Despite the play on words for this story, a mystery in a small town that involves desert has all the best elements I can think of. But was it worth the read?
A poetry slam at a bakery? Why not! Even though Pie Town proprietor Val Harris would rather be spending time with her newfound half-brother, she knows her employee Abril is beyond excited to be hosting the event. Especially since it stars the apple pie of Abril’s eye, poet and professor Michael Starke. But the evening ends on a sour note when Professor Starke is found murdered mere moments after being accused of plagiarism.
Just like that, Pie Town is at the center of another criminal inquiry. At Abril’s request—and much to Detective Carmichael’s consternation—Val and Charlene decide to investigate Starke’s death. But the case is as tough as an overworked crust and the Baker Street Bakers are only coming up with scraps. If they don’t pinch the cultured killer soon, Pie Town’s reputation could crumble.
Loved this book! Found it when my library was giving a broken copy away but now I’m going to grab them all as soon as I can! It was witty, fun, mysterious and full of adventure. Loved the characters, and even though it was my first one of the series I didn’t feel like I missed a beat (though I will enjoy going back and reading about some of the before happenings).
Content: murder and violence (minor impact)
Would I Recommend This Book?
As you may have noticed from the rating and rave, I quite liked this book, so Yes, I would recommend it to read. Just keep in mind mature themes if you’re considering younger readers.
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Dark, grimy and elemental powers describes this one. If you want to see a dangerous prison, unexpected romance, ruling powers that have to be brought down (of course)… this is the one.
When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.
Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.” Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.
But no one has ever survived. With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.
Violence (graphic), gore (moderate), self harm (moderate), sexual assault/harassment (moderate), Child abuse (moderate), torture (graphic), confinement (graphic)
My Review
I was surprised at how much I actually loved this book. The entire plot centres around the elemental trials and life in this crazy dangerous prison. Our main characters are engaging, interesting and encircled by such an interesting world. The ending……. I went out and got the next two books on almost that alone. I GOTSTA know what happens next! Careful of content/trigger warnings (I will list below) but the author didn’t go tooooo far with those so just be aware.
Moderate violence/gore Mild sexual content Moderate kidnapping Moderate drug use
My Review
I loved seeing Kiva outside of the Zalendov context in this story. Her battle between loyalties was interesting and played out quite well. I was punched in the gut several times in this book – especially at the end.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug Use, Violence Moderate: Suicidal Thoughts, Death, Drug Abuse Minor: Death of a Parent, Torture, Domestic Abuse
My Review
Finally got some answers! Called some of it, didn’t call others. Rushed ending “big bad level” moment/s but ending was really satisfying. Characters were put through the ringer. I didn’t mind where we went and ended up. From a prison escape book, to a strategise overthrowing the throne book, to finally a quest book this series was really great and I’m almost sad to say goodbye to the characters.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Yes, so long as you have a good stomach for violence, some gore and some pretty dark topics and explorations.
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A heist crew that has incredibly high stakes and a lot of enemies closing in around them… this surprised me with how much I was expecting NOT to like it… but I didn’t expect this.
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .
A convict with a thirst for revenge.A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction–if they don’t kill each other first.
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Addiction Minor: Sexual Assault, Death of a Parent, Sexual Violence
My Review
Having this many POV can sometimes be a bit messy, but I think this was really well done. It added such incredible drama to the story, I love to jump in and out of people’s perspectives, plus when everybody in a heist is in a different spot as part of the team layout like this is necessary. I liked everyone. All the characters in their own ways were fantastic, they interacted with each other really well, and the plot moved forward with these character dynamics in mind. The actual heist/prison break itself was really well done. I enjoyed the setup, the planning, the execution, and everything in between. The magic system was quite good, it was a bit of a spin on the normal type of abilities you can see in people. I like the way that this particular system spun things, and I would love to see more.
I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first, but it was still a good story and conclusion after book one. I found it swayed a little and had less direction than the first book. The characters were still great, and I enjoyed seeing where everything landed at the end.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Yes, I would recommend both books in the series. I don’t have much interest in the world that surrounds it as Leigh continues on, but this one.. if you like an Oceans 11 feel with some fantasy thrown in, this one’s for you!
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Normally, villain origin stories feel like a pointless exercise – why can’t we just let bad guys be bad guys without trying to explain it away? This one, however, I actually found myself surprised and maybe considering that some stories might be interesting to tell…
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.
Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief Moderate: Body Shaming, Violence, Blood Minor: War, Suicide, Kidnapping
My Review
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but honestly with the exception of the inclusion of the three “sisters” (I genuinely have no clue why people like writing about those hags…. Yes offence to the hags intended) there wasn’t a whole ton of creepy magic so that was nice. (Some of my dislike of that is personal taste for reading, but I was happy to see minimal)
The love story was fun and the banter was great. I know we are reading the origin story of a villain (another phenomenon that I don’t understand why people like so much, but here I am reading one so… yup) but it still felt like it wasn’t until the end.
I was rooting for characters, liking the story, then BAM they hit me with creepy and I was annoyed. Ultimately, these fairytale retellings always feel the need to lean more into the creepy/evil but I was impressed that majority of this story didn’t so that.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Yes, I would still recommend this book (even keeping in mind the three witches that unnecessarily made an appearance).
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If you thought Shatter Me was a good series, this duology will scratch the itch and even though it’s a little different, sometimes different can be better… right? I think so 😛
For two years, six months, fourteen days, eleven hours and sixteen minutes, Subject Six-Eight-Four — ‘Jane Doe’ — has been locked away and experimented on, without uttering a single word.
As Jane’s resolve begins to crack under the influence of her new — and unexpectedly kind — evaluator, she uncovers the truth about Lengard’s mysterious ‘program’, discovering that her own secret is at the heart of a sinister plot … and one wrong move, one wrong word, could change the world.
Graphic: Panic Attacks, Confinement, Torture Moderate: Death of a Parent, Medical Trauma, Gaslighting Minor: Kidnapping, Blood, Violence
My Review
Wowie. This was a way better executed and altered version of Shatter Me. Obsessed. I loved this one – the only thing I could have done without was some more specifically described torture type scenes. Characters were great, development of those characters and how especially the main character, figured things out as we went was amazing. Loved the power element, always fun. Can’t wait to see it a bit more in action in the second book. Plot wise it was great. Similarities like I said above to Shatter Me, but with a much better execution. Enough differences to be it’s own story, and taking place in Sydney (nice touch), different dynamics and way less characters to keep track of. All that and more made this an action packed, easy to follow, quick to pace through and thoroughly enjoyable story.
Graphic: Death of a Parent, Confinement, Violence Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Terminal Illness Minor: Murder, Gun Violence, Torutre
My Review
Continuation of the story was great. Blindsided but at the same time knew it in my bones! There was a lot of internal dialogue and processing (sometimes of things that had already occurred… like we were rehashing things we had already not just witnessed but thought about as the reader) which was frustrating at times. A good deal of this book could easily be skimmed unlike the first one where everything was essential and riveting. Happy with it overall though.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Yes, I thought this was a great series, particularly if you like Shatter Me.
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Stories about heists are always a hit, just look at movies like Oceans 11 or The Sting… and books about heists are no exception. I LOVE a good heist story, so let’s look at some of the heist books I’ve read and enjoyed.
Having this many POV can sometimes be a bit messy, but I think this was really well done. It added such incredible drama to the story, I love to jump in and out of people’s perspectives, plus when everybody in a heist is in a different spot as part of the team layout like this is necessary. I liked everyone. All the characters in their own ways were fantastic, they interacted with each other really well, and the plot moved forward with these character dynamics in mind. The actual heist/prison break itself was really well done. I enjoyed the setup, the planning, the execution, and everything in between. The magic system was quite good, it was a bit of a spin on the normal type of abilities you can see in people. I like the way that this particular system spun things, and I would love to see more.
I’ll start this off by saying I liked this book. Not loved, but liked. I think the first half was my favourite and after looking up spoilers I don’t think I will continue the series. However, it was still a good story and interesting characters.
Here are my little observations: It was really hard to keep track of all the characters and who they all were (particularly with an audiobook format). I think there were just a bit too many for my personal preferences.
I’m not used to books that take place over such long periods of time but that are still interesting and flow well. I appreciated that from this book (it was also my first “high fantasy” that I made all the way through and I liked it quite a bit actually).
There was a huge amount of info dumping at times, but something about it didn’t feel that annoying like it can with other books. I was fully aware of it, and yet I didn’t mind.
The theme of discussing religion throughout was an unusual choice. While it doesn’t favour any one in particular, and seemingly makes some up (although who knows because more keep being made all the time), it was kind of….. odd. It felt strange that these people are talking about that in the middle of everything. I love a good Christian fiction book, so religion in books is not something I don’t like, it was more so that this seemed to acknowledge that religion exists but also that it doesn’t much matter which one you believe… and that’s something I disagree with so perhaps that’s why it felt so disjointed for me.
I love Brandon’s writing, and have enjoyed another series of his but I think the continuing of this one will not be something I’m interested in.
There were a lot of turns, once you thought you knew what was going on, it all changed again. I thought I was in for a painting heist, but what I got was a lot more than that. The way things flowed, fit together and unfolded was great. I was convinced of one thing, only to be proven wrong about others. Then again, some things I guessed and when I was proven right, it was really nice. There were a lot of moving parts, and it seems like everyone is a lot smarter than people in real life. Elaborate and intricate plans are not the norm with most people in the lives we all live in the real world. However, for a fictional story like this one, I don’t mind. The characters were pretty good, but I found it difficult to really connect properly what with all the twists and turns of the way things happened.
I really enjoyed the slow reveal of how everybody in the bank was a thief. They were multiple plot lines, things were happening slowly but also with the usual Ernest Cunningham way. It did get quite complex at points, and some things were a little bit far-fetched until they weren’t. We managed to have a meaning for everything, but because there was so much happening it was difficult at times to follow the thread. Having said that, it was wrapped up quite nicely. Everything made sense, and some things were surprising, some things weren’t. Ultimately it was funny, interesting, and very scientific… That was unexpected.
I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really liked this story. The element of being caught up in a heist, having an ex FBI agent, and how everything unfolds was great. High stakes, fast paced and corruption all within the span of a day. Nicely done, a good read.
I am not the target audience so keep that in mind for the review below.
Classic adults aren’t as smart as teenagers, they missed important details and we can not only be taken seriously but also help solve the crime whilst being in mortal danger kind of a story.
Cultural additions were really nice. I like a good art heist story and having a budding artist come at it was also an interesting twist. I did have to speed read a lot of it though because it didn’t seem to hold my attention well.
What happens when AI have bodies and a sort of autonomy and bad things start to happen? This explores that idea, and boy is it timely! I just had one problem with it… Almost everything.
Soon after experiencing a personal tragedy, Kestrel witnesses a terrorist attack and is drawn into a world of conspiracies and lies that she and Jordan, her Artificial, have to untangle. With a second, more brutal attack looming on the horizon, their best chance of stopping it is teaming up with federal counterterrorism agent Nick Vernon. But the clock is ticking–and all the while, Jordan is asking questions Artificials were never meant to ask.
When there was a small sliver of plot (amidst the long tedious info dumping or bible bashing preaching – I prefer a more subtle weaving), it was pretty a pretty interesting concept overall. Though there were clear problems with this story. I don’t quite understand why there was any loss of Kestrels baby, and talk of abortions aside from giving her a “loss of faith” moment. It felt out of place, and was not handled very well in my opinion. The author would have done better to have a different kind of crisis of than these hot button issues. It felt more like it was included to cause controversy than actually advance the plot. Some pretty intense personal situations delved into in a triggering way and not very well done either. There was potential in the bones for a good story – and it did peek through the curtains on occasion. Reminiscent a little of Blade Runner (the book, not the movie), it unfortunately felt a little like a preachy copy cat story that fell short. The idea that a human-created being could believe in God AND be saved in the same way is theologically shakey. A few theological points were questionable for me, but this one stood out the most. God came to save humanity, not their creations (free will or not for those creations). Also, the violin…. It was such a random and useless part of the story. If you took it out, nothing would have been affected – not what you want from a story arc. Overall this story had interesting bones, but was poorly fleshed out and handled in various ways.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Not really. I think similar things have been done better in other books (I LOVED The Last Christian by David Gregory for example), and this one fell flat. It’s not a book that I recommend, however the concepts explored in the story itself are worth discussing.
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The first of a series, what happens when a school involves training kids with super powered abilities? This. But let’s not forget the deeper conspiracies and dangers that lurk here, because our main characters can’t.
Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her… but he’s missing.
While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora’s boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can’t ignore her fear that something unexpected… something sinister… is looming.
An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex’s shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race’s survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?
I really enjoyed the world, the characters, and the plot of this book. It was fantastic. I liked the sarcastic character of Alex, and the way that she discovered this parallel world where superpowers were super common. There was an overarching mystery, there were things that we got to figure out as we went along to the world and how things run, and I thought that it was laid out really well. I enjoyed this world, I thought it was really interesting interesting, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this series to discover more of it. The library was a really really cool Element. I liked the idea of unlimited and unusual adventures that they could have, while also trying to figure out the overall mysteries of the library, the school and the world. Figuring it all out with Alex was a good way to discover things. I liked her friends, I thought they were really fun and very realistic guy friends. I also liked the way that other characters and their relationships to Alex developed across the book, I’m excited to see where all of that goes in further books.
Would I Recommend This Book?
Yes, this is a great start to a series that I’m excited to continue.
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