Shadow Study - Maria V. Snyder

I was extremely happy when my sister got me this book for my birthday, and I am not going to lie that I squealed with happiness when I got it in the mail. I have been looking forward to reading this book ever since I found out about it and got the countdown on this page.

To start things off it was great to re-visit the wonderful characters of Ari, Janco, Yelena, and Valek. It was also a really nice treat to see more about how Valek got started, met The Commander, and assassinated the king. What was not very nice is seeing how the the relationship between Valek and the Commander got strained after the events of Spy Glass and Fire Study. I was definitely not disappointed, especially with the revelation moment of what is causing a lot of the problems in Ixia, and it being something a little closer to home.

This book has also reaffirmed the idea that Sitia REALLY should get rid of that silly council. They seem to do more paranoid harm than good, keeping information away and making things more difficult on the people who are actually trying to help. Like Yelena and Opal, that council needs to just give them the help they need to accomplish the things they need to do to save everyone. But...then again that would be way too easy and would not make all the people behind the scenes any money. However, that is something I have felt very strongly ever since Magic Study and all the way into Spy Glass.

I am not going to lie however, in that one of my favorite parts in the whole book is meeting the spirit of Moon Man's father. THAT was something I did not expect, but it was also something that just made me so sad that Moon Man is gone.

This book is extremely hard to review now that I look at my past ramblings. The issue is that because I absolutely love this book I do not want to spoil anything for anyone, and the whole feeling of having an idea dawn on you would be ruined if I revealed a few things. But the one topic I can touch on that won't ruin anything is that I am looking forward to finding out a lot more about Yelena's Soulfinder abilities. Other than that is the title for this series, but since no one knows much about those abilities to begin with, it should be very interesting to see how Yelena goes about getting her powers back. And what exactly she has to do to get them back. I also want to know the real reason behind what caused the loss of the powers, towards the end we have a few ideas about why she doesn't have them but we do not know 100%. There are a couple things that are more certain than others, but I have a feeling that the second book (which cannot come fast enough) is going to be full of revelations left, right and center that my head is going to be spinning.

And one things, the reveal at the very end of the book...I did not see that coming! I am happy that it happened, I always wondered about the potential. But it also does a very good job of showing that the character is human, fallible, and you just can't pay attention to everything while you are trying to chase after the bad guys and to save yourself. Maria V. Snyder, I really really hope that you keep finding a reason to continue with Yelana and Opal's stories. There is just something about those characters and that world that keep me coming back. I am also interested in seeing where their world is going, and what is going to happen when the Commander dies (because really...he is not going to live forever).

To end things...I was very happy with the book, I am upset I have to wait who knows how long for the next one. I will hopefully have a counter up for that book release also. And if you read the Study series you HAVE to read this. If you have not...you NEED to read the Study series before this. Well...I think you could read this and have a vague understanding of what is going on,  but to truly appreciate the gravity of a lot of the situations that are going on you should really read the Study and Glass series.

Have you devoured the book yet? What did you think about it?

Wizard Undercover - K.E. Mills

For the record, this is my first read through and I just finished this book about a half hour before speed writing the reviews for the 2nd and 3rd book. When I was getting ready to read this book, after the darkness of the 3rd book fresh in my mind, I was really worried that this was going to go the way of the Song of Fire and Ice. "You think the worst had happened...well you thought wrong" sort of thing. I believe that Karen Miller did a spectacular job writing this book. She didn't just gloss over the fact that Reg2 replaced Reg, everything is hunky dory. Gerald was forced to ingest the grimoire magic, and who knows what could happen? This book started on a precipice...would things be able to go back to being normal? Or was everything going to fall apart?

And it also follows through with dealing with the Reg scenario of what makes you you. The moments that would happen and then you realize that this Reg didn't live through that memory of yours, and the awkwardness that ensues because up until that moment, this Reg was the Reg that started in book three. And imagine it from Reg's point of view...she feels like she is her own person and accepted, and then when those moments come up she has a feeling of just filling in. It was moments like that were I am sad because the original Reg is dead...she isn't coming back; and at the same time there is Reg who is trying to live and carry on with the people she cares about. Those moments when they touch on the fact that she isn't their Reg just made me tear up. And this major change in everyone's lives really isn't something a normal person can just push forward without a second thought. And I think Karen Miller portrayed that wonderfully.

And then Gerald...the fact that he knows he is changing and everyone can see he is changing. After the events of book three, even he is worried he could change into the bad Gerald. Especially after Alec made Jennison leave some of the grimoire magic inside of him to essentially become permanent. Gerald is trying to deal with this new aspect of himself, and is trying to NOT become that other Gerald. I think that in and of itself is what is going to save him. But also because he has his friends, who are hesitant right now, but have faith in him. This goes back to the second book where Alec sort of foreshadows that the only thing that is going to keep Gerald from becoming something no one can stop (and in a very bad sort of way) were those friends. And it is because of that he has allowed them to be so close, despite the first rule of being a janitor is to essentially isolate and separate those sides of your life (work and personal).

What was really nice about this book is that you see Monk and Reg start to bong and become closer than he really was to the original Reg. You also see that this Reg, probably through having to live with what happened in her world, allows herself to be a little more soft at the right moments.

It was also wonderful to see that every member of the group was equally involved with the scenario of trying to save the wedding before it can cause an international disaster, and finding out who is behind the plan to cause this disaster. And guess who "shows" their face? That stupid STUPID black market wizard is who. And he doesn't necessarily show is face, just his hexes. I cannot wait to find out who it is that is behind all of this.

Needless to say, I am now very upset the next book is not out yet, because I REALLY cannot wait to see how this all ends. I believe out of this series, this book is definitely the strongest (even though I personally think they are all amazing).

Wizard Squared - K.E. Mills

So...the first book was rather light (outside of torture and dealing with a crazed lunatic named Lional who also has a dragon). The second book took a slightly darker turn...bad things were happening in the world, mainly through the help of a black market wizard....this third book however? It is essentially as if someone turned out the lights. There are bad things happening left, right and center...and this isn't even in their world!

Gerald is assigned to meet someone who has some information on this dreadful black magic wizard who was partially responsible for the goings on of the second book. Such as supplying that awful hair pin hex that Permilia had. While on his way to go meet hopefully the key to locating this bad wizard, he is snatched while using the portal and dragged into a parallel world. While at roughly the same time, the Monk from the that parallel world came to this world to get help to stop...guess who? The big bad Gerald of his world.

What I absolutely love about the idea behind this book, is what would have happened had things went differently? What would have happened if Gerald HAD looked at the grimoires? I absolutely love thinking about things like this in relation to what happens in books. And this third book delivers the answer. Gerald becomes a very strong, very dark wizard who is convinced he is doing the right thing (in a sense). And it is so...crazy to realize just how bad grimoire magic is, and what it can drive people to do, even though they had the best intentions when trying to use the magic. It can take the wonderful person that is Gerald and enhance the worst qualities in him (because...lets be honest, no one has 100% good qualities in real life or in the fictional world).

It made the torture scene in the first book seem okay in comparison. Gerald2 caused SO much suffering in his world, it just hurt to read about what he was doing to Monk, Mel and what he did to Reg. It was in this book that Karen Miller really showed what she is quite capable of, and it was heartbreaking. I was definitely reading the last part of the book in tears full of sadness and disbelief over what had transpired at the end. I refuse to spoil it for those of you who are going to read it.

However, I can tell you that the ultimate goal of stopping Gerald2 was definitely accomplished...but the price of the whole endeavor was a very very steep one. And to be honest there are very few books that made me this upset at the very end of them...but please do not let this make you want to skip it or stay away from the series. It was very well written and a very nice way to lead into the feelings roller-coaster of the 4th book.

Witches Incorporated - by K.E. Mills

 Now...again I apologize for not updating anything up here. It has been relatively hectic, people in the hospital...plumbing that decided to regurgitate itself out of the toilet. That sort of thing. But... I am BACK. I have a few new books that I am super excited to dive into, some nice oldies to revisit. And to make it up to all of you (however few regular readers I have) I actually finished the series that I started and am going to rapidly post the reviews. So there :) Without further ado!

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Now, as we all know, at the end of The Accidental Sorcerer, Gerald got an immense amount of power he didn't know what to do with, he got tortured, he kicked butt, and most importantly he got yet again a new job. Witches Incorporated is mainly centered around Bibbie, Mel and Reg with slightly less (but not much less focus) on Gerald. And yet again, Reg shines through as being a very amazing character. This book starts off with the slightly light hearted feel that the previous one did, with Witches Inc.'s first job being to thwart a scoundrel in the Pastry Guild. Which they did magnificently, with the help of a sprite from another dimension courtesy of Monk's shenanigans.

What is extremely interesting about the second book in this series is that it really explores what the social period is like, one in which women are for the most part still seen as not being as capable as men and more fragile. But you can also tell that there is some progress being made, however not much. And it really makes you realize how rare Bibbie, Mel and Reg are in the grand scheme of things, which is definitely through the virtue of their upbringing (or in Reg's case, just pure unadulterated awesomeness).

The book takes a definitely more grim turn when we find out that Gerald this whole time has been working  on a case of portal tampering, trying to find out who is behind it all before they cause mass amounts of injuries and death. And lo and behold, our favorite bugger from the first book makes a reappearance *cough* Errol *cough*. He is a really...really mean person. And a potential suspect. However, no getting ahead of ourselves. What I thought was very interesting is how the case of the crumpet thief, which is the second case Witches Inc. has started to work on managed to tie into Gerald's portal destroyer.

I thought it was quite refreshing some of the twists and turns the plot took, the first time through I was able to catch some of the hints and guess what was possibly going on. And there were a couple that surprised me, but did make sense once all was revealed. And it was pure enjoyment reading through this again and being able to see all of the hints, to what the eventual outcome was. The second book in the Rogue Agent series was definitely a good one, and is definitely not one that would be lumped in the "filler book" category that some series have a habit of doing. And it is very interesting, in the grand scheme of things how the bigger picture in this book does continue through the next two and will definitely (hopefully)  lead to a very climatic 5th book.

Have you read this book? Did you enjoy it? Have any book recommendations that are similar to this series? I would love to read about them.

Have a nice weekend all of you!