Merry Gentry is back in LA after declining the crown of the Unseelie Court.  She is trying to cope with being a Princess/ Queen without a real kingdom.  She doesn’t necessarily want the power, but people keep asking things of her as a Queen so she has no choice but to rise up to meet the challenges.  Which she does beautifully.  Meanwhile, Merry is helping the police with a case of murdered demi-fey who are set to look like scenes from children’s books.  This book is finally back to Hamilton’s excellent storytelling skills.  There is intrigue, a mystery, and choices that must be made.  While there are still the sex scenes (which is fine), they are not horribly long and drawn out and don’t take away from the plot.  I am happy that Hamilton worked through whatever it was she had to so we can get some good stories again.

This is a funny story reminescent of Andrew Clements stories.  There are two Mark Hoppers and each keeps getting confused with the other one.  But soon they are forced together and realize that they each might have something to offer the other one.  This book was vyer funny and a good read about friendship and mistaken identities.

Don’t really know where this series is going, but I am enjoying the tack Kaye is taking.  Nine kids in a special class for “gifted” students.  They all have different powers.  THe story is mainly told through the point of view of Amanda, popular girl/ body snatcher, Jenna, goth girl/ mind reader, and Tracey, dweeb/ invisible girl. At first, it just seems like your average girl superpower book, but in the last book that came out, it appears there will be Evil Forces that must be vanquished and the class must come together to do so.  I am still bugged that Amanda is such a b*&tch.  I want her to become nicer even if I understand why she hasn’t.

Jaz is back in the 7th book in the series and this time she, Vayl and their team are off to kill some gnomes.  Yep, the little creatures so beloved by many.  But these guys are seriously wacked and it is up to Jaz and Vayl to take care of them.  Meanwhile, Jaz is possessed by King Brude, a seriously evil employee of Lucifer’s who wants Jaz to rule as his sidekick.  Lots of action, some new fun inventions and you’ve got a slammin’ book.  I can’t wait to see what Rardin cooks up next.

So kudos to whoever designed the cover.  It is totally fab.  I love it.  Block is back with another out there novel.  I have to say that I liked this one more than some of her others.  Charlotte has been a vampire for 100 years nad is rather sick of it.  She has money, clothes, everything you could want, but she is lonely.  She has a best friend who kills herself and then she ends up hooking up with her bf’s bf.  Trashy?  Not really when you read it.  But there is another vampire lurking in the background with an ulterior plan.  And the biggest question remains.  Can you become mortal after being immortal?  A very surreal ride, but one that I think fans of other vampire novels will enjoy.

The 3rd I believe in the League series, Born of Ice is about the son of the hero and heroine from Born of Fire.  Devyn is wanted by The League and Alix is sent in to gather information on him in order to get him arrested.  But she soon realizes that all is not what it seems and that Devyn is actually a very moral person who works for justice.  But Alix is caught between a rock and a hard place because if she doesn’t gather evidence, her mom and sister will be executed.  In the midst of all this pandemonium, Alix and Devyn fall in love.  Just like in her Dark Hunter series, her heroes and heroines must confront major issues both in their pasts and their futures in order to be with the person they love.  The new universe Kenyon has created is dark and brilliant filled with horrors, but also justice.  I look forward to reading more in the series.

I still don’t quite know what to make of this novel.  I know I will think of it often and it is definitely one of those books that haunts your thoughts for years afterwards.  I loved Time Travelers Wife, but know that I will never love this one in the same way.  However, I liked it more than I disliked it.  I am at a bit of a loss as to how to explain the plot.  It is about two sets of twins, a flat in London and a famous cemetery, but yet it is also about none of those things at all.  Julia and Valentina inherit their aunt’s flat next to the Highgate Cemetery.  The twins are mirrors of each other and don’t do anything separately.  It is rather bizarre and becomes even more so when their deceased Aunt’s ghost makes contact with them.  There are layers upon layers upon layers and I still feel like there are more layers I have yet to unearth.  Definitely a phenomenal book for a book discussion, I feel the need to talk about it more to maybe get a better understanding of it.  I would have loved it if it had stopped 75% of the way through.  But the ending made me so befuddled and overset that I think I need to think about it some more.  I also feel like I am missing something about it that will make everything fall into place.

I have read some of the Fables graphic novels, but was never really able to get into them.  I have a hard time reading graphic novels and so, though I liked the premise, I did not read more than a couple.  So I was thrilled when I saw there was a novel out.  It was everything I hoped it would be.  It told the tale of Peter Piper and his brother Max.  Fluctuating between the past and the present, it weaved a dark and dangerous tale.  Willingham shows common fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters in the modern world.  It is not all sweetness and light (although neither were the originals).  Peter must defeat his brother or die himself.  It shows how Max came to despise Peter and PEter’s desperate attempts to escape from under the brutal rule of the Empire.  I hope Willingham writes more in the series.

I started this book in August, lost it in a hotel, and picked up a copy at the library yesterday to finish it.  I don’t know if I liked it.  I felt like I was missing something as though I missed the background and was left to piece it together myself which I never quite did.  Alysha is let go from her job at a museum at the same time her grandmother passes away and leaves her a junk shop.  However, there is more going on than Alysha knows and soon she is embroiled in a mess with a sorcerer, dragons, and a leprechaun.  While the basic premise of the story was great, I never fully understood the whole Gale girls thing and the whole Males Choose thing.  Maybe I’m just a bit dense, but I would have liked more background or explanation to make some of the things that were said more understandable.  Now I have jumped halfway into series and did not have the trouble I have had with this book.  But yet, it was a fascinating premise.

The second book in The League series, this story tells the tale of Syn and Shahara.  Shahara is a bounty hunter and needs money so she goes after Syn, who has a huge price attached to him.  But little does she know that he is not really the villain any claim him to be.  Just as in Born of Night, the story tells of a complicated male character wronged by life.  In this book, Shay is also just as wounded as Syn and it is only together that they can find peace.  Lots of action and bad guys, this is a great second to Kenyon’s new series.  I look forward to reading more, but I still love the Dark Hunter series best.