David Estes

What I Loved:

Wow. I was iffy about a Pinocchio retelling because it seemed like it would be a hard fairy tale to redo, but man that was a really good book.

First of all, I loved that the author chose Pinocchio to do a retelling for. It was very different but I loved the concept he created. I also really liked the dystopian/sci fi aspects of this book because most retellings tend to be fantasy. Also props to the author for not making romance a focal point in this story!

I really, really loved show more how the author incorporated the Pinocchio story into this story. The whole puppet part was VERY well done and I loved Pia's little friend who played the part of a certain little cricket. It had been a while since I've read/watched Pinocchio so I was worried I would forget the important parts but this story made them easy to pick up.

The characters were all very well developed especially considering you didn't get to see them often. I kind of liked how even though we didn't see a ton of characters, we still knew them. Or thought we knew them... There was a lot of mystery surrounding most of the characters which means you don't know who you can trust and I really liked that. It was a mystery book within a dystopia.

What I Didn't Like:

There wasn't much I didn't like in this book. My only complaint would be that some parts were too slow and others rushed by. Some consistency would have been nice but it didn't take away from the story.

Who I'd Recommend To:

This is great for those people who love fairy tale retellings but are getting tired of seeing the same fairy tales get all the attention. It's also great for all dystopia lovers and I would even say it's ok for a slightly younger teen as well. I even think that guys would like this book too since it's not overly girly or has anything to do with princess and true love. It's defensively a well rounded book for a large audience. show less

The more I read David Estes the more I love his writing! I don't think I've read a series that builds on each book in such a unique way. The first book introduced me to Fire Country and at first when I started Ice Country I was disappointed that the story line seemed to be comprised of an entirely new set of characters. Not that they were bad, or that the story wasn't good; I just wanted more of Siena and Skye and the mysteries that were left unanswered. But on I read, and I am so glad I show more did. I love, love, love how everything was brought together in this book!

Dazz and Buff are great characters. Strong headed and again, as most teenagers, making stupid decisions with the best of intentions. Again, we don't know about a lot going on around since this is from Dazz's perspective, but again, somehow it works and I am just left wanting more of this world!

Estes has a way of pulling you into the world in it's entirety. You may not know everything about the bigger picture, but he is a master at not just building the suspense of the story but also of submersing you in the world as the characters see it. You want to know more, feel their emotions and frustration. I think he also does a wonderful job of building the nuances of the different cultures created in these isolated communities.

As with Fire Country, I was left with the immediate need to read the next book in the series. I want to know what characters I will be introduced to and how the journey of Skye, Siena, Circ, Feve, Dazz and Buff will continue! I highly recommend this series! show less

Taylor Kingston heads off to college with her best friend Samantha Collins. Sam is a normal teenager, but Taylor is something else. She’s special to angels and demons and their century long war. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Gabriel Knight is an angel. Christopher Lyon is a demon. They both want Taylor, but for different reasons. Gabriel makes the first move and initiates contact. Then Chris starts dating Sam. Things get really interesting after that.

Well-written with in-depth characters, show more a fast plot and hidden agendas. I have to say I wanted to shake Taylor. I realize she’s a teenager, but she ignored her own first rule, listen to her gut. Then she didn’t get both sides of the story before making a decision. Never make decisions, especially monumental far-reaching decisions without getting all the info you can get from all sides. *sigh* Love! And boys! They’ll mess up a girl’s mind if given a chance. I’m sure we’ve all been there.

This is the first book in a trilogy and it ended in a bit of a cliffhanger. I look forward to reading what happens next in 'Demon Evolution.'

*Many thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy. Please see disclaimer page on my blog. show less

Finally! The story gets back to the momentum and style I came to LOVE in the sister Country series! Questions were answered, more were raised, plot lines were built upon, characters had more depth! I am glad I continued to read this series, even after losing much steam in the second book.

Adele is as strong as ever, but I really really liked how Tawni finally became more than just a happy sidekick. She showed some of the strength and depth that I saw in the first book but hadn't seen again. show more Even though she can love pretty shoes, she can still be the strongest of them all when her time arises. Tristan and Roc also seemed to finally grow up a bit. Not so much constant wrestling and immature antics.

My biggest criticism of this series, and I admit I don't know if it's fair one, is that they only replay the perspectives of Tristan and Adele. I love how in the Country Series, each book introduced us to an entirely new set of people and plot and circumstance, but then the previous books were brought into the mix in such a seamless and beautiful way. I found myself thinking that the same could have been done here, and it would have been so much more enriching, and probably avoided the boring second book issue. I know that this may not be fair, as the second series was written after, so perhaps the idea came with writing, and that is probably the problem reading things out of sequence.

In most of the books so far there are underlying, and some not so underlying discussions on real social issues. The patriarchal domination of a culture; the idea of power, who has it, who should have it, even within a family structure; the role of men and women in both family and society; war; peace; and social hierarchy. In this book, I thought it was interesting particularly in these strong women and how Tristan and Roc compared them with Sun Realm women. Adele and Tawni are strong, capable, independent, compared to how rich women are portrayed today - frivolous, bored, silly and helpless. "Girls are supposed to like shopping" made me laugh, especially after reading the reaction to that. There is also an interesting commentary on social class structure. These tones were touched upon in the previous two dweller books, but not as much as in this book and the Country Series. I am glad it's back and leading me toward a more developed story. I felt the injustice and horror at the disparity between the realms. The previous books vaguely brushed on these topics. You knew it was unfair, and horrible but felt shallow in the descriptions thus far. This book finally addressed this inequality with the appropriate tone.

I just started the final book in both series. I hope that it doesn't feel rushed as we are merging so much into one book! I am interested to see how all these characters and worlds merge. I really enjoy post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels for the ideas and themes that they inherently raise that cause me to think about them long after I've read the past page. Again, I am glad that these are back and am very excited to find out what happens next! show less