The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris

#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.

 

 

Book 4
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Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)
Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

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ARC provided by

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.

The Glass Queen by Gena Showalter

Once Upon a Time meets Game of Thrones in book two of New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter’s magical, romantic dark fantasy series, in which the fairy tales we know and love are prophecies of the future. Welcome to the Forest of Good and Evil, where villains may be heroes and heroes may be villains… it all depends on who you ask.

Ashleigh Ansklelisa may be called the Glass Princess due to her weak heart, but Saxon, king of the Avian, knows she is more dangerous than broken glass, in this Cinderella retelling that sweeps readers into the magical land of Enchantia, filled with treacherous enemies, unexpected allies, forbidden love, and dangerous magic! Can destined lovers find their way to each other, or will evil win the day? Everything changes at the stroke of midnight as one determined princess fights for her legacy, her love, and the crown that is her destiny.

 

 

Book 2
Buy Links

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Inkyard Press—Harlequin

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shelby – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Glass Queen is the second book in the series The Forest of Good and Evil and can be read as a standalone with no issues. This was my first book in the fairy tale retelling series by Gena Showalter, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to grab The Evil Queen (book #1).

I was expecting a paranormally themed Cinderella. I didn't have high expectations as many Cinderella retellings have been disappointing, but this was an awesome departure from the norm! The Little Cinder Girl can be linked to anyone in the world of Enchantia. A world where trolls, shape shifters, witches & warlocks, dragons, mages, and everything in between lives. Magic is the norm, and oracles are sought after. As such, each kingdom has its own royal family and it just so happens that Ashleigh's father is the King of The Provence of Fleur. One would think this would make her a powerful princess; unfortunately, that title holds no power to the sickly, weak girl. A father who hates her, no friend outside of her mother, how is this girl supposed to survive?

Prince Saxon Skylair of the Avian Mountains hasn't had an easy life; exiled from his home at an early age, he was taken in by friends to make a life. Knowing his place in the family, he needs to prove himself to take his rightful place.

These are just simple summaries of the main characters, and in no way truly convey all that is going on. Enemies to the core, only one knows why. I loved the twists and turns, the constant questioning of the prophecies. I loved the way everything came together; I even loved the cheesiness as I am expecting it from a young adult novel. Above all, I want to read about the next retelling as I liked these characters!

 

 

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over seventy books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld series, the Gods of War series, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Forest of Good and Evil series. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs.

Connect with Gena

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Gena Showalter’s Legions Facebook Group

 

 

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) by Gena Showalter to read and review.

Diamond City by Francesca Flores

Good things don't happen to girls who come from nothing... unless they risk everything.

Fierce and ambitious, Aina Solís as sharp as her blade and as mysterious as the blood magic she protects. After the murder of her parents, Aina takes a job as an assassin to survive and finds a new family in those like her: the unwanted and forgotten.

Her boss is brutal and cold, with a questionable sense of morality, but he provides a place for people with nowhere else to go. And makes sure they stay there.

DIAMOND CITY: built by magic, ruled by tyrants, and in desperate need of saving. It is a world full of dark forces and hidden agendas, old rivalries and lethal new enemies.

To claim a future for herself in a world that doesn't want her to survive, Aina will have to win a game of murder and conspiracy—and risk losing everything.

Full of action, romance and dark magic, book one of Francesca Flores' breathtaking fantasy duology will leave readers eager for more!

Book 1
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆
Spoiler-Free Review

The premise hooked me straight away. Aina's story of being an orphan on the streets, forced to do anything to survive, fostered by the head of a gang who had ulterior motives. The Blade, Aina was an assassin, doing the gang's wet work for hire, fearing what would happen if she didn't do it, while also so desperately needing the validation, needing to make him proud.

On the side, Aina was the go-between in diamond smuggling, between its point of origin and the fence where it was fashioned into something else at the jeweler. In the world building, I was slightly shocked over how many diamonds go missing on a daily basis for a teenage girl to be in on the game.

The setting is during an industrial revolution, in an area where there is a diamond mine, the industry similar to the turn of the twentieth century. However, I couldn't place the time nor the location, especially with the paranormal magical elements added in. The setting and world building were fascinating to me, steampunk meets illegal magic/religion, but how it was presented wasn't to my taste.

There was excitement, action-packed scenes of pure violence, spying and slinking around, and many bodies on the floor, so many bodies I was confused as to how the city wasn't losing its population with how Aina wasn't the only assassin running around. In such a short span of time, we're talking hundreds of people dying and left to lie where they fell, by gangs worth of assassins.

As for the emotions, loyal friendships were important to Aina, but it was her need for validation from the man who groomed her that hit the hardest.

Aina was a solid heroine. Loyal, willing to do anything to survive, but also fiercely protective of those who she called friend. I'm all for not having a guilt-stricken heroine who hems and haws over what needs to be done, but I find it hard to believe that on several occasions Aina murders most of the guards and staff in the same house... like how did they get replacements so quickly? An entire household emptied of occupants. Twice? Thrice? By the end of the book, Aina had single-handedly executed an upwards of a hundred souls.

For someone obsessed with how her parents died and left her an orphan, Aina has no issue of creating dozens upon dozens of innocent orphans, if their parents merely get in her way. Like charging in the front door, slitting the necks of innocent maids and guards, who no doubt had children at home. All those new orphans have more of a reason to loathe Aina than Aina had to loathe the government for executing her parents, who were practicing acts that were widely known to hold a death sentence. Aina's parents were criminals (no matter if the law was ridiculous or not) but these random innocent maids and such did no one any harm.

An assassin by trade should be able to sneak around and only inflict death upon the ones they were hired to kill. It would be bad for business to take out entire households, several times over.

As I said, I don't want a guilt-stricken heroine, but I find it hard to swallow that she's killing so indiscriminately, as if all those people are worthless, meaningless, because she needs some coin for a "single" target. People who are also from the lower classes, who are just working to eat. Was she really good at her job if she takes out so many innocents while doing it? It's like using a nuke instead of a flyswatter for a single fly.

Where I struggled the most with the novel was the writing style. There was just something about the way the perspective was written that kept me from being able to fall into the story. My interest waned during monologues from the past, where dialogue and action from the past weren't italicized to show that it wasn't happening in the present time, the lack of transition confusing me and tearing me from the story itself. The flashbacks weren't denoted, and there were many flashbacks to be had, filled with info-dumps and meandering inner monologues that slowed the pacing.

As an avid reader, especially of all the elements within Diamond City, I struggled to read, taking me well over a week what should have taken an afternoon. I was curious to what the outcome would be, but the writing style, the way the perspective was written, and the execution made it difficult for me to be entertained.

Curious to see where this goes, I'm willing to give the next another try. If not, I'll have to pass on the author, due to the writing style not being my cup of tea.

Young Adult age rating: 14+ due to on-scene graphic violence.

Francesca Flores is a writer, traveler and linguist. Raised in Pittsburgh, she read every fantasy book she could get her hands on and started writing her own stories at a young age. She began writing Diamond City while working as a corporate travel manager. When she's not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys traveling, dancing ballet and jazz, practicing trapeze and contortion, and visiting parks and trails around San Francisco, where she currently resides.

Connect with Francesca

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Diamond City (Diamond City #1) by Francesca Flores to read and review.