Three Dark Crowns

Three Dark Crowns by Kendra Blake

Honestly, I found this in a department store. The cover art was so compelling, and I was a little too intrigued by the back of it, I just grabbed it. It's been a bit of a confusing journey.

An amazon summary to give you a little more details about what I'm talking about, "New York Times Bestseller * New York Public Library Best Book of 2016 * Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016 * Kirkus Best Book of the Year

Fans of acclaimed author Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood will devour Three Dark Crowns, a dark and inventive fantasy about three sisters who must fight to the death to become queen. And don't miss the highly anticipated sequel, One Dark Throne!

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

Be sure to catch the stunning sequel to this New York Times bestseller, One Dark Throne." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This is book one in a trilogy. I have to keep that in mind...because reasons.

So, there is an island somewhere that has magic. There seems to be three kinds of magic, the poisoners, the naturalists, and the elementals. There are a few other magics mentioned, but we don't see any people with these magics? They're more like the stories from old to serve as warnings to the current generation. The elementals control the elements (SURPRISE???), the poisoners are immune to poison and kind of like to eat it or something, and the naturalists are able to talk to animals and have familiars that live as long as they do.

So magic. The island is ruled by a Queen. The queen bears triplets (because magic); when they come of age, they essentially fight to the death until only one remains standing, and then they are the new queen of the island. Once the queen has born the triplets, she's finally allowed to leave the island. Until then, she's stuck there because MAGIC. There is a goddess of the island who seems to set some rules, but as most goddess's, she's not really present? Not a speaking character, kind of like the voice behind the curtain effect. The goddess does have priestesses though, who seem to be working towards her will? But the priestesses also have a lot of weirdness going on? It's a bit complicated.

SO ANYWAYS. Mirabella (elemental), Katharine (poisoner), and Arsinoe (naturalist) are the current triplets who are coming of age. They were raised in the black cottage until age 6 together, before being split into the capital cities of each magic (elemental/poisoner/naturalist). This book primarily shows who each woman is as they come of age, and are trying to control their powers. They know they must kill their sisters in order to live, but that is very, very hard. I mean, killing people in general is hard but to know when you come of age you have to murder your sisters? OUCH. PLUS, the island people completely go along with it, and are like, "This isn't weird, this is how it's always been, it's the goddess's will," and keep letting the triplets duke it out for the queendom because you know MAGIC.

The story is told from each sister's perspective in rotating chapters, and it's also in third person. It was a pretty slow start, but the last part of the book more than makes up for it. I'm excited to read book 2, but I'm really hoping there are some things explained. The book overall does have a darker tone to it, but I think that's going to be pushed even darker in book 2.

I found some of the side characters to be very flat and didn't add much of anything to the story? But other side characters were AWESOME. I also want more explanation of how the island interacts with the outside, but we'll see.

Happy reading!

The Call

The Call by Peader O'Guilin

This is a little bit of an unusual book as it blends folklore, horror, fantasy, and coming of age themes into one magnificent, suspense filled book.

An amazon summary, "THREE MINUTES

You wake up alone in a horrible land. A horn sounds. The Call has begun.
TWO MINUTES
The Sidhe are close. They're the most beautiful and terrible people you've ever seen. And they've seen you.
ONE MINUTE
Nessa will be Called soon. No one thinks she has any chance to survive. But she's determined to prove them wrong.
TIME'S UP
Could you survive the Call?
A genre-changing blend of fantasy, horror, and folkore, The Call won't ever leave your mind from the moment you choose to answer it." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

During your adolescence, the Sidhe may call you. You have to live for 24 hours on their island, the Grey Land, which is 3 minutes our time. Your best bet is to run. The Sidhe only want to kill you/punish you as your ancestors trapped them on this island.

You may choose to be put to sleep for the duration of your adolescence, or attend survival school where they will train you on everything they know about the Grey Land, and best ways to survive. The survival rate is still pretty low, but it is gradually getting a tiny bit better. Most still end up dead.

In the very beginning of the book, someone receives the Call on a bus Nessa (our main character) is on. They immediately stop the bus and wait the three minutes to see if this stranger comes back. They always do come back, but it will most likely be a mutilated corpse. This time is no different. The stranger has come back with mini antlers.

Nessa was born with a twisted leg, she is automatically at a disadvantage to survive, but she is hell bent on living. Each aspect of her life is constantly controlled by the best ways to survive, she does every bit of training, reads all there is to know about the Grey Lands, for when her Call comes, she wants to live.

That's enough summary.

I really loved the world building of this book, and the narration is in third person omniscient, so it can jump around to the different characters and also get inside their head. I loved the progress of what we learn about the Sidhe, why they were trapped, and what the Call is really all about.

The character growth of Nessa felt very authentic because you got a true sense of what the world was like, how the cards were stacked against her, and her sense of determination to LIVE despite all of that.

However, it was REALLY dark and took a very hard look at humanity. There was also a lot of blood, gore, and unflinching brutal honesty about what was going on. It's kind of hard to avoid any of that when the Sidhe are murdering children. Normally, I have a hard time reading books that are just gruesome, because they don't usually serve any kind of point. I didn't have any difficulty reading this book though. Sure, there were some times I flinched a little or kind of physically moved away from the book as if that would distance me from the gruesome scene I just read, but it was never bad enough that I put down the book and walked away.

Happy reading!

Imprudence

Imprudence by Gail Carriger

HELLO. I've returned once more to tell you that I freaking adore books by Gail Carriger. It's a theme. NOT SORRY.

I've previously read & blogged about these books by Carriger:
THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE
ETIQUETTE & ESPIONAGE
CURTSIES & CONSPIRACIES
WAISTCOATS & WEAPONRY

And, the book before this one in the series, PRUDENCE. 

Admittedly, my review of Prudence was a little lackluster, probably because I've loved all of these books so much, that I just become a babbling mess in real life when I talk about them.

I will say, there is a lot of world building down in the The Parasol Protectorate series that is important. However, I read Etiquette & Espionage first, and I was well introduced to the world. I think you could pick up the first book in this series and be totally fine? I would recommend reading ALL of her books, because they're just amazing.

Here's an amazon summary, "Rue and the crew of the Spotted Custard return from India with revelations that shake the foundations of England's scientific community. Queen Victoria is not amused, the vampires are tetchy, and something is wrong with the local werewolf pack. To top it all off, Rue's best friend Primrose keeps getting engaged to the most unacceptable military types. 
Rue has family problems as well. Her vampire father is angry, her werewolf father is crazy, and her obstreperous mother is both. Worst of all, Rue's beginning to suspect what they really are... is frightened." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

To do a super quick recap of book 1; Rue is the daughter of a Soulless and a Werewolf, which makes her a metanatural; she can touch other immortals and borrow their power. The immortal turns mortal for the interim. More supernaturals have been found, and Rue is developing a romance of sorts with a certain French engineer on board. SUPER QUICK recap.

Imprudence begins with all three of Rue's parents keeping a secret from her. Determined to find answers, she sets off with her crew to Egypt. ...and then I'm going to be super disappointing again about these summaries. There's just so much wit, humor, and adventure all peppered with fashion. It's pretty much fantastic.

I thought a lot of the characters were thoughtful and well portrayed.......except for Rue & Quensel's relationship. It felt forced and like it had lost of the charm it kind of held in the first book.

However, I still really liked it. It was another fantastic, puffy adventure.

Happy reading!

A Court of Mist and Fury

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

This book is the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses which I reviewed HERE. This review WILL MOST DEFINITELY contain spoilers for A Court of Thorns and Roses, so if you don't want anything spoiled, do not read this review.

There are definitely scenes of sex and violence throughout this story, and symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. If you don't like reading about those aspects of humanity, I would suggest skipping this book.

An amazon summary, "Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court--but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms--and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future--and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

At the end of A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre has defeated Amarantha's challenges, the curse is broken, Feyre had her necked snapped...and the high lords each gave a kernel of their power to her to save her life. This also turned Feyre into an immortal High Fae.

Feyre has returned to the spring court and is being swept away into a 'wholesome' fantasy where she's to become Tamlin's wife and basically start pumping out children. A high priestess has come to stay with them and help Feyre basically become Tamlin's wife.  Feyre isn't 100% sold on this idea, but it's what Tamlin wants, so she goes along with it. She's also dealing with a crap ton of post traumatic stress which manifests itself as nightmares, vomiting, avoiding rooms with certain colors, and she's entirely lost interest in painting. Tamlin also constantly has guards around Feyre, she's not allowed to help with the rebuilding process, and she can barely go out onto the spring court grounds without Lucien or a sizable escort.

The day of their wedding comes, and Feyre finds herself walking down the aisle, pleading with someone, something, to just make this all stop and to take her away. Tamlin reaches for her, and Feyre is taking a step back, saying no in her head. ...then Rhysand shows up. Remember their deal from under the mountain? Rhysand gets Feyre one week every month; he has not cashed in on their bargain in the last few months, but has decided to in this moment.

Feyre goes to the night court. She is treated very well and begins to learn how to read/write a little better. She practices her mental shields to better guard herself against High Fae before she returns to the Spring Court. Feyre has also started to show signs of abilities she inherited from the High Lords when they revived her. She spends another three weeks with Tamlin, before she is taken back to the night court again. When she returns to the Spring Court, she and Tamlin have a fight, and Tamlin ends up sealing her inside the manor. Feyre has a panic attack and ends up wrapping herself up in night, she's rescued by Mor (from the night court) and brought back to the night court.

....that's enough summary.

I love this book. This book has become my story to reread on rainy days and I absolutely adore it. The topics covered, characterization, world building, flow of plot, and how this book keeps building to more in the series is just fantastic. I would highly, highly recommend this book.

This book definitely picks up where the first book left off, and full speed runs ahead into the over-arcing plot of the series. I can't say how much I loved it, because I'll undoubtedly start ruining things about the ending because oh my gosh that ending. There's definitely a book three.

Happy reading!

Glass Sword

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

This is the second book in a series, I reviewed the first one, Red Queen, HERE.

If you don't want anything spoiled for Red Queen, I would highly recommend not reading this review.

Props to this book series for sticking to the blood covered crown theme for the book covers instead of beheaded women.

Here's the amazon summary so you have time to think about it, "The electrifying second installment in the Red Queen series has all the drama, intrigue, and steamy romance that made it a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Mare Barrow's blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

Perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series, Glass Sword is the high-stakes follow up to the #1 New York Times bestselling Red Queen." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Recap of book 1 ending, in the briefest way. Maven's mother orchestrated Cal to behead his Father on camera, paving the way for Maven to take the throne. Mare has escaped the madness of the Silver court with Cal, and retreated to the Scarlet Guard to hopefully find the other newbloods. There is hope that Cal's uncle is still alive, but that remains to be seen. It's important that in the first book, Cal's uncle has given the list of reds with unusual blood to Mare; they are most likely reds with powers, aka newbloods.

Book 2 begins with the Scarlet Guard escorting Cal and Mare to a safe haven of sorts, and I'm going to over summarize this for my sake. Mare's family is safe, Kilorn is safe, and through a series of mishaps, Mare has convinced Farley to go out looking for the newbloods despite other people in the Scarlet Guard NOT being on board with the plan. They bring Cal along, who the Scarlet Guard had locked away...and they also kind of locked Mare away too. By kind of, I mean at one point they were both trapped in a room of silent stone.

So there's that.

There's also crazy King Maven who can't really undo the world knowing that a red has powers (Mare) and has been scrambling like mad to do damage control. While also publicly grieving for his father that he helped murder. And attempting to run the country with the aid of his manipulating mother... yeah, I think I got everything on the Maven plate. Maven, because he was part of the Scarlet Guard as a ruse in book 1 and ultimately used their plans for his own gain, knows about the list given to Mare. Maven has also started hunting newbloods....but literally. If he gets there first, he usually leaves bodies in his wake as he thwarts Mare and her team. Sometimes Mare wins, sometimes Maven wins.

This has also opened a whole cast of new powers, but again, I'm not seeing any sort of original powers. I'm going to chalk that up to my rabid consumption of superhero comics, but it's still like, C'MON! Make someone do something that hasn't been done before! It's like a weird Marvel, DC Universe, and even random TV shows like Heroes set of powers. ...but again, I know this is probably just because I've been kind of hyper exposed to those stories/powers. ...so that's me. ANYWAYS.

Let's talk about Mare. So in book 1, I read her as a survivalist character. Literally, doing anything in her power to survive, then trying to protect her family, and then trying to protect other people. Mare definitely came first though. I could get behind that. In book 2, I just kind of really wanted Mare to get over herself. WHICH, is pretty much impossible when you have an exiled prince fighting with you for your cause, and the King dogging after you, leaving weird, creepy stalker messages on dead bodies. Complete sidenote: I find it wonderfully weird and kind of ironic that both brother's are flame manipulators. Hehehe....hehehe. I know they explained that the females powers are recessive, but like whatever. Mare is the 'first' red with powers, why couldn't one of the brothers be the first male with their mother's powers? I digress. Anyways. I take issue with how much Mare constantly puts on herself to always 'do the thing' (no spoilers) when she really DOES NOT FREAKING HAVE TO. She seems to have this weird complex of, "Well, the world knows me as the face of reds with powers. CLEARLY, I SHOULD LEAD THE PEOPLE" she says with no experience in leadership or really forming coherent plans that didn't only involve saving one person (book 1 sass). The Scarlet Guard definitely had more of a dramatic eye roll to her attitude....so then Mare left to put herself into a leadership position to save the newbloods...because she holds herself responsible for Maven's involvement with the Scarlet Guard in book 1 and that's the only reason he ever found out about the list Cal's uncle created or something... AND THEN. She's in this weird place where she's like, "I don't really love Cal, I just NEED to be around him. He's the only one who understands me! I also miss Maven! But was that really Maven, or just the mask Maven was putting on? Who is the boy beneath the mask? I loved the caring and vulnerable boy, but who is he now!?" and then she gets a case of the vapors. Mare, has for the most part (in case this rant wasn't enough of a hint), has really tried to go full throttle into useless prop of a narrator land. I will give her credit that she does constantly try to do her best, but she just doesn't really seem to learn from any of her mistakes.

Does anyone else find it weird how much technology exists in this world, but there is still such a rigid caste system? The more technology that keeps cropping up and being hinted at, the more I really question how the Silvers have managed to have such oppressive power for so long. Eh. I guess it makes for a most interesting story now.

With ALL of this being said, I'm going to read book 3. There's definitely enough interesting things going on as far as world building, political plot, even just action scenes that I can make it through another book.

Happy reading!

These Vicious Masks

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker, Kelly Zekas

I really just want to get to the amazon summary so I can tell you it's kind of wrong.

An amazon summary, "Jane Austen meets X-Men in this thrilling Victorian adventure full of magic and mysticism, perfect for anyone who loves a confident, rebellious heroine, snappy dialogue, and a hint of romance.
England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they're not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true―and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads, These Vicious Masks is an action-packed, genre-bending novel by debut authors Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

Jane Austen meets X-men? Really? I can see Jane Austen if you're going for the Victorian era, and I can see if you're going with X-men if you mean people with powers... but Jane Austen themes are wildly different from These Vicious Masks and X-men has a lot more going on in the sense of mutants not being able to blend in with the general populace. None of the characters in this series have any issues in blending in.

....so anyways.....

Evelyn and Rose attend a ball, where they converse with the dashing Mr. Kent. They are called away to see a patient (both sisters are healers; well Rose is, Evelyn just kind of helps out). They see the patient and bump into Sebastian Braddock who is seeking their help. He believes they have healing powers. The sisters laugh him off, but there's also a strange man at the ball, kind of creeping about. The next morning, Rose is gone with a note about running away left in her stead. Evelyn knows it's rubbish, but her parents are not having anything to do with finding Rose for they'll be ruined if it gets out. So Evelyn sets off to find Rose and seeks the help of Mr. Kent. Sebastian is still seeking the healing powers of the sisters, and joins the quest to find Rose after Evelyn sees one patient for him.

And that's enough summary.

So what's brilliant about this book is Evelyn is not immediately swept into the dazzle of maybe powers DO exist, and falling in love with the nearest attractive gentlemen; she wants to find her sister. She's convinced Rose was kidnapped and she will stop at nothing to rescue her. Evelyn's kind of a badass in her own right. She will not give up, despite many, many setbacks she faces.

The plot and pacing unfolded very well, so there wasn't a moment I was impatiently waiting for the next thing to happen. The book is also filled with a great cast of characters that deliver on plenty of snark, banter, throwing the societal normal out the window (a particularly unapologetic Mr. Kent and brothels), and well, powers.

It's not X-men or Jane Austen, but it's still pretty great.

Happy reading!