Category: Z-Old Users (Page 19 of 50)

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

March 9, 2016 / Anna

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1)
by Cinda Williams Chima
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for his family. The only thing of value he has is something he can't sell—the thick silver cuffs he's worn since birth. They're clearly magicked—as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.

One day, Han and his clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to keep him from using it against them. Soon Han learns that the amulet has an evil history—it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Marianna, princess heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of freedom in the mountains—riding, hunting, and working the famous clan markets. Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea—the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has other plans for her...

The Seven Realms tremble when the lives of Hans and Raisa collide, fanning the flames of the smoldering war between clans and wizards.

Here went my night.

Yes, you read correctly. Despite my reading slump that drove me to DNF more books that I’m comfortable with yesterday, despite today being my last day of vacations and as usual busy as hell, despite the objective flaws of The Demon King, I couldn’t stop reading for the life of me, and closed my reader at 6am pretty exhausted.

Worst is, I’m fighting the urge to start The Exiled Queen right now, and I can count on the finger of one hand the number of times it happened with a YA Fantasy series.

I hated Red Queen.
I thought I would die of boredom in A Court of Thorns and Roses.
I didn’t care one way or another about The Young Elites, and I quickly lost my interest in Shadow and Bone.
Don’t even mention the borefest that was The Kiss of Deception.
I loved the Lumatere Chronicles, but we’re talking about Melina Marchetta, and The Demon King sure can’t compare with it one second.

And yet, despite my issues, I enjoyed my read like nobody’s business.

First of all, I ended liking the main characters even though they’re far from perfect – or perhaps because of it. See, when it comes to series that go on for 4 books, I genuinely think that flaws are needed in order to picture a believable growth, especially when we meet the characters at 16.

Raisa, the somewhat selfish princess, shows the best of intentions but sometimes fails to think things through before acting, resulting in several illed-thought-out decisions that border on TSLT behavior. She’s immature, annoying, and I understand why some readers had a hard time standing her. Yet despite being royalty, her issues – feeling trapped and needing to take control on her life – seemed pretty valid to me, and I LOVED the fact that she could kiss several guys without falling in love in a happily ever after fashion right away (please, am I the only one who cringes at teenager’s weddings?). You go girl. I just cannot wait to see her grow into a character I can admire, and I have a feeling that I will.

Han‘s past as a street lord made me roll my eyes a little, because COME ON NOW, the guy’s sixteen for crying out loud! That’s how life rolls in the mountain city of Fellsmarch, though, so I chose to suspend my disbelief and accept it because sometimes, you just have to. I genuinely liked his free and impulsive personality and if he comes as a little whiny sometimes, you have to recognize that the guy needs a break! Oh, well. I’m not sure why, but I liked the guy.

#SorryNotSorry

Both of them make mistakes, and you’re likely to fight the urge to strangle them at some point, but I cared nonetheless, for better or for worst. Moreover, after all this build-up, the anticipation to see them interact together is killing me. There, I said it.

As for the plot, many readers complained that nothing really happened in this book and that’s true that it reads more like a big introduction to the world of the Seven Realms than anything else. Yet again, I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn’t stop reading, so there’s that. Not to mention that I guessed all the twists, because if you read Fantasy before, you just cannot help. Did it bother me? In all honestly, no. That’s what I call the good kind of predictable, because every time a guess was confirmed, I was glad it was. The Demon King is full of Fantasy tropes, but it stays clear of girl hate and instalove, and then I was able to enjoy the hell out of it. Don’t judge me.

However, my biggest complaint would be the way grief is handled. I don’t know about you, but when characters face awful events, I expect to feel something, and sadly I didn’t. It was Mockingjay all over again, letting me stunned and rather indifferent when I ought to despair.

► All in all, The Demon King was a good introduction to the Seven Realms, and if I can’t recommend it blindly, if you’re not put off by Fantasy tropes and characters who take stupid decisions sometimes, I’d say that you should go for it, because it’s damn entertaining and addictive.

PS. Just so you know… I read the whole series in 4 days, and the books get better and better… until the last one that got 5 stars (reviews coming soon).

BOOK REVIEW – A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab

March 3, 2016 / Anna

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2)
by V.E. Schwab
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
The synopsis for this book giving spoilers for book 1, I won't write it down here^^

*laughs hysterically*

*choking sound*

Why, thank you, Victoria Schwab. Please don’t mind my heart.

No, really. Feel free to crush it. I don’t do holding grudges.

Much.

Truth is, when I started A Gathering of Shadows, one of my best friend asked me if I thought she would like, and strangely, I wasn’t able to answer straight away. Color me surprised. How comes this series holds such a strong grip on me and still I am hesitating when recommending it? I understood, then. These books? They sneak up on you.

There’s honestly not that much action in the first halves of BOTH of them and yet you’re never bored. You’re enchanted, mesmerized like a child reading HP for the first time (YES, I’M GOING THERE), your eyes widening at the sight of this wondrous, original world served by its fascinating and real characters for whom you can’t help but care deeply, including :

✔ a kickass thief who’s giving strong female-lead a new name (that’s Lila, by the way) : Remember my complaints about Feyre in A Court of Thorns and Roses? I expressed how tired I was of the beloved (GAG) pattern implying that the only reason women fought was for their families, as if women couldn’t, for the life of them, be badass for the thrill of it. Lila made a liar of me. Thank you, Lila.

“Delilah Bard had a way of finding trouble.
She’d always thought it was better than letting trouble find her, but floating in the ocean in a two-person skiff with no oars, no view of land, and no real resources save the ropes binding her wrists, she was beginning to reconsider.”

✔ a loyal magician whose doubts and outbursts make you want to both smack and hug him (but mostly, hugs). Eaten by guilt, confused by his sudden thrives for darkness (am I bad to love that part?), in need to adapt to his bond with his brother, so freaking alone and caged, Kell stays one of my favorite characters because he’s flawed and brave and endearing and oh, yes, often wrong. (MY FROWNING BOY!) (in redheads I trust) (←how could I NOT love him now tell me?)

“You could at least pretend to be grateful.”
“And you couldn’t have picked something a little more…I don’t know…imposing?”
“…A bloody handprint?” retorted Rhy. “Oh, what about a glowing black eye?”
Kell glowered.
“You’re right,” continued Rhy, “I should have just drawn a frowning face. But then everyone would know it’s you.”

✔ a deceptive Captain who may or may not be a pirate (how’s this for awesome?). Okay, okay, I have to admit that he made me narrow my eyes several times at first. What? I come from a loyal bunch (frowning boy, remember?). But in the end, his character added so much wit and fun to the story that he won me. Also, that development? YES YES YES.

“Alucard had shaken his head, exasperated. “The accent of a royal and the sensibilities of a thief.”
But Lila had only smiled. She’d said something very similar once, to Kell. Before she knew he was a royal. And a thief, for that matter.”

✔ a lost prince who’s endlessly trying to keep darkness at bay : Oh Rhy, Rhy, Rhy. I cannot say that I always agreed with his choices, but the complicity between him and Kell – the loyalty – prevents me for holding any grudge (if I was into grudges, that is)

“There was a new restlessness to his motions, a taut energy that mirrored Kell’s. And yet, Rhy’s was different. Manic. Dangerous. His moods were darker and their turn sharper, cutting the span of a second.”

✔ … Oh, and those assholes (you know who I mean) (there’re plenty to choose really)

As for the plot, although I was more than excited to come back into this world, and that Kell and Lila own a special place in my heart, I have to admit that I spent the beginning feeling restless because I longed for them to be together – not necessarily romantically (WHO AM I KIDDING) (THE CHEMISTRY!! GAH!), but really, their interactions? They’re the best, and they both balance each other’s perfectly. Separated, they lose a little bit of their charm in my opinion.

But.

Now that I finished the book, I understand why Victoria Schwab made this choice and the last 40%? Brilliant, exhilarating, and as far as I’m concerned, PERFECTION. There’s something to say about a fantasy plot that stays unpredictable, because trust me, when you read a lot of fantasy, it becomes rarer and rarer.

▶ Give me thrill, give me peril, give me gasps, and I’m the happiest reader of the world.

My heart, though.

BOOK REVIEW – Second Position (District Ballet Company #1) by Katherine Locke

March 2, 2016 / Anna

Second Position (District Ballet Company #1)
by Katherine Locke
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Four years ago, a car accident ended Zedekiah Harrow’s ballet career and sent Philadelphia Ballet principal dancer Alyona Miller spinning toward the breakdown that suspended her own. What they lost on the side of the road that day can never be replaced, and grief is always harshest under a spotlight...

Now twenty-three, Zed teaches music and theatre at a private school in Washington, D.C. and regularly attends AA meetings to keep the pain at bay. Aly has returned to D.C. to live with her mother while trying to recover from the mental and physical breakdown that forced her to take a leave of absence from the ballet world, and her adoring fans.

When Zed and Aly run into each other in a coffee shop, it’s as if no time has passed at all. But without the buffer and escape of dance—and with so much lust, anger and heartbreak hanging between them—their renewed connection will either allow them to build the together they never had... or destroy the fragile recoveries they've only started to make.

I wish I could have stopped crying but alas, I guess that’s what happens when you read such a poignant and beautiful story.

I regret nothing.

▨ I wish I could express how and why I think that Zed and Aly’s journey should be read, but alas, I have this ball of emotions boiling in myself right now and I’m honestly afraid to let it go.

I still welcome all the overwhelming feels because sometimes, you just have to.

▨ I wish I could quote the hell out of this breathtaking and heartbreaking novel but then I would copy/paste the whole thing and alas, copyrights are a bitch.

Also, I really want you to try this book, and we wouldn’t want you to know everything already, would we?

► This is, in my honest opinion, what New Adult should be about. No endless players and perfect girls who slut-shame like nobody’s business. No fabricated drama and decisions that make no sense. No idiotic male-POV that anger me on men’s behalf. No “that’s not gonna fit” roll-eyes-worthy bullshit, either.

▨ I wish more NA novels could stay clear of all this crap and offer us more characters like Aly and Zed, fleshed-out and endearing and realistically flawed. I love them to pieces.

▨ I wish I wouldn’t feel the urge to roll my eyes every time a strong issue is tackled in NA because I’m so tired of magic dicks and the likes.

► And yet, surprising and lyrical gems like this one make me remember – in the best way possible – why I never give up on any genre. Second Position is very character-driven, and is not perfect by any means (the secondary characters could have been more present & layered, and the plot is pretty simple) but I couldn’t care less. The raw emotions, the beautiful writing and our adorable couple outweigh all the little flaws by far.

Thank you, Katherine Locke. With all my heart, thank you.

BOOK REVIEW – The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

February 24, 2016 / Anna

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world...

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years -- a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.

But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of Aladdin from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.

♥ BR with the astounding Chelsea and Jen ♥

“This place is haunted by ghosts, and I am one of them.”

Told in a beautiful and evocative writing enhanced with sparks of humor, The Forbidden Wish surprised me in the best way possible : indeed albeit being quite romance-focused, it manages to avoid the tropes I hate the most in Fantasy/PNR YA :

☑ There’s neither instalove nor love triangle.(*)
☑ The female lead is always sympathetic toward other women and there’s no such thing as girl hate.
☑ Aladdin’s not perfect by any means (more about him later), but one thing is certain : he’s not a controlling, abusing jerk, and if anything his flaws made him endearing to me.

“Wishes have a way of twisting themselves, and there is nothing more dangerous than getting your heart’s desire. The question is, are you willing to gamble? How much are you willing to lose? What are you willing to risk everything for?”

Enchanting, The Forbidden Wish is not an action packed novel, but not a boring one either. As a retelling of Aladdin’s story, we find layers of the original but that does not mean that Jessica Khoury didn’t add her stamp, because she most definitely did. While original events are seen in a complete different way View Spoiler », the twists make the story even more engaging and captivating (and women friendly). If the plot isn’t the most complex I ever read (hardly), I was hooked from the beginning and I enjoyed my read immensely.

Moreover, contrary to what we find in many retellings, the author made her jinni female and let me tell you : it was FANTASTIC. Oh, and funny :

“You’re a- you’re a-
Say it, boy. Demon of fire. Monster of smoke. Devil of sand and ash. Servant of Nardukha, Daughter of Ambadya, the Nameless, the Faceless, the Limitless. Slave of the Lamp. Jinni.
“… a girl! he finishes.
For a second, I can only blink at him, but I recover quickly.”

Ha, Zahra. I loved her. Witty and self-sufficient, she never comes as pretentious and yet, she knows her worth – She’s a jinni, thank you very much, and she actually sounds like one, which is so rare! Brought to life by Aladdin after a looooong traversée du désert (pun intended), she’s ready to grant his wishes but doesn’t forget her own agenda (her freedom, no less!).

However, despite her hidden goal, Zahra has been eaten by guilt for so long that she has doubts, and who wouldn’t? Trust me, this is NOT a case of “his abs convinced me to die for him, because YUM, can I lick them?”. Nope. Her struggles and hesitations are well-founded, and not driven by Aladdin alone. See, I realize more and more that strong heroines, if they never fail, never doubt, never waver, annoy me as much as their manly counterparts. I want strong heroines in my books, but I want them complex and realistic. What’s strength, really? Is it never hesitating? I don’t think so, and honestly, I sure hope not. I could relate to Zahra, and she never annoyed me – she’s not a heartless cyborg, and I liked her all the more for it.

As for Aladdin… I may be biased, but his character made me smile so much that I couldn’t hold his flaws against him. Yes, he is reckless, charming, flirty, but so endearing, loyal, and more than a little adorable. His past haunts him, and there’s a need for revenge starving deep within him. Their personalities, so different as they are, make for the funniest interactions and I absolutely loved how their dynamics played throughout the book.

“What did Caspida want?”
“To talk about elephants and dead queens.”
“What? Really?”
“Oh, stop frowning. She asked about you too – what you’re like, what kind of person you are. Don’t worry.” I pat his hand conspiratorially and smile. “I lied.”

As I said earlier, although the romance owns an important part of the show, it never bothered me (on the contrary) because what we see isn’t a stupid and very tropey instalove but the slow and believable growth of a friendship which perhaps, perhaps, will morph into something more. And trust me, I rooted for them something fierce. So, yeah, I fought the urge to roll my eyes at some cheesy similes, but I never stopped smiling – it does change something!

“We’re in together, aren’t we, Smoky?” He gives me a crooked, bemused smile.
“But… you’re the Lampholder. Whatever you say goes. I don’t have a choice.”
He laughs, and I frown at him in surprise. “You think it’s funny?” I ask.
“No! Sorry. I should probably say how awful it is you have to go wherever I want, but… When I look at you, I see a jinni who’s not afraid to disagree with me. If I make a wish, you could use it to crush me. You’ve done it before, haven’t you? Ruined your masters with their own wishes?”
I lift a shoulder in begrudging agreement.”

Last but not least, Jessica Khoury offers significant roles for other women. Now, this is so fucking rare : not only Zahra never shows any hateful spite against other women, but they play important roles in the story (and roles that aren’t defined by their relationships with men).

That ending, though? I have to admit that it did feel a little rushed and that I wish some parts had played out differently View Spoiler » but it was satisfying nonetheless.

(*) I am sure that some readers will state that there is a love triangle, but for me there’s really not. How many characters love each others? Two. No love triangle in my book.View Spoiler »

BOOK REVIEW – Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman

February 23, 2016 / Anna

Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Joss is a rebel, and a student of time travel at the prestigious Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. This year, for the first time, the Centre has an alien student: Mavkel, from the planet Choria. And Mavkel has chosen Joss, of all people, as his roommate and study partner. Then Mavkel gets sick. Joss quickly realizes that his will to live is draining away. The only way she can help Mavkel is by breaking the Centre’s strictest rules—and that means going back in time to change history.

► Aren’t you tired of YA scifi novels that breed gorgeous aliens as if their intergalactic lives depended on it?

“You,” she said, “are literally the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” – The Alienated disaster

► Aren’t you tired of watching every one of these MCs morphing the book into some love-triangle-ish Human vs Alien ~~macho pissing contest~~ KissWar before your depressed eyes?

► Aren’t you tired of reading nonsensical and cheesy dialogues when you only asked for some novelty?

Then Singing the Dogstar Blues is the book you’re seeking out : well-written, no love-triangle, no whining about boys (or girls, for that matter), no instalove, but friendship and mystery blended in an intriguing concept.

However, this is not an action-packed novel. I warn you, some parts, if not boring, are pretty dull : indeed Singing the Dogstar Blues suffers from an uneven pacing (or, I have a short attention span, because all the reviews I read state how fast-paced it is – color me perplexed at myself). Yet again, I still really much enjoyed following Joss and Mav’s adventures.

Set in a futurist world where aliens – the Chorians – and humans are building an alliance, the Centre, a special school that teaches time-travel, finds itself under the spotlights when Mavkel becomes the first Chorian to attend it and is paired with Joss, a rebellious teenager who’s been trying to avoid being fired – again. All is good in the world? Ugh, no. Try secrets, rivalries and assassins lurking instead. Welcome to the Centre.

Throughout the novel, I grew attached to these characters : first Joss, an independent and strong-minded female-lead who managed to keep my annoyance away (WOOT!) and then Mav, who’s perhaps the cutest alien I ever read about… Never mind the flappy ears, the two mouths and four noses. He’s not cut out for Most Gorgeous Alien of the Year, and that’s what made him so incredibly appealing to me. Lonely after the death of his pair – when you’re used to share a mind with someone, I suppose that being alone covers an entire different feeling – he aims to be paired with Joss, who is, understandably, very much reluctant to fulfill his goals. Their growing friendship (yes, you read correctly, friendship it is) was very interesting to follow and I couldn’t get enough of them (100 more pages would have been perfect, in my opinion).

As for the sci-fi elements, I must say that I was confused in the beginning by the made-up words, but nothing insurmountable as I was hooked right away. The world building was intriguing and not too complex to grasp (this is the no-hard-scifi reader talking), yet there were several occurrences when I seriously wondered what the fuck they were talking about. This said, it didn’t make the plot confusing, because it was usually only a matter of knowing what object they were mentioning. I, for one, can live with that.

Unfortunately, I have to admit that I would have loved for the story to be more developed. Although the premise was great and promising, the novel didn’t quite meet my expectations and the execution failed to take best advantage of it. Take the time-travel, for instance : it is barely explained. See, I am not the kind of reader who needs everything to be scientifically accurate or plausible (because come on, scifi novels ain’t textbooks), but I appreciate when the author makes some kind of effort to explain how the technology used works. If the way everything is showed rather than told is more than welcome (trust me, I cannot finish a scifi book relying on info-dumping), I still feel as if something was missing.

My biggest issue, though? All the “big” reveals were painfully obvious and I saw them coming miles away, resulting in a rather anticlimactic and rushed ending that left me a little disappointed.

► All in all, is it worth reading? Honestly, YA novels which don’t rely on romance are so fucking rare that for this reason alone, I’d say yes. Not to mention that Singing the Dogstar Blues may not be perfect, but it stays thoroughly enjoyable and refreshing.

Category: Z-Old Users (Page 19 of 50)

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Synopsis:

BOOK REVIEW – A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab

Synopsis:

“Delilah Bard had a way of finding trouble.
She’d always thought it was better than letting trouble find her, but floating in the ocean in a two-person skiff with no oars, no view of land, and no real resources save the ropes binding her wrists, she was beginning to reconsider.”

“Alucard had shaken his head, exasperated. “The accent of a royal and the sensibilities of a thief.”
But Lila had only smiled. She’d said something very similar once, to Kell. Before she knew he was a royal. And a thief, for that matter.”

“There was a new restlessness to his motions, a taut energy that mirrored Kell’s. And yet, Rhy’s was different. Manic. Dangerous. His moods were darker and their turn sharper, cutting the span of a second.”

BOOK REVIEW – Second Position (District Ballet Company #1) by Katherine Locke

Synopsis:

BOOK REVIEW – The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Synopsis:

“This place is haunted by ghosts, and I am one of them.”

“Wishes have a way of twisting themselves, and there is nothing more dangerous than getting your heart’s desire. The question is, are you willing to gamble? How much are you willing to lose? What are you willing to risk everything for?”

“You’re a- you’re a-
Say it, boy. Demon of fire. Monster of smoke. Devil of sand and ash. Servant of Nardukha, Daughter of Ambadya, the Nameless, the Faceless, the Limitless. Slave of the Lamp. Jinni.
“… a girl! he finishes.
For a second, I can only blink at him, but I recover quickly.”

“What did Caspida want?”
“To talk about elephants and dead queens.”
“What? Really?”
“Oh, stop frowning. She asked about you too – what you’re like, what kind of person you are. Don’t worry.” I pat his hand conspiratorially and smile. “I lied.”

BOOK REVIEW – Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman

Synopsis:

Follow Us

Enter Email to Subscribe to Posts

Star-Crossed Ladies:

Recent Reviews

Fun Lists About Books

Recommendations

Jen’s Currently Reading

Jen’s Currently Reading

Chelsea’s Currently Reading

Arielle’s Currently Reading

Anna’s Currently Reading

Archives

Follow Us:

Search:

Star-Crossed Ladies

Archives

Recent Reviews

Fun Lists About Books

Instagram

Recommendations

Jen	Chelsea
Arielle	Cassie

Jen	Chelsea
Arielle	Cassie

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima

Synopsis:

BOOK REVIEW – A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab

Synopsis:

“Delilah Bard had a way of finding trouble. She’d always thought it was better than letting trouble find her, but floating in the ocean in a two-person skiff with no oars, no view of land, and no real resources save the ropes binding her wrists, she was beginning to reconsider.”

“Alucard had shaken his head, exasperated. “The accent of a royal and the sensibilities of a thief.” But Lila had only smiled. She’d said something very similar once, to Kell. Before she knew he was a royal. And a thief, for that matter.”

“There was a new restlessness to his motions, a taut energy that mirrored Kell’s. And yet, Rhy’s was different. Manic. Dangerous. His moods were darker and their turn sharper, cutting the span of a second.”

BOOK REVIEW – Second Position (District Ballet Company #1) by Katherine Locke

Synopsis:

BOOK REVIEW – The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

Synopsis:

“This place is haunted by ghosts, and I am one of them.”

“Wishes have a way of twisting themselves, and there is nothing more dangerous than getting your heart’s desire. The question is, are you willing to gamble? How much are you willing to lose? What are you willing to risk everything for?”

“You’re a- you’re a- Say it, boy. Demon of fire. Monster of smoke. Devil of sand and ash. Servant of Nardukha, Daughter of Ambadya, the Nameless, the Faceless, the Limitless. Slave of the Lamp. Jinni. “… a girl! he finishes. For a second, I can only blink at him, but I recover quickly.”

“What did Caspida want?” “To talk about elephants and dead queens.” “What? Really?” “Oh, stop frowning. She asked about you too – what you’re like, what kind of person you are. Don’t worry.” I pat his hand conspiratorially and smile. “I lied.”

BOOK REVIEW – Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman

Synopsis:

Follow Us

Enter Email to Subscribe to Posts

Star-Crossed Ladies:

Recent Reviews

Fun Lists About Books

Recommendations

Jen’s Currently Reading

Jen’s Currently Reading

Chelsea’s Currently Reading

Arielle’s Currently Reading

Anna’s Currently Reading

Archives

Follow Us:

Search:

Star-Crossed Ladies

Archives

Recent Reviews

Fun Lists About Books

Instagram

Recommendations

“Delilah Bard had a way of finding trouble.
She’d always thought it was better than letting trouble find her, but floating in the ocean in a two-person skiff with no oars, no view of land, and no real resources save the ropes binding her wrists, she was beginning to reconsider.”

“Alucard had shaken his head, exasperated. “The accent of a royal and the sensibilities of a thief.”
But Lila had only smiled. She’d said something very similar once, to Kell. Before she knew he was a royal. And a thief, for that matter.”

“You’re a- you’re a-
Say it, boy. Demon of fire. Monster of smoke. Devil of sand and ash. Servant of Nardukha, Daughter of Ambadya, the Nameless, the Faceless, the Limitless. Slave of the Lamp. Jinni.
“… a girl! he finishes.
For a second, I can only blink at him, but I recover quickly.”

“What did Caspida want?”
“To talk about elephants and dead queens.”
“What? Really?”
“Oh, stop frowning. She asked about you too – what you’re like, what kind of person you are. Don’t worry.” I pat his hand conspiratorially and smile. “I lied.”