Review: Hekate: The Witch

Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hekate only knows a world in turmoil.  Since her parents were on the losing side of the war between the Titans and the Olympians, she is sent to the Underworld, where Styx and Hades raise her.  Through a series of unlikely occurrences, Hekate discovers her powers and becomes a Goddess.  The Olympians do not welcome her powers, but when a new war breaks out, they may be what is needed to bring the fighting to an end.

Hekate: The Witch is NOT a retelling of this story; it is an EXPANSION of the story.  Gill has taken a lesser-known Goddess and given readers a tale that weaves together the usual cast of Gods and Goddesses and leaves the reader with a better understanding of how things may have occurred.  A fun read for all mythology fans.

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Review: Tiger's Trek (The Tiger's Tale Series

Tiger's Trek (The Tiger's Tale Series by Colleen Houck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tiger’s Trek is a continuation of the spin-off series that started with Tiger’s Tale.  The characters find themselves in a dream world that requires them to complete a series of tests to break a curse.  The characters are now separated and don’t know what the others are going through.  The story alternates between the protagonists, and readers must pay attention to which character's story is being addressed.  Overall, the story was good, but it ended without a strong resolution and left me discouraged instead of interested.

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Review: The Infinite Glade

The Infinite Glade by James Dashner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The war has finally started, and the Remnant Nation is ready to fight … they want to stop the Godhead!  Sadina and her team believe the Goddess is their path to survival, but when the fighting is underway, the truth may be more than they can handle.  Isaac and Ximena want to save their friends, but when their journey uncovers new information about the Cure, they must also confront new truths.  This generation must determine what they are willing to risk and what happened during the maze trials.

The Infinite Glade is the third book in The Maze Cutter series.  I loved the original series and the first book in this series, but for some reason, these continuation books fell short of expectations.  I kept waiting for the spark to hit me, yet in the end, the entire story was just flat.  This story answered many questions that needed to be answered, but only diehard fans will want to read this book.

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Review: Girl, Goddess, Queen

Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We think we know the story.  Hades kidnapped Persephone, and her mother, Demeter, was so upset that she caused the Earth to have seasons … but that’s not what happened.  Persephone was not a simpering kidnapped girl; she willingly fled to hell to get away from an arranged marriage.  Now she needs to convince Hades to follow her proposal and shake up the plans of Mount Olympus.  Will Persephone get what she wants?  Did she know what she was getting into in this new realm? 

Girl, Goddess, Queen is the first book in the series with the same title.  This YA reimagining of a well-known story offers a fresh perspective on this goddess and how the story might have unfolded differently if it weren’t written in a male-dominated world.  Fitzgerald takes her time getting to the gist of the story, and this makes the book much longer than it needed to be.  Overall, the novel was enjoyable, and I will look for the next volume once it is translated from its original language.  

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Review: The Executioners Three

The Executioners Three by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Freddie was just calling the cops for help after she heard screams from the woods nearby.  The end result was half of the students from her rival school being arrested.  Unfortunately, the next day, a body was found.  Some say it was suicide, but Freddie believes otherwise.   She loves the X-Files and trusts she can discover what is really going on.  What secrets will Freddie uncover about her family and her town?

The Executioners Three is a stand-alone mystery that requires readers to suspend their disbelief somewhat.  This book takes place in 1999, so the characters must use their critical thinking skills differently than present-day people since the Internet and smartphones were not what they are now.  I enjoyed this mystery and looked forward to getting back to my book during the reading process.

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Review: Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure

Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ellie has been married for thirty years when her husband announces he wants a divorce.  Initially, she wonders what to do, but then she seeks advice and leaves the marriage with a nice settlement.  She has no intention of staying around with all the looks of sympathy.  She is going to the south of France for a vacation … maybe longer.  She doesn’t make it to her destination because her car breaks down, and she decides to stay in the small fishing village.  With a war looming over the country, what can Ellie expect of her time in Saint Benet?

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure is a stand-alone historical fiction story that includes World War II at its edges but is not about the war.  Once again, Bowen has crafted a wonderful story of loss and new beginnings and included vibrant characters and rich historical details.  I am glad that WWII was just a small part of the story because I wanted to lose myself in the story of a woman remaking her life.  

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Review: Bones at the Crossroads

Bones at the Crossroads by LaDarrion Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is finally time for Malik to start his freshman year of college.  After the trials endured during the summer session, he is hoping for just a normal experience.  Since he is attending Caiman University, an HBCU for magical students, that will not be possible.  At first, he just wanted to find his mother, but now that he has learned she is a greater danger to him than those he thought were his enemies, he doesn’t know whom he can trust.

Bones at the Crossroads is the second book in the Blood at the Root series.  The story picks up shortly after the conclusion of the first book, weaving together magic and mundane life.  I enjoyed the magical component and the aspects where the main character learns more about who he wants to become, but some of the day-to-day portions of the story just slowed everything down.  Readers must read the first book to enjoy this continuation.  

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