Review: FATE'S EDGE

Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews
Book 3 of The Edge Novels


About Fate's Edge:

Audrey Callahan left behind her life in the Edge, and she's determined to stay on the straight and narrow. But when her brother gets into hot water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades...

Kaldar Mar - a gambler, lawyer, thief, and spy - expects his latest assignment tracking down a stolen item to be a piece of cake, until Audrey shows up. But when the item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal, Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job, he's going to need Audrey's help...

Source: Info in the About Fate's Edge was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10561549-fate-s-edge on 07/12/2011.

Review:

This book for some reason did not "feel" as good as the last two books in this series. I think it might have been because I am not Kaldar's biggest fan. Secondly, I got spoilt with the wonderful quality of previous books, therefore I could have been unrealistically expecting too much and got disappointed. However, despite my high expectations and all, I still enjoyed this book very much! I finished it within a day and I'm not a quick reader so that is saying something. I think that shows us just how compelling the story telling quality is of this husband and wife dou author!

My favouritest part of this book however is that I got to revisit much-loved characters which I have missed in Book 2 because they didn't get to be mentioned a lot like they were in this book! But now I got to read about Jack, George and Gaston again! Yey!! Can't wait for the next book so that I could read more of them!!

Overall, I would rate this book as a 4 out of 5.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Other Book(s) In This Series:


Thank you to Penguin for the review copy of Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews received.

Review: BAYOU MOON

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Book 2 of the Edge series

Genre: urban fantasy romance

About Bayou Moon:

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

Source: Info in the About Bayou Moon was taken from the author's website at http://www.ilona-andrews.com/books/bayou-moon/ on 26/12/2010.

My Thoughts:
Superb story telling quality as per usual with Ilona Andrews. Book is relatively quick to read despite the fact that the book feels thick for a paperback (462 pages). The main female protagonist is a real kick-ass chick with her head screwed on right. No irritating stupidity there. Then I get to revisit some beloved characters which is always a plus. And of course it has a happily-ever-after (HEA) ending. Well, all the books I read usually have HEAs, probably got something to do with how I choose a book ;) ...so we know it's HEA anyway... but, it is how they get there and how the HEA happened that makes a difference... and Ilona Andrews tends to deliver with a flair... I like that!!

What I don't really get though is the title. The "Bayou" bit I could understand seeing that 90% of the story happened in a swamp. A swamp, mind you, which none of the characters ever called a "bayou", by the way. But the "Moon" bit... I could not relate to the story at all... maybe one of you readers could enlighten me... what the flippin' "Moon" in the title got to do with the story??

Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Other Book(s) In This Series:

I would like to thank Disney for hosting a contest which made is possible for me to get a copy of this book from the winnings! Then would you believe it, after I got the copy from Disney's, I won another copy from The Eclectic Reader! Thank you!!!

Review: ON THE EDGE

On The Edge by Ilona Andrews
Book 1 of the Edge series

Genre: urban fantasy romance

About On The Edge:

Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.

Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).

But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it . . .

Source: Info in the About On The Edge was taken from the author's website at  on 14/09/2010.

My Thoughts:
This is suppose to be book 1 of the Edge Novels but I think each of the Edge books can be read as stand alones as it seems that each book contains different sets of characters though all of them happens in the same world.

Like the Kate Daniels series which launched Ilona Andrew's writing career, this book also has the superb story telling quality with humor between the lines. The characters were masterfully weaved that they felt like old friends. My favouritest of them all is Jack with his too big paws and inability to resist chasing colorfull tails even if said tail is attached to a very dangerous animal indeed! Just gotta love that cuteness!! I just wish there is a follow up book which features Jack and his family... The ending was slightly predictable but I still enjoyed it. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a happy-ever-afters.

Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Ending = 4.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

MR. MAILMAN: A BRUSH OF DARKNESS & BAYOU MOON

A huge THANK YOU to:

• Satisfaction For Insatiable Readers for hosting a contest and making it possible for me to win A Brush Of Darkness by Allison Pang pre-order!!

• The Eclectic Reader for hosting a contest and making it possible for me to win Bayou Moon!

Couldn't wait to find these in my mail!! *big smile* This wait is worth another Mr. Mailman feature! A kind of "blog meme" started by Juju over at Tales Of Whimsy.

About Mr. Mailman:

Mr. Mailman is a feature Juju decided to try. Periodically when there is a book in route which she is anxiously hoping to find when she gets home to her mailbox - Juju would feature Mr. Mailman.

Mr. Mailman is a hybrid of Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine and In My Mailbox by the Story Siren. Please feel free to grab the logo and feature your Mr. Mailman request on your site. Please leave a link to your Mr. Mailman request in the comments at Tales Of Whimsy.

Source: Info in the About Mr. Mailman was pinched from Juju's blog, the Tales Of Whimsy, on 04/12/09.

A Brush Of Darkness by Allison Pang

I had a naked incubus in my bedroom. With a frying pan of half-cooked bacon and a hard-on. And a unicorn bite on his ass. Christ, this was turning out to be a weird morning.

Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and as sexy as sin incubus who shows up searching for his sister—and is convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invading her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As Abby is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, she realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://www.heartofthedreaming.com/books/ on 01/11/10.

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Edge Novels book 2

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…

Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.

But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.

When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.

Source: Info in the above synopsis was taken from the author's website at http://edge.ilona-andrews.com/books/bayou-moon/ on 31/10/10.