Fairy Dust and Warlocks

To Kill a Warlock by HP MalloryTo Kill a Warlock (Dulcie O’Neil # 1) by HP Mallory
(Dulcie O’Neil # 1)
Indie, 208 pages

The murder of a dark arts warlock. A shape-shifting, ravenous creature on the loose. A devilishly handsome stranger sent to investigate. Sometimes working law enforcement for the Netherworld is a real bitch. Dulcie O’Neil is a fairy. And not the type to frolic in gardens. She’s a Regulator—a law-enforcement agent who monitors the creatures of the Netherworld to keep them from wreaking havoc in the mortal world. When a warlock is murdered and Dulcie was the last person to see him alive, she must uncover the truth before she’s either deported back to the Netherworld, or she becomes the next victim. Enter Knight Vander, a sinfully attractive investigator sent from the Netherworld to work the case with Dulcie. Between battling her attraction to her self-appointed partner, keeping a sadomasochistic demon in check, and fending off the advances of a sexy and powerful vampire, Dulcie’s got her hands full. As the body count increases, Dulcie finds herself battling dark magic, reconnoitering in S&M clubs and suffering the greatest of all betrayals.

I’m still fairly new to the urban fantasy genre, and I am still avoiding paranormal romance (maybe I should make a post about that sometime) so when I received a review request from HP Mallory for her books, I was kind of hesitant to accept it. But I’m not really one to say no to free books, so I thought, why not?

I finally found the time to read To Kill a Warlock when we started moving a week ago. I figured after reading about zombies, I need to take a break from the gore so this should be  a perfect read. And since we were moving, all my books were packed, so all the reading I could do was in my Kindle.

So Dulcie is a fairy and one of the best Regulators from the Association of Netherworld Creatures (ANC) in California. As a Regulator, she monitors the activities of the different paranormal creatures in her area and makes sure they act in accordance to the laws. But after her Regulator job is finished, Dulcie hides in her house and works on her novel, which she hoped to published so she can be rid of her Regulator job. Her more or less regular Regulator (ha, sorry, I can’t resist!) job is disturbed when a warlock dies and she was the last one who saw him. The story follows Dulcie as she tries to figure out who killed the warlock, work on her novel and figure out her relationships with the different men in her life which included a vampire, a demon, an elf and a Loki.

To Kill a Warlock is generally a fun read, with a spunky heroine who’s had a broken heart and dreams of being a published writer. The story is pretty tight, with a good — although not really unique — concept about a group that regulates paranormal creatures among humans, and of course, lots of romance for Dulcie. That being said, however…I don’t think To Kill a Warlock really worked for me. :( I hate it when this happens, especially since it seemed like many readers liked the book and the characters (and that I got this book for review). I did not hate any of them, really, but they just failed to make an big impression on me that I just didn’t care about them as much as I normally would. As the story got to the climax, I found myself just flipping to the next pages, eager to finish because I was getting tired of how they seemed to be going in circles. When the major action has finished and everything has settled, I thought it was over, but it wasn’t…and it led me wondering, “What else could happen after all that?” I didn’t feel very satisfied at the ending because I felt like it was a bit of a cop out — everyone sort of at peace with each other, with Dulcie having three guys going after her. In the end I was just confused.

It’s not that it’s a bad book. I have to give some merit to the author because I enjoyed myself in some parts of the book, but as a whole, I was underwhelmed. I think I can put the blame on Ilona Andrews and their Kate Daniels series with how I viewed To Kill a Warlock. The Kate Daniels series is my first time to read adult urban fantasy and I loved every bit of it, so I got kind of spoiled with their world building and character development in those books. So much so that my expectations were a bit too high when I read To Kill a Warlock. Perhaps if I read this first before any of the Kate Daniels books, I’d think otherwise.

Rating: [rating=2]
→ I was pretty much underwhelmed with To Kill a Warlock. It’s a good urban fantasy novel, but it just didn’t work so much for me.

2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 94 out of 100 for 2010

My copy: ebook, review copy from author

Cover image & Blurb: Goodreads

Other Reviews:
ALPHA reader
quillsandzebras

Holiday Swap

As of this writing, there are only 46 days till Christmas. Again: where did time go? Why is it going too fast? Before we know it, November (and NaNoWriMo) is over, and it’s December! And it’s Christmas!

Okay, so I think everyone can see that I love Christmas, and Christmas always makes things better for me, no matter how bad my mood is. Plus, Christmas automatically makes me more generous for some reason (must be the spirit of giving!). When I saw posts from Holly and Chachic about the Book Blogger Holiday Swap, I decided to join in for the fun!

I love exchanging gifts during Christmas (I am almost always the mastermind for other exchange gifts/Secret Santa/Kris Kringle plans among my friends) so a book swap is definitely something I’d love to do. I know international shipping is going to make a dent in my wallet, but still I chose that option, because it’s fun! And it’s just once a year anyway, so why not go all out? I’m already starting to think of ideas to put in the package like bookmarks and trinkets and rings, and maybe add a couple of local books that I like in it, to share local literature. :)

Hm. That reminds me, I think I shall suggest something like this to my friends now. :D And maybe think of a Christmas giveaway too? Hmmm.

Ah, Christmas. I love it. It’s the most wonderful time of the year… :)

Kataastaasan

It’s going to be a pretty quiet month, at least as far as my blogs are concerned because of NaNoWriMo, and other real life stuff that does not revolve around the novel. You definitely know I am writing my novel because I am starting to avoid contractions in my text to up my word count. See?

Anyway, other than NaNoWriMo, we have just moved out of our house for our long awaited house renovation, so I had to put all my books into big plastic bags and transferred them to this apartment down the street. This kind of stopped me from reading because I can’t just dig those books out without making a big mess. Most of my reading will be done via Astrid the Kindle now, but I will try to grab a book once in a while. Perhaps after November.

But of course I cannot stop reading. So when I’m not writing, I try to read. And that happened earlier while I was at work. I did not feel like writing, and I also did not feel like working, so I decided to poke around in my Kindle to see what I can read — something short and quick, to just wake me up.

Then I found Kataastaasan.

Kataastaasan by Hannah Buena and Paolo Chikiamco, is not really a book but a short 22-page comic that is set in 1770 in Cebu City and tells an alternate history of the Philippines’ struggle for independence from Spain. I don’t want to give anything away since it’s a pretty short piece, but suffice to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how the story turned out! I’m not much of a comic person and I’m fairly new to speculative fiction, so I did not know what to expect with this, but I finished this one with only one thought: that was a really cool twist.

And it really is. I thought it was a very creative use of one of the many colorful aspects of Filipino culture, with a steampunk twist. The language was easy to understand and I liked the dark vibe it had despite the innocent looking characters. I’m also not very knowledgeable in making comments on artwork, but I thought the illustrations here were very good, even if it’s all in black and white. The lack of color just adds to the overall historic feel to it, IMHO.

I really, really liked this one, and it was worth the fifteen minutes I stole from work to read it. :P I’m hoping there would be more? I’m not much of a comic reader, but I’ll definitely be in line for this one if there is more. :)

Kataastaasan will be published by Espresso Comics, which hopefully will be published before this year ends. Thanks to Pao for the ARC!

Rating: [rating=5]

2010 Challenge Status:
* Book # 95 out of 100 for 2010
* Book # 12 out of 20 for Project 20:10
Fine. I know it’s not a book…but I’m counting it in anyway. :P

My copy: e-ARC from one of the authors

Cover image: Rocket Kapre

Other Reviews:
Into the Wardrobe

Waiting on Wednesday: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

It’s been a while since I did a Waiting on Wednesday post. Truth be told, I just kind of lost interest in looking for the different books and putting them in my wish list because it grows faster than I can blog. I am making an exception today, though, for the following reasons:

  1. This got me curious.
  2. It’s dystopia.
  3. And this may be my chance to win an ARC of the book.

So hello again, Waiting on Wednesday! “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. This week’s WoW is:

Bumped by Megan McCaffertyBumped by Megan McCafferty

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

[Cover and Blurb from The Story Siren]

I loved the Jessica Darling series (even if I have yet to read the last three books!) and I was really surprised when I learned that Megan McCafferty is coming out with a dystopian book. Honestly, I always thought dystopia meant depressing and serious books, but this seemed different. Well, Bumped will tackle serious issues (as Megan wrote in the background story of Bumped), but it seems like this will be a funny one, too. I liked how the author describes it here (emphasis mine): “In my work, I always aspire to make readers laugh and to provoke thoughtful conversations about tricky subjects including teen sexuality, social class, sibling rivalry, gender roles, and religious tolerance, to name a few. Bumped is futuristic fiction, but its truths are rooted right here, right now.

Bumped will be on sale in April 26, 2011. And here’s me praying for the grace and blessing to win an ARC of this one. Please Lord? :)

What are you waiting on this week? :)

Flight to the Stars

Flight to the Stars (and other stories) by Samantha Mae Coyiuto
Publisher: Anvil
Number of pages:  179
My copy: paperback, bought from National Bookstore

When Samantha Mae Coyiuto was barely ten years old, she had already wrote and illustrated three funny yet engaging collections of children’s stories. Now about to turn sixteen, this third-year high school student and nationally ranked junior tennis player recently launched her fourth book, Flight to the Stars & Other Stories, a collection of three short fiction that tackles serious themes encompassing teenage life and Filipino family dynamics.

Samantha began writing short stories using a laptop at the age of six. Having a natural penchant for cartooning, she also did the illustrations for her first three books, a series of fantasy and magical tales in which she displayed not only a talent for storytelling but also a sense of humor that made the stories such fun to read.

This is her first book of stories for young adults, in which she exhibits a deft touch for characterization and dialogue, a narrative flair for dramatic tension and charming wit, as well as the ability to tackle difficult issues confronted by individuals and families.

* * *

Two reasons why I got this book:

  1. It’s written by a Filipino.
  2. It’s written by a sixteen-year-old girl.

I wrote my first story when I was a seven years old. It was a story about how the different weathers (sunny, cloudy, rainy, stormy) were all fighting over their reign in the sky, which led to the people on earth pleading for them to stop fighting because it was getting hard for them there. The next story I wrote (that I still have a copy of!) is The Two Slumber Parties, were two friends fight and set a slumber party on one date, putting one of their friends in the middle to choose. I wrote more stories after I realized and declared that I wanted to be a write when I grow up, filling notebooks and notebooks with stories which always had a happy ending.

So why don’t I have a published novel now? Well, I blame it on real life taking over and me starting to get pickier and pickier with the stories I wrote. That, and computers, because around the time when I could have started submitting stories somewhere, I started getting into web design and that started my career as a web person. I admit to still feeling a pang of regret with my sort of forgotten writing “career”, but that’s why I join NaNoWriMo year after year.

Anyway, I was looking forward to reading Samantha’s book because I was curious about what someone her age could write. Flight to the Stars is an anthology of three short stories that, as the blurb mentioned, “…tackles serious themes encompassing teenage life and Filipino dynamics.” The title story, Flight to the Stars, tells the story of Mike and his relationship with his father and his mistress, and his own reflections on life as he gets married to the girl of his dreams. The second story, Sapphire, is about a girl and her battle with insecurities particularly with her weight, and her first heartbreak. The third story, The Purple Box, is about a man facing his sixty-first birthday with flashbacks on how he ended up where he was, thinking about the man who had inspired him to hope and the tragedy that shattered all that.

There is much promise in this collection of stories that the young author wrote. They’re all positive, family-oriented stories, all full of hope and life lessons. Like what other reviews said, this is the kind of book that I wouldn’t mind letting younger kids read, particularly those who are in their tweens and the ones who are ready to start transitioning to bigger, wordier books. There is a distinctly Filipino feel in their stories that makes them closer to the heart, and yet I think that people from other nationalities will also appreciate the stories, too. That doesn’t mean that grown-ups won’t appreciate this, though. I liked them well enough (even if I don’t really consider myself as a grown up sometimes :P), and the stories kind of reminded me of my younger years and the little concerns that I had then, such as assignments, going to the prom, being late for school, and all that.

However, as an adult reader who’s been reading a lot for the past few months, I think the age of the author really showed in her stories. Aside from the simple language, it pretty much showed that the author doesn’t really know much of the different troubles of growing up, at least by experience. I’m not saying that I know everything of course, but I was kind of looking for something in the stories that would evoke some emotions from me that unfortunately I didn’t get. These stories reminded me of the things I wrote when I was younger: written in rose-colored glasses, teetering at the edge of the serious, of the dark and the deep but never really making the plunge to see what’s going to happen after. There were many unexplored parts and issues in the stories that could have been could have made a different impact on the stories. Spoiler warning starts here. Case in point: in Sapphire, the eating disorder that the heroine developed felt like it was rushed, especially on the part on how she got over it. Sure, I understand that you’d do everything for your family, but an eating disorder is not something you’d just get rid of at a snap of a finger, just because someone is watching. I’ve never had an eating disorder but I know friends who have tried to get over it and it’s not easy. It’s not a deal breaker, but I feel that it’s important since this could be something that could spark a discussion with kids and their parents or their teachers, about eating disorders and self-image. Spoiler warning ends here. This may be just me nitpicking, of course…but readers who are looking for a very deep and emotional read may be a tad disappointed, so I would advise you to set your expectations right if you would decide to read this book.

Overall, though, this is a promising book, and I think it’s a great feat for a 16-year-old to write something like this. I wonder now — if she can get published, then I am pretty sure one or two (or ten!) of the hundreds of Filipino NaNoWriMo participants can do so, too. I bet if every budding writer in the Philippines had the same kind of support that Samantha Mae Coyiuto had, then we’d have more books written by Filipino authors and with the number of book lovers here in the Philippines, I’m sure there are guaranteed readers, too. I’m sure to be one of them. :)

Rating: [rating=3]

Other Reviews/Articles:
PhilStar.com – Samantha Mae Coyiuto’s constellation of stories
Smart Parenting – Flight to the Stars: A Book Worth Keeping for your Child