Review: Blood Solstice (The Tale of Lunarmorte, #3) by Samantha Young

Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance...

In the final installment of The Tale of Lunarmorte, Caia is caught between the most powerful beings in her world, and they are all desperate to use her for their own means. While Caia struggles to find her purpose, tragedy strikes close to home, and time runs out.
Now she must decide if she will join the extremists she was trying to destroy... or bring them all down on her own terms...

There is always a great deal of pressure and expectation when it comes to the final installment in any series.  As a fan and avid reader, I know that if it's a series that I've come to love and call one of my favorites, I most definitely have always had high expectations for the last books and for the author to come through and really wrap things up with a bang!  For the authors, I can only imagine all the stress that goes into completing the final chapters of a series that they've developed and shaped into something that readers anxiously countdown and look foward to reading.

 

With all that pressure and stress that is laid on the shoulders of authors like Samantha Young, and so many others, she hit it out of the park in regards to this final installment in The Tale of Lunarmorte series.  I can honestly say there isn't any detail I'd change or scene I'd like re-written.  I enjoyed all the action and adventure she packed into yet another book, and the characters she had developed and layered into this series were yet again delightful to watch and cheer for as they made their way through each and every obstacle that was in their path.

 

As a fan of both Young's Adult and Young Adult work, I might have had high expectations for this last book in the series, but I never had any doubts that she would deliver, and deliver is exactly what she did!

Review: River Cast (The Tale of Lunarmorte, #2) by Samantha Young

Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance...

Swept into the world of the Daylight Coven, Caia is caught between her loyalty to the Daylights and her new insight into the hearts of the Midnights. As more obstacles are thrown in her and Lucien's way, Caia is pushed further adrift from him and Pack Errante. With no one to turn to, Caia has to make the most difficult choice of all...

Who does she truly belong with? The Daylights or the Midnights?

And what a choice it turns out to be!  Only Samantha Young could keep this story rolling along the way she did.  After all the excitement in her series opener, I thought I was prepared for what to expect in her sequel, but I was so wrong.  She brought new twists and turns throughout these pages, and Caia and Lucien were thrown yet even more obstacles in their way.  I felt like I was waiting for them to catch a break the whole way through, but I guess it wouldn't have been all that much fun if everybody always got their happily ever after without having to work for it, right?

Caia has a bunch more on her plate this time around, and it doesn't look like she'll be slowing down anytime soon.  She's still working her way into the pack and trying to gain their trust as much as she can, not to mention the Daylight Coven.  Those who know about her, don't know what all she'll be capable of, and those that don't, well let's just say not everyone will want to throw her a welcoming party.  Young gives us more detail and insight into her other characters as well as a growing connection between our favorite headliners.  With a chance to not only get a closer look at some of the other key players, readers get the chance to hear new voices too.  It's not just Caia telling the story, we've got other POVs introduced throughout.

And without giving away any spoilers of course, I can't mention specific names of the characters that just about drove me crazy throughout this installment.  I tip my hat to Young, because she brought out the emotions when it came to whose side I was choosing to be on as a reader.  There are just some characters that I find myself thinking that I won't be happy until they get exactly what's coming to them.  Punishments need to be delivered and hopefully Caia and Lucien and the rest of the gang will get the chance to do just that in the third and final installment in the series, Blood Solstice.  I know one thing, I can't wait to find out!

Review: Moon Spell (The Tale of Lunarmorte, #1) by Samantha Young

Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance...

It’s bad enough feeling different among the human crowd, but feeling different among wolves?

No one said returning to her pack would be easy, especially after ten years without them, but seventeen year old Caia Ribeiro is unprepared for the realities of the transition. Raised in a world where kids aren’t scared by bedtime tales of the bogeyman but by the real life threat of enemy supernaturals who might come creeping into their community to kill them in their sleep, Caia is used to the darkness; she’s used to the mystery and the intrigue of the ancient underworld war she’s bound to by chance of birth. What she’s having trouble with are pack members treating her with wary suspicion, the Elders tucking secrets behind their backs out of her sightline, and her young Alpha, Lucien, distracting her, with a dangerous attraction, from her decision to uncover the truth.

But as the saying goes ‘the truth will out’ and when it does, Caia will only have so long to prepare herself before the war comes pounding on their door threatening to destroy the safe, secret lives of the wolves… and the girl they protect.

As a fan of Young's adult series I was optimistic that I'd find her young adult books equally enjoyable but also realized that sometimes authors are meant to write for one or the other audience and sometimes can't relate to both.  I have to admit that I was thrilled to discover that Samantha Young is an author that is able to transcend the different materials and manages to adapt well for all audiences no matter their age!

 

Young sets her readers up in a great way...our main character Caia has been estranged from her pack (family and friends) since she was little and now it's finally time for their reunion of sorts.  It makes for a perfect set up so that while Caia is being reintroduced back into their pack, readers are given just as much of an explanation and background as she herself is getting.  Readers aren't left to feel like they're already a few steps behind, but instead will experience everything right along with Caia.  It also makes it nearly impossible not to immediately relate and/or empathize with her character in general.

 

There is so much to take in, but in only the best possible way, because all the new characters are richly described and easy to stand behind.  It doesn't hurt that the pack's Alpha, Lucien is delicious in all ways!  He's determined to make sure her transition back into the pack goes smoothly and that's she not met with any hesitancy on the pack's part.  Protectiveness is running strong with this guy, and I'm not sure you can blame it all on his roll in their heirarchy.  Readers won't be quite sure if he has ulterior motives for going out of his way for her or if just comes with the territory of being everyone's protector.  You'll have to read on to find out more.

 

Young goes even further to make sure that her series does not get jumbled into yet another generic werewolf tale by adding in  a few extra elements...and by elements I'm referring to Caia's additional abilities.  I don't want to go into much further detail as to avoid any spoilers on my part, but regardless, readers can be assured that there is a lot of fun and excitement within these pages, and I'm positive no one will be disappointed with Young's ability to weave this story together.

In My Mailbox (98)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board. I'm always picking up new books, because I never tire of reading, but the other thing I like about this meme is that it gives everyone an opportunity to check out what other book fanatics, bloggers, etc... got for themselves. I've gotten great recommendations from this meme and hope that keeps up in the future.

Here's what I got, what did you guys get this week?

For Review:

 

 

Moon Spell (The Tale of Lunarmorte, #1) by Samantha Young

 

Enter a world of fierce wolves, stunning magic and romance...

It’s bad enough feeling different among the human crowd, but feeling different among wolves?

No one said returning to her pack would be easy, especially after ten years without them, but seventeen year old Caia Ribeiro is unprepared for the realities of the transition. Raised in a world where kids aren’t scared by bedtime tales of the bogeyman but by the real life threat of enemy supernaturals who might come creeping into their community to kill them in their sleep, Caia is used to the darkness; she’s used to the mystery and the intrigue of the ancient underworld war she’s bound to by chance of birth. What she’s having trouble with are pack members treating her with wary suspicion, the Elders tucking secrets behind their backs out of her sightline, and her young Alpha, Lucien, distracting her, with a dangerous attraction, from her decision to uncover the truth.

But as the saying goes ‘the truth will out’ and when it does, Caia will only have so long to prepare herself before the war comes pounding on their door threatening to destroy the safe, secret lives of the wolves… and the girl they protect.

River Cast (The Tale of Lunarmorte, #2) by Samantha Young

Swept into the world of the Daylight Coven, Caia is caught between her loyalty to the Daylights and her new insight into the hearts of the Midnights. As more obstacles are thrown in her and Lucien's way, Caia is pushed further adrift from him and Pack Errante. With no one to turn to, Caia has to make the most difficult choice of all...

Who does she truly belong with? The Daylights or the Midnights?









Blood Solstice (The Tale of Lunarmorte, #3) by Samantha Young

 

In the final installment of The Tale of Lunarmorte, Caia is caught between the most powerful beings in her world, and they are all desperate to use her for their own means. While Caia struggles to find her purpose, tragedy strikes close to home, and time runs out.

Now she must decide if she will join the extremists she was trying to destroy... or bring them all down on her own terms...