Charmed Vengeance (The Aether Chronicles Book 2)

I love this series. Oh how I freakin love this series! Innocent Darkness was an easy 5 star read for me...but Charmed Vengeance was even BETTER than Innocent Darkness..so I guess this one gets 5+ stars! Suzanne takes you back into the amazing world she has created and takes you on an even more crazy adventure than before!So this is how Charmed Vengeance basically kicks off, Noli has just been heartbroken by V, and on top of that her grandfather has shown up and wants to take Noli and her mother back to Boston. Noli can't bear the thought of living in Boston and being paraded around in front of men to hopefully get a husband. So instead of going with them, she runs off with her brother, Jeff to be an engineer on his pirate airship the Vixen's Revenge. V has been summoned to complete his favor for the Queen which involves, breaking Noli's heart, and then finding the Queen amusement, he sets on this quest with his heart broken brother James. Then there is Kevighn who is dealing with being banished to the mortal world.Yeah, ALOT is going on in Charmed Vengeance (and what I tell you above is just the tip of the iceberg). This book was more fast paced than book one, had a little more action, more adventure, just honestly had a little bit more of everything. After reading book two I am seriously dying to get my hands on book three in the series. Not just because the ending to two was seriously epic, but also because if book one was awesome...book two was even more awesome...than I can only hope and wish that book three is going to be EVEN BETTER (if that's possible)!One of my favorite parts of this novel was some of the new characters added in, the main one being Jeff , Noli's brother. We get to meet him in Charmed Vengeance, and I adored him to bits. He is such a caring brother, and not only did I love him as a brother towards Noli, but just him as a character in general. I found him to be funny, sweet, caring, and I loved how he was all for his sister not being a lady and being a bad ass instead. Besides Jeff I also loved seeing development and learning more about the characters I already loved from Innocent Darkness. Charmed Vengeance has made me very excited to get to know the characters even more in the next installment.I don't want to say too much in this review, mainly cause I don't want to give anything away. But if you have read Innocent Darkness, then you need to pick up Charmed Vengeance. This book was all around even better than book one and will leave you dying for book three. If you have yet to read the Aether series...well then wth are you doing here? GO PICK UP THIS SERIES!! It is hands down a new favorite of mine, Suzanne is an amazing author and I cannot wait to read book three in the series, and then to read every book she comes out with after that.

This is the second book in the Aether Chronicles series. It's very good indeed.The High Queen of The Otherworld has set Steven a challenge. He spends much of the book working to accomplish this quest. His brother James is along to help him.Noli is on something of a quest of her own, working with her brother the air pirate we only heard about in the first book.My own favourite character, Kevighn, is also on a journey of sorts. His fascination with Noli continues.If you’ve read any of my reviews anywhere, you’ll know I don’t discuss plot in any depth at all. I will continue that policy here.This is a worthy second novel in this series. It’s lots of fun. As I said earlier, character development is a priority in this one. We learn more about the characters as they grow and mature.The first half of the book, unfortunately is riddled with small errors. Missing words, mostly. For example, from page three: “It was difficult not to sigh, even though she was used such comments by now.” The second half is much cleaner. Because I’m a copy-editor, these little errors strike me more than they might most people.Did I enjoy the book? Oh my, yes. I’ve already ordered the third book.The themes and the writing as well as the characters are well-worth your time – even if, like me, you read very little Young Adult material.

My 12 year old daughter and I both loved it! The author has a gift for storytelling. I don't usually go for this genre, but the first book sucked me in and this one didn't disappoint!

I really enjoyed this series and look forward to reading the next installment! I love the romance, the drama and the unfolding plot.

<blockquote>When her true love, Steven, is forced to break their magical bond, Noli Braddock decides to join her brother on the crew of the Vixen's Revenge.With its gleaming brass, dark wood, and spotless clockwork gears, the Vixen's Revenge is a beautiful airship. But Noli discovers a dangerous secret beneath its polished exterior--the crew has been hired to steal dozens of priceless Otherworld artifacts. Desperate to keep her past Otherworld experiences hidden from the airship crew, Noli fears that if she doesn't risk telling her own secrets, the stolen artifacts will be used to destroy both of the worlds she loves.Praise: "[Lazear's] imagination soars as high as her airship, and it will have readers hooked."--Kirkus Reviews</blockquote>WARNING: If you haven't read the first book in this series yet, read no further as this review contains spoilers for book One. Plus, the first book is a very entertaining read. *Personal irritant - the large number of grammatical errors I discovered in the e-book version I read. There were missing words, incorrect words, punctuation mistakes, etc. It's almost as if the e-book version was simply not edited or proofread prior to release.There's plenty of action in this book, but just as importantly this book shares some very important lessons that each of the main characters learn as they mature. Noli has finally returned to her mother's home in Los Angeles, after her stay at Findlay House, and experiences journeying through the Otherworld. Though her mother is unaware of the fact that Noli wasn't at Findlay House the entire time, she knows something is different about her daughter. She sees the physical changes in Noli, which lead her to believe that her daughter is now a 'lady.' The same changes that came from making a bargain with the Faery Queen, who spitefully turned Noli into a Sprite. While beautiful, Sprites are not known for their intelligence or focus, instead they enjoy parties, nice dresses, tea parties. In short, they are exactly what Noli was struggling against becoming, vacuous Society dolls.Thanks to the quick thinking by James and V, Noli retains much of her original self, but she constantly struggles with the Sprite for control over her mind and body. Yet this new situation is actually good for Noli in some aspects, for she learns to share with the Sprite. In doing so she discovers there is more substance to the Sprite than she shows, she simply doesn't enjoy thinking, the same way Noli doesn't want to be shallow like the Sprite. She also learns some magical skills, which will be useful later.Like Noli's lessons learned through her dealings with the Sprite, V also learns some important lessons of his own. He learns to rely upon James more often, which is good training for the when he takes back the earth court in the Otherworld, assuming he'll be successful when the time comes. But a very important lesson that James has learned and shares is good for all the readers as well, and that is to live in the moment, everyday, all the time.Even Kevighn learns some lessons, the main one being that you can always go home. After letting the Faery Queen down, at least in her insane mind, Kevighn feels he has nothing of value left. He wallows in the mortal world, indulging in his personal vices, at least until something calls him back to the Otherworld. Once he returns, he returns all the way, going back to his roots, where he learns that family will take you in even when no one else will.The lessons to be learned are demonstrated in fascinating ways, and sometimes it takes numerous attempts before they are taught to the writer's satisfaction. Most of the lessons involve exciting action, with edge of your seat thrills that keep you turning page after page. Each time you think it's safe to relax something new occurs, dragging you right back into the action. Certainly a sequel with legs, which can only lead me to believe that the next book in the series will be at least as good, and more than likely it will be better as Ms. Lazear continues to use her charismatic characters to explore her well developed world.