​Don't miss the latest Shelf Byte podcast feature! You'll hear a spoiler-free book or audiobook review in 5 minutes(ish) or less!
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In this episode guest reviewer and #3blogger1series podcast co-host, Nicola Onychuk shares her thoughts on Kill the Queen (Crown of Shards #1), by Jennifer Estep!  Have you read it already? If so, let's start a conversation about it. Comment below!

A read and listen book review consist of time spent both reading the physical book and listening to the audiobook.  

I admit that I'm one of the Rhys character fan girls, so I jumped on this book the day it was released and finished it pretty quickly. Was I happy with the book? Generally yes. ​Was it perfect? No. Read on to find out if  A Court of Wings and Ruin lived up to the hype. 

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​Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens /Recorded Books
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Format: Kindle, Audio MP3
Pages: 699 | Audio Length: 25 hours 8 mins
Narrator:​ Amanda Leigh Cobb​
Source: Kindle, Audible
Genre: Fantasy,  YA, New Adult
Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis:  A nightmare, I’d told Tamlin. I was the nightmare.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

This book had lots of buzz leading into it's release date. Being that I just fell in love with this world in book two, I had high expectations. This installment was essentially a war story. The art of subterfuge and war.  The secondary story-line revolved around family and love.  It's a complex tale and I think that Maas did a good job with this installment. 

Publisher: Riverhead Books / Penguin Audio
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Format: MP3 Download
Pages: 240 | Audio Length:4 hours 42 mins
Narrator:​ Mohsin Hamid
Source: Audiobook Publisher
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Review Date: March 15, 2017
Rating: 3 bookmarks

​Synopsis: ​In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. 

Exit West follows these characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are. Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.

*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

​Exit West immediately grabbed my attention with the first sentence, “In a city swollen by refugees but still mostly at peace, or at least not yet openly at war, a young man met a young woman in a classroom and did not speak to her.” This line foreshadows the silence in the relationship of this young couple as they flee the turmoil of their city, country, and families. Saeed and Nadia are students who attend business school at night and maintain full-time jobs during the day. They meet one evening at a café and Saeed falls for Nadia. She is mysterious and unorthodox. She rides a motorcycle, lives alone and wears a black robe not for religious reasons but to conceal her body. She tells Saeed she wears it “so no one fucks with me.” Shortly after their clandestine relationship begins, war arises in their city. There is loss of water, the phone systems, internet access and electricity. Executions are occurring daily and shots are heard everywhere. A stray bullet kills one of Saeed’s loved ones and he becomes more concerned for Nadia’s safety. When the unrest becomes unbearable, Saeed and Nadia make the choice to flee their country through one of the many "doors that could take you elsewhere, often to places far away, well removed from this deathtrap of a country." 

​A read and listen book review consist of time spent both reading the physical book and listening to the audiobook. I personally think that this is the best way to read books when you're short on time!  

Read on to find out why the first installment of this YA retelling earned a three bookmark rating.  Before I get into the review, full disclosure, at the time that I'm writing this review, I've already finished book two. The hype is true, book two is so much better than the first book, so just keep that in mind.

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens /Recorded Books
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Format: Kindle, Audio MP3
Pages: 626 | Audio Length: 22 hours 16 mins
Narrator:​ Jennifer Ikeda
Source: Kindle, Audible
Genre: Fantasy,  YA, New Adult
Review Date: February 13, 2017
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis:​ Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Torn was a strong follow up to Wicked. Read on to find out why I recommend A Wicked Saga for Jennifer Armentrout fans.  Haven't started the trilogy yet? Click here to read my review of Wicked (book 1) first. 

Publisher: Self Published (Amazon)
Release Date: July 19, 2016
Format: Kindle ebook
Pages: 299 pages 
Source: Amazon
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, New Adult
Review Date: January 23, 2017
Rating: 4 bookmarks


​Synopsis: ​Torn between duty and survival, nothing can be the same. 

Everything Ivy Morgan thought she knew has been turned on its head. After being betrayed and then nearly killed by the Prince of the Fae, she’s left bruised and devastated—and with an earth-shattering secret that she must keep at all costs. And if the Order finds out her secret, they’ll kill her. 

Then there’s Ren Owens, the sexy, tattooed Elite member of the Order who has been sharing Ivy’s bed and claiming her heart. Their chemistry is smoking hot, but Ivy knows that Ren has always valued his duty to the Order above all else—he could never touch her if he knew the truth. That is, if he let her live at all. Yet how can she live with herself if she lies to him? 

But as the Fae Prince begins to close in, intent on permanently opening the gates to the Otherworld, Ivy is running out of options. If she doesn’t figure out who she can trust—and fast—it’s not only her heart that will be torn apart, but civilization itself. 

Even though I thought that Wicked was a good read, I was dragging my feet on reading Torn. Why? I don't know. Maybe fear of the sophomore slump. Thankfully, I was worried for nothing. I enjoyed Torn even more than Wicked.  The second installment delivered lots of action and drama for the readers.

​​The characters, especially Ivy, were more developed. They've grown in maturity and in regards to their relationships to each other.  Our leading couple, Ivy and Ren, have a whole new adult relationship blooming. Ren is still just as sexy as ever. but he's chosen a side and now going into book three, his choice will have us on the end of our seats waiting to see what's in store for the pair. Ivy's been through a lot in this book. I have much respect for how she came out of the traumatic situation of being held hostage to the Fae Prince...it's always a traumatizing ordeal in fiction when a crazy Fae Prince wants to force you to have his offspring.  Even Tink has grown a lot in this installment, literally and figuratively.  While Tink is still the same, a lot has changed about him. I like him even better, even though he's a sneaky character. When it comes to Ivy and Ren, he's the best third wheel they could have. 

Publisher: Tor Books | Audible Studios
Release Date:  August 16, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 304 pages | Audio Length: Approx 8.2 hours
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Source: Audible 
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Review Date: November 9, 2016
Rating: 3 bookmarks

Synopsis: Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Harford, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.

Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.

Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she's just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…

Disclaimer: This audiobook was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

One of the cool things about this title was the melding of fantasy with historical fiction with a dash of romance. The world of mediums and ghost melded into The Great War (World War I) makes for a very unique story.  The paranormal parts of the story are about a group known as Spirit Corps. The Spirit Corps is made up of seven people that are aware that ghost are real and they have a job to do when someone dies.  Two mediums who can see the dead and are at risk because their souls are not fully attached to their bodies, four unsighted who help keep the medium from leaving their bodies completely and one person to see that the reports taken from the deceased are sent on to proper place. One of these mediums in the group is American Ginger Stuyvesant.

I have a trilogy finale for you today...a long awaited finale! I reviewed book two, The Twelve over two years ago. The Passage kicked off this wild and treacherous ride, read on to find out how I felt when it all came to an end with The City of Mirrors.

Publisher: Ballantine Books and Random House Audio
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Format: MP3
Pages: 598 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 29.5 hours
Narrator: Scott Brick
Source: Library Borrow
Genre: Fantasy/Post Apocalyptic/Dystopia/Horror
Review Date: July 6, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks

​​Synopsis: In "The Passage" and "The Twelve", Justin Cronin brilliantly imagined the fall of civilization and humanity's desperate fight to survive. Now all is quiet on the horizon but does silence promise the nightmare's end or the second coming of unspeakable darkness? At last, this bestselling epic races to its breathtaking finale.

"The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?"

The Twelve have been destroyed and the hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew and daring to dream of a hopeful future.

But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy – humanity's only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.

One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate. 

The story picks up about 20 years after the end of The Twelve.  I found it pretty interesting what happened to all of our major characters from the previous installments. Amy, Peter, Michael, Alicia, Hollis, and more. We get to see some of the babies from the previous books as adults with their own families and kids. We got to get a glimpse of the rebuilding of society. After they've been lulled into a false sense of security, the world thought that the Virals were a thing of the past and long gone.  Are they? Of course not. Nothing's that easy.

We find out what's happened in the time that's passed through a story that is laid out in a way that's similar to a Bible as something similar. The story of what happened with a Amy after taking out the Twelve and what happened shortly after are expressed in the form of a historical document.