Tag: action

YA

Review: Defy by Sara B. Larson

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Defy #1

defy -sara b larsonA lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and heart-racing romance.

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king’s army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince’s guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can’t prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect?

3.5 Drink Me Potions

Defy instills themes that remind me of great pieces of YA fantasy such as Graceling by Kristin Cashore and The Study series by Maria V. Snyder. With a premise that starts off sounding like the classic Mulan tale, I was rather excited for this book. Who doesn’t love a forbidden romance forming when a girl has to pretend that she’s a guy? Even seems to throw in some of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night ideologies.

I had really wanted to give it at least a 4 star rating, but maybe because of my rather high expectations from the books I compared it to, Defy was a little lacking in the middle with its adventure. Mostly, I felt it lagged a lot as the author didn’t seem to know what to do to make it more exciting after their kidnapping. I was really hoping for more action as well near the end. There was a battle, sure, but it just wasn’t…exciting enough. I was truly hoping that it wouldn’t end so fast or so easily. Like, it pretty much went down the way I would’ve imagined it, so I guess I’m sad about the lack of surprise factor.

As for the romance, it was not so much a love triangle as the synopsis made it sound. I loved the way Larson depicted both guys. It makes it hard to pick which one I might have liked more, as they both care deeply for Alexa and for their country. But I normally hate love triangles so I do appreciate that the protagonist isn’t one of THOSE GIRLS who drags along both guys endlessly just ’cause she has no idea how she feels about either one of them. It gets so tiring and plain exhausting!

Although the story could use so more umph in the action area, I did enjoy the world that Larson built for this series. Evil sorcerers and tyrant kings? Check. Forbidden magic use? Check. All the makings for a fun fantasy novel, albeit not a very original starting point.

The main characters were loveable, but in particular, I really enjoyed Alexa as the protagonist. She’s a fighter, and a good one at that. She doesn’t hold many people close to her because of her secret. Dealing with tragedy while maintaining her duty to the prince as his guard was admirable. I won’t say what kind of tragedy, but it shook her world and to see her try to stay strong on her own 2 feet made me like her all the more. Contrary to what other reviews for Defy might suggest, she really tried to keep up the pretense that she was a guy for a very long time, as this was punishable by being sent to the breeding house or even by death. How so many people figured out she was a girl is still a question I’d like to know the answer to.

So, whether this book met expectations or not, it lands solidly in the YA fantasy genre and has great potential to becoming something akin to Graceling one day.

Overall Recommendation:
Defy was everything I expected, yet still held notes of pure emotion for me. Comparably similar to Mulan and Graceling, this debut novel starts off the series with simple world building and great characters. Alexa was a wonderful protagonist, strong and capable yet vulnerable and lonely due to the secret she bears as the prince’s guard. Filled with romance and the truths of friendship and family, Defy is worth checking into, even though a little more action would’ve picked up the pace a bit.

YA

Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Bloodlines #5

silver shadows -richelle meadSydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.

4 Drink Me Potions

Continuing with the alternating POVs between Sydney and Adrian like the previous novel, The Fiery Heart, the stakes are raised in this fifth installment, Silver Shadows. Sydney’s been captured and is trapped in re-education, far from the reach of Adrian and his love.

I particularly loved this book because both Adrian and Sydney are doing such different things between them. So I was really impatient to read both their parts to see what they were up to next, whether it be about Sydney’s attempts at escape or Adrian’s attempts to find her while fighting off the temptations of his vices. Both POVs were deliciously exciting and fast-paced, which wasn’t often the case when it came to some of the previous books in the Bloodlines series.

Re-education and its threatening implications were present since book 1, so to finally see it become reality for Sydney was intriguing indeed. To my greater surprise, there was something beyond the humiliation of solitary isolation and confinement. It was like a school, with teachers and other “students” that had to be re-educated. The highs and lows of this school environment felt similarly to any school environment, with antagonism from other students and particularly cruel teachers. And of course, the excitement rises with the dangers of trying to find a route of escape with or without Adrian’s help. But practicing human magic is as great of a transgression as being intimate with a vampire. Uh oh, Sydney.

As for Adrian, I loved his part almost as much as Sydney’s. He loved her, and without her love balancing him, he let spirit control him, falling back into all the old temptations and vices that used to hurt him. I’m glad one of the old vices he didn’t fall back into was girls, as I was terrified that he’d be so out of it or feeling so hopeless he would give up staying true to his one love. However, I should’ve known better than to fear, but it was interesting to see him fall to his very lowest point and then pick himself back up in order to find his beloved.

With lots of action as Adrian and some of our other favourite friends from Palm Springs, like Eddie and Marcus, race to find Sydney’s location, and the crazy antics of Sydney’s as she does her best to hold onto her love for her Moroi and dhampir friends, I must say, Silver Shadows had the best plot line of them all. Plus, a wonderfully cute ending that was as surprising as it was perfect.

Overall Recommendation:
Taking place pretty much from where the previous book stopped, Sydney finds herself trapped in re-education, trying to figure out a way to send Adrian a message to rescue her. Meanwhile, Adrian’s battling his own inner demons as he struggles to hold onto hope in finding his love as time continues to pass without any results. With such an exciting premise, Silver Shadows was a fast-paced and truly enjoyable read that propelled me through its alternating POVs as fast as I could. And to top it all off, Mead added the perfect ending that satisfied both the romantic in me as well as left room for bigger problems to be solved in the last book of the Bloodlines series. This book really surpassed some of its predecessors, and is most definitely recommended.

YA

Review: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Bloodlines #3

the indigo spell -richelle meadSydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. Alchemists protect vampire secrets – and human lives.

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she struggles to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do.

Then she finally tracks down the elusive, enigmatic Marcus Finch – a former Alchemist who the organization denies exists, and who lives in shadows, on the run. With Marcus’s help, Sydney realizes that the group she’s been loyal to her whole life has been hiding the truth from her. Is it possible that her golden lily tattoo might have more power over her than she thinks?

As she struggles to come to terms with what that might mean, Sydney is compelled to use her magical powers to track down an evil magic user who is targeting powerful young witches. Using magic goes against everything she always thought she believed, but she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her special blood – or else she might be next.

Forging her own way is harder than Sydney ever dreamed. Maybe by turning off her brain – and following her heart – she’ll be able to finally figure out where she belongs.

3 Drink Me Potions

The Indigo Spell diverted from the crazy plots of book 2, The Golden Lily, and had gone into a totally different direction. Boy, does our protagonist Sydney have a lot going on in her life.

1) She totally went against her Alchemist beliefs and has started practicing magic with her witch/history teacher
2) Adrian Ivashkov, aka vampire Moroi, has declared his love from afar for her
3) Some psycho witch is out to get other strong witches, and that road points towards Sydney as well, ’cause you know, she’s got to be a powerful witch on top of excelling at everything else she does
Oh and 4)? She’s found rogue ex-Alchemist Marcus Finch, and now there may be a ton of Alchemist conspiracies and cover-ups she’s questioning

Can things get any crazier? Apparently not. I think. Let’s just set aside the idea of tracking down the vampire hunters, aka the deluded Warriors of Light, for another time because this book is filled with tons of things other than that. Not that I blame Sydney, ’cause that’s already a lot of things to do at the same time.

For once, this 3rd book departs from spending a ton of time with all of the gang that’s been isolated at Palm Springs. Thank goodness for that too, because to be honest, that Eddie and Angeline romance thing freaks me out a little. Can I just shake Jill and tell her to claim her man before it gets even weirder? Please, Jill, just go confess to Eddie. It’s driving me insane! Anyway, that’s most of what goes on with them, although I do miss their banter at times. But like I repeatedly said, there are TONS more crazier things to deal with.

There are A LOT of Adrian and Sydney times though, much to my delight. After what went down at the end of The Golden Lily, I was intrigued to see how Sydney could get over her Alchemist beliefs. Might be helpful considering she’s hanging out with ex-Alchemists and shoved into Adrian’s path at every which way. I love their chemistry and the patience Adrian has with her. Out of all the characters, the two of them have grown the most so far. There are so many different facets that Richelle Mead has shown in Adrian here. Sure, he’s still that witty and charming young guy who flirts with girls and with trouble. But he’s also sensitive and loving and romantic.

If that was considered character development, I don’t know how to describe Sydney’s almost 360 degree change. She’s someone so tangibly real to me. Maybe it’s because we share a love of knowledge, though I must say, she takes it to the way, WAY extreme than most academics I know. Her growing attraction to Adrian isn’t something she can deny and it was deliciously fun to see her breakdown to his charms and patient love for her.

Amongst the romantic scenes, there are also the dangerous, action scenes. From witch chasing and warning young girls from getting their life sucked out of them (literally) to breaking all the rules she’s grown up with to do something for Marcus, there’s plenty of things to satisfy just about anyone. Who said any good romance story couldn’t also contain an equal amount of excellent butt-kicking action? Once again, no true closure for any of the plots that were laid out here, but I think I’ve resigned myself to wait for some epic conclusion in the last installment. Better not disappoint me, Richelle Mead!

Overall Recommendation:
The Indigo Spell is no disappointment. In fact, it adds onto the already big list of crazy things that’s going on in Sydney Sage’s life. With plenty more action and danger coming her way, Sydney is forced to be with Adrian at nearly every turn, which makes it harder for her to deny the attraction that is there between them. Although missing the ever-present interaction of her dear vampire friends, the banter and excitement of what Sydney and Adrian are attempting to do with a witch hunt more than makes up for it. Here’s to another chapter of the Bloodlines series that continually makes for a good read.