Bogormen

Title: Night Study (Soulfinders, #2)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 400
Date read: September, 2016

Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana's has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia nor Sitia are safe for her anymore. Especially since the growing discord between the two countries and the possibility of a war threatens everything Yelena holds dear.

Valek is determined to protect Yelena, but he's quickly running out of options. The Commander suspects that his loyalties are divided, and he's been keeping secrets from Valek...secrets that put him, Yelena and all their friends in terrible danger. As they uncover the various layers of the Commander's mysterious plans, they realize it's far more sinister that they could have ever imagined.


Still not a huge fan of the changing POVs in this series, but I'm getting more used to it, and for once all storylines were equally interesting, which also helped quite a bit.

Lots of surprises in this one, and I'm especially interested in seeing how the relationship between the Commander and Valek will continue in the third book... and of course see if my theory about Yelena's magic loss is correct.

All in all, I'm really enjoying this series. Still can't live up to "Poison Study" itself, but nor could any of the other books in the original trilogy, so I'm not holding that against in. I'm looking forward to the third book coming out next year.

Title: Scent of Magic (Healer #2)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 414
Date read: September, 2014

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations yet; an army of the walking dead—human and animal alike and nearly impossible to defeat.

War is coming and Avry is alone. Unless she figures out how to do the impossible ... again.


I stand corrected. Just when I complain about Maria Snyder's books being formulaic, along comes one that doesn't fit the bill. I started out not being terribly interested in the chapters told from Kerrick's POV, but fortunately that quickly changed!

However, the book obviously suffers from "middle book in a trilogy" curse, in that not much happens as the characters get in line for whatever's about the happen in the third book. I liked it well enough, but wasn't quite as enamoured of it as the first book, as there were too many side plots that weren't of any great interest to me. It's still a solid 4 star book though (okay, perhaps 3.5 star, but leaning more towards 4 than 3), and I'm very keen to get started on the last one.

Especially with that ending!!! Grrrrr!!!!

Title: Spy Glass (Glass #3)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 535
Date read: June 2014, September 2016

After siphoning her own blood magic in the showdown at Hubal, student glass magician Opal Cowan lost her powers. Immune to the effects of magic, Opal is now an outsider looking in, spying through the glass on those with the powers she once had. Powers that make a difference in the world.

Suddenly the beautiful pieces she makes begin to flash in the presence of magic and Opal learns that someone has stolen some of her blood. Finding it might let her regain her powers or discover that they're lost forever...

An awesome series :) Unfortunately this book does suffer from being the last in the trilogy though. Maria Snyder nicely ties up all loose ends from the previous books, but in doing so she attempts to do too much in too few pages... even though this is the longest book of the three.

I think she would have benefited from either leaving out some of the storylines altogether, or adding an extra book, or allow for enough pagetime for all the different storylines.

Minor nitpick though. In the grander scheme of things I absolutely adored this trilogy, and suffered from severe book-hangover once I finished it. I may just have to return and reread the Study trilogy now!

Title: Storm Glass (Glass #1)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 504
Date read: June 2014, September 2016

With her unique magical abilities, Opal has always felt unsure of her place at Sitia's magic academy. But when the Stormdancer clan needs help, Opal's knowledge makes her the perfect choice - until the mission goes awry. Pulling her powers in unfamiliar directions, Opal finds herself tapping into a new kind of magic as potent as it is frightening.

Now Opal must deal with plotters out to destroy the Stormdancer clan, as well as a traitor in their midst. With danger and deception rising around her, will Opal's untested abilities destroy her - or save them all?

This series picks up where the Study trilogy leaves off. While not completely necessary to have read the Study trilogy first, I would definitely recommend it, as it gives a LOT of background which would only be implied or assumed otherwise.

"Poison Study" is still my favourite of all the Maria Snyder books I've read so far, but this one can definitely give the two other Study books a run for their money. I really like Opal and was intrigued by how her magic evolved.

It's very obviously the first in a series. While fortunately sporting no cliff-hangers, the ending is very open-ended and only a few of the threads (but happily the most important ones) are properly tied off. I'm glad I have the next one at hand to dive into right away.

Title: Magic Study (Study #2)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 425
Date read: October 2012, September 2016

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways - and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better...

Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training - especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince - and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.

I loved Poison Study, but had heard somewhere that the other books in the series weren't quite as good, so I'd been reluctant to pick this one up. However, I was challenged to read it in October, so I figured I might as well get started and loaded it onto my Kindle two days ago.

It TOTALLY lived up to the standards the first book set! This is one of the best fantasy series I've read in a very long time, and I only hope the last book can live up to my now very high expectations. I love Yelena and her relationship with Valek, Irys, Kiki, Ari and Janco... and even Leif after awhile. Maria Snyder writes those relationships really, really well. She does tend to fall into the trap of making (most) bad characters one-dimensional (Cahlil was an exception), but I hope at least Rose will turn out to be more than she seems.

Title: Anatomy of a Boyfriend Author: Daria Snadowsky Genre: YA Rating: 7/10 # pages: 259 Date read: February, 2008

Review:

Dominique had never been in love before. The closest she'd come to being physical with a guy was when playing Operation. She'd never even gone beyond chaste pecks on the mouth. Then she met Wes... as inexperienced as herself, but utterly adorable. And - wonders of wonders - he likes her too. Suddenly Dom experiences a whirlwind of romance, but it's the last semester of high school – will their relationship survive being hundreds of miles apart at two different colleges?

Anatomy of a Boyfriend addresses a teenager's experience of the first serious boyfriend and the first sexual experience. Unfortunately I was somewhat disappointed at the way it was approached as it ended up reading most of all like a book version of American Pie seen from a girl's point of view. I felt too much time was spent focusing on the sexual aspect of a first boyfriend, and too little on the emotional aspect of it. And that is a shame, because Daria Snadowsky's strength undoubtedly lies in describing emotions. Her portrayals of the insecurities and the exhilaration of a budding relationship are perfect, and will place any reader right back in the rollercoaster of first love. However, the sex scenes are unnecessarily explicit and not in keeping with the age and experience levels of the people involved.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend is aimed at readers in mid-late teens and I'd therefore be hesitant to recommend it to readers in the target age group because it takes sex so lightly. I'd rather have seen a book that put more emphasis on the emotional highs and lows of a relationship, and less on the physical. When push comes to shove, it's the emotional dedication that will make or break a relationship.

That one caveat aside I did enjoy the book and took great pleasure in seeing how Dom blossomed once she found someone to love and who loved her back. Also the change in Dom's relationships with her best friend and her parents once a boy entered her life were very true to life and something any reader will recognize from their own experiences.

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