ARC Mini Reviews: Vampires of Portlandia & Raven's Shadow

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Vampires of Portlandia by Jason Tanamor was one of my highly anticipated releases of September. It's not often you get to see the aswang of Filipino mythology in fiction of any kind so I jumped at the chance when I saw it on NetGalley. For the most part, I liked Tanamor's story and getting to know the characters and urban fantasy world he's created here. There's so much potential for this to great, but it never quite manages to hit and hold its stride. It certainly has its moments and it's definitely a solid fantasy, but that said it can really drag. When it drags, it was very easy to lose interest. There were several scenes where I wished the cast and world was a little more fleshed out, particularly the secondary characters. In the long run, though, I'd say it's still worth your time even it never quite fulfills its promise. I have a feeling you'll want to give this a try if you also enjoy the tv shows Grimm and Supernatural.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Raven's Shadow (Aelita's War #2) by Darius Jung is a great follow up to 2018's Sparrow Squadron. I've always been intrigued by women's involvement in World War II, particularly when it comes to the Air Force no matter if they're American or not, and Jung's look into the Russia's Night Witches is excellent. It was great getting to see Aelya again and getting to meet some new characters along the way this time around. I also appreciated the author's world-building. There's so much historical detail that really makes the story stand out from the crowd. I will admit that I probably ought to have reread book one to prepare for this one as it's been over year since I read the first book. It would have been nice to have had that refresher course. Either way, I highly recommend this YA historical fiction war novel. It's well worth diving into this series. There's so much more I'd like to learn about the real life Night Witches that inspired Aelya and her group. I can't wait to see more from the author in the future. Thanks again, Mr. Jung!

My review is also on Goodeads.

Have you read these books or are you planning on trying them in the future?  What are you reading?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!