any clues—there is only one agent they can turn to: Special Agent Riley Paige.

Riley, reeling from her last case, is reluctant to take on a new one, since she is still convinced a former serial killer is out there, stalking her. She knows, though, that her ability to enter a serial killer’s mind and her obsessive nature is what will be needed to crack this case, and she just can’t refuse—even if it will push her over the edge.

Riley’s search takes her deep into a killer’s deluded mind as it leads her to orphanages, mental hospitals, prisons, all in an effort to understand the depth of his psychosis. Realizing she is up against a true psychopath, she knows time is short before he strikes again. But with her own job on the line and her own family a target, and with her fragile psyche collapsing, it may all be too much for her—and too late.

I picked this book right after finishing the first one and decide to buy the full collection.... so now im waiting for it to continue this serie! 

My impression was this case of murder was less gore than the previous one. 

I didn't got that same vibe that was present in book 1 however I was very more interested about that former killer and about her relation with her daughter.

Until now and even if 5⭐ this is not one of my favorites of the serie...

Let's see book 3 😉

Once Gone by Blake Pierce (Riley Paige book 1)

 

Language: French

Format: Paperback

Pages: 204

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Rating:  5 ⭐

Once Gone marks the debut of a serie of 17 books! This is a dark psychological thriller with a lot of suspense! 

For me I got a "Criminal Mind" vibe all over this book and in book 2 it keeps going! (I love Criminal Minds!)

Ok so let's talk about the plot first: 

Women are turning up dead in the rural outskirts of Virginia, killed in grotesque ways, and when the FBI is called in, they are stumped. A serial killer is out there, his frequency increasing, and they know there is only one agent good enough to crack this case: Special Agent Riley Paige.

Riley is recovering from her encounter with her last serial killer, and, fragile as she is, the FBI is reluctant to tap her brilliant mind. Yet Riley, needing to battle her own demons, comes on board, and her hunt leads her through the disturbing subculture of doll collectors, into the homes of broken families, and into the darkest canals of the killer’s mind. As Riley peels back the layers, she realizes she is up against a killer more twisted than she could have imagined. In a frantic race against time, she finds herself pushed to her limit, her job on the line, her own family in danger, and her fragile psyche collapsing.

Yet once Riley Paige takes on a case, she will not quit. It obsesses her, leading her to the darkest corners of her own mind, blurring the lines between hunter and hunted. After a series of unexpected twists, her instincts lead her to a shocking climax that even Riley could not have imagined.

Ok so now my review!

This book start really in a dark mood and scenario! 

I'm a huge fan of detective / thriller / mystery and murder books and this one hit the top!

I simply loved the way how the killer dispose the victims, how he prepare the scenario and make sure they are found. 

I found myself trying to find the killer and trying to find clues and i was totally absorbed by the plot and characters. 

This serie have 2 different scenarios regarding Riley: the professional side and the private. 

Riley have a double fight in her life: the struggle to come back to work and the fight to be a good mother and put her life together. And it's not easy since she is raising a teenager girl that look like her and an ex-husband that simply don't care....

So while I was very inside the homicide part I was also trying to figured out what was going on with Riley and her daughter and just found that Blake actually put a MC with a very real backstory and not looking as a perfect human without any bad situation. 

Ink by S.J. Davis

Language: English

Formar: Kindle

Pages: 85

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Rating: 4 ⭐

Sparrow is involved in a serious car accident that claims the life of her mother. 

Right before dying, her mother’s last words involves a cryptic message involving ink, voices and someone that will help her with them. 

All the while, Sparrow start to hears voices and sees people in the shadows. These spirits are here to either harm her or help her and she’s unsure who is who through most of the story. She decide to move to Washington DC to live with her aunt and start over. 

I really liked the plot and loved the way how Davis work on the survival guilt, a very real and emotionally damaging aspect of life. The way Sparrow is dealing and struggling through her overpowering guilt made me keep reading this novella

The concept of the "White Buffalo" and the spirit guide was new for me in YA genre. 

Mateo was a very good character and I really liked how he became more "alive" while the danger was getting closer to Sparrow!

 The ink story was also a very good point and how the tattoo shop owner new the backstory of Sparrow family and the consequences if not correctly done. 

Regarding Winona I didn't understood who she was until the very end..... I was in that stage that I was trying to understand the full power of the ink.

The book was way to small for me! I wanted to see how Sparrow actually ended and how Layne was fixing the gasp to not be a native and also in Mateo will stay next to Sparrow... 

If another novella comes I will having it for sure!

Bug Out by Charlie Dalton

Language: English

Formar: Kindle

Pages: 96

Genre: Si-Fi

Rating: 4⭐

Ok I'm not a real fan of Si-Fi.... really not a genre that I will get over and over (like any thriller book) but Bug Out was actually a pretty good book! (Ok ok novella since only have 96 pages) 

The description of the book got me intrigued: 

"Rigel 4 was the setting for our victory over the Bugs. We claimed the territory and installed a colony. We haven’t heard from them in over a month. Something was wrong.

Setting down, we search the colony. No shots had been fired. Children’s toys lay scattered. Clothes hang on washing lines. Meals sit half-finished on desks piled high with papers.

The colonists had vanished without a trace.

Then we hear something, something none of have heard since the Ultimate Victory.

Chitter.

The sound of Bugs. They’re back."

Basically this pages show how humans (even after destroying Home) still manage to make the same mistakes and still use War as a solution for any situation...

After a while I understood what happened to the colony of Rigel 4 but I was thinking the reason of the Bugs for that.

We, humans, are clearly not the stronger in the Universe.... 

It was not a fully 5 ⭐ only because it was not cleared when it was present and past. I figured out after when I got some clues but was wondering the why of that. Last part of the book was actually pretty clear the reason.

Regarding the reviews of Series

Please click of the icon in the right to have access to all the reviews of a specific collection. 

November Wrap up and December TBR

 

November ended and with it a couple of books was read with success. 

My November was not very productive since I didn't made a proper TBR but I read some good books.

Below see all the books and the rating. (if you click on the book name you will be sent to Goodreads and for the Book page)

• NO CONSENT by Teresa Burrell - 4⭐
• The Gorgon and the Stranger by Ashley L Castillo - 5⭐
• Plague of Flies by Laurel Anne Hill - 4⭐
• Rapientium by Nicola Ormerod - 4⭐
• The Advocate by Teresa Burrell - 3⭐
• The Savage Hunt by Christy Sloat - 5⭐ 
• Shadowed Eden by Katie Clark - 3⭐

I got stuck in the 3rd book and didn't find motivation for reading more! 😅

But now let's focus in the last monthly TBR!! 

So this time I made sure to have a schedule of reading so everything fit in time!

1. Crave by Tracy Wolff
2. Crush by Tracy Wolff
3. Covet by Tracy Wolff
4. Bug Out by Charlie Dalton
5. Ink by S.J. Davis
6. The Essencial of Evil by Rob Sinclair
7. Once Hunted by Blake Pierce
8. Once Pined by Blake Pierce
9. Once Forsaken  by Blake Pierce
10. Once Cold by Blake Pierce
11. Once Stalked by Blake Pierce
12. Once Lost by Blake Pierce
13. A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

Looks a lot but the true is that most of them can and will be read in 2 days max 😅

Wish me luck 😁

Shadowed Eden by Katie Clark (Free edition from Editor)

Language: English

Format: PDF

pages: 296

Genre: YA, Christian Fiction

Rating: 3⭐

I received this book from the editor for free with the program Bookstagrammers.com

This is a Christian Fiction and so my first book under that genre too... but it end up been more mystery and I got a good feeling from the description.

It wasn't what I expected from but it was an interesting read. However it didn't was a WOW read at all.

The beginning was promising and the way they try to understand how they ended there was also a very good point BUT after a couple of trips into the jungle I found that the action was simply not there and that it was a repeating from the last time they got inside! 

I mean they go there a lot to find the lost girls and water but nothing happens.... it's a damn forest! We only see 1 monkey inside the forest and snakes attacking the camp and Avery se beetles everywhere....

Every trip was really only for search, no real interaction between Luca and Avery even if he really want to talk with her about them.

A point that was a minus for me was the lack of information about the past of the characters. We know for sure Luca and Avery lost someone important and each one is or was in a different stage of grave but we really don't know for example why everyone label Avery as "crazy" and don't talk to her or why Benny act like that way or the backstory of June regarding cancer.... I was really hoping to know more about Benny for example but it didn't happens... 

Also I noticed that God was missing in this all story! Ok we have prayers and songs but never he appear in the story! Rae is definitely an angel in guard of Eden and Rafa is the devil but apart of that... No God.... And for me it was very strange since it's all around his biggest creation 

But in general is was a good book... 

 

The Savage Hunt by Christy Sloat

 

Language: English

Format: eBook

pages: 195

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5⭐

Did you ever start a book and start hating a character so badly that you actually got happy with her/his end? Well, this happens to me all the way to this book!

The Savage Hunt is about a court of monsters that will punish a few selected of humans that act worst than the proper monsters (sins that the human justice can't punish correctly). 

With the help of his demon son, a bloodthirsty vampire, a dark witch and two very feral sirens, they will hunt humans who have sinned in the vilest ways. This savage hunt will not only feed them but deliver revenge the humans so desire.

And how they do that without having witnesses you may ask... The answer? Amon is an old demon and smart (and sexy) so he actually made an Hotel. High atop a mountain crest sits the grand Gahana Royal Hotel. The world’s most elite are dying to see what lies beyond its iron gates, yet only a select few earn an invitation.

The first guest is London (aka a bitch!) who think is better than the rest of the world and demand to be treated like royalty. Her end? well.... she's a guest of the Hotel no? 😄 And she is only the first of the list as you can imagine!

I feel no sympathy at al with any of the guests....  to be true to you I was always in the Court side! 😈

This books was so good to read and I'm able to keep talking about the plot for hours!!

All the characters have a story that make total sense for me. I didn't find any loose ends that irritate me. 

The plot line is never broken, you actually can  remember the last time a member of the Court was mentioned or what was is last action without thinking "who are you?" 

I totally recommend this book if you like fantasy and a good revenge or hunting scenes!

A own another 4 books from this author and I will definitely read them next year 😉

Rapietium by Nicola Ormerod

 

Language: English

Format: Kindle

Pages:322

Genre: YA Fantasy

Rating: 4 ⭐

I really liked this book and the plot was well structured however I got more than once that "ShadowHunters vibe" and you may ask why and how... 

The true is that both stories have comum points: power heritage from a family member, a society that have is own rules, jobs, coverups, ministers and schools and also the way the characters act: 

• Richard looked that good guy that actually was hiding a big secret
• Marie (Blaze mother) seems to be cured from the panic attack and don't seems worried at all about the future of her daughter. She keep that "I trust you no matter what" 
• Clive is mundane but fits very well in that new world
• Blaze is just lost and marveled about everything in this new reality and found love with Dean (that have that bad guy look)

But let me talk a little about the plot!

Blaze Morgan does not lead the life of a normal seventeen year old. For as long as she remembers, she can see strange, white, mannequin-like beings. 

Scared of being considered crazy and make her mother with a worst mental health, she keeps her secret to herself until one day, at the scene of a gruesome accident, she sees how these beings are created. 

Blaze discovers she is part of an ancient Order of Watchers. They guard the earth against the Rapientium, or Raptors for short. They feed on human souls, and the shell that is left behind are the Taken (the white beings she is so used to see). 

Blaze discovers a whole new magical world, and she is to be part of it. Something, though, lingers in the background. A prophecy of a girl born with fire in her eyes that will bring about the end of chaos, or the end of the world…

"When the last rose withers, a great war will come."

As I says, it got a strong "ShadowHunters" vibe but in a good way. I mean, if you didn't have read the books of Cassandra Clare you will not feel it at all 😋  

The Taken looked like lost creatures that are everywhere but not looking dangerous and it was very sad to understand how they end up like that. The Raptors are another level.... they are evil and actually I didn't sympathized with them at all but it was clear what they wanted.

The full new world of Blaze comes with fighting, magic, love and that prophecy that look like more of a curse to Blaze than a blessed stuff (yes I don't know how better describe it as "stuff" 😅 )

The plot was very well structured, it was easy to visualize the scenarios and the characters, the villains actually are very good and the mystery under Blaze prophecy made me wanted to read it until the end. And when I was thinking that my mind was prepared for that war.... 😱 I discovered that I needed to wait for the next book!