A Witch Called Red by Sami Valentine

This ARC was given to me in exchange for an honest review.


This book caught my attention right from the first page. The narrative is fluid and enticing. Sami Valentine's writing style is great. Sometimes it's hard for me to express how good a book is and I end up not saying anything but, in mind, there are so many expressions and raves for a book.

It always comes to my mind those old cartoons I used to watch on TV. Where to entice your prey one character has a potion or something very aromatic and you can see the fumes slowly approaching the target and a hand forms at the end of those fumes mesmerizing the target and Bam! You're caught. That's my visual image of a great book. It catches you when you start reading and it makes it difficult to put down for mundane life. And you do put down, because of life, you can barely wait to go to your reading. That's what A Witch Called Red was to me.

I went on a trip to this world created by Sami Valentine and it was really hard to get off the bus. And this book took me to so many twists and turns that I had to stop for 5 minutes sometimes and breathe because of my anxiety. I didn't want the book to finish but I did want to know what happened. So I got to the end. And it was great.

There was some development in the characters and I feel that they will change and grow and that's all I expect from my characters. Growth and development. Vic was my favorite. I love Red, too. Don't get me wrong but Vic is special. His mullet and his redneck ways are adorable. I liked Novak better than Lucas. Red and Vic were flawed and they felt real.

The plot was very interesting. I found out the culprit before the main character but I wasn't so sure about it. The most surprising thing was the motivation behind the plot to take over the city. The villain wasn't bad just because he was the villain. His plans had a strong motivation that for a minute makes us sympathize with him a little bit or, at least understand his motivations, even though this didn't excuse what was done to achieve such goals.

The conclusion left us with certainty that more was to come to our "heroes" and I'm excited to read the next book in the series.

September Wrap Up

The Month of September started great for books but then I fell into a huge reading slump. I was overwhelmed by the number of books that were available to me through the library and my TBR got really crazy. It wasn't much the amount but the short time allotted to read such books. They were humongous books. Mostly high fantasy. For my sanity, I ended up returning some of them( and putting them on hold again). Another thing that overwhelms me is the fact that I know how many people are waiting for the same book. All of this makes my anxiety flare up and it was hard to go back to books. When I get to a book slump I usually try and read a book on a lighter subject, you know, not many triggers and all that stuff. Romance is a good bet but, lately, romance has irked me because the female MC's are such idiots. I can believe the authors still write about women like that. According to some authors out there women can be smart, independent, have a good job but the minute they meet a hot piece of man-candy they become a babbling a useless mound of goo with no coherent thoughts in their heads.

So I started reading and put aside so many books I can't even remember how many. And suddenly the month ended with me having started a good book. Finally! But as I didn't finish in September it will be rolled over to October Reads.

These are the books I've read this month of September:

Total = 17 Books (16 Books and 1 Short Story(Unpublished)).

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01- Dark Matter - Blake Crouch

02- The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher

03- Sapphire Flames - Ilona Andrews

04- Mariana - Susanna Kearsley

05- Of Cats and Cars - Faith Hunter (Unpublished Short Story)

06- Renegades - Marissa Meyer

07- Taming Demons for Beginners - Annette Marie

08- Duel of Fire - Jordan Rivet

09- Dragon's Claw - Karen Chance

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01- Evil Spark - A. K. Line

02- The Devil to Pay - Jackie May

03- The Sword-Edged Blonde - Alex Bledsoe

04- The Rebellious Sister - Sarah Noffke & Michael Anderle

05- The Sorcery Trial - J. A. Armitage & Claire Luna

06- The Elemental Trial - J. A. Armitage & Claire Luna

07- Theonite: Planet Adyn - M. L. Wang

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01- Soulless - Robert J. Crane

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0 Books

August Wrap up

This month I had a bit of a book slump but I still was able to read 18 books. Initially, I haven't rated any book less than 3 stars but I got thinking about two of the books I've read and I decided to lower the rating in those two books because of the fat-shaming going on. It really bothered me. The author, Robert J. Crane, has a really engaging way of writing. He's a very good story-teller but his Main Character bulling of fat people really left me unsettled. I did not like that. The other thing I didn't like was how quick his Main Character started insulting people that did nothing to her. I understand that sometimes you can dislike a person at first sight or contact but it does not give anybody a license to offend people willy nilly. Especially somebody that never did anything to harm you. That's not OK.

The other books that I've read were great and some were flawless in my opinion. I also discovered a new favorite author: Jackie May I'm looking at you!

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01- Alone - Robert J. Crane
02- Untouched - Robert J. Crane

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01- Grey Magic - J.T. Lawrence

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01- Yield The Night - Annette Marie
02- Spellcaster - Claudia Gray
03- Reap The Shadows - Annette Marie
04- Steel & Stone - Annette Marie
05- The Loyal Wife - Natalie Barelli
06- Saga Vol. 4 - Brian K. Vaughan
07- Black Spark - Al K. Line

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01- Unleash The Storm - Annette Marie
02- Dark Dancer - BR Kingsolver
03- The Beyond - Chloe Neill
04- Twice Drowned Dragon - Annie Bellett
05- The Alice Network - Kate Quinn
06- Don't Rush Me - Jackie May
07- Don't Cheat Me - Jackie May
08- Don't Bait Me - Jackie May

Alone

(The Girl in the Box #1)

by 

Robert J. Crane

Sienna Nealon was a 17-year-old girl who had been held a prisoner in her own house by her mother for twelve years. Then one day her mother vanished, and Sienna woke up to find two strange men in her home. On the run, unsure of who to turn to and discovering she possesses mysterious powers, Sienna finds herself pursued by a shadowy agency known as the Directorate and hunted by a vicious, bloodthirsty psychopath named Wolfe, each of which is determined to capture her for their own purposes...

Intriguing ***** Contain Spoilers******

Alone is an intriguing story of a girl raised by her mother locked inside her own house. For twelve years Sienna lived isolated in her own house without permission to leave or even get a glimpse of outside. 
It’s a coming of age kind of story and I’m interested in finding out what’s to come to Sienna’s life in the future. 


SPOILERS

Sienna’s mother actions could have been perceived as an act of love and protection but I don’t think it was. She never prepared Sienna for anything in life. No plan B for if she would never come home. She taught about fights and weapons but that was it. No preparedness for any eventuality. Loving parents always prepare their kids even if they don’t tell them all the truth.

Spellcaster by Claudia Grey

I really enjoyed this book. I like Claudia Gray writing style and the characters are not idiots. They came out as true teenagers: inexperient but smart. I saw some of the reviews for this book and I was surprised by the low score but then I realized that the book doesn't have whining teenagers and the problems they go through could be real. There are even some interactions with the parents in this book. And That's great.

So, I will pick up the rest of the trilogy. 
And Thank you, Claudia Gray, for giving us a teenage protagonist that is real and doesn't become an idiot every time she sees a hot guy. 

Khristine Hvam was delightfull as a narrator. I didn't care much for her voice for the boy. Everything else was very good.

I'm going through a little of a book slump and I've been trying all kinds of different authors to see if I can finish a book. Claudia Gray was a good choice. Let's see if I can pick up all the others I started reading but can't seem to be able to finish.

July Wrap Up

July was a good reading month even though I fell into a bit of reading slump by the end of the month.
I've read 20 books and 3 graphic novels.

Here are the ratings:

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01-American Witch by Thea Harrison
02-Chosen by Benedict Jacka
03-An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
04-Hidden by Benedict Jacka
05-Veiled by Benedict Jacka
06-Accidental Mage by Jamie Davis
07-Rivers of London Vol. 1 Body Work by Benedict Jacka
08-Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen
09-Herding Cats by Sara Andersen
10-Saga Vol.3 by Brian K. Vaughan

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01-Someone To Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas
02-Saga Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
03-Bind The Soul by Annette Marie
04-Shopping For A Billionaire #1 by Julia Kent
05-Shopping For A Billionaire #2 by Julia Kent
06-Shopping For A Billionaire #3 by Julia Kent
07-Shopping For A Billionaire #4 by Julia Kent
08-Christmas Shopping For A Billionaire by Julia Kent
09- Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

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01-The Highfire Crown by JT Lawrence & MJ Kraus
02-Tapping The Billionaire by Max Monroe
03-Chase The Dark by Annette Marie
04-Switching Hour by Robyn Peterman

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June Reads

 Here is a summary of what I've read this month of June. 27 books in total. Most of the books were in Audiobook format and I can read and do whatever is needed to be done. 

June was a great reading month. I just loved this month selection. I'm a mood reader but I decided to tackle some books on my TBR list. Some of those were there for some time and some were what became available from my hold list in the Library.