All that Glows by Ryan Graudin

Series: Standalone

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

Subjects: faeries, magic, supernatural, royalty, princes

Setting: Modern day London, England

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense: Emrys

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 463 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Emrys—a fiery, red-headed Fae—always embraced her life in the Highlands, far from the city’s draining technology, until she’s sent to London to rejoin the Faery Guard. But this isn’t any normal assignment—she’s sent to guard Prince Richard: Britain’s notorious, partying bad boy and soon-to-be King. The prince’s careless ways and royal blood make him the irresistible for the dark spirits that feed on mortals. Sweet, disheveled, and alive with adventure—Richard is one charge who will put Emrys’s magic and heart to the test.

When an ancient force begins preying on the monarchy, Emrys must hunt through the London’s magical underworld, facing down Banshees, Black Dogs and Green Women to find the one who threatens Richard’s life. In this chaos of dark magic, palace murders and paparazzi, Emrys finds herself facing an impossible choice. For despite all her powers, Emrys has discovered a force that burns brighter than magic: love.”

My Review:  This book seemed so promising at first. It fell pretty flat though. Maybe because I don’t like British book that much. Maybe because I’m sick of books about faeries. This book may have had some fighting and magic, but it just wasn’t that exciting.

Emrys is a faery that supposed to protect Prince Richard. Richard like to party and drink. He’s kind of like Oliver Queen from Arrow, but the prince of England. Emrys reveals herself to Richard, and then they fall in love and she’s thinking about becoming mortal to be with him. Some kissing and romantic dates, and all that fun stuff. The fact that the main character is a guardian of a Prince seems unique to me, but most of the story is riddled with clichés that I’ve seen in paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

I don’t want to discourage people about this book. It is kind of long (463 pages), which is probably part of why I got bored with it. It moved pretty slow too. But if you love books about Fay and don’t get bored with them, or if you love anything set in the UK, then you’ll probably enjoy this. It has luscious and descriptive writing.

 I loved the magic that Emrys used. She could shape-shift and cast spells. There were creatures like banshees and green woman and black dogs. Emrys fought those creatures to protect Richard. There’s Queen Mab, Titania,  Herne of the Wild Hunt, but no Oberon or Puck. There’s mentions of the Arthurian Legend being real and Emrys knew Arthur.

I recommend this book to fans of the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr, the Wondrous Strange series by Lesley Livingston, The Faeries Path series by Frewin Jones, The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, or the Glimmer Glass series by Jenna Black.

Cover Art Review: I love this cover. The hand lettering is so awesome and detailed. It has a beautiful effect on it. The photo of the fairy girl looks like the girl on the Faery Path series covers. I like the pink hue.

Endure by Carrie Jones

Series: Need (bk. 4)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Pixies, magic, shape-shifters, Maine, Iceland, mythology, Norse mythology, supernatural, werewolves

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 260 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary/ product description: “It’s all-out war (and no-holds-barred romance) in the climactic conclusion to Carrie Jones’s bestselling series.
Zara is at the center of an impending apocalypse. True, she’s successfully rescued Nick from Valhalla, but it simply isn’t enough. Evil pixies are ravaging Bedford, and they need much more than one great warrior; they need an army. Zara isn’t sure what her role is anymore. She’s not just fighting for her friends; she’s also a pixie queen. And to align her team of pixies with the humans she loves will be one of her greatest battles yet. Especially since she can’t even reconcile her growing feelings for her pixie king . . .
Unexpected turns, surprising revelations, and one utterly satisfying romantic finale make Endure a thrilling end to this series of bestsellers.”

My Rating: êêêêê

My Review: Another conclusion to yet another series I loved. I keep having to say goodbye. I hate saying goodbye! I love Zara’s narration. I so funny and awesome! And Issie is the awesomesauce best friend that I always wanted. (She like the show Fringe!!!!!) I just disappointed about Nick because I loved him in the 1^st two books. In Twilight terms, if Nick to Jacob (cause he’s a werewolf) what Astley is to Edward (cause they’re both sorta sparkly) than I am still Team Nick all the way. Even if he doesn’t like that Zara’s turned Pixie. This book went very quick. I think it could have been longer, but I am still happy with it. I loved the part when she was training other teens how to fight pixies in the YMCA gym. So they go back to Iceland, which is really cool. They search for Hel. Awesome stuff happens. I really don’t want to spoil the ending. It’s a good one, but I still was slightly disappointed. I still give it 5 stars just because it’s the kind of book I was in the mood for. And everything is perfecting wrapped up at the end (Holiday pun is intended).

Anyways, since I just read Endlessly by Kiersten White before this, and Flock by Wendy Delsol, I can’t help comparing this the series to those too. The Stork series was also Norse mythology based and the Paranormalcy series has a quirky heroine, Evie, who is the blond, pink-loving version of Zara (and Katla too. Zara is very similar to Stork’s Katla). I just love books with lots of humor.

This book a great read for the holidays. This whole series is. The wintery world of Bedford, Maine and all the Norse Mythology, perfect for Christmastime.

Cover Art Review: I love that all the covers go together with gold and black and white. I love the serif typeface of the title. I love the gold designs. I love that golden/orange eye.

 

~Haley G