War Among the Crocodiles by Leah Cutter is the third book in a fantasy trilogy about various groups of supernatural beings living in the human world. I thought that the writing itself was very good, but the layout of the story and the plot were lacking. The book is broken into four parts: a long introduction, introduction to main characters and important settings, escalating plot and climax, and epilogue.

The first part starts off very slowly, following a witch named Yvette. The early chapters about her mostly boring and do not really seem applicable to the rest of the plot. The second part is very choppy, switching between several people and places while only giving tiny glimpses into their lives. We are shown members of different clans of shapeshifters around the world and their struggles since the previous catastrophe. By the middle of the second part, I kind of knew what the book was supposed to be about. By the end of the second part, the main villains, a group of evil magicians, had shown themselves and had started killing people important to the clan members the book was following. The third part started with more people dying and the main characters deciding to head towards the clans which had lead the attack on the last enemies. They meet up and share information and start to prepare to fight by having Yvette make special mirrors which seem to block the evil magicians. They decide to bait a trap for the evil magicians using Yvette as bait. The trap is sprung, and show more it seems like everyone but one lonely tiger shifter dies. The fourth part shows that the tiger shifter chose to continue to live without his friends and family and is taking care of Yvette's land.

Overall, I did not enjoy the choppiness of the story, and it seemed like the author withheld too much information about key points like how the heroes knew to use the mirrors to defeat the enemies. It was also a very long and slow story with lots of extra information not necessary to the plot. show less

I really loved this book. The beginning was a bit slow since it chronicled Emily's descent into addiction, and I was worried that the majority of the book was going to be told from the drug-addled perspective of the main character. Fortunately, the recovery from addiction and falling in love were the two main themes, and Emily recovered from her addiction early in the book. Beyond the slow start, I thought the book was very well written and had a wonderful and engaging plot. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and I hope that Ms. Baron is planning on extending this book to be the first in a series.

I really loved this book. The beginning was a bit slow since it chronicled Emily's descent into addiction, and I was worried that the majority of the book was going to be told from the drug-addled perspective of the main character. Fortunately, the recovery from addiction and falling in love were the two main themes, and Emily recovered from her addiction early in the book. Beyond the slow start, I thought the book was very well written and had a wonderful and engaging plot. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and I hope that Ms. Baron is planning on extending this book to be the first in a series.

Vampire Book of the Month Club is the newest young adult novel by Rusty Fischer. Like many of his other works, this novel focuses on a teenage protagonist who must deal with the supernatural world. The book aims to be funny and exciting with lots of action and high school drama, but I felt that overall, the book was just cheesy.

By day, Nora Falcon, protagonist, attends an exclusive, private high school with some of the most beautiful, rich, and famous teenagers in Beverly Hills. By night, she works on her latest vampire novels and signs books for some of her most loyal fans, the vannabes (vampire wannabes). Her best friends are Abby, a B-movie actress famous for her starring role in a series of zombie movies and her crush, Wyatt, a sportswear model. The book begins with Nora meeting a more-sleazy-than-charming but very handsome guy at her book signing, and then her world is turned upside-down. She must fight vampires, protect her friends, and survive the challenges of high school all while trying to finish her next book before her deadline!

It was fun, but the confusing personality switches and vague world setup kept the story from flowing well. I found that most of the characters were not very likable, and some of the main characters did not stick to their original personalities.

In Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind, the second book of Dru Pagliassotti's Clockwork trilogy, Cris and Taya return to face new challenges as they are sent as Ondinium's diplomats to the neighboring country of Mareaux. After several assassination attempts, they realize that there is more happening than the obvious spying and plotting of the international representatives. With the help of the now blind and exiled Alister, they follow leads on the assassination attempts to a metallurgy company which is smuggling weapon parts to Ondinium's biggest enemy. Now Cris and Taya must make difficult choices and step outside of the caste restrictions in order to prevent war.

This book, like this first in the clockwork series, is a perfect mix of steampunk, adventure, intrigue, and politics. Pagliassotti introduces another common element of the steampunk genre, the dirigible airship, which provides another mode of air travel in the Clockwork world in addition to the wings of the icarii. The pace of the book never seems to lag, with Cris and Taya constantly travelling, getting into trouble, or being enmeshed in intrigue. The politics between the main four nations in the world as well as within Ondinium are carefully intertwined with the narrative to give the story depth without the reader becoming mired in the details or growing bored in long political discussions.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series. I recommend it to all who enjoy fantasy or steampunk genres.