Tag: Young Adult (Page 86 of 159)

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

March 31, 2016 / Chelsea / 1 Comment

The Demon King (Seven Realms #1)
by Cinda Williams Chima
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
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.

He called her Briar Rose, he said, because of her beauty. And her many thorns.

It’s not often that I find a YA fantasy series that enraptures me the way this one did. It’s no secret that I am very picky when it comes to reading these, as well. Needless to say, I’ve been side-eyeing this series for FOREVER, yet I have never taken the plunge. I’ve mentioned it to a couple of my closest friends and have felt there was something special about it for a long while. So why not leap right in then? I don’t know…because I’m stupid???

There comes a time when my cautious nature and blurred lines cause a lot of missed opportunities, and this one is by far one of the greatest. Had my great friend, Jen, not bought me this for my birthday (among many others, sigh, spoiled), it might have even been another year before I even considered it again. I go through phases, ya know? So, anyway, here comes my husband’s family vacation and I know I will likely have time to basque in the glory that is no drowsiness from work. Whatever should I read, I thought? Well, this one was on my list. My only mistake (besides having to listen to people incessantly talking in my ear 24/7 whilst I tried to cram read)? Saving this one for the end of the week.

Or was that a gift in disguise? It’s also no secret that I found another series I absolutely fucking adored from the minute I picked it up, enrapturing me for 90% of the trip, and for that I can’t say I made many mistakes. However, I do regret only having a couple days, in the end, of Han time. Because I waited, though, here I am getting to post a more coherent review than any of my poor Nevermore books did, and that breaks my heart, because there will never be enough time in my life to go back and re-write all those mini-reviews. I do plan to add quotes to them ALL, though, so be warned *pointy finger emoji*.

ANYWAY, my time is winding down even as I dawdle on meaningless chit chat. All I really wanted to portray in this review for my great friends is this: This story was addicting beyond words, creative beyond measure, and Han will steal your heart before you even realize the little thief has weaseled his way into your soul-He has an uncanny knack for such things. And, hey, even better, he hasn’t even fully developed into the hero I know (and hear, from a little snake/Dark Pup) he will become. I can’t even WAIT for book three and four (YES, I AM DONE WITH BOOK TWO).

He was not the sort to try and reconcile the warring souls that lived inside his body. There was Han Alister, son and big brother, breadwinner, deal-maker, and small-time conniver. There was Hunts Alone, who’d been adopted by Marisa Pines and wished he could melt into the clans for good. And finally, Cuffs, petty criminal and street fighter, onetime streetlord of the Ragger gang and enemy of the Southies. From day to day he slid out of one skin and pulled on another. No wonder it was hard to sort out who he was.

So why only four, you ask, while I wrap up this pitiful mini-review? I can’t be sure other than the fact that maybe I wanted a little more, in the end. For a fantasy, I found this book was not boring, but, in fact, unputdownable. From the beginning I was captured in it’s alluring web with no way out, and Han was nipping at my heels, making my heart beat faster than I could have possibly expected. But then, at the end (and maybe I was tired), I wanted more as the last 20% began to unwind. Oh yeah-I’m saving that last star for the last two books. Let’s hope they impress me in ways I can’t fathom, at this point.

Peril? Oh boy, this series is guna have it in spades.
Romance? I CAN’T EVEN.
World? What’s not to love?

I dunno. This isn’t what I wanted for ANY of my reviews in the last week, but at least this one got some more from me than just ‘oh my GAWD, I can’t even.’ *shrugs*

****************************** This. Book. Was. Excellent ! I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am that I loved this…I’ve been eyeing it for years and finally my lovely Jen took fate out of my hands and got it for me for my birthday…THANK YOU, LOVELY!!!! I ADORED this. HANNNNNNNNN.!!!! Onto book two…so frikkin’ excited I read this on my vacation. 😀 RTC! *fingers crossed* hopefully…

BOOK REVIEW: Oblivion (Nevermore #3) by Kelly Creagh

March 30, 2016 / Chelsea / 4 Comments

Oblivion (Nevermore #3)
by Kelly Creagh
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
This electrifying conclusion to the Nevermore trilogy takes one last trip to the dream world of Edgar Allan Poe to reveal the intertwined fates of Isobel and Varen.

The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? —Edgar Allan Poe

The fine line between life and death blurred long ago for Isobel Lanley. After a deadly confrontation with Varen in the dreamworld, she’s terrified to return to that desolate and dangerous place. But when her nightmares resume, bleeding into reality, she is left with no choice. Varen’s darkness is catching up to her. To everything. Threatening to devour it all.

Isobel fears for her world. For her sanity and Varen’s—especially after a fresh and devastating loss. To make matters worse, the ghostly demon Lilith wants Varen for her own, and she will do anything to keep him in her grasp—anything.

Can Isobel ever find her happy ending? Worlds collide and fates are sealed in this breathtaking finale to the Nevermore trilogy.

*VACATION REVIEW*

“Paper girl,” he whispered, and she flinched when he touched her cheek, “in a paper play.” She placed her trembling hand on his sleeve, but no sooner did she touch him than her fingers disintegrated, flaking away to nothing in the same way the false versions of herself had. Isobel tried to speak, but she felt her throat cave in. His lips came close to hers, almost touching. “I thought I wrote you out,” he whispered.

I can’t even.

“She wants you,” he hissed. One of his arms looped her waist, and the Noc pulled her snug against him. “But then, “ he added, pressing his cold lips to her ear, “don’t we all?”

Epic. Beautiful. Heart-wrenching. Perfection. This series is just so addicting…I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. And this final books was everything the first book was and more. Everything I could ask for. Peril. Devastation. Heart-stopping romance.

Reliving her demise over and over, seeing her image all around him, frozen in the form of these cold, unfeeling monuments locked in eternal sleep-this had become his fate in this horrendous realm. His existence. This was his darkness. His hell.

I could go on and on…but I’ve been ranting about it all week already..and I could rant until next Sunday. I cannot wait to add quotes when I get home. I’m so obsessed. Just UGH.

“Item number two,” he said as he lifted his arms out to either side, “you should know that, as far as we can-the boy and I, that is-as much as we allow ourselves-“ “Don’t.” Isobel broke into a run. “We really do-“ “Pinfeathers, stop!” she yelled. “-love you.”

I can’t.

BOOK REVIEW: Enshadowed (Nevermore #2) by Kelly Creagh

March 28, 2016 / Chelsea / 3 Comments

Enshadowed (Nevermore #2)
by Kelly Creagh
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
True love takes a twisted turn in the second book of this modern gothic romance trilogy channeling the dark brilliance of Edgar Allan Poe.

Varen Nethers is trapped in a perilous dreamworld—a treacherous and desolate realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. Isobel Lanley, plagued by strange visions and haunted by the nightmares of Varen's creation, is the only one who can save him.
Isobel knows that her only hope lies within a Baltimore cemetery. There, in the early morning of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, a mysterious stranger known as the "Poe Toaster" will make his annual homage at the legendary poet's grave.
Only the Poe Toaster holds the key to the way between worlds. But great dangers lie ahead for Isobel. An ancient evil, draped in veils of white, is watching, challenging her for Varen's affections. When Isobel finally finds Varen, he is no longer the quiet and brooding boy who once captivated her, but a dark force, powerful and malevolent.
Could Isobel's greatest love also be her greatest adversary?

*VACATION REVIEW*

I keep telling myself That you’re just a girl. Another leaf blown across my path Destined to pass on And shrivel into yourself Like all the others. Yet despite my venom You refuse to wither Or fade. You remain golden throughout, And in your gaze I am left to wonder if it is me alone Who feels the fall.

Ahhhhhh this author is killing meeeee!! Why why whyyyyy do these things keep ending this way??? And the dreams…so damn terrifying. Though, I can’t help but to love every minute of this mix of dream and reality, never knowing where Isobel is and what she needs to do to save Varen.

All the attention made her feel so small, so helpless, like she’d somehow reverted to being five years old again. Only now her parents couldn’t tell her that nightmares weren’t real. Because she knew better.

And Varen…what a lost, poor, tortured soul-His story is a sad and desperate one. One where no matter how hard Isobel tries, he sinks lower and lower, slipping farther from her grasp. I am so beyond invested in this story that it’s sickening. Consuming my every thought on vacation, including on the beach, I am lost within this story just as Varen and Isobel are. Lord help me. I don’t think I can handle this lol.

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4) by Cinda Williams Chima

March 26, 2016 / Anna

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4)
by Cinda Williams Chima
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
(...)

A simple, devastating truth concealed by a thousand-year-old lie at last comes to light in this stunning conclusion to the Seven Realms series.

✨ Spoiler free for the whole series ✨

LOOK OUT, FANTASY WRITERS! SEE THIS BOOK?

*pushes The Crimson Crown in your hands*

SEE THIS?

LOOK AT IT! JUST LOOK AT IT!

This is how you end a series : BLOODY. FABULOUS.

WHY? WHAT DO WE READERS WANT?

Alright. I can think of some things :

1) WE ARE OUT FOR BLOOD. SO. We need IN YOUR FACE! moments with the villains and all those who annoyed the hell out of us. Yes, this is MUCH needed. Nothing’s worst than anticlimactic confrontations. Give us GIDDINESS.

2) If you want to give us a romance, PLEASE SLOW DOWN, because the butterflies, here? They would never have had the same impact if not for the wait. My ship made me suffer along the way, but it paid up x1000.

3) NO NEED FOR CARDBOARD PEOPLE. Give us fleshed-out and interesting secondary characters – some we love to hate and other we’d defend with our *fictional* life.

4) We also need EPIC ENDINGS. No Mockingjay “I don’t know if my ship really sailed or what”. No dull as hell temporizing like In The Afterlight (I know, I gave it 5 stars at the time… I wouldn’t now, honestly). The last book should always be the BEST of the series. If you want 600 pages of great battles, though, look elsewhere. This is not what it is about and I’m so glad it isn’t. Alright, it is fairly predictable, but again, I. Don’t. Care. Any book that manages to engross me like this deserves its 5 stars. Now, maybe I’m bewitched, and many readers will argue that nothing really happens and … you know what? Perhaps that’s just the point. It is not so easy to bewitch me, if I dare say.

5) Last but not least, you wouldn’t want us to be disappointed in our main characters now would you? Take 3 stereotypes and call it a hero? Use idiotic misunderstandings to drive them through a painful joke of character development? NOPE. You do NOT want this. Try this instead : give us flawed characters in whom we can believe. Now make them grow. Then again. Then again. Now perhaps, if you’re lucky, you’ll have Raisa and Han – I just freaking LOVE them. Here are characters who know what that means to have a backbone.

Of course The Crimson Crown passed all these tests with flying colors.

Damn, I’m exhausted, I just know that a huge book hangover is coming, but it was so worth it.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson

March 25, 2016 / Anna

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1)
by Rae Carson
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

All in all incredibly underwhelming and somewhat both idiotic and infuriating. Trust me, I would love to tell you that my distaste only revolves around personal matters – as a strong case of “it’s not the book but me”, let’s say – but in all honesty, I really don’t think that and the problems I had with The Girl of Fire and Thorns were way too numerous to be left ignored.

“You must not lose faith, child. No matter what. Do not doubt God or his choosing of you. He knows infinitely more than we can imagine.”

The Girl of Fire and Thorns can be considered as fast-paced, if you don’t mind following characters you don’t care about ← I do mind. You know what I also mind? When quantity prevails over quality. Hé, sure, I cannot deny how action-packed the story is but I’d rather read about few in-depth plot points than a succession of superficial twists, because you know what? Wandering around (even in an active fashion) is plain boring all the same. Had the characters stand still for more than 5 pages, perhaps I would have been able to start feeling something. Sadly I didn’t.

Many of my friends loved this book, and because I am naturally trustful (alright, maybe not), I kept reading when I wanted to DNF the hell out of it around 40%. Did it pay off? Huh, not really. Although the plot does pick up in the last 30%, the way events take place stays way too convenient and simple for my liking.

Not to mention that the writing was terrible, and by that I don’t mean grammatical mistakes (there are none that I noticed) – No, I mean that everything was told to me and never ever shown.

True story : My favorite character is a 5 years-old boy whose appearance doesn’t last more than 5 pages. Huh-oh, I may have a problem here. Truth be told, none of these characters were rage-inducing. Nah. They were too busy wandering around, bland and flat as fuck.

First of all, I’m not sure how Elisa avoided to be called on her Mary Sue status. Is it because she’s fat and YA books tend to consider overweight as a synonym of ugly? The girl is God chosen, for crying out loud. Oh, she tells us that she’s useless, but then she tells us so many things, I LOST COUNT. Really, though? She gives war advices that get everyone happy, does wonders with children – she even spreads martyr vibes at some point (but on that aspect she improves, woot!).

I didn’t hate Elisa, because I didn’t care enough to do so, but it doesn’t mean that I liked the way her characterization was handled.

In my opinion, she conveys a disturbing and infuriating portray of overweight. Look, at first I was really happy to finally see a YA heroine who isn’t strikingly beautiful, skinny, and white. So much wasted potential unfortunately. A book isn’t body positive when the MC’s growth is linked to her lost of weight and when fatness is only seen in a negative light (God forbid that a fat girl be beautiful – yes, there is a pun in there).

You gotta love pig metaphors, really.

“… as if I am a juicy pig roast garnished with pepper sauce”

Seriously. What’s up with that? Did I miss a memo? Is it considered as normal and healthy that an overweight MC – one of the only ones I met in YA – constantly self-depreciates herself? Is repeating all over again that she isn’t worthy and beautiful because she’s not thin serves some purpose I somehow didn’t grasp?

Does she ever realize that her weight – past and present – doesn’t begin to define who she is? No, and really, how could she, when the plot never lets any room for that? I do realize that self-loathing can be linked to appearances, especially during the teenage years. I just wish that this important issue had been dealt with more complexity and depth, because as it is, I cannot condone it.

Then come the male-leads. Oh my GOSH what is it with these guys?

Who the fuck is Lord Hector? His entire characterization is built around the twisting of his moustache. I KID YOU NOT.

I won’t bother talking about the weak husband View Spoiler ». Oh, oops, I just did.

Do not fear, though! Just wait and meet Humberto, the smiling, puppy-like desert man who never convinced me enough to care.

THESE ARE NOT PEOPLE.

To be fair, I did enjoy Cosmé and Ximena when they were present, but I still feel as if Rae Carson only scratched the surface of their personalities, unfortunately.

And do not get me started about these painted-faced enemies we know nothing about. As a rule, all the villains are plain EVIL, without any nuances. BO-RING.

More generally, I found two ways of dividing the whole set of characters :
Way #1 : The Fat vs. The Beautiful
Way #2 : Those who like Elisa vs. Those who don’t like Elisa

This is the extend of characterization as far as I’m concerned, and I have yet to see some dynamics in there (at this point, I’m not even asking for chemistry).

Again, a fail. Let’s talk about the religious stuff, okay? I saw many readers stating that it wasn’t Christian at all (but then why not name the god something else, and why make it seem like a Bible parable, and why add some martyr vibes, I wonder), and I’m ready to acknowledge the fact that I have literally no patience for praying and sentences like “god knows all” in my books. Granted, it irks me something fierce in Fantasy, but let’s not take my personal taste into account, okay?

Let’s forget that I had to suffer from entire paragraphs like this :

“My soul glorifies God; let rejoice in my Savior
For he has been mindful of his humble servant
Blessed am I among generations
For he lifted me from the dying world
Yea, with his righteous right hand he lifted me
He has redeemed his people, given them new life abundant
My soul glorifies God; let it rejoice in my Savior.”

(for full disclosure, I have to point that they’re in church at this moment, and this is not the MC talking, but a priest)

Let’s also not mention the constant praying, okay? It still bothers me very much. Why, you ask? Because it may be one of the LAZIEST magical system I’ve ever read about. What the fuck is this shit, really? So she prays and the God Gemstone in her belly-button helps her …. Sometimes?

REALLY?! RANDOM MUCH?! I can’t believe how easy and idiotic it makes the plot. No explanation needed – because GOD. Pl-ease. Give me a break.

▶ Sigh. I could go on and on and on, it would remain that I’m in the almost non-existent minority on this one, and sad to be. In all honesty, I know that I can enjoy YA Fantasy, even tropey – I recently read and loved the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. The Girl of Fire and Thorns doesn’t compare anywhere near the still predictable The Demon King. And I’m not even talking about the awesomeness of The Lumatere Chronicles.