Winter's Curse

The Winter's Curse
author: April L. Wood
published: October 31st 2016 by Bellatrix Press
pages: 268
my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I got sent an advanced readers copy of this book in return for an honest review. Thank you so much!

Before the light is reborn within the womb of darkness and the Sun returns, will Winter reverse the curse? 

When High Priestess Iris Rose-Thorne bets her granddaughter’s womb in a broom flying contest–and loses, Winter wonders where the real danger lies: from the Witch Hunters she fled from the far North or her shady grandmother. 

She finds safety with Turmeric of the Wormwood clan. His eagerness to protect her warms her frozen heart. But her love for him defies the Segregation Curse of Old, cast by the Elders to preserve ancient clan bloodlines. 

Can they find a way around the Segregation Curse of Old to be together? 

And with time running out as the Winter Solstice nears, will Winter be able to reverse the curse on her womb? Or will she agree to her fate and remain barren?

Winter Rose-Thorn is a real life witch and after fleeing from Witch Hunters in the North she is confronted with the modern world. Not only that but soon she is in the middle of conspiracies, lies, lots of danger and on top of that she is falling in love.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2)

The Son of Neptune 
author: Rick Riordan
published: October 4th 2011 by Disney-Hyperion Books
pages: 521
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Contains spoilers for the first book The Lost Hero!
The Lost Hero review

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth 

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem — when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams. 

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery — although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely — enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart. 

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.

When I first started reading this book just reading the first couple of sentences made me extremely happy. Percy is back and so is his humor!

The Assassin's Blade
author: Sarah J. Maas
published: March 4th 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
pages: 448
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.


This book is a collection of five novellas about Calaena Sardothien's life before Throne of Glass. I personally read it after reading Queen of Shadows and kind of regret not reading it sooner. Sarah J Mass said you can even read it before Throne of Glass but really you can't ruin the reading experience either way.The stories all explain a lot about her character and how she ended up being the way she was in Throne of Glass.

Since Calaena goes through so much character development in the Throne of Glass series, reading this book kind of threw me back to the beginning and I know have the urge to reread the entire series from start to finish (I'll probably read Empire of Storms first though).
I really love how badass and powerful she is, she's basically the definition of a strong female character.

Her relationship with Sam truly broke my heart. She obviously loves Sam and he loves her. Reading it after Queen of Shadows made it so much harder to read *cough*. Especially the last story – The Assassin and the Empire – crushed me.

“My name is Celaena Sardothien," she whispered, "and I will not be afraid.”
That quote became so much more meaningful after reading these novellas.

The other stories were great as well and I really hope some of the people she meets come up in Empire of Storms or later books again. I also have the feeling that some people or situations were already mentioned in the earlier books which is why I wish I'd read this book sooner.

If you like Throne of Glass I highly recommend you read this. They might only be novellas but they can make you excactly as emotional as any other Sarah J Mass book can.

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus #1)

The Lost Hero – Heroes of Olympus #1

author: Rick Riordan

published: October 12th 2010 by Disney-Hyperion Books

pages: 557

my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jason has a problem.

He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret.

Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools.

When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who;s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

This is the first book in the series and it takes place after Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian. 

The start immediately drew me in, it's captivating from the start. 

Demon Road

Demon Road 
author: Derek Landy
published: January 1st 2015 by HarperCollins Children's Books
pages: 507
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor sharp dialogue, DEMON ROAD kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America. Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in...Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves.

Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travellers, who are not at all what they appear to be… 

When I saw this book on the shelf I couldn't resist buying it. I love Derek Landy's series Skulduggery Pleasant and I just knew that I would love this book as well. Spoiler alert: I did.

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys
author: Maggie Stiefvater
published September 18th 2012 by Scholastic Press
pages: 409
my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

This book took me by surprise. I didn't really expect to like it that much and didn't really understand all the hype around it but now I get it completely.