Amy Harmon - The Song of David

I won my first fight when I was eleven years old, and I’ve been throwing punches ever since. Fighting is the purest, truest, most elemental thing there is. Some people describe heaven as a sea of unending white. Where choirs sing and loved ones await. But for me, heaven was something else. It sounded like the bell at the beginning of a round, it tasted like adrenaline, it burned like sweat in my eyes and fire in my belly. It looked like the blur of screaming crowds and an opponent who wanted my blood.
For me, heaven was the octagon.
Until I met Millie, and heaven became something different. I became something different. I knew I loved her when I watched her stand perfectly still in the middle of a crowded room, people swarming, buzzing, slipping around her, her straight dancer’s posture unyielding, her chin high, her hands loose at her sides. No one seemed to see her at all, except for the few who squeezed past her, tossing exasperated looks at her unsmiling face. When they realized she wasn’t normal, they hurried away. Why was it that no one saw her, yet she was the first thing I saw?
If heaven was the octagon, then she was my angel at the center of it all, the girl with the power to take me down and lift me up again. The girl I wanted to fight for, the girl I wanted to claim. The girl who taught me that sometimes the biggest heroes go unsung and the most important battles are the ones we don’t think we can win.

Comment: I had read the first book in this duology back in 2018 and I finished this second one thinking it's one of those cases, this would not be as easily understandable if one doesn't read book #1 first. Also, I must say I'm still debating on whether I liked or not that there was an epilogue.

In this second story, after Moses has had his HEA, we have the tale of his best friend David.

David has had some issues in his life but now he is a grown up man, he has his business, his friends and his fighting, which enables him to be great at something. He was not wishing for love until he met Millie, the new dancer in his club.

More than one person mentioned her, though, and he does feel curious but it's not until he gets to meet her and realize she is a blind woman, he understands it's suppose to be a joke.

However, he doesn't find it funny his employee at the club gave a job to someone who obviously didn't understand what was happening but the more he knows her, the more he respects her.

The problem isn't that he is falling in love with someone after so long but that he might not be someone who would be trusted. Or is he?

As I've said, it's difficult to talk about this book to someone who hasn't read the other since everything is so intrinsically connected.

It's not just the fact the two male protagonists of each book are best friends but also that their lives are closer than what one would suspect. I don't want to spoil it for someone who hasn't read the other book but let's just say what connected Moses and David was how Moses saw David's sister ghost and helped in finding her body.

Now they are both adults, Moses has a steadier life with his wife Georgia, his newborn daughter Kathleen but David is holding on to his job and his responsibilities.

I think this book didn't feel as emotional as the other book in the sense the story is set in the now but most of it is told by David, regarding things from the recent past through old tapes he recorded to share with Millie.

He and Millie are a couple but why he isn't present and why he talks through the tapes is something we only discover as the plot moves along. Most of the novel then, serves to explain how David ended up where he is at when the final tape is heard.

At this point, the reader already knows a lot about the characters but I must say I was still caught by surprise on why David is not around anymore.

He is eventually found and from that on, the story advances more quickly, as if the narrative has to develop at a quicker pace. We go from one situation to another very easily and sometimes I feel the pace was not the most suitable, as if the drama it was suggesting was more important than the characters themselves.

The tapes work as a way for us to place the vents that led until the current moment but besides that what who we have as narrator is Moses. There's a reason for this which the epilogue explains but I can't decide if I like what it implies or not.

This means we don't have much on the heroine, Millie. She is important, yes, her emotions and feelings matter but she never feels as developed or complex as David, independently of how many things they share. The same thing happened in the first book, the focus was obviously more on Moses than in the heroine Georgia.

I liked this book and much of the content but I can't say exactly why it didn't feel better. I suppose part of why is due to some things being presented after they happened, s nothing to do with it. I feel as if the actual story isn't that much but in a way this is what I always feel about stories with flashbacks or sections of the book set in different times.

All in all, this one had enough elements to have captivated me but there's a certain lack of balance and too much ambiguity at times for me to upgrade it.

Grade: 7/10

Amy Harmon - The Law of Moses

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.
It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.
And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.
And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all...a love story.

Comment: I was given this book last Christmas from my friend H. I had the intention of reading it sooner but between trying to complete my personal lists and busy weeks at work here and there, only now did I finally got to it.

In this book we meet Moses and Georgia, two people who meet when children and who got reconnected when Moses comes back to live with his grandmother. Moses is a somewhat famous kid because everyone knows who his drug addicted mother left him in a basket and he was close to die before being rescued. 

Moses is a strange kid and weird still later on as a teenager. He paints wonderfully ut his choices of places to do so are very random and not always appreciated. Problems develop when Moses paints the images of girls who are missing and no one can find. 

Georgia is a neighbor who feels sorry for Moses, then wants to be his friend and later on they even got involved. But something happens that changes Moses' path in life and the future brings even more tragedy before Moses and Georgia can think about the love that brings them together... 

I'm not a new reader to this author. I've read other stories by her in the past and enjoyed them even though her characters are too much in that gray area of teenager towards a grown up, the so called "new adult" that I don't always like that much. This author is different because the story isn't all spent in one moment of the characters lives and there's some evolution in time, which helps me feeling more interested in reading her books.

In this story I can say that half the story is spent when Moses and Georgia are teenagers (18 and 17 if I remember correctly) but the second half is seven years later and that puts them a bit far along in terms of maturity. The plot itself also has some situations that are dealt with from a very emotional POV and that also brings some emotional depth to what happens. These two things together make the story appear more complex and angsty which appeals more when one thinks about the overall content.

Georgia and Moses go through some complicated issues, personally and about them as a couple. 

However, despite how serious the subject is and how emotional the response is when reading and imagining these scenarios in our heads, I must say I got the impression some things weren't that smoothly inserted in the story. Some things felt like the author has thought about them too much, wanted to add them and stressed some issues in a way that didn't feel fluid. I ended up thinking that what probably made me think like this was the choice of POV we have here: first person, and alternate chapters from Moses and Georgia.

First person often works out well, especially in stories where the "narrator" is someone whose voice we can't let go. But in this case, I'd have preferred to have third person, maybe the emotional content would have been better portrayed because it could encompass more than just one person's feelings. (Which weren't all that believable despite the angst)

I also think, when compared to her PNR or fantasy stories, these contemporary titles always offer a paranormal detail that isn't always well accomplished in this genre.

Moses is a fascinating character and he has this weird ability to see dead people who sort of give him clues - which he then paints - but he only thought it was his brain playing tricks on him because of how he was born of a drugged mother. On one hand, I really liked this aspect of the novel, it was different, interesting, allowed for many fascinating perspectives. But how it was portrayed...or people would just accept, while others didn't, too black and white...I just think this wasn't as well dealt as it could. But Moses was an engaging character and I lied him for the most part.

Georgia is someone the reader can sympathize with but she isn't that kind of memorable character...she is just likable and sweet enough to make us happy she will be happy. I think because of her simplicity of character - not personality! - to counterbalance Moses', the author has imagined quite angsty ways to make her more interesting but for me not always well enough.

At the end of the story, I was happy enough with the way things were solved, I confess I cried a few times but this is not the type of thing one couldn't see in any other book where similar subjects are dealt with.

Really too bad about the first person narrator. Perhaps it's just me, but I think too much importance was given to this tactic and not all stories are well presented in this manner nor are all writers like Ilona Andrews, for instance, whose talent for this tactic is superb perfection.

There is a sequel to this book that I'll try to get eventually, but it's not yet a priority.

Grade: 7/10

Amy Harmon - The Queen and the Cure

There will be a battle, and you will need to protect your heart.
Kjell of Jeru had always known who he was. He'd never envied his brother or wanted to be king. He was the bastard son of the late King Zoltev and a servant girl, and the ignominy of his birth had never bothered him.
But there is more to a man than his parentage. More to a man than his blade, his size, or his skills, and all that Kjell once knew has shifted and changed. He is no longer simply Kjell of Jeru, a warrior defending the crown. Now he is a healer, one of the Gifted, and a man completely at odds with his power.
Called upon to rid the country of the last vestiges of the Volgar, Kjell stumbles upon a woman who has troubling glimpses of the future and no memory of the past. Armed with his unwanted gift and haunted by regret, Kjell becomes a reluctant savior, beset by old enemies and new expectations. With the woman by his side, Kjell embarks upon a journey where the greatest test may be finding the man she believes him to be.

Comment: The first installment in this fantasy series was something I enjoyed reading a lot. I was naturally curious about this second story and if it would be  as interesting as the first one. Thankfully, it proved to be entertaining and very well done in my opinion. Too bad my time for reading has been a bit complicated due to busy touristic season...

In this second novel, the situation in the city of Jeru is now being fixed and most Gifted people are being recognized and defended by the king and queen. Outside Jeru city things are still tricky and besides, the Volgar race, the natural enemy of everyone else, is still a threat. Kjell of Jeru, the bastard brother of the king is a captain with the task of fighting the Volgar and helping people but he recently found out he is Gifted and he is a Healer, something not easy to accept along his killing the enemy side.

In a distant region Kjell saves a woman from dying and from then one, she seems to want to follow him as she thinks she owns him. But a twist and the hunt for an old enemy can change Kjell's life completely, even after his feelings towards the saved woman change as well.

This story is very sweet. I do like how the author has created such a world and how things were being developed.

Maybe, because I did read it rather recently, I found many points in common with a certain book by Naomi Novik and it wasn't easy to ignore that. But, of course, this novel lives on its own merit and I did enjoy spending time in this world a lot more. The fantasy aspects, along with the incredible characters make for a very emotional and poignant story without making it just another already seen plot or clichéd end.

I really liked this novel and all the twists that we were given. I just think that, from a certain moment on, after one of the biggest twists happens, one character no longer behaved as expected and while I understand that from a plot POV, it was still quite a change and the story didn't seem to flow at the same pace.

This aside, it was quite thew treasure to read the story and to wait to see what would happen next, especially considering the emotional journey some characters also had to make.

The focus is clearly Kjell and I confess I really liked him and his thoughts, his way of behaving, his honor and why he struggled to accept certain things or act a certain way. It was very emotional to see some situations through his eyes but in the end of course every action is worth the HEA he gets and truly deserves. He is quite the layered character and often his choices makes us think but I think he is the type of hero anyone could defend, even more so after being not such an obvious hero type in the previous book.

The relationship between Kjell and Sasha, the woman he rescues, is complex. I was quite surprised by some situations after they admitted some fo their feelings and there is a moment where things go to a path I was not getting fond of. But thankfully, things never stopped making sense and the author didn't use clichés to make things more obvious or dramatic instead. 

The interesting aspect is how the characters relate to their Gifts, to those around them and to the opinions and/or expectations others have too. It was very, very interesting to have some focus on the Gifts and how that could impact people'«s choices and so on. When it came to Sasha and Kjell, their Gifts were a bit like them: they can be a team, they can help each other but that doesn't make them indispensable to one another, just an easy completion of two souls.

In the end, this was a very good read, it was exciting, imaginative, we still had scenes with the previous couple, we have two new protagonists who interact with each other and others quite often and that makes the plot move along and feel full and vibrant. It's a good story for me.

Grade: 8/10

Amy Harmon - The Bird and the Sword

"Swallow, daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heaven or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, daughter. Stay alive."
The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would sell his soul and lose his son to the sky.
My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.
But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?

Comment: This is the second book I read by author Amy Harmon. Although this one wasn't as wonderful for me, I still think it was good. This is the author's first attempt at fantasy and, in my opinion, she managed to do a good work.

This is the story of Lark, a young woman with a Gift, the power to Tell and make things happen. However, this power - and others - isn't well seeing by most people and the king actually persecutes and kills those who are Gifted. Her mother has sacrificed herself for Lark and told her to never reveal her Power. Because of this, Lark has become a mute.

Years after that, Lark is kidnapped by King Tiras, the son of the previous king who killed Lark's mother. King Tiras needs Lark's father help to battle against the Volgar, beasts who fly and kill humans. While living in Tiras' castle, Lark not only gets to learn to write and read, something never allowed to her, but she also starts to develop feelings for Tiras and his kingdom. But Lark has the Power to Tell and what would happen if others found she is different?

This is the August book for the book club I belong to. It was an interesting pick and because I liked the first book I've read by the author, I thought this would be a great book by her talent alone. I'm very glad it was a great story.

This is a great new world created by Amy Harmon, a fantasy type of world, with a medieval feel but where people can be divided into humans and Gifted. These last ones are special, are descendants from four type of beings that, with time, have become the enemy because people always fear what and who is different. A long time ago, there were Tellers, people who could speak and make things happen, Changers, people who could turn into any animal, Healers, people who could heal and Spinners, people who could spin things into other forms or materials.

Because of this, humans with no powers are now afraid of what Gifted can do and accused them of all the problems that exist. We know this is a matter of fear and generalization, but even those who are Gifted feel the fear and the unfairness of everything.

I liked this story a lot, Lark is obviously a Teller but she's mute and can't speak anymore. This doesn't stop her from trying and from wishing she could help others. Her personality is very sweet and quiet, I liked how she turned out to be a strong person but yes, there are many moments where she acts insecure on her abilities and in who she is but I get her and I think I'd act like her if I were in such a situation. It was great to see her find happiness, though.

The plot is not very complicated, King Tiras is ill and needs to secure his kingdom but with time he and Lark fall in love and learn to trust one another and that was the best, how little moments gained strength between them. I still think this could have been done better, because despite being emotional, it wasn't as heartfelt as it could, at least I felt almost a restraint from the author to increase the emotional levels. I suppose that wasn't a bad decision, because her work is usually very heavy emotionally...

Something I also would improve would be the relationship with one o two secondary characters, they could have been developed more. There are some surprises closer to the end in this aspect and that was unexpected but overall, it could have been worked out better.

The way things end, in terms of plot, were quite good and not too tragic, which would have clashed against the tone of the story. All in all, this was a great story, balanced but not perfect.

The romance was truly the best part. It was more subtle than exciting yes, but sweet. And the pace served the story well. The secrets to uncover were well mixed into everything and even the dichotomy Gifted/humans was well played.

There is always something else we could say or mention to make this more interesting but I don't have the words, not like Lark might. It's funny how we often pay more attention to certain details and not the whole picture. I guess this is one of these cases, the overall idea is positive but what makes this amazing, to me, is the little details about Lark and Tiras' relationship, about the world and people's feelings. It's certainly worth it reading.

Grade: 8/10

Amy Harmon - Making Faces

Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.
Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

Comment: I knew about this book because of one of my book clubs. This was th book chosen for this month and despite not being something I usually go to, it has YA parts included, I still decided to honor the commitment and give it a try. I'm glad I did because the story is very good.

Ambrose Young has it all, he's gorgeous, friendly, successful and popular in his high school. After 9/11 and a fright he wasn't counting on, he looks at his life and thinks he must do something, so when school ends, he convinces his 4 best friends to join the army. But the outcome isn't perfect at all.
Fern Taylor has had a crush on Ambrose since he helped her and her cousin to bury a spider. But when she tries to help a friend to conquer him through an old fashioned letter exchange, she couldn't imagine the lessons and struggles she would face for him and with him...

I really liked this story, much more than what I imagined. It has some YA parts but thankfully those aren't about love ever after. I have a hard time believing the forever kind of love in young adults who don't always - if ever - weight in what true love and dedication entails. Anyway, that didn't happen here, although there's a start up base to the rest of the story which we see in the beginning.

The majority of the story is what everyone now says is new adult. Ambrose and Fern are young when their story happens, but I have to say there are mitigating reasons for why their story feels mature and well thought, opposed so many YA novels out there.

Fern has always took care of her cousin Bailey, who was born with a disease that makes it impossible to walk or to even move his arms. She has an old view of the world with reality so obvious in her life. The fact she isn't beautiful like most people also helped her to construct an idea of herself which stopped her from being vacant and self absorbed. So, in a way, she's mature for her age. And she likes o read, so...
Ambrose has a loving father, who isn't his biological father but that doesn't stop him from recognizing the good man he is and how lucky he is to have him and to have his support. Of course, this shaped his view of the world but he isn't an angry, impulsive guy. He tries to be fair and do the right thing. I think he felt a bit too perfect at times, but his impulsive action made things so uncomfortable and wrong that it's almost like he is paying for the time he didn't think things all the way. Although this can be debated, after all, serving one's nation is seen as something worthy.

It's obvious there's a lot of tears on this book's path and be prepared for it. I think the author was very clever because she dosed the emotion and the negativity very well, in a way that wasn't over the top and too hard to overcome. Things hurt and things are bad here and there, but there's this sense of optimism and the reader kind of gets ready to see it happen because the plot makes it happen that way. So, despite the huge avalanche of emotion, it's not unbearable because of the good things we see happening and being told a lot of the time.
There are some ideas about beauty and worth and how one can be what one needs instead of just being what other think. I liked the ideas inserted in to the plot quite a lot, and also how they were dealt with.

The romance is cute. It starts innocent, letters exchanging, sort of, and their personality complement each other When it has to, the support they both take from the other helps them appreciate what they were given, especially Ambrose. I think the HEA was believable and the focus was mostly on the sweetness and the friendship. The epilogue is full of hope and the stamp of approval for their relationship. But the actual story isn't rushed or too sugary.

I liked the story and despite my tears and personal little ideas about what to change, I can't say the author didn't do a good job, because she did. I feel humbled when I get a book I thought I wouldn't enjoy much, but end up liking a lot after all, even more so when it has elements I usually can't stand (like YA). This happened here and I'm quite glad to have read it. The writing feels a bit young at times, but I guess it's part of the whole deal. In the end, it had strength and a purpose, it worked out really well. Very good story!
Grade: 9/10