Review: Fire and Ice (Warriors #2) by Erin Hunter

Book two in the Warriors series, I actually finished reading this back in October and then forgot to write a review, dang it. We find ourselves back with Fireheart and his clan, Fireheart being promoted to warrior status. His first task (along with Graystripe) is to bring back WindClan, who have gone missing. They find them under a highway interchange, and bring them home, finding out the story of what happened along the way.

Fireheart also earns himself his first apprentice, Cinderpaw. An accident happens, and she is hurt – but readers quickly find out that this was no accident at all. Tigerclaw is anxious to become leader, and he’ll stop at nothing to get his way. Throughout the story, Fireheart also meets up with his sister, Princess, a kittypet who lives in a home not too far away from the forest. She has a batch of kits and she gives her oldest to Fireheart, hoping that the kit can become a brave warrior like he is.

The entire book is about being proud of where you come from, and accomplishing your goals no matter who you are or your background. Fireheart isn’t the most liked of cats due to the fact that he was once a kittypet, and he constantly has to prove himself to others, over and over. When he brings in Princess’ kit, the cycle begins again. Even though this is a book aimed at children ages 8-12, I enjoyed the easy read, and the morals contained within are important for everyone, no matter your age. I liked this book better than the first one to the series, and made plans to continue on with book three.

4/5 star review

Review: Dark Witch by Nora Roberts

Every so often, especially on days of high stress, I sit down and read a book that requires very little thought or involvement from me. That’s not a negative comment, either. I think books like these are almost required for my sanity, and of course I personally feel that it doesn’t matter what a person is reading, so long as they are.

Dark Witch was one of those books. The story was a predictable love story that we have come to expect from Nora Roberts. It revolves around Iona, and the discovery that she has some magical talents. She moves from the US to Ireland to seek out her family and learn about these talents from her cousins. Everything seems to fall into place perfectly, and she doesn’t meet up with any resistance at all when it comes to finding a new place to live, new friends, and a great job that happens to be exactly what she wants to do in life. Some days I wish life actually worked that way.

Of course Iona meets a dark and brooding man who doesn’t quite understand her and who she can’t quite understand. There’s a ‘bad guy’ who has set out to harm the cousins and those close to Iona (and her cousins), and they have to come together to defeat him. There’s magic and love and tension – but the characters lack any depth, and I found myself annoyed with Iona. She’s very flat and one dimensional and I couldn’t get interested in her at all. This book also very closely mimics the Three Sisters trilogy, which perhaps the author was trying to emulate. In my opinion it fell short. It mimics many other trilogy that Nora Roberts has written, including the Key Trilogy, the Gallaghers of Ardmore, Three Sisters Island, or the Sign of Seven. They all share the same basic plot. After a while, you just get tired of reading the same thing.

3/5 stars

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey

This is a book I had never even heard of before, so it wasn’t on my radar whatsoever in 2014. It was first published back in 2012, and I’m surprised that I had never read it. A friend made the suggestion to me that I would probably enjoy it, after they heard about it on a CBC radio show. The announcer wasn’t actually discussing the book per say on the show, but speaking to someone else who happened to mention they were reading it. This book was one I couldn’t put down, I kept wanting to see what would happen next. It is about a married couple, Jack and Mabel. They lose a child early in their marriage, and it sends each of them into their own pits of despair. They decide to move out to Alaska on their own and take up farming. Jack, in his need to provide, won’t let Mabel help with any of the work that needs to be done to prepare the fields (and there is a lot to be done). Mabel starts falling into a heavy stint of depression, and the opening scene of the book is one of heartbreak.

Together during the early winter they create a snowman, and mysteriously after they create this snowman, they start spotting a girl darting through the trees in the forest near their home (meanwhile the snowman they have created has been stripped of its clothing, and lays in a pile of broken snowballs). The young girl has a pet fox that trails after her through the forest, and the real story begins from that point on as the focus shifts.

As always I don’t want to give too much away, except to say that this book was beautifully written, and the story was haunting. It was probably my 2nd favourite book of 2014, and I highly recommend it.

5/5 star review