Binge Reading — A.M. Yates
If you look to the right of this blog’s page, you’ll see my Goodreads reviews. The last 5-6 books I’ve read have all been from A.M. Yates. I came upon the first book by accident. I started reading and got hooked!
If you like YA, Urban Fantasy, Yates is for you. I devoured her books. I actually had to consciously slow down and stall my reading so I wouldn’t go through them so fast.
What do I love? In the first series Minor Gods, I was expecting the cliche pantheon of Greek Gods. I was wrong. Yates centers the story around a town in Oregon, where a small community of magic wielders reside. Yates builds this fictional world’s rules for magic, community social structure, and of course, how the magic is unleashed. It’s all awesome! What’s cool and reminds me of tribal traditions is the magic comes from masks of gods. These masks are ancient and were crafted by the ancient Mask Makers, but the masks allow the wearer to control the god it personifies. I thought that was such a cool twist.
As the series progresses, chaos ensues and our heroine must come to grips with her fate/destiny. Now, if I have one not-so-good critique, it would be this — the heroine took a little too long to realize what was right in front of her face. She’s a teen and sheltered and all that, but still… I was getting a little impatient with her. But, so were the other characters. I guess that was the point then?
Overall, the series was fast paced with memorable characters and a great use of god legends. I LOVED IT! Wanna know what a crazy Mother Earth would be like? Read this series.
In the second series — Horizon Cycle, again I was surprised. The first book starts out with the main character, Ollie who finds out about her lineage. So I was fully expecting the second book to resume the story about Ollie. Oh no. It doesn’t. Surprise! It’s about another heroine. I actually had to re-look at the front cover and page to make sure I was still in the series and I didn’t miss something. As the second book builds then it all makes sense. By the third and fourth books, the characters are showing up in each other’s locations. I had one of those moments when a character from one of the prior books showed up during a tense moment and I whooped! Woohoo!
Horizon Cycle is an awesome series! If I had to pick between Minor Gods and Horizon Cycle, I like Horizon Cycle just a little bit better. I’m waiting for book 5. At least, I’m hoping there’s a book 5. There’s got to be. The adventure is no way near over. So, if Ms. Yates ever happens to come upon this post, “please hurry up with book 5 of Horizon Cycle. Thank you.”
In conclusion, if you’re looking for an addictive read — A.M. Yates will not disappoint. Check out her books on Amazon.com. Books 1 in Minor Gods and Horizon Cycle are both permafree. You can’t go wrong.
Enjoy!
Here are the links:
