Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis

A Brief Summary:  Nothing is more important to Liddi Jantzen than her brothers, so when they are betrayed she will risk everything to save them. Not being able to speak and being transported to another world might make that slightly more complicated. With the help of Tiav can she managed to save her brothers?

My Review:
I loved this retelling of The Wild Swans. It being a lesser known fairy tale gives a lot more wiggle room to add an individual spin to it, also, it hasn't been retold a thousand times *cough* Cinderella *cough cough*.

This book defiantly had slower sections, after-all its hard to have a lot of conversations when one character can't speak. Nonetheless I fell in love with the characters. Liddi is quick-witted, but frustrated at being unable to communicate whereas Tiav is kind and patient but gets frustrated at not being able to understand Liddi.

Another tough point was all the technical speak. Although Liddi is a tech wiz, I am not. So there were portions that I just felt lost as to what was going on.

All in all it was a good story that I'm glad I had a chance to read. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of alternate fairy-tales.

I received this book courtesy of Netgalley in exchange for my free and honest review.

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

A Brief Summary: 
The women he marries die. Most don't last a night, some last longer. When a girl takes her sisters place, she expects to die quickly. When she doesn't she starts to notice strange things. Could it be she has to power to withstand him, and make the kingdom safe for young women once again?

My Review:

This is a retelling of 1001 nights with a magical touch. It has it's dark moments, after all Lo-Melkhiin is possessed throughout most of the story. Also the main character is never named, this causes a lot of confusion for reviewing purposes so I'll refer to her as Scheherazade, the name of the girl in the original 1001 nights.

Scheherazade is clever and very lucky. She discovers her words, her dreams have power, and uses this to both keep herself alive and to try and change the situation for other young girls like her.

This book switches POV quite a bit, from Scheherazade to that is possessing Lo-Melkhiin, helping flesh out characters and moving the story along.

I enjoyed this retelling it brings new life to a story that tends to be forgotten.

I received this book from NetGalley and Disney Hyperion in exchange for my free and honest review.

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey

A Brief Summary:
Joyeaux has been a hunter since she was a young girl. Now she must travel to Apex City to join the best hunters and help protect the Cits. What she is yet to realize things are worse then she's been lead to believe. More and more Othersiders have been attacking and when a terrible price is paid Joyeaux decides to do something drastic to try and sway the status quo.
My Review:

Absolutely loved this book. It's gripping with a ton of action, magic, and complex relationships. I fell in love with Joyeaux, she's incredibly talented and intelligent. Granted she is almost too perfect, I personally enjoyed her but she may not be everyone's cup of tea.

This book also has a tendency to info-dump, if you can get past the first quarter of the book you get a lot more action I promise. While I personally prefer to get a lot of world-building background in the first book of a series, I'm aware some people find it tedious. That being said the world is incredibly well built. You have a semi-detailed history and a solid understanding of what's changed since the Diseray.

This had better be the beginning of a series I have too many unanswered questions for it not to be. I would recommend this to everyone. Aside from a risk of information overloading, it's a solid book that I hope will develop into a great series.

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion  in exchange for my free and honest review.