A Hidden Witch (Modern Witch #2)
by Debora Geary

Summary
In the second installment of the Modern Witch series (see my review of book 1 here), the story follows Elorie as she learns to cope with living without powers in a powerful Nova Scotia witch community. When a new and improved fetching spell fetches Elorie into the Witches Chat, the Witches make it their mission to discover what kind of power Elorie could be hiding. As the full scope of a new power begins to be realized, the witching community must band together and learn to work in new ways.

Review
A Hidden Witch is a little slower moving than the first installment in the Modern Witch series, but still has the heart of the first novel. The story is very much character driven rather than plot driven, and thankfully Geary has a wonderful talent for writing realistic and likable characters. The dialogue flows naturally and is sprinkled with humour, and the characters feel as though they’ve been friends for life.

Verdict
An enjoyable story, although I found it a bit slow moving at times.

*I received this book from the author.

Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1)
by Jamie McGuire

Summary
Now that Abby is off to college, she can finally leave her old life behind and start over as a whole new girl.  The only person who knows about her dark past is her best friend America – and Abby plans to keep it that way. When she meets Travis, she knows he’s everything she’s trying to leave behind, but she still can’t seem to stay away from him. In an effort to keep Abby in his life, Travis makes a bet with her…  If he wins, Abby has to live in his apartment for a month. If he loses, he has to give up his steady stream of women for a month. But the bet is just the beginning of the roller coaster ride for Abby & Travis.

Review
I had a love / hate relationship with this book. I loved the story and the writing, but I kinda hated the characters. And yet, despite being appalled by how incredibly stupid and messed-up the main characters were, I devoured their story and couldn’t stop myself from rooting for them. To be fair, I think characters were well developed and realistic; they just weren’t the greatest people. But, crazy and impulsive behaviour is pretty common when you’re in college so I could often understand the irrational actions even if I didn’t agree with them. That aside, the story flows well and sucks you in with a surprising amount of twists and turns. Just when you think it must be over, there’s another bump in the road for Abby & Travis.

Verdict
I could NOT put this book down. While I can’t really say that Beautiful Disaster a good book, I still loved it and even though it makes no sense for this to be a series, I’m sure I’ll read Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2) when it comes out!

*I received this book for review from the Publisher (via NetGalley).

After falling pretty far behind on my reading goal in June, I managed to get 5 books read in the month of July, so I’m almost back on track. I really enjoyed 4 out of the 5 books I read in July, so I’d say it was a good reading month!  (An *e at the end of a title indicates an e-book.)

July Reading List

25. The Gathering (Darkness Rising #1) by Kelley Armstrong (July 7)
Kelley Armstrong never fails to entertain me, and this first installment in The Darkness Rising trilogy was no exception! As with all of Armstrong’s books, The Gathering features great characters and a strong mythology.  And as a continuity nut, I love the ties to the Otherworld series.

26. Max (Maximum Ride #5) by James Patterson (July 10)
Despite its many flaws, I’ve always been a fan of the Maximum Ride series. One of the things I loved about Max’s story is that it’s an adventure with a purpose and no romance. Sadly, this book marks the introduction of teen angst to the story, and it’s definitely NOT what the series needed. I do still love the characters and their mission, but could do without all the “Ohh, Fang kissed me…” whining and moaning.

27. Deadlocked (Southern Vampire #12) by Charlaine Harris (July 14)
We’re almost at the end of Sookie’s story, and the books are suddenly trying to wrap everything up. Which is both good and bad… good because we’re getting some answers and Sookie’s life is FINALLY finding direction, but bad because it feels a little like the original roadmap got lost and we’re heading to a new destination that the author just decided upon at the last minute. Deadlocked was still an enjoyable read despite the fast-tracking.

28. The Enchantress (Secrets of the Nicholas Flamel #6) by Michael Scott (July 27) *e
A disappointing final installment in the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. – See my series recap here

29. Fever (Chemical Garden #2) by Laren DeStafano (July 31)
This book was so different from the first installment in the Chemical Garden series it almost felt like part of a different series at times. Which was actually quite refreshing! No sophomore slump here. DeStafano manages to keep the story a fresh and unpredictable, and while I wasn’t always sure where Fever was taking the Chemical Garden story, now that I know I can’t wait to read Sever, the final book in the trilogy.

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel  (Books 1 – 6)
by Michael Scott

After finishing the final installment in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, I feel somewhat cheated. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series and was enthralled with the way Scott had successfully woven so many wonderful historical characters into his well thought out world of magic and monsters. Unfortunately after the first 3 books in the series, the story lost its charm and the remaining books each left me more frustrated than the last.

Click here for reviews and thoughts on previous books in the Nicholas Flamel series.

Far too many characters and not enough plot momentum bogged this series down to the point where it was a chore to finish the later books. The entire series of SIX books spans only THREE days of time in the story. Even though there was plenty of action in the story, with only a single day (or less) being covered in each book, there was so much detail that the plot became lost. The characters were interesting and well written, but with such an abundance of them it became hard to keep track of them all and those that were favourites were lost in the crowd.  I continued to struggle through believing that all of this would eventually lead to a satisfying ending for Sophie and Josh, the Twins of Legend. Sadly, the satisfying ending never really came. The final book did wrap up many of the characters stories, but the looping and ambiguous nature of the ending didn’t make the struggle to get there feel worth it.  I think that if this series had been edited down to 3 or 4 books, it could have been amazing. Have you read the series? What did you think… am I judging too harshly or did you feel the same?