Tag: action

YA

Review: The Valiant by Lesley Livingston

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Valiant #1

the valiant -lesley livingstonPrincess. Captive. Gladiator.

Fallon is the daughter of a proud Celtic king, the sister of the legendary warrior Sorcha, and the sworn enemy of Julius Caesar.

When Fallon was a child, Caesar’s armies invaded her homeland, and her beloved sister was killed in battle.

Now, on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, Fallon is eager to follow in her sister’s footsteps and earn her place in the fearsome Cantii war band. She never gets the chance.

Fallon is captured and sold to an elite training school for female gladiators—owned by none other than Julius Caesar. In a cruel twist of fate, the man who destroyed Fallon’s family might be her only hope of survival.

Now Fallon must overcome vicious rivalries and deadly fights—in and out of the arena. And perhaps the most dangerous threat of all: her forbidden yet irresistible feelings for Cai, a young Roman soldier.

4 Drink Me Potions

I’ve loved this author since day 1 with her first published YA work on fairies and Shakespearean works. Likewise, Lesley Livingston’s latest series starting with The Valiant is a sight to behold with kickass female characters and an intriguing plot set in historical times.

Gladiators. What’s more to love about that? Well. Other than the fact that this book features FEMALE gladiators. Strong. Cunning. And lethal.

I liked Fallon. She kinda fell into this after the chaos that happened in her home land. But she gave it her all and trained herself as no princess would’ve been expected to know. For that, I admire Livingston’s ability to always write female protagonists that are funny, relatable and easy to like.

But the other thing to absolutely rave about is the wonderful research (with a pinch of imagination) that went into creating the beautiful setting of Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire. I liked how it featured as much Roman accuracy as the author’s imagination for the time period. It felt real enough while still being in the realm of fantasy and mysticism for how much of this really could’ve happened this way. For history buffs, I think you’d be pleased.

HOWEVER. The romance with a Roman soldier working under Caesar really helped tie it together. It wasn’t so much a forbidden love trope (although it still is) but it featured lovely conversations throughout the story that were both fun and added to the level of suspense and intrigue.

The Valiant continues strongly with what Lesley Livingston does best with her stories. Any fan of hers won’t be disappointed with this latest addition to her YA works, and new fans would be in the making as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series, and from her.

Overall Recommendation:

The Valiant features a cast of strong females who may fight in the ring, but redefines the bonds of loyalty. Mysterious and full of intrigue, Lesley Livingston brings another fantasy reimagining set in the historical Roman Empire of action, love and war. Fallon’s discovery of who she can be and the family she can make for herself was a wondrous journey to behold. I hope many others would come to realize just how phenomenal Livingston’s writing can be. This book does not disappoint.

YA

Review: Frostblood by Elly Blake

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Frostblood Saga #1

frostblood -elly blakeThe frost king will burn.

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life.

But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.

Despite her unpredictable abilities, Ruby trains with the rebels and the infuriating—yet irresistible—Arcus, who seems to think of her as nothing more than a weapon. But before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to compete in the king’s tournaments that pit Fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions.

Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her—and from the icy young man she has come to love.

4 Drink Me Potions

Canadian pride shines bright in this review! Frostblood is a debut fantasy that fits right in with others in this genre and is sure to be loved by its loyal fans.

While this book may contain elements that you’ve probably seen from other fantasy novels, that doesn’t necessarily subtract from the story here.

WHAT WAS AWESOME:

–A powerful protagonist who was also likeable

Ruby wasn’t the kinda main character who didn’t know she had powers to begin with. What was wonderful about this particular foundation laid out for her is that we really get to explore the depth and her growing control over the immense power that she did have. She was easily likeable (which is important if I’m reading her POV) as she wasn’t arrogant about her abilities and we may empathize with her as she struggles under the vast discrimination against her for simply being a Fireblood.

–Romantic tensions without a love triangle

Personally, I love a good conflicted coupling who weren’t necessarily friendly to start out with. It prevents the insta-love from happening, but it also gives time for us readers to appreciate their chemistry and how they’d come about feeling this way for each other. This book is amazing with it. And while a love triangle could’ve potentially happened, I’m glad it didn’t as Ruby and Arcus seem well-matched and I’m looking forward to seeing how this relationship develops in book 2.

–An overall growth in Ruby

The bottom line in this book was Ruby’s struggle to control her powers and understand what she was capable of. While this took time and sometimes may have dragged out a bit, it was fun to see it happening in a genre where protagonists just seem to do so well with their “super abilities” (once they know they have some).

Additionally, what intrigued me most was her struggle with her own inner darkness. What it meant to take someone’s life. What it meant to finally have power over someone else. What revenge tasted like after being discriminated for so long. These things I think leave room for a lot of potential storylines in the series.

 

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED:

–Uniqueness

Yes, I will admit that this book sometimes felt like it fit in too well with the genre as maybe you’d feel like you’ve read this book before from a mashup of a ton of other fantasies. It may not be for everyone if you’re a diehard fantasy fan and you wanna be constantly surprised and have unexpected twists in your stories.

That being said, I think for a debut novel Elly Blake has done very well in creating this world and the mythology of gods that go with it. I’m sure more surprising things will come out of the foundations she’s laid in books 2 and 3.

–The amount of things in the plot

I wish the plot had a bit more substance to it sometimes. It was fast-paced enough (I finished this one straight through in a day!) but now that I’ve had time to sit on this for a while, I’m not sure a whole lot happens that the synopsis doesn’t already cover.

Ruby gets discovered and thrown into jail. Ruby meets people who want to train her in her powers. Ruby gets caught again and is made to fight for the king’s entertainment.

While this simplifies things by a lot, it still is somewhat true. As a debut, I can understand but I hope book 2 features more than what I already expected from reading the front flap.

Overall Recommendation:

Frostblood demonstrates what’s great about YA fantasy with a protagonist who can be powerful yet is still remarkably relatable with her moments of doubt and need for further growth. Being both fun in the romance department and gritty with Ruby’s personal development, I think this book offers something fantasy fans can really enjoy. Elly Blake is someone to watch out for in YA literature.

YA

Review: This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Starbound #2

this shattered world -amie kaufman & meagan spoonerThe second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet’s rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn’s blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

3.5 Drink Me Potions

This Shattered World continues the epic story weaving of an intergalactic conspiracy with a new strong pair of protagonists. Fairly fast-paced and steeped in underlying romantic tensions, this book would easily please most non-picky readers.

There were many things that went right for this book, which isn’t surprising due to the huge success and popularity of this series. Maybe it was just my high expectations, but there still was just something missing that prevented it from hitting the highest rating. However, the breakdown of likes and dislikes about this book clearly favour an overall favourable impression.

LIKES:

-Strong protagonists ~
Flynn wasn’t just your ordinary cliched male lead. He may have been thrusted into the rebel side of Avon’s war, but sometimes it seemed that he had more empathy for the other side (aka the military on his planet) than the military did for his family of Avon-born citizens. He was the heart of the pairing, while Jubilee “Lee” Chase was the brain. She was by all means a soldier through and through, but I was delighted in seeing how she became more than simply that over time. Her POV was fun to follow and piecing together the fragments of her past kept things intriguing.

-The thrill of a star-crossed romance ~
I don’t know about you, but making the romance seem so much more difficult is always a fun trope in a story. In the beginning it seemed so hard to imagine how these two could ever fall for each other. I liked how it progressed, not being all “OMG, I’m like SOOO attracted to you after just literally meeting you”, but at the same time, it could’ve developed a little faster with a bit more heat. (SEE BELOW)

-Seamless cameos from previous characters ~
For the kind of series where each book features a new cast of protagonists, it’s always exciting to see old and well-loved characters coming back in the new book. We get more than a little cameo of Tarver from book 1 These Broken Stars and a slight feature from Lilac. I was pleasantly surprised by how much “screen time” they were given, and it was a good amount in my opinion. It was enough to satisfy previous fans of theirs to see how they’re doing after the events of their book, but it didn’t take away from what was going on with Flynn and Lee.

-Good pacing of the plot ~
It lagged here and there but the plot did move along well enough. There was always something happening either on the warfront between the military and the rebels, or the secrets Avon carried that our protagonists were investigating. I don’t think this book suffered any Middle Book Syndrome at all, and definitely added details to the war against LaRoux Industries found out in book 1.

DISLIKES:

-Not enough ramping up of their romance ~
I get that the story had so much more to it than just the developing romance between Lee and Flynn. However, it just sometimes felt like it took a backseat to everything. I wanted to feel excited for them, and occasionally it stirred my heart at their few and far between moments, but overall it just lacked a certain spark. At most there was a lot of romantic tensions underlying their actions – which makes sense given they’re enemies – but I just wasn’t so satisfied with this.

-Maybe not enough info on the main plot of this series ~
As mentioned above, there were certain things that added to the overall knowledge about the conspiracy occurring. I may just be picky but I had hoped for a little more than what happened nearer to the end of the book. Most of the plot really focused on the fight on Avon and less on what was started in book 1. I suppose that means book 3 is gonna have a lot of things to wrap up on (hopefully).

Aside from being picky, This Shattered World could easily please many people as it had a lot going for it. I look forward to book 3, no matter what negatives I had to say about this book.

Overall Recommendation:
Kaufman and Spooner have done it again, creating another interesting book in their futuristic world. While featuring two strong protagonists and a fairly fast plot, a sizzling forbidden romance fell between the cracks a little as the other pieces of the story took precedence. Overall, the book does add to the mysteries discovered in book 1, but clearly they are saving up the juicier bits for the conclusion. It’s worth the read as we hurtle a little further towards what would hopefully be a dynamic end to this series.