~*~*~ SPOILER REVIEW ~*~*~

OMG!! This is definitely my favorite book so far (and one of my favorites of the year!!) from The DeathSpeaker Codex series because of a number of reasons.

The MAJOR one?? The appearance of GAVYN DONATTI AND IAN!!!



Gavyn and Ian are the main characters from Bateman's Gavyn Donatti series. I read the two books around 5 years ago but the series stopped. Sonya Bateman said that she was trying to get the rights from the publisher so I didn't really have any expectation. So imagine my surprise when they appeared here (Sonya said in her FB that she now had the rights, and there might be future Gavyn Donatti books. Yippee!!)

Gideon and Taeral were joining forces with Gavyn and Ian to stop "batshit crazy, ten-thousand-year-old jaguar djinn" who were targeting the Miles Dei members (yep, the djinn killed them by ripping their hearts out and sucked their blood dry!). For once, the threats didn't directly against Gideon and team, and I was quite happy with that. These guys need a break. I was also quite overjoyed with the wipe out of the Valentines and that evil FBI agent, Redfield. This is one occasion where I didn't particularly feel bad for the victims *lol*



As always, it went fast-paced, doused with some awesome banters between Gideon/Taeral and Gavyn/Ian. I loved that Gideon was getting more comfortable with his own power. Gideon and Gavyn clicked immediately, having to deal with hot-tempered Taeral and Ian. I loved this team so frickin' much. I hope they will work together again.

Sadie rather takes a back-seat since she was dealing with a teenager rat, Eli. I was completely amused with this development. It seemed that Sadie totally became Mama Wolf for Eli and Taeral was dragged along for the ride, being an 'unexpected' father to Eli -- what could he do? Sadie is his girlfriend *LOL*

All in all, this was TRULY FUN read!! I loved every minute of it, cannot think of ANYTHING wrong with it. None. For that alone, I'm giving this 5-stars. Because if I have to pick a book in this series to re-read, this will be the one (and I don't really do re-read haha). I can't wait for more Gideon Black as well as more Gavyn Donatti.

SQUEEEE *hugs book*

City of Secrets, Stewart O’Nan, author; Edoardo Ballerini, narrator

This brief little book illuminated the struggle of the Jewish people shortly after the end of WWII and prior to the declaration of the official State of Israel when the British controlled Palestine. It was there that the Jewish people wanted a homeland. It was one immovable force meeting another and violence exploded.

The author tells the story of a young man who survived the Holocaust only to find he was alone, no other family members had survived, not his wife or his aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, or parents were left. Where was he to go? He remembered that after the Passover Seder, his grandfather would raise a glass and make a toast to “next year in Jerusalem”. It was his mother’s dream to go there, as well. So, that was where he decided to go. He became a taxi driver ferrying tourists from place to place.

The British were not that welcoming to the Jews and the Jews were not that thrilled with the British control. They had just survived a nightmare in Europe and they had no desire to live through another. They would no longer go quietly into the night; they had learned to fight for what they thought they deserved. The fight between the British Poppies and the Jewish Underground was violent and bloody. This novel presents an overview of their conflicts, covering the viewpoints and experiences of each side. It demonstrates the contrast of ordinary day to day life, living and working side by side, with the frightening, stressful life of the warfare.

Blinded by their causes, each side often behaved inhumanely; each was equally cruel and violent. Both sides believed they were doing what had to be done to achieve their goals. There were many victims with the Jews fighting for a homeland and the British for the land in their empire. Justice was often the victim as innocents died in the attacks.

The book really presents the psychological pain of the victims of both the war in Palestine and the war in Europe, the Holocaust. It highlights their losses and their struggles. Each carried their memories with them because that was all they had, but most often, their memories were tragic; they were memories of lost loved ones and the horrific conditions of deprivation and torture in the camps. These memories made many desperate for security and a home to call their own. Their desperation made them willing to sacrifice all for the cause of Israel, for the cause of a safe homeland.

This novel portrays the tragedy of war, all wars, on all of the participants, the victors and the vanquished. The human sacrifice is enormous. After awhile one is left questioning the validity of any cause that causes such suffering.

 

Questioning the effectiveness of and motivations for terrorism usually isn’t hard. Our media and politicians and most people on the street would condemn acts of terror as soon as word broke. But what if we can sympathize with the terrorists? In City of Secrets, Stewart O’Nan asks us to consider the point of view of terrorists. In this case, the terrorists are members of the Haganah, the Irgun, and the Stern Gang—groups that repeatedly attacked British soldiers and Palestinian civilians in their fight to create a Jewish homeland. City of Secrets is narrated by Brand, a Latvian Holocaust survivor loosely affiliated with the Haganah, in the months before the King David Hotel bombing...

 

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

I’ve long wanted to try a Stewart O’Nan book so when I saw this book, I decided to request it. This may not have been the best of O’Nan’s books to start off with, though I can certainly see that he has an excellent way with words.  I think having a bit of background in the Irgun and the history surrounding this novel would have been very helpful in allowing me to appreciate the story better.  I did get lost a few times as to just what was happening.  But then again Brand, the main protagonist in this book, was also often times lost as he wasn’t given enough background information and was kept in the dark as to the Irgun’s plans.

 

Brand, a/k/a Jossi Jorgensen, is a taxi driver in Jerusalem in 1946. He’s a Latvian Holocaust survivor who is given false papers by the Haganah, which is from what I understand (and I may be incorrect) a group set up to protect Jewish immigrants from the British mandate and the local Arabs.  The Haganah was not a violent group; however, Brand becomes involved with the Irgun, an underground resistance movement.  He is first used as a taxi driver for the Irgun but then is tested in more dangerous endeavors. 

 

I think the main problem I had with this book is that the author assumes his readers are familiar with this period of time and place. Not being familiar with the history referred to, I still did have a vague understanding of what was happening and understood the dangers that Brand found himself in.  There is still a story in here that can be enjoyed.  Brand’s back story is an emotional one and his present state of affairs had me longing for a good outcome for him, as well as for his prostitute girlfriend Eva.  The story kept me turning the pages and I had to see it through to the end.  I most definitely will go on to read other Stewart O’Nan books.

 

This book was given to me by the publisher through First to Read in return for an honest review.

-Trigger Warning
-Loved the Damien werewolves, gives a different twist to typical witches and werewolves hatred
-The proto wedding was gross and so wrong. Ugh. The breeding part is going to cause problems and I actively loathe it as much as the proxies forced role as rape victim.
-Anya is a constant surprise, like Zeke, I feel for V but damn do I hate creepy pushing and his terrible options, I like Mal but she's not had much time to shine, Adam is an awful overprotective ass but I -don't hate him yet, and I'm surprised how much I don't hate Mad.
-Love the 5 Finger Death Punch inspiration, must listen to it. My roommate is a huge fan of them so it should work out. :D
-Very curious where it's going and must continue series