Early Review: Winter of the Gods - Jordanna Max Brodsky

Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself. 

Winter in New York: snow falls, lights twinkle, and a very disgruntled Selene DiSilva prowls the streets looking for prey.  But when a dead body is discovered sprawled atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull statue, it's clear the NYPD can't solve the murder without help. The murder isn't just the work of another homicidal cult -- this time, someone's sacrificing the gods themselves. 

While raising fundamental questions about the very existence of the gods, Selene must hunt down the perpetrators, tracking a conspiracy that will test the bonds of loyalty and love.

My thoughts:

So I just read the blurb, aha, so it is a trilogy. I so wondered about that when finishing this book. It had a feeling of being the final book, but at the same time, it was so obviously not over. And I worried that it was indeed the end because more should have been told, and will be told ;) So yay for that.

In this one, Selene finds out that someone is hunting gods to kill them. Why is this? Who is doing it? So many questions, but at least she has Theo by her side. I like their relationship, they take it slow (because the myth is true so...) He is more relaxed now, he jokes, and he does love her. And she, I do feel sorry for her, she cares for him, but she is a Goddess, she has her issues.

I like this series. The gods running around, well some have faded away long ago, they are not as they used to be. They need worship in some form or another. I do like this mythology, and I would love to see it explored more, as one god does mention other gods, but are those still around too?

Conclusion:
Anyway, this one feels darker, or maybe I just do not remember the darkness in book 1, because people died there, and people sure die here too. It was sad.

I am glad there will be another book because more is sure to come.

Kindle Edition, 480 pages
Expected publication: February 14th 2017 by Orbit
Olympus Bound #2
Urban fantasy
NetGalley

Calamity - Brandon Sanderson

When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.

David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners’ leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back. . .

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying. 

My thoughts:

I am having I have nothing to say day *yawns* I am out-reviewed. But let's try it.

Last book in the series, The prof is now a high epic. David and the gang want to save the world from Epics. Calamity is an epic. Stuff is going down!

I read it fast, it was an easy read. I like the world he created, but then Sanderson is always good with worlds. I liked that we finally met Calamity, ohhhhhh. I liked the twist with firefight and David for that matter too.

Conclusion:
It was a good end to this series, but then it is Sanderson, and hey, he is a great writer.

Though, I totally wish he could focus on one series at a time, how many am I reading?! Like a million.

Cover
boring

Hardcover, 432 pages
Published February 18th 2016 by Gollancz
Reckoners #3
YA/Dystopia
Own

Carole's Tuesday Post: Madam Tulip - David Ahern

Author: David Ahern

Title: Madam Tulip (Madam Tulip #1)

Genre: Mystery & Fiction

Pages: ebook

First Published: April 3rd 2016

Where I Got It: My Shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest opinion)

Out-of-work actress Derry O'Donnell is talented, professional, just a little psychic... and broke. Spurred on by an ultimatum from her awesomely high-achieving mother, Derry embarks on a part-time career as Madame Tulip, fortune teller to the rich and famous. But at her first fortune-telling gig - a celebrity charity weekend in a luxurious castle - a famous rap artist mysteriously dies.

As Derry is drawn deeper into a seedy world of fashion, millionaires, horses and cocaine, she must race to save her best friend from jail and a supermodel from being murdered. Her efforts threaten to destroy her friends, her ex-lover, her father and herself.

Ahhhh what a lot of fun that was! 

I simply adored Derry and her little trope. Her parents though were something special. She didn't stand much of a chance honestly. ;D But yes, Derry is a delight. 

Derry is an out-of-work actress who has a little bit of psychic ability. She decides the mix the two together that produces Madam Tulip. She quickly lands a gig, buuutttttt it will not be easy. She is thrown into the dark world of the rich and powerful that will take her on a crazy adventure. 

Did I mention how much I like Derry? I think I might've. But I also loved her friends especially Bruce. He was a cutie. They were all a hoot. They had me laughing! 

I think my only issue was how downplayed her powers were. There was a lot going on mystery-wise and drama-wise, and not a lot of her powers. Maybe there will be more in the next book? I hope so! I want to learn more about her abilities and maybe she'll get better in the next one. Her abilities are limited and not always clear until it really happens. Maybe she'll get less vague or more direct with her visions. We shall see.

I am curious to see what is going to happen between her and her lover in the next book. He seems interesting but he wasn't a big part of this, which I am glad that the romance wasn't the main part of the story. Honestly, I hope he doesn't play huge roles in the future books either. Part of the charm is that even with the craziness and psychic abilities, it seemed very realistic.

This was a fun story and a fun set of characters. Certainly a good intro to the series! I am curious to see what is next for Derry/Tulip and her troupe. I do recommend this. It was light and fun. I do think there should've been more emphasis on her abilities. Out of five stars, I'll give this 4. 

Mischling - Affinity Konar

It's 1944 when the twin sisters arrive at Auschwitz with their mother and grandfather. In their benighted new world, Pearl and Stasha Zagorski take refuge in their identical natures, comforting themselves with the private language and shared games of their childhood. As part of the experimental population of twins known as Mengele's Zoo, the girls experience privileges and horrors unknown to others, and they find themselves changed, stripped of the personalities they once shared, their identities altered by the burdens of guilt and pain. That winter, at a concert orchestrated by Mengele, Pearl disappears. Stasha grieves for her twin, but clings to the possibility that Pearl remains alive. When the camp is liberated by the Red Army, she and her companion Feliks - a boy bent on vengeance for his own lost twin - travel through Poland's devastation. Undeterred by injury, starvation, or the chaos around them, motivated by equal parts danger and hope, they encounter hostile villagers, Jewish resistance fighters, and fellow refugees, their quest enabled by the notion that Mengele may be captured and brought to justice within the ruins of the Warsaw Zoo. As the young survivors discover what has become of the world, they must try to imagine a future within it. 

"All I owned was breath, really, and a single thought: that the numbers on my arm represented how many times I would have to prove yourself useful in the world in order to remain in it. But even I knew this was untrue, it was the logic of my cage and my keeper, and I had to overcome it."

My thoughts:
I would not say it is sad book, and I think the reason for that is that the twins never give up hope. It might come and go, but they never give up. The book shows the brutal reality that was, the worst of humankind and what evil is. But sad, well, obviously it is sad, people die, people are brutalised, families are torn apart, but the twins get you through it. Hope. Family.

Stasha and Pearl are twins, and arrive at Auschwitz, where Mengele likes to play with humans For a tiny better life they get experimented on. Stasha lives in her dreams and imagination and Pearl gets by by hoping. We meet others there at the Zoo, all experimented on. A Jewish doctor forced to help with the care. A Jewish man taking care of the boy's wing and trying to save as many as he can. We never see those other aspects, the crowded barracks, the gas chambers, the house where pretty women are taken. But the girls know they are there. They hear things. And life is brutal as it is where they are.

The other half of the book is when the Russians come and Stasha sets out to get revenge on the man who took her from her sister. While Pearl  just disappeared.

The journey through Poland is hard too. Russians running around. Nazis running around. Cities bombed to nothing. Hunger, madness. But there is still hope.

Conclusion:
It was a good book, it had well-written prose and the story haunts you. Twins that are so close, so different, and just can not function without the other.

And we should never forget.

Cover
It works

Hardcover, 352 pages
Published February 2nd 2017 by Atlantic Books
Fiction
For review