jbronderbookreviews

Heritage (Transcend – 1) by Addie Hunter

Arhaus, Nevada is a small town on I-70 that currently has more superheroes than trees. After an accident in the summer of 2012, six teens gain superhuman abilities and quickly decide to put them to good use and become heroes in a world that’s since lost its good opinion of people with abilities. As if that weren’t enough trouble trying to keep their powers hidden from their friends and family, they’re going into their senior year of high school. Strange symbols begin appearing all around town, a new kid moves in, someone threatens to bomb the news building, and Dave still can’t find a date to his senior homecoming. Blaise hopes that they can figure out who keeps setting all these fires, and Kat just wants to graduate in one piece. The first novel in the Transcend series, Heritage sets up a universe full of the supernatural, following the lives of six friends as they begin to find out the world is much bigger than it once seemed.

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Author’s Bio

Addie Hunter has been writing since she was young, always coming up with new characters and stories. A huge fan of anything superhero related, it was only a matter of time before she came up with some superhero characters, and the Transcend series is the culmination of a lifelong fascination with the supernatural and cliche, overused tropes. She has thirteen plants and three jobs and one psycho dog.

She is currently working on the second book in the Transcend series.

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My Review

4 stars

Six teenagers in the small town of Arhaus, NV have gained super powers. The don masks and set about saving the world while trying to get through high school. They all have their little niches but come upon someone that is planning on ending the world. The kids have been working loosely on their own but they are no match for the bad guy, they are going to have to learn to work together as a team to save the world.

This story is about six teenagers, three boys and three girls that acquire super powers. They tend to work loosely together but they all want to be the main hero. This leads to more problems and need to learn to work together. The kids also have to keep their identities secret, which they were extremely horrible about. I do feel their struggle as they try to balance their “normal” day lives. High school and being a teenager is hard enough without super powers and stopping the bad guy.

On the other hand, you can tell that this is a first book for Addie Hunter. It felt rough and could have used more editing. I have to say with six kids and their secret identities I got lost in the book. It was just too much for such a quick book. Also, the fight scenes were rushed and felt awkward. The main portion of this book focused on high school life and drama. It feels like too much attention was focused on this.

Over all I did like this book. It is the start of a series and is rough. I think there is a lot of potential there and I would like to see what happens in the book.

I received Heritage from the author for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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Forest of the Fae: The Raven Queen (Book 2) by K. Kibbee

A summer spent untangling a century-old mass disappearance, communing with ghosts, fleeing dark Fae Folk, and enduring her nefarious cousin Lexie would seem like tribulation enough for 13-year-old Anne, and yet her struggles have only just begun.

Though she’s closed Devlin’s Door behind her, it would seem that something sinister has followed Anne from the other side. Her dearest friend Grace is not as she would seem. Something dark has taken hold of the girl . . . something not of this world. Ravens surround her, people mindlessly do her bidding, and wickedness drips from her lips. It’s only a matter of time before Anne uncovers her secret and with it, her vengeance.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the Forests of the Fae, the real Grace struggles to retain her humanity and escape the revolting Faerie body that imprisons her. With pet raven Onyx at her side, she is heralded a Queen, and worshiped by the very creatures that she despises. Set atop a throne of thorns, she feels all is lost, until a stranger with human eyes and a sorted past is shackled at her feet.

Though worlds apart, both girls must race against time if they hope to unravel the mysteries of the Fae folk and unmask The Raven Queen.

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Author’s Bio

(Kristine) Kibbee is a Pacific Northwest writer with a fascination for all things literary. Kristine’s passion for creative writing began in her early youth and led her to the doors of Washington State University, where she earned a degree in Humanities, with a focus in Professional Writing. Kristine followed her scholarly pursuit of writing with published works in The Vancougar, The Salal Review Literary Review, Just Frenchies magazine, and S/Tick Literary Review. She is presently a regular columnist for Terrier Group magazine.

Kristine’s novella, “The Mischievous Misadventures of Dewey the Daring,” was her first and only self-published release, and is still currently available on Amazon.com. Her middle-grade fantasy novel, “Whole in the Clouds,” was released in November 2014 and is being re-released by Incorgnito Publishing Press, with additional material, in October of 2016. The first installment in her YA fantasy series, “Forest of the Fae-Devlin’s Door,” was released in early 2016 with Incorgnito.

Kristine anticipates following the release of book two in the “Forests of the Fae” series (“The Raven Queen”) with a third and final installment, which will tentatively come to print in early 2018.

Kristine regularly engages on a variety of social media platforms and can be followed:

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My Review

5 stars

Anne has just gotten home after closing Devon’s Door. But she has a serious problem, although the creature looks like Grace it is really a changeling. This changeling is bound and determined to keep its new place in Anne’s family and will take control of those around them to put Anne away in a mental facility. At the same time the real Grace is still in the Brown Forest in the changeling’s body. She will have to navigate the Fae world to try get to a portal and change back into herself. Thankfully she has Onyx and a journal to keep her humanity.

I really enjoyed Devon’s Door and was very excited to see what was going to happen next. Anne knows instantly that Grace is a changeling but she has to try and hide that knowledge. It doesn’t matter because eventually the changeling finds out and starts to turn everyone against her.  At the same time it is heartbreaking to follow along as Grace is trying to navigate the Fae Forests. She can feel the changeling body corrupting her but it is a continual battle to keep her humanity.

This is a great follow up to Devin’s Door. It’s so easy to slide right back into the story and be on pins and needles following both girls. There will be one more book to end this series and I can’t wait to see how things end. This is a great story that will appeal to all ages.

I received The Forest Fae: The Raven Queen from Sage’s Blog Tours for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

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