Claire LuanaRezensionen

dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
My CAWPILE score: 3.86 (27/70), Okay
FRTC

While this book was a little predictable (trope wise) it was a great read. I loved the complexity of the characters, so many choices to be made, and paths to take. The epilogue was a beautiful conclusion to the trilogy. The magic in this story is so awesome, I love the spin it puts on the idea of magic in general. By far one of my favorite ways to "have magical abilities" if that makes sense.

Such a great read, the character growth/set backs are so on point. This book had many unexpected outcomes, and plot thickening moments. Can't wait to finish it out.

This book is a must read if you've read The Confectioner Chronicles. I usually and iffy about prequels because so many times they are just fluff, but his book gives so much insight into Hale. It changed so much of my opinions of him from the first book in the Chronicles.

I adored this book so much! The characters had well developed personalities, and the political intrigue was spot on. The world building is done through the teaching of Wren so it is spread out through out the book. I didn't expect the ending, and had my sights set on a different character being guilty so it was a great unexpected twist. But looking back it all makes sense. Can't wait to read the next in this series!

DNF, I didn't get much past the second chapter.

It has an okay concept, but started way too early in the story to hold my interest, and there is far too much exposition for the little bit I managed to read. Data-dumping is not a YA problem but a fantasy writer problem. The writer's more invested in the worldbuilding than in holding an average reader's interest.

It's free, but too expensive in time, for me.

3.5

All Elodie wanted was a baby. Married to a man injured in a work accident and drinking himself to death. In-laws that berate her for not doing what they think she should. Feeling that she has been let down by the Daughter, Elodie starts to think for herself. This is a wonderful story of a young woman trapped by society's standards; yet, she decides for herself to stand up and make things happen. Her friend, Sebastian, who has loved her for years, goes with her on a venture to find the Wish-Eater book. This book brings bad and good things. They go through many misadventures together. There is so much that happens but I can't share it. You are just going to have to read this story. It reads almost like a fable. An enjoyable fable. The characters are relatable. There is your mish mosh of crazy, cranky, lovable and many more. The emotions will be felt in this story also as Elodie goes through different seasons of her life. I enjoyed the plot of the story. It felt a little fairytailish. I highly recommend it.

An enjoyable world populated by some interesting characters, but Wren's characterization is all over the place, and Luana's writing, while occasionally very lovely, is undermined by redundancies, incorrect word usage ("chaff" is not the same word as "chafe"), and purple prose—all of which could have been addressed by a decent editor. ...And it looks as if it's too late to recommend more rigorous editing for the next two books in the trilogy. Alas.

I loved the detail in this book! From the first few words, the author had my attention and imagination in an almost poetic world. I normally keep away from YA, mostly because the detail fails to hold my attention, but this story proved to be food for my mind and kept me enraptured! What starts out as an adventure to the court soon turns to a complete one-eighty of what Adrijana once considered her life. Fantasy and mystery at its finest, set in a complex world where I feel just about anything is possible, if you’re still on the fence about reading this book, trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

This has to have been one of the most fascinating YA books I've read so far this year. The characters were intriguing. Adrijana was a very strong personality to hunt down the queen's killer. The plot flowed like a smooth river with some nice rocky twists just to keep you off balance. I find that makes for an excellent story. This was a book that pulled you in from the start and just dared you to leave. I can't tell you much more. You have to experience it for yourself. You know you want to know. Click that button and purchase it. I believe you'll enjoy it as much as I did. Highly recommend.

Mythical Alliance: Phoenix Team: The Complete Season
(Mythical Alliance: Phoenix Team #1-6)
by Claire Luana
This is an awesome set of short books. I don't think I would like them individually as much because some were cliffhangers, or not complete stories. But as a complete set, it was great!
A half human, half nagu gal wants answers as to how her dad died. What she finds changes her whole life! She ends up joining a team of supernatural that keep other supernaturals under control.
These are their adventures. Great characters, exciting situations, and lots of supernatural creatures!
1 like

Really enjoyed this book! The romance was laid a bit too thick on the get go, but other than that I found myself rooting for everyone.
I've always thought that infusing food with magic is one of the most entertaining ways to use magic to begin with, so this was a hit with me right away. Add the cozy mystery factor and you've got a winner.
Definitely will go for the next book as soon as I'm feeling peckish for a lucky cupcake again.

Thank you to Live Edge Publishing and Netgalley for sending me an ARC to review, although all opinions and comments are of my own.

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I am a character-driven story kind of reader and is a huge factor that affects my reading experience. Which was a good thing in this case because I found the plot to be really cliche and it was something that I was able to predict at every twist. But this is coming from someone who has read her fair share of fantasy books.

The story started out really interesting for me and is the kind of world that I have always wondered "What if there was a world like. . . ". It could have easily become a high fantasy with elves and all that but I was really happy it did not take that turn. I enjoyed the character interactions and I have to say that it is what I lived for in this book. I enjoyed the writing style of the author which made the cliches less of a problem and made it easier for me to accept that that is just how the story goes.

It could have done with some more world-building and less cheesiness, nonetheless, it was a book that I found to be quite unique in terms of the idea of the world itself. It was far from being a bad book, and I actually enjoyed a part of it despite the cliche.

I just want to start this review off by saying that although I don't usually really like books about magic, this one was a gamechanger for me. How can a book be both adorable and heart wrenching? I'm not sure how the author did it, but they did, and I'm very thankful. From the moment I picked this book up, I was obsessed, and though I haven't finished a book in about two months, I knew this was something I was going to be obsessed with.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com/2020/06/17/the-confectioners-guild-...

It makes me angry

The setup was great. It reads like a children’s book. A bare hint of adult ideas, but nothing to get excited about.

The transition from orphan apprentice confectioner to journeyman was abrupt, but explainable within the narrative.

But her actions and reactions once she was promoted were bizarre. First, she ‘couldn’t sleep’ because the bed was so soft and the blankets so lush and she couldn’t lock the door (?), then she fills and hops in a tub in her room (!!) and doesn’t think about her clothes. Then, the random girl she met yesterday right after being accused of the death of the guildmaster shows up in her room and is nice to her, even though it turns out the dead guy was her uncle.

It doesn’t seem bad, I know. But reading it, I got angry at how badly the character Wren was being formed. The world building was falling apart: the guildhall has running water on tap in bedrooms? Copper bathtubs for journeymen?!?

I simply couldn’t continue. Running water on that scale...and how big is this guildhall anyway? Nope. Bad world-building.

It makes me angry

The setup was great. It reads like a children’s book. A bare hint of adult ideas, but nothing to get excited about.

The transition from orphan apprentice confectioner to journeyman was abrupt, but explainable within the narrative.

But her actions and reactions once she was promoted were bizarre. First, she ‘couldn’t sleep’ because the bed was so soft and the blankets so lush and she couldn’t lock the door (?), then she fills and hops in a tub in her room (!!) and doesn’t think about her clothes. Then, the random girl she met yesterday right after being accused of the death of the guildmaster shows up in her room and is nice to her, even though it turns out the dead guy was her uncle.

It doesn’t seem bad, I know. But reading it, I got angry at how badly the character Wren was being formed. The world building was falling apart: the guildhall has running water on tap in bedrooms? Copper bathtubs for journeymen?!?

I simply couldn’t continue. Running water on that scale...and how big is this guildhall anyway? Nope. Bad world-building.

I found this novel fascinating, rapid reading with non stop ACTION that swept me away. Meriah Carmichael has been reincarnated over and over again with seeing her six sisters killed by Zesus's hit man, Orion. With each reincarnation, she tries to stop their deaths but fails. Then, she plans to kill Orion to stop the curse using her father's gun. I loved Meriah's best friend Zoe for believing her and sticking with her when she kidnaps Ryan Kearney who is Orion in this lifetime, but could she kill him?

I got this book through Kindle Unlimited and was really excited to read it. I have a soft spot for books about magical desserts and have been loving series such as Love, Sugar, Magic by Anna Meriano and The Spellwork Syndicate by Lola Dodge. I was hoping this would be another amazing magical dessert series, but I was a bit disappointed. I just had so much trouble staying engaged in this story.

This book is about a young woman named Wren who gets asked to join The Confectioner’s Guild after she finds out she can imbue her cupcakes with magic. Shortly after her introduction to the Guild she is accused of murdering the very guild master who admitted her. Wren must work quickly, with her newfound friends, to unravel the mystery of who actually killed the confectioner’s guild master.

This book just did too much, too fast, too soon for me. Just as the reader is getting to know Wren and being immersed in this amazing world of magical food guilds...BAM! suddenly Wren is accused of murder. The story quickly turns from this amazing magical story to a fairly simple murder mystery. All the fascinating magic is pushed to the background as Wren struggles to find the true murderer.

There is a sweet little romance between Wren and the lead investigator that I enjoyed. I also think a lot of the side characters had potential, but ended up being underdeveloped. The world of these magical guilds was intriguing, but again it felt under-realized.

I wanted to love this book so much but ended up almost stopping it a number of times. I just could not stay engaged with the story or the characters. They had potential to be amazing but just never got there. The writing was okay but didn’t flow very well, I really had to concentrate and work to read this story and I think that’s why my mind wandered away from it so easily.

Overall I enjoyed the potential this book had but was disappointed by the execution. There are so many cool ideas here and they all ended up taking a backseat to a simple murder mystery. There were many characters that had potential to be intriguing but they also ended up underdeveloped. I, sadly, won’t be continuing this series.

This is the first book in the new series, The Confectioner Chronicles. In this world, some people are Gifted with the art of infusing magic into food or drink. Wren is discovered as a Gifted Confectioner and invited to join the secret Confectioners Guild. She is offered a position and is given a potion that makes her unable to disclose her new secret. Suddenly, the Guildmaster is murdered and it appears he was poisoned by one of Wren's cupcakes. She is accused of murder and set to be executed. Wren and her new friends have to find out who the real murderer is before the King and Inquisitor get back in town. Wren has her own secrets and doesn't know who to trust. The story is full of romance, mystery and intrigue and is well written. I thought it was a little laughable to have magic cupcakes but hey, it's a fantasy. I also wondered why the characters didn't use the magic objects more often. All in all it was a fun mystery and quick read. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading the rest in the series but maybe I will for a little light reading. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Weapenry Co-Op in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed reading Hale's back story. He faces some pretty challenging situations and actually learns from them. I hope by reading this one first I will have a better understanding of Hale's actions in The Confectioner's Guild. I look forward to seeing how the story continues!

Pretty standard romance. They meet and are in love and want to marry after one day. The Queen's actions and reason came as a surprising twist.½

I am always wary when I see a book that is inspired by/based on/adapted from Asian elements, particularly Japan. It is rare to find one that could do justice with the elements they are borrowing from while still maintaining an integrity and respect while making the story your own.

But likely Asian-inspired elements promised on the cover or the book synopsis would also make me want to read that book bar my wariness. I reserve judgment when I read it.

I am so glad then that while Moonburner does have familiar elements, the author did not wholly based it on Japan; nor did she set it in a past/future/AU Japan.

Moonburner sits on its own.
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The story has a good pace from the beginning to about three-fourths of it; moving the plot along, it exposes the necessary points that the reader needs to follow the narration along exquisitely. However, I felt that at the book's resolution, the part where Kai ends up getting engaged to Hiro... well, I could see the political aspect of it but I cannot see that Hiro and Kai coming into terms of it especially with what happened at the attack of Hiro's camp. Shall I treat this as insta=-love? There's instant attraction but no love yet.
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Is the spelling of "bambu" deliberate? And I think it's naginata and not naganita.½