by Kay | Jun 30, 2010 | Reviews |
Blood Soup by Kelly A. Harmon
Amazon / EternalPress / Goodreads
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Pages: 69
Received for review from the author
Summary: A tale of murder, betrayal and comeuppance.
King Theodicar of Borgund needed an heir. When his wife, Queen Piacenza, became pregnant, he’d hoped for a boy. His wife, along with her nurse, Salvagia, had other plans. With each cast of the runes, Salvagia’s trusted divination tools yielded the same message: “A girl child must rule or the kingdom will fall to ruin.” As such, the women were convinced that the child would be a girl.
When the queen finally gives birth, the nurse and the king are equally surprised. The king is faced with a terrible choice, and his decision will determine the fate of his kingdom. Will he choose wisely, or will he doom Borgund to ruin?
Thoughts: Blood Soup is an absorbing novella of sinister high fantasy.
Writing a good novella is no easy task. Authors have to establish characters, location and develop a plot in a very short peroid of time – and to top it all off, they have to make you care. It’s no easy feat! Honestly, some authors just can’t pull it off. But Kelly Harmon? She can.
Blood Soup starts out bloody and brutal – pretty much framing the tone of the morbidly magical kingdom. I loved the setting, plot and the social commentary. I was also seriously impressed by Harmon’s ability to create full 3D characters in the span of only a few sentences. Blood Soup spans decades and half a dozen POVs, but didn’t feel rushed. All the joy of a full-length novel in under an hour.
I only wish Blood Soup had been written as a full-length novel! A few of the characters – Fabrizia in particular – I would have loved to have read more about. I will certainly get my hands on whatever work Harmon comes out with next.
by Kay | Jun 3, 2010 | Reviews |
Betrayals by Lilith St. Crow
Series: Strange Angels #2
Published by Quercus Books, Razorbill
Pages: 308
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating:
Also in this series: Strange AngelsPoor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she’s just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn’t entirely human. (So what else is new?)
Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England School for other teens like her, and there’s a big problem— she’s the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn’t be so bad, but Dru’s killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide. . .
Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust — and maybe even her heart?
Thoughts: I have such mixed feelings about the Strange Angels series. Don’t get me wrong, I love the books. Dru is probably the most depressing teenager ever, but her stubbornness and strength are really inspiring. I love how she is still grieving her father’s death from the first book – and her mother’s death as a child. I love the universe, filled with werewolves, dhampirs and vampires constantly at each other’s throats.
St. Crow’s universe is violent and gothic, and utterly immersive. I read this book in a single day – I just couldn’t put it down. We learn so much more about the dangers Dru is facing – from enemies she didn’t even know she had. We also find out a lot more about her troubling new powers, how Graves is dealing with his new transformation and we get a bit of Christophe’s fascinating background.
But I have some trouble with the love triangle. When it comes to the whole Graves/Dru/Christophe thing, I have a feeling that I’m on the losing side of the love triangle a.k.a. the “I don’t want to see Dru with either of them” side.
Okay, sure, if I had to choose: Team Christophe all the way. But that’s because I find him hot – seriously hot – and not because I think he is right for Dru. As for Graves, I really have trouble seeing him as anything more than just a friend. A totally awesome friend, but just a friend.
Unfortunately the non-epic romance and the shortage of Christophe meant Betrayals lost the edge that Strange Angels had. Nevertheless, I can’t wait to read Jealousy (which has an epically terrible cover) and hope to get some bloody answers in it!
Bottom line? Filled with supernatural violence, a grieving teen, and a serious ammount of political intrigue – Betrayals is a great book. And hopefully you’ll find yourself choosing sides in the romance – I’m sure the book is more enjoyable when you aren’t trying to fasten a chastity belt onto the heroine.
by Kay | Apr 30, 2010 | Reviews |
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #1
Published by Gollancz
Pages: 310
Genres: Dystopian YA, Young Adult
Source: Purchased myself
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Rating: In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future - between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?
Thoughts: The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a beautiful, terrifying book. I completely understand why people are so enamoured with Carrie Ryan’s writing! It is elegant, poetic and well, frankly, gorgeous. This book swallowed me whole and didn’t let go until I’d finished the whole thing.
The world Ryan creates is simply terrifying. Actually, the entire book is one long nightmare. It is a cross between The Handmaid’s Tale (by Margaret Atwood) and The Village (film by M. Night Shyamalan) – only with zombies. Scary stuff, especially for a wimp like me!
Unfortunately I was unable to relate to any of the main characters in this book. I didn’t actively dislike any of them, but I did often felt their personal dramas were an annoying distraction from the action. The romantic triangle in the book had a lot of tell-no-show aspects – referencing feelings from before the book began. It was disappointing, but probably for the best – true love can’t last long during a zombie apocalypse!
Bottom Line? The Forest of Hands and Teeth haunting book. I’d recommend it to older teens and adults – especially those who don’t pick up “genre” books. Ryan has a way of making a book about zombies into a book about everything but zombies.
by Kay | Apr 17, 2010 | Reviews |
Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk
Series: Allie Beckstrom #1
Published by Ace/Roc, Berkley UK
Pages: 368
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased myself
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Also in this series: Magic in the BloodUsing magic means it uses you back, and every spell exacts a price from its user. But some people get out of it by Offloading the cost of magic onto an innocent. Then it’s Allison Beckstrom’s job to identify the spell-caster. Allie would rather live a hand-to-mouth existence than accept the family fortune—and the strings that come with it. But when she finds a boy dying from a magical Offload that has her father’s signature all over it, Allie is thrown back into his world of black magic. And the forces she calls on in her quest for the truth will make her capable of things that some will do anything to control...
Thoughts: In Magic to the Bone, Devon Monk has created a unique, magical world filled with mysteries I have a feeling will take books to sort out. Plot literally pours out of this book; I feel as though Monk knows her universe inside out and is already laying groundwork for books long to come. Seriously, this woman can plot like nobody’s business.
Although I am usually a character-driven reader, it was the plot twists-and-turns that kept me up all night. I tried to put it aside for a few hours – and then actually came home early because I needed more! Monk used a few great techniques that had me turning pages at break-neck speed: for example, she switched over to a mystery!POV every few chapters giving us just a bit more information than our narrator. Usually that drives me up the wall, but instead I was reading on tenterhooks trying to work out what was going on! Really great stuff.
My only complaint is with the characters. While I liked Allie and Zayvion just fine, I wasn’t too in love with them. Allie wasn’t always the brightest – not to mention that for someone so poor, she took an awful lot of taxis – while Zayvion… well, we never got know him. And their romantic tension was… lacking. You know that twisting feeling you get when your favourite couple finally kiss? Or the way you just want to clutch your chest and jump off a bridge because they just aren’t getting that they are friggin’ soulmates? Well, I get that a lot – even in books I don’t really like. But I got none of that in Magic to the Bone. There were some scenes that I knew were supposed to be heart-wrenching – but left me rather apathetic.
Still, this was a really good first book. I certainly plan on get the next book in the series, Magic in the Blood, and I am hoping that I learn to love Allie as much as I love the verse!
Bottom line? Magic to the Bone is a solid addition to the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance shelves. If you are looking for a brilliant universe with plot-twists that will keep you up all night, look no further!
I read this for the Battle Royale New Author Mini-Challenge – Team Deadline Dames!
by Kay | Mar 4, 2010 | Reviews |
Fallen (Fallen, Book 1) by Lauren Kate
Bookdepository / Amazon US / Amazon UK
Librarything / Goodreads
Rating: 3.5 stars
Pages: 452
Summary: Seventeen-Year-Old Luce is a new student at Sword & Cross, an unwelcoming boarding/reform school in Savannah, Georgia. Luce’s boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances, and now she carries the guilt over his death with her as she navigates the unfriendly halls at Sword & Cross, where every student seems to have an unpleasant—even evil—history.
It’s only when she sees Daniel, a gorgeous fellow student, that Luce feels there’s a reason to be here—though she doesn’t know what it is. And Daniel’s frosty cold demeanor toward her? It’s really a protective device that he’s used again . . . and again. For Daniel is a fallen angel, doomed to fall in love with the same girl every 17 years . . . and watch her die. And Luce is a fellow immortal, cursed to be reincarnated again and again as a mortal girl who has no idea of who she really is.
Thoughts: Although I did enjoy this book, there were certain things that made it feel like a debut novel. Mostly, the pacing. I loved the slow-building tension, and the foreboding environment of the first 3/4 of the novel. But then we are given our climax in a few chapters. It felt a bit rushed.
However, I did enjoy our protagonist Luce (yay for another vegetarian teen star!) and never grew tired of her narration. The secondary characters were also complete gems – you could sense at every introduction that there was a fascinating back story to each.
But as for the romance, I found our main love interest Daniel rather dull. His relationship with Luce is all based on past events that we never got a chance to explore. Luce loves him because… well, she just does. His competition Cam, on the other hand, I found far more appealing – even after the final climax. I am hopeful that he will still be in the running for Luce’s affection in the next book.
Bottom line? If you are looking for some grey and gothic romance, this is the book for you. I very nearly loved it, but was let down in the finale. However, this series has real potential, and I look forward to the next book.
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