Hexed by Kevin Hearne

Author: Kevin Hearne

Title: Hexed

Publication: June 7, 2011

Publisher: Del Rey

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Pages: 320

Audience: 18 and up

Rating: 5 out of 5

Source: Purchased

Synopsis (from the cover): Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

My thoughts:

 I love this series. My husband and I are going to a book reading and signing to see Kevin Hearne, and three other authors at the end of this month. I'm trying to read them all before then, so I may review them all before then. Please bear with me.
Atticus is at it again. This time he has two weirdos following him, a coven of witches out to kill him, and a group of Bacchus worshipers ready to burn down the town.  All the while he is trying to grow back his ear, please the Morrigan and Flidais, train his padawan, and run his bookstore. However, Mr. O'Sullivan cannot stay out of trouble, even after he defeated Aengus Og. Even the trickster Coyote ropes him into helping him with a demon problem. There is plenty of humor mixed in. There are so many shenanigans he gets into. I love his Irish Wolfhound, Oberon- he is the best comedic relief as is his neighbor the Widow MacDonagh. She had me rolling in the scene where Atticus is attacked by two witches at her house. There is a enough drama, comedy, and action to keep you from putting this book down. Seriously, if you love to laugh, love urban fantasy- check this book out NOW!

Mystic by Alyson Noel

Author: Alyson Noel

Title:Mystic: Soul Seekers #3

Publication: May 7, 2013

Publisher: St. Martin Griffin

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Native American, Latina/Latino

Pages: 321

Audience: 16 and up

Rating:  3 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover): When a made prophet and his beautiful daughter arrive in Enchantment determined to destroy all the Richters by the end of the week. Daire knows she had to stop them. Cade and her beloved Dace are so deeply connected that if one dies, the other will follow. But Dace has been missing for days, and his soul is in danger. Relying on the help of her friends, a Mystic with dubious motives, and powers she can't always trust, Daire sets out to find Dace, restore his soul, and end this deadly new threat before the final count down beings- all while keeping the Richters from claiming total world domination. But will it prove enough to win the most important fight of her life?

My thoughts:
I was so excited for this book, the audiobook to be exact. Echo left us on on huge cliffhanger that only this book could resolve. The library was not able to order the audiobook so I decided to read it. I realize now that I cannot stand the author's writing style. It was my problem all along. That is why the characters sound so annoying.
After the cliff hanger was resolved, it was really hard to continue on with the novel, but I managed. I felt this book was a bit weak compared to the others. There was plenty of action, but it felt like there was a lot going on and some of it was not resolved and we were rushed to the end. I believe the author will answer some of the remaining questions in the next book, maybe. I don't want to ruin the story line but, there is a part where a character has the potential to become possessed by demons, and I felt there was no need for that. We understood the urgency of that character's situation, and the whole possession bit could have been left out. 
As always, I feel the storyline is what saves this novel. This novel does have some redeeming qualities. We are able to read from several different character's perspective. My favorite character is back and stronger than before- Xochitl. There is more drama and action than the others contained, but as I said it seemed a bit much. However, the storyline is great and I will read the final book that is supposed to come out in November.

 

Echo (The Soul Seekers): Audiobook

Author: Alyson Noel

Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Title:Echo (The Soul Seekers)

Publication: November 13, 2012

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy

Pages: 352
Length: 9 hours 34 minutes

Audience: 17 and up

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover): There's still so much Daire Santos has to learn about being the last Soul Seeker...and about herself. As her magical training become more intense, so does her relationship with Dace. But when she learns that his connection to the evil Richter family goes far deeper than she ever imagined., she begins to question if love really can conquer all. Dace is painfully aware that he wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the Richters' dark magic- and now his brother Cade is determined to use his love for Daire against him. Dace is willing to sacrifice his own life. But will Daire allow it? And what if defeating Cade costs not only his life but his soul too?

My thoughts:

 I thought Fated moved a little slow and made me a little unsure if I wanted to continue the story, but I really wanted to read Echo so I went for it. This book picks up the pace and throws in new people and new drama. I really liked this one. Daire's relationship and training even pick up pace and seem to rush a little bit, but time is of the essence! Even though the pace picks up, plenty of drama and new people are thrown in to slow things down. To make you wonder why people are disappearing, appearing, and/or reappearing. Also, Auden, Xotichl's (So-chee) boyfriend is making bets against her. She believes it will snow by Christmas and he believes it won't. He seems to be the only one betting against her. By the way, Xotichl is still my favorite character.
As I have said the book throws a lot more into the storyline and I feel like it really developed in this book. The ending of this book totally blew my mind. I would think, "Oh my goodness! This is going to happen!" only to have something completely different happen. The ending is a complete and utter cliff hanger. I've really enjoyed listening to the audio version of the book, but since it usually takes a while for the audiobook to come out, I am going to my public library on May 8, 2013 and hoping to goodness they will have this book on their shelves. I NEED to know what happens!
The audio is done once again by Brittany Pressley. In Echo, the perspective changes from Daire and Dace. Her voice is a little deeper and more relaxed for Dace and I really enjoyed listening to her narrate for him. I also enjoy the way she narrates for Paloma as well. In the epilogue of the book, the reader gets to hear from about 7-8 different character perspectives and their voices! It really brought the characters to life. It was a pretty cool ending to hear each individual character's thoughts and the insane cliff hanger.

Fated (Soul Seekers): Audiobook

Author: Alyson Noel
Narrator: Brittany Pressley

Title:Fated (Soul Seekers)

Publication: May 22, 2012

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Genre:  Young Adult, Paranormal

Length:10 hours and 44 minutes

Pages: 368

Audience: 17 and up

Rating: 4 out of 5

Source: Public Library

Synopsis (from the cover): Strange things are happening to Daire Santos. Crows mock her, glowing people stalk her, time stops without warning, and a beautiful boy with unearthly blue eyes haunts all her dreams. Fearing for her daughter's sanity, Daire's mother sends her to live with the grandmother she's never met. A women who recognizes the visions for that they truly are- the call to her destiny as a Soul Seeker: one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and dead.  

There, on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire sets out to harness her mystical powers. But it's when she meets Dace, the boy from her dreams, that her whole world is shaken to its core. And Daire is forced to discover whether Dace is the one guy she's meant to be with...or if he's allied with the enemy she's destined to destroy.

My thoughts:

 I enjoyed the novel. I have seen reviews where people thought it was missing something or it just wasn't what they expected. I'm just wondering what were they expecting. I believe this book contains a little bit of everything. It takes Latino/Latina culture along with Native American culture and blends it into a story that flows well. I want to share more about this, however, I do not want to ruin any part of the book. I had no idea this book would be so hard to review. As I said, the book has a little bit of everything from romance to gore to paranormal to mythology. I have fascination with Native American culture so I really enjoyed the spirit animals and the journey Daire went on to find her spirit animal. I'm not sure if fits her just yet, but perhaps in the later books it will.
The characters were believable and sometimes they got on my nerves. I think it was more of the narrator's fault than the author's. Daire's mother is just stupid and acts like a 17 year old instead of a mother. I understand her mother is young, but there is a point where you grow up and act like an adult. Sometimes Daire sounded like a whiny teenager. I think characters tend to grind on my nerves when I listen to audiobooks. Ha, but I promise Daire wasn't all bad, she just was confused and unsure of herself.
My favorite character was a background character. Please excuse me because I'm probably about to butcher her name since I listened to the book instead of reading it, Xochitl (pronounced: So-chee), it means flower. Xochitl is a pistol! She is a great character and I hope she plays a bigger role in the next book. Dace is such a hottie and I loved listening to his description.
Brittany Pressley did a great job narrating. She sounds like a preppy high school girl, and it can be a bit annoying. When she did other characters like Xochitl, Daire's grandmother, Shay, etc. she did an excellent job of changing her inflection and tone so each character had distinct voice. It was a bit of a long book, but totally worth it. If you have time you should check it out. I'm starting on Echo, the second book of the series and should have a review on it soon!