Yes, I was the kid reading under her desk

** spoiler alert ** This book was frustrating and horrid. I hated the heroine. She acted like an idiot but we were all supposed to respect her intelligence and she would show the ton how smart women were! 

If she was the one leading the way, we would have been set back at least 20 years. She was one of the most frustrating characters. She was supposed to be smart and headstrong. Why do writers think having their female characters go against the LOGICAL wishes of their husbands is so proving of intelligence and "worthiness"? It infuriates me. 

I know it can't be truly feminism forward, but stop giving me this bullshit where to woman almost dies or causes someone else to die with her awesome "forward-thinking"(read- STUPIDITY AND BAD EXAMPLE OF FEMINISM HOLY SHIT.) . I can't handle it. 

Also, devil was stupid too and the sex was too dragged out and NOT hot like I had expected. I shouldn't be skipping over it to get to the poorly thought out mystery and pathetic thing pretending to be a plot. 

It might be time for no more romance novels for awhile.

You know- its kind of a bummer that the person who decided to take this on obviously wasn't up to the task- because I'll be honest, the idea of linking 50 shades and domestic abuse together is a sound one, as 50 shades very obviously involves domestic abuse and we SHOULD stop romanticizing stalkers, verbal abusers, and controlling jerks. Both women and men live in the realities of these situations, and it's a scary place to be.

Unfortunately, this author obviously could not handle this topic, and also couldn't handle criticism, which is part of writing a book. 

Too bad this wasn't done well- I probably would have bought something like that and made all my friend's children read it, along with many of my friends.

Seraphina..... Man. What a book. How can I describe how I felt when I finished this book? It was intense. I ached for the next book to begin. I ached for the main character and where she was left. I ached and ached that there was not more yet. When I finish a series or a book I love, there is a hole inside me. This book left a hole. I will be waiting with baited breath for the next book to fill that hole. I will be terrified that it will not be as beautiful as this book. Gah. But until then, I will be thrilled with the story this book gave me. 

The main character Seraphina is WONDERFUL. She isn't a Mary Sue, she doesn't fall for abuse-a-boyfriend, she isn't in insta love. She is smart, strong, and lovely. She has her own weakness that are real( not only, oh man, I'm so clumsy!) but they only make her a better character. She falls in love with a character that is ABSOLUTELY worthy of her love, and she does it in a way that makes sense. Their relationship made me happy, instead of wanting to beat my head against a wall.*SPOILER** [god it made me ache and sad too though, at the end. They are so wonderful, both of them, which is ALSO why I love this book so much, they are both so worthy]*END SPOILER**

The world building here is amazing. Hartman gives you enough to grow her world, but leave you wanting more as well. Everything is fully developed, but you know there is more she is going to unfold with her next book. The characters are so well fleshed out. I cared about them all, each one in Seraphina's head, each of her friends, her mentors, you have such an understanding of their characters. 

The writing... The writing was amazing. Hartman weaves an amazing story with full characters, full worlds, full tension. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire story. I had to know what was going to happen, who was responsible for what, who was disguised as what, where things were, etc. Hartman is a pro, and the fact that this was a debut novel really surprised me. It shouldn't, obviously, as many debut authors are amazing, but this was truly a work of art in my opinion. I just loved it. I eagerly await the next in the series and anything else Hartman may write. I would kill someone for a copy of an ARC of the next book... Which I'm sure isn't done yet... But I'm just saying...

Man. Everyone else liked this book. What did I miss??! The main character annoyed the crap out of me. She was whiny and never listened, which of course, did the normal "I won't listen and cause MORE PROBLEMS by not listening." it was frustrating. I get it. She was upset because Clay turned her without her permission and she was whiny about it. It's been YEARS. You have to get over it and move on with your life. And seriously, her misinterpreting EVERYTHING from Clay was just infuriating. 

I was grumpy through the entire beginning of this book, I thought it was slow and boring in the beginning, then I was just annoyed with Elena's interactions with Clay. I thought the story was FINALLY somewhat redeemping towards the end, which is why it received 3, instead of 2 stars. At the end, the story finally picked up about the rogue wolves and we got some action instead of Elena acting like a 15 year old. 

I've heard that other people started with another of the Clay/Elena stories and they liked those better and therefore were able to get in to the books, but I can't justify buying another book. This one was just so :/. I was disappointed because I heard a lot of good things, and I did like Clay. But Elena? Guh. Too blah for me. 

PS about the "controversial" scene in the beginning- it's not rape. She's definitely in to it, and she's definitely willing. I'm just saying...

Hounded. I loved you. I really did. You had action. You had funny. You had IRISH WOLFHOUNDS!! Seriously- any book with a talking hilarious Irish Wolfhound is going to get me. Oberon made me laugh. I called my mother to tell her stuff that the Irish Wolfhound said(I grew up with an Irish Wolfhound, they hold a very special place in our family)... She didn't seem as amused, something about context I think. 

I liked the characters other than Oberon( did I mention I love Oberon... He is so funny and cool and a wolfhound). The widow that lives near Atticus is a great character as well. She was funny and reminded me of a real woman we knew when I was growing up. There are those Irish that hate the British enough to go along with anything....

Back to the book. I seriously did love this book. I thought it was wonderful. I liked the writing, I liked Atticus, I liked the mythology aspects, I liked it all. It's been a little while since I read the first one, so I'm trying to remember if it's discussed in the first one or only the later ones about how the gods came into being(people believing in them) which was a choice I loved. I really enjoyed looking up more about the Celtic gods and goddesses- I'm obsessed with my Irish grandparents and our heritage, hah. 

I know some people didn't get in to this novel as much as I did, but I have to say, Kevin Hearne made a fan out of me. I actually read all 4 of the books out at the time and was SO UPSET to learn he had been 5 minutes from my house right as I was picking up the first book on a book signing tour... If only I had known!

Highly recommended for fantasy lovers out there!

So. It's hard to describe how I feel about this book. I wanted to like it. That first steamy scene? Oh man... I felt tingles. But as it went on, I just couldn't get in to the main character Tayla. She was frustrating and acted in all the stupid infuriating ways I didn't want her to act. I hate when the female character seems stupid, acts irrationally, or makes me want to throw my iPad across the room. This was me with Tayla. Now E... E was sexy. I wanted him, but I didn't get his obsession with the girl that kept acting like an idiot. Shrug. It was a formulaic paranormal romance for me, and that was frustrating. 

I have to say I started skimming to the end and looking for better parts until about 3/4 of the way through. It finally got a little more interesting then, and I finished out the book with a 3 star feeling instead of a 2. It was a close thing there for a while though. Maybe I'm just burnt out on this genre for awhile. Maybe a YA for my next?

I would consider reading the other series by this author, but I don't think I was tempted enough by this one to see what happens to E's 2 brothers. 

If you're a PNR fan, you would probably like this book, but for me, the MC was just too annoying, and the main story too lacking for me to enjoy. 

I really do love Brooks's Iron Sea's books. I read the first two a few weeks before this one came out, and I was glad I had three I could gobble up at once. This book is probably my favorite of the three so far. It was different and I liked that difference. 

Our main characters were BOTH vulnerable. They had their own strengths, but when it came to love and sex, there wasn't the normal 'alpha male' thing going on. Our male had his own issues and hang ups he had to get past, and I'll be honest, as much as the alpha male can turn me on(omg Barrons... Yes please) I liked the vulnerabilities David had, body hang ups he had (body hang ups from a guy? Shock! Granted the rest of his body was supposedly beautiful, but still, it was a nice change of pace). 

I liked Annika. I liked that she realized her own strength, I liked that she wasn't helpless, and it wasn't David that brought out her strength, but instead helped her see her own strength. She had travelled the world on her own, she WAS strong. She just didn't believe it. 

Mainly I loved the story. This was so much more than a romance. I liked the sick in the head villain. I liked that his evilness was explored through mental issues instead of just blowing things up. I liked the social commentary that has been going through this entire series and was backed up more in this book. (view spoiler)

Overall I was pleased with my purchase. I think this book will appeal to people who aren't even fans of romance. The beginning was a little slow, but it picked up and even left me with moist eyes at the end. I really connected with our two main characters and that, to me, is the most important piece of enjoying a book. If I hate a main character? Bam- it's over.