The Weight of Blood

The Weight of Blood

Laura McHugh

9780812995206

March 2014

4 Stars

*I received this uncorrected galley from netgalley*

Sixteen year old Lucy Dane has always felt like an outsider in the small mountain town of Henbane. Even though she was born there and that the Dane family has a history there the residents have never fully accepted her because her mother had been a stranger.  When Lucy starts digging into her friend’s disappearance and death she discovers that the town and her own family have a lot of skeletons to be discovered. Lucy didn’t expect her investigation to also uncover secrets about her mother’s disappearance and how it would change the lives of her loved ones.

I was immediately drawn into the mystery of this story and didn’t want to stop reading. It could have easily been read in one sitting if I would have had the time to dedicate to it.  The plot kept the pages turning quickly and kept me on my toes. The different character perspectives were a nice way to see the story unfold by keeping it from getting stale.  As I have stated in other reviews, I love a good dysfunctional family and this novel provides one. I would have to agree with the comparison to Gillian Flynn when it comes to this novel, especially the family dynamic.  My one complaint is the characters. I just didn’t feel like I was getting enough from them. Even though I was thoroughly invested in their story I wasn’t invested in them.  Overall I really enjoyed it and have already recommended it and will keep doing so. I will also be checking out this author’s future work.

 

                                                                                                                                                        

The Herald

The Herald (The Sundering #6)

Ed Greenwood

ISBN: 9780786964604

June 2014

*This is a review of an uncorrected galley I received from netgalley*

4 Stars

Since this is the final book in a series I will not include a synopsis to avoid spoilers as much as possible.

I had a hard time deciding on how many stars I should give this one. The book and I got started on a bad foot, but that had nothing to do with the author. The galley was formatted badly and that proved frustrating and made it hard to get yanked into the story. 

The one complaint I have with the story is that it felt cluttered in high action areas.  I found myself back tracking here and there to make sure that I was grasping everything and not missing anything important.  There’s a lot of characters and action to keep track of and it can be distracting.  Other than that, all of the elements are entertaining and enjoyable. The characters are memorable, some even humorous, and I found myself invested in their personal stories. There’s a lot of intense action that keeps the pace quick and compliments each characters’ individual strengths and weaknesses.  The relationships only improve the plot and are fun to read.  Needless to say I really enjoyed this book.

This whole series is one that I recommend, especially to fantasy fans.  Obviously this book is the conclusion and I suggest reading it last even if the other installments aren’t read in order.