As I Lay Reading

Book Reviews & Occasional Author and Book - Fangirling

War of the Fae: Book 1 – The Changelings

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The War of the Fae series — is a completely imaginative and unique series of books by one of my newly favorite authors — Elle Casey.

War of the Fae: Book 1 (The Changelings) — we are introduced to trucker-mouthed rebel, Jayne Sparks and her sweetly shy but incredibly intelligent  BFF Tony Green.

Jayne Sparks feels like a misfit and lives the ordinary life of a high school girl.  However, what starts out as ordinary soon turns into extraordinary as Jayne and Tony (by process of elimination) are taken on an incredible journey.  Jayne and Tony’s adventure proves to both of them that they are far more special than either would have ever dreamed.  A fantasy world is opened up to them and their dream of having a place where they truly belong is within arms reach.

There are a lot of moments in this book that made me laugh out loud.

I love the character Jayne.  She is by far one of my most favorite book characters ever.  Her potty-mouth and insecurities are endearing.  Her bad-assery knows no bounds.  She is a smart and strong female character who doesn’t even begin to recognize just how smart and strong she really is.

Each character that we come upon in the first book are part of the foundation for the other books in the series.  Trust me when I say that you will fall in love with these characters. 

What I love about Elle Casey as an author — and in particular as the author of this series, is that she pulls up the right amount of build with the main plot and subplots.  She uses her wordsmith abilities to craft her fae world to perfection without dragging on and on about small details. (seriously, I read a book once where the author went into painstaking detail about the sound of a creaking bed spring)

I highly recommend this book and series to anyone who loves adventure and fantasy stories of YA proportions!  This particular book — The Changelings is FREE on Amazon.com!   🙂

My Rating for War of the Fae: Book 1 – The Changelings:

5 star rating for The Changelings

Karina Halle’s Ashes to Ashes

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I’m just going to go on record and say it right now… I am so sad this series is coming to an end.  So sad in fact, that while I bought the book the day it was released, I couldn’t bring myself to read it until at least a week later.

The awesome 3 — Perry, Dex and newly added producer / best friend Rebecca travel to a haunted school in New England to investigate.  The ghost children and Creepy Clown Lady — now known as  Perry’s late grandmother, Pippa – find their way into Perry’s dream.  Pippa delivers a warning that Perry should not investigate this school and should in fact, quit Experiment in Terror altogether.

There are a lot of nostalgic moments in this novel and you can tell throughout the book that Karina Halle is wrapping things up for these characters.  I personally enjoyed the fact that the characters got to revel in some shared memories.  From the reader’s standpoint, it makes you feel like you are part of these characters lives in some small way.

Also, in Ashes to Ashes, we learn more definitively that Ada is afflicted with a similar gift to Perry.  Ada can also see the dead.  This of course makes sense as Karina Halle has said on her website that she intends to make an Ada Palomino series.  Definitely not a series to be missed.

Ashes to Ashes has lots of grit, bad ass musical references and sexiness infused!  If you loved the other novels in the Experiment in Terror series, then this is definitely one to devour!

Truth be told, I want to dissect and discuss this book from beginning to end.  This book and this entire series are that good.
SPOILER ALERT (if you have not read Come Alive  or Ashes to Ashes – then go no further.  Otherwise, mouseover and click on the text below to read)

[su_spoiler title=”Spoiler — Come Alive & Ashes to Ashes” style=”fancy” anchor=”Ashes to Ashes”]In Come Alive – Dex learns that he and Perry cannot have children for two reasons:

1) If she has a child with Dex, it is likely that she will be possessed (again).

2) The child will have the same gift / affliction that Perry and Dex have but times like 10000.

This would put the child in even more danger. In Ashes to Ashes, Perry is still clueless about this fact. While it is not brought up, I am going out on a limb to speculate that this will be one of the major points of the story in the final book for the Experiment in Terror Series: Dust to Dust.

My hope (and this is pure speculation) is that Dex and Perry form some kind of paranomal research society and Karina Halle creates a spinoff series from that. I’m probably alone in this — but i’m just not ready to let these characters go.[/su_spoiler]

 My Rating For Ashes To Ashes:

5 star rating for Ashes to Ashes