HBIC Review for The Iron King- Emily @ What Book is That?

Title:The Iron King
Author: Julie Kagawa
Page Count: 363 pages
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Genre: fantasy, young adult, paranormal romance
Copy for review was purchased by this writer

50 words or less: All Meghan Chase wanted was a place to belong, and a little excitement. She learns quickly to be careful what she wishes for when it becomes apparent that that place is Fairyland, and excitement there comes in spades.

The Iron King was the landslide victor in the BWB polls for March, and as I was already beyond excited to read it, I had no problem with that whatsoever. Happily, it surpassed every single one of my expectations and has me really, REALLY excited for August when the next installment comes out.

Meghan Chase is about to turn sixteen and thinks that a brand new life would be the best possible birthday present. Her home and school life are dreary, she's the target of taunts and teasing from schoolmates and is pretty much ignored at home. Her only real friend is Robbie, a neighbor boy, sort of, and she's certainly the apple of her younger brother Ethan's eye too. When Ethan is abducted and a changeling is left in his place, then, it's only logical to Meghan that she should go after him, setting events in motion that she'd never anticipated.

Meghan's adventures in Fairyland are trippy, exotic, beautiful, and terrifying in turns. The author does a fantastic job of weaving together vivid descriptions, unique characters, action, romance, dialogue, and all other manner of elements into a really unique story. We hear over and over again in other novels about fairies about how they can't touch iron, but this is the first novel I've read that addresses that element in an ENTIRELY new and unique way.

Of course, there's a love interest- Ash, a prince of the Unseelie Court. We don't get to learn a whole lot about him, other than he and Puck (Robbie) don't get along at all, that he's got a sense of honor and a long memory, and that he's determined to protect Meghan, which turns out to be way easier said than done. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about their relationship.

Don't count Puck out yet though- I think Meghan's going to have to make some choices about her future in the next two books and will find that attention from guys isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

With beach and vacation season fast approaching, put this title on your list of fun, exciting books to while away an afternoon. I devoured this book in one sitting, immediately checked on the release date for the second one, and huffed indignantly when I realized it wasn't until August. Oh well, good things are worth waiting for!

Overall Grade: A+
Blog with Bite Rating: 4/4
******
Discussion Questions
1. What did you think of the feud between Puck and Ash? How do you think that might play out in the next two books? This was one of the most intriguing facets of the story for me. I think there's got to be some kind of resolution, because Meghan is deeply connected to both characters- the question is, will it be one everyone can live with?

2. Favorite scene or line from the book? Could you relate to any of the characters? When Ash confesses his feelings for Meghan and Meghan gets her first kiss. Swoon! I thought all the characters were really unique and well-drawn, but I appreciated the tension in the relationship here and that the characters didn't just collide into smooches with each other. I liked the slow boil.

3. With whom did you identify with the most? And Why? Grimalkin. Loved the doublespeak and scheming. Plus, I'm a cat person. There, I confessed!

4. Did you find the concept behind the Iron King- being a technology fueled modern day faerie- original or unbelievable? In so far as any facet of a faerie tale can be either of those things, I found it very unique and an interesting idea to consider. Fairies are the products of dreams and imagination, and technology is too; I think this story argues that both of those concepts originate in the same place, which is definitely not something that I've encountered in other books.

5. Kagawa used a lot of mythical faeries in The Iron King, such as King Oberon, Queen Mab and Puck. Which fae from myth would you have liked to have seen added into the pages of The Iron King besides the ones she used? Here's another confession- my knowledge of world mythology is pretty lacking. If it wasn't Greek/Roman and taught in high school, I don't know about it. With that said, who wants to recommend some good books on mythology?

The Iron King Discussion Questions

 1. What did you think of the feud between Puck and Ash? How do you think that might play out in the next two books?

2.  Favorite scene or line from the book? Could you relate to any of the characters?

3. With whom did you identify with the most? And Why?

4. Did you find the concept behind the Iron King-  being  a technology fueled modern day faerie-  original or unbelievable?

5. Kagawa used a lot of mythical faeries in The Iron King, such as King Oberon, Queen Mab and Puck. Which fae from myth would you have liked to have seen added into the pages of The Iron King besides the ones she used?

April Contenders- Adult Titles!

It's time! Time to vote for the review titles for April, that is. As always, the following items should be taken into consideration:
1. Vote for the book that YOU personally want to read. That means take into consideration whether you will be able to get a copy and read it during or before the review period.
2. If you have already reviewed the title that gets selected, YOU CAN STILL SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW FOR TOP REVIEWER CONSIDERATION. Just add a BWB logo to the review and you're all set!
3. Make sure to submit your reviews for each book! If you're traveling the blogosphere and notice someone posting a review of one of our titles, help spread the Blog with Bite love by commenting and turning them on to our site! The more the merrier!

Anyway, enough of that, on to the choices and as always, synposes are from Goodreads.
Embers by Laura Bickle- Truth burns. Unemployment, despair, anger—visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. Homes and businesses are increasingly invaded by phantoms and now, with the annual destruction of Devil’s Night approaching, a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient power that will leave the city in ashes. A sizzling debut from a red-hot new author.

By day, Anya Kalinczyk is an arson investigator in the Detroit Fire Department. At night—accompanied by her elemental familiar, a salamander named Sparky, and an eccentric group of ghost hunters—Anya pursues malicious spirits. The rarest form of psychic medium, a “Lantern,” Anya doesn’t allow spirits to communicate through her with the physical world like most mediums, she devours restless harmful souls and incinerates them. She’d like to get closer to Brian, a ghost-hunting techno-wiz, but a lifetime of those she loves getting hurt makes her hold back. Her two roles mesh when, on the trail of a serial firebug, she discovers an arsonist is attempting to use the fires to rouse Sirrush, a supremely powerful elemental, from the salt mine beneath the city of Detroit. Anya must capture the arsonist before Devil’s Night, when the spell will be complete and Sirrush will rise to raze the city.
Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan- Reminiscent of Keith Donohue's The Stolen Child, Erick Setiawan's richly atmospheric debut is a beautiful, engrossing fable of three generations of women in two families; their destructive jealousies, their loves and losses, their sacrifices and deeply rooted deceptions, and their triumphs.
Of Bees and Mist is the tale of Meridia -- raised in a sepulchral house where ghosts dwell in mirrors, she spends her childhood feeling neglected and invisible. Every evening her father vanishes inside a blue mist without so much as an explanation, and her mother spends her days venomously beheading cauliflowers in the kitchen. At sixteen, desperate to escape, Meridia marries a tenderhearted young man and moves into his seemingly warm and charming family home. Little does she suspect that his parents are harboring secrets of their own. There is a grave hidden in the garden. There are two sisters groomed from birth to despise each other. And there is Eva, the formidable matriarch whose grievances swarm the air like an army of bees. In this haunting story, Setiawan takes Meridia on a tumultuous ride of hope and heartbreak as she struggles to keep her young family together and discovers long-kept secrets about her own past as well as the shocking truths about her husband's family.
Readers of magic-realist fiction will instantly be captivated by this richly evocative fairy tale. Of Bees and Mist takes place in a nameless town during a timeless era, where spirits and spells, witchcraft and demons, ghosts and clairvoyance -- both real and imagined -- are an everyday reality. Setiawan skillfully blends the real and the fantastical as he follows our heroine over a 30-year time span in which her love, courage, and sanity are tested to the limit.
Don't Kill the Messenger by Eileen Rendahl- Melina Markowitz is a Messenger, a go-between for paranormal forces and supernatural creatures. Problem is, when a girl's a go-between, it's hard not to get caught in the middle...

When ninjas steal an envelope from Melina, her search leads her to a Taoist temple in Old Sacramento, where the priests seem to practice Zen and the art of mayhem. Melina learns from the handsome ER doctor (and vampire) who gave her the envelope that it contained talismans created by the priests to control Chinese vampires, who are attacking gang members to spark a street war.

Although he may look more like a surfer than a cop, Ted Goodnight is dead serious about investigating the surge in gang violence. At every turn he runs into Melina, a very attractive-and very mysterious-young woman. Can Melina enlist his help to battle something he doesn't even believe in without blowing her cover?

Blonde With a Wand by Vicki Lewis Thompson-
Sexy witch Anica Revere has one rule: never under any circumstances get involved with a man before telling him she's a witch. Still, what's one silly rule? Especially when the guy in question is as cute as Jasper Danes. But when Anica and Jasper have a spat, she breaks an ever bigger rule of witchcraft and turns him into a cat. Bad news for him. Worse for her...










Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater- Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry... ... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way... Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature. All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what's worse is that he's a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding. Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind. But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation... or her death?

April Contenders- YA Titles!

It's time! Time to vote for the review titles for April, that is. As always, the following items should be taken into consideration:
1. Vote for the book that YOU personally want to read. That means take into consideration whether you will be able to get a copy and read it during or before the review period.
2. If you have already reviewed the title that gets selected, YOU CAN STILL SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW FOR TOP REVIEWER CONSIDERATION. Just add a BWB logo to the review and you're all set!
3. Make sure to submit your reviews for each book! If you're traveling the blogosphere and notice someone posting a review of one of our titles, help spread the Blog with Bite love by commenting and turning them on to our site! The more the merrier!

Anyway, enough of that, on to the choices and as always, synposes are from Goodreads.

Moonlight by Rachel Hawthorne-

I see him and know what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever.

kayla is the nature lover, the all-American beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Lucas. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying—and thrilling—gene that will change her life forever.

lucas is dangerous, gorgeous...and a werewolf. As leader of the Dark Guardians, shape-shifters who gather deep within the state park, he has sworn to protect his pack. But when Lucas finds his true soul mate, his love could put them all in harm's way.

As Lucas and Kayla struggle with their feelings for each other, a greater danger lurks: Humans have discovered the Dark Guardians and are planning their destruction. Kayla must choose between the life she knows and the love she feels certain is her destiny.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan- In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?



The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting- "A serial killer on the loose. A girl with a morbid ability. And the boy who would never let anything happen to her.

Violet Ambrose can find the dead. Or at least, those who have been murdered. She can sense the echoes they leave behind... and the imprints they leave on their killers. As if that weren't enough to deal with during junior year, she also has a sudden, inexplicable, and consuming crush on her best friend since childhood, Jay Heaton.

Now a serial killer has begun terrorizing Violet's small town... and she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him."
----

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her “power” to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he’s claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay’s intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she’s falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

The Line by Teri Hall- An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line. Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help. Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?



Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins- When Sophie Mercer turned thirteen, she discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-Gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hecate Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward prodigium, a.k.a. witches, fae, and shapeshifters. By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard. Three powerful enemies who look like supermodels; a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock; a creepy, tag-along ghost; and a new roommate, who happens to be the most-hated person and only vampire on campus. Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her friend Jenna is the number one suspect. Meanwhile, Sophie has a more personal shock to grapple with. Not only is her father the head of the prodigium council, he's the most powerful warlock in the world, and Sophie is his heir. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all prodigium, especially her.

HBIC Review for Evolve- Emily @ What Book is That?

Title: Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead
Editor: Nancy Kilpatrick
Page Count: 283 pages
Publisher: Edge Books
Genre: horror, paranormal, fantasy
Copy for review provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

50 words or less: 24 short stories that take vampires to new levels- sad, tragic, historic, dramatic, etc. etc. etc.

It's been awhile since I read a complete short story anthology and Evolve was a good way to get back in the saddle. The stories in this volume are definitely one-bite stories so we don't always get to know a whole lot about characters, settings, or any other story elements. Instead, you get stories that are a lot like doing shots out of unknown glasses. Some of them are fruity and fluffy and go down like candy. Others make you get your whiskey face on.

These are no tired reworkings of tired old vampire tropes. These stories take the interpretation of vampires to a whole new level, and in a lot of the tales, blood isn't the only thing getting sucked, and brooding pale people aren't the only vampires. Toxic friendships, workaholism, drugs, failed romances, you name it- anything that can suck the life out of a person is worked in here in one way or another.

There are certain stories that really stood out to me as unique from this anthology- "Chrysalis" by Ronald Hore is a glimpse of what would happen if vampires had coming of age stories, "All You Can Eat, All the Time" by Claude Lalumiere takes bodysnatching to a whole new level, and "The New Forty" by Rebecca Bradley is snarky and brooding and sweet all at the same time. "Soulfinger" by Rio Youers is a good bet too.

My biggest issue with this book is that although a wide variety of stories and writing styles are represented here, you don't ever get enough of one author or story to really hook you into wanting to know more. As a collection of creepy stories all sharing a common theme, this book succeed admirably; I don't think there was quite the same level of success for this book as a lure for new readers. But then, that may not have been the point of the book and it doesn't detract from the overall experience of the book.

Overall Grade: B+
BWB Rating: 3/4
*****
Blog with Bite is giving away a copy of Evolve: Stories of the New Undead! The giveaway ends March 30th so there's definitely still time to enter. Check out all the details and enter here!

Updates & Win a $10 Amazon Gift Card

Hey everyone just wanted to give some updates.

First off don't forget to enter our Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead Giveaway!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Secondly, there will be a prize for the Top Reviewer this round! Woot Woot.

Please give a thankful round of applause for our BWB reviewer Julie from My Five Monkeys. Julie wants to reward the top reviewer with a $10 Amazon Gift Card!

It's a celebration of Julies ... Julie is giving a GC for the Julie Kagawa review...LOL (that just struck me)

This is not a giveaway, this is a competition, reviews will be judged on writing ability and content.  Here are the rules & judging guidelines:

1. Winner of our the Top Reviewer award will receive a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card, provided by Julie. To thank her, you might want to become a follower of her blog - but this will not impact any judging..LOL
2. To enter this competition, please submit a review of The Iron King through our Submit Review link above
3. Deadline to enter your review is March 29th
4. Blog with Bite banner must be placed on the review
5. You can have written this review at any time in the past, just have your link ready and the banner on the post

Judging Guidelines:

1. Judging will begin the day after all reviews are entered
2. Judges are  Julie our Featured Reviewer and the Blog with Bite HBIC's Parajunkee, Tina & Emily
3. Judges promise to comment on your review once they have read it.
   
4. Like all past Top Reviewer judging, reviews are read through and the following criteria is taken into account:
1. Is the review coherent and makes sense?
2. Are there spelling errors & grammar issues?
3. If the reviewer stated likes and dislikes did they give examples?
4. Were you entertained by the review?
5. Was there a Blog with Bite banner on the review?

If you have an questions, please comment and we will try our best to answer as soon as possible.

Thanks everyone, and I'm hoping this will be come a common occurrence with our group reviews.

First Drop of Crimson - Top Reviewer

Amanda-Lee @ StoryWings

Support Amanda-Lee's blog by becoming a follower!

Here is her review:

Book Review: First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Review: First Drop of Crimson

Series: Night Huntress World – Book 1

Author: Jeaniene Frost

No. Of Pages: 371

Release Date: 9th February 2010

The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shape shifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .

Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.

My Thoughts:

Mrs. Frost, you have done it again.

I knocked this book over in a day; it was of the same quality as the Cat and Bones books.

I always loved Spade, ever since his first appearance in Halfway to the Grave he has been a character that I have wanted to see more of. Spade was a Baron before he was turned so he still has those gentlemanly qualities that we wish would crop up in everyday life. Even something as small as him helping people out of the car would make me sigh.

Denise is a strong woman; she was never one of those characters that made an impact for me though, just a person in the background. In FDOC though she absolutely shined, I know that is the point, but still the character that was portrayed was not what I was expecting at all. Denise was strong minded, strong willed and stubborn. This to me is a beautiful combination.

The banter between the two had some laugh out loud moments, which was also something I wasn’t expecting. Denise was a character I think that so far I am most like in how she talks, and also with the constant worry of the cost to other people. The moments when she was trying to calculate in her head whether her entire house would cover the expense to Spade on their journey was very funny.

As for the storyline, it was another huge surprise. Usually I can tell what’s going to happen during most of the novels I pick up. FDOC was a complete rollercoaster ride for the entire book. Everything was exciting, new and completely unexpected. After reading the Cat and Bones books you think to yourself “yes, this will probably continue on with their war and their story” but it is completely different. I love that Frost has incorporated such a closeness between the characters yet such a separation because they can go for two years without seeing each other and still be best friends.

The demon storyline was very interesting as I have only covered demons recently in one other book. I love the vampires, but for a vampire series with a focus on a demon, just because they feel like it, is refreshing.

Cat and Bones showed up late in this novel. It was almost wrong in a way not to be reading from Cats point of view when she showed up, just because I love her so much. But that awkwardness (and my stupidity) only lasted about two sentences before I was grinning because I got to hear Bone’s voice in my head again.

The romance in FDOC was different to Cat and Bones story, because Spade and Denise had both suffered a loss. I was so grateful to Frost for how she addressed the issue and didn’t wipe out the previous feelings with undeniable love and mind controlling lust. The characters accepted the past for what it was and also came to terms with the fact that they weren’t replacing their loved ones or forgetting them but that the new love was love as well and it is possible to love again. It is inspiring, especially for me.

I think that, if I had to choose, the only thing that I don't like about this book is the cover. Even when I first saw it months ago, that is not how I see Spade or Denise in my head. It looks trashier than what this book is. FDOC is tender and very caring, but that cover portrays Spade as dirty and Denise as easy, which neither of them were, in any way.

Overall First Drop of Crimson is of the same calibre, and fits perfectly into the Night Huntress world. The romance was beautiful, the characters were a scream and the storyline was unique. I have to undoubtedly play favourites and say that I still love Cat and Bones more (probably because they have four books), but that Spade and Denise’s story is not one to be missed. FDOC would definitely work as a standalone novel if one hasn’t previously read the Night Huntress series.

The Iron King - BWB YA Selection for March

The Iron King is Blog with Bite's YA Selection for the month of March.  POST YOUR REVIEWS FOR THE IRON KING BY 3/29/10

  The Iron King

by Julie Kagawa

Sign-up deadline: March 29th, 2010

Meghan Chase has never fit in at her small-town high school, and now, on the eve of her 16th birthday, she discovers why. When her half brother is kidnapped, Meghan is drawn into a fantastical world she never imagined--the world of Faery, where anything you see may try to eat you, and Meghan is the daughter of the summer faery king. Now she will journey into the depths of Faery to face an unknown enemy . . . and beg the help of a winter prince who might as soon kill her as let her touch his icy heart. The Iron King is the first book in the Iron Fey series.  

BWB Feature & Giveaway - EVOLVE - Vampire Stories of the New Undead

Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead

Book Web Site

“The intriguing Vampires appearing in Evolve all share a common link to the iconic character Dracula”
-- Dacre Stoker


Vampires have Evolved and They are Here!
EVOLVE includes works by:
Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff, Claude Lalumière. Mary E. Choo, Sandra Kasturi, Bradley Somer, Kevin Cockle, Rebecca Bradley, Heather Clitheroe, Colleen Anderson, Sandra Wickham, Rhea Rose, Ronald Hore, Bev Vincent, Jennifer Greylyn, Steve Vernon, Michael Skeet, Kevin Nunn, Victoria Fisher, Rio Youers, Gemma Files, Natasha Beaulieu, Claude Bolduc, and Jerome Stueart.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

 Win 1 Copy of Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead by Filling Out the Form Below!
One winner will be chosen with the use of random.org. Winner will be notified by email, and has 48 hours to respond.

Rules & Regulations:

• Must be 13 or older
• Must be US or Canadian resident (Mailing address)
• Please no PO Boxes
• You must be a follower of Blog with Bite
• Contest Ends March 30th Midnight CST
  

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First Drop of Crimson Reviews

Thanks everyone for participating!

The next book is The Iron King!

Average BWB Rating: 3.1 / 4

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