Book List 2017 · Reviews

Review: “Deceptions” by Kelley Armstrong

deceptions

Title: Deceptions

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Defies genres but magic and fae ahead

In the exciting new novel in bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s compelling Cainsville series, Olivia realizes that she is at the heart of a tug-of-war between ancient forces–and that everyone around her risks becoming collateral damage. 

When Olivia’s life exploded–after she found out she was not the only child of a privileged Chicago family, but of a notorious pair of serial killers–she found a refuge in the oddly secluded but welcoming town of Cainsville, Illinois. Working with Gabriel Walsh, a precociously successful criminal lawyer with links to the town, she managed to partially clear her parents’ name in an investigation that also revealed darker forces at work in the town that had offered her a haven.

Fleeing Cainsville after she is almost killed, Olivia finds herself not only the target of the Cainsville elders and of the Huntsmen, but also of her ex-fiancé, James, who stalks her and even tries to have her kidnapped. All this as her feelings for Ricky deepen, and confusingly her feelings for Gabriel too.

Visions continue to haunt her: particularly a little blond girl in a green sundress who insists she has an important message for Olivia, and holds out in her palm a black stone and a white stone that swirl together to create a balance of light and dark. Death stalks them all, as Olivia desperately searches to understand whether ancient scripts are dictating the triangle that links her to Gabriel and Ricky, or whether she has the power to change the tragic outcome.

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Book List 2017 · Reviews

Review: “Visions” by Kelley Armstrong

Visions

Title: Visions

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Defies all genre

Summary:

In the second book in bestselling author Kelley Armstrong’s exciting new Cainsville series, Olivia’s newly discovered power to read omens leads to the discovery of a gruesome crime with troubling connections to her hometown.

Omens, the first installment in Kelley Armstrong’s Cainsville series, introduced Olivia Taylor-Jones, daughter of notorious serial killers, and Gabriel Walsh, the self-serving, morally ambiguous lawyer who became her unlikely ally. Together, they chased down a devious killer and partially cleared her parents of their horrifying crimes.

Their success, however, is short lived. While Olivia takes refuge in the old, secluded town of Cainsville, Gabriel’s past mistakes come to light, creating a rift between them just when she needs his help the most.

Olivia finds a dead woman in her car, dressed to look like her, but the body vanishes before anyone else sees it. Olivia’s certain it’s another omen, a sign of impending danger.

But then she learns that a troubled young woman with a connection to Cainsville went missing just days earlier–the same woman Olivia found dead in her car. Someone has gone to great lengths to kill and leave this young woman as a warning. But why? And what role has Olivia’s new home played in this disturbing murder?

Olivia’s effort to uncover the truth places her in the crosshairs of old and powerful forces, forces that have their own agenda, and closely guarded secrets they don’t want revealed.

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Book List 2017 · Reviews

Review: “Omens” by Kelley Armstrong

omens

Title: Omens

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genre: Defies all genre but it’s fantasy, horror, suspense and mystery all rolled into one if you’re going to force me to label it.

Summary: 

Twenty-four-year-old Olivia Taylor Jones has the perfect life. The only daughter of a wealthy, prominent Chicago family, she has an Ivy League education, pursues volunteerism and philanthropy, and is engaged to a handsome young tech firm CEO with political ambitions.

But Olivia’s world is shattered when she learns that she’s adopted. Her real parents? Todd and Pamela Larsen, notorious serial killers serving a life sentence. When the news brings a maelstrom of unwanted publicity to her adopted family and fiancé, Olivia decides to find out the truth about the Larsens.

Olivia ends up in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois, an old and cloistered community that takes a particular interest in both Olivia and her efforts to uncover her birth parents’ past.

Aided by her mother’s former lawyer, Gabriel Walsh, Olivia focuses on the Larsens’ last crime, the one her birth mother swears will prove their innocence. But as she and Gabriel start investigating the case, Olivia finds herself drawing on abilities that have remained hidden since her childhood, gifts that make her both a valuable addition to Cainsville and deeply vulnerable to unknown enemies. Because there are darker secrets behind her new home and powers lurking in the shadows that have their own plans for her.

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Book List 2016 · Reviews

Review: The Orange Cat and Other Cainsville Tales by Kelley Armstrong

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Overall Rating: ★★★★

I love Liv. I really love Liv and so I was glad to be able to get a sneak peak at her life as she travels through Cape Breton with Ricky (who I also love, but maybe not as much as Gabriel). The two of them of course find trouble, because what does Liv do except find trouble?

The chemistry between the two is there, the sex scenes are something I kind of skimmed past because it’s not really my thing though I hear they’re excellent and the games the two play are amusing. This is a lovely little addition to the Cainsville world.

Bookish Things · Reading Challenges

Reading Project January-February Kelley Armstrong

I love Kelley Armstrong. I met her before I loved her writing, before I’d read a single word and she was a warm, friendly person. I wish I could meet her now to tell her that I’ve tried to read every word she’s written and it’s still an ongoing project for me, and that the world’s she’s created are amazing.

And thus, my reading project for January, February and possibly March even begins.

I am going to read the Otherworld series in chronological order. It doesn’t seem hard right? Except I’m including the novella’s and short stories as well.

That is, at current count, 61 different pieces of writing, novels, short stories and novellas included.

It has resulted in Otherworld Nights, Men of the Otherworld and Tales of the Otherworld appearing as follows: IMG_3932

This is going to be a very interesting project, and will hopefully lend more depth to the stories I’ve loved for a while. In a way it will be nice to be reintroduced to the characters who have always felt a little bit like friends, or dysfunctional family members.

Book List 2014

Omens: The Cainsville Series by Kelley Armstrong

Omens: The Cainsville SeriesOmens: The Cainsville Series by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book began with a sense of anticipation for me, and even though parts of it were slow I can’t ever say that I regretted one moment spent reading it.

Everyone has a sense of history built into their sense of self, and I found it very interesting to see what happened when Olivia realized that her family history wasn’t really hers. The horror she felt at learning what her real parents might’ve done and were convicted of doing was palpable and very real. The realization that this was why the relationship between her and her mother was the way it was was heart breaking.

This book is interesting because it edges on the supernatural but never quite touches it in a way that is enticing. I would recommend it to anyone who likes mystery novels and even those who don’t.

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Book List 2013 · Reviews

Haunted by Kelley Armstrong

Haunted (Women of the Otherworld, #5)Haunted by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book to be quite good, having loved the snippets of Eve seen previous to this, not necessarily because I thought she was someone who was inherently good but because she was a mystery. This was an excellent look into who Eve was before she died, and who she became after.

It was great to see that sense of evolution of her, and I loved the mythos behind the nix.

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Book List 2013 · Reviews

Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld, #4)Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my favourite book from the series thus far, which is interesting to me considering Paige was actually my least favourite of the female characters so far. I have a leaning toward Elena, but with this book I certainly like Paige a whole lot more. This book made me more fascinated with the cabals, and while I didn’t get all the answers I wanted I really did love the more in depth look.

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Book List 2013 · Reviews

Dime Store Magic

Dime Store MagicDime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually really enjoyed this book in spite of not liking Paige all that much originally. I really did feel for her character and the trials she was going through, both literally and figuratively in this novel. Lucas is just about one of my favourite characters introduced in this series. These books a really well written, and detailed without it being a little too much.

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Book List 2013 · Reviews

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

Stolen (Women of the Otherworld, #2)Stolen by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book a lot.

There were parts of it however which seemed to drag on for me, perhaps due to just a little too much detail for my appetite.

I found myself wanting more action, but that does not mean the writing is bad. It’s actually rather fantastic, and as always I am amused to see parts of Canada mentioned as well as the travel between two countries. I did also find the new characters rather interesting, but found myself wanting more of Clay, Jeremy and Elena.

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