The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

This book was worth the wait! I really loved the entire trilogy, even though six years is a long time to wait to read three parts of one story. This book certainly answered a lot of questions, especially how the whole thing started to begin with, but there was simply too much time between reading the three books to understand it all.

I really liked that we got to meet Tim Fanning and understand his life. I'm not sure if we should blame Fanning for what happened however. Lear is really the one who set everything in motion. He was the one obsessed with the virus; he was the one who abandoned Liz, the wife he loved, for this obsession. He was the one who wanted Fanning to join him in his research after Liz died. Lear tried to "correct his wrong" by creating Amy, but honestly, it was much too late at that point. I am not saying I liked Fanning, but none of it would have happened without Lear.

What was confusing to me was the different levels of being a viral. You have Fanning (Zero) who was the father of all virals, and yet he looked like a man. Then there is Alicia, who was half-viral, half-human, who looked liked a woman but had Zero in her head at all times.  Amy is viral, but from a different source. She is changed back to human form by nearly drowning and then can be automatically trusted - even though she is a viral. Carter, well I honestly never did understand what was going on with him. I can't even remember who Rachel is! Then you have the virals and the dopeys, the virals obviously stronger than the dopeys - but both of them die in the sun and water. Right? There is something to be said about waiting until a trilogy is completely written before starting it!

I think that Amy gave Peter her blood at the end (when she wouldn't earlier on) because it was the end. There was no one else in the United States. They could be together and it didn't affect anyone. I am surprised that Peter died though, and Amy lived another 900 years. As a viral I would have thought that Peter would have lived longer. I think that Alicia had been living in pain for a long time. She had Zero in her head, but after her water escapade turned her back into being fully human, her body was broken - literally. I think she was just tired of living and just wanted to join her daughter in death. I kept wondering how Michael was going to get his way with fleeing the country with 700 people on his ship, since Peter was so opposed to the idea. That whole part, trying to get the remaining citizens of Kerville, Texas to the ship in time was really page-turning material! In the end, Michael saved the human race with his forethought. Ever the adventurer, it was fitting that he went off by himself in the end to continue with his explorations.

One thing that I still wonder about: Pim seemed to have a special bond with Amy? What was that about? How did Amy know how to sign? What were they "sharing" or "talking" about over their mind-waves (so to speak) that day - at least that is what they appeared to be doing. I am glad that Pim wrote it all down, but how did she know the full story of what happened?

If there were not so many other books that I want to read, I would start The Passage right now! One day, I plan to read the entire trilogy again. Maybe if they make a movie out of it, that time will come sooner rather than later! I really loved this story!

Wendy's Rating: *****

When Smiles Fade by Paige Dearth

Yikes, this book was like "fifty shades of abuse"! It's one of the darkest books I have read in awhile. The abuse goes on and on and on, pretty much like the sex in Fifty Shades of Grey, hence my previous comment. One of the biggest problems I had is that there is no relief from the abuse. The author is not subtle about it either. The main character, Emma, goes through a variety of physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse. She is beaten and burned and raped and ignored and hated. One of the only characters in the entire book that is nice to her is the head of the mafia. Really?? And even he isn't honest with her about his situation, so she gets hurt by him too.

On the back of the book jacket, the final sentence states, "Finally a person emerges from within that guides her toward a better life until she learns of a secret that sets her on the path of ultimate redemption." Redemption?? How about revenge, or retaliation? The definition of redemption is: the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. I don't think that includes murder! Redemption is being freed from sin, or absolution, not committing sin and after sin - and feeling good about getting away with it. Honestly.

And while I am on a roll, the lack of subtlety in the "foreshadowing" (of more abuse to come of course) was really irritating. Just let us think for a split second that maybe, just maybe, a person that Emma meets could potentially be a decent human being instead of ruining it for us right away. Oh, I haven't even mentioned the abuse that her sister, Gracie, endured. Or Izzy, Gracie's daughter.

I finished the book for two reasons: 1) I always finish every book I start;  2) I honestly thought there would be a positive ending. What a disappointment.

Wendy's Rating: **

The Golden Throne by Katia Fox

I really loved this trilogy. Each of the three books could easily stand on their own, but I think reading them in order added depth to the story as a whole. I thought it was interesting to read the same story (generally) from two perspectives. As much as Guillaume and Ellen loved each other - they honestly had relatively minimal shared history. So even though their story is a "love story" in and of itself, I am really happy that they each loved and married someone else that loved them back. I really admired Guillaume for staying faithful to Isabelle, because I am guessing that knighthood and faithfulness to a spouse didn't really go hand-in-hand back then, especially since it took him a really long time to understand how much he loved Isabelle!

It was interesting to have insight into Guillaume's thoughts and feelings - especially when it clarified how different his actual thoughts/feelings were vs. what Ellen was thinking they were! Ellen completely misread his feelings about their son, which I was relieved about. Every book had a character I hated, although they were different characters in each book. So, even though the same characters were in each book, I found myself only hating the character that was despicable to the main character of the particular book. Do you get that? I guess we all go through life being affected differently by the people around us - even all the people we have in common.

I would not have wanted to live in this time! I also wouldn't have wanted to be a part of the royal family or serve the royal family. They are quick to judge and quick to kill off the people in their way! Guillaume definitely walked a fine line with almost every king he served during his lifetime. Too stressful.  They all seemed so arrogant, paranoid and self-indulgent. It's great that Guillaume could remain a man of honor despite serving so many kings.

So, we learned about being a sword smith, a falconer and a knight. Very useful in current day. Ha, Ha!! Seriously, I thought these books were well researched and well written. I enjoyed each and every story very much!

Wendy's Rating: *****