Adult · Magic · Paranormal · Romance · Urban Fantasy · Vampires · Werewolf

Sealed with A Curse by Cecy Robson

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  • Published by: Signet Eclispe
  • Release Date: December 31st, 2012
  • My Rating: 3.5/ 5 Stars

‘”Mind your own business, you goddamn raisin with legs!” Taran screamed from inside the house.’ -Cecy Robson

I’ve read PLENTY of Urban Fantasy, or more liked tried. A lot of them lack that special something that keeps you going. They start boring and keep going with the boring and you just got to trudge through it hoping it gets better, when it never does. I was glad to see that for the most part, that wasn’t the case with this. Did it have it’s boring moments, oh hell yeah, but was it entertaining, yes, yes it was. For only one reason though, the sisters.

The story starts off with the four sisters on trial for killing a vampire. Within these few first pages you get to see the different personality the sister’s have, and their personalities are the best part of the book. You have our main character, Celia. Celia is the leader type. She does her best to protect her sisters and to keep them in line. She is head strong, except when it comes to a certain character, which is my least favorite part of her, but we will touch on that later. Oh, and she turns into a tiger and any animal that touches her. Next, is my favorite sister, Taran. She is a foul mouth hell raiser, literally, she shoots fire. Then there is Shayna, whose whole personality is basically her saying dude. She’s the most chill one and turns random objects into weapons. Lastly is Emme. Emme is the sweet innocent one. She doesn’t really like violence and looks at the good in people. She can pick things up with her head and heal people. I don’t really know how those things go together, but they do. Now that we know the sister’s lets move on.

During the trial we learn two things. The sweet innocent vampires, who aren’t dangerous apparently, are starting to have trouble with a disease, and that the vampire who put the sisters on trial, Misha, wants to bang Celia. Dude literally puts her on trial, trying to have her and her sisters killed, but is just walking around like, ‘aye, I know I tried to kill you, but i still want to bang ya.’ Because that would work…. The only other important parts of this book is the shifters, and this is were my problem comes into play. Celia is supposed to be this leader type, take no shit, type of girl, but when Aric, a shifter she doesn’t really know, comes around, she turns into a teenage girl. She literally walks around half the time talking about how she doesn’t know why she is acting like that. Me either. I really don’t. She is fine around other men, fine as in she scares the living shit out of them, but she doesn’t turn into this person who is not her character. It’s annoying. Also the fact that she lets Aric push her around. He is the typical werewolf who wants to just boss her around and treat her like an ancient glass vase. She and her sisters prove over and over again that they are capable of protecting themselves and he still tells her she needs to stay home… I get it, you like her and want her safe, but she’s her own person and should have a choice. It’s annoying that she lets him do it. She literally just smiles and is like, ‘ok whatever you say’. Other than his over protectiveness, I didn’t mind Aric. He is no Curran or Adam from Kate Daniels or The Mercy Thompson series, but he’s ok. I’m hoping he gets more likable and isn’t just a bland werewolf stereotype though.

If you’re like me, you don’t like Insta-love. This book has four insta-love romances. Not one, but four. Each of the sisters meets a wolf in Aric’s pack and instantly they are all couples who would pretty much do anything for each other. It was literally like reading Romeo and Juliet. They instant they all see each other, they like each other, and would die for each other.

My last problem with this book was the action was boring. There was literally a part in the book were the action all stopped for a lot of chapters and the book just became a stereotypical romance novel. All talk of what was going on the vampires was done and I honestly thought for a while the last half of the book was just going to switch into a straight up romance. It didn’t help that when the action was present it wasn’t the most entertaining. It wasn’t the worst, but I kept getting bored during it.

I named a lot about the book I didn’t like, but there was parts I did like. I loved the four sisters. They made the novel. They were all funny and got along well. I loved all their different personalities and reading their life. Also the dialogue of this book is good. I genuinely laughed while reading it. If it weren’t for the fact that the werewolves acted like literally animals at time, this would of been a really good Urban Fantasy novel. (Aric literally brings Celia a box of live rabbits and plans on skinning them for her at her house to eat them… as if that was normal. He plans on murdering these living rabbits in front of her as if that’s sweet…it’s not. I get that he’s a wolf, but that was still weird. It was very obvious that it was for plot convenience because it literally made no sense.)

Over all, did I like this book. Yes, for the most part. It had it’s problems of course, but it was an enjoyable read. Do I play on checking out the rest? Yes, though after I reread The Wicked King and read Queen of Nothing. So it will be awhile, and I might not even read after reading those two books. It just depends. Lastly, would I recommend this book. That also depends. If you like books that are the up to standard of Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels and you don’t want to read any urban fantasy books lower then that, then no. This is not the next book to join that rank. If you like those books though and don’t mind reading a book that isn’t as good as those, but is still enjoyable as a easy simple read, then yeah, this is a good book to read. I can be very picky with books at times and I finished this book and was going to read the next one till I realized that Queen of Nothing was about to come out and I needed to reread the last book before I got my hands on Queen of Nothing. So if you want an Urban Fantasy book with an ok story, then this is good. I’ll make sure to update you if it gets better.

P.S. I forgot about this until I looked at my notes, and I would like to note that this book came out in 2012 where this happened a lot so I can’t exactly fault it, but there is a scene where they down talk a prostitute. Emme, innocently says this women can’t be a sex worker because she lives in a nice area, and Taran calls refers to the women as a skank. I don’t like shitting on sex workers, or calling them disgusting or names that refer to that, but like I said, this book came out in 2012, where that did happen a lot. It’s something I just thought I would mention. It didn’t stop me from reading the book, but it was something I didn’t really care for. I also don’t know if Taran meant it as an insult. You could take it as the same way some girls’ who address each other as bitch in a more friendly matter. It really depends on how you want to take it.

Paranormal · Urban Fantasy · Vampires · Werewolf

Kate Daniels

Kate Daniels

Ilona Andrews

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Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Released Year: 2007

When I Read It: August 2018

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Werewolves, Vampires

Grade: B/ 4 Stars

“Kate’s Speciality: Killing things, with much bloodshed. Talking trash, infuriating authority. Driving Beast Lord crazy.”

Ilona Andrews

The Kate Daniels Series is about…. Kate Daniels. Kate Daniels is a problem solver in a world that is an alternative version of Atlanta. In this Atlanta magic has disrupted the balance of things and has the effect of making electronic devices only work half of the time. Cars and phones are not reliable. Kate Daniels wanted to live her life alone at her house with no complications. She didn’t want people to care for or a relationship of any kind with anyone, but after the only man who is in any way important to her dies Kate finds herself more wrapped up in the world of the supernatural then she planned in being. Bound on finding the killer of her Guardian, Kate must meet with the People(vampires but cooler) and the Shifters, which causes her to get sucked up into their lives. Of course that wouldn’t be all. Kate is hiding something. Something that people would kill her for if they knew. Kate has been taught her whole life to keep it a secret, but can she while being wrapped into the dangerous life of magic in the alternate Atlanta.

 

For all the urban fantasy and werewolf lovers, here you go. I gift this series to you. Want a bloodier Mercy Thompson story that is still heart warming and maybe a bit more steamy, this is it. Kate’s character is that of the bad ass aunt you wished you had. She will do something just because you told her she couldn’t. No means nothing to her. It’s the gasoline she needed to make her fire go out of control. Kate is strong and doesn’t sit on the back lines letting people do all the work for her. Kate has her own fair share in killing people and getting hurt. Although Kate is the type to want to shut out people, when she cares for people she cares for them deep. She isn’t a shifter but to her pack is pack. If you’re in her pack she will protect you and care for you. Also the insults she throws make you actually laugh while reading. Seriously I want Kate to be my aunt. I want her to be real so she can adopt me into her family.

The series is set up in a fantasy, crime, detective type of book. Each book faces a new problem that arises and within the same book it is solved. There is still a over all major plot happening throughout the whole book. A lot of the little crimes that Kate has to solve all go back to the main plot unfolding and Kate getting wrapped up into it deeper and deeper with each book. Each book has it’s own enemy while the books main enemy gets closer and closer. It also takes a more unique twist on the creatures. The People are like necromancers that control vampires through a connection in their mind(it’s very interesting). The shifters are a huge pack of subpacks of different Shifters ran by the Beast Lord(Who is a giant white striped tiger). The strong shifters can also half shift. (I’ll leave what they look like up to your imagination.) Also a man who can shift into anything he desires, including extremely bodacious women.  

Pros:

  • The world is very different and therefore very fun to read. Ilona Andrews takes a very different take on the typical supernatural creatures we all know and make them into something new. It’s refreshing to not read the same vampire and werewolf stories over and over again.
  • Curran. Curran and Kate’s relationship throughout the series goes for a ride and once it sails it is what relationships should be. They become a solid unit. They trust each other completely(except for one of the books but there was a reason for that), and when they do fight it might start with some yelling but it always end with them having a conversation on how to fix it. It’s not a relationship full of drama. It’s pure love and respect for each other.
  • Kate with Julie and Derek. Kate never saw herself having a love life, much less kids, but she treats Julie and Derek like they are her own and her relationship with the two of them are possibly cuter than her with Curran. Like Curran, Derek would give his life for  Kate.He is with her every step of the way throughout the books. I didn’t count it but I would definitely say over all, for most of the books, Derek is with Kate more then Curran is. Derek is one of the only characters Kate let’s make fun of her and also respects despite him barely being an adult. Then there’s Julie who is the reason I want Kate to be my aunt. Watching how she handles Julie and all of her little problems is definitely different than a normal mother type would do but Kate is also not normal. There has been multiple times of Kate going out of her way to make sure no harm comes to Julie and each time you can see just how much Kate truly loves her. She works hard to even train Julie to be a tough women so that if Kate isn’t able to help her in time she knows that Julie can help herself.

 

Cons:

  • Although I love Curran and I love his relationship with Kate, in the beginning it did start a little weird. Curran is an alpha male and he acts like it, even towards Kate in the beginning. He acts like he is trying to push his dominance on Kate at times but Kate doesn’t take it and each time he does it she knocks him down a peg, which is what I love about them. And eventually the dominance does start to get cuter and more like them playing rather than him actually acting like her alpha. Them claiming each other was my favorite part of their moments before they got together, and is when the the dominance starts to stop and they start to become equals.
  • It does take a little while for it to fully say what Kate is and what her relation is to what’s going on with everything, but it doesn’t leave you in the dark not knowing anything. Hints and little tidbits are dropped along the way until the point where she out right says it. I know a lot of people just want to know things as fast as possible, so for the people who don’t like waiting to find out the characters secrets this does take a little bit of time. Good news though. The books aren’t terribly long, usually less than 300 pages, and you can fly through them fast and learn her secret quick.
  • Some people might find it repetitive since it does follow the style of each book having a murder or something happens and Kate has to stop it. It’s inner parts are different and always have different things happening but it does always start with something bad happening and Kate fixing it at the end. Cliff hangers aren’t really happening with this series, either. The problem is usually solved and might just have some slight foreshadowing as to how the main plot might progress in the next book.

 

I think this book is up there on the Urban fantasy. I’ve definitely found my fair share of horrible urban fantasy books, but this series is one of the best of its kind. Right under Mercy Thompson which is my favorite werewolf/ Urban Fantasy series. I have yet to finish the series completely,(The last book just came out a few days ago) but from the 8/10 books I have read I have gotten to know the series pretty well and fell in love with Ilona Andrews’ character, Kate Daniels. 

“I think you’re confused as to the nature of our relationship. You and I, we don’t get along. You’re a psychopathic control freak. You order me around and I want to kill you. I’m a pigheaded insubordinate ass. I drive you mad and you want to strangle me.”

Ilona Andrews

*It does have sex scenes but there not too detailed. A paragraph or two. They aren’t having sex every other chapter, more like once or twice within the book once they become a couple. Not for kids, and depending on how old you are maybe not for teens but for the older teens whose parents don’t care what they read(Like mine) it’s ok. Definitely don’t read though if you can’t read anything that features sex. It’s nowhere near a big part of the book, like I said it’s a paragraph or two like two or three times an book, but it does have sex scenes with very mild descriptions of what is going on. If you like your books clean of that this series is not for you. *

“Did those nice church ladies come by again?”

He nodded. “I asked them if a man died and then the woman remarried, and then the three of them met in heaven, would it be a sin for them to have a threesome, since they were all married in God’s eye. And they decided they were late to be somewhere else.”

Ilona Andrews

Horror · Paranormal · Vampires

Cirque Du Freak

Cirque Du Freak

Darren Shan

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Publisher: Harper Collins

Year It Came Out: 2000

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal, Vampires,

Grade: A/ 5 Stars

“Even in death may you triumphant”
― Darren Shan

If you are a fan of the dark side of the supernatural world and also enjoy a story full of character development look no further.

We all have those books we read that stick with us for the rest of our lives. For me that book series would be Cirque du Freak. There are many things about this series that I love and I could talk about for hours. It’s been a little while since I fully read the series but I can still remember almost every event that happened. That’s how much I loved it.

Cirque du Freak is about a boy, Darren Shan, who goes to a illegal freak show called Cirque du Freak with his best friend Steve. This isn’t the typical freak show of a bearded ladies(although there is one). At Cirque du Freak you meet and fall in love with characters such as a man with two bellies, a man who can cut off and regrow any limb, a wolf man who is more wolf than man, and my favorite of the Circus members, Evra, the boy with snake skin. The most important member of this circus though by far is Larten Crepsley who can hypnotize his pet spider, Madam Octa. Darren loves spiders and loves Madam Octa immediately, but his friend Steve sees Mr. Crepsley’s act and loves it for other reasons. He recognizes Mr. Crepsley as a famous vampire from one of his books. Of course Darren blows him off because vampires aren’t real, but when Darren steals Madam Octa and troubles happens Darren not only is forced to come to terms with the fact that Mr. Crepsley is a genuine vampire, but as payment for what Darren did he must become Mr. Crepsley’s half vampire Assistant, which to many would seem amazing. But as we follow Darren through the book series it shows why being a slow aging immortal is not ideal.

This series hits with its emotional ride right away in the first book and keeps going and progressing with it’s emotional ride. (I will never get over the second book. I want to cry every time I think about it.) Each book comes with its own problems that Darren has to solve or fix and as the story progresses. As Darren grows(though not physically by much) the problems became more serious. Though some things you should watch out for are that there are many deaths throughout the series, including children, and there are some scenes that are torture like. If you are sensitive to these things I would advise not reading or be cautious of it. Although it’s not terribly descriptive at times, It has been awhile since I read it so I can’t remember exactly how descriptive. Though I can say I read it as an eighth grader and I personally was fine.  

 

Pros:

  • You start with Darren in middle school and get to read as he grows. As you read you can actually see him growing up in his decisions and thinking process. Although Darren doesn’t physically age more then a few year account of him being a half vampire, he does grow in a mature way and learn from everything he sees and goes through
  • The character development is amazing. No character stays the same throughout the story, except Mr. Desmond Tiny, he stays weird. Some characters become better people while others become worse or even insane.
  • The Relationships. Watching Darren and Mr. Crepsley’s relationship change from a more cold teacher like situation to actual friends and caring for each other is heartwarming. Darren makes many friends along the way and each of the relationships he forms with them makes you fall in love with all the characters more. Even some of the ones who do villain like things.  
  • This book is full of lessons, like continuing to try even when you don’t want to. Be more aware of what your decisions will do to others. Always do what’s right, even if you’re scared to do so. And my favorite, just because someone does something bad doesn’t mean they are bad. Often people have reasons for why they do what they do, and it’s worth finding out why. It can’t change what they did but it can help you understand and even not hate them for it.
  • The Quotes. When it comes to understanding life and how people are, Darren Shan does have a really good way of wording it.
  • ALL THE DEATHS HAVE A REASON!!!

 

Cons:

  • As much as I love this book, when I went to try to go reread it a few months ago I couldn’t. I read a lot of Young Adult books, or New Adult books with really good writing, and this series isn’t written like those. Granted, the series does follow a middle school boy into high school ages, but the writing is like a middle schooler is writing it. I’m not saying that it doesn’t have good grammar or is horribly written. It isn’t. Although Darren Shan does have many beautiful written thoughts and sayings from the characters, the normal writing writing is very simple, which is the way a lot of middle schoolers think. The book is written in a way so everything is very easy to understand and isn’t at all hard to follow. It’s written in a way anyone could read it without having to pause and try to think about what just happened. I just personally couldn’t reread it because i’m used to more adult like writing. (Though I do look through all the quotes on Goodreads from time to time. When he gets into the characters inner thoughts he does so well.)
  • I hated the last book. I don’t know if i’m the only one who did but I did. It was interesting in a way and if people like the last book I could honestly understand why. And to the authors defense, he did foreshadow the whole time that what happened would happen, but I just didn’t like it. I thought the last book seemed rushed, and to me, was not the greatest ending to what was such an amazing series. When I think about Cirque du Freak I honestly forget about the last book because I just don’t like it.

Despite the simple writing and the last book being a bust, I think it’s a series that people should definitely read, especially people new to the reading world. I like to think of it as a beginner book that is opening you up to what the world of reading is. Monsters, deaths of your favorite characters, unforeseeable plot twists, and characters that leave their mark on you. I chose to do this book as my first review because I do think it is an amazing series and it’s not as well known as I think it should be.

“You do not have to be alone. The world never inflicts loneliness upon us. That is something we choose or reject by ourselves.”
― Darren Shan

Ps. The movie for this book is one of the worse book to movie adaptations I have ever seen and don’t compare the two. The movie combined multiple of the books together and was wrong throughout most of it.  The characters weren’t even right, nor did monkey girl exist. It is just terrible and if you thought it was bad don’t assume the books are bad. The movies were like someone was high on some real potent stuff, read half of the first and last few books then combined them and stamped it as good before reviewing it. The movie was an F.  I thought the Percy Jackson movie was better than this movie. At least it got a good chunk of the book right. The Cirque du Freak book was more of a parody. Although there was one line Mr. Crepsley said that made me laugh and still makes me laugh.

“For a long time that’s all I could do, howl and scream and cry like the wild animal of the night that I’d become.”
― Darren Shan