WW28: CHEMICKAL MARRIAGE

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering: Chemickal Marriage by G.W. Dahlquist

Miss Temple sniffed. "He went to Parchfeldt."

God, that must be the blandest of sentences in the written history of mankind! But, since I haven't read this book yet, I couldn't really offer you better....

About Chemickal Marriage:

The thrilling first instalment of Dahlquit's fantastical adventure series, following on from The Glass Book Of The Fream Eaters and The Dark Volume.


Miss Temple, young, wealthy and far away from home, never wanted to be a heroine. Yet her fiancé is dead (admittedly, by her own hand), her companions slain and her nemesis, the terrifyingly wicked Contessa Lacquer-Sforza, escaped. It falls on her tiny shoulders to destroy a deadly cabal whose alchemy threatens to enslave the world. Miss Temple plots her revenge.

But Dr Svenson and Cardinal Chang are alive, barely - their bodies corrupted by the poisonous blue glass. Wounded and outnumbered, Miss Temple, Dr Svenson and Cardinal Chang pursue their enemies through city slums and glittering palaces as they fight to prevent the cabal's crushing dominion and unholy marriage between man and machine.

An assassin, an heiress and a surgeon against the world's most unholy evil - the stage is set for a final battle. . .in an adventure like no other.

Source: Info in the About Kiss The Dead was taken from Penguin's website at http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780670921638,00.html?strSrchSql=The+Chemickal+Marriage*/The_Chemickal_Marriage_G._W._Dahlquist on 26/06/2012.

Review: THIS CASE IS GONNA KILL ME

This Case Is Gonna Kill Me by Phillipa Bornikova
Read by Therese Plummer
Book 1 of Linnet Ellery series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: paperback, audiobook

About This Case Is Gonna Kill Me:

What happens when The Firm meets Anita Blake? You get the Halls of Power—our modern world, but twisted. Law, finance, the military, and politics are under the sway of long-lived vampires, werewolves, and the elven Alfar. Humans make the best of rule by “the Spooks,” and contend among themselves to affiliate with the powers-that-be, in order to avoid becoming their prey. Very loyal humans are rewarded with power over other women and men. Very lucky humans are selected to join the vampires, werewolves, and elves—or, on occasion, to live at the Seelie Court.

Linnet Ellery is the offspring of an affluent Connecticut family dating back to Colonial times. Fresh out of law school, she’s beginning her career in a powerful New York “white fang” law firm. She has high hopes of eventually making partner.

But strange things keep happening to her. In a workplace where some humans will eventually achieve immense power and centuries of extra lifespan, office politics can be vicious beyond belief. After some initial missteps, she finds herself sidelined and assigned to unpromising cases. Then, for no reason she can see, she becomes the target of repeated, apparently random violent attacks, escaping injury each time through increasingly improbable circumstances. However, there’s apparently more to Linnet Ellery than a little old-money human privilege. More than even she knows. And as she comes to understand this, she’s going to shake up the system like you wouldn’t believe….

Source: Info in the About This Case Is Gonna Kill Me was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9736493-this-case-is-gonna-kill-me on 18/10/2012.

My Thoughts:

The Narration:
I am not fond of books with too long a title. If this book didn't have Therese Plummer's name attached to it, I would never have bought it. I am obviously an old Therese Plummer fan, that usually means that the narrator would rate a 5 out of 5 even before I started listening to the audiobook. But I have learned that nice though her voice is, she is the kind of reader who is not for all genres. I don't think her personality fits this book at all. I find Therese Plummer's too soft-hearted-seeming voice to fit a bespectacled librarian more, than a kick-ass lawyer. Or it could also be that I've listened to her as Aurora "Roe" Teagarden too long and my brain associates her voice with Roe already, that it is having a hard time switching from Roe to Linnet. Or more likely, I do not agree with her interpretation of this book. Nevertheless, her voice is still as nice as it ever was so although I cannot give her a 5 out of 5 anymore with this book, I cannot give her a less than 4 either.

The Book:
The world building is fantastic! I would love to read more of Linnet's world! It got all my favourite fantasy elements in it. Vampires, werewolves and elves with ipads and smartphones! Hah! Can't beat that combined with fantastic story telling quality!! Though I admit it kinda started slow for me that I abandoned it after chapter one and picked up another book.

[Image Credit: Lintufriikk]

But it did pick up and it was smashing fights and impossible odds and running for their lives until the end. Fab! I have one complaint though, the fight scenes are not very realistic.

So an elf and a werewolf were duking it out mano-mano and the werewolf does not use his sharp claws on his enemy to draw blood?

That scene is not very likely. And that is not the only close-combat fight scene that needed polishing up. But I choose to ignore those little nitpicking issues given the wonderful listening time I got out of the book. And at the end of it, I enjoyed this book and wondering when the second Linnet Ellery book is gonna come out...?

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = N/A (9 hrs and 22 mins listening time)
Plot = 4.5
Narrator = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Mr. Mailman: LORD OF THE ABYSS

A huge THANK YOU to Nalini Singh for hosting the "Ten Year Anniversary Celebration Giveaway #6" which made it possible for me to win a copy of Lord Of The Abyss by Nalini Singh! And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Nalini Singh!!

Couldn't wait to find it in my mail!! *big smile* This wait is worth another Mr. Mailman feature!

About Mr. Mailman:

Mr. Mailman is a kind of "blog meme" started by Juju over at Tales Of Whimsy to feature books which one is anxiously waiting to arrive in the mail!

Lord Of The Abyss by Nalini Singh
Book 4 of the Royal House of Shadows series

About Lord Of The Abyss:

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who’d cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.

Source: Info in the About Lord Of The Abyss was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10802904-lord-of-the-abyss on 24/10/2012.

WW28: APOCALYPSE

WW28
A chance to showcase your favourite!

• First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
• Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
• Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering: Apocalypse by Dean Crawford

"He's under arrest for illegal discharge of firearm," the cop protested.

Wonder who is getting arrested, the good guys or the bad guys...

About Apocalypse:

A private Learjet filled with scientists travels across the ocean toward Miami. As it passes through the Bermuda Triangle, strange effects disturb the instruments and violent weather envelops the aircraft until it plummets out of control and vanishes without trace from air-traffic radars. In Miami, Sheriff Kyle Sears arrives at a murder scene. A woman and her daughter have both been shot through the head. But while Sears is still on the scene he receives a phonecall from the woman's husband. With uncanny accuracy, he predicts the immediate future just as it unfolds around Sears, before revealing that he, too, will be murdered within twenty-four hours. The man gives him the name of someone he must contact. It is Ethan Warner. As Ethan Warner and his partner Nicola Lopez race to investigate, they are thrown into the centre of a mind-boggling plot to blow a hole in the space-time continuum.

Source: Info in the About Apocalypse was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16064351-apocalypse on 20/10/2012.

Review: LOVE IN THE TIME OF DRAGONS

Love In The Time Of Dragons by Katie MacAlister
Book 1 of the Light Dragons series

Genre: adult urban fantasy

About Love In The Time Of Dragons:

When it comes to love, one woman is scaling back her expectations...

Tully Sullivan is just like any other suburban mom-except she's just woken up in a strange place surrounded by strange people who keep insisting that they're dragons-and that she's one too.

Source: Info in the About Love In The Time Of Dragons was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6614238-love-in-the-time-of-dragons on 17/04/2011.

Review:

I picked up this book merely because I liked its cover. And it was on sale at Asda's. And it got dragons in it. But when I got home and read the synopsis at the back, my interest waned... so the book stayed in the TBR bookcase for months on end... I guess I'm not much fan of the "urban girl denial queen"... However when I finally read it, it was wonderful! The book had me bursting out in laughter... turning pages quickly... the character development is masterful... but then again, I love alpha heroes. Until I got about halfway through and the holes in the story started to become apparent. The plot just about killed everything! It's so weak and silly it dragged the entire book down. It is exasperating to realize as you read through the book. Overall, I can't really give this book a 1 since the author's voice is very good, but I found the story too insubstantial, so I'd settle for a 3 out of 5.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 4.5
Character Development = 4.5
World Building = 3
Plot = 1
Pace = 3.5
Ending = 2.5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

Review: CEREMONY IN DEATH

Ceremony In Death by JD Robb
Book 5 of the In Death series
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
Genre: SciFi murder mystery, police investigation, crime fiction
Format: paperback, audiobook

About Ceremony In Death:

Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics before personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own sense of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil.

©2006 J. D. Robb; (P)2006 Brilliance Audio

Source: Info in the About Ceremony In Death was taken from Audible at http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B004FTI4C8&qid=1331164309&sr=1-1 on 07/03/2012.

Review:

I like the way Susan Ericksen changes her voice and/or change her accent to fit the character! My appreciation was probably made keener by having to put up with a narrator who was okay, but I wasn't very fond of, reading the first three books in this series. I don't agree with all of her interpretations but I still like her better than the previous narrator... However I belatedly realized that the edition I bought was an abridged one. They took off chunks off the story which made the story discordant and confusing. Luckily I got the paperback to fill in the gaps. I would never recommend the abridged audiobook to anybody. It's a waste of time and money! So I had to download the unabridged version from audible and pay up the full price because I did not want to wait for a CD to be mailed through the post. Anyway, I like the layering of the plot with this book. I think this is the thickest layering of plot thus far. Multiple bad guys and motive from different angles. Awesome! I just have one tiny, itty, bitty issue with the plot... there was a tiny hole in it. But I am willing to overlook that and say that this is the best book yet in this series thus far.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 4.5
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 3
Pace = N/A (9 hrs & 40 mins)
Plot = 4.5
Narrator = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

In The Mail: THE BLOOD KEEPER

This is what Mr. Mailman brought me today!

The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton
Book 2 of The Blood Journals series
Genre: urban fantasy

About The Blood Keeper:

For Mab Prowd, the practice of blood magic is as natural as breathing. It's all she's ever known. Growing up on an isolated farm in Kansas with other practitioners may have kept her from making friends her own age, but it has also given her a sense of purpose—she's connected to the land and protective of the magic. And she is able to practice it proudly and happily out in the open with only the crows as her companions. Mab will do anything to keep the ancient practice alive and guard its secrets. But one morning while she is working out a particularly tricky spell she encounters Will, a local boy who is trying to exorcise some mundane personal demons. He experiences Mab's magic in a way his mind cannot comprehend and is all too happy to end their chance meeting. But secrets that were kept from Mab by the earlier generations of blood magicians have come home to roost. And she and Will are drawn back together, time again by this dangerous force looking to break free from the earth and reclaim its own dark power.

Source: Info in the About The Blood Keeper was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12476341-the-blood-keeper on 18/10/2012.

THANK YOU to Jolene of the Sights And Sounds for hosting the BLOODY AMAZING BOOK GIVEAWAY!!! which made it possible for me to win a copy of The Blood Keeper by Tessa Gratton received!!

Review: THE HOST

The Host by Stephanie Meyer
Book 1 of The Host series
Narrated by Kate Reading
Format: hardback, audiobook
Genre: scifi/fantasy

About The Host:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

Source: Info in the About The Host was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1656001.The_Host on 09/04/2012.

Review:

I bought the paperback edition of The Host a few years ago, but I just couldn't get into it. I couldn't get past the first chapter or so until I finally gave up and gave my copy away. However when I saw the audiobook format for download from the library, I thought that here is my chance to cheat and finish the book, finally. Of course lately I also saw that it is to come out as a movie next year. Hopefully by then I would have forgotten most of the book enough for me to enjoy the movie instead of sitting there playing critique.

I think the best feature of this book is the world building. It is massively beautiful! It insinuates into your mind and it stays with you long after you have read the book. Then I felt cranky after reading the book because I was left looking for another book to read with the same level of masterful beauty!!

I like Kate Reading's interpretation. It gave the story a certain flavour that I like. Her voice is not as mesmerizing as Therese Plummer or Alyssa Bresnahan but it is not as grating as Cristine McMurdo-Wallis either. Plus her diction is good. The words are clear and distinct. However, I did not like the way she gave her reading a question mark "up-tilt" at the end of her sentences even though they are not questions.

The story telling quality is not very compelling though. This is an audiobook, right? But I still find myself stopping and needing little breaks from it. This gave the book a feeling that it is considerably longer than the 23hours that the audiobook is suppose to be. And like I said, it took me a long time to get into this book even with the audiobook version. However once I got across the halfway mark, the pace did pick up and it went faster and faster specially towards the end. The plot also has little holes in it which were worthy of an "eye-rolling" disbelief moments. Having said that, I did like the ending and cannot wait for the next book in the series!!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 3.5
Story itself = 3
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (23 hours and 6 minutes listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Author Link(s):
Stephanie Meyer
Book Link(s):
GoodReads
Movie Link(s)::
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Movie Release Date: 29 March 2013
Movie Trailer:

Thank you to the RCT Library for letting me borrow this book (both digital audiobook and hardback editions).

FTC Disclosure:
This book was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.