Review - Making the Play (Bennu Firebirds Book1) by Cait Marie

 

5 in 5 star rating

I follow this author in Tiktok and decided to have this series after a promo video of her books. 

I'm not a big fan of romances but I need to give a try as I can miss a very good story. 

This ended up being my first book written by her and it was more than a happy choice to make!

This is a vert sweet contemporary romance where not everything seems so wonderful as you can expect! 

We get this story from 2 POV's: Jax and Keyley (the MCs) and it's very good and easy to follow this kind of writing if well done (like here) 

I loved the fact that you have serious topics that are talked about and not only mentioned without having more information: we have topics as: death of parents, siblings "fights", homosexuality,.... As I was reading I noticed that some parts was so sad that I was sad too and I was really hoping for a happy ending as they everyone in this book deserved! 

Jax is a baseball player with a very complicated home situation but he like to be free and have a female company only for 1 night... until he met Kayley. Kayley that look like the kind of girl that is to keep and be for a long time relationship AKA the opposite of Jax wants

Kayley is not only Kade little sister (another baseball player) but also the daughter of the Coach! 

As you can read, this love is not meant to be but we can't choose this kind if stuff correct?

How this romance start? Well destiny make sure that they see each other again and they start as Jax helping Kayley in Statistic classes as she can fail the exames. Attraction make the work and when you realize they are a secret couple. 

But family situations, friendships and a cyclone of emotions make this complicated to Jax. 

Do his reputation will make lost the girl he love? Well I'm not going to give you a spoiler for sure! 

My biggest question in the middle of all the family drama was why Kade was not talking to his sister all along and I was trying to figured out until something make a click in my head: was because of his sexual orientation that he was not talking to her anymore or was the shame to be associate with her? (not that was easy to make a secret because of their father) 

Jax is the perfect book boyfriend that deserve all the hype for trying and not resisting to his feelings while fixing all mistakes an Kayley? well Kayley really deserve an happy moment in her life that can last a very long time! 

Resuming: all characters in this book are easy to fall in love with and deserve it for sure!

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.

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!