Silverblood by Jamie Foley (Review)

Today’s treat is a review for a book that is definitely going to be on my top-favorite reads of the year list! (Also, fun fact, it won the 2022 Realm Award for Fantasy!) It’s just soooo good!

Some info first, and then I’m going to dive in. (Beware: there may be far too much fangirling shrieking!)

Title: Silverblood

Author: Jamie Foley

Series: The Katrosi Revolution, #2 (Book 1: Emberhawk. Read my review.)

Fantasy • YA • 2021 • 335 pages (paperback)

Read May 11, 2022 • 5 stars • Favorite character: LYSANDER FOREVER (I’m also partial to Felix) • Source: preordered from the author’s website (psst, it comes with goodies!)

Goodreads • Barnes & Noble • Amazon • Publisher • Author Website

Silverblood is definitely a book for the top-favorites-of-the-year list! AAAHHH! I loved it so much and I have such a book hangover after finishing it. I need book three yesterday! *flails around* *hugs all the characters*

Okay, I’ll attempt to corral my thoughts into a smidge more order. (But really, all I want to do is fangirl incoherently!) I know I can’t do it justice in a review, but better something than nothing, I suppose!

I loved being back in this series/world SO MUCH! Silverblood is the second book in the Katrosi Revolution series, after Emberhawk, which I also loved. But I think I loved book two even better! It’s just sooo good!

Jamie Foley’s writing is delicious, as always. The perfect blend of heartpounding action and suspense, a dash of gorgeousness, and plentiful helpings of witty, snappy dialogue and banter. It’s hilarious, really, at times, and I am HERE for it! I just love how much of a blast it is. The sheer enjoyment level is high, for sure!

LYSANDER AND BROOKE. They’re my absolute favorite part of this book! I’ve been waiiiiting for Lysander and Brooke to have a story, ever since reading book one, and I finally read it and it’s everything I wanted and LYSANDER AND BROOKE FOREVERRR! I’m having an emotion.

Seriously, though, Lysander is a fabulous character and I loved reading about his adventures, struggles, and overcomings. (That should be a word, hush.) Ex-assassin, finally no longer controlled and striking out on his own, trying not to be torn down by bitterness and darkness, using his amazing herbalist skills alongside his epic fighting abilities (I want all the tea he makes!), and his sign language and aether powers . . . I just love everything about this guy! I basically just want him to be happy. *cries* LYSANDER’S THE BEST AND HE’S MINE. *wraps him in bubble-wrap to protect him*

I loved getting deeper into Brooke’s life as she tries to navigate being a leader and make the best choices for her people and for the amazing treetop city of Jadenvive—and, you know, not fall for a certain ex-assassin. 😉

Ryon and Kira! I loved continuing their story from the first book. They’re adorable and hilarious at turns and just yessss! It’s hard to talk about Ryon especially without spoilers, but I’m here for all the characters I adore!

AND THEN WE HAVE FELIX. This shape-shifting fox guy is THE GREATEST and his snark and unexpectedness gives me life! I’ve adored him since reading the Sentinel Trilogy, so I’m SO PLEASED he’s also in this prequel series set hundreds of years before the other series. (In fact, something about this book felt more connected to Sentinel in several ways which makes me happy.) Felix is fabulous and all his lines are so quotable!

Okay, but everything is quotable in this book. I mentioned it with the writing already but it deserves repeating: The snark and bantering dialogue is all SHEER GOLD and often hilarious. And don’t even get me started on certain amazing and unexpected proposal scenes. XD I CANNOT EVEN. ABSOLUTE GOLD. XD

Princess Vylia is growing on me more than in the first book and Sousuke is AMAZING of course, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where their story goes in the next book! I’m kind of internally screaming waiting to find out what happens about Certain Not-Wrapped-Up Plot Points leaving me hanging! O_O

The plot is super exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Court intrigue and peril and a super-satisfying way for certain things to work out and I just loved all of the thingssss! It’s simply an EXCELLENT book in so many ways and it felt like it checked off all the boxes on a list for One of Deborah’s New Favorites.

The setting is also so absolutely vivid and delicious and I just love everything about it. I felt so THERE and the colors and sensations and cool places just made my day! Just love this world so much.

ALSO, I NEED A GRYPHON, THANKS, THAT IS ALL.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book! It’s a new favorite and I want to hug it forever. Check out Emberhawk first, and if you already have, you must read this ASAP! It’s an absolute delight. (Also, I need book three in my life!) Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be over here having a book hangover after reading this fabulous book. *all the hearts*

Aaaand that’s a wrap! With this, I’ve finally caught up on review posts I planned this year!

Time to take a break for Christmas and see what the new year looks like for this blog now that I’m FINALLY caught up on ARCs and books I 100% planned to review. (It. Feels. Great! I definitely need to take a little reviewing breather, but don’t worry, the blog isn’t going anywhere and there will still be bookish things.)

Have a great rest of the year, and thanks so much for reading my li’l (and sometimes not-so-little… XD) reviews!

Leave a comment and make my day! I love chatting books with y’all!

Looking for more of my book reviews? Check them out here!

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Emberhawk by Jamie Foley: Review!

Happy release day to this incredible adventuresome fantasy that I adored! Read on for my review, A.K.A. why you need to read this book at once. 😉

Title: Emberhawk

Author: Jamie Foley

• Series: The Katrosi Revolution, #1
• Date read: March 6-10, 2020
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2020
• Pages: 337 (paperback)
• Fave character: Ryon, Felix, and two slightly-spoiler-ish characters. 😀
• Source: The author
• Notes: I received a free ARC from the author and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
• Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Signed Copies • Other Bookstores • Author’s Website

Emberhawk is an absolutely delicious book, with swashbuckling adventure, a richly detailed world, and snarky characters I had a total blast reading about! I loved it so much!

I’m a huge fan of Jamie Foley’s Sentinel Trilogy, so I was thrilled to get to dive into the first book in a new series set in the same world! Emberhawk takes place over a thousand years before Sentinel and has a different feel but is an equally fabulous read. Sentinel fans, you’re going to love this book—and if you’re new to Jamie’s works, Emberhawk is the perfect book to start with! IT’S. SO. GOOD.

THE ADVENTURE

I was totally absorbed in this fresh take on a fantasy story, and just wanted to hang out with these characters forever. The plot kept me enthralled, following our main characters, and I love how there’s an exciting story on the surface that at first seems like a straight-up adventure, but also extra depth and schemes hidden beneath the surface that slowly comes to light, masterfully woven in.

There are secrets, spies, shifting alliances . . . tribes and settlers, a tyrannical empire . . . It was SO intriguing to follow the different political schemes threaded through the adventure and find out who’s working for who. All the characters were so multi-faceted. Nothing’s as it seems! There were some really thrilling twists, especially near the end, that had me shrieking. Eep! (Also, aaahhh! I need to find out what happened to a certain character! Where’s book two? *grabby hands*)

Snarky banter and humor, a bit of star-crossed lovers tossed in, a rich and layered world (I love the world-building so much!), and all of that on TOP of a super thrilling, adventurous tale . . . and all tied together with the fabulous writing I’ve come to expect of this author. It doesn’t get better than this! 😀

THE CHARACTERS

Our main characters Kira and Ryon make a fabulous pair. I loved them so much! Ryon is awesome and epic, and I love his heart of gold character. He’s just the best! Kira is a bit of a trapper/inventor and a spitfire. Their banter gives me life. XD I adored reading their story and I love them so much!

Not to mention the other fabulous characters! Some of them I feel like it would kiiind of be a spoiler if I mentioned their names? Especially with certain loyalties being up in the air for a lot of the book. XD But there were some EPIC side characters who really grew on me and I’m so excited to read more about them! A certain under-cover guy (you’ll know who it is by the end!) who’s one of my favorites, and a certain antihero assassin-type character who is verrry intriguing and I so hope there is more to his story!

Felix gets his own paragraph because Feliiiiix! XD Snarky fox elemental—what is not to love? He’s in the Sentinel Trilogy a bit and I was delighted to find him in this book as well! The snark, his way of dashing about on side-quests and sassing everyone and being absolutely epic, and turning into other cute or epic animals—aaahh! Just. This fox! He’s sooo much fun!

IN SUMMARY

Elementals, forest adventures, elemental fire and water magic, creepy d’hakka (huge tree-spider-scorpions! :O), different cultures and alliances, true love and friendship and siblings, arrows and fire and disrupted ordinary lives, a princess, an assassin, nefarious plots, lovable characters and snark and romance . . . There is SO much excitement and awesomeness in this book! *hugs Emberhawk forever*

I just adore it and I NEED book two! Fantasy lovers, here’s another book that needs to go on your to-read list ASAP. A complete delight! ❤

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Facebook Live (March 10, 2020)

Also, if you see this before 8pm Central on release day (March 10), be sure to drop by at that time for a Facebook Live party on Jamie Foley’s Facebook page with Q&A, giveaways, and the cover-reveal for book 2, Silverblood! 😀

Have you read any of Jamie Foley’s books? What do you think of this one? Thanks for reading! 🙂

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel snarky (Sage by Jamie Foley: Blog Tour + Giveaway + Review!)

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Jamie Foley’s latest book, Sage! I’m SO excited! 😀

Read on for my review, and don’t forget to scroll to the end to check out the giveaway and other tour stops! ^_^

Title: Sage
Author: Jamie Foley

• Date read: March 19, 2018
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy / Modern-ish/Post-Apocalyptic-in-another-world? / Christian
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2018
• Pages: 386 (ebook)
• Series: The Sentinel Trilogy, #3
• Fave character: JET. And a certain character I cannot name because SPOILERS. But he’s awesome. 😀
• Source: The author
• Notes: I was given a free e-copy of this book by the author (thank you!) and these opinions are entirely my own.

It’s really hard to review the final book in a trilogy without spoilers, as I’ve mentioned before; try “almost impossible” with this one! O_O My word. But I’ll do my best. It just may be slightly vague…

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD THOUGH. I’m always nervous coming into the final book in a series, because WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN TO MY PRECIOUS FRIENDS? It’s the finale, and stakes are high, and is it going to live up to the previous books, and what will the ending be like? And the first two books were ALREADY so intense. O_O But Sage absolutely lived up to and surpassed all the expectations. There were HUGE things going down, and some major twists (like… meep!), but it was all gloriously epic and exciting, and still just FUN on the side, and I love the characters and IT WAS GREAT.

I’M JUST VERY HAPPY WITH THIS SERIES. It can get a little intense or weird sometimes, and occasionally all the fantasy elements can confuse me (with elements and archangels and aaall the fascinating complexity) but I think I have it down now. This is such a fun, exciting, well-written fantasy-post-apocalypse-in-another-world kind of series, and the characters are some of my FAVORITES, and I just love these boooooks! *flails around*

I can’t really say anything about the plot of this third book, especially for anyone who hasn’t read Arbiter yet. (So many huge spoilers in that, not to mention this one…) I’ll just say that it’s just as exciting and intense as the first two books, but with sweet moments and TWISTS, and character banter thrown in—because what’s the end of the world without some snark?

Speaking of snark, there is still MUCH of that, and the dialog makes me grin, and the character interactions are priceless—sheer gold, I tell you. ❤ Not to mention this book having seriously EVERYTHING, including rebellions and escapes and fights in arenas and shapeshifters and a modern-but-fantasy-but-futuristic feel, and all the awesome Aether abilities/powers (so fascinating), and all of it!

I JUST LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH, OKAY. Again, I really can’t talk about what’s going on with them, but I love Darien, and Jet (!!), and Sorvashti, and Tera, and a certain snarky fox (so fun!), and Kohesh cracks me up (oh my goodness! XD), and there’s a CERTAIN OTHER CHARACTER I LOVE who I can’t talk about because of so many spoilers, my goodness. But if you’ve read Arbiter you mayyy have a slight idea about who he is, and I love him! 😀 His character arc is the. best. ^_^ (But Jet though. Jet is my absolute FAVE.)

I love how Darien, Jet, Sorvashti, Tera, and said-unnameable character (and Aleah, I suppose), are all coming so far and learning/growing so MUCH and just—let me hug them! ❤ And I still love Darien and Jet’s buddy-not-buddy, apprentice/mentor sort of roles, and how far they’ve come, but how they’re still the same despite it all, in their own way. THEY MAKE MY HEART HAPPY.

Speaking of characters and my heart being happy, there’s an absolutely ADORABLE romance or two or three, which, again, I cannot discuss. SO MANY SPOILERS. Gaah. But I love-love-love these couples. 😀 There is so much adorableness, it just knocks me over. I CAN’T.

There are a couple things I wasn’t sure if I’d be okay with, but… you know… I think I’m good with it? I ended up quite satisfied on pretty much every count. 😀 (I think I randomly wanted more of Thracian and he was hardly in it, but that’s okay I guess. And more of Jet’s POV, but I always do, so I’ll stop now. XD) And it’s kinda intense and might be better for older teens? (Really bad at age recommendations, here.) But honestly I have no actual complaints. I really enjoyed it!

Overall, it’s an EXCELLENT young adult fantasy series and is SO UNIQUE (like seriously, how unique can you get? I don’t even know how to classify its genres…) and I love it to bits. This author is so absurdly talented, and the characters and snark and fantasy-thriller-ness are gold. If you haven’t, I highly recommend checking out the first book, Sentinel!

(And if you’ve read Sage, please talk to me because I MUST DISCUSS SPOILERS BEFORE I BURST. Message me or leave a spoiler-tagged comment or something. XD)

Some Favorite Quotes (Do you know how hard it is to get non-spoiler quotes? VERY HARD. But these are a few…)

Step four: return to Altair and find any survivors. And try not to let Jet kill me.

***

“You’re not teaching her because you think the way she talks is cute.”

Jet didn’t respond. Tera glanced at him in the mirror’s reflection—he stood perfectly still.

“You can’t prove that.”

Tera laughed out loud. “So I was right!”

Jet’s shoulders slumped. “She’d kill me.”

“So we have an understanding, then.”

***

“Your moping is like nails on the blackboard of my soul.”

“You’re an awful little rodent, Felix Kael Tae,” Aleah snapped.

***

Jet breathed like a bull. “You have three seconds before I throw you out the back hatch.”

***

“Spicy, mild, or no spice?”

“All of the spice.” Sorvashti crossed her legs. “None of the poison.”

Jet leaned over the map. “Give her all my spice.”

***

“…just waltz away?”

“I was planning on walking purposefully.”

***

“I was so worried.”

“Naw, I’m fine. … Heard you died.”

“You look super broken up about it.”

***

How do you turn your stupid spear on?

About the Book

Ancient elementals awaken, fracturing a dying world to its core.

Teravyn Aetherswift returns to the land of the living, but everything seems unfamiliar… including her little brother. Zekk offers help, but can an alluring Lynx be trusted?

Sorvashti finally has everything she ever wanted, so the last thing she wants to do is run after traitors. But she won’t leave Jet’s side—unless the horrifying truth about his mother tears them apart.

Darien is sick of being used and lied to. But if he stands up for what’s right, he’ll pay the price with his life… or the lives of those he loves.

Purchase on Amazon or a signed paperback

Check out the rest of the series!

When a meteor storm knocks out the power grid, the supernaturally gifted become pawns in humanity’s struggle for survival.

The Sentinel Trilogy is an apocalyptic fantasy series that takes place on a unique world with ancient powers and elementals, but familiar human struggle.

Clean. Ages 12+

LINKS:

Trilogy Boxed Set: Amazon Kindle – Signed Paperbacks – Goodreads

Sentinel (book 1): Amazon Kindle – Signed Paperback – Goodreads

Arbiter (book 2): Amazon Kindle – Signed Paperback – Goodreads

Vanguard (prequel novella, formerly released under the title Viper): Amazon Kindle – Signed Paperback – Goodreads

About the Author

Jamie Foley loves strategy games, home-grown berries, and Texas winters. She’s terrified of plot holes and red wasps.

Her husband is her manly cowboy astronaut muse. They live between Austin, TX and their family cattle ranch, where their hyperactive spawnling and wolfpack can run free.

Website — Facebook — Twitter — Instagram

Giveaway Time!

Want to dive into a new world or in need of a good book? Enter to win a digital $10 Amazon gift card (3 winners) by signing up for Jamie’s newsletter via the form.

>>> Entry-Form <<<

Blog Tour Schedule

Saturday, March 10^th

• Blog Tour Kickoff – Unicorn Quester

Monday, March 12^th  

• Interview – Siren & Solider Book Reviews

Tuesday, March 13^th

• Book Review – The Left-Handed Typist 

Wednesday, March 14^th

• Book Spotlight – Backing Books 

Thursday, March 15^th

• Interview & Review – Lu’s Reviews

Friday, March 16^th

• Book Spotlight – Laura VanArendonk Baugh 

Saturday, March 17^th

• Book Review – Lands Uncharted

Monday, March 19^th

• Interview – Musings of an Elf

Tuesday, March 20^th

• Book Review – The Page Dreamer (You are here!)
• Book Spotlight – Gillian Bronte Adams

Wednesday, March 21^st

• Book Spotlight – A Little Southern Grace

 Thursday, March 22^nd

• Interview – Unicorn Quester

 Friday, March 23^rd

• Book Spotlight/Book Review – Liv K. Fisher

 Saturday, March 24^th

• Blog Tour Wrap-Up – Unicorn Quester

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Have you checked out this series yet? Because I totally recommend it! (If you can’t tell. XD)

You can read my reviews for the first two books in the series (as well as the prequel novella, Viper/Vanguard) by clicking the covers below…

 

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer / Deborah O’Carroll

Arbiter by Jamie Foley

Title: Arbiter

Author: Jamie Foley

• Date read: May 20, 2017
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy / Suspense / Post-Apocalyptic (other world) / Christian
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2017
• Pages: 282 (paperback)
• Series: Sentinel Trilogy, #2 (see my Double Review for Sentinel and Viper)
• Fave character: Jet!
• Source: From the author
• Notes: I received a free copy of this book from the author for review purposes (many thanks! :)). I was not required to write a positive review; these opinions are my own
• Links: Amazon (Kindle/Paperback) • Signed Paperback • Goodreads • Author’s Website

How do I even review this? Nearly everything that happens are spoilers of awesomesauce levels for anyone who’s read Sentinel, so it’s extremely hard to review this book. XD I will do my best to do so without spoilers, however! *tries to be vague*

Darien, Sorvashti, Aleah, and of course Jet are back for more epic shenanigans. *hugs them all* Jet is my FAVE as usual! 😀 He’s awesome. ❤ I’d say this book is primarily about Jet. We still get a LOT about Darien, since Darien’s the hero of course, but we get a lot of Jet’s POV and story, which I loved!! 😀 Darien is actually coming a long ways from where he was in book one. I was super impressed that he’s learning things and just coming further in general! *hugs Darien* I mean, he still has a lot to learn. >.> Ahem. But still.

IT’S SO INTENSE. *collapses* If book one seemed intense, this one was as much or more so. O_O I’m pretty sure I read this thing faster than I should have and consequently hardly remember bits of it, because I just could NOT stop zipping through those pages I was glued to! (Don’t ask about the logistics of this sentence. Just—don’t. Ahem.)

Other interesting thiiiings:

• There’s a new villain who, can I just say, is very interesting. O.o
• The settings range from snowy forested mountainsides to a tropical jungle island, so that was super cool!
• Somebody loses their memory AND IT’S AWESOME AND HILARIOUS. XD That’s one of those “tropes” that can be hard to do well but I LOVE it and it was particularly awesome in this. 😀 This book is worth it just for that. XD *zips lips and says no more*
• THE FRUIT. *dies of laughter* Nobody will understand this until reading chapter 14, but I thought it was epic. XD Ahhh, Jet is awesome. 😀

Downsides?

• It might be a little scarier than the first book… Maybe? So, kind of violent and intense, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, I’d recommend caution.
• I did miss some of the extra humorous banter of Sentinel. There’s tons of funny lines in this one too, especially regarding the memory-loss thing, but overall this one seemed a little more serious? Could be my imagination. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot to laugh at in this one, which I loved! But things are getting more serious in the world as well, so… anyway. I don’t think that’s particularly a downside, necessarily, just saying the books are different. XD

I’m going to confess that I did the unthinkable… I actually peeked at the end. >.> I KNOW. So awful of me. But I was SO worried I just had to peek and make sure a certain something would be okay at the end before I could settle back down and enjoy it. Ahem. Don’t be like me, but I thought I would confess. XD After that I was able to enjoy it, and WOW did I enjoy it! 😀 It’s just a blast. Some of it was just a wee bit intense for me until I made sure some of it would be mostly okay, is all. But I’m a wimpier reader than some, so. 😉

I still love this fantasy world! It’s more on the dystopian/post-apocalyptic side, with remnants of technology, fantasy things going on (so many!) and an emerging spiritual world and so on. I’m enjoying learning more about this world and history and the different races, and the different Aether powers—including a couple new ones we didn’t run into in the first book! I love these Aether “superpowers”/“gifts” and how they tie into the story. 😀 Especially the mind-y things, since those are the “Arbiter” gift, which is what this book is named after… largely because that’s what Jet is and as I said, this book is somewhat about him. Also, I was very glad I’d read Viper (the prequel novella) because there’s a bit of harking back to that… and I will say no more because spoilers. 😉

But but FANTASY THINGS. Which I can’t say anything about, either… I will merely say that the Serran idea is fascinating, and a certain re-appearance of a character near the end (watch for a fox) seems to usher in a whole new look at fantasy things which has me very excited! 😀 (WINGS THOUGH. Ahem.)

SO MANY FEELS TOO. *collapses* Let’s just say I’m super worried/stressed at CERTAIN CHARACTERS’ life decisions near the end there. *cough* NO. STAHP. DON’T DO THIS!! D: I hope they will turn out okay in the next one. *squirming* I’m positively dying to read the final book, Sage, especially with that last chapter! Similar to book one (Sentinel), this ended not exactly on a cliff-hanger, but more on a “wait, that’s it? I NEED THE NEXT SCENE!” sort of place. Verrrry much looking forward to the final book and how all of this is going to turn out! O_O Just so much HAPPENED in this book! *flails* I need to know how this all turns out! (I also want more of Thracian. Because he’s cool.)

Anyway, definitely start with Sentinel, but I totally recommend this book as well, and it’s just as good as Sentinel, and in some ways better! 🙂 If you like suspenseful fantasy with a touch of technology and lovable characters and humor, that’s just super well written and generally AWESOME, definitely give this series a try! 🙂

Have you read any of these yet? Do they intrigue you? (I hope so, because they’re so unique and cool! XD)

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

Sentinel + Viper by Jamie Foley (Double Review)

Time for reviews of a novel and novella by Jamie Foley!

Title: Sentinel
Author: Jamie Foley

Date read: April 26, 2017
Rating: 5 stars
Genre: I… really don’t know what to call it. Fantasy / Contemporary (other world) / Apocalyptic / Suspense
Age: YA
Year pub: 2016
Pages: 281 (Kindle)
Series: Book 1 of the Sentinel Trilogy (Followed by 2: Arbiter, just released, and 3: Sage, coming soon. Prequel novella: Viper.)
Fave character: Jet Valinor!
Source: Amazon
Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Signed Paperbacks • Author’s Website

WHAT DID I JUST READ? I have no idea, but I know I had an absolute blast and loved it so much! 😀

Picture a fantasy world with (surprise!) modern times (not here, but similar to our time-period), and some fantasy elements like mind superpowers; then add an apocalypse, secret military agents out to wreak havoc, lovable characters (including an awesome sarcastic ex-sniper), snarky conversations, and loads of humor, all wrapped up in a layer of suspense, with a dash of Christian-allegory undertones—and you have a unique, well-written, good-clean-fun novel called Sentinel, which reads almost like an action-movie (but funner)! Definitely outside of my normal reading, and I’ve never read anything like it, but I so enjoyed it!

Reasons why this book is awesome:

• Jet! First I have to mention Jet Valinor, who is a new favorite character and definitely a top reason for liking this. He’s my favorite kind of dark, growly, snarky, mysterious, dangerous, but awesome, with a heart of gold, type character. He’s got mind-power skills and military skills and generally you want him on your side when there’s covert military ops attacks, apocalypses, or general problems of any kind. He’s also got excellent snarky lines. What is not to love about Jet? Even without all the other awesomeness (of which there was lots), Jet just totally made the book for me. 😀
• Buddies-who-aren’t. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE stories about two characters who are thrown together and REALLY don’t get along but have to work together. And when one of them is a rather flippant teenage boy (our hero, Darien), and the other is dark, no-nonsense Jet who is not going to put up with stupidity… you know it’s going to be awesome. They kind of hate each other but are the best and have such excellent interactions AND I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH.
• Banter/humor. Coming right up on that last one, there is SO much awesomeness in the form of Darien and Jet bickering, and general snark and humor, plus some of the writing is humorous too.
• Right there, you have four of my favorite things, all rolled up in this book: an awesome favorite character, a buddy-story (where they aren’t… yet. ;)), humor, and hilarious snarky banter. SO MUCH YES. But oh, you want more reasons?
• Fantasy! Fantasy makes everything better.
• Mind-powers etc. which are called Aether, and the different kinds people can be include Arbiter (mind-things like telepathy or memories), Sentinel (use it like striking force), Valnah (emotions), Vanguard (making walls of force), and rare ones like Healer, or Sage (seeing the future).
• Road-trip! Okay, so it wasn’t a huge part of the story, but I SO enjoyed Jet and Darien stuck in a car together with only Sorvashti to act as peace-maker. So much gold. 😀
• So original and unique—this world and everything is just new and I loved it.
• It’s well-written and gripping.
• The other characters are great too and the different cultures etc. and mysteries and hints are really interesting.
• Everything else—just read it already!

Reasons why I thought I wouldn’t like this book (but actually loved it):

• It’s modern, which isn’t my favorite — but it’s modern in another world and somehow isn’t the usual blech of many modern books.
• It’s apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic (which is a close relation to dystopian, which is a no-no for me, and in general I’m not the biggest fan of the world ending?) — but again, being in another world… I don’t… actually… mind? Plus we didn’t actually see the end of the world happening, since it was kind of off-screen (“Looks like the apocalypse started without us.” — one of my fave quotes in the book) and I’ve heard it’s just going to move more toward general fantasy-world kinds of things with less technology in later books. And because it’s not OUR world, I don’t actually mind, somehow!
• It is definitely SUPER intense and suspenseful, which might have gotten too much for me, but the humor keeps rolling in to keep it a little more light-hearted.

Warnings:

It’s kind of violent/intense/scary, but that’s it. Basically a great YA novel! It certainly kept me breathless on the edge of my seat! O_O (I’m not sure if I remembered to breathe in the last third of the book. Whew. *collapses*)

Overall:

I loved this book and can’t wait to read the next one! (Largely because WHAT EVEN JUST HAPPENED AT THE END? I need Arbiter right now.) I’m quite hooked by this world and in love with these characters, and I can’t wait to find out where the rest of the series is headed. 😀 All in all, an excellent (if different) book. ^_^ *hugs it*

Favorite quotes:

“Easy for you to say. You already know what your power is.”

“They’re called ‘gifts’,” Tera murmured, “and I’m pretty sure yours is impatience.”

***

Levi yelled something about volleyballs being expensive.

***

Darien racked his brain for the smallest reason he could have been summoned by something as scary-sounding as ‘the Grand Master council’.

***

He squinted and found a fresh crack snaking from the right windshield wiper to a small spider web in the center. “Speaking of bad news, you owe me a thousand credits.”

It’s the end of the world:

“Cool. So, the world is ending, but who cares, right?”

***

“So it’s the apocalypse and special forces are after us. Awesome. We’re all gonna die.”

Darien and Jet:

“That’s enough,” Jet said.

Darien froze. “What?”

“Jet! Would it kill you to be nice?” Aleah shot Jet a disapproving look, then gave Darien a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry. He’s just… introverted.”

Jet snorted and looked back out the window.

And a psycho. Darien forced a laugh. “No problem.”

***

Is ‘Thracian’ his dad? Why does he call his dad by his name and not ‘Dad’?

Jet barely contained a growl. He could call Darien out on it—again—but this time it’d be just as awkward for himself. Note to self: get him to build mental shields. Immediately.

***

Darien’s thoughts ran over Jet’s like a freight engine.

***

“Why not?”

“Because it’s dangerous, you idiot! And untested and stupid.”

Darien grinned. “Did you just call yourself stupid?”

Jet sighed. “I should have left you in Katrosi.”

***

(I love them so much. ^_^)

~ ~ ~

Title: Viper
Author: Jamie Foley

Date read: April 12, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Military Thriller / Contemporary Fantasy (in another world)
Age: YA
Year pub: 2016
Pages: 118 (paperback)
Series: Prequel to the Sentinel Trilogy (Sentinel, Arbiter, Sage)
Fave character: Jet Valinor
Source: From the author (thank you, Jamie!)
Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Signed Paperbacks • Author’s Website

A little different than the main series books of the Sentinel Trilogy, Viper is set years before Sentinel, and therefore pre-apocalypse… which means society hasn’t collapsed yet, and it reads very much like a contemporary thriller, with a dash of fantasy powers and military strike team and hostage situations. Just… y’know… in another world. 😉

It was VERY thrilling and intense and suspenseful! Not what I usually read, but I was definitely super absorbed and worried. 😛 As a novella, it was also a quick read. There were a few typos, I had trouble keeping Copperhead and Moccasin (two of Jet’s Viper strike team) straight, plus it’s short, and generally not entirely my usual reading cup of tea, hence 4 stars; but I did really enjoy it and it was engaging, well-written, and super intense!

Also Jet is awesome. I found him to be even more awesome in the next book, meeting him from an outside perspective, so I didn’t realize when I read this just how cool he was… so in a way I didn’t appreciate that, but now I do. 😛 Now that I’ve read Sentinel, I actually want to read this again as backstory-on-my-favorite-character. XD

Jet and Sorvashti are great together, especially with her way of speaking since she doesn’t know his language well, and he doesn’t know hers—loved that! Language-barrier things are so fun. It was hilarious and adorable. ^_^ It’s told in their alternating POVs, which was really interesting. I enjoyed both of their perspectives.

Like I said, it’s a prequel, and I read it first, instead of starting with book 1. This was an interesting introduction to the world/cultures/characters of the series, so I enjoyed having some background on everything. But it would also be awesome to read as backstory once already familiar with the way things are introduced in Sentinel. So… I can’t decide which is better. 😛 Probably don’t do it like I do, and instead start with Sentinel. (But you can read either first.)

Definitely an overall enjoyable, quick read which got me hooked on the series and world and characters, and left me eager to read more! 🙂

(I was given a copy of this novella by the author; I was not required to write a review; these opinions are my own.)

~ ~ ~

(Look, it’s Jet with a spear! This cover means SO MUCH MORE now that I’ve read Sentinel…)

Arbiter (book 2) just released!

Check out the Arbiter Blog Tour and giveway! My post for the blog tour will be going up on my other blog Wednesday morning — tomorrow! — so watch for that!)

I’m going to be reading Arbiter soon; I can’t wait! 😀 I’ll be reviewing it here once I’ve read it, so stay tuned. 🙂

What about you, my Pagelings? Have you read any of these? Do they intrigue you? Let me know in the comments!

~ ~ ~

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

Nightstand Books: April {2017}

Just a quick post today! 🙂

Being the first Wednesday of the month, it’s Nightstand Books day! (A meme to share our currently-reading stack every month, created by Jenelle Schmidt and DJ Edwardson.)

Here’s what’s on my nightstand for this month.

• King’s Blood by Jill Williamson — This one is taking me far longer than I anticipated! (Review books shouldn’t take this long to read. *cough* In my defense, it’s enormous and I’ve been busy? 😛 But I’m steadily working through.) It’s still dark, like the first book, and very long, but I’m enjoying it somewhat for all that.
• Second Son by Jenelle Schmidt — Yep, finally reading this one! I’m really excited. I’m reading a chapter a day on the side of my busyness, so I’m hoping in that way to get it read this month even though I don’t have a lot of time. Really enjoying it so far. 🙂
• Viper by Jamie Foley — This is a prequel to the Sentinel trilogy, and I haven’t started it yet, but as this is a novella, I’m hoping to zip through it in a day here pretty soon. Looks like it’s going to be different than what I usually read, but that can be fun too.
• Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones — I haven’t started this yet, but I know it’s dangerous to do so until I have a good long time available to read it in, so I’m holding off for now. XD But I can’t wait to devour this DWJ book I haven’t read! New DWJ books are always exciting. 🙂

I’m also still working through a couple of beta-reading books and hoping to finish them at long last! I’ve been making steady progress on my backlog of betas this year, so that’s exciting too. 🙂

Also not pictured above (because ebook), like Jenelle mentioned in her post, Beggar’s Magic by H.L. Burke is the Fellowship of Fantasy Bookclub book for April. I haven’t started it yet but I hope to soon. 🙂 (Maybe that chapter-a-day trick I’m using on Second Son will help?)

As usual, I have no idea if I’ll  make it through all of these this April, but they’re what I’ve started or am focusing on at the moment!

What’s on your “nightstand” that you’re reading this month? 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Dream away in those pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer