Book Review: Warrior Witch; Danielle L. Jensen.

It actually pains me how disappointed I was that I didn't fall in love with this final installment of this series. The first book was so good, and I'd really hoped that my disappointment with the second would be a case of 'filler book' syndrome. Sadly, not so.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Warrior Witch
AUTHOR: Danielle L. Jensen
SERIES: The Malediction Trilogy (#3)
PUBLISHER: Angry Robot
PAGES: 317
GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

RATING: 2.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Sometimes, one must become the unimaginable… 

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil that they have unleashed upon the world. As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything…and everyone. 

But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

What I Liked:

• Jensen's world-building is still very much there, which makes me so happy! After all, it was the world-building that I fell in love with in the first book and that made me want to read more. I got to see more of Trollus again, as well as plenty of Trianon and some new places too thanks to the appearance of the Fey in the story!

What I Disliked:

• I really feel that part of my problem with this book came from the lack of attention to one of my favourite OTPs, Cécile and Tristan! I loved them in book one, and was so sad that they spent most of book two apart! So imagine my shock that no sooner were they reunited, then they split up again in this final installment. Even when they were together, I missed the snarky Tristan from previous books and fiery Cécile had become a little cruel and bratty! Such a shame!
• That ending deserves a review of it's own. I hated it. I mean truly, it destroyed all of the hard work that Jensen put into developing her characters! Not just for Roland and Marc, but especially for Cécile and Tristan. No spoilers, but no amount of tacking on a final paragraph about how it 'all worked out in the end' fools me. That was a horrible ending for them and I felt cheated!

Overall Conclusion:

I liked elements of this book and I think that Jensen really writes well, which is why I did end up giving this book half marks. But I am so angry at the treatment of an OTP that I loved so much in book one, and especially that ending, and I had some niggles with the constant need for an end of chapter 'shock plot-twist' too. It was like the opposite of book two, where there was only one major twist that I guessed from the start. Here, too much seemed to happen in the space of one novel.

Book Review: Hidden Huntress; Danielle L. Jensen.

Boy. Oh. Boy. It has been such a long time since I read book one of this series, 'Stolen Songbird', and words cannot describe how I feel now I have actually done it! Of all the series that it's taking me a while to get through, this was the one that haunted me because I loved it so much!

SOURCE: Present
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Hidden Huntress
AUTHOR: Danielle L. Jensen
SERIES: Stolen Songbird (#2)
PUBLISHER: Angry Robot
PAGES: 464
GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
Beneath the mountain, the king’s reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cécile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king’s power. Or his manipulation.

Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.

To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cécile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted…

What I Liked:

• Despite the huge amount of time between reading the first and second of the series I remembered all of the characters so well, and that's because Jensen writes such unique ones with oodles of personality. Tristan and Cécile are still a power couple for me and I loved their interactions in this book, Victoria and Vincent are the best twins ever, I loved Marcus and Pierre and Sylvie still and of course villains such as Tristan's father and Cécile's overbearing Mother were great!
• Though we didn't get to see much of Trollus in this book, I still loved Jensen's world-building skills. We got to see a lot more of Trianon this time around, and while it was not nearly as interesting (being the human world) I did still like it. The small glimpses we got made me really excited for book three even more!
• Jensen's still got it writing-wise. She drew me into the plot and filled it with plenty of intrigue and interest, though I must say this felt like a bit of a filler book. It was a nice re-introduction to the story and I liked exploring more aspects of the magic weaved into the story. There was certainly enough action not to lose me while reading, especially at the high page count.

What I Disliked:

• The most frustrating thing about this book that ensured it didn't get the five star rating that I gave 'Stolen Songbird'? I KNEW WHAT THE TWIST WOULD BE. I pretty much had Anushka's identity pegged during book one, the physical descriptors meant it wasn't exactly rocket science. I thought it would be a mid-book reveal but instead found myself getting so annoyed at Cécile's inability to see what was directly in front of her. I actually ranted about it to Mat for half an hour I got so annoyed at one point. I wish it had been revealed sooner, it made the book feel even more of a filler and was all building up to something that felt like nothing because I'd already figured it out.
• I mentioned that I loved Cécile and Tristan as a couple. Individually though, this time not so much. In book one they were sassy and sarcastic and adorable, but I found Cécile a little irritating and naive here, while Tristan brooded way too much. I loved their moments together though! I never want them split up ever again!

Overall Conclusion:

I liked this book a lot, and I definitely think it had the same charm found in book one. Sadly though, I was a little disappointed because like most second books in a trilogy this was a filler book. It's whole premise was to build up to a big reveal that most people had probably figured out, and nothing really added to the story-line other than the political intrigue sub-plot in Trollus. It was a big book to get through too, so had it not been for Jensen's wonderful writing style and personality injection, I'd most likely have been bored. It has definitely made me excited for book three though, and 'The Broken Ones' which I recently snagged on Netgalley!

Book Review: Stolen Songbird; Danielle L. Jensen.

Oh my goodness. I knew I would get this book finished because frankly, I could not put it down! I have been itching to turn the last page and get to write down some of these excited thoughts I've had spinning through my head on this book, because it really was that good. As well as that, it was in fact one of my challenge entries. I'll be using it for the 'Jumble Your Genres' challenge, as this month's Genre is High Fantasy. The button for that is at the bottom of this review.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Stolen Songbird
AUTHOR: Danielle L. Jensen
SERIES: The Malediction Trilogy (#1)
PUBLISHER: Strange Chemistry
PAGES: 321
GENRE: Young Adult, High Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

RATING: 5/5 Stars

Blurb:

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined. 

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity. 

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader. 


As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

What I Liked:

• Now where on Earth do I begin with this book? I liked so much! Let's go with Jensen's take on Trolls. I have only seen two common interpretations of Trolls in the past: the huge great, stupid beasts you find in 'The Lord Of The Rings' or 'Harry Potter', or the cuddly ones found in the newest Disney film, 'Frozen'. Jensen's thoughts on trolls are very different. They're clever, powerful and some of them are even handsome. I liked that they were very other-worldly in their thoughts, and yet retained some recognisable human-like qualities that made them complex and well-written creatures. In fact, the entire Political System that Jensen built within her book was both original and relateable in all the ways that I liked.
• Next, the characters! I came onto this book thinking that I might not like Cécile, but I found that I really did! She was a strong Main Character, independent and not to be told what to do. On the other side of the coin, she was caring, fiercely loyal, and not heartless as can be found when Authors try to hard to create strong women, and end up making them heartless. She acted believably, I don't think I found any signs of reckless character decisions from this lady! The characters that supported her were memorable and I grew a great affection for them all. I'm the kind of reader that gets attached to characters, and here I really did. I can't believe I'm going to have to wait so long to see them all again!
• The romance was fantastic. It is so hard to find books with a well-written love story. I've often found that the two romantic leads will either fall in love as soon as they clap eyes on each other and become ridiculous, or the romance will be so slow-burning that I'll get easily bored of them. Here though, I found the pacing of the relationship to be hilarious. Their utter loathing of each other and their situation to begin with is hilarious. Seriously, these two have some great moments, particularly Tristan, whose sarcastic sense of humour is a riot to read. But I loved watching their romance develop as well as it did, and the changes they both undergo as a result.

What I Disliked:

• What I disliked? That's pretty tough to answer. However, I suppose I would have to say the ending! I can't believe Jensen has left me on such a cruel and heart-wrenching cliffhanger. I had such a tantrum! I have to wait so long for the next one to come out. In all seriousness though, my one tiny nit-pick is the ending felt the teeniest bit rushed in comparison to the rest of the book, which was paced perfectly. That is me clutching at straws to find something though.

Overall Conclusion:

I think I've made it pretty clear what I'm going to write here. This book is so amazing. I love the cover, love the world-building, the characters, the romance, everything! I eagerly await the next one so I can find out what happens because I am absolutely desperate to know and I think I'm going to be waiting a very long time. If you haven't already, read it.