Hexed - Kevin Hearne

Hexed (Iron Druid Chronicles #2) - Kevin Hearne

ISBN - 9780345522498

Publisher - Del Rey

Release date - June 7 2011

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty - when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex...

I originally picked up the first couple of Iron Druid Chronicles as someone recommended them as an excellent way to fill the gap in between instalments of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and then let them sit on my TBR  mountain for a couple of years... I read Hounded in July last year and loved it, went out and bought all the available books and promptly moved on to something else. Fast forward to this year and I've just finished my epic re-read/finishing off of the Dresden Files and found Hexed, Hammered and Tricked sitting underneath them. Obviously a sign that it's time to read them!

At the end of Hounded (which I never reviewed but gave 4 stars on Goodreads) Atticus has found himself with his first apprentice in some time and cautiously optimistic about the future. However, Leif (his centuries old vampire lawyer of course) wants him to take on a new quest - to kill Thor! Before he even has time to contemplate this Atticus gets caught up in some witchy business. The coven he's about to sign a peace treaty with are being targeted by an old enemy, one that has Atticus in their sights too.

Joined by the motley assortment of characters we were introduced to in the first book Atticus is soon up to his eyeballs in trouble again. Oberon, (nearly) everyone's favorite Irish Wolfhound, is back with his brilliantly witty (for a dog) commentary, the Widow MacDonagh gets to see more of our druid than an elderly lady probably should and there are goddesses fighting over him each with their own nefarious reasons for wanting Atticus to be dedicated purely to them. We get to know a little bit more about Granuaile and Laksha makes a brief reappearance too.

Hexed is an excellent addition to Hounded, I love Kevin Hearne's writing which makes the story move along nicely without stalling and the fact that mythology is the main theme this really is my perfect sort of book/series. It would be completely unfair to compare the Iron Druid Chronicles to the Dresden Files as they're both so different but I'm glad I listened to my friend's recommendation. I now have two favorite urban fantasy series instead of one and I can't wait to see what happens to Atticus in Hammered.

Iron Druid Chronicles

Hounded
Hexed
Hammered
Tricked
Trapped
Hunted
Shattered
Staked

Waiting on Wednesday #101 - Wildalone

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Wildalone - Krassi Zourkova

ISBN - 9780062328021

Publisher - William Morrow

Expected release date - January 6 2015

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

In this darkly imaginative debut novel full of myth, magic, romance, and mystery, a Princeton freshman is drawn into a love triangle with two enigmatic brothers, and discovers terrifying secrets about her family and herself - a bewitching blend of Twilight, The Secret History, Jane Eyre, and A Discovery of Witches.

'Arriving at Princeton for her freshman year, Thea Slavin finds herself alone, a stranger in a strange land. Away from her family and her Eastern European homeland for the first time, she struggles to adapt to unfamiliar American ways and the challenges of college life - including an enigmatic young man whose brooding good looks and murky past intrigue her. Drawn to the elusive Rhys and his equally handsome and mysterious brother, Jake, she ventures into a sensual mythic underworld as irresistible as it is dangerous.

In this shadow world that seems to mimic Greek mythology and the Bulgarian legends of the samodivi or “wildalones” - forest witches who beguile and entrap men - Thea will discover a family secret bound to transform her forever... if she can accept that dead doesn't always mean gone, and love doesn't always distinguish between the two.'

Mesmerizing and addictive, Wildalone is a thrilling blend of the modern and the fantastic. Krassi Zourkova creates an atmospheric world filled with rich characters as compelling as those of Diana Gabaldon, Deborah Harkness, and Stephenie Meyer. - Goodreads

Not much of a wait for this one as it's available in two weeks but aside from the Twilight/Stephenie Meyer mentions this sounds like it has the potential to be really good. Greek mythology, Bulgarian legends and forest witches sound like my cup of tea so this just might be my book purchase of January!

Random Reads #10 - Loki's Wolves

Random Reads is a monthly meme hosted by Sarah at I’m Loving Books.  This feature is to get us reading a random book within the month that is in our TBR stack.

Random Reads is a meme where we pick a random book from our shelf to read within the month. Feel free to do more than one per month, but since a lot of people have a lot of books to read each month, only one is “required” for the meme.

Want to join in on Random Reads?

It’s easy…

1. If you’re on Goodreads enable sorting to your to-read shelf (you should see numbers next to each book now).
2. Go to Random.org and type in the Min as 1 and the Max as how many ever books are on your to-read shelf.
3. Scroll down to the book matching the number Random.org picks.
4. Link up to your Random Reads post (below). If you choose more than one book per month, be sure to put a number by your name in the list so it doesn’t look like a duplicate.
5. Read and be merry!

This month Random chose number 486 which is

Well timed as book two in the series is published this month, if I like it I can justify ordering the next book! Now, back to April's Random Read and I have a confession to make. I started it and didn't like it, persevered through one hundred pages but in the end I had to put it down. That is only the third or fourth book I've ever DNF'd in my life... Now I'm in a quandary though as I received my copy from the publisher, what on earth do you say when you can't finish a book that a publisher has given you? Help!

The Woken Gods - Gwenda Bond

The Woken Gods - Gwenda Bond
ISBN - 9781908844248
Publisher - Strange Chemistry
Release date - September 3rd 2013
Find - Goodreads/BookLikes/Book Depository

'The more things change…

Five years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke all around the world.

The more things stay the same…

This morning, Kyra Locke is late for school because of an argument with her father.

Seventeen-year-old Kyra lives in a transformed Washington, D.C., dominated by the embassies of divine pantheons and watched over by the mysterious Society of the Sun that governs mankind’s relations with the gods. But when rebellious Kyra encounters two trickster gods on her way home, one offering a threat and the other a warning, it turns out her life isn't what it seems. She escapes with the aid of Osborne "Oz" Spencer, a young Society field operative, only to discover that her scholar father has disappeared with a dangerous Egyptian relic. The Society needs the item back, and they aren’t interested in her protests that she knows nothing about it or her father's secrets.

Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the suspect help of scary Sumerian gods, her estranged oracle mother, and, of course, Oz--whose first allegiance is to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to recover the missing relic and save her father. And if she doesn't? Well, that may just mean the end of the world as she knows it.'

From the author of Blackwood comes a fresh, thrilling urban fantasy that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Rick Riordan. - Goodreads

When I first heard about Woken Gods my first thought was that I had to read it.  On the outside a eye-catching cover and inside mythology, trickster gods and mythical beings walking the earth? Yes please! I'm going to be completely honest now and tell you the truth. As much as I was looking forward to reading this I could not get into it, nothing about the book was holding my attention which made me sad as I'd been desperate to read what sounded like the perfect book for me. I managed to read about fifty pages but had to put it down, a rare thing for me. Fast forward a few weeks months, three to be exact, and I picked up Woken Gods again. I don't know what was different this time, whether I was in a better frame of mind or something but I started reading and didn't put it down again until I was finished!

Kyra Locke turns out not to be your average seventeen year old girl, her mother is a mentally unstable seer and her father is a secret operative for the society behind the containment of the gods who are walking the earth again after being released. Kyra becomes embroiled in an argument between gods and humans after her father disappears with an important relic and, despite being told not to get involved, sets out to prove his innocence and/or rescue him. Aided and abetted by school friends Tam (her former boyfriend) & Bree she discovers, amongst other things, a previously unknown grandfather and that her mother walked away from them for a reason, not just because she was mentally ill but also to protect her. She teams up with Osborne Spencer a.k.a. Oz, the English teenager who is an apprentice in the Society that her father worked for and has her grandfather as his mentor, even though she's not entirely sure which side Oz is working for, gains Anzu (body of an eagle and the head of a lion) the son of bird goddess as a mythical guardian and realises that not everything in her world is at it appears to be at first glance. 

Whilst The Woken Gods is not without its flaws I ended up loving it and considering the shaky start I had with it, has earned Gwenda Bond a place on my 'must buy' list. Kyra was portrayed beautifully as your typical teenager pushing things with her father, sulking and doing things without thinking first. In fact this recklessness was almost too much at times considering what the consequences could have been. I can't imagine you could push gods, trickster or not, around too much without there being repercussions in some way. I loved that Kyra was strong and stood up for herself to the point of getting into serious trouble by doing so but on more than one occasion I felt this verged on stupidity and can't believe that her friends wouldn't find some way to rein her in to ensure her safety. As is the case with most YA novels these days there is romance but thankfully no insta-love or love triangles, her former boyfriend Tam was hurt over being rejected but happy enough (eventually) to let her move on. Another thing that I liked was that though the title of the book suggests that the story is about the gods themselves they are not the central characters. Whilst obviously having an important part to play it's the humans that take center stage and how they survive. It was interesting to read the snippets of information we got about the different pantheons involved and as I'm rather fond of trickster gods (there are some great mythology books available about tricksters if you want to read more) Woken Gods definitely turned out to be my sort of book. I did want to quickly mention the setting for the Society, it was a stroke of genius to have their headquarters in the Library of Congress! Just imagine the easy access to all those research books, sounds ideal and I would be volunteering my services immediately... The only real niggle I had with the book was the world-building and lack of detail about what was happening elsewhere in the world as we're led to believe that it's not just Washington with problems.. There was supposedly a whole world where these events were also happening but we didn't get to hear anything about them. I can only hope that there is a sequel at some point as I need to read more about Kyra & Oz, her family & friends and, most importantly what happens next with the gods! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get one soon enough.

Thanks to Strange Chemistry for providing me with an electronic ARC via Netgalley

Scion of the Sun - Nicola Marsh

Scion of the Sun (Solar Snatchers #1) - Nicola Marsh
ISBN - 9780988340923
Publisher - Month9Books
Release date - November 5th 2013
Find - Goodreads/AmazonUS/AmazonUK/Barnes & Noble/Kobo

'When she least expects it, sixteen-year-old Holly Burton’s unremarkable life is shaken to the core. A vision of the mother Holly never knew leaves her questioning everything she believes.

Eager for answers, Holly enrolls at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire. But Holly's complicated life worsens when she accidentally transports to a parallel existence where she's confronted by a dark and ancient evil.

With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and an unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could’ve possibly imagined …' 

Two things made me want to read Scion of the Sun - the beautiful cover and the chance to read a story using mythology involving druidry, rarely, if ever seen! Most books involving a mythological slant tend to stick to the same pantheons (Greek, Roman, Egyptian and, more recently, Norse) so I was intrigued from the start. Our main character is Holly who has what can only be called visions and is about to start at a new school after her gran has a stroke, brought on by something Holly tells her about what she saw. This isn't just any school though. This is the Clique of of Unique Luminary Telepathies or C.U.L.T. for short, for students who have abilities that would necessarily be found in a regular school program and for those who have an in interest in this area. Holly has spent most of her life feeling like an outsider, not helped by the fact that her mother abandoned her when she was a baby and that she's never really had any close friends. Once there Holly discovers that she's not as unimportant as she'd like to believe and that she has a very important role to fulfil. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Scion of the Sun, not least because Holly was by far one of the better teenage main characters I've read in a while. She was funny, sarcastic and not willing to put up with any rubbish but still finding it difficult to believe that she was actually worth other people's time and attention. Going from no friends to finding both Quinn and Raven at C.U.L.T. and then the people she meets in Eiros (members of the Sorority of the Sun), including Joss, a warrior sworn to protect her she suddenly finds herself surrounded by an amazing array of supporting characters. My main worries once Joss and Quinn were introduced were the inevitable love triangle and even worse, insta-love, both of which are quite major non-no's for me. On the love triangle front though it wasn't quite a triangle. Although Holly has feelings for both boys she's drawn to them in different ways, Joss for being her sworn protector but still allowing her to do things and Quinn for being completely normal. The only downside I could see was that he is related to the school principal, Brigit, who seems to be far too interested in what Holly is going through. By the end of the book I still couldn't work out whether this interest was for good or bad reasons, I want to think good as Brigit is a friend of Holly's gran. 

I loved all the detail of the Celtic/Druidic mythology, such as the Solstices and other pagan holidays like Beltane which is apparently a big deal in Eiros. Ms Marsh has done some fantastic research and there was so much information throughout the book which helped to lend a really authentic touch to the storyline. I liked having the story split between the two settings as well, getting to know Holly at school in familiar surroundings and then being transported to Eiros which appeared to be both familiar and alien at the same time. All of these elements kept me turning the pages until an indecent time in the early morning, between the writing and the actual story it was hard to put down until you actually knew how the book ended. There were a couple of minor blips, in my opinion anyway, which knocked Scion of the Sun down from five clocks to four clocks. The first was that I guessed almost at the beginning what one of the twists was going to be and I had to stop myself from checking out the last few pages to see if I was correct, another was that whilst the storyline moved along at a really good pace the ending felt kind of odd to me. Having been introduced to the bad guy Cadifor and having him built up as this terrifying character out to murder anyone who gets in his way it seemed almost as if he gave up, and where I thought everything was leading up to a fight between good and evil, resolving a situation with Holly's mother, I felt like the book just stopped. It's the first book in a series so I know it had to end somewhere, I was just expecting a bit more action. However I'm sufficiently fascinated by the story to ignore that and start the wait for book two which I'm hoping isn't too long in coming.

A great read if you have any interest in fantasy and/or mythology (Druidic/Celtic or otherwise) and definitely worth picking up if you want to read something a little bit different.

Many thanks to Month9Books for providing me with a copy of  Scion of the Sun and to Chapter by Chapter for hosting this fabulous blog tour!

Unchosen - Michele Vail

Unchosen (Reaper Diaries #2) - Michele Vail
Publisher - A Freeman Publications
Release date - Kindle edition October 29th 2013
Find - Goodreads/AmazonUS(Kindle)

'I thought the worst of my reaper training was behind me… turns out I was wrong. Dead wrong.

Molly Bartolucci has done a lot of growing up but after being accused of using illegal magic at her school for necromancers, reaper-in-training Molly is treading lightly. As the destined leader of Anubis’s Chosen, she needs to study hard, train harder, and stay out of trouble.

Uh, right.

It doesn’t help that she’s feeling more than academic about her melt-your-bones hot reaping instructor, Rath. And if her relationship drama isn’t enough to drive her over the edge, she has to deal with mother issues, nosy little sisters, suspicious friends, and an unnamed force stalking her at school.

Then her family is attacked, and her bio-dad ends up comatose in the hospital. Now, Molly has to uncover who’s trying to hurt her loved ones—and all without the help of Anubis.' - Goodreads

I read Undeadly earlier this year and loved it so when the chance came to review the sequel, Unchosen, as part of a blog tour came up I couldn't refuse. Of course, my review was meant to go up during the week of no Internet service but I really wanted to share my thoughts even though I missed out on my tour stop! 

Molly has put the events of the first book behind her and is now concentrating on her training, especially as there's to be a competition to discover who the Champion of Anubis is. Molly is not impressed by this considering she was told by Anubis himself  that she is the Champion and the fact that her main competition is Clarissa, her arch-enemy at the Academy. No sooner than Molly starts to relax then mayhem ensues, Anubis has somehow disappeared and is not answering any of her summons, her relationship with Rath is becoming more & more confusing by the day, the mother she never really knew makes a re-appearance but most alarming of all someone is making this personal and attacking her family.

Having loved the first book I found Unchosen a little bit slower, there was still some action and I got used to the entries from Molly's journal at the end of each chapter which added a lot of information that would maybe not have worked if it was included as dialogue in the actual story. I really liked that Molly's circle of friends were included more in this one and her ghoul, Henry, cemented his place as one of my favorite characters in the series, along with Molly herself and Rath. I love how Molly is not another helpless female character relying on the main male character to solve her problems, she may be a bit hopeless now & then which is completely understandable considering how much her life has changed recently but she does have a habit of leaping before looking! If you like YA paranormal fantasy then you can't really go wrong with The Reaper Diaries, both are nice solid reads with action, romance and a great story including zombies, necromancy, ghosts and Egyptian gods - definitely not your average paranormal storyline. And as for that ending, well I can't wait to get my hands on book three, Unbroken and see exactly how all this is going to be resolved.

I was provided with an electronic copy of Unchosen in return for an honest, unbiased review. Many thanks to the publishers, Michele and the FFBC!

The Weight of Souls - Bryony Pearce

The Weight of Souls - Bryony Pearce @ Twitter
ISBN - 9781908844637
Publisher - Strange Chemistry @ Twitter
Release date -
Find - Book Depository/Goodreads

'Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?' - Goodreads

Ghosts, bullying and Egyptian mythology are not three subjects you would usually find all together in one book but The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce has exactly those three things and combines them perfectly! I love ghost stories and Egyptian mythology  so this book was definitely on my 'must read' list, I was intrigued to see how these different elements could all tied together.Also, any book that opens with a Poe quote is not going to be bad!

Taylor Oh is cursed... Her mother is dead, her father is convinced both she & her mother are mentally ill and spends his days trawling the internet looking for 'cures' and her best friend is one cancelled get-together/ditched school day away from disowning her because Taylor, in what she thinks is a bid to protect those closest to her, can't be honest and tell her the truth. This is both a weakness and a strength for Taylor, she does herself no favours by closing herself off or denying herself normal every day things like best friends, boyfriends and a social life and it only makes her more vulnerable. On the other hand she starts to realise that behaving this way is not good and she finds the strength to pull herself out of this mindset - eventually! Throw in secret societies with both unexpected and influential members and bullying from what feels like every student at her school certainly makes life difficult for Taylor. After discovering that the secret society, the V club has its roots in her school and is some sort of extreme 'truth or dare' group who had involvement in Justin's death, with members including including Justin's girlfriend and best friends. Taylor becomes determined to get to the bottom of his murder, not only for him but for the sake of her own sanity too. Thanks to Justin having given her his Mark the hunt for his killers turns into an exhilarating race against both time and the Darkness.

The supporting characters in the Weight of Souls are a varied bunch. I really loved Hannah - the best friend - who was there for Taylor as much as she was allowed to be, until pushed away once too often. Hannah gives Taylor every opportunity to be honest but of course she doesn't do this until it's pushed their friendship beyond breaking point. I wasn't a huge fan of Taylor's father to start with, he seemed set on there being only one possible explanation for Taylor's ability to see ghosts and the Mark on her hand and that is mental illness, the same mental illness that caused his wife's death and the one responsible for causing the accident that led to him being wheelchair-bound. I thought it was quite significant when he finally accepted that neither his wife or daughter were mentally ill and that in actual fact the Oh family curse is very real, especially after he sees Justin in all his ghostly glory! The biggest change in character of course is in Justin, who goes from alive & bullying to dead & apologetic for everything that went before.  Justin admits that he could well have been able to stop at least some of the devastating bullying that went on, having had a crush on Taylor from the day he arrived as a new student he found it easier to be nasty to her after she showed no interest in him and unfortunately the other members of the V club picked up on this. This was the only bit of the story I found a bit difficult to believe, having gone through almost constant bullying from Justin and his friends I found it hard to believe that Taylor would forgive & forget so quickly, even if Justin was dead.

The action in the story was fast paced and well written, especially in the second half as more & more secrets are revealed and challenges are made. The ending was suitably both resolved and left hanging, I can only hope this means there will be a sequel of some sorts as I want to know more! This is the second novel I've read by Bryony Pearce, the first was Angel's Fury which was also her first novel published, and I sincerely hope we get to read something else from her soon!

Many thanks to Strange Chemistry via Netgalley for providing me with a copy of The Weight of Souls! I bought myself a copy to get signed along with a wee ghostie charm - thanks to Bryony for that :)

Waiting On Wednesday #33

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Antigoddess (Goddess War #1) - Kendare Blake @Twitter
ISBN UK - 9781408330753
          US - 9780765334435
Publisher UK - Orchard
               US - Tor Teen
Expected release date - UK/US September 10th 2013
Find - Book Depository/Goodreads

'Old Gods never die…

Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.

Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.

Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.

Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.' - Goodreads

I'm excited for this one for so many reasons!!! I loved Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares so much, I love Kendare's writing, I love mythology but mostly I can't wait to see exactly how the Goddess War kicks off!

What's your WoW this week?