Book Review: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

     For those who believe and who need it there is an escape. A magical world that exists at the same time as our own, and yet not at all. This place is a place for the thinkers and the readers of the world. The keepers of the stories and the only way to access it is through doorways that are always there and yet not. This place is the Starless Sea. Each door will take you to a harbor and that harbor will lead to an underground library of sorts where anything is possible. 

    In rare cases someone gets more than one chance to enter into this world. Such is the case for Zachary Ezra Rollings. He was first presented with the choice in the form of a door painted on a wall that he did not try to open and then much later he read about that day in a book. This book was much older than he is and sets him on a path to finding a way into this world, which in turn leads to the biggest adventure he has ever known. 

    For it is not safe to go alone...take this. 

    I can honestly say that I found this book intriguing and that I enjoyed it, but in a confusing way. For a large portion of the book I had no idea what was going on and was just waiting on it to make sense, although I was enjoying the little stories and side quests that I was discovering along the way. Zachary is a gamer, and being a gamer myself, I feel this book is an apt description of what often happens in an open world game. You start with a plot in mind and you have all of these little side stories along the way. These side stories may have a part to play in the overall goal of the story, or they may just be something fun for you to sink your teeth into. That is something that you will find within these pages. 

    This book is great for someone who has trouble staying focused because it will feel like you are jumping from story to story with no end goal in sight. Then, everything is going to tie itself up nicely while leaving you wondering what happens next. There is love and loss, mystery and adventure. There are LGBT aspects and straight aspects. All of which are beautiful and amazing and so complex. 

    I truly hope that you give this book a chance. I got it as an audiobook through the app Libby with my library card and it took me a while to get through (it is an almost 19 hour audiobook), but it is available on Amazon for $11.99 by clicking here.

Book Review: Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost (Night Huntress Book 1)

     Catherine Crawford is the result of a date rape of a newly made vampire and her mother. Since her mother told her about this at the age of 16 it has been her goal to rid the world of as many blood-sucking murderers as possible. She has taken down over a dozen when something doesn't go to plan. Bones, a master vampire, bests her and makes her a deal. If she can beat him then she can kill him. If not, she has to kill vampires for him. After-all, it is a very lucrative business when they anger certain people. 

    At first it isn't so bad. He is hard on her, but she is getting stronger and playing to the strengths that she has as a half-vampire. The main problem is the more she gets to know him the more she realizes that maybe all vampires aren't bad. Especially a certain Brit. Will the truth behind vampires be enough for her to change or will what happened to her mother color how she sees the species forever? 

    I downloaded this book on impulse from an app called Libby as an audiobook using my library card and can honestly say I don't regret that decision for a moment. The book is fun to listen to and I am sure it would be just as much fun to read yourself. It is a book that you can easily get lost in and even though the book is over I find myself wondering how the characters are doing and what will happen with them in the future. I will eventually be looking for the next book in the series as there needs to be questions answered. There is so much potential at the end of this book for more in the future and I hope for good things. 

    This book is available on Amazon for $2.99 by clicking here. 

Book Review: Breathless by Scott Prussing (Blue Fire Saga Book 1)

     Leesa's mom claims she was bitten by a one-fanged vampire while pregnant with her and since then has been a little off. She hates the light and has this weird obsession with tomato juice, so the only person Leesa has ever been able to depend on is her brother, Bradley. That is until she gets an email from him while he was away at college stating that he was going away and not to look for him. Leesa is determined to find Bradley and hopes to find out as much about vampires as she can while she is at it. But the truth behind her mother and brother may have Leesa in more danger than she has ever previously been in. 

    The search for her brother in the town where her mom says she was bitten leaves Leesa with hard decisions as well as startling discoveries. Who knew that there were a species that hunted vampires? What were a vampire's true abilities? Are vampires even real at all or just something concocted in the minds of authors across the globe? 

    This is a cute young adult story that made me think for a moment that there was no way the books after this in the series could include the main character, Leesa from this one. I won't give it away but a choice that she must make in order to save her brother with the help of her vampire-killing boyfriend could end up costing her her life. I may look into the other books in this series at some point in the future as I am curious about Destiratu and the battle that is sure to happen between the vampires and their slayers. That being said, it is a little boring. It took me almost 2 weeks to get through under 300 pages. The book doesn't leave you wondering about the characters while you are not reading. 

    This book is available on Amazon for free by clicking here.