A Book Obsession..: Gena Showalter

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Early Review: Everlife by Gena Showalter

, by Kt Clapsadl

Everlife by Gena Showalter

Everlife #3

At seventeen years old, Tenley “Ten” Lockwood had to make the ultimate choice—where to live after she died. Loyalty to her selected realm has not wavered…until now. She is out of time. Sacrifices must be made, and a terrible price must be paid. But is she too late?

As the Everlife descends into darkness, a single truth becomes clear: Troika and Myriad must unite—or perish. In order to bring sworn enemies together, Ten must enter forbidden territory…and destroy the powerful Prince of Ravens. But there’s only one way inside—bonding with Killian Flynn, a deadly rival who sets her blood aflame.

When nothing goes as planned and betrayal leads to the edge of utter defeat, Ten and Killian will have to rebuild trust from the ashes of their hearts. Victory seems impossible, the odds stacked against them. In the end, how far will they be willing to go for the sake of their realms and the Everlife?

This series has been an interesting one for me. In the first two books I really couldn't stand Ten's character and her constant indecision but I kept holding out hope she would grow. I was granted my wish in EVERLIFE as she's to the other extreme and aside from a choice that has far reaching consequences at the start, she never once wavers in her devotion to Troika. It actually made me admire her a great deal. She finally made her real choice, and no matter how insurmountable the odds nor what was brutally done to her, she never budged. It was, refreshing to be honest. However, this came at a cost as Killian turned into the opposite and while I won't go into details to avoid spoilers, the events surrounding his changes more than frustrated me. It felt more like a plot ploy rather than a well executed twist which is a shame as it lessened the romance for me.

Romance woes aside, I actually enjoyed this whirlwind ending to the trilogy a great deal. The first two books showed potential, but were ultimately rocky. But this series ender definitely took things out on a bang. The world is truly fascinating and the light vs dark aspects old enriched the series more. EVERLIFE truly showed that everything isn't always as it seems and things are not black and white. Light isn't always good, and darkness isn't always evil. There's shades of grey and good and evil on both sides. And that the path to peace is finding balance not truly good/evil or right/wrong. I really enjoyed the way everything was built up, and that ending! Oh, my did I not see that coming! All I can say is very well done Ms. Showalter!

All in all EVERLIFE was a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. You won't be disappointed.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Previous Books:
1. Firstlife
2. Lifeblood

Review: Lifeblood by Gena Showalter

, by Kt Clapsadl

Lifeblood by Gena Showalter

Everlife #2

My Firstlife is over, but my Everlife is only now beginning.

With her last living breath, Tenley "Ten" Lockwood made her choice and picked her realm in the Everlife. Now, as the war between Troika and Myriad rages, she must face the consequences.

Because Ten possesses a rare supernatural ability to absorb and share light, the Powers That Be have the highest expectations for her future—and the enemy wants her neutralized. Fighting to save her Secondlife, she must learn about her realm from the ground up while launching her first mission: convincing a select group of humans to join her side before they die. No pressure, right?

But Ten's competition is Killian, the boy she can't forget—the one who gave up everything for her happiness. He has only one shot at redemption: beating Ten at a game she's never even played. As their throw-downs heat up, so do their undeniable feelings, and soon, Ten will have to make another choice. Love…or victory.

I have to admit while I still really enjoy the concept behind this series, Ten's character made this a struggle for me. To be honest, Ten bothered me in the first book as well, but I chalked it up to being a new series and all the growing pains involved with that. I had hoped since she finally made her big decision by the end of the last book, she'd be less wishy-washy. Unfortunately, I think she was actually worse in this book now that she's chosen a side, but her romantic interest is on the opposite warring side. I can't count the number of times I growled in frustration at her actions and choices. It just made it hard to fully enjoy the book when I spent most of the time annoyed at the main character.

That being said, I did find myself looking past those main character frustrations and enjoying the rest of the characters as well as the very fascinating world. I feel like I had a better grip of the various elements at play this time. Sure it's at its core a story about good vs evil, but it's told in an incredibly interesting way, with no clear answers to who is really good and who is really bad. Both sides had their pluses and minus, with Troika admittedly seeming more the *good* side. The dynamic between humans and the two afterlife warring sides are incredibly fascinating and should only get more so as things progress.

Main character woes aside, LIFEBLOOD was an intriguing read that added new depth to this rich series that I overall enjoyed. It will be great to see how things turn out next!

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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(un)Convntional Book Views
Shell's Stories
Under the Covers Book Blog

Previous Books:
1. Firstlife

Release Day Review: Firstlife by Gena Showalter

, by Kt Clapsadl

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Everlife #1

ONE CHOICE.

TWO REALMS.

NO SECOND CHANCE.

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood is an average seventeen-year-old girl…who has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. The reason? Not her obsession with numbers, but her refusal to let her parents choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the two realms who will do anything to win the right to her soul. Who can she trust? And what if the realm she’s drawn to isn’t home to the boy she’s falling for? She just has to stay alive long enough to make a decision…

This book is going to be interesting to rate and review. To be honest I almost DNF it more times than I can count, and getting through the first third or so of the book was so slow going even when I kept deciding to push through. I found reasons to put the book down and do something else. Dishes, laundry, you name it. Considering my reading time is very limited anymore, you would think I would have just gone with the DNF and moved on. But there was just something about the world and storyline that kept me reading. And I'm so glad I did. There's a pretty big change in situations/surroundings for Ten, and once that event happens, I was completely hooked. I flew through the pages just to see what would happen next.

I think there were the foundations for a solid five star book here based on the incredible premise alone, which is what made the book even more frustrating than it should have. You have the first half the book which drags incessantly with no real explanations of anything, cruelty for the sake of cruelty at times it seemed that leave the reader completely detached and almost uninterested. And then the second half of the book takes up at an almost frenetic pace, and yet still somehow the reader still has no idea what's going on. I needed more info altogether, especially early on in the book. Towards the ends there were hints at somethings and peeks at conflicts to come, and while it was enough to keep me intrigued, it was not enough to satisfy.

The characters were solid and fully three dimensional, and yet I still felt a bit of detachment from them as well. I think that stemmed more from the lack of explanation about the warring sides, and no real reason ever given for why Ten refused to choose. Honestly it felt like just stubborn teen indecision, and that didn't jive with the tortures she went through because she refused to make a choice. Honestly it just didn't make sense why she would choose torture over a decision when she had no real reason not too. I guess I would have preferred a deeper reason. Add that into her obsession with numbers that seemed to randomly take over, and then all of a sudden disappear, which felt like a convenient quirk to try and make her more interesting rather than a real personality trait.

I realize this review sounds mostly full of frustration, and while that's accurate, it's not really the whole story. Once I was finally hooked, I couldn't stop reading and found myself flying through the pages. And then low and behold would you believe it ends in a killer cliffhanger. So now I'm frustrated, intrigued, impressed, and dying to get my hands on the next book all at the same time. And that ladies and gentlemen perfectly summarizes FIRSTLIFE, a whole mix of good and bad meshed into one package. So in the end I'll give this one a solid three star middle of the road and look to the next book to continue the trend/pace set at the end of this one.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
a GREAT read
My Guilty Obsession
Tome Tender

Lord of the Vampires (Early Review)

, by Kt Clapsadl

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

Royal House of Shadows #1

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with a need for vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.

Nicolai the Vampire is renowned for his virility, but in a cruel twist of fate “The Dark Seducer” has become a sex slave in the kingdom of Delfina—stripped of his precious timepiece and his memory. All that remains is a primal need for freedom, revenge—and the only woman who can help him.

When the wanton vampire summons Jane Parker, she is helpless to obey. She's drawn to his dark sexuality and into his magical realm. But for this human, all is not a fairy tale. For saving Nicolai could mean losing the only man she's ever craved...

A long time ago an evil sorcerer killed the king and queen of Elden. He would have destroyed their four children of not for the spells they gave their children with their dying breaths. One to protect, and one to fill them will a burning vengeance. Nicolai was a sort of hound dog and as fate could have it, the tables were turned on him, making him into a sex slave with no memory of his past. All he knows is that he has a burning need to be free and a human named Jane is that key. Every step closer to her brings both of them into more danger but some needs and desires are too great to be denied, even if it means losing everything in the end.

Nicholi seemed so powerful and dignified yet every time a threat came about or heck any time anything sexual was brought up he turn into a drooling neanderthal that seemed to be only capable of yelling "mine!" I was torn between annoyance and amusement at this. Well heck, I even had a few thoughts of sexiness thrown in there that Jane's mere presence could send him into that state so easily. I mean what woman wouldn't want a man to desire them so much that all rational thought was cut off. Talk about a feeling of empowerment and the ultimate turn on. Yet, back to the annoyance part of it, at times it just made me wonder how deep Nicholi's feelings truly went as it seemed to lean more to the physical side of things. Although Jane did some pretty major physical lusting as well, she just did a slightly better job of maintaining a semblance of coherence throughout.

I loved the twists and turn in this book. I can't go into them without spoiling things, but suffice it to say that there are plenty of twists of fate, as well as many "skeletons" in closets that will throw a few wrenches into things. I loved seeing how the two of them would have doubts, then reassurances, and as soon as you figured they were perfect together, something else got thrown into their path. All I can say is that they were thoroughly tested throughout the book, making their love seem all the more real in the end. No easy fluff here.

Whew! After reading Lord of the Vampires I have this funny need to take a cold shower to cool down. The steaminess practically oozed right off the page, err well, kindle screen. I really felt the attraction between the two, and loved the back story behind the book. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and getting to read about the other rightful heirs to Elden. As this is a series written by four different authors, I'm sure the "tone" will change a little with each new book. However after reading on the website how these women talk about how they collaborated their stories, and seeing their passion for the work, I am only more excited to see what happens next. If you love a very steamy paranormal romance with a seriously alpha male, a very loyal woman, and plenty of danger thrown in, then Lord of the Vampires is for you.

(Received copy from Netgalley)

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