Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 23: Mermaids, Fairies, and Magic Galore

/ saraletourneau

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Stacking The Shelves is a weekly event hosted by Tynga’s Reviews that shares the books (both physical and virtual) that you recently purchased, borrowed from a fellow reader or the library, won from a giveaway, or received as gifts. Stacking The Shelves will post on Saturdays as new books are added to my shelves.

I bet I know what some of you might be thinking: “Huh? She bought MORE books?? Especially after that big haul a few weeks ago?!”

Yep. My bedroom will look like this pretty soon!

Yep. My bedroom will look like this pretty soon!

I know. (*blushes*) But this new haul is relatively small; and as I’d said in January, my reading priorities for 2016 are newly published books and any novels that will help with my two “market research” projects. With that in mind, here are the latest additions to my (still overstuffed) shelves.

STS Feb 2016 cropped

From top to bottom:

Night Study (Study Series, Book #5 / Soulfinder, Book #2) by Maria V. Snyder (Fantasy): Not only am I a fan of Maria’s work in general, but Shadow Study was one of my favorite reads of 2015. So, there was no question of how quickly I’d jump on its sequel Night Study, which picks up moments after Shadow Study ends. The thing is, I’ve already finished it… and I’m still rather conflicted about it. :/

The Siren by Kiera Cass (YA Paranormal Romance): I’ve heard of Kiera’s Selection series but don’t have plans to read it. (Its “Hunger Games meets Bachelor” vibe doesn’t appeal to me.)  However, The Siren is about something very different: siren mythology and ocean creatures! This fits right in with my “market research” project on mermaid novels; and since it just came out in January, I’ll probably read it sometime this month or in March.

Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely, Book #1) by Melissa Marr (YA Paranormal Romance): Another “market research” pick, this time for my fairy novel project. I’m borrowing this from my local library since I don’t typically go for paranormal romances… But so far, Wicked Lovely has been a pleasant surprise!

Give In To The Feeling cover

Give In To The Feeling by Sarah Zama (Historical Fantasy / Paranormal Romance): Sarah Zama is one of my writing / blogging friends, so I was very excited to get an “ARC” of this! Give In To The Feeling is a novelette (between a short story and novella in length) set in the Roaring Twenties, which isn’t a historical period I’ve read much fantasy for. Stay tuned for a review in next month’s Recent Reads post and a special interview with Sarah soon! 😉

What books did you recently buy or acquire? Have you read or are planning to read of the books discussed above? 

35 thoughts on “Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 23: Mermaids, Fairies, and Magic Galore”

  1. Hey, Siren sounds really intriguing. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever read fantasies with ocean creatures as MCs.

    And thanks so much for the shourt out about Give in to the Feeling. I’m so excited to be one of your soon-to-be guests 😉

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    • The Siren isn’t too bad so far. I just started reading it this morning, so it’s still too early to share what I think of it, but the siren mythology that Kiera Cass created for this story is very interesting.

      You’re welcome about Give In To The Feeling! It really was very good, and I hope I can convince other readers to check it out. 😉

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  2. Oooo, exciting! Sara’s novelette looks great! And that’s too bad about Night Study. What made you conflicted about it? I always feel bad when I can’t fully throw my recommendation behind a book that a favorite author has written.

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    • Thanks, Alex! 🙂 I’ve already read Sarah’s novelette, and it was really good. Can’t wait to share more about it in the coming weeks!

      Night Study was just very poorly written. As in, the quality of the writing wasn’t on par with that of the previous novel. The plot was interesting, and the MC’s love interest went through some fascinating character development. But… I don’t know, the tone of Night Study felt immature because of how other characters acted and the lack of strength in Maria’s writing – as if it felt rushed. I don’t know how else to explain it. 😦

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  3. I’m very fond of Melissa Marr’s series, and I adored Wicked Lovely. I would also love to read more of the “Study” books. I think I’ve read the first two in the original series, and loved them. Looks like you have lots of great reads ahead!

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    • Thanks, Tammy! 🙂

      Wicked Lovely wasn’t too bad. I finished it a couple days ago. The love story… eh, I wasn’t too keen on that. But I liked the dark, gothic-punk vibe it had; that made it unique.

      Things have taken some interesting turns for Yelena and Valek in this second Study series. If you want to find out what happens, definitely first the first series (the third and final book from that is Fire Study) because having the context of the original trilogy will help.

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  4. I don’t have any plans to read the Selection series either because the blurb just doesn’t appeal, but I’m with you on The Siren! When I heard she had a new book out I admit I was curious. When I heard “mermaids” though, that curiosity grew to interest. I’ll be waiting on pins and needles to her what you think 🙂

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    • The Siren isn’t bad so far. There’s definitely a case of insta-love on the protagonist’s part… But the siren mythology created for this book (the rules they have to follow, their connection to the ocean and what happens when they’re in the water) is pretty interesting.

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    • I’m not going to review Night Study (I’ve stopped reviewing books that I’d rate less than a 3 out of 5, for various reasons)… But in short, I thought the quality of the writing nosedived, compared to Shadow Study; and several of the characters (Yelena included) annoyed me more than usual. Valek was the star, though. He went through an amazing amount of character development this time. I do want to read Dawn Study next year to see how things wrap up, but I really hope it’s better written than Night Study was. :/

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  14. My bedroom already looks like that, lol. Actually, most of my house does – I have a lot of large, dusty tomes (for research)
    I haven’t even picked up “The Selection” for the same reasons 😛 But “The Siren” looked okay.
    The only one of these I’ve read was “Wicked Lovely.” I agree that while it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, it was solidly mediocre. And far too drippy for me. *Shudders* (But then, most YA seems to be!!)

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    • “My bedroom already looks like that, lol. ”

      XD I want pictures as proof now! 😉

      The Siren wasn’t bad. I liked it enough that I’m going to review it, so you’ll see something about it from me on Goodreads in a few days and then here in the next edition of Recent Reads.

      You summed up my thoughts on Wicked Lovely pretty well. 😉

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      • I look forward to the “Siren” review then 🙂
        I’ll have to snap some pics eventually . . . (seriously, it doesn’t look as cool as that picture – thanks to my eclectic collection of random Pop figures and geeky memorabilia, but there are about that many books!!)
        I just saw above that you mentioned the truly gothic vibe from Wicked Lovely – and I second that it was really my favorite part about the book. There are a lot of faux-gothic books out there, but few that actually capture the feel and do it justice! (at least, books written post-1900!). Or they just capture the feel (I can think of about five off the top of my head), and fall apart as novels . . .
        Ironically, when I was reading WL, I was writing *my* Fae novel, and I was trying to write the book equivalent of an Evanescence music video combined with a J W. Waterhouse painting with a dash of punk rock. And monsters. Ahem.

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      • Hey, with the other knick-knacks you mentioned, it will be your own brand of coolness. 😉

        I just looked up J.W. Waterhouse’s paintings because I couldn’t picture what his style was like. A-ha! I’ve definitely seen his work before.

        Evanescence music videos + J.W. Waterhouse + punk rock + fae and monsters = You have one of the most stunning imaginations I’ve ever known. Wow. The image it brings to mind is like gothic-feminine-colorful-spunky-eclectic. If that makes any sense at all… But it sounds really cool. 😀

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  15. Sorry you didn’t enjoy ‘Night Study – it’s always a disappointment when a much-anticipated book falls short. I’m intrigued by ‘The Siren’ and look forward to reading your review on it:). An interesting haul of books, Sara!

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    • Yeah… :/ I’m still going to read Dawn Study, because I still want to know how things end and what happens to Yelena, Valek, etc. Hopefully Night Study was just a bump in the road…

      Yes, I’ll definitely review The Siren. 😉 I finished it a couple days ago; and though certain aspects fell flat, there was enough I enjoyed to like the story overall.

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      • I know what you mean regarding ‘Night Study’ – it’s an exceptional author who doesn’t have a book that drops below the standard of the rest of a series… Looking forward to seeing what you have to say about The Siren:)

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  16. A fantasy set in the 20s sounds really interesting. I always like it when I see something unusual like that. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more information. 🙂

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    • Roaring Twenties / Prohibition era seems to be popping up a little more in fantasy now. I haven’t read this book yet, but A Criminal Magic has gotten some good reviews from some of the SFF blogs I follow. So you might want to check out that one, too.

      Btw, you might want to check out Sarah Zama’s interview, if you’re interested in learning more about Give In To The Feeling. The interview went up last Friday (2/19). 😉

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      • It’s really nice to see deviations from the standard time settings coming up in fantasy more. Makes a change. 🙂
        Thanks, I’ll add it to my TBR. 🙂
        Ahh, that’s the interview I’ve got bookmarked I bet. I’ll, again try, and get to it.

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