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Pantomime by Laura Lam: Review

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Pantomime by Laura Lam Paperback, US, 392 pages Expected publication: February 5th 2013 by Strange Chemistry My copy: NetGalley Goodreads Summary: R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide. Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada. REVIEW: Pantomime by Laura La...

2012 Roundup (a.k.a What The Hell Was I Doing This Past Year?)

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Well, Happy New Year y'all. It's time for the roundup. (I say that like I do the bloody thing every year when this is the first time I ever bothered) This is a me-vs-me Q&A round, complete with random GIFS ( All of them Supernatural, because for me this is the year of Supernatural, YO) and craziness, because it is 2 A.M in the morning here and I'm not feeling very verbose. 1) Things that happened to you in 2012? - Winning a Writing Contest (an important one) for the first time in my life. It finally pushed me into the take-your-writing-seriously camp. - Learning that sometimes- sometimes- the time gap between having an idea and putting actual words onto paper can be very, VERY long.  That City book I'm writing with the boy with the wings and the things with wheels and the sparkly shiny buildings? Yeah, I'm still planning it. It's been a YEAR, people, and I'm still PLANNING it.  See? Patience. I have. Patience. More than even Castiel. ...

Review: Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig (Miriam Black #2)

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Thought I wouldn't get time to get in a review before the year ends but then I realized I'd written this two months back and forgot to post it! TITLE: MOCKINGBIRD (Miriam Black #2) AUTHOR: CHUCK WENDIG PUBLISHER: ANGRY ROBOT GOODREADS SUMMARY: Miriam is trying. Really, she is. But this whole "settling down thing" that Louis has going for her just isn't working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis--who's on the road half the time in his truck--is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does. It just isn't going well. Still, she's keeping her psychic ability--to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them--in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she's keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle. Then comes one bad day that turns it all ...

Guest Post: Prophecy Girl

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I'm taking a minute to breathe here, and announce before we go into the guest post that I'm so very very sorry for all the erratic posting that's been happening on the blog. There's just too much going on in my life! Add to that finals-related stress, and I'm like a zombie with a polka-dotted headband, shuffling around the house in pajamas the whole day. (Plus Jeremy Carver is killing me with Supernatural Season 8, dammit) This is the last post for the year, guys and girls. I'll be back new year with a new design and other stuff. But wait! Today we have Faith McKay, author of Prophecy Girl, doing a guest post for us! Welcome, Faith! On to the guest post! Ten Facts You Didn't Know About Prophecy Girl + Every character in this novel has at least one nickname, though only some of them are mentioned in Prophecy Girl. + The working title for many years was NEXT SERVICES, because of a sign in the valley that reads Next Services: 74 Miles. The scene in...

Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards (and an SPN tangent)

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Publisher: Penguin My Copy: e-book purchased for iBooks Goodreads Synopsis A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war. In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong. When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths. RATING: 2.5 STARS To say I had high hopes for this book ...

Review: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

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Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war. This is not that world . Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is--and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it. In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life. While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope. But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream? Oh, Laini Taylor, you wonderful wom...

Trifecta Writing Challenge: Cut Out Ones Will Suffice

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For Trifecta Writing Challenge: Prompt is Year (as in usually represented by a number) NOTE: How this one came to be, I have absolutely no idea. At first it was about sisters. Then it was about basements. Then I watched too much Supernatural.  Suffice to say, this one is the most scary 333 words I've ever written. Hear me? Morbid! Very! Apologies in advance for any nightmares. source:  http://vvola.deviantart.com I'm calling this....CUT OUT ONES WILL SUFFICE. Here we go! “Rose.” Three times, like a charm. Whispered so soft that I can pretend not to have heard it; pretend that the sound of my name has gotten lost in the space between us; has become entangled in the clouds of hair that spans a golden bridge between us. “It’s time, Rose. It’s almost here, the new year.” “I wish it weren’t.” “I’m sorry, Rose.” I open my eyes. Marie’s eyes are open and violently blue. Ships are wrecked in the maelstrom of those irises. Cornflower fields bloom in mine....