Hunting Prince Dracula Blog Tour (Review + Giveaway!)

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #2
Genre: Young Adult/Historical Fiction/Mystery
Page Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books (Little, Brown & Company)
Publication Date: September 19, 2017

About Hunting Prince Dracula:

In this hotly anticipated sequel to the haunting #1 bestseller Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer…or has the depraved prince been brought back to life? 

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine…and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

About the Author

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

Her first novel in this series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history.

Follow Kerri on Social media links:

Twitter   |  Facebook   |   Instagram   |   Website   |   Tumblr   |   Pinterest

The Review

Hunting Prince Dracula is a deliciously dark read. The sequel to one of my favorite books, it had a lot to live up to, but it did not fall short of my expectations.

The return of my favorite crime-solving, forensic duo was a bit bittersweet due to the traumatic events of the first book, but their character arcs throughout the book were fascinating, and I loved watching them grow. I found myself once again cheering them on when they made progress with leads and freaking out with them when they ran into trouble (some of the terrifying beastly kind).

Unlike in Stalking Jack the Ripper, however, I didn't have any gut feelings or crazy guesses about the culprit of all the strange occurrences and deaths, which made me eagerly anticipate the reveal even more. This case was way more complicated and somewhat convoluted, so watching Audrey Rose and Thomas unravel it was a proud and exciting experience for me. I don't want to go into any further detail because I don't want to spoil, but the mystery in this one will not disappoint.

Although I found the pacing of Hunting Prince Dracula to be a bit slower than its predecessor, I immensely enjoyed the Romanian setting and learning about the folklore, history, and Dracula's bloodline. I found myself shivering on quite a few occasions from the descriptive language Maniscalco uses throughout the novel to capture the brooding atmosphere of the book. Other than Wadsworth and Cresswell (and Maniscalco's amazing character creation and development in general), her writing style is one of my favorite aspects of her books because she truly and consistently transports readers into the world of late 19th-century Europe, whether it's London in Stalking Jack the Ripper or Romania in Hunting Prince Dracula.

All in all, Hunting Prince Dracula was a fabulous sequel to Stalking Jack the Ripper, bringing back beloved characters and showcasing Maniscalco's brilliant way with words.

My rating: 4 stars

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the rest of the tour!

Week One

August 21st ~ Paper Cuts: Hunting Prince Dracula Playlist

August 22nd ~ Literary Legionnaire: Review of Hunting Prince Dracula

August 24th ~ Arctic Books: Hunting Prince Dracula Playlist

August 25th ~ 21st Century Once Upon A Times: A “Drink Your way through SJTR: Tea Edition”

Week Two

August 28th ~ Hiver Et Café: History of Prince Dracula

August 29th ~ Justice Reads: Review of Hunting Prince Dracula

August 30th ~ Nicole’s Novel Reads: Travelling Etiquette and tips for Victorian Women

August 31st ~ Sophie Reads YA: Favourite Stalking Jack the Ripper Fanart

September 1st ~ LILbooKlovers: Top Ten Quotes from Stalking Jack the Ripper

Week Three

September 4th ~ One Way or An Author: Hunting Prince Dracula Phone Backgrounds

September 5th ~ A Blinding Book: Hunting Prince Dracula Aesthetic

September 6th ~ Rants & Raves: Review & Snacks

September 7th ~ Rattle the Stars: Hunting Prince Dracula Playlist

September 8th ~ A Gingerly Reviews: Review of Hunting Prince Dracula

Week Four

September 11th ~ The Plot Bunny: Hunting Prince Dracula Trick or Treat Customer Ideas

September 12th ~ Blame it on The Books: Hunting Prince Dracula Review

September 13th ~ The Reader & the Chef: Hunting Prince Dracula’s Menu

September 14th ~ Books, Tv, and More…Oh MY!!: Top Ten Favourite Traits of Audrey & Thomas

September 15th ~ Unquenchable Reads: GIF, GIFS, and more GIFS

Week Five

September 18th ~ Rattle the Pages: A Glimpse Back in Time: Vlad The Impaler edition

September 19th ~ Beyond the Book Reviews: Character Wears of the 21st Century

September 20th ~ The Heart of a Book Blogger: Hunting Prince Dracula Mood Board

The Love Interest (Review)

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary/LGBTQIA+
Format: Hardcover
Page Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: July 25, 2017

About The Love Interest (via Goodreads):

There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets.

Caden is a Nice: the boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection. Dylan is a Bad: the brooding, dark-souled guy who is dangerously handsome. The girl they are competing for is important to the organization, and each boy will pursue her. Will she choose the Nice or the Bad?

Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to be—whoever the girl doesn’t choose will die.

What the boys don’t expect are feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both.

One of the things that I look for in a great book is an overall message and meaning behind the narrative.  While I love books that I can consume for fun wholeheartedly, I love books that give commentary on issues and strive to convey something to the greater world.  It’s why one of my favorite genres is satire, and why I will defend Kill The Boy Band to the grave.  So when I heard about Cale Dietrich’s The Love Interest, I was so excited to hear his take on tired YA tropes and novel cliches.

Most of his plays strike at the paranormal novels from around 2012, like Fallen and Hush, Hush (*shivers in disgust*) or really any YA novel published after Twilight and before, let’s say, 2015, with a heterosexual romance.  And in the first few chapters, Dietrich does this very well - like, at the level of a 4 star book.  He’s a master at worldbuilding, and he establishes clear views of the world inside and outside the LIC.  He tackles topics such as male self-consciousness and comments on the love interest’s true role in a story, showing how unrealistic and paper-thin they need to be constructed to serve their greater narrative.

But as soon as Caden meets Juliet, everything falls apart - his plans, himself, and this darn book.  Dietrich seems to juggle way too much throughout the entire story between Caden’s inner thoughts and the storylines of literally everyone else involved.  It suffered a massive case of identity crisis, and couldn’t recover itself to match the quality from the first few chapters.

First of all, Caden is an annoying little turd.  I couldn’t sympathize with his struggles but I still felt for him as a person.  Additionally, in the grand scope of things he does some pretty stupid stuff.  The book’s biggest problem is that Dietrich writes the story from Caden’s point of view the entire time, and his thoughts and prose at times seemed to be overwhelming, heavy, and too dramatic.  I personally think it would have been better to have an alternating perspective from both Caden and Dylan to capitalize on the great world-building skills Dietrich had shown in the LIC.

To add on that point, all the characters were passable at most.  Dylan and Juliet were both interesting characters that I would have preferred to hear from a bit more.  Trevor and Natalie were the most useless characters in this entire novel.  Note: I had to look through reviews on Goodreads to find their names, if that says anything.  They were poorly written and unnecessary, and ultimately serve the story more than themselves.  Frankly, Trevor and Natalie were utilized in very cliche ways (I won’t say further for spoiler reasons), which is sad because this is exactly what the author is trying to avoid doing.  Also, Caden’s coach (I think her name is Kaycee, but when I tried to look through review’s again I couldn’t find anything, which should also say lots of things) was honestly really annoying.  And for that matter their whole communication process was just so plain unrealistic that it was jarring.

The third act is just such a colossal mess I kinda felt secondhand embarrassment.  It felt like a completely different novel.  The best that I can compare how I felt is when I watched Kingsman: The Secret Service after their church scene; I was ON BOARD but my parents felt like the movie took a complete 180 degree turn.  But in this case, I was my parents.  

By far the biggest problem with this book is that it really didn’t know what it wanted to be.  It was very well-written but just all over the place.  It tried to be 10% of a satire, which it tossed out the window fairly quickly; a sexy thriller, which wasn’t often steamy but those moments were SO CHARGED that it seemed like there was TOO MUCH of it; and, most importantly, just a really good, unique, original LGBT love story, where it ended up being a cliche tale falling into the same traps it was originally criticizing.

I’d like to think that The Love Interest tried really hard not to be cliche, but that’s where it fails the most.  It had an interesting concept but sadly couldn’t really deliver, falling back into the old habits of YA novels of past.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday (79)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Page Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: September 26, 2017

About Starfish (via Goodreads):

Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.

But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.

From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.

I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK. I don't frequently reach for contemporaries (although I have been more recently lately), but this one sounds AMAZING.

When Dimple Met Rishi (Review)

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary/Romance
Page Length: 380 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse

About When Dimple Met Rishi (via Goodreads):

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

When Dimple Met Rishi was an absolute delight. With a heart-melting romance and incredible characters, When Dimple Met Rishi was an extremely relatable and fun read.

It took me about three chapters to get into the story, but once I hit chapter 4, I WAS HOOKED. I completely devoured the rest of the novel in a day. It was that good. Also, I am a huge fan of character-driven novels, and this one DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Sandhya Menon delivered an amazing story that not only focused on romance, but also on pursuing one's individual passions and taking risks to achieve your dreams.

Both Dimple and Rishi were fantastic main characters. They were flawed, lovable, and (most importantly) realistic. They were relatable characters who had authentic teen experiences and identity struggles that any teen could relate to.  I loved watching their individual growth, as well as also seeing their relationship progress and flourish. I honestly don't know how to convey how much I loved them. Not only are they my newest and truest OTP, but both of them are individually two of my favorite characters ever. I couldn't help but want to root for each of them through each and every high point and low point in their story.

The main issue for me was that the plot seemed to fade a bit in the middle. While their relationship continued to progress, some of the storyline grew less prominent and fell to the wayside. It was still entertaining and I loved seeing their amazing relationship grow stronger, but I would have liked to see a bit more of the summer program work and interactions, especially since it was such a big deal to Dimple. While it did work overall and tied in nicely in the end, a better blending of romance and plot would have made the book even better than it already was.

Filled with the perfect blend of humor, romance, and a dash of heartbreak, When Dimple Met Rishi was a rejuvenating read. When Dimple Met Rishi is the only book to ever have made me feel so unbelievably happy and renewed. It was so refreshing and fun.

My rating: 4 stars

#TheReadingQuest Sign-Up

IZZY AND I ARE SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR THIS READING CHALLENGE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Well, maybe the all caps says something. But when Aentee tweeted about this idea about a month ago, I waited impatiently for her to release more details and NOW THE QUEST WILL SOON BEGIN. This challenge is going to be epic, and I cannot imagine how much time and effort Aentee put into creating this amazing reading challenge. Also, CW's artwork is BEAUTIFUL. If you want to find out more and sign up for yourself, head over to Aentee's sign-up post for all the details here.

I'm hoping to complete several side quests and (if I'm being ambitious) more than one character path since we essentially have a whole month to complete the challenge, but I'm planning to go with the mage route first. Here's my tentative TBR for the mage path and a few of the side quests.

The Main Quest:
first book in a series: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
a book set in a different world: 27 Hours by Tristina Wright
a book based on mythology: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
a book that contains magic: Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
a book with a one word title: Want by Cindy Pon

The Side Quests:
multiplayer: Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
grind: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
time warp: The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
open world: Shadow and Bone or Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (depending on when I complete this side quest during the month)
respawn: Prodigy by Marie Lu (I'll admit I didn't finish it the first time around, but I'm positive it wasn't because I disliked it... I promise)
expansion: A Dawn Most Wicked by Susan Dennard or Happy Again by Jennifer E. Smith
mini-game: Say I Love You, vol. 7 by Kanae Hazuki
animal companion: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
potions: (to be determined)

I’m hoping that I’ll read a lot more books during this readathon rather than graphic novels, but I’ve thrown in a few to help complete some of the challenges.  I’m planning to go with the rogue route first and then complete another character afterwards.  I’m also really excited to integrate a couple of books from marginalized authors into my TBR, which I’ve starred.  I don’t have a definitive book for every side quest on my TBR - I’m in between a few options for some of them and I don’t have one for open world, which I’m hoping to find along the way:

A book with a one word title: Shutter by Courtney Alameda

A book published by a small press: Vanilla by Billy Merrell*

A book with <500 Goodreads reviews: Ten Dead Comedians by Fred Van Lente

A book cover with a partially obscured face: Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly

A banned book: The Sandman Vol. 2 by Neil Gaiman

Potions: Streaming, Sharing, Stealing: Big Data and the Future of Entertainment, Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang or My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Multiplayer: Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh*

Grind: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Time warp: Warcross by Marie Lu*

Mini-game: Doom Patrol Vol. 1: Brick by Brick by Gerard Way or Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu*

Respawn: Radiance by Catherynne Valente

Animal companion: Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Expansion: No Good Deed by Goldy Moldavsky or Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Waiting on Wednesday (78)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu
Series: DC Icons #2
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/Superheroes
Page Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2, 2018

About Batman: Nightwalker (via Goodreads):

Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy. The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list. One by one, the city's elites are being executed as their mansions' security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family's fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he's forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city's most brutal criminals. Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce's only hope. In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.

I figured for my first WoW I'd highlight a book I've been obsessing about forever and can you blame me?!?!  I AM BEYOND EXCITED

BookTube-A-Thon Wrap Up

Hey guys!  During the last week of July, Alexandra and I both decided to tackle the BookTube-A-Thon!  This is a readathon that I’ve participated in for a few years now, and after dragging Alexandra with me I thought we’d talk about our prospective experiences.

The BookTube-A-Thon is hosted once a year by Ariel Bissett, and took place on July 24-July 30.  It’s the largest readathon on Youtube and overall a really fun way to read more during the summer and explore your TBRs and bookshelves.  So without further ado, let’s get started!

So the Biannual Bibliothon took place during the same time, and I tried to be ambitious and complete both readathons. I even had a pool of books to choose from to give my week some variety. But between my summer classes and the two readathons and a bunch of other events I had that week I basically did not complete any of the Biannual Bibliothon challenges :(

when you just wanna read but math is no fun
and e v e r y t h i n g distracts you

And because of said classes, at the end my BookTube-A-Thon basically turned into a 24-Hour readathon.  Thankfully, most of my books overlapped challenges but for the sake of seeing everything clearly I matched only 1 or 2 books to a challenge. I think I was definitely successful this time than my previous attempts, but...well you’ll see why.

1. book with a person on the cover:
- The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
2. hyped book

- One-Punch Man Vol. 1
3. finish a book in one day

- Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1) by Bryan Lee O’Malley
4. finish a book completely outdoors

- Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley
5. read a book about a very different character from you

- William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back (William Shakespeare’s Star Wars #5) by Ian Doescher
- Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2) by Bryan Lee O’Malley
6. read a book you bought because of the cover

- 48% of Starflight by Melissa Landers (It was pretty much half so I consider that a win. But now I'm glad I'm taking a little longer because it's really good!)
7. read seven books

- N/A

Yeah I know a bunch of them were graphic novels, and actually both Scott Pilgrims and Perks were rereads.  I was trying to complete the book-to-movie adaptation challenge for the Biannual Bibliothon, and wanted to redeem my 12-year-old self and watch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. But that didn't happen.

However Perks somehow ends up fitting that one hard challenge every year for the summer readathons, so it’s become almost a tradition to read it every year.  And honestly, I kinda like it. It’s an incredibly touching, moving, and I love rereading it and learning even more little lessons than I had the previous time.

Challenges completed: 5.5/7

While Izzy was calm and collected throughout the
week, this was probably me in the background
panicking about what to read.

So I had been contemplating participating for a while and hadn’t initially planned on doing it, but I last minute changed my mind and decided to participate in BookTubeAThon with Izzy (which is why I didn’t post anything here about it).

Anyway, it happened and I didn’t do terribly? Normally I’m not so good with these things but I did alright all things considered, especially because I was away (and had to rely mostly on ebooks which usually take me forever to read and are usually not my priority TBR) and I didn’t have much time to read during the week. ANYWAY ENOUGH RAMBLING. Let’s go see which challenges I completed, shall we?

1. book with a person on the cover:
- A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau and Joe King
- The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

2. hyped book: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

3. finish a book in one day
- A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau and Joe King
- Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

4. finish a book completely outdoors: N/A

5. read a book about a very different character from you: Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

6. read a book you bought because of the cover: A Reaper of Stone by Mark Gelineau and Joe King

7. read seven books: N/A

Okay, so truth be told, I only read 3 books (as you could probably tell). To be honest, it was more like 2 because A Reaper of Stone was the length of a novella. Don't look at me like that. I tried my best. Okay, fine. I could have tried harder and I am disappointed in myself too. Especially because I didn't even try to squeeze a few more novellas or graphic novels or anything in last minute (and I totally could have because I was back home for the final three days of the readathon...) But hey, I still completed more than half of the challenges!

Challenges completed: 5/7