The Fallen Vampire

I was given the arc copy of this fantastic book and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is my honest review of the book and I'm genuinely excited about the next installment.

The concept was thrilling and unique. It seemed to fuse two of my favorite YA genres, Dystopian and Fantasy. The world Beata created was so intriguing and exciting and I honestly found myself emersed in the book. I read the whole book in one sitting. It's currently four thirty in the morning and I just finished it.

I cannot wait to see what the first book is like. This was just the prequel and it was amazing and my expectations for book 1 is quite high. I want to learn more about this world and understand the control the Cloud Lords have on humans, I want to understand these creatures and their working. 

From the very first chapter, I could see the potential of this book. We started off in this world where a lot of things were forbidden and many basic rights were stripped away. Finding a character who not only has the guts to be different but also challenge the norms is what makes a book amazing.

The book was packed with fantasy but also spoke to the typical teenage aspect of life. In many fantasy books, they make the characters mature and above normal teenage drama but Chloe did feel what most teenagers do. That made it more impactful.

As a reader, I found it hard to not love a character as compassionate as Chloe. She saves the life of the dog that was hunting her. She saves the life of the Vampirii who could possibly kill her. I do think that her relationship with Wayne is a little toxic but that makes for a great story. I'm not the biggest fan of Wayne. I get where he's coming from but he couldn't be that blind. He has to know how Chloe feels about him and yet he is so careless with her heart.

Then there was the scene where we first see Aethan and then those Drakonin Dragon Shifters arrived. I loved the way Chloe faced the situation, she did not cower in front of her gods. It was courageous of her to protect Aethan even though he himself was a Could Lord, who could possibly kill her. I did love Morgriss though, I think if we see him again, he'd make the story interesting. He seems to be a human lover, so maybe, Chloe, Aethan, and Morgriss can unite their worlds.

Now, moving on to the connection. Is there a chance that the connection is a mating bond, you know like most vampires have. I'm interested in finding out more about it. And I'm super excited to see their relationship flourish when he's awake, oh and I would love to see her move on from Wayne.

I would love to see all of them evolve in the next book, especially Chloe considering she finally gets to live in a world where she won't have to conform to such strict norms. I'm excited to see how Beata builds this world and I'm most excited about meeting Aethan.

Please check out the book on amazon by clicking on The Fallen Vampire by Beata Blitz

Wayfarer

Let's start with the fact, I took notes. There were so many things I loved about this book and it kept me on my toes every second of the journey.

Starting the new year with a perfect book. Last year, Passenger made my reading year and this was an amazing continuation. It took me a while to ride the time traveler train again but as soon as I remembered all the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how she ended the book. It literally was the best thing ever. HEA with a little bit extra! I was kind of confused when I started reading the book since it's been so long since I read Passenger. I kind of forgot who Alice was, yeah, I'm ashamed. When Nick was trying to find Etta, it kind of felt like they were going in circles. I kept screaming at one of them to stay put but the whole thing did pan out well. Since they were apart, we got to see so much more of the timeline. We got to experience so much and honestly, it made the book epic. But despite this, every time they almost run into each other and were still so far apart, it broke my heart. The earring thing was so satisfying. Even though they were so far apart, they were connected by earrings. I loved Sophia in this book. She was such a great character. You could see her strength and yet see how vulnerable she was. I love the friendship she developed with Nick. Now, getting to Henry, he was amazing. I was so happy that Etta finally had a parent who loved her. At the end of the book, we do find out Rose was only doing what she had to so, I don't blame her. But seeing Etta with Henry was satisfying. Reading about her inner dilemma regarding Henry was heartbreaking. And seeing how Henry reacted every time she pulled away from him was hurtful. I was a little hesitant about him at first though. The timing was too perfect. He showed up right when she was all alone and he was the leader of the Thornes. In addition, we didn't really read anything nice about him in the first book. But every time my mind told me to be cautious, my heart said, trust him. I loved the scene where she plays the violin again, he was such a typical proud dad that it brought tears to my eyes. I was so glad when Julian came into the picture. I wanted Nick to be absolved of all the guilt he carried. And loved the scene when Etta went all Hulk on him. He was such a prissy idiot at first. What kind of an idiot makes a person with a hurt shoulder row a boat? But he was a great companion. He had the same effect on me as Sophia. I loved his character development though. After losing his grandmother, he becomes such a great dependable guy. That's why I love this book, it manages to redeem characters, Rose, Sophia, Julian, hell even Nick after the deal he made in the last book. Now, I have to say, I'm pissed at Li Min for lying to Nick about Etta. That caused so much heartbreak on Nick's half. It pissed me off how she could do that after forming a friendship with them. She was such a great character but I was still pissed. I feel bad for Nick and Sophia. They kept getting tricked and trapped. Their adventure was amazing but they also kept getting in trouble. Li Min, the old man, and most importantly, Belladonna. Their journey was interesting and exciting but despite that, it hurt to see them go through so much. Now, Belladonna. I killed me when Nick made the deal with her 'cause I knew he'd regret it sooner or later but the way it turned out, I have to say my mind was blown. I cannot believe how amazing it was. The last battle was perfect. When we heard the myth about the original traveler, I knew she was the lost sister and I expected a showdown between her and the shadow but I never expected her to plan on doing what she did. How does the timeline go on when the travelers are not part of their original timeline? In the end, the scene with the ancient one was so intense. I nearly jumped with joy when the Grandfather died but when Rose was hurt, my heart broke for Etta and Henry. They finally had her back, finally understood her and then lost her. On top of that, Nick destroyed the Astrolabe and that pissed me off. What if something happened to Rose? I mean thank god all that happened was her losing her voice. But seeing Etta all alone was awful. It pissed me off that Nick could do that to her, I knew why he had to do it but it still hurt, And when we found out it was Belladonna's plan all along to turn Nick into the Astrolabe, I was befuddled. That left me with an important question. Is Nick immortal? What would happen when he died? Now, jumping to the future, I have to say it was a perfect scene. I loved that as she played, she caught sight of her parents, of Henry, at the edge of his seat, of Rose, proud of her. And I loved when she caught sight of Nicholas, such a perfect end. I love that she went to see her mother in the past. I think that must have paid a monumental part in keeping Rose sane throughout everything she went through even though no one believed her. I have to say, Wayfarer was a perfect book to start the new year with. Reviews for rest of the series: Passenger Wayfarer

Windwitch

So, Windwitch, a book I'd been dying to read all year finally came out and I have to say, I loved it.

Last year I picked up Truthwitch right when it came out and with every page that I read, I loved it even more. And even though I picked it up right after I finished Wayfarer, another great book, I found myself sucked into it. I was so excited to read Merik's

And even though this book skipped on most of my favorite things from the last book, I still loved it. I am going to warn you that from here on, there will be spoilers.

"Fool brother Filip led blind brother Daret
deep into the black cave.
He knew that inside it, the Queen Crab resided
but that didn’t scare him away.

Said blind brother Daret to fool brother Filip,
does Queen Crab no longer reign?
I have heard she is vicious, and likes to eat fishes.
It’s best we avoid her domain.

Answered fool Filip to his brother small,
have I not always kept you safe?
I know what I’m doing, for I’m older than you,
and I’ll never lead you astray.”

That song was such an integral part of Merik's part of the story. I liked the scenes but they were really dark and intense, we got to see a different side of him, a bitter side. But that allowed him to develop in an unexpected way.

And the best part was having Vivia's point of view. From the very first scene we got from her, I knew that she didn't have him attacked. I could totally understand her perspective and it enraged me how someone could do that. She was more capable than Merik and more qualified and yet they completely disregarded her when they gave Merik the Admiral's title. Again, I love Merik and I know it wasn't his fault but it made me angry that he couldn't see that.

She honestly was a better candidate than him and the moment he realized that, I jumped with joy. We could finally have them on the same page, on the same side. When he realizes that Vivia was never his attacker and that she was just trying to protect their kingdom made me love him again.

“Why do you hold a razor in one hand?
So men remember that I am sharp as any edge.
And why do you hold broken glass in the other?
So men remember that I am always watching.” 

Moving on the the Fury thing, it broke my heart a little every time someone looked at him and didn't recognize him, so, when Vivia knew at first glance who he was, I was so happy. In the end, we got to see them develop and form a sort of relationship they should've had before.

And, also, Merik was such a jerk in this book. I get that he went through so much. Lost his thread brother (you know what I mean) and Safi (he thought she was dead) and then had someone kill him! Despite all this, I wish he was better towards Cam. She was such a great person regardless of her part in the attack on the Jana, which she was unaware about, she was always there for Merik.

Now, Safi. She was my favorite character in the last book and although I still admire her and love reading about her, I kind of wish we got to see more of her and Iseult. Their friendship makes this story way better and I'm glad we got that one little scene in the end. I'll get to Iseult later, I'd like to discuss Safi's escapades first.

“I told you, Hell-Bard. Everyone lies. It's in the way we banter with our friends. It's in the mundane greetings we give passersby. It's in the most meaningless things we do every single moment of every single day. Hundreds upon thousands of tiny, inconsequential lies.” 

I loved some of her scenes with the Hell-Bards but my favorites were her scenes with Vaness. Now that was some good girl power. I love that in the end, she gave Safi a choice and although I'm scared that she'll end up going to Cartorra and have to face the Emperor. If she does, I'm interested in seeing how she kicks his ass!

Can I be honest, I'm scared something will happen between her and Caden. I have come to like Caden but I love her and Merik. I don't want them to split, even though they both think the other is dead. I'm a little unclear about if Merik thinks Safi is dead but Safi thinks Merik is dead. And I don't want something to happen with her and Caden. I want Safi and Merik to find each other and I want Caden to be free of the Emperor and be his own person, not someone else's person.

Finally coming to my favorite characters in this book, Aeduan and Iseult!

Every scene they had together was amazing, their adventure together was amazing. I love that Aeduan starts to care about Owl. That was amazing. It brought out a side of Aeduan I did not expect and then what Iseult did was amazing. I know it was horrible when she cleaved that man but it was epic.

“Run, my child, run.” 

I loved getting to know Aeduan. We learned a little about his childhood with the constant flashback to that event from his childhood and we got to know him. This finally allowed us to understand him and love him.

In the dream sequence with Esme, my mind was filled with ideas, especially when Aeduan said that one of them is the Cahr Awen. I knew it was definitely Iseult. Maybe Esme is the other one considering how similar their powers are and how she can dream walk into Iseults sleep.

I made a note while reading of my assumptions at the point where Esme shows Iseult how to cleave. I thought that either she or Esme would bring Kullen back, which did happen!

Esme brought Kullen back and is working for Ragnor and he is trying capture Marstok and Nubrevna. Esme is probably controlling Kullen and since she can uncleave so can Iseult.

I'm assuming that Merik and Iseult run into each other and she tells him about Safi being alive (if he doesn't know about it yet) and of course she tells Safi too. But I know that's too easy. I also think that after dropping Owl off at the monastery, she and Aeduan are going to make their way toward Safi and run into Merik. I also think that because of her and Esme's bond, she may be able to help uncleave Merik.

I also expect that because of their bond, she might be able to get Esme to flips sides.

I can't stop my mind from wandering all over theorizing what could happen and it kills me that I have to wait an entire year but at least I get some amazing books this year to clench my thirst. Both of Sarah J. Maas's series are ending and Lord of Shadows is coming out this year and I cannot wait, neither can I wait for Bloodwitch!

Reviews for rest of the series:

Truthwitch

Windwitch

Bloodwitch (Awaiting Release)

Threadwitch (Hopefully) (Awaiting Release)

Passenger

Holy Shit! It was amazing.

So, I read it last year right when it came out and although it took me a while to get into it, once I was in, there was no coming out. I loved the way each character developed and how you could understand Nicholas and sympathize with him even in the midst of his motives.

The most interesting part was the time travel across. This was different from the only other time travel book I have read, Ruby Red. The way the passages worked was interesting and seeing how Etta, someone who grew up without the knowledge of this world, dealt with it gave us a way to understand it, 'cause we were as new to that world as her. She is so sophisticated and it didn't feel like I was reading from the perspective of an eighteen-year-old. 

The book took us through so many time periods and it was quite interesting reading about how they interacted with people from the past and how everything played out. Oh and the whole musical aspect of it, fantastic. The differences in this from the regular time travel were astounding. You couldn't choose when and where you wanted to go, each passage was a gateway of sorts to another time and another place. On top of that, you couldn't jump to another date either. For example, you could go from present day, suppose 16 January in Japan to Italy on 16th January 1920. If you wanted to go to suppose 8 December 1920, you'd have to wait for the time to come naturally.
PS. That was not an example from the book itself.

Etta's scenes with Alice in the past was heart warming. It's hard to loose someone you love and to have the opportunity to see them again is something you can only dream about. But it's not always a good thing because you will eventually return to a time where they don't exist and there is nothing you can do to change that. I keep wondering how hard it must've been for them to not change the past.

Now, moving on to Nicholas. His childhood really upset me. The way his family, if could call them that, treated him was awful. I hated seeing people get discriminated for their skin color and to experience the story from a standpoint where that is norm was horrifying. I loved Etta for telling him about a world where men and women of all colors are equal, our world.

As the story went on, I started developing a hatred towards Rose for putting in that situation. For making her feel so helpless and for putting her through what I would describe as hell. Now that I have read the second book, my opinions are a little different but for the entirety of the first book kind of hated her.

The search for the astrolabe was so much fun to witness. The places we saw, the people we met, it was all fantastic.

I can say this with certainty that I will never like Grandfather. He is an egotistical, sexist, racist, and supremacist idiot. There is nothing I hate more than a person he decides they can run someone else's life. We are all people and we have the right to choose and I want to punch Grandfather in the face for everything he's done.

Jumping to the end, I would like to say that watching Etta disappear almost brought me to tears. I couldn't describe how I felt in that moment but I remember being distraught. It took me a few days to come out of the slump because I was dying to flip through the second book.

And the second book did not disappoint.

Reviews for rest of the series:
Passenger
Wayfarer