Wild Hunt by Alison Levy REVIEW

Summary:

Georgette Delaney's emotional well-being has improved dramatically since she fled from her abusive, manipulative family. But even though she is now surrounded by supportive friends and chosen family, the young witch's life is still challenging. She's in a loving relationship with her boyfriend Neil, but his workplace drama is intruding on their lives. Her job at Club Nocturne is fulfilling but her boss, the Vampire Kazimiera, is growing erratic and endangering every magical being in her care. Her best friend, Mei-Xing, is sinking into depression. And on top of it all, her narcissistic mother, Hazel, continues to try to control her from the opposite side of the country.

Georgette is dealing with all of this and more already when her friends Delia and Senji visit from Valhalla with the report that a Wild Hunt is imminent. Weathering the storm feels like challenge enough - but then the Valkyries, Delia included, mysteriously lose their grip on reality and stop performing their duties. Abandoned by his Valkyrie partner, Senji pleads for Georgette's help before the destructive forces Valhalla keeps at bay break through its weakened defenses and make their way to Earth.

With no one else to turn to, Georgette must look within herself for the strength to prevent the coming apocalypse.

My Thoughts:

This was such a good and fast-paced follow-up. Georgette already has a lot on her plate when she takes in a newly turned werewolf to help ward off the negative effects of turning. Her boss is becoming more argumentative with her and more self-destructive as she loses control of her urges to feed. Georgette and her friends suspect the Wild Hunt is to find the werewolf that turned her friend, but once it is over, the Valkyries start acting weird. With the help of Senji, they find that Gondol is poisoning her fellow Valkyries to make them more human and killing their partners to weaken Valhalla's defenses. Gondol made a deal with their enemies so that she could be human again. But with the assistance of her friends, Georgette is able to get the Valkyries back to themselves and defeat Gondol.

I loved the amount of character development we get for so many of the characters. Even the new ones feel like they're real and belong in the world this story takes place in. I also enjoyed the continuation of Georgette's story of dealing with her toxic family that won't leave her alone even though she moved across the country to get away from them. It seems very realistic. The writing is well done, and I'm glad we got to learn more about the Valkyries and what they do. I would definitely love to see what comes next for these characters.

My Rating: 5 stars

Magic by Any Other Name by Alison Levy REVIEW

 Summary:

Ivy Nichols O'Reilly has grown up in a wealthy family full of magic, fantastical creatures, and emotional abuse - but when her narcissistic mother arranges an unwanted marriage for her, the young witch reaches her breaking point. She drops out of college, changes her name to Georgette, and flees across the country with her best friend, a Wood Nymph named Mei-Xing.

Georgette is determined to build a new identity and a new life. But her journey leads her to cross paths with a number of magical characters - a Werehyena searching for his kidnapped wife, a Vampire who runs a unique magical business, a curandero, a shamanistic practitioner of traditional medicine, and a Valkyrie who, along with her raven partner, wants to make a risky deal - who make it clear to her that the past is not so easily left behind. In order to grow into her new identity, help her new friends, and develop a healthy relationship with a man she's beginning to care for, Georgette will have to confront the privileges that have shielded her from the pain and ugliness of the magic community in which she was raised - and to find the strength to overcome the trauma of her childhood.

My Thoughts:

Starting off, toward the beginning of the book was not easy to get into. It had some interest, but it was kind of forgettable. However, it does get better.

Georgette is a great character. It takes a lot of strength to leave toxic situations. There are only really a couple of issues I have with her - first being that she leaves her younger sister behind with little thought for most of the book, until she suddenly remembers later on. While I understand that she might not have been able to safely take her on the journey, you would think that she would either give words of advice or think about her more. The second is how fast she falls in love with Neil and trusts him. I'm not saying that you can't fall in love that fast, but it seems unrealistic when you think about how Georgette has trust issues from her family. I wish that this was explored more in the novel.

Ishak also has trust issues, as he is searching for his wife, who was kidnapped and sold off. I absolutely love his character. You can tell that he cares so much; he doesn't just say it. While we don't really get a look at his backstory, his character is very well developed throughout the book. My only concern is that it seems like he got more development than Georgette, the main character.

The Valkyrie and her raven are barely in the book at all, and I am hoping that will change as the author writes the sequel (s). Mei-Xing was actually pretty well developed, though not as much as I'd like.

I do very much like the way that trauma is handled in this. Since it is a young adult novel, there are obvious things that may not be appropriately and accurately portrayed, but it is definitely enough to go on with younger audiences.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book, and it is definitely recommendable to a few of my friends.

My Rating: 4 stars

Gatekeeper by Alison Levy REVIEW

 My Thoughts:

I absolutely loved this. I would have gotten this review done sooner but I am so busy with college lately. Rachel is from another dimension. Her job has her working with daemons, but her new assignment has her tracking down a killer trying to open another dimension so a very old, very dangerous daemon can get out and wreak havoc. The job is something she's never done before-and she has no available help since the offices are closed and no one is answering her calls. Rachel's first attempt at capturing the man is unsuccessful, but she finds a flash drive that he drops while running away. Since she is unable to read the language on the drive, she enlists the help of Miss Morely, an expert in languages, which gets them both captured. Can she finish the job? Why is the killer so obsessed with opening this door and finding a long lost gatekeeper?

I loved getting to know Rachel and her home dimension. I would, however, have loved to know more about her home and job. The end sounded like there was going to be a sequel, which would be amazing. I can't wait to see what else the author has in store. 

My Rating: 5 stars