Mini Reviews: The Dark Days Pact, Warcross, A Torch Against The Night, The Ship Beyond Time, & These Ruthless Deeds

Happy Saturday everyone!  Today I'm sharing mini reviews of some recent five star reads - The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen #2) by Alison Goodman, Warcross (Warcross #1) by Marie Lu, A Torch Against the Night (Ember Quartet #2) by Sabaa Tahir, The Ship Beyond Time (The Girl From Everywhere #2) by Heidi Heilig, and These Ruthless Deeds (These Vicious Masks #2) by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas.  As it turns out all but one of these are sequels - anyway read on to see my thoughts:

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The Lady Helen series by Alison Goodman is such a fantastic underrated historical fantasy book series and this sequel is just as good, if not better than book one. If you like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grimm, or The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, you need to meet Lady Helen and Lord Carlston. I can't wait for book three!  If only the covers of book one and two matched... hopefully the third book will match one of them at least.

I read this novel from November 23 - December 23, 2017 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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Now that was awesome! Warcross by Marie Lu was easily one of my favorite reads of 2017. I was absolutely hooked on this series opener and I'm dying for more. Even if you aren't that much of a gamer, like me, you won't have to worry about being overwhelmed as it's really easy to follow. Lu's storytelling and character development is totally immersive - just like the game at the center of the story. It's very fast-paced, it's action-packed, and it has a little bit of something for everyone. If you liked Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, I have a feeling that you'll love this! By the way, the audiobook production is fantastic.

I listened to this audiobook from December 8 -11, 2017 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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A Torch Against the Night is just as good if not better than its predecessor, An Ember in the Ashes, which was one of my favorite reads of 2015. I have no idea why I didn't jump back into this world so much sooner. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Helene as a perspective character alongside Laia and Elias. I really enjoyed the magic of the Soul Catcher and working out how it would connect to the main plot line. I'm dying for book three of this quartet, A Reaper At The Gates!

I read this novel on December 23, 2017 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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What a brilliant follow up and conclusion to this absolutely enthralling time travel adventure. I wish I could say that I'll be seeing more of Nix and Kashmir (easily a couple of my favorite YA characters), but I appreciated the ending which is both hopeful, bittersweet, and left just the right amount of open. If you haven't tried this series yet, what are you waiting for? To say I'm looking forward to Heidi Heilig's future projects is an understatement!

I read this book from December 24 - 28, 2017 and my review is also on Goodreads.

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These Ruthless Deeds is a fantastic sequel to 2016's excellent debut, These Vicious Masks. It's, dare I say, even better than the first book of the series! I loved getting to see everyone and their powers in action, plus that witty banter amongst the main cast. Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas really take it up to eleven and after that ending I'm pretty sure I'm dying (for book three, These Vengeful Souls)! At least, I won't have to wait too long since it's due out February 20th, 2018. If you like historical fantasy, Jane Austen, the X-Men, and the Lady Helen series by Alison Goodman, then you absolutely need to try this!

I read this book from December 28 - January 1, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.


Have you read any of these stories yet?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!