Shades of War (Sevy #2) Review

Shades of War (Sevy #2)

Sarah-Jane Lehoux

Publisher: Mundania Press

Review copy courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review

Sometimes the past can't be forgotten. Sometimes the truth refuses to be buried. And sometimes the dead won't stay dead.It began as a simple request: Journey to the Northern Jungles and bring a wayward son back to the safety of his farm and family before the racial tension that is building between humans and dark elves erupts into civil war. But life is never simple for Sevy, and she soon finds herself entangled in a bloody battle of good versus evil, love versus hate.Old friends and enemies reunite, familial bonds are broken, and loyalty is tested. And in the midst of the steamy, sultry jungles, the ghosts of a serial killer's victims come out to play. Sevy, as petulant and irascible as ever, must overcome her personal demons in order to expose a madman and bring peace back to the kingdom. But just how much of her sanity must she sacrifice to help her friends? And how can she save anyone when she can't even save her own soul?

This is the second book following the adventure of mercenary ex-thief, Sevy. Sevy is a strong woman but she is stubborn, bias, impulsive, selfish and rarely listens to anyone else. She can be quite infuriating, yet there is something compulsive about her that you can’t help urging her on even when you’re not sure if you like her or not! In this story Sevy slowly starts to listen to those around her and begins to grow up.

Once again my favourite character was the dark elf and Sevy’s friend, Revik. He and his wife are struggling to reconcile their differences when they find themselves in the middle of a conflict between the dark elves of the jungle and the humans who have been expanding their holdings. The relationship between them is complex and layered but throughout I was rooting for them. One of the strongest points of this story are the characters which are varied but realistic. They all have their pasts, biases and feel like real people. Sometimes you just want to shout at them to listen and trust each other, but that is always easier to say from the outside perspective!

The plot twists and turns with some really great action sequences that will have you on the edge of your seat. I liked the first Sevy adventure, Thief but I REALLY liked this story. It was fast paced, exciting and different from any other fantasy I’ve ever read. With the third book in the Sevy sequence, Masquerade out later on in the month, I hope there will be plenty more adventures for Sevy.

Recommended for fans of Karen Miller and Tad Williams. 9 out of 10

Thief Review + GIVEAWAY!

Thief (Sevy #1)

- Sarah-Jane Lehoux

Publisher: Mundania Press

In the crumbling city of Eloria, there is one indisputable fact: everyone has a price. Protestations of morality and better judgment have little meaning when confronted with the chance to obtain the unobtainable. The only question remaining is just how much a person is willing to sacrifice in order to win their heart’s desire. Sevy has always been a quick study in the wicked ways of Eloria. She has no qualms about taking what she wants, and when the love of her life is mysteriously murdered, Sevy will stop at nothing to get him back. Elvish black magic, necromancy and demonic pacts are of little consequence if it means she can once again have her beloved at her side. But is she willing to murder her only friend to get the job done?

I love strong women in my novels – and fantasy does seem to be a little behind the times with strong female characters (I’m grateful to say that has been changing rapidly in the last few years!), but with Sevy we have one tough woman. She is tough, quick to anger, resourceful and doesn’t trust easily. When we first meet her she is a young thief in Eloria, struggling to eat and survive. It’s easy to feel for her, but as the years past she become hard and doesn’t always make the right decisions. Sevy seems to get harder and more brittle as time passes. It got to the point where I’m not sure I liked her much by the end – and really didn’t know how she would react in some situations - but I sure respected her and still cared for her. Sevy would rather fight than think and is quick to action while Jarro and Revik are the more thoughtful characters – but can hold their own in a fight. Jarro is the gang leader who takes her in and trains her. He is the traditional Robin Hood style leader – a thief with a heart of gold and a nice counter-point to Sevy. He’s charming but with a bit of blind spot when it comes to women.

My favourite character by far is the dark elf Revik – he is Jarro’s second is command and teaches Sevy how to fight. Revik is smart and loyal – and he really does want the best for everyone. However, don’t worry there is no love triangle here! However, the rumours and fears about dark elves are intriguing – especially when contrasted with the actual culture of the elves. I loved learning about their society and set up – it seems so unique and different! I hope to find out more in the next book.

At first this feels like different stories with the same characters as the plot moves forward several years between sections. It’s not until the final part that many strands come together and the full scale of what has been happening. That’s when things get really tense and you don’t know how it will end. With the world now set up, I’m looking forward to the next book Shades of War to explore what happens to Sevy next!

Recommended for fans of Karen Miller and Rachel Aaron. 8 out of 10  

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Today I have a special giveaway for you all!! I have 3 copies of Thief and Shades of War by Sarah-Jane Lehoux to give-away courtesy of Sara-Jane herself and my good friend Melissa from My World in words and pages! It's PDF copy as such it's open internationally. All you have to do is fill in the form below. Open until 29th October - Good Luck!

Magic Lost, Trouble Found Review

Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Raine Benarnes 1)

-         - Lisa Shearin

Publisher: Ace Books

My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound…
Raine is a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, she can usually take care of herself. But when her friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, Raine finds herself wrapped up in more trouble than she cares for. She likes attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting her down is not her idea of a good time. The amulet they’re after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when Raine takes possession of the item, it takes possession of her. Now her moderate powers are increasing beyond anything she could imagine—but is the resumé enhancement worth her soul?

At first glance this looks very much like a traditional fantasy – there are goblins, pirates, mages all in a city that is nothing like anything in the world today – oh, and the heroine is an elf. So far, so traditional. However, the story, the actions and heroine herself read much more Urban Fantasy. Raine is feisty and sarcastic – with a strong moral streak even if that means mending the law occasionally. She has some magical ability which is useful in getting out of jams and a wide variety of friends, family and admirers who are occasionally helpful and hindrance in her task. She is an easier character to root.

This does make it sound like its tailored made fantasy for me – but I admit I had a couple of issues with the story. There are a lot of characters – most with odd names – some friendly and some not - which make it a very crowded book. At times I felt like I was jumping into the middle of an on-going series as there was a lot of unspoken backstory between characters (I checked and this is the first in the series!). This was both good as it seemed like the characters had fully developed histories – but was overwhelming and difficult to keep track of all the relationships. There was also a lot of data dumping as you are brought up to speed on a brand new world, with politics, a magic system, history and city layout in a very short space of time. This meant that I wasn’t quite able to enjoy the story as I was trying to catch up to the plot.

After all that though, there is a decent plot with some disturbing bad guys, an intriguing magic system and some exciting action scenes. There are some intriguing questions left unanswered and I wouldn’t mind finding out the answers! I think this might be a series that is worth further investigation and I will look out for the next in the series, but on its own it’s a little like a mint choc chip ice cream without any choc chips – still tasty but could be better!

Recommended for fans of Maria V Snyder and Faith Hunter. 7 out of 10

Wayfinder Review

Wayfinder (Truthseeker 2)

-       C.E. Murphy

Publisher: MIRA

E-Arc with thanks to netgalley and MIRA

Lara Jansen is a truthseeker, gifted—or cursed—with the magical ability to tell honesty from lies. Once she was a tailor in Boston, but now she has crossed from Earth to the Barrow-lands, a Faerie world embroiled in a bloody civil war between Seelie and Unseelie. Armed with an enchanted and malevolent staff which seeks to bend her to its dark will, and thrust into a deadly realm where it’s hard to distinguish friend from foe, Lara is sure of one thing: her love for Dafydd ap Caerwyn, the Faerie prince who sought her help in solving a royal murder and dousing the flames of war before they consumed the Barrow-lands. But now Dafydd is missing, perhaps dead, and the Barrow-lands are closer than ever to a final conflagration. Lara has no other choice: she must harness the potent but perilous magic of the staff and her own truthseeking talents, blazing a path to a long-forgotten truth—a truth with the power to save the Barrow-lands or destroy them.

This is the second book in the Truthseeker duology and I haven’t read the first book! (I think it’s catching and the blame lies solely with Melissa from Books and Things!) This definitely puts me at a disadvantage at the beginning of Wayfinder as it feels like you’ve just opened a book in the middle and started reading. Lara drops into the middle of a battlefield and from there the action doesn’t stop with Lara running from one side to another, from one world to the next.

I liked Lara and her unique power of being able to tell truth from lies – even her own thoughts are impacted by this power. She’s been caught up in an Elvin family feud, civil war and age long enmity between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. But she has become her own person, embracing her power and leadership skills. There are a lot of characters introduced and most of them had suspect motives so Lara never knew if she could trust them or not. This kept me on the edge of my seat and I kept changing my mind about which people she should trust!

One element I found a little repetitive was the amount of talking and explanations that happened. Every time Lara met up with someone else, what had happened so far was explained. At first this was useful seeing as I hadn’t read Truthseeker, but it continued as earlier points in Wayfinder were repeated as well. I was paying attention! I didn’t need that many recaps! And despite this, some characters in Boston turned up out of no-where (to me) and seemed to be a little pointless (although I loved Kelly!).

However, the story was gripping and I was never bored. There was loads of intriguing elements, from the staff to the love interest, Dafydd. While the end wraps up Lara’s story – I still felt like I wanted to know more – perhaps I need to pick up Truthseeker and see if the first book will answer my questions! Generally though, I’d recommend reading the series in order though!

Recommended for fans of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs. 7 out of 10.