#BookTalk: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files #15 Skin Game (HEAVY SPOILERS)

Seriously, if you don't read the Dresden Files I am judging you. 

Heavy spoilers is hidden. 

Read it in one day (of course), to be honest, when it came to Jim Butcher, his books immediately made me push every other book on my TBR list way back. No matter what other book I have down the line, Jim Butcher's is the book I pick up.

So when Skin Game came out, I was practically salivating for it. I think I dreamed about it one time or another. 

Anyway, Harry Dresden+Nicodemus+Heist...no force in the 'verse can stop me from reading this book. Except death, but you get what I mean. 

First though I need to say, PARKOUR! LOL. That will never get old. 

I'm just imagining Harry running all over Demonreach and shouting Parkour like a bigass three year old. That's one of the reasons why I love Harry, he's this really powerful wizard but he's also a spaz and not afraid to show it...I think Murphy said something of the same note. 

Back to the book. Nicodemus is at it again, and called upon Mab to let him borrow Dresden for a job. Mab agreed so Harry had to work with Nicodemus.

Bad idea all around right?

Nicodemus being Nicodemus of course has something up his sleeve so Harry had to figure what that is and also somehow sabotage whatever Nicodemus wanted to do without getting dead. 

I like that this book centers on Harry's almost supernatural ability to get out of deals. It's not really honorable of him, but since he's dealing with either the Sidhe or bad people, I'm okay with that. I can appreciate the bendiness of Harry's mind.

And we get to read Micheal in action again, which is awesome. One of the things I like about Jim Butcher is that he can write a character like Micheal who is devout in his belief without being preachy and sanctimonious. In fact, I feel assured in Micheal's belief of God, and that he's okay with people questioning God and that he admits that he doesn't have all the answers but he believes that God acts with love. 

I'm not a religious person but Micheal makes me want to believe and that's kind of awesome. 

We didn't get to see Thomas but we get mentions of him. 

We get lots of Murphy (YEY) and how do I adore the progress in their relationship and there was this scene in the book where Murphy got hurt bad and Harry was questioned on why he wasn't as angry as he should have (considering Harry has a dangerous level of white knight syndrome) but Harry seemed to only be as angry as if Micheal was hurt, and Harry answered he was angry but Murphy was warrior in her own right and he respected her strength. I SERIOUSLY dig that. That he treated Murphy as an equal. That he trusted her to deal with all the supernatural crap when she's not even close to supernatural. 

BTW, WE ALL DO CRAZY THINGS FOR LOVE. That scene, THAT SCENE. When the sword broke, I practically screamed. 

AND THAT OTHER SCENE, with the bed. I KNEW it was a dream but HOLY SHIT.

And ha, HARRY's PREGNANT. 

That was some twisted and funny shit, right there. 

Butters. I was so sad for Butters' doubt about Harry but how epic is Butters becoming? And I love that Bob and him are like this great partnership. I'm kind of wondering how Butter is changing Bob though. He was different when he was with Justin, and different when he was with Harry, I'm wondering how working with Butter changes him. 

We see more of how destroying the Red Court resulted in the Supernatural world of Chicago and the world, how there's so much power to grab and every supernatural groups are furiously claiming theirs. 

We also get Molly, trying to do her best as a Winter Lady, but she's dealing with the same thing with Harry and I think she's less aware of how her powers can change her. Harry has people to point at him and question him and doubt him but Molly keeps everything close to her chest and she's isolated. Sure she has her family but she hasn't told them yet so--

Maggie, and Mouse and the Carpenters. SO CUTE. 

I teared up and sobbed in a lot of places, I mean, full-on sob and tears. And I felt pity for Nicodemus at one point. DAMN YOU, BUTCHER FOR CREATING SUCH CHARACTERS!

AND, BUTTERS AS A KNIGHT OF THE CROSS. AND LIGHTSABERS!

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?

And Harry and Murphy at the end!!!!!

And now of course, I'm gonna imagine Maggie and her own talking skull ( also, her half-sister) which is really awesome. 

...I think that's all my exhausted brain can think about right now. 

Book Talk: Karina Cooper's St.Croix Chronicles

One of the series I love this year due to awesome worldbuilding and interesting characters. 

In a version of Steampunk London, there exists two Londons: London Above and London Below. London Above is where royalties and rich people live in the fresh air while London Below is where the poor, the sick , and the criminals live in the midst of fog.

Cherry St. Croix is an heiress with a tarnished (see what I did there?) family reputation. She's impatient with the London society but she follows all the silly rules due to her chaperon Fanny, and the servants that is dependent on her for work and shelter. 

But in the cover of night, Cherry sneaks down to London below as a Collector, a bounty hunter. She dies her hair black and assorts with the dredge of society. She befriends gangs, prostitutes and criminals. She used to be one of them, you see? Growing up in an orphanage where the children are dosed with drugs to keep them quiet, Cherry has become dependent on opium, so she used her bounty booty to buy extra laudanum, and go hunt bad guys for the thrills. 

Cherry takes on bounties from the Midnight Menagerie, a pleasure garden/circus in London Below that caters to the whims of everyone in London for the exchange of coin. Strangely, while every bit of London Below is smothered in fog, the Midnight Menagerie is clear of all fog which add to the whispers of witchcraft and magic. 

Anyway, this is how it works, she brings her bounty to Hawke, the dangerous and shiveringly handsome Ringmaster and gets paid while trading insults. It is said that the Night Veil controls the Midnight Menagerie, think of them as a mystical Chinese triad. And if one doesn't pay their debts, you get your picture and information on the bounty board and people like Cherry will hunt your ass down.

Known to Hawke as Miss Black, she usually has free rein of the Midnight Menagerie, as she is known to the occupants from the prostitutes to the whips ( the officers, so to speak), but tonight is different. From Hawke cheating her out of her bounty, to him forbidding her to enter the garden. 

Stubborn, reckless, and a non-believer of that crappy thing called magic, Cherry gets into all sorts of trouble, from facing ruin in the eyes of London Above's society, hunting down killers, fighting possessions from spirits who wants her body, dealing with her increasing addiction, and getting into debts from the Night Veil.

It is not a pretty story, I hope there will be a happy ending. 

The characters are interesting with their many facets. I respect Cherry's determination and I understand why she needs her laudanum, but the increasing amount she's taken and then graduating to opium  kind of makes me want to smack her. And then her dismissive behavior towards magic and how self-absorb she is of Hawke's efforts to save her from herself and the Night Veil makes me want to smack her some more. One would say it is the drugs, but still. 

No one is quite evil (except for the Night Veil and even then not really), no one is quite good (our heroine is a drug-addict for God's sake) and the society both above and below demands their pound of flesh from you. 

As the books progressed, relationships wither and prosper, bonds are forged and torn apart, presumptions blown away, integrity dwindles, love lost and (hopefully) found again, honor shattered and glued back together again.

The chemistry between Hawke and Cherry is AMAZING. You can practically feel it sizzle between them and Hawke is such an interesting character. You don't know whether he is good or bad, but you can tell that he tries to spare Cherry from the clutches of the Night Veil, but Cherry is frustratingly dense, making his efforts in protecting her null and void. 

Anyhow,  I gave these books a proper 4.5/5 stars. 

I LOVED IT and I will reread it again and again. 

Book talk: Karen Mahoney's Falling to Ash

Summary

You can't choose your family . . . living or dead

Trapped between two very different worlds, newly made vampire Moth is struggling to find her place in either. Not only does she have to answer to her strict Irish-Catholic Dad, but her over-protective maker, 

Theo, is intent on making her the star attraction in his powerful Boston vampire clan. Moth will have to pull off the double-act of the century to please both of them . . .

Adding to her problems is the dangerously attractive Jason Murdoch, a trainee vampire hunter who loves to play cat and mouse in his spare time (Jace = cat; Moth = mouse). But when the young and gorgeous teenagers of Boston's wealthiest families start to disappear, it forces Moth and Jace into an uneasy truce. Will they be able to solve the mystery behind the disappearances - before someone winds up undead?

Thoughts:

I really liked it!

Eventhough the writer creats its own twist in the original 'vampire lore' it keeps the important points, e.g they're dead, they are violent and they do drink human blood. Yes, no vegetarians or sparkling here people. Move along.

Anyway, the story tells us of Marie who in the start of the novel has already been turned into a vampire by way of her Maker, Theo who is also a Master of his own House. The prologue of the book tells us how he changed her and it is violent and dark and painful. As it should be. Take that Twilight!

As is custom when turned you pick a new name, your vampire name, a new name that has no trace of your old life. Marie chose Moth.

Due to her transformation and how it had occurred strained the relationship between Moth and Theo though it is clear that there is a bond there outside of Maker and Childe. The angst and tension between them is delightful.

But the creation of Moth is somewhat of a problem for Theo because he has not been given permission to turn her by the Head of all Vampire houses. Theo did in fact turned her because he lost control 'in the head of the moment' if you know what I mean and nearly drank her to death. Rather than killing her, he turned her.

She was nineteen at the time. And now,she will always look nineteen.

Theo's lost of control is not a good quality to have as a Head of a House, it shows weakness. So Solomon, the great poobah of all Vamps said "give me the head of Murdoch, the vampire hunter who has vexed me so cruelly and I will not kill you and your childe. You have one week."

I like Moth. She's practical, she's funny, she's kick ass and she actually thinks before she speaks. But you know, she grew up with a drunk father and when you do, you kind of learn how to judge the mood and your surroundings. She's not brooding although she does have her dark moments and she makes the best of who and what she is.

One of the things that I like about this book is her relationship with her sister, Caitlin. Her fierceness when her sister was in danger.

And I find it hilarious and kind of sad that Caitlin struggles to keep her family together including to have a family dinner with her drunk father and vampire sister. Oh, and the other human sister.

Then there is Jace, Murdoch's son who is also a vampire hunter. I was intrigued that one of Theo's test for Moth was to fight Jace (he wrapped her up in silver chains and she broke his leg). Despite the fighting and the fact that they were supposed to kill each other there's a connection there. And when revanants kept popping out all over the place (and those people are actually known to Mother) both Jace and Moth actually worked together to find out what was going on.

As if having Theo in her life wasn't enough of a headache, Moth is also attracted to Jace and vice versa.

Theo is the typical politicking, Master of the house vampire, he is imperious, he is powerful, seriously hot, intelligent, stubborn and brooding. I kind of hope to see more of Theo as a Master vampire but since Moth is only just entering the vampire world, we don't get to see him in action. Although Solomon himself did say that Theo would be the heir to his throne once he ascends to a higher seat which says something about Theo's status (and Moth's as association). When it came to Moth he is protective and there are some undercurrents in their relationship that intrigues me. It is clear that Moth isn't just food to him, and also isn't a one night stand. He calls her anamchara which is Gaelic for soul friend or in this case soulmate.

And I love that he means that literally. Because in this world the mythology of being able to turn a human into vampire is to give them a piece of your soul. So not all vampires can turn a human, and they don't do it willy nilly.

There isn't much world-building but the book does stay true to the mythology. The vampires drink human blood (from bags and from vein), they are dead, they have no reflection and they exist in secret.

The story is good, the plot is good, the pacing is a bit off and there are bits and pieces that seems to be dump in randomly, but the characters keep me going.

Reading Next:

BookTalk: Jennifer Lynn Barnes' Every Other Day

Summary:

Every other day, Kali D’Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She argues with her father. She’s human.

And then every day in between . . . she’s something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her, and unfortunately she’ll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive . . . and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

Thoughts:

Jennifer Lynn Barnes like Maggie Stiefvater is one of those writers that write interesting books that I just can't seem to dive into. 

I like the idea of this book and the interesting preternatural creatures, especially the original use of chupacabras but either than that I'm not really immerse in the world building. 

There were no surprises for me, no twists, as I read I'm rewriting all over the place to make the plot a little more interesting for me.

I like that the three main characters are actually girls with characters so different from each other, and I like reading them together. 

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY?  WHY DOES MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS ALWAYS DIE. Well, that was sad.

I enjoyed the book, the story-line was okay and the pacing also was okay. I just wished the twist would have been more unpredictable. It probably would have been if I cared a little bit more about the characters but since I did I was like, "huh, that happened" without being shocked or feeling what the main character must have felt. 

Although I like the characters, I didn't connect with them and that was a bummer.

I'm not interested enough about this book to read book 2. 

Wait, will there be a book 2?

am reading next:

Book Talk: Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys

Summary:

There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him."

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Thoughts:

Hm, the summary is kind of misleading for there isn't much romance in this book. Which I like.  Anyway, The Raven Boys is book one of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Cycle series. 

It kind of has everything: family drama, romance, intrigue, friendship, bromance, supernatural bits, mythical lore, murder...am I leaving something out? Nope, yeah, I think that's it.

It certainly has an interesting plot and world building and characters but--

I have no idea why but Maggie Stiefvater's books never really got to me. I tried to read them but I just can't seem to immerse myself in them, so I picked up this book with some trepidation.

But, hey, I liked it.

It wasn't epic for me but I liked it.

Honestly, eventhough I should actually love the story because it has all the elements that I love I think her writing style doesn't mesh well with me, I liked the characters but I didn't love them. I couldn't relate to them, I couldn't lose myself in their lives and in their stories. I laughed and sympathize but my emotions weren't involved.

It's a well written book, and the characters are appealing and I will read the second book but I don't think I will be rereading the book anytime soon.

what I'm reading next

Book Talk: The Lynburn's Legacy's Jared Lynburn

“She’s funny and she’s—she’s kind.” 

-Jared about Kami in The Spring Before I Met You 

At first I didn’t really get what made a catch appear in my throat just with that short sentence from Jared. Then I realized it was the word “kind”, how he used the word ‘kind’ to describe her. The way he hesitates to find the words.

It’s something that I’ve been noticing lately, that when we describe people that we know, we use the words ‘funny, smart, witty, okay, adorable’ when we actually like the person, but think about it, we rarely use the word ‘kind’.

Why?

Because kindness is something that you take for granted, something that, for fortunate people-I suppose I am one of those people-are treated with kindness by family members and friends. It is something that you expect, so when I’m being treated in a respectful and kind manner, I don’t really take note of it anymore, unless I am expecting something the opposite or when I am meeting someone for the first time.

People who do, are usually the ones who are in short supply of kind people in their lives.

So, Jared describing Kami as kind is heartbreaking for me. For a teenager no less, to appreciate kindness in such a way…it makes my heart go ‘waaaa’ and I just want to hug him.