All the Dead Shall Weep by Charlaine Harris

#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author returns with the fifth installment in the bestselling Gunnie Rose series as sisters Lizbeth Rose and Felicia as well as brother Eli and Peter, are reunited in Texoma only to break apart before the Wizard’s Ball held in San Diego, which will determine all their fates.

Following the murderous events of the “gripping . . . thrill-ride” (Karin Slaughter) Serpent of Heaven, Lizbeth Rose is awaiting the arrival of her sister Felicia and her husband’s younger brother Eli in Texoma. Both needed to leave the seat of the Holy Russian Empire in San Diego after Felicia’s burgeoning wizardly power in death magic became the reason for kidnapping and assassination attempts from her mother’s family of high-powered wizards in Mexico.

Yet bad news has traveled ahead of them, as Eli is called back to San Diego, taking Peter along with him, splitting them apart in more ways than one as their enemies’ plans for revenge come to fruition. In this fifth installment in the beloved and bestselling Gunnie Rose series, #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Charlaine Harris has crafted a family drama of murderous and magical thrills.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Gunnie Rose series!
For book two, A Longer Fall, click HERE.
For book three, The Russian Cage, click HERE.
For book four, The Serpent in Heaven, click HERE.

 

 

Book 5
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Saga Press (S&S)

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
All the Dead Shall Weep is the fifth installment of the Gunnie Rose series. This is not a standalone novel, the series must be read in order.

This series is one of the most original I've ever read. Intriguing. Fast-paced. Action-packed. A dystopian, early twentieth century, alternate history had the world been wiped out by a pandemic flu. The US is now split up into different countries and territories. Multiple historical events converge in this time frame, added to the novel in an innovative way.

Lizbeth lives in a combination of Texas and Oklahoma, near the Mexican border, under Russian rule set in San Francisco.

Narrated by a pair of half sisters, Lizbeth and Felicia. Both with their own strengths, Lizbeth is a gunnie while Felicia is a magic wielder. While not raised as family, their bond and connection caused all the feels.

Visiting from SF magic school, Felicia helps Lizbeth protect the town and her sister from all sides now that they've been unexpectedly left alone. Suitors, a converging militia group, and Felicia's maternal family that keeps popping up. These sisters are fiercely protective of one another.

A gamut of emotions. The way the sisters speak in general and to each other, one word or a phrase holds a host of emotions. Unique diction, as if words are currency they can't afford to use. Low on inner monologue, but what is thought has emotional impact.

Grief. Hope. Sadness. Humor. Betrayal. Small town mindsets. Nonstop action. Love of family, community, and partners. Tragedy. A seed of excitement to come. All the Dead Shall Weep was a quick read that left me satisfied yet eager for more.

 

 

CHARLAINE HARRIS is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for over thirty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area. She has written four series, and two stand-alone novels, in addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and graphic novels (cowritten with Christopher Golden). Her Sookie Stackhouse books have appeared in twenty-five different languages and on many bestseller lists. They’re also the basis of the HBO series True Blood. Harris now lives in Texas, and when she is not writing her own books, she reads omnivorously. Her house is full of rescue dogs.

Connect with Charlaine Harris!

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

 

 

ARC provided by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided with a free copy of All the Dead Shall Weep (Gunnie Rose #5) by Charlaine Harris to read and review.

The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris

#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns to her alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this fourth installment of the Gunnie Rose series.

Felicia, Lizbeth Rose’s half-sister and a student at the Grigori Rasputin school in San Diego—capital of the Holy Russian Empire—is caught between her own secrets and powerful family struggles. As a granddaughter of Rasputin, she provides an essential service to the hemophiliac Tsar Alexei, providing him the blood transfusions that keep him alive. Felicia is treated like a nonentity at the bedside of the tsar, and at the school she's seen as a charity case with no magical ability. But when Felicia is snatched outside the school, the facts of her heritage begin to surface. Felicia turns out to be far more than the Russian-Mexican Lizbeth rescued. As Felicia’s history unravels and her true abilities become known, she becomes under attack from all directions. Only her courage will keep her alive.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Gunnie Rose series!
For book two, A Longer Fall, click HERE.
For book three, The Russian Cage, click HERE.

 

 

Book 4
Buy Links

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Apple Books  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)
Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Serpent in Heaven is the fourth installment in the Gunnie Rose series. The first three narrated by Lizbeth. The novel (and I assume going forth) is narrated by our gunnie's little sister, Felicia. This cannot be read as a standalone without massive confusion, start with An Easy Death.

Gunnie Rose is such a unique series, across the board. From the dystopian setting, in an alternate early twentieth century, the inventive world building, and intriguing magical and political system. I've never read anything like this before. The Gunnie Rose series is truly one of a kind.

Felicia is in a precarious situation. She is seen as little else than a blood donor for the tsar, as well as a scholarship student at the school, with little to no magic. Since she has been keeping her magic under wraps, I understood the bias when it came to students at a magical school not accepting her. What I don't understand is the bias when it comes to being the blood donor. In order to be of aid to the tsar, that means Felicia is a direct descendant of the tsar himself (his niece and lifeline). Felicia is of royal blood, keeping their precious tsar alive, and they can't even give her an allowance. I felt this was a bizarre mindset. She ought to be one of the highest paid members in the kingdom, not the lowliest.

From the streets of Mexico, Felicia is still shouldering the burdens of her past. Her drunk father and cruel uncle using her for their own gains, while suppressing her natural age and shape for her supposed protection.

Now a year later, the effects of her father's spell are finally dissipating, Felicia growing into the shape and size of a young woman of fifteen. Not that Felicia is sure of her age. Felicia's excitement was easily relatable, as was her worry. Now that she is considered a fully grown woman, everyone is plotting the best way to marry her off for their own gains, no differently than her father treated her.

The girl is lonely, no friends and only a sister far away, which makes her vulnerable. She would do anything to have a support system and family. This is where I'm confused. In order to be a blood donor, she must be a blood relative to the tsar. Why doesn't his family see her as his family? They're her uncle and aunt, and their children are her cousins. The other donors are her father's siblings and her cousins. Yet the entire system is in place to see her only as a cow – cows that keep being slaughtered to eradicate the tsar's blood source.

Action-packed from the first page, Felicia is being hit from all sides. As an orphan who has been thrust into her father's family as a donor, she never gave thought to her mother's family, who shows up out of nowhere to attempt to kidnap and kill those all around her. At the same time, someone is still offing her donor relatives. Added in with the constant need to marry her off.

Eli (Lizbeth's husband, Felicia's brother-in-law), his family takes to Felicia, his sisters and brother; Eli's brother, Paul, he takes to Felicia too much as she grows into her womanliness. This draws a wedge between Felicia and the matriarch of the family, which makes Felicia rightfully insulted. I appreciated Felicia's setting of boundaries and not just accepting those unkind words from someone she felt loved her.

There is also hesitancy in Felicia when it comes to Paul, which I appreciated. Even though she is far beyond her years in life experience, after struggling to survive day to day, she has not yet grown into her body. While kind and supportive, Felicia senses Paul is a Nice Guy. Hopefully he grows out of those toxic tendencies.

Just as with Lizbeth, Felicia is a strong character, and I adored looking at the world through her lens. She is a fighter and a survivor, but also kind, selfless, compassionate, protective, and empathetic. She does the right thing, especially when it's hard. She stands up for herself and others. She doesn't resist authority, but she does speak up when she recognizes they're on the wrong path. A leader who knows when to follow someone worthy. A good role model.

Highly recommended to Charlaine Harris fans. I look forward to watching Felicia grow into womanhood and into her magical power. I cannot wait to see what is in store for her in the next installment and the next.

 

 

CHARLAINE HARRIS is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for over thirty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area. She has written four series, and two stand-alone novels, in addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and graphic novels (cowritten with Christopher Golden). Her Sookie Stackhouse books have appeared in twenty-five different languages and on many bestseller lists. They’re also the basis of the HBO series True Blood. Harris now lives in Texas, and when she is not writing her own books, she reads omnivorously. Her house is full of rescue dogs.

Connect with Charlaine Harris

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

 

 

ARC provided by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Serpent in Heaven (Gunnie Rose #4) by Charlaine Harris to read and review.

The Bond by Xavier Axelson Spotlight

Four men are about to discover things are definitely not what they seem... including themselves.

Declan Makavoy, small town farmer and single father, finds out it isn’t just his thumb that’s green. Ivan Soresceau, a local reporter, who always plays with fire in life and love, is about to discover what it means to be burned. Chester Silberglocke, the ailing but sage chiropractor, finds his death is only the beginning of an atmospheric afterlife. And Vinny Pirelli, the local swimming champ, may make waves in the pool but has no idea he is the last piece in a dangerous and life-changing puzzle.

Seduction and unearthly occurrences are only the beginning in what proves to be a race against time as Declan, Ivan, Chester, and Vinny are pitted against a dark force and face unthinkable horrors as they rely on their friendship to destroy an evil beyond imagination.

The Bond is the first book in the Elemental series. It is not a standalone.

 

 

Book 1
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JMS Books

 

 

The wind carried the unpleasant smell of decay. In the heat of summer, the odor is nectar sweet, but in autumn, decay is unexpected. In the summer, it could be tomatoes left too long on the vine, fresh roadkill or sewage wafting up from the dank sidewalk grates. Autumn chilled the stench, offered it bite and acid. The hair on my neck stood on end. I dug my hands deeper into my pockets.

Coming out of the tree-lined path leading to the fields reminded me of emerging from a dream. Overwrought and graphic, like an illustration in a bad comic, the scene unfolded block-by-block, piece-by-piece. The fields were barren, except where remains of gourds and pumpkins jutted from the earth like fevered skulls, things emerging to the cold dreary light. The distant pine trees lined the border of my property like sentries sent from a general to contain the scene. Beyond the trees, the forest appeared a black mass; empty and full at the same time. Perhaps Adam’s body—or Adam himself—waited, hidden in the woods.

They hadn’t found a body.

Hadn’t found…

A new but not unfamiliar wave of pain welled within my chest so I thought I’d burst. Adam was dead. Dead… How could he be…?

Chester turned toward me, his eyes wide. He pointed.

Antonia sat, facing him. She’d been playing house or school with her gourd-squash students. Her singsong contrasted with the fouled air, unnerving me.

Behind her, centered in the field, something either unaware or unconcerned with our presence was consuming the remaining pumpkins.

Some thing.

“Declan,” Chester breathed, “stay still.”

The stench coming from the field hit like a ton of putrid bricks.

“Get her.” I heaved, trying to breathe through the stink. “I have to get her.”

Chester restrained me with more strength than I thought he possessed. “She must stay still.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

Just then a huge crow dove and we watched as the creature reached with a massive clawed paw, grabbed the bird and crushed it. It then stuffed the bird into its mouth and made horrific bone-sucking sounds of pleasure.

Antonia smiled and called, “Daddy, have you seen the goblin?”

 

 

XAVIER AXELSON is a writer and columnist living in Los Angeles. Axelson’s work has been featured in various erotic and horror anthologies including Best Gay Erotica 2016 Volume 2, Best Gay Erotica 2015.

Longer written works include The Incident, Dutch’s Boy, The Birches, Earthly Concerns, Velvet, and Lily.

Connect with Xavier Axelson

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The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris

#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Charlaine Harris is at her best in this alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this third installment of the Gunnie Rose series.

Picking up right where A Longer Fall left off, this thrilling third installment follows Lizbeth Rose as she takes on one of her most dangerous missions yet: rescuing her estranged partner, Prince Eli, from the Holy Russian Empire. Once in San Diego, Lizbeth is going to have to rely upon her sister Felicia, and her growing Grigori powers to navigate her way through this strange new world of royalty and deception in order to get Eli freed from jail where he’s being held for murder.

Russian Cage continues to ramp up the momentum with more of everything Harris’ readers adore her for with romance, intrigue, and a deep dive into the mysterious Holy Russian Empire.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Gunnie Rose series!
For book two, A Longer Fall, click HERE.

 

 

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)
Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Russian Cage is the third (probably final) installment in the Gunnie Rose series. Not a standalone, must be read in series order.

In a mix of dry narration, intriguing world-building, and an exciting political conspiracy, the Gunnie Rose series has been one of the most original series I've read to date. Set in what I assume is an alternate version of the depression era, the United States have been dissolved, California now under the control of the Holy Russian Empire.

Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie, offering paid protection to escort precious cargo across the continent, which is how she met Eli and was pulled into his life, where she found a little sister she never knew existed.

Said little sister has secrets of her own, sequestered in an academy where she learns how to handle her magic, while also providing the life-saving blood transfusions for the tsar, Alexei Romanov. The sisters share correspondence, writing in code as the letters are read by the professors, where Felicia warns Lisbeth how Eli has been imprisoned.

Lizbeth is on the cold side emotionally, her narration beyond dry and stilted. This is by design, as this truly is a facet of her personality. This makes for a difficult read, where I had a hard time connecting with Lizbeth. At the same time, it also means when Lizbeth feels something, it hits the reader hard. Her connection to her sister and Eli is strong, the emotions ringing true to impact the reader. Her selflessness, her need to sacrifice to protect them, and her unconditional love and desire to make sure they're happy.

Lizbeth, along with Eli's best friend, Felix (who doesn't particularly like Lizbeth out of jealousy, as his draw to his best friend is more romantic in nature, I suspect), put animosity aside and do everything in their power to save Eli, which draws them into a political conspiracy, a plot to protect the current tsar from his own uncle and cousin, as well as protecting Eli's family from his older half-brothers.

Intriguing and fast-paced, the conspiracy is complex, the romance is an undercurrent, more befitting a classic novel, the emotions more sedate.

One issue I've had with then entire series is the way information is delivered in a stilted fashion, but I do understand that it is Lizbeth's way. Her daily events are catalogued in a laundry list of point A to point B to point C to point J with everything in between. Example: I took a bath, washed my hair, redressed, took a nap, sought out something to eat. I found a hotel restaurant and ate. Then I hit the street. Even when these events take place with other characters, it's a laundry list with no dialogue, nothing that connects the characters within the scene. I may understand why it's written this way, but it doesn't make it more engaging having that understanding. It's still jarring yet dry, filled with inane activities that usually are glossed over for the more important details in the plot.

I do highly recommend, but it's hard to pinpoint which genre of readers to recommend the series. I do believe that Charlaine Harris' fans will enjoy the series for the most part. However, those who enjoyed Sookie's humor, light-heartedness, warmth, and quirky every-woman vibe, they may be disappointed in Lizbeth. Lizbeth Rose is a strong heroine, but that strength also makes her seem cold, the emotions buried beneath logic and a hard mentality due to how she was raised. Two highly different heroines written by Charlaine Harris, drawing in different types of readers.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
For the third time, Charlaine Harris plays with time, place, and historical accuracy in her Gunnie Rose series. This time, Lizbeth is fighting to save Eli from a political plot she doesn’t fully understand.

This is the book that made me fully engage with this series. During the first two books, I found myself constantly distracted by unreliable historic details. This time, I was too engrossed in the characters and the wonderfully complicated plot to question anything. This story is an exciting adventure and I love the characters who join Lizbeth in her efforts to save Eli and his family.

This book is fun in a way that the first two books weren’t. Lizbeth’s sister is wonderful and I’m already hoping we see more from her at some point. I love Eli’s world. The mix of Russian and American elements in this story create an unusual sense of drama. This isn’t my favourite of Charlaine Harris’ series but after book three, I’m enjoying it much more than I expected to at the start of book one. In some ways, this feels like a natural trilogy – but after finally settling into the unique world Harris has created, I find myself hoping for more.


BLOG NOTE: Per a Goodreads’ entry, there is currently a fourth book planned in the Gunnie Rose series. So this may not be the last we see of Lizbeth Rose after all.

 

 

CHARLAINE HARRIS is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

Connect with Charlaine

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Russian Cage (Gunnie Rose #3) by Charlaine Harris to read and review.

Evoking Mira by Erica Chilson

With a single glance in the mirror, the reflection gazing back evokes Mira’s sense of self.

Struggling to rearrange the broken fragments of her psyche, Mira attempts to piece her memories together into a survivable landscape.

Once, twice, a dozen cycles, Mira is forced to experience memories plucked from time, over and over again until they finally take root, as if they’re happening in the now.

One misstep.

A chemical-induced amnesia resets the cycle, where she is destined to repeat her own history.

Instead of naturally spreading the events over a lifetime, Mira must face the traumatic demons of her past in agonizing bursts.

The pain.
The joy.
The sorrow.

Will it be one time too many?

That last traumatic nudge propelling Mira over the edge of the abyss into lucidity, or will she be stuck in an endless rotation where her memories lock her away from reality?

~ A standalone novel. ~

 

 

Buy Links

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Paperback (US)
~ Also Available with KindleUnlimited ~

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆☆
I am a huge fan of Erica Chilson's gritty, sexy, complicated storylines. I think here she took me right to the edge of where I would want to go in the terms of dark gothic horror... and yet at the same time, it is so utterly plausible, that as soon as I finished it, I wanted to go back and read it again with the fresh perspective I had just gained.

It is a rollercoaster of crazy, of painful, of love, and of how the concept of a protocol can be abused in the name of love.

I really refuse to say more, it needs experiencing first hand! I can assure you that it is a fabulous read, and unusually for Chilson, it is not overly long, so I can easily say, find yourself a quiet space, ideally well lit, and with a few snacks and a cold drink. A hot one will be long cold before you actually stop reading long enough to drink it. Be ready to be transported somewhere else entirely and if you have a Fitbit or Apple watch heart monitor, I am guessing you will find it is a pretty good cardiac workout too!

Highly recommended!


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Be warned. This story is dark and graphically violent.

When we meet Mira, she is missing much of her memory, and right from the start I wanted to know who she was, how she ended up where she found herself, and who had harmed her. Who were the people in her life? What led her to this point? I wanted to know everything about her.

I was intrigued. I loved the way the story unfolded, giving us different parts of her life where memories surface, as well as events from the present. I had ideas in my head as to where this tale was going, and opinions formed about the characters. Any ideas I had were wrong as the story went places I didn’t expect. I love that after years of reading, I can still be surprised by a story. It was thrilling.

Mira is a strong woman, and her story is one that touches on love, loyalty, family, and revenge, among other things. It is also a story that contains pretty horrific violence, but it never felt out of place in Mira’s world. I felt the horrors and events made the good times that much sweeter and more cherished.

Evoking Mira is a story that left me smiling and content. I loved that even with the evils experienced and the grotesque violence, this book left me happy in the end. It also left me wanting more. While I believe this has been written as a standalone, to me it felt like the beginning of an epic saga and I hope the author considers writing more books in this universe. If you are looking for a dark and twisty read, I’d highly recommend Evoking Mira.

 

 

ERICA CHILSON does not write in the 3rd person, wanting her readers to be her characters. Therefore, writing a bio about herself, is uncomfortable in the extreme.

Born, raised, and here to stay, the Wicked Writer is a stump-jumper, a ridge-runner. Hailing from North Central Pennsylvania, directly on the New York State border; she loves the changes in seasons, the humid air, all the mountainous forest, and the gloomy atmosphere.

Introverted, but not socially awkward, Erica prides herself on thinking first and filtering her speech. There are days she doesn’t speak at all. If it wasn’t for the fact that she lives with her parents, giving her a sense of reality, she would be a hermit, where the delivery man finds her months after expiration.

Reading was an escape, a way to leave a not-so pleasant reality behind. Reading lent Erica the courage she gathered from the characters between the pages to long for a different life. Writing was an instrument of change, evolving Erica into the woman she is today- a better, more mature, more at peace thinker.

Erica has a wicked mind, one she pours out into her creations. Her filter doesn’t allow all of it to erupt, much to her relief. Sarcastic, with a very dark, perverse sense of humor, Erica puts a bit of herself into every character she writes.

Connect with Erica

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Facebook Group: M&M of Restraint

 

 

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Evoking Mira by Erica Chilson to read and review.

The Glass Queen by Gena Showalter

Once Upon a Time meets Game of Thrones in book two of New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter’s magical, romantic dark fantasy series, in which the fairy tales we know and love are prophecies of the future. Welcome to the Forest of Good and Evil, where villains may be heroes and heroes may be villains… it all depends on who you ask.

Ashleigh Ansklelisa may be called the Glass Princess due to her weak heart, but Saxon, king of the Avian, knows she is more dangerous than broken glass, in this Cinderella retelling that sweeps readers into the magical land of Enchantia, filled with treacherous enemies, unexpected allies, forbidden love, and dangerous magic! Can destined lovers find their way to each other, or will evil win the day? Everything changes at the stroke of midnight as one determined princess fights for her legacy, her love, and the crown that is her destiny.

 

 

Book 2
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Inkyard Press—Harlequin

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shelby – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Glass Queen is the second book in the series The Forest of Good and Evil and can be read as a standalone with no issues. This was my first book in the fairy tale retelling series by Gena Showalter, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to grab The Evil Queen (book #1).

I was expecting a paranormally themed Cinderella. I didn't have high expectations as many Cinderella retellings have been disappointing, but this was an awesome departure from the norm! The Little Cinder Girl can be linked to anyone in the world of Enchantia. A world where trolls, shape shifters, witches & warlocks, dragons, mages, and everything in between lives. Magic is the norm, and oracles are sought after. As such, each kingdom has its own royal family and it just so happens that Ashleigh's father is the King of The Provence of Fleur. One would think this would make her a powerful princess; unfortunately, that title holds no power to the sickly, weak girl. A father who hates her, no friend outside of her mother, how is this girl supposed to survive?

Prince Saxon Skylair of the Avian Mountains hasn't had an easy life; exiled from his home at an early age, he was taken in by friends to make a life. Knowing his place in the family, he needs to prove himself to take his rightful place.

These are just simple summaries of the main characters, and in no way truly convey all that is going on. Enemies to the core, only one knows why. I loved the twists and turns, the constant questioning of the prophecies. I loved the way everything came together; I even loved the cheesiness as I am expecting it from a young adult novel. Above all, I want to read about the next retelling as I liked these characters!

 

 

 

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over seventy books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld series, the Gods of War series, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Forest of Good and Evil series. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs.

Connect with Gena

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Gena Showalter’s Legions Facebook Group

 

 

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) by Gena Showalter to read and review.

Diamond City by Francesca Flores

Good things don't happen to girls who come from nothing... unless they risk everything.

Fierce and ambitious, Aina Solís as sharp as her blade and as mysterious as the blood magic she protects. After the murder of her parents, Aina takes a job as an assassin to survive and finds a new family in those like her: the unwanted and forgotten.

Her boss is brutal and cold, with a questionable sense of morality, but he provides a place for people with nowhere else to go. And makes sure they stay there.

DIAMOND CITY: built by magic, ruled by tyrants, and in desperate need of saving. It is a world full of dark forces and hidden agendas, old rivalries and lethal new enemies.

To claim a future for herself in a world that doesn't want her to survive, Aina will have to win a game of murder and conspiracy—and risk losing everything.

Full of action, romance and dark magic, book one of Francesca Flores' breathtaking fantasy duology will leave readers eager for more!

Book 1
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
Spoiler-Free Review

The premise hooked me straight away. Aina's story of being an orphan on the streets, forced to do anything to survive, fostered by the head of a gang who had ulterior motives. The Blade, Aina was an assassin, doing the gang's wet work for hire, fearing what would happen if she didn't do it, while also so desperately needing the validation, needing to make him proud.

On the side, Aina was the go-between in diamond smuggling, between its point of origin and the fence where it was fashioned into something else at the jeweler. In the world building, I was slightly shocked over how many diamonds go missing on a daily basis for a teenage girl to be in on the game.

The setting is during an industrial revolution, in an area where there is a diamond mine, the industry similar to the turn of the twentieth century. However, I couldn't place the time nor the location, especially with the paranormal magical elements added in. The setting and world building were fascinating to me, steampunk meets illegal magic/religion, but how it was presented wasn't to my taste.

There was excitement, action-packed scenes of pure violence, spying and slinking around, and many bodies on the floor, so many bodies I was confused as to how the city wasn't losing its population with how Aina wasn't the only assassin running around. In such a short span of time, we're talking hundreds of people dying and left to lie where they fell, by gangs worth of assassins.

As for the emotions, loyal friendships were important to Aina, but it was her need for validation from the man who groomed her that hit the hardest.

Aina was a solid heroine. Loyal, willing to do anything to survive, but also fiercely protective of those who she called friend. I'm all for not having a guilt-stricken heroine who hems and haws over what needs to be done, but I find it hard to believe that on several occasions Aina murders most of the guards and staff in the same house... like how did they get replacements so quickly? An entire household emptied of occupants. Twice? Thrice? By the end of the book, Aina had single-handedly executed an upwards of a hundred souls.

For someone obsessed with how her parents died and left her an orphan, Aina has no issue of creating dozens upon dozens of innocent orphans, if their parents merely get in her way. Like charging in the front door, slitting the necks of innocent maids and guards, who no doubt had children at home. All those new orphans have more of a reason to loathe Aina than Aina had to loathe the government for executing her parents, who were practicing acts that were widely known to hold a death sentence. Aina's parents were criminals (no matter if the law was ridiculous or not) but these random innocent maids and such did no one any harm.

An assassin by trade should be able to sneak around and only inflict death upon the ones they were hired to kill. It would be bad for business to take out entire households, several times over.

As I said, I don't want a guilt-stricken heroine, but I find it hard to swallow that she's killing so indiscriminately, as if all those people are worthless, meaningless, because she needs some coin for a "single" target. People who are also from the lower classes, who are just working to eat. Was she really good at her job if she takes out so many innocents while doing it? It's like using a nuke instead of a flyswatter for a single fly.

Where I struggled the most with the novel was the writing style. There was just something about the way the perspective was written that kept me from being able to fall into the story. My interest waned during monologues from the past, where dialogue and action from the past weren't italicized to show that it wasn't happening in the present time, the lack of transition confusing me and tearing me from the story itself. The flashbacks weren't denoted, and there were many flashbacks to be had, filled with info-dumps and meandering inner monologues that slowed the pacing.

As an avid reader, especially of all the elements within Diamond City, I struggled to read, taking me well over a week what should have taken an afternoon. I was curious to what the outcome would be, but the writing style, the way the perspective was written, and the execution made it difficult for me to be entertained.

Curious to see where this goes, I'm willing to give the next another try. If not, I'll have to pass on the author, due to the writing style not being my cup of tea.

Young Adult age rating: 14+ due to on-scene graphic violence.

Francesca Flores is a writer, traveler and linguist. Raised in Pittsburgh, she read every fantasy book she could get her hands on and started writing her own stories at a young age. She began writing Diamond City while working as a corporate travel manager. When she's not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys traveling, dancing ballet and jazz, practicing trapeze and contortion, and visiting parks and trails around San Francisco, where she currently resides.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Diamond City (Diamond City #1) by Francesca Flores to read and review.

A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris

#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns with the second of the Gunnie Rose series, in which Lizbeth is hired onto a new crew, transporting a crate into Dixie, the self-exiled southeast territory of the former United States. What the crate contains is something so powerful, that forces from across three territories want to possess it.

In this second thrilling installment of the Gunnie Rose series, Lizbeth Rose is hired onto a new crew for a seemingly easy protection job, transporting a crate into Dixie, just about the last part of the former United States of America she wants to visit. But what seemed like a straight-forward job turns into a massacre as the crate is stolen. Up against a wall in Dixie, where social norms have stepped back into the last century, Lizbeth has to go undercover with an old friend to retrieve the crate as what’s inside can spark a rebellion, if she can get it back in time.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse mysteries and Midnight, Texas trilogy) is at her best here, building the world of this alternate history of the United States, where magic is an acknowledged but despised power.

Book 2
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Simon & Schuster

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
5 Intriguing Stars

Spoiler-Free Review

A Longer Fall is the second installment in the Gunnie Rose series, and cannot be read as a standalone without massive confusion, as it's a true continuation.

I must admit, I struggled with An Easy Death, but the issues I had weren't as present in A Longer Fall. I gave the continuation a chance because I was intrigued by such an original story, crossing my fingers that it was the first book curse. Sometimes if the first book is amazing, it's hard for the second to live up to the expectations. Sometimes when the first book is so-so, the continuation rocks me off my feet. The latter is what happened in this case.

Gunnie Rose has a dystopian feel, in regards to the US falling and being split up and taken over by several nations. Set in the depression era, with civil rights and women's rights issues from the time making a heavy presence in the series. This is set to the backdrop of Russian magic users to add a paranormal twist.

The pacing was rapid this go around, exciting and thrilling, without being slowed by too much inane information – there is still quite a bit of everyday events, but it added more to the story than taking it away, as previously.

Read in two sittings, I didn't want to put A Longer Fall down, when I struggled to stay interested in the previous installment. Lizbeth finds an unexpected ally in Dixie, as she tries to protect, then reclaim a crate she was employed to protect.

Never get too attached to characters, as they might not be long for this world. Expect Lizbeth to be the gunnie she was born to be, shooting and asking questions later. The survivalist. Expect betrayals, assassination attempts, and high-stress situations. If racism and misogyny are hard for you to swallow, the historical accuracy of Dixie was difficult to read but well written.

There is more emotion this time around, as Lizbeth showed rare bursts of insecurity and her strong need for connection with Eli. These moments of humanity were what was missing from the debut in the series, creating a more well-rounded Lizbeth Rose.

By the end of the novel, I sat there for a few minutes, wishing upon wishing I had the third installment, needing to know what happens next.

Highly recommended to Charlaine Harris fans, and those looking for something highly original and intriguing. My advice, An Easy Death was a hard book to enjoy. Stick with it, then grab A Longer Fall – you won't be disappointed in the amazing shift from book to book.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
I love Charlaine Harris’ imagination and this series is quite possibly the most original – and most bizarre – of all the weird and wonderful worlds Harris has written. I’m still not quite sure I understand exactly where and when these books are set but the dystopian alternate reality is fabulous. I fell hard for Lizbeth Rose and her altered reality and I really loved this story.

I’m equal parts in love with and completely confused by the setting of this story. The Dixie where Lizbeth’s train crashes is definitely Southern but it exists outside of time. I can’t quite explain it – I’m not sure the actual novel fully manages to explain Dixie – but it’s an oppressive, backwards, and claustrophobic place that Lizbeth finds herself trapped in.

Lizbeth herself will feel more familiar to longstanding Harris fans. Despite her violent profession, Lizbeth is a mannered and moral Southern lady and I love the many conflicting elements of her character.

I love the way fantasy characters are gently mixed into this already dystopian world. This is a world where wizards and Russian Tsars are somehow part of a dis-United States and somehow it all works.

I have to say that I should have started this series at the beginning. Nothing is explained or recapped at the start of this second book, so my head was completely spinning for the first few chapters. I eventually caught up but I’m sure I’m still missing parts of the story. Readers need to start with the first book, which hopefully offers more of an introduction to this weird and wonderful world.

Charlaine Harris is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas, fantasy/mystery series and the Aurora Teagarden, Harper Connelly, and Lily Bard mystery series. Her books have inspired HBO’s True Blood, NBC’s Midnight, Texas, and the Aurora Teagarden movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. She has lived in the South her entire life.

Connect with Charlaine

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2) by Charlaine Harris to read and review.