Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel

Title: Keeper of the Bees
Author: Meg Kassel
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: September 4, 2018
Pages: 304
Source/format: Hardcover//Publisher

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

KEEPER OF THE BEES is a tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways.

Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people.

He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn’t see a monster when she looks at Dresden.

Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden’s solitary life and Essie’s tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Keeper of the Bees is a companion novel to Black Birds of the Gallows. Dresden is cursed harboring bees inside of his body with the sole purpose of following harbingers of death and assisting them in an arrangement by targeting those who are vulnerable and are at the brink of death with a deadly bee sting. However, in Concordia, Missouri he meets Essie Roane, a girl who is not afraid of him and can see the face others can't see. Essie hallucinates and sees delusions for most of her life. When she meets Dresden, she views him like poetry, beautiful in every way as the montage of faces of those who die flicker and change within him. She describes how he smells like honey and she is no afraid of the guy that claims that he wants to kill her.

Meg Kassel has a way of writing which sweeps you off your feet wanting more. Diving into this paranormal romance novel is a treat! The novel is very atmospheric full of detailed descriptions of the surroundings and touching the five senses. Dresden and Essie are not your average couple. They both have unusual traits that are not deemed normal by society. But they both see pass each other's flaws and embrace each other's individuality.

Keeper of the Bees is a loose retelling of Beauty of the Beast. We have Dresden who physically is not appealing but most people do not see his real face; they see a generic face. And then we have Essie who is deemed odd because of her hallucinations. Essie's family is actually has a long history of mental illness. Those in the Wickerton line that are too much to handle are often sent to the Stanton House. Essie's father wants her committed but Essie is trying to avoid the Stanton House at all costs. Her Aunt Bel is doing all she can do avoid committing Essie. However, Dresden finds out some haunting information of how the Wickerton curse started.

Kassel introduces us to another type of species in the novel. A Strawman works in a different arrangement than how a Beekeeper and a Harbinger work together. The Strawman tells Dresden that he is there to make sure Dresden rights a wrong. Dresden has no clue what this means until the end of the book. Unlike in Black Birds of the Gallows, Dresden the Beekeeper and Michael the Harbinger are friends.

The novel alternates between chapters with Dresden's and Essie's POVs. Although there is instalove in this novel, the attraction is more about showcasing the love of a person as a whole and not focusing on typical traits. Those who read Black Birds of the Gallows will notice some familiar faces in Keeper of the Bees. Because of the nature of the novel, there are some instances of death, sexual assault and verbal abuse.

Keeper of the Bees is a dark paranormal romance for readers who are looking for a book beyond the average witch, vampire or werewolf novel. It's a hypnotizing romance where the reader is rooting for Dresden's and Essie's happy ending.

By a Charm and a Curse by Jaime Questell

Title: By a Charm and a Curse
Author: Jaime Questell
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: February 6, 2018
Pages: 300
Source/format: Publisher//e-ARC

Rating: ☆☆☆1/2

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

Le Grand’s Carnival Fantastic isn’t like other traveling circuses. It’s bound by a charm, held together by a centuries-old curse, that protects its members from ever growing older or getting hurt. Emmaline King is drawn to the circus like a moth to a flame…and unwittingly recruited into its folds by a mysterious teen boy whose kiss is as cold as ice.

Forced to travel through Texas as the new Girl in the Box, Emmaline is completely trapped. Breaking the curse seems like her only chance at freedom, but with no curse, there’s no charm, either—dooming everyone who calls the Carnival Fantastic home. Including the boy she’s afraid she’s falling for.

Everything—including his life—could end with just one kiss.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Emmaline King calls Claremore, Oklahoma a circle of hell but for reasons most people don't know about. Her mother abandoned her and her brothers for a year with her father in order to pursue an investigation in Guatemala. Le Grand's Carnival Fantastic visits the outskirts of Claremore and Emma is thrilled to explore the carnival.

Before Emma gets to know Benjamin Singer, she is tricked and is cursed at the carnival. In order for the carnival performers to be charmed with their unnaturally lucky existence, one person is the center of the charm and is ultimately the curse that holds everyone together. The curse lives in the person and that person becomes the Boy in the Box or the Girl in the Box. The charm protects the carnival until recently. Something has changed and the charm is wearing off. People are falling and accidents are occurring. But why?

Jaime Questell writes characters that are vibrant and full of life. Each are unique in their special way.  Although many are sad about Emma's circumstances, the carnival performers and employees do whatever it takes to make Emma feel at home. I love reading about the traveling carnival. Readers don't just experience the magic of the acts but they also experience the grittiness of the lives of the carnival employees.

The novel alternates chapters in the POVs of Emma and Ben. Due to the length of the book, I feel like the character development wasn't fully fleshed out. I have to say that I enjoyed reading about Sidney. Readers get to know more about Sidney's history and his life in a small period of time compared to Emma and some of the other characters. I found it fascinating to learn more about the origins of the the charm and curse. However, I found the ending to be fairly rushed. It was predictable and I wanted read more about everyone's outcomes.

Readers who want to be entranced by the magic of a carnival will enjoy reading By a Charm and a Curse. A bit of romance and bit of intrigue will make this novel a quick, pleasant read.

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

Title: Black Bird of the Gallows
Author: Meg Kassel
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Publication date: September 5, 2017
Pages: 300
Source/format: Publisher//ARC

Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What's more, she knows something most don't. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Mysterious Reece Fernandez and his family moves next door to Angie Dovage in Cadence, PA. Crows start multiplying in the neighborhood for some odd reason. At first, Reece seems like your typical popular, athletic guy but he harbors some secrets. Angie harbors a secret herself but her's seems tame compared to Reece's. Angie has an alter ego at the local club, The Strip Mall. She DJ's during her spare time and the job allows her to be an alternate version of herself. Everyone loves DJ Sparo compared to the quiet and shy Angie in school.

After some run ins with bees and random creepy people, Angie becomes suspicious of Reece and what he has been up to. Angie begins to stalk Reece in order to get her answers and finds out more about Reece's cursed life. Angie has been drawn to Reece ever since he moved in next door. It's like a magnetic connection. However, I was a little put off when Angie stalks Reece. She became a little too curious about Reece and it almost lead her to be killed.

Angie is close to her best friends, Deno and Lacey. Although, Angie lives a complex life, she knows Deno and Lacey will always be there for her. Angie's father always looks out for Angie especially when he finally gained custody rights. Despite everyone shaming Angie's mother for being a horrible mom, Angie uncovers more about her past through the mysterious supernatural happenings in her town. I am glad that Angie has a supportive group of friends and an understanding father.

Meg Kassel wrote a captivating and engaging novel about two teenagers that are fated to be together but due to certain circumstances, they must stand their distances to save each other. In order to stop history repeating itself, Angie and Reece try to deny their love for each other.

Black Bird of the Gallows is a novel for readers who love paranormal romance and are looking for something different from vampire, witch and werewolf tropes. The novel is intriguing and moves at a decent pace.