Friday, November 18, 2022

The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris

Only Felicia's courage will keep her alive.

#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Charlaine Harris returns to her alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this fourth installment of the Gunnie Rose series.

Felicia, Lizbeth Rose’s half-sister and a student at the Grigori Rasputin school in San Diego—capital of the Holy Russian Empire—is caught between her own secrets and powerful family struggles. As a granddaughter of Rasputin, she provides an essential service to the hemophiliac Tsar Alexei, providing him the blood transfusions that keep him alive. Felicia is treated like a nonentity at the bedside of the tsar, and at the school she's seen as a charity case with no magical ability. But when Felicia is snatched outside the school, the facts of her heritage begin to surface. Felicia turns out to be far more than the Russian-Mexican Lizbeth rescued. As Felicia’s history unravels and her true abilities become known, she becomes under attack from all directions. Only her courage will keep her alive.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Gunnie Rose series!
For book two, A Longer Fall, click HERE.
For book three, The Russian Cage, click HERE.

 

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The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris

Book 4
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Apple Books  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)
Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)

 

 

Reviews


Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team


Erica☆☆☆☆☆
The Serpent in Heaven is the fourth installment in the Gunnie Rose series. The first three narrated by Lizbeth. The novel (and I assume going forth) is narrated by our gunnie's little sister, Felicia. This cannot be read as a standalone without massive confusion, start with An Easy Death.

Gunnie Rose is such a unique series, across the board. From the dystopian setting, in an alternate early twentieth century, the inventive world building, and intriguing magical and political system. I've never read anything like this before. The Gunnie Rose series is truly one of a kind.

Felicia is in a precarious situation. She is seen as little else than a blood donor for the tsar, as well as a scholarship student at the school, with little to no magic. Since she has been keeping her magic under wraps, I understood the bias when it came to students at a magical school not accepting her. What I don't understand is the bias when it comes to being the blood donor. In order to be of aid to the tsar, that means Felicia is a direct descendant of the tsar himself (his niece and lifeline). Felicia is of royal blood, keeping their precious tsar alive, and they can't even give her an allowance. I felt this was a bizarre mindset. She ought to be one of the highest paid members in the kingdom, not the lowliest.

From the streets of Mexico, Felicia is still shouldering the burdens of her past. Her drunk father and cruel uncle using her for their own gains, while suppressing her natural age and shape for her supposed protection.

Now a year later, the effects of her father's spell are finally dissipating, Felicia growing into the shape and size of a young woman of fifteen. Not that Felicia is sure of her age. Felicia's excitement was easily relatable, as was her worry. Now that she is considered a fully grown woman, everyone is plotting the best way to marry her off for their own gains, no differently than her father treated her.

The girl is lonely, no friends and only a sister far away, which makes her vulnerable. She would do anything to have a support system and family. This is where I'm confused. In order to be a blood donor, she must be a blood relative to the tsar. Why doesn't his family see her as his family? They're her uncle and aunt, and their children are her cousins. The other donors are her father's siblings and her cousins. Yet the entire system is in place to see her only as a cow – cows that keep being slaughtered to eradicate the tsar's blood source.

Action-packed from the first page, Felicia is being hit from all sides. As an orphan who has been thrust into her father's family as a donor, she never gave thought to her mother's family, who shows up out of nowhere to attempt to kidnap and kill those all around her. At the same time, someone is still offing her donor relatives. Added in with the constant need to marry her off.

Eli (Lizbeth's husband, Felicia's brother-in-law), his family takes to Felicia, his sisters and brother; Eli's brother, Paul, he takes to Felicia too much as she grows into her womanliness. This draws a wedge between Felicia and the matriarch of the family, which makes Felicia rightfully insulted. I appreciated Felicia's setting of boundaries and not just accepting those unkind words from someone she felt loved her.

There is also hesitancy in Felicia when it comes to Paul, which I appreciated. Even though she is far beyond her years in life experience, after struggling to survive day to day, she has not yet grown into her body. While kind and supportive, Felicia senses Paul is a Nice Guy. Hopefully he grows out of those toxic tendencies.

Just as with Lizbeth, Felicia is a strong character, and I adored looking at the world through her lens. She is a fighter and a survivor, but also kind, selfless, compassionate, protective, and empathetic. She does the right thing, especially when it's hard. She stands up for herself and others. She doesn't resist authority, but she does speak up when she recognizes they're on the wrong path. A leader who knows when to follow someone worthy. A good role model.

Highly recommended to Charlaine Harris fans. I look forward to watching Felicia grow into womanhood and into her magical power. I cannot wait to see what is in store for her in the next installment and the next.

 

 

Author Bio

CHARLAINE HARRIS is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing for over thirty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area. She has written four series, and two stand-alone novels, in addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and graphic novels (cowritten with Christopher Golden). Her Sookie Stackhouse books have appeared in twenty-five different languages and on many bestseller lists. They’re also the basis of the HBO series True Blood. Harris now lives in Texas, and when she is not writing her own books, she reads omnivorously. Her house is full of rescue dogs.

Connect with Charlaine Harris

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

 
 

ARC provided by

Saga Press.


Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Serpent in Heaven (Gunnie Rose #4) by Charlaine Harris to read and review.

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

House of Curses by K.A. Linde Release Blitz

Available Now. House of Curses by K.A. Linde. Amazon. Apple Books. Nook. Google Books. Kobo.

USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde returns to the Royal Houses series with House of Curses: the story of Kerrigan Argon, a half-Fae, half-human as she seeks her place in an unforgiving world filled with magic, mayhem, and romance. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and V.E. Schwab.

Against all odds, Kerrigan Argon passed her dragon training. She’s now an official member of the Society. Everything should be well. But somehow, nothing is.

Her dark prince, Fordham Ollivier, has disappeared in hopes to beak his curse.

An unwanted wedding looms in her future.

And the council election draws ever nearer. An election that she’s been unceremoniously nominated for.

If all of that wasn’t enough, the Red Masks, an anti-half Fae, anti-human terrorist organization, are gaining ground. All because they have a spy inside the mountain, inside the Society itself.

Someone is leading these monsters.

And Kerrigan is determined to stop them at all costs.

Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Royal Houses series!
For book one, House of Dragons, click HERE.
For book two, House of Shadows, click HERE.

 

Add to Goodreads.

 

House of Curses by K.A. Linde

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Apple Books  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Paperback (US)

 

 

Reviews


Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team


Erica☆☆☆☆
House of Curses is the third installment in the Royal Houses series. I strongly recommend against reading as a standalone or out of series order. The entire series is told from Kerrigan's point of view. There are also mentions of a previous series, Ascension, which I somehow completely overlooked and will remedy that shortly. Honestly, I thought I had read it, but Goodreads says my recollection isn't true.

Let me preface this review by stating how the House of Curses ends on the mother of all cliffhangers, with Kerrigan left devastated. Had I not read this for review, I would have waited to read this novel once I had both books in my greedy little hands. I'm not the most patient of readers.

The first thought that popped into my head when I started on the first page was to wonder if I should have reread House of Shadows or at least hunted down my review for a refresher, as I had digested hundreds upon hundreds of books since I was immersed in this series.

K.A. Linde does an amazing job of coaxing the reader into remembering events in the previous novels without weighing down the pacing with info-dumps. Mad props to Linde for flawlessly pinging my memory.

With Ford MIA, Kerrigan is plunged into fearing for her soulmate's safety as well as her own. There is no way out of her betrothal with March. By day, Kerrigan is plagued with social engagements with her fiancé, and by night, she awakens in a panic to nightmares of what lies ahead in the future.

With the help of her nearest and dearest, as she works to regain the trust and adoration she once had for the father who abandoned her for her own good, as she strengthens her knowledge of her own abilities, as she runs for a seat in the Society, Kerrigan's plate is overloaded. But all she can think about is Ford, whether he is safe or if he is ever coming back to her. All the while, she is trying to take down the Red Masks.

House of Curses reveals how the fairytales are real. Adventurous treks through impassable cold landscapes, with a soulmate at her side, attempting to reach the witch's cottage. Political intrigue plaguing their world, forming factions of fae, human, and half-human/half-fae. As well as entering the spirit plane to commune with a being from another world altogether. Kerrigan's life and those she loves hinges in the balance of whether or not they can stop the Red Masks from decimating life as they know it. The novel packs a fast-paced punch.

The reason I couldn't give five stars versus four is simply a matter of taste. I'm not a fan of reading passages from the villains of the tale. Not only are the passages short, therefore I have zero emotional investment in the character, I find they spoil the pacing and delivery of information. I'm locked into Kerrigan, as I have for three books – I wish to learn beside her as I have for the entire journey. The reader knowing who the villains are while watching the heroine flounder is not something I find enjoyable nor intriguing. The switch in narration jars me from the story, gets me out of Kerrigan's head, to the point I tend to skip these passages, no matter the author or the series. Added with the fact that there were multiple villains, as well as from her friend's point of view.

Highly recommend this novel and series to fans of the author, as well as those who enjoy epic fantasy, fantasy, dragons, and fae. What I wouldn't do to get my greedy hands on the next installment, mind spinning as I have theories to a few revelations revealed and wish to be proven right. Since I've discovered my memory is faulty, I will be diving into Ascension soon.

 

 

Author Bio

K.A. LINDE is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

Connect with K.A. Linde

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Facebook Group: K.A. Linde Books

 

 

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of House of Curses (Royal Houses #3) by K.A. Linde to read and review.