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young adult

reviews October 3, 2020

Firefrost by Camille Longley

Firefrost: A Flameskin Chronicles Novel (Flameskin Chronicles #0) by Camille Longley

She’s a huntress: Sol d’Hillerod is sent on a desperate mission through a treacherous winter pass. She carries with her the only hope of her village’s survival, and she will do whatever she must to keep her world from burning.

He’s a monster: Lieutenant Kelan Birke has spent his whole life fighting for his freedom and his soul. As his control slips, and the war rages on, he knows it won’t be long before he loses himself entirely to the fire that flows through his veins.

Sol and Kelan are enemies in an age-old war, forced to depend on each other to survive a perilous journey through the mountains. As fire melts the ice in Sol’s heart, she questions everything she’s been taught to believe, and Kelan becomes more desperate to fight the flames that consume him. Together they discover that their struggle will have repercussions for both sides of this burning war. (publisher)

Flameskins have this fire “spirit” thing inside them called pyra and when they grow up it consumes them and takes over. They are feared, hated and persecuted for it. Flameskins and a kingdom called Tokken has been at war for a long time. Sol, a Tokken huntress, and Kelan, a flameskin soldier, end up travelling together and things happen.

I really liked the idea of flameskins and how pyra just takes control pretty much turns them into a demon. We get the story from both sides as every other chapter is from Sol’s pov and every other is from Kelan’s pov. The plot revolves mostly around Sol and Kelan and their relationship from enemies to lovers. I liked Kelan instantly and I did like Sol, but she was so hung up on her ideals at first.

My complaints are that there was little of world-building. We didn’t really learn about like the cultures and people in it. Sold and Kelan are most of the book alone in the mountains but still. But apparently, this is a prequel to the actual series, and I hope the world-building gets better in that. And I would have liked less focus on romance and more focus on world-building.

That being said, I didn’t want to put the book down because I wanted to know what happens next. So that’s a good thing. A great debut book.

4/5

Published: BooksGoSocial (September 21, 2020)
Format: ebook
Source: Netgalley

reviews September 7, 2017

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic 3) by V.E. Schwab

Witness the fate of beloved heroes – and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED…
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell – once assumed to be the last surviving Antari – begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace – but never common – thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay. (Goodreads)

The book starts soon after where the previous book A Gathering of Shadows ended. A powerful enemy from another London moves to Red London. Kell, Lila, Alucard and Holland team up to beat this magical thing that thinks it’s a god.

We learn more about Holland and Alucard through flash backs and I loved learning how Holland came to be who he is. Alucard started slowly growing on me. As did Lila, kind of at least. She’s still too arrogant and reckless but bit less than before. I didn’t want to hit her all the time so that’s progress… Rhy has grown up and become more ready to be a king. Kell has learned that he still has a lot to learn about magic. I was hoping we would have learned more about his past and it was so close.

I don’t know what more to say. I can’t believe the series ends here! I thought this was a good ending but there were some loose ends that I keep hoping that someday there will be more books.

4/5

Published: Titan Books (February 21, 2017)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 666
Source: Library

reviews August 28, 2015

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

shadow scaleShadow Scale (Seraphina 2) by Rachel Hartman

As Seraphina travels the Southlands in search of the other half-breeds to help in the war effort, the dragon General Comonot and his Loyalists fight against the upstart Old Guard, with the fate of Goredd and the other human countries hanging in the balance. (Goodreads)

Oh dear, I don’t know what to say here… Because I loved the first book and I almost didn’t finish this one. So yeah, I’m disappointed…

It was just so boring. Seraphina leaves the castle to find other half-dragons. She meets new half-dragon, there’s drama, she meets another one, there’s more drama and so on.

We barely see Kiggs, the love interest of our heroine, and even less of her uncle Orma. We see very little of the people from the first book and instead there’s lot of new half-dragons.

Then there’s Jannoula who’s the main villain of the book. And the sad fact is that this is more Jannoula’s book than Seraphina’s. Jannoula is manipulator and good strategist who has no kindness or remorse. Seraphina is just an observer to these things.

I really wanted to love this but sadly it ended up being a disappointment.

2/5

Published: Random House (March 2015)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 596
Source: library

reviews July 14, 2015

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

allegiantAllegiant (Divergent 3) by Veronica Roth

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent. (back cover)

Why I had to wait so long to read this because I don’t remember what happened in Insurgent any more! Or maybe it was a good thing because I can’t help but to feel disappointed… I loved Divergent and liked Insurgent so I’m just so sad that it ended like this.

In this book we have dual pov between Tris and Tobias/Four. And I can’t believe what I read. Where did this wimpy, whining, insecure mess come from? All Four’s chapters are basically one big whiny fest where he does one bad decision after another. That’s like a another person altogether from Four at Divergent. And apparently Tris can do no wrong in this book which was annoying as well.

We finally see the world outside and I wasn’t impressed. There are no factions but the life still isn’t that different and they still deal with pretty much same problems.

So yeah, disappointed is the word of the day… Maybe if I hadn’t loved Divergent so much this would have been better.

2,5/5

Published: Katherine Tegen Books (October 22, 2013)
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 532
Source: library

reviews June 18, 2015

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

DarkerA Darker Shade of Magic (A Darker Shade of Magic 1) by V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last travelers – magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.
There’s Grey London, without magic and ruled by the mad King George III. Red London- where magic is revered, and where Kell was raised alongside the heir to the empire. White London – where people fight to control the remaining magic and magic fights back. And once there was Black London.

Officially Kell is the Red traveller, carrying letters between the monarchs of each London. Unofficially he is a smuggler, a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences. His escape to Grey London leads to a run-in with Delilah, a cutpurse with lofty aspirations, who forces Kell to take her on a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and an adventure becomes a mission to save all of the worlds. (back cover)

I really liked the idea of different worlds where in all of them there’s London in the same place. All of the worlds have something in common and still are very different.

Kell can travel between the worlds and it’s a rare ability since only two is known to possess it nowdays. He was raised with the royal family but doesn’t feel he belong there but I liked his relationship with his foster brother Rhy, the heir to the throne. Kell doesn’t know who his parents are or anything about his childhood and I hope we learn more about his past in the future. And he has a coat that has many sides depending how he wants to look. How cool is that?

When we first meet Lila I wasn’t too excited. I don’t know, I guess she was too reckless, selfish and caused unnecessary problems which lead to me wanting to shake some sense into her. But she did grow on me and I started to like her more.

This was my first book by the author and I really look forward reading rest of this series!

4/5

Published: Titan Books (2015)
Format: paperback
Pages: 384
Source: library