Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Verdict: 3.5 stars.Very slow start to this one – things didn't really get going until about halfway through the book, but once they did my interest was caught. Sydney does not have the sort of bold personality/voice that Rose of the original VA series did, but I think her character could grow on me as the series continues. Plus, interested to see where things go with the Sydney/Adrian potential...
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Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee
Sad that this was the last Agency book! I liked that some of the characters from the first book were brought back, and overall it was a pretty solid conclusion to the series. Plus, James is adorable. But there was very little of the usual Mary-James romantic banter in this one! :(Verdict: 4 stars.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Verdict: 4 stars.Dark, and weird, and tangled... Despite this book being utterly fantastical in some ways, Neil Gaiman manages to touch upon very real thoughts and emotions. Interesting exploration of the adult/child power dynamic in particular. I kinda wish we'd seen more of the narrator's life in the present, to compare with the past. Also, I am left with a few questions, one being, whose funeral was he attending?
Nightspell by Leah Cypess
I still have a lot of questions about this one, especially why the author chose the ending she did. Unfortunately I found it rather anti-climactic after all that build-up. Also, the characters seemed to follow leaps of logic and come to conclusions at a pace that left me going, "huh?" Interesting, though, that the focus in this book is really on sibling relationships (rather than romance), and it certainly raises some thought-provoking questions about life, death, and being "undead." (I do still wish we'd been given Kestin's POV, however! I think that would have been fun.)Verdict: 3 stars.
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