Framed In Words: Charmed Vengeance Blog Tour: Review + Spotlight & Giveaway

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of the Charmed Vengeance Blog Tour. A big thank to Amber and Jean at Book Nerd Tours for organising this tour, as well as to author Suzanne Lazear for all the work she has put in for the tour. Charmed Vengeance is book 2 of The Aether Chronicles (Innocent Darkness is book 1) and at my spot, there will be my review of the book as well as a spotlight and an awesome giveaway. For the full tour schedule and links, visit here.

Charmed Vengeance (The Aether Chronicles #2) by Suzanne Lazear

Synopsis

In the Faerie realm, Noli Braddock's relationship with her best friend V has grown into something more. But V's mother, Faerie Queen Tiana, has ruled that they are forbidden to see each other. Returning to the mortal realm, Noli joins the crew of her brother's air-pirate ship, the Vixen's Revenge. There she discovers that her brother has hired the scallywag Faerie huntsman, Kevighn Silver. While serving as shipmates, Kevighn and Noli learn that the Earth Court King plans to find a forbidden artifact--one that will bring destruction to everyone Noli loves.

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Suzanne Lazear

Suzanne Lazear is the author of the Young Adult Steampunk dark fairytale series THE AETHER CHRONICLES. Book 1, INNOCENT DARKNESS is out now. Book 2, CHARMED VENGEANCE, releases 8-8-13. She always plays with swords, is never described as normal, and has been know to run with bustles. Suzanne lives in Los Angeles with her daughter and the hubby, and a hermit crab.

Learn more about THE AETHER CHRONICLES at http://www.aetherchronicles.com and her at http://www.suzannelazear.com

Links:

WEBSITE

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/suzannelazear
Twitter: http://twitter.com/suzannelazear
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4342615.Suzanne_Lazear

My Review

Rating: 3.5 stars

Firstly, I would like to thank author Suzanne Lazear, Flux Books and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of Charmed Vengeance (Innocent Darkness #2) for an honest review. I really enjoyed my time while reading it and appreciate the offer.

Charmed Vengeance picks up pretty much straight after the events of Innocent Darkness and after Charlotte's sacrifice, the reader sees Noli back at home in the human world tinkering with her tools once again. However, she is also greatly changed after the events of the previous book. Noli seems older and wiser yet more fragile than before due the experiences she had as well as the ever-constant presence of the tree sprite. In this book, we see her internal struggle with the sprite in trying to establish dominance in her own body. The reader sees how hard Noli is trying to stay true to herself but is constantly under siege from her own head. Every second that she isn't careful, she can turn into a persona that she has always despised. Looking deeper, it can also be seen as a theme of finding oneself. Noli is trying to stay true to who she is and through out the book, she really finds who she is while comparing the differences between herself and the sprite. Although she may think she knew herself before, many interesting and surprising discoveries are made about herself during her journey in the airship. I admire Noli's ability to fight on and stay concentrated even when she is in pain. She is courageous and willing to help. When she is determinded, she will definitely do what it takes to finish her task. Furthermore, I liked how she didn't need to rely very much on men to do what she wants. She was not a weepy girl without brains. Noli is a heorine the reader can really relate to and admire.

However, compared to the last book, there are also aspects of Noli's character which I didn't enjoy as much. She is much for fragile in this book and seems to soften quite a lot from her strong character and demanding presence in book 1. In book two, she seems much more gentle and reliant on other people to think for her. I know that the sprite has messed up her head pretty badly, but I've got to say, I miss the strong-willed, kick-ass mechanic/engineer that tinkers with tools and hands on things all the time.

My favourite character however, is Jeff. Noli's brother is caring, hilarious and strong-willed. He is the kind of big brother I'd love to have. He helps Noli is everyway he can. In a way, Jeff is very similar to Noli (especially the Noli in book 1) and thus he can predict Noli's actions and care for her thoroughly. He also knows Noli well enough to feel it if something is wrong. Unlike a lot of the sibling relationships in other books or even in real life, Jeff puts his younger sister above anything else and make her the most important responsibility he has. He's always taking care of her and worrying about her. That's really sweet. The awkward moments of Jeff always manages to make me laugh and his regard for women really made him impossible to dislike.

On the other hand, I got really annoyed at Steven. He just didn't seem to focus on anything this entire book and is like a combination of a brainless zombie plus an over-cautious pussy. Although some of what he does is right, but James just seems much more likable than he is in this book. His younger brother James seems to be the older brother many times as the story unfolds and is much more relaxed and understanding than Steven. This book made me like Kevighn so much more and it also makes the reader sympathise when him. Uhhhh, I really didn't want to like him, but...

The plot was more enjoyable than the last book, I liked the separation of Noli and Steven (V) in some parts of the book (hmmm I can't give away too much) and felt that gave both of them a breather in their relationship. The airships are awesome!!! :D However, at parts the plot is still a bit slow (especially during James and V's side of things...). Hopefully, next time, some more powerful aether fighting actions will be here and that Noli's character will be stronger.

Overall, a great read! Bravo Suzanne Lazear, for the creative story.