Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

I started the Mercy Thompson series at the tail end of 2013 and instantly fell in love. Mercy is a strong, likable female lead. She knows herself and is comfortable in her own skin, literally and figuratively. The covers sell these books short, making the series a lot... less than they really are. (Even though the artist is a favorite, Dan dos Santos! And I do like the art, they just don't properly showcase the story.) Like, for one, the romance aspect is just a thread in a layered story. It's also clean. There are no unwanted (or in some peoples case, wanted) steamy details. Without further ado, the reviews:


Moon Called: In the first of the series, we meet Mercy Thompson. A VW mechanic and Walker (She shifts into a coyote, Native American folklore.) in Washington. She was raised by a werewolf pack, but not just any pack, THE alpha of all alphas, Bran's, pack. The story starts when Mercy finds herself in the company of a young rogue werewolf at her garage, which brings us to meeting Adam Hauptman, the local pack alpha. Soon trouble breaks out when 2 men come for the young rogue and Mercy accidentally kills one of them while trying to protect the boy. The story and the mystery unfold with Adam being nearly killed by rouge werewolves and Adam's daughter being kidnapped in the process. We are introduced to a whole slew of werewolves, both good and bad, Zee, the fae who she received her garage from, and Stefan, her charming vamp friend. The characters are well written, as is the story. It's fast, exciting, and most important of all, really good.

Blood Bound: The second book focuses on Stefan and the local vampire seethe. Stefan is the enforcer/soldier of his seethe and calls on Mercy to assist him in investigating a new to the area vamp that didn't pay fealty to the seethe upon entering town. The catch, he's not comfortable with some recent goings on, and needs Mercy in coyote form to pose as nothing more than a pet. Mercy is after all immune to most vamp powers, so we learned in the first book, and needs a second set of unassuming eyes and ears. When they arrive, they learn that this vamp is not an ordinary vamp, but a sorcerer. A demon ridden vamp. And demons are enamored with blood and destruction, so what better than a vampire to attach itself too? Chaos ensues, many of our favorite characters are kidnapped and hurt, and Mercy is the only one who can save the day. These are after all, her books! The second book in the series did not disappoint. It was even better than the first!

Iron Kissed: In the third installment of the series, we get to see Briggs take chances with her leading lady, and it's hard to read, but a success in creating an emotional attachment as well as a refreshing literary shock. Not that it is necessarily as clearly written as the other two, but it is still very good and very entertaining. This book focuses on Zee and the fae. There are a string of murders and fae artifact robberies, and the fae need a non-fae with a good nose to do some investigating. It's a dangerous job, but Mercy isn't about to let Zee (or the readers) down. All of the story arcs and characters mesh together to create a very great universe. Each book has a touch of romance, but in this book it is more prevalent. And we see a very solid relationship in the making.


Bone Crossed: This story has a combination of all the creatures in the Mercy-verse. Wolves, vamps, ghosts, and even fae are in this one. Mercy is caught out by the queen vamp for a past indiscretion, and Stefan is punished for it. She also finds herself  facing an old school friend in need of help, and takes it as a means to get away from the local seethe. Before long Mercy finds herself not only at a crossroads with her local seethe, but also in trouble with a neighboring vamp other vamps refer to as The Monster! As a means to free herself from The Monster, she binds herself to Stefan, further pissing off The Monster and before long Mercy finds herself kidnapped and imprisoned by him. This one has a very happy ending, more so than the others. And is the furthest I've made it in the series so far.

If you enjoy the preternatural sect of book genres, do yourself a favor and start this series. I know it's over saturated, and hard to pick out the gems from the stinkers, so save yourself the search and just take my advice on this one. It is worth the investment of time and money!

Dropping Balls and Memory Lapses

So, life was busy in 2013. I got a job, was running my book club, taking care of my bus load of kids, as well as trying to be a good wife. And the reasons go on and on and on some more. Therefore, my blog hit back burner status. But if I'm fully honest, I just completely and entirely forgot about its existence. Busyness could be to blame, but I'm pretty sure all my brain farts are the more likely culprit.

As a consolation prize for my lapse in memory, I'll give a run down of the primary book club selections for the year(following the ones I did manage to post), and my brief opinion on them!

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi: 

Avoid this book! It was dull. I thought I would like it, I really did. Smart and gritty, but boring. So, very boring! I ended up skipping around in this book, just to get through it quicker. I don't know who I  would suggest this title to. I don't think I would want it for anyone. Although I'm sure that someone somewhere has enjoyed it.

Close Liaisons (The Krinar Chronicles: Volume 1) by Anna Zaires:

Avoid this book as well! The only thing going for it is that it's free. I've heard it compared(after the fact) to 50 Shades, but with aliens. I don't mind a little freaky deaky in my books, but this was the definition of gratuitous! And the main man was just awful! I enjoy a good male lead who's brusque, not  so refined, even a bit assholeish! But abusive? Controlling? Domineering? Degrading? NEVER! Women, please respect yourself enough to know when a man is assertive and strong, and when he is just a disrespectful sexist! I can not stomach these writers trying to put a pretty package on an abuser. It's not funny or cute and least of all, sexy. It's disgusting. A real man can balance being in control, while not being controlling. There IS a difference. This book just really got under my skin. It was disgusting. The writer should have more self respect! 

 

Falling Into You by Jasinda Wilder:

This was not a bad book. I quite enjoyed it, although it wasn't an award winning piece of literature at all. If one could even call it literature. It was more a fluff piece, but with emotion that most fluff doesn't contain. If you enjoy romance containing heart broken characters, give it a-go. It's cheap, it's short, and it's easy to read. 

 

The After Girls by Leah Konen:
OH GAWD! THIS BOOK! UGH! Dreadful. Just ugh! Seriously, I don't know that I've liked characters less than these. But there wasn't much to like in the first place, seeing as how they were so flat and ridiculously developed. The 2 main girls in this book are just silly. I know they had a friend who killed herself and they were both grieving in their own way, but the stories inconsistencies made the terrible characters even worse. Not much is worse than a person with inconsistent character, but in a novel, where that kind of thing is controllable, it just should not happen. It's intolerable. It makes the story drivel.  I rolled my eyes almost non-stop throughout the entirety of this tale. Avoid this title, as if your life depended on it! You can never get the time invested into it back!

 

 

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly:

This was the first winner of the year for me! An amazing story that lead you on an adventure that may have felt familiar, but was quite different. I loved the whimsy, and the dark fairytale feel this book had. It was definitely reminiscent of the Grimm Brothers or Hans Christian Anderson. If you pick on book to read from our trek in 2013, let it be this one!

 

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith(aka. JK Rowling):

I really liked this book! I love a good gumshoe detective novel, and Rowling didn't disappoint! As usual, her characters were well fleshed and had an endearing edge to their less than appealing qualities. The mystery, while I figured it out rather quickly, I didn't see how it was going to play out. Which is not a bad thing, seeing the who before the how. This was my first foray into her literature outside of the Potter-verse, and while not much can hold a candle to Harry and the gang, this was also a good story. I would love to see her turn this into a series of Comoran Strike mysteries! I would definitely read them all!

 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:

A classic that most have read in high school, was new to me this year. I really liked it. It was hard at parts to read, the mom in me cringed at a lot, but I liked the dark, twisted take on a possible future. The parallels to our current time, to when he wrote of this future world in the 1930's, is startling in it's similarities. It's definitely one of those classics that you shouldn't miss out on if it wasn't part of your school curriculum. 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson:

 This was my first experience with Shirley Jackson, and I really enjoyed it. It whetted my appetite for her, and I intend to read more. It's very short, but the characters were well done, especially Merricat. It was an interesting and well written tale of a sociopath. While it is classified horror, I don't quite see how. So don't expect to be scared, or even remotely spooked, but do prepare to be entertained and pulled in. 

 

There were more books throughout the year, we read 2 per month in our group. Plus all the others I read on my own. I didn't keep track of my leisurely reading, but this year my blog is going to be a priority. Keep your eyes peeled for monthly reviews and suggestions! 

Happy New Year! May it be full of good books and good friends!