William Collins (9)

This is simply a fantastic read. Evander and Brooke are abducted from their ordinary human lives on earth and taken through portals into another realm in order to protect them from evil demons and dark realmers. (And can I just say I was a Brooke and Arantay shipper from that first entrancement scene? Yes, please.)

Collins’ world-building is top-notch. You get a universe packed with supernaturals of every sort, the evil, the ones fighting evil, and the lovely gray area in between. Every show more realm is wickedly creative, deadly and completely un-earthlike. As Evan and Brooke work to develop their magical powers at demon-fighting school (this book will appeal to anyone who loves boarding school-type series like Harry Potter and always wanted more fight scenes and awesome weaponry—the action scenes are amazing) they develop new friendships and potential romances. And as I write that, it’s easy to make a comparison and say “oh this has similarities to (blank) but really, it’s a completely original, fully-fleshed world that feels like you could open your eyes and picture it swirling all around you. The author does a great job in vivid descriptions, world-building and detail. One of the best-described fantasy worlds I’ve read this year.

There’s everything you would expect in a fortress filled with teen supernaturals learning to use their powers for the first time—including power struggles, friend groups, and drama. Classes and weapons/magic training all have a completely new spin. The whispers about “what is Arantay, really?” and wistful, slightly creepy dreams were snuck in nicely. You would think in a school filled with vamps, zombies and demons, whatever he was couldn’t be THAT big a deal, so that they were all freaked out really amped up the tension in addition to Brooke’s attraction. But all may not be well. Evan still seems to be in danger, from forces that no one can explain, and as the attacks continue, will they be able to identify who is behind them before he is abducted or killed?

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

I entered the giveaway at LibraryThing because the only thing I knew about the Venatori was from Harry Dresden, and I was lucky enough to win a copy to review. I loved it! Lots of mixed violence against evil ones (mother of boys) gives it a universal testosterone appeal regardless of age. A real page turner with excellent visualization and character development. The plot just zips along with twists and switchbacks, fascinating weapons, and more than enough evil ones. Plan to share with show more others and await the next installment (would be too awful if there were no more!) show less

I found Moonlight War-Act I to be wholly enjoyable and a distinct improvement on the first book in the series, the prose was tighter and suffered less from the telling aspect that diminished the first installment (though it was not entirely excised, and plagues a few scenes where the author tells the reader what to think.)
Beyond the prose, there are two area in which this book has distinctly improved over the first: foremost is the pacing. This book moves smoothly from one event to the next, show more allowing just enough break for the readers to rest before the next moment of peril. Moments of story or preparation aren't just thrown at the reader through exposition, but are conveyed through scenes, often times against a background of malice or peril. Another improvement, is that each of the various plots are interesting in their own right, none of them are dull, even when they involve common concepts like a trial for school advancement. (Some of the emotions are a little overplayed, like Brooke and Evan's fears over telling their secret to their friends.)
The second advancement, was in the villains. The Rakarn/Dark Venarators represent a real and palpable threat in this book, as does the main demon in question. The author takes the time to develop them, and gives them the opportunity to express their cruelty/malice, and then allows that malice to bear fruit. One complaint on this subject though, was that I was severely disappointed in the Adam story arch (Brooke's brother.) That had so much potential to be deliciously unsettling and painful, but it never manifested into anything, and I just found that a huge let down. Maybe the author will revise it in a future installment.
One final qualm, is that the number of school bullies the main protagonists have to deal with is kind of excessive, and they lack enough distinction to be of real merit to the story.
So, TLDR, a distinct improvement on its predecessor and very enjoyable to read. show less

I found myself conflicted while reading this book. The story itself had potential and while I can usually look past flaws in editing, they drew my attention away from the story a bit too often. For that reason, I gave this book 2.5 stars.

“Well, they’re all a bit weird. More than a bit, actually […] Some of the stories about them are positively bonkers. Loads of people think they’re in some sort of cult who do dark rituals or something.” - Mo

The Dawnvel Druids is a fantasy novel show more about a group of teenage druids charged with protecting the curious town of Dawnvel from the threat of other supernatural creatures - namely, a race of evil faeries known as the Cairnath and their gargoyle minions. Bobby, a seemingly regular boy, gets drawn into the battle between the druids and the Cairnath and comes to realise that there’s a lot about his past that he has yet to discover.

I liked the characterisation in this book. Each character had a distinct personality that was consistent and worked well with the story. Bobby was likeable and I appreciated the little bits of humour he offered. It was also interesting to see creatures I hadn’t previously read about. The story had a clever take on gargoyles that I hadn’t expected, and I was pleasantly surprised by the absence of the more ‘mainstream’ supernatural creatures.

The mystery was also well written. There were many questions raised throughout the story that urged me to read on, and that was definitely one of my favourite aspects of this book. However, the ending leaves a lot of these questions unanswered. I understand that this was probably intentional in anticipation of the next book, but I didn’t get the sense that there was a clear resolution for this story. It almost felt like I’d stopped reading halfway through, and while I'm the type to enjoy a good cliffhanger, it might frustrate others.

Overall, I really do think The Dawnvel Druids has potential. With additional editing, there is an interesting story here that I would likely continue reading. Unfortunately, I couldn’t give this particular book a higher rating, but I look forward to seeing how the story develops. show less