Friday Mini Reviews #1

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I'm in a bit of a conundrum, peeps.

One one hand, I've reduced the amount of days for blogging.

On another hand, I'm still a voracious reader, and the non-review books I read keep piling up while I prefer to review those I've promised to review.

So I decided to come up with a compromise:

I'll do review reads Monday and Wednesday and a bunch of mini reviews for the books I read for myself on Friday.

I hope I'll be able to run out of them pretty soon and get back to full reviews, but I'll be honest with you - I don't know when I'll be back to normal.

So, this is it. Hope you don't mind.

In any case, please let me know what you think!

Dead Surround by Celis T. Rono (Julia Poe Vampire Chronicles #2)

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Synopsis from Goodreads

Julia Poe escapes from the politics of Downtown Los Angeles after helping rescue 200 human cattle from blood farms. Enraging master vampires throughout the city, Poe's two-year freedom is cut short when she becomes the second most wanted person in the land right behind Kaleb Sainvire, an unfailing idealist and the elusive love of her life. She is once again forced to take a stand against vampires trying to reclaim the human slaves stolen by Sainvire's revolutionaries and face the wrath of Quillon Trench, the master vampire she disfigured.

Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK 

9/10 - I've already raved about the first book in the series. This one is just as good.

Action packed, mind-blowingly crazy, bloody and gritty dystopian urban fantasy. Not for weak in the stomach. Very strong, paranoid, unique and stubborn heroine, causing a deep feeling of sympathy in a reader. Non-stop action. Similar to: The Immortal Rules, Vampire Miami and Rhiannon's Law.

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 Я уже пела дифирамбы первой книге, и спою их второй. Прекраснейшая вещь, полная экшн, сурового серого быта вампирской антиутопии, параноидальной, упрямой как Брюс Уиллис и очень сильной героини, которая вызывает сильнейшую симпатию у читателя. Не для слабых желудком. Похоже на: (ссылки в англ. варианте, чтоб не повторять).

Selling Out by Justina Robson (Quantum Gravity #2)

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Synopsis from Goodreads

Book two of the Quantum Gravity series sees Lila Black drawn into the intoxicatingly dangerous demon realm. Capricious, in love with beauty, demons are best left to themselves. This is not easy when they can't resist tampering with humans. Justina Robson's new series is a joyful melding of science fiction and fantasy brought together in the figure of the dangerously lovely Lila Black, a 21-year-old secret agent who's had much of her body replaced with weapon-and-armor-heavy intelligent metal and who isn't sure where her mind ends and her installed AI begins. Lila's world is one where demons, elves, and elementals live alongside people. And somehow Lila and the other agents of the security agency have to provide security for all and stay alive themselves.
Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK | Fishpond

8/10 - There is a phrase to describe this sci-fi slash fantasy read: bat-shit crazy. If I could still follow book #1, this one had a lot of infodumps and incredibly detailed complex worlds. My head was spinning, but I still enjoyed Lila and Co. adventures.  She is a secret agent and a cyborg falling for a dark elf/demon. What's not to love? Add a loyal fae friend, different dimensions and incredible vicious beauty of demon realms, and you have one mesmerizing pain in the butt of a book. Similar reads: none. Maybe Fifth Element and Final Fantasy?

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Очень сложная книга, множество совершенно ненужной информации и описаний различных миров, от которых кружилась голова, а вот оторваться от приключений Лилы и Ко. было невозможно. Она - секретный агент и киборг, связанная судьбоносной Игрой с тёмным эльфом/демоном. Добавьте жестокий мир демонов, интриги различых измерений и интересные гаджеты, и получите очень занимательную головную боль. Похоже на: Пятый Элемент и анимэшную Файнэл Фэнтэзи.

Sealed With A Curse by Cecy Robson (Weird Girls #1)

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Synopsis from Goodreads
Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other twenty-something girls—with one tiny exception: They're the products of a curse that backfired and gave each of them unique powers that make them, well, a little weird…

The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren't aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders if the vampires of Tahoe are plague-ridden.

Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha's family to keep the area safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and—oh, yeah—not lose her heart to the wrong guy or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, he's coming for her and her sisters.

This Wird girl has never had it so tough.
 Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US/UK | The Book Depository US/UK

7/10 -  I loved everything else in this novel apart from the love line. Aric was demeaning and condescending as hell son of a bitch. I'm sorry but I could not stand him and his way of deciding to do something without consulting Celia. Ugh. If you can get past his attitude, it's a lovely read, but not for me. Similar books: The Trouble With Fate, Seven Kinds of Hell, Full Blooded.

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Ужасная любовная линия, типичная для паранормального романа, хотя это городское фэнтези. Арик - снисходительный, вспыльчивый шовинист, у которого виднеются зачатки мужей, бьющих своих жён. Антипатию к нему я перебороть не смогла несмотря на вполне нормальный сюжет. Дальше читать не хочу - не моё. Похоже на: (ссылки выше).