Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs

February 2, 2017February 2, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Hero Agenda #1

powerless-tera-lynn-childs-tracy-deebs Kenna is tired of being “normal.” The only thing special about her is that she’s isn’t special at all. Which is frustrating when you’re constantly surrounded by superheroes. Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, practically everyone she knows has some talent or power. Sure, Kenna’s smart and independent, but as an ordinary girl in an extraordinary world, it’s hard not to feel inferior.

So when three villains break into the lab where she interns, Kenna refuses to be a victim. She stands her ground. She’s not about to let criminals steal the research that will make her extraordinary too.

But in the heat of battle, secrets are spilled and one of the villains saves her life. Twice. Suddenly, everything Kenna thought she knew about good and evil, heroes and villains is upended. And to protect her life and those she loves, she must team up with her sworn enemies on a mission that will redefine what it means to be powerful and powerless…

3.5 Drink Me Potions

Powerless was a very entertaining story, the kind that gives you a couple of laughs and some cheap thrills as you watch the characters assemble from simple nobodies into who they’re meant to be: heroes.

Honestly, this isn’t the kind of book that’s dark and deeply moving or truly thought provoking. If you’re looking for that kind of grit to your stories, then this may not be your kinda of thing. Better turn around now.

No, Powerless was more of a predictable story about a girl without powers in a world where you’re either a superhero, villain or a simple nobody. Defenseless. Weak.

Of course, nothing is ever quite as simple as that, now is it?

Anyway, this whole world building was a little cliched, I will admit. Heroes vs. villains? Haven’t we heard about this like, in EVERY comic book that’s ever lived? So does this make Powerless Kenna’s origin story?? Hmm, something to think about.

I liked Kenna well enough. She didn’t let being powerless all her life prevent her from being brave and wanting to do the best she could for a world that overlooked people like her. Her attitude and personality was overall easily likeable, although not too memorable as I feel I’ve seen a version of Kenna in many other YA stories.

The plot was fun. There’s really no other word for it. Villains come crashing into your lab and your world turns upside d0wn, ’cause guess what? They’re not as scary or bad as you grew up hearing them as. And of course, it helps that they’re pretty darn hot looking too.

The story flow was at a good pace, never quite stalling in one area too long. Rebel, Kenna’s bestie, is one awesome sidekick type character (if this was actually like a comic book), and their opposite personalities balanced each other well. She also kept things more entertaining whenever there was a lull in villain problems.

As with the romance (’cause every good hero story should have a romance arc, right?), it was okay. I dunno, it wasn’t amazing or anything in my opinion. The plot and fun characters were what kept me happy and reading, but the romance with bad-boy Draven just…wasn’t ringing any chemistry bells in my head. He’s your typical “bad” boy who seems all tough and gruff on the outside but all gooey and sweet on the inside if you just dug deep enough and was able to strip away all that exterior aside (somehow). I didn’t see anything too special about him. Sure, he’s nice, but that doesn’t really stir any deep feelings, to be honest. And yeah, he had been on the run practically his whole life (kinda have to when the League of Superheroes puts you on the hit list of villains), but beyond feeling bad for him, I don’t love him.

Frankly, I don’t love any of these characters. The villains we’ve been introduced to, and the mash of heroes that surprisingly learn there’s another side to what they grew up hearing, make a good team together. But each one of them? There wasn’t a whole lot of character development. Their interactions are what kept things more exciting. If there was a dialogue scene between two characters for too long in the book, it just starts dying down a little.

There also wasn’t many female characters here either. I don’t know if that would piss some people off, but I felt a little uncomfortable that the only “powerful” girl was Rebel, while most of the time we’re surrounded by very unique powers from all the boys. Not a single one of them was powerless.

Lastly, the powers themselves were pretty awesome. I like the superhero genre and for that reason alone, I wasn’t too picky about Powerless. There isn’t a lot of YA novels out there filling this gap right now (as comics seem to do well enough on their own as it is), but overall, this novel was a fun read mixing the good elements of an origin story into a solid book. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next for Kenna and the ragtag team.

Overall Recommendation:
Powerless filled a gap in the YA genre for me, bringing forth a fun story about superheroes and villains thrown together as they realize the world isn’t quite what they all thought it was like. Kenna and her team of superpowered friends were a good mix, balancing each other out with their powers and their personalities. Together, they made the story interesting with a good mix of action thrown in as well as they battled to find out the truth and rescue those they love. Altogether, it wasn’t the most unique book ever written (frankly, it’s like a written comic book), but I wasn’t feeling picky and it satisfied well enough. If you’re looking for a lighter read with some super powers mixed in, I would suggest you give Powerless a try.

adult

Review: Illusion Town by Jayne Castle

January 31, 2017February 2, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Ghost Hunters #13

illusion-town-jayne-castle A new adventure begins on Harmony…

With its opulent casinos and hotels, the desert city of Illusion Town is totally unique—and will take you on a thrill ride you’ll never forget.

Hannah West isn’t the first woman to wake up in Illusion Town married to a man she barely knows, but she has no memory of the ceremony at all. For that matter, neither does Elias Coppersmith, her new husband. All either can remember is that they were on the run…

With Hannah’s dubious background and shaky para-psych profile, she could have done much worse. The cooly competent mining heir arouses her curiosity—as well as other parts of her mind and body. And even her dust bunny likes him.

But a honeymoon spent retracing their footsteps leads Hannah and Elias into the twisting underground catacombs, where secrets from both their pasts will come to light—and where the energy of their clashing auras will grow hot enough to burn…

4 Drink Me Potions

This was my first book by “Jayne Castle”, although I happened to have crossed her other contemporary AND historical books as well, under her names Jayne Ann Krentz and Amanda Quick respectively.

Illusion Town was a little disorienting at first as I quickly had a feeling that this wasn’t a simple standalone book that I had picked up from the library. There seemed to be alluded references to this whole land of Harmony that I did not know about as a completely new reader. And now looking at how vast this whole series is (with the intricate weavings even across Castle’s other genres), I’m quite impressed with the overall world building that’s been crafted here.

First of all (from what I gathered as an amateur reader in this world), this futuristic set of series written under Jayne Castle is on some alien planet colonists from Earth settled ages ago, but through some mishap, were disconnected from Earth quite permanently and the people here had to make do and thrive somehow.

Paranormal activity is like the new norm here, with people genetically passing on these talents and traits like it’s nothing. The kind of tech here also matches the futuristic theme, but also walks hand-in-hand with the paranormal abilities that people have, such as listening to energy with amber crystals.

Then there’s the land itself and how it’s laid out. 8 Zones split up around some epicentre where some unnatural activity caused some of it to be uninhabitable. It was well-written (albeit still a little confusing for a first reader like me), but I got enough of the idea to still be quite engaged with how this society organized itself.

And of course, there’s the creatures. In particular, the dust bunny.

When I first read about Virgil, the resident dust bunny in this story, I was quite astounded to be honest. Who is this thing and why does it have FOUR eyes? Fluffy yet quite ferocious. I loved it! Castle is very imaginative as she laid out even remote childhood fantasies of dust bunnies (such as I had when I was a kid) into a futuristic story where it becomes as simple as asking “why NOT have it featuring dust bunnies as characters?”. I was overall quite impressed with the setting I had randomly landed myself in.

Then there’s the ROMANCE. It wasn’t the centre of the story, though the intriguing plot line where Hannah and Elias found themselves married to each other was fun enough to draw me in. No, their relationship and budding love for each other was icing on top of the excitement (and dangers!) that were brewing all throughout the book.

From exploring the dangerous Rainforest and Underground areas where I gathered were leftover ruins from when Aliens inhabited this planet (surprise! even more intriguing things just THROWN in here) to finding a long-lost treasure and being chased by a gang of pirates on motorbikes. It was like a rollercoaster of heartfelt emotions and running around adrenaline.

For a novel I randomly decided to read on a lazy Saturday, I think it’s opened me up to a whole new world of possibilities.

Overall Recommendation:
Illusion Town was brilliantly crafted in its imaginative setting on some futuristic planet where people had paranormal abilities and real live dust bunnies as companions. Although this is technically part of a long lineup of books in a series, it still stood out well enough as a standalone (as I had read it ’cause I sure as heck didn’t read any of the previous ones yet). There was enough sweet romance but the action in the plot had me excitedly flipping through the pages. It seems this book has almost everything. This is the kind of world that is unique and should be visited at least once. Be sure to read the previous books first (maybe).

Review: Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill

January 23, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Clash of Kingdoms #1

ever-the-hunted-erin-summerhill Seventeen year-old Britta Flannery is at ease only in the woods with her dagger and bow. She spends her days tracking criminals alongside her father, the legendary bounty hunter for the King of Malam—that is, until her father is murdered. Now outcast and alone and having no rights to her father’s land or inheritance, she seeks refuge where she feels most safe: the Ever Woods. When Britta is caught poaching by the royal guard, instead of facing the noose she is offered a deal: her freedom in exchange for her father’s killer.

However, it’s not so simple.

The alleged killer is none other than Cohen McKay, her father’s former apprentice. The only friend she’s ever known. The boy she once loved who broke her heart. She must go on a dangerous quest in a world of warring kingdoms, mad kings, and dark magic to find the real killer. But Britta wields more power than she knows. And soon she will learn what has always made her different will make her a daunting and dangerous force.

3 Drink Me Potions

Ever the Hunted was a mix of every fantasy archetype that I could think of, which ultimately resulted in a less-than-amazing read for me.

First off, let me just say that I waited for this book to come for almost over a year. So yes, that might have played a huge role in building up my expectations of its awesomeness.

For a debut novel, I applaud Summerill for a fast-paced story that did its best in a promising adventure, a sweet romance and a world full of magic. Britta was the kinda protagonist I liked. Nothing too too special at the start of it all, one of those ordinary girls who was ignored or even shunned by others. Then of course, she finds out there’s something different about her. *gasp* Like that wasn’t something you were expecting…*insert sarcasm*

The world was built of 2 major kingdoms who were at the brink of war. Malam, where Britta lived, had banned and shunned Channelers, women with a magic of the elements that the laypeople here were superstitiously afraid of. So of course, enter the genocide of all Channelers and the closure of the border to the neighbouring magical kingdom of Shaerdania. That’s the tense atmosphere this book is set in. Beyond hearing a couple more tidbits relating to how all this trouble came to be, there’s not a whole lot more out there about this place.

Or even the magic.

Channelers harness energy, whether from land, air, water or fire. Sound familiar? ‘Cause I’m sure you’ve all seen some form of this type of “magic” somewhere if you’re a reader. Well, maybe even if you’re not a reader. And don’t get me wrong. It’s not a successful trope to fill in for the “magical ability” line you want to add to your documented work for nothing as it is a fun ability after all. But where is the originality in that? So I wasn’t the most pleased to know that there wasn’t a whole lot more to their magic than that.

Oh, and the surprise twist? *insert a short pause* Saw that coming a mile away. Probably from yet ANOTHER fantasy novel out there that you’ve come across.

I also normally despise slow-paced novels as it takes FOREVER to get to the known facts that were given to you even in the synopsis. But Ever the Hunted? Nope. Not a problem there. Everything happened so fast, like boom, boom, boom, that my head felt like it was spinning. I barely got used to Britta and the few people with her at the beginning of the story before it suddenly changed scenes again. So connection to the characters? Kinda hard to do when I felt like the interactions there were so quick and temporary.

This leads me to the relationship. This is one of my favourite parts of stories. And Cohen’s misunderstood history with Britta was brimming with bittersweet angst that is, oddly enough, right up my alley.

But like I said. Kinda hard to feel connected with ANYONE when things happen so quickly. I liked that Cohen and Britta are together for a large portion of the novel. It’s not one of those romances where the guy is halfway across the kingdom and you barely get to see the heroine interact with him (although they’re so-called in love with each other and I have to believe it just ’cause it says so right there on the pages). And for the most part, this aspect kept me somewhat satisfied throughout the story. I knew they’d patch through things somehow. But that ending? I smell a nasty potential love triangle popping in…and I’m not sure if I hate it or not.

Which is WEIRD. x10. I abhor love triangles so I should be jumping off my seat and bouncing around the room in frustration that this was thrown in and I’ve got to wait yet ANOTHER year to figure out how this will go.

But…I’m not. Which I guess means I enjoyed Cohen’s relationship with Britta but I didn’t build as great of a connection with the two of them as I thought either.

Anyway, this review’s kinda got off the tracks, but altogether, Ever the Hunted wasn’t what I expected. It tried to be sneaky, and it tried to be clever and fun and overall exciting. I can see that. But I just wish that I felt that too. I know I’m being generous with my rating ’cause I can see its potential, but somehow, it just slipped through my fingers and I’m left clutching thin air.

Overall Recommendation:
Ever the Hunted was a decent debut (if I’m being extra nice about it), but very predictable in its “twists”. From fast story pacing to almost nonexistent secondary character development and world building, this story just tried so hard to fit well with all those other fantasies we’ve got lining our shelves. The romance would’ve been the best part in my opinion but it too somehow felt a bit disconnected to me and I couldn’t form a huge love for Cohen and Britta either. I’d say it might just be me (and my VERY high expectations), so please give this book a shot as the potential for greatness is there but just may need to be honed a bit more.