Katie CrossRezensionen

I have read Book 1 before reading Book 0.5, this book, the prequel. I was very impressed with it. The characters, the background story. And it is not just a smallish prequel, it is a book on its own. I cant wait to continue.

Interesting premise, but didn't quite work out, and I'm not entirely sure I can put my finger on what I didn't enjoy. Partly I think it was that I never quite had the impression of magistry of the dragons, they were more like overgrown fire-lizards than the magnificent creatures that are conjured by the word dragon. Also the forest just didn't seem right, somehow the descriptions of tree beams wider than a girl is tall, were too commonplace - such wonderful trees would be the exception rather than the rule. The villagers could be excused for being petty and mean-spirited, but the schoolgirls were simply an amorphous mass rather than having names and personalities of their own. Perhaps it was siply too ambitious for one book - to meld both the village and forest with their dragons into a part with the wider world, and the introduction coul dhave come later. Calling the different countries/factions/regions (it was never clear) Networks, only served to add confusion.

Two sisters grow in different directions, one bonding with a visiting dragon, an amazing feat but then they're all used to the local dragons, while the other refused all the dragons and ran away into the wider world, known to full of dangerous magic.

Plenty of the book was interesting, and the themes of lying deities, trust, belief, and the paths of magic were all well done, but the shade of the small dragons, and the lack of spark in the characters personalities hasn't persuaded me to read any further.½

I love Bianca. And Merrick. And Miss Mabel. What a great cast of characters. This is just good pure fantasy and I love it.

I really enjoyed this. Bianca was a fantastic character. She was fierce and smart and resourceful and brilliant. Leda and Camille were supportive friends. And Miss Mabel was the perfect evil villain. The writing was engaging and the plot intriguing and it was a great book and I'll be sure to pick up the rest of the series.

I absolutely adored this. I may have even loved it more than Miss Mabel's School for Girls. Mildred was a perfect heroine and one couldn't help but feel for her as she went through the good, the bad and the ugly parts of life. Evelyn while a nightmare was a great character as well - it was riveting to watch her be manipulated and then manipulate the situations to her needs. I just really loved this story. For a prequel it wasn't what I was expecting. It was just so involved. All the main and secondary characters were fleshed out with real motivations. The writing was fluid and engaging. And the plot was intriguing. Bianca's fierce in all the right ways - but Mildred is fierce in her own way - struggling her way through everything to come out on top. It makes her all that more real - and her struggles all the more rewarding when she triumphs. Plus Evelyn is a perfectly flawed villain - unlike Miss Mabel who seems utterly unredeemable - Evelyn is human in her pain, her grief and her friendships. It's easy to hate Miss Mabel - but Evelyn inspires something more.

Just go read it. It's brilliant.

It was the perfect addition to the series. I loved the insight into some of secondary characters. I'd love to see more of all of these characters - except maybe Camille - she's okay but not my favourite. Leda was awesome. So is Michelle. Priscilla isn't - but I think I'd still love to read more about her. This was your typical novella - it was short and just added background development rather than standing on its own.

This series is fantastic. This one had a touch more romance to it, but like Mildred's Resistance there's no focus on the romance - it's more of a background element. Bianca is such a great character and the girls in this all have such a strong friendship. Actually Mildred's Resistance had that too - even though it ended badly. It's kind of rare to read anything with such positive female role models and who have such positive female friendships. Isadora and Sanna are awesome - and I'm really excited about the spinoff series - who doesn't love dragons? My thoughts are kind of all over the place - I just adore this series. I'm dying to read the next one but it's already really really late and I feel like I should probably go to bed. But I don't want to.

A strong fantasy series with complex characters and interesting plots. The heroes are more than good and the villains are more than evil. Pure brilliance.

Wow this was nonstop action. And surprises. Merrick and Bianca were adorable. And Merrick's backstory was fascinating. It all wrapped up nicely. Although there was some sadness. And poor Miss Mabel. But overall, it was a fairly good ending.

Within The Network, sixteen year-old Bianca is cursed. In order to save herself, her mother and grandmother from the curse, Bianca must find a way to work with Miss Mabel, the only one who can remove the curse. As a first-year student at Miss Mabel's School for girls, Bianca is not expected to enter The Competition, a deadly test of skills usually reserved for third year witches. Winning The Competition is the only way to work directly with Miss Mabel. Bianca must use all of her skills in hexes, curses, cunning and potions in order to show her worth and outwit Miss Mabel. Miss Mabel is more cruel then she seems and Bianca soon finds herself bound to Miss Mabel and her sinister intentions for the whole Network.

Miss Mabel's School for Girls is a fast-paced Young Adult fantasy. Miss Mabel's jumps right into the action as Bianca finds her way into the school and immediately volunteers for The Competition. I felt a little lost within the world of The Network and Miss Mabel's at first, but I was absorbed by the action. It was apparent that Bianca is determined to reverse her curse and tenacious, but I wanted to know more about the curse and its dangers. One of the best parts of the story for me were the characters. There are many well written female characters with distinct personalities; in fact, there are barely male characters in the book. Some of my favorites are the friends Bianca made, Leda and Camille. These young women formed a wonderful friendship that helped Bianca through her trials with Miss Mable. Miss Mable was deliciously vicious in her teachings, coming up with vile and malicious ways to test Bianca and what she needed from her. The book ends on a large cliffhanger with nothing resolved and a whole host of new issues, so it looks like I'll need to dive into the next book in the series.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Love this book. Lizbeth has a real sense of romance that is examined and molded. It's a good read with silliness, seriousness and thoughtfulness all wrapped into one.

Thanks to author Katie Cross for a digital copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

I was expecting a light, chick-lit book about an overweight young woman who overcomes eating issues. I was pleasantly surprised that there was more depth to the story than that. Lexie wants to lose a substantial amount of weight because she'll be meeting the boy of her dreams for the first time in person, at her sister's wedding in six months. She joins a weight loss support group with a friend of her mother's called The Health and Happiness Society. She goes to the gym, changes her eating habits, and weighs herself. That's the expected part. As the novel progresses, the story becomes more realistic as Lexie realizes the reasons for her eating disorder and how it affects her relationships with her friends and family.

I enjoyed reading how Lexie changed - her attitudes and her maturity - and gained more confidence as she lost weight. The climax was entertaining and I found the book to be engaging and encouraging. It did make me hungry while I was reading, though.

ve dragons, witches, magic, and swashbuckling with a touch of Gothic? Then this is the book for you! The final book in the Dragonmaster Trilogy, Freedom ties up all the ends of this three-book fantasy masterpiece. Follow the heart-stopping adventures of Sanna, her dragon, Luteis, her twin sisterwitch, Isadora, plus Lucey, Charles, Maximillion and others. And these are the good guys. Chock full of intrigue and adventure, heroines and villains, the trilogy is a mix of Medieval dragons and witches, magic, gothic intrigue with a solid dose of RenFaire. Freedom picks right up following the end of Flight. It is probably best to read Freedom after reading the first two, but Freedom stands well on its own. Reading the first two fills in the backstory and brings expanded meaning to what transpires in Freedom. Freedom, in fact all three, are two separate stories running in parallel, but the paths cross periodically throughout the saga, and eventually, everything sorts itself out. Katie Cross masterfully switches from Sanna and Luteis to Isadora and Maximillion, leaving one on tenterhooks in anticipation of what will happen next and how it will ultimately all play out.. While Freedom (and its predecessors) are billed as young adult fiction, anyone of any age can find enjoyment in this book.Do you love dragons, witches, magic, and swashbuckling with a touch of Gothic? Then this is the book for you! The final book in the Dragonmaster Trilogy, Freedom ties up all the ends of this three-book fantasy masterpiece. Follow the heart-stopping adventures of Sanna, her dragon, Luteis, her twin sisterwitch, Isadora, plus Lucey, Charles, Maximillion and others. And these are the good guys. Chock full of intrigue and adventure, heroines and villains, the trilogy is a mix of Medieval dragons and witches, magic, gothic intrigue with a solid dose of RenFaire. Freedom picks right up following the end of Flight. It is probably best to read Freedom after reading the first two, but Freedom stands well on its own. Reading the first two fills in the backstory and brings expanded meaning to what transpires in Freedom. Freedom, in fact all three, are two separate stories running in parallel, but the paths cross periodically throughout the saga, and eventually, everything sorts itself out. Katie Cross masterfully switches from Sanna and Luteis to Isadora and Maximillion, leaving one on tenterhooks in anticipation of what will happen next and how it will ultimately all play out.. While Freedom (and its predecessors) are billed as young adult fiction, anyone of any age can find enjoyment in this book.

I found it interesting, but would have liked it better had I realized it was a series. There's something very frustrating to get to the end of the book and find that the answers are all waiting until the next book- especially when you haven't got it.
It must be fairly good if I want to see more of the characters, but I'm still frustrated.
The world is still only sketched in, I want more details

This was very well written, but too dark for me. I thought from the cover it would be cozy, but it's really dark fantasy. Not TOO dark, but darker than I prefer.

Lexie is overweight, but her sister's wedding is coming up and she's under a lot of pressure to lose it before the wedding, especially as she's invited her Internet crush to attend as her guest. She joins the Health and Happiness Society, a group to help her meet her goals.
We go through an almost daily accounting of Lexie's trials and triumphs along the way. She learns to eat clean, exercise, and builds up a better rapport with both her family and Bradley, the Internet guy. It's inspirational as a weight-loss book with some good tips, especially for attaining the correct mental state - one should want to lose weight for themselves, not for anyone else. It's not really a romance; Bradley is really there only to show how losing weight to win him is wrong. The weird stuff with the wedding is a confusing mishmash of how he probably would have liked Lexie anyway.
This is probably a good book for teens and young adults concerned with their weight.

This is the next book of the Dragonmaster Trilogy and it continues the story of Isadora and Sanna Spence. Isador and Sanna are sisterwitches and have lived in Letum Woods with the other Dragonmaster families their whole lives. But now the time has come for them to spread their wings and fly.

Sanna is bonded with the dragon Luteis and leading the brood of forest dragons falls on her. While her sister Isadora is developing and discovering her Watcher skills and capabilities. Both of them are taken out of the place they know best and forced to move away from their home in Letum Woods.

As Isadora is working with her mentor Maximillion she unexpectedly gets involved in a dangerous situation where she will have to face a powerfull enemy: Cecilia Bianchi. Her life will depend on whether she can control her magic and Watcher skills.

While Isadora fights against Cecilia, Sanna has to face an enemy of her own. While she is reluctantly leading the brood of forest dragons, she gets tangled up in a war of magic, dragons and gods with their own plans.

Both sisters have no idea what they are capable of, yet they have to find it within themselves to grow into their full potential. While we follow them both on their journey in this book we get to watch them grow, learn and discover who they were always meant to be.

Katie Cross always amazes me with her books, and this one was no exception. I loved how we get to see both Isadora and Sanna’s journeys. How we get to watch them grow and become the two powerhouses we met in the Network series. Their sisterly relationship is an interesting one and I really like who both of these fierce ladies fight for what they feel is good in this world.

The characters are easy to like and you’ll find yourself rooting for them rather quickly. They are not perfect, they have a lot to learn still and that makes them relatable. I can’t wait to see where their story goes next and what they will do with their newfound abilities.

If you’re into dragons, magic and bad-ass witches I think you’ll really enjoy the Dragonmaster series.

Note: I received this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Great idea - not the most original execution. This was given in the initial disclaimer that this was a bunch of serial episodes joined up. unfortunately it read like that and if you like "Dear Diary" stories this is not a bad one. Full disclosure I read this over a weekend that my husband was out of town and maybe a bit of time to reflect between chapters would have made it "more my thing"

There is a lot of soul searching and advice dispensed which is ok but feels a bit pop psychology in parts and almost trite. I think I probably would have loved reading this on a blog during a lunch break but it suffers a little when you read the whole thing in a few days for me.

Some of the characters felt a little weak and stereotypical and I struggled with her "Mr Perfect" but in the end I did keep going and I would read something else by Katie Cross but be warned this is pretty undemanding and simple.

The humour is good and some of the ideas were great to explore but all in all it was not for me

So I'm a sucker for all things related to witchy schools and tough female characters. When I read the synopsis of this, it reminded me of an all-girl cast of Harry Potter and, to be honest, that's exactly what hooked me! What's better than a group of tough girls learning magic? Nothing. Which is why I had such high hopes for Miss Mabel's School for Girls. I wanted to get lost in a new world, full of magic and mischief. I can happily say that this was a great introduction!

Things take off at a lightning pace. Bianca was a wonderful character, and one that I instantly saw myself in. A little less than a lady, but full of the type of fire that makes for a one strong protagonist. Watching her set off on a quest that she absolutely knew would be dangerous excited me. See, Bianca was cursed by the very person whose clutches she was now willingly walking into. Such a great premise. To try to prove yourself to the one person who holds your life in their hands.

Which brings me to the fact that there were a lot of things that I did like about this story. Bianca, for one. The fact that Miss Mabel's School for Girls was shrouded in mystery and magic. Even the fact that all of the characters were so strong. It's refreshing to see a book that features a female cast, that doesn't focus heavily on romance. Maybe that's coming in the next books, but in this moment I felt amazed that it wasn't there. No love triangles. Thank you Katie Cross.

What I wished for more than anything though, was more world building and less "telling" rather than showing. There were portions of this story that moved very slowly. A lot of travel was necessary, and those parts tended to drag on a bit. When Bianca was being tested, it was fabulous. When she was lost in her own head, it was a little slow. It wasn't anything overly exhausting, but I would have loved to see a bit more forward movement. I have a very strong feeling that it's coming in the books down the pipe though, so I'm excited about that.

Long story short, this was a book that I enjoyed. It didn't immediately jump to the top of my favorites list, but I also know that this is a series that I plan on continuing on with. I can't wait!

4/5 stars
You can find all my reviews here
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review.*
 
Nothing is ever what it seems.
 
I quite enjoyed Miss Mabel’s School for Girls. After reading the synopsis I was torn, on one hand I thought it sounded very similar to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but on the other I didn’t care because I loved Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This book was far from what I expected in the best way. Filled with wonderful characters that were strong, smart, witty, and sometimes sarcastic; I found them mostly lovable. An interesting concept throughout the books with the witches’ strongest talents being displayed on their wrist for the world to see. Katie Cross has used the first story to lay the groundwork for an interesting series. And though many stories that are introducing a new world can be tedious and boring she found a way to make it fun, and dare I say, magical.

Give me a moment to compose myself here because this book was totally not what I was expecting. And it's not that I wasn't expecting it to be good...I just didn't really know what to expect.

First off, I never read fantasy. The only fantasy I've ever really read is Chronicles of Narnia, and even then it was just a couple of the books, not the whole series. I've never read Harry Potter, I've never read Lord of the Rings (*dodges flying tomatoes*). But I decided to pick this book up for a couple of reasons: I wanted to support a fellow indie author, and it had a lot of really great reviews, many of which began with something along the lines of "I never read fantasy, but..." So I thought, Hey, why not?

To start with, the worldbuilding is very well-done. We're introduced to this land all the characters live in very gradually, and many of the details are introduced via dialogue so there's not a lot of droning exposition. I applaud Ms. Cross for coming up with such interesting names for all the locations, characters, herbs, books, types of magic, etc. - I never put much thought into names until I started writing seriously myself, so now I recognize hard work when I see it! All the environments, both inside and outside the school, were so well-described that I felt like I was right there with the characters.

I loved Bianca's character. When the book first started, I let out a sigh and was planning on being disappointed because it seemed like she was going to be just another one of those typical tomboy-ish characters who ends up having to go to an all girls' school and doesn't fit in at all. Sure, some of those elements were still there, but she ended up being a lot more than that too. She's a little bit of an anti-hero and sort of has her own agenda for everything, and I've always adored characters like that. And so sassy! I chuckled audibly several times while reading.

I'm still not sure if fantasy, witches, and magic are really my cup of tea, but I know good writing when I see it. It became a classic story of good vs. evil, and many of the exchanges between Bianca and Miss Mabel reminded me of Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars. And really, there were a lot of almost thriller-type elements (spies, murder plots, etc.) that reminded me of the books I usually like to read; they just happened to be set in a fantasy world. And of course we're left with a little bit of a cliffhanger at the end - I'm excited to find out how everything plays out.

So that's my two cents. Not sure when I'll have a chance to read Book 2 but I'm looking forward to it.