Tag: fantasy

YA

Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Lone City #1

the jewel -amy ewingThe Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I must say, I had such high hopes for The Jewel. The synopsis was brilliantly intriguing. And the plot line was definitely unique. Come on, our protagonist is a human incubator–I mean, a surrogate for the royalty’s babies. You don’t see that kind of idea popping up everywhere in the YA genre these days.

And that’s about all the genuinely great things I can think of to say about this book.

It was disappointingly slow. It took a long time to even get the Auction started. I mean, I totally get that it’s very important to set the background of this place known as the Lone City.

Oh, and that wasn’t done very well either. World building. So it’s basically broken into 5 rings of society with Violet’s family coming out of the poorest group (of course). And the royalty is broken into 4 founding families with the ruling couple known as the Exetor and Electress. First of all, what’s with those names? Originality, I suppose. Like, I think of circuits whenever I saw the Electress’ name pop up. Not sure if that’s what Ewing was going for.

So the pacing was SLOW as crap. And after reading the whole novel, I look back and think to myself, “What the heck really happened in this book?” . ‘Cause seriously, it’s basically a bunch of gossiping among the royal ladies who brag about their purchased surrogates like they’re freaking furniture or pets they could care less about. Oh, and the odd backstabbing and political scheming. But nothing really EXCITING ever happens. Except maybe about the potential plannings of a rebellion….which is so overdone but at least it’s something beyond gossip, right? I’ll get back to this point later.

Anyway, world building wasn’t great. I still barely know anything about how it all came to be or how the Auction even started. If I thought the history of the Lone City was weird, the idea of Auguries and these “magical powers” that surrogates were born with mystifies me 100 times more.

Being a science person, it’s genuinely confusing. A genetic mutation found ONLY in people from the Marsh (aka the poorest ring of society) gave these girls the ability to become surrogates for the royalty who seemed to be making defective babies as of late. Okay, I can accept that. But uh, a genetic mutation also gave rise to 3 magical properties that could change colours, shapes and growth of things? Is this a fantasy novel or a science fiction story?

This was the randomest thing I’ve read in a long time. Being incubators wasn’t enough, they had to be “magical” too? I guess the story wouldn’t have survived very well if these girls were just “normal”. Harder to overthrow a society, hmm?

And apparently in this society, men are absolute pathetic and weak excuses for human beings. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy having such strong female presence for a change. After all, nearly every character with a personality beyond something equivalent to a boring piece of cardboard was, well, female . Those backstabbing ladies in the royalty. The other surrogates. The Electress, of course. But the men don’t have to be written so….I don’t even have a word for it. Disrespectfully? We don’t really know much about the Exetor beyond the fact that he rules. The Duke of the Lake is definitely the submissive half to the Duchess. Most men, in fact, are described as either frail or desperately drunk at dinners to tune out the schemings of their wives.

What is with this? The only male even worth an inkling of respect is Lucien, an unexpected and only friend of Violet’s in the Jewel. And he’s a lady-in-waiting, so maybe that’s why he appears to be the exception to this. I guess in a world dominated by surrogacy in the royalty, the women are in charge of their own destinies and have more pressure in securing their bloodline. But still. No excuse for not giving many males even the slightest backbone of a personality.

And that , my dear friend, leaves me with our love interest. Ash. I have nothing against him. Nothing at all. He seems like a decent guy who also got wrecked by people from the Jewel. They own him, although not in as obvious a way as how Violet and other surrogates are.

He pops up midway in the novel, and oh my goodness, it’s practically LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. In the weirdest way. Like, Violet, I get you haven’t spent much time with males your own age that aren’t related to you because A) you’re a surrogate and held in some holding facility since you hit puberty and B) you don’t have time to think about your own love life when you’re a surrogate. But HELLO, here’s some fairly attractive guy and BOOM. Instant-love.

Literally. She sees him and all of a sudden, she can’t get him out of her head. Or the itching desire for him to hold her or whatever. It was slightly nauseating to read.

Oh, and if that wasn’t awful enough, Ash fell for her rather fast too. I just couldn’t understand their dying love for each other when I practically did not know Ash all too well myself. Like I said, he popped up midway in The Jewel. We never had the time to get to know him beyond the fact that he was a lonely companion screwed over by the royalty. Like who wasn’t really screwed over by these people at the end of the day? Even the royalty screwed each other over. He wasn’t all that special just for his sad history.

So for the first time in my life, I was VERY excited about everything EXCEPT the romance. I’m a huge romantic, so this is saying a HUGE something.

Sigh. And right when the rebellion, or whispers of the rebellion, was starting to heat up….I flip the page and it ENDS there. With one slightly surprising twist that maybe I should’ve seen earlier, but still. Now I’m gonna have to read book 2 ’cause that was maybe the only highlight for me.

All I can say is, I think The Jewel is gonna be a hit or miss for you. Especially if you hate insta-love romances. This was 100% in that category, and I’d like to think that I’m a sucker for most romances as long as they’re written somewhat decently. You have been warned. Don’t get misled like I did. You’ll just be facing a huge disappointment by the end of it.

Overall Recommendation:
The Jewel presented itself with a unique idea: girls being sold as surrogates to carry babies to full term for the royalty. And in this society, there are political unrest and stirrings of change for the roles of the surrogates. What could’ve been an amazing fantasy novel with a crazy concept just didn’t hold up to the awful insta-love romance and slow pacing of the story. Violet was a decent protagonist with strong powers (I know, these surrogates are also magical?) and may just have what it takes to be the “saviour” for all the other surrogates, but nothing really happens in this first novel beyond a glimpse of an underground rebellion stirring in the Jewel, the heart of the royalty and the wealthy. I wouldn’t recommend this novel unless you may find the synopsis intriguing enough to try it. I don’t hate it enough to not continue the series out of morbid curiosity, but it really is a hit or miss.

YA

Review: Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Reign of Shadows #1

reign of shadows -sophie jordanSeventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

With lush writing and a star–crossed romance, Reign of Shadows is Sophie Jordan at her best.

3.5 Drink Me Potions

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review

**Reign of Shadows comes out February 9, 2016**

You think to yourself, here is a princess in a tower. Isolated in the middle of nowhere. Yearning for freedom. Doesn’t that sound a little familiar?

Uh, Rapunzel, anyone?

But oh no, that is where the only similarities start and stop.

Here is the setting of Reign of Shadows. On the day the princess was born (aka Luna), a deep darkness in the form of an eclipse settled on the land. And stayed there. Permanently.

In the midst of this, the kingdom was overthrown and Luna barely escaped unscathed to her little tower with two guardians. Now, after 17 years of almost total darkness, her world is shaken up by the arrival of….you guessed it. A boy. Or, young man I guess. Fowler’s too manly to be called a boy. At least, I think so from the REALLY detailed descriptions of his strong physique…

This isn’t my first Sophie Jordan book, but the storylines are so different that it almost feels like it is. She is still amazing at weaving together characters that seem real and tangible. Fowler is not a happy guy in the beginning. Being in a dog-eat-dog world, you learn to look out for yourself. Only the selfish survive, as he’d say.

Enter Luna. She’s an absolutely amazing character. I don’t REALLY want to ruin any surprise or anything, but she totally thrives in this world of darkness. She was born into it and therefore never knew what it was like to see with light. Her other senses are magnified which make her more capable in surviving these lands than most other people. I love that she can hold her own. She doesn’t require Fowler to save her everything. In fact, she saved him a couple times. She wasn’t a warrior or anything. Just an average girl who did what she had to for those she cared for. I can connect with her in that sense so much better than some kick-ass heroine, though those girls are great too.

Anyway, the romance and chemistry was almost tangible in the air. It wasn’t insta-love which I appreciated. Fowler was coming from a place where trust wasn’t earned so easily, so it wouldn’t make sense to feel anything too strong immediately. It had to build and grow into friendship and then into something more. Luna was good for him. Being locked in that tower protected her from the nastiness of the world. Yes, that might make her naive to the ugliness that humanity was, but it also made her hope more for a better outcome. And Fowler desperately needed that, in my opinion. Hope and love.

Although I loved the characters (the cast was really limited to those few small essential people), I can’t say the plot wasn’t dragging at times. They travelled. A lot.

Fought some night-adapted creatures called dwellers. And travelled some more. Fought some people more on the desperate and evil side. And, of course – you guessed it – they travelled some more.

So basically, the plot revolved around travelling and journeying towards some distant land for their various reasons, while trying to stay alive in the process from all the particular hazards. In the meantime, they fall in love (yay). That pretty much sums it up.

The world building wasn’t particularly strong in this first novel. It focused a lot on getting to know Luna and Fowler, and only peeking a little into Fowler’s backstory. I have some suspicions about certain elements of his backstory coming back to haunt him…but that may just be my overactive imagination. I am sure book 2 will open up a lot more of what evil darkness lives in the land and how to get rid of it.

The ending was a cliffhanger, and that was the only part where the story was potentially finally changing its course. Kinda sucks that I have to wait a long while before I can understand the hints that Jordan had slipped into Reign of Shadows.

However, this just means that the next novel is bound to get exciting from where this one left off. Hold on tight in this one. It’s a sweet, slow journey in acquainting ourselves with our dear protagonists. I don’t think it was badly prioritized, and I hope you would enjoy it too for what it is. I promise, the action will most definitely escalate later.

Overall Recommendation:
With a very small cast of characters, Reign of Shadows allows us to really get to know and love Luna and Fowler. Luna is a strong character who doesn’t let her “handicap” slow her down. Fowler is that bad boy who doesn’t trust anyone due to some tragic past, but the development of his character was realistic and sweet. Together, their journey towards a better land where there is freedom from danger truly highlights their chemistry, albeit lacking a little in the sense of adventure. All in all, it is a decent start to a series, and the ending hints for greater and more exciting things. At least you don’t have to wait as long as I do for the next installment.

YA

Review: The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Eurona #1

the great hunt -wendy higginsKill the beast. Win the girl.

A strange beast stirs fear in the kingdom of Lochlanach, terrorizing towns with its brutality and hunger. In an act of desperation, a proclamation is sent to all of Eurona—kill the creature and win the ultimate prize: the daughter of King Lochson’s hand in marriage.

Princess Aerity understands her duty to the kingdom though it pains her to imagine marrying a stranger. It would be foolish to set her sights on any particular man in the great hunt, but when a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention, there’s no denying the unspoken lure between them…or his mysterious resentment.

Paxton is not keen on marriage. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He’s determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast and protecting his family—yet Princess Aerity continues to challenge his notions with her unpredictability and charm. But as past secrets collide with present desires, dire choices threaten everything Paxton holds dear.

Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale, “The Singing Bone,” New York Times bestselling author Wendy Higgins delivers a dark fantasy filled with rugged hunters, romantic tension, outlawed magic, and a princess willing to risk all to save her people.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review

**The Great Hunt comes out on March 8, 2016**

I just gobbled this story up as fast as I could. There are so many things to love about The Great Hunt, but mostly it lies with Higgins’ beautiful descriptions of the land of Eurona as well as her amazingly real characters.

The story starts off a little slow, I will admit. From the synopsis, you already know that Princess Aerity’s hand will be given to whoever can kill the beast that has laid waste to the kingdom of Lochlanach. It just takes a long while for the plot to catch up to that point as the setting of the tale doesn’t immediately begin from there. That was where my impatience grew. However, that is the ONLY complaint I have with it.

Here is what made the story come alive to me (and hopefully to you too).

The chills from the very beginning
Right on the first page, the setting is beautifully told. Imagine a nice night out on the docks with your beloved. It’s the perfect place to be together and away from prying eyes. Nothing can destroy this beautiful moment.

But it does.

The roars of a beast, one that no one can fathom with their own eyes as it looks like nothing anyone has ever seen before — or at least, no one survived to tell the tale if they did.

The cries of the couple. The desperation to get away and keep your beloved safe.

The eventual relief that it left you alone. And the unspeakable, bone-chilling horror that the monster has taken from you the greatest thing possible.

I mean, doesn’t that just set the mood? There’s something wild and dangerous out there, and no one’s safe. I could feel the desperation of the royal family, especially the king, as they had to decide on what they could POSSIBLY do to stop such a monstrosity.

And if that wasn’t enough to get your heart racing, the characters may just do you in.

The very personal connection with many characters
First of all, let me tell you. There are absolutely TONS of characters in The Great Hunt. At first, it was hard to track down who was who in the royal family, and what kingdom was what (thank goodness there was some sort of index for that). But it speaks to how 3rd person writing – which is rather rare these days in YA – can sometimes drive an even greater connection between the reader and the characters that live in this world. You don’t always need an “I” in a story to gain that personal touch/perspective.

So having this ability to follow along several key characters’ perspectives and thoughts, it made it easy to empathize and understand their situation, even when other characters couldn’t understand why so-and-so wouldn’t act the way they wanted them to.

Along with connecting with characters, it was a testament of good writing when you can introduce so many different “nationalities” of people from other kingdoms that make up Eurona as they join in on the hunt for the beast. From fierce warrior women (yay! who says only men can fight?) to people I picture as Vikings with their broad chests and long beards, wearing fur-everything. Each group of people were unique, but so were individuals.

In particular, a few characters just held my heart. I don’t normally fangirl much over love interests….but oh my.

Paxton is just. Perfection.

He’s not necessarily a bad boy character. He has his reasons for what he does, which I will allow you to figure out on your own (although it was fairly obvious once you read some key pieces of information earlier in the novel). He loves his younger brother dearly and would do whatever it takes to protect him. He may act indifferent and downright rude at times, but from knowing his perspective, it’s not his fault he chooses to do so. My heartstrings are just yanking at their ends for the unfairness of it all for him.

If I have fallen for him, you can imagine how crazy it is for Aerity as she notices these very things as well. The underlying attraction and tension between the two of them is….I just have no words. It gets hot . Not with too many physical things going on, but I mean, if you were standing there beside those two, you would definitely feel that tension going on. It was palpable. I don’t know how Aerity’s cousin Wyn could stand to be with those two for long without blushing red FOR them.

As for Aerity, she was a decent heroine. She didn’t want to go forward with the marriage deal in exchange for a dead beast. I guess I could understand that. What if an old fart kills the darn thing and she has to marry him and….?

But she braved through it. Kingdom first, after all. Good, Princess.

She loved her siblings and her cousins more than anything. She had that kind spirit and heart for those in need, even for someone as unpleasant as Paxton was.

Wyn’s storyline didn’t convince me as much. I don’t know how other readers will view it, but I prefer her strong and not in need of some man to help her and bring her out of the darkness that was unfortunately dealt to her. Oh, and I might be biased, but I think if there has to be some guy in her life, I’d prefer it to be the good lieutenant Harrison. Just throwing it out there.

There was one person that I don’t particularly like. Or at least, I’m unsure of how to view him. He’s not necessarily bad, but he also holds views that make me want to slap him and tell him he’s not good enough for anyone. And according to Higgins’ website, only crazier things are in store for this character. I hope he dies in book two Let’s just say I’m suspicious of him ’cause I can’t get a good read on his character…

I must say, the ending was not altogether unexpected, but it’s driving me crazy that the wait is that much longer for me. I hope you enjoy the read as I have, and I am impatiently awaiting the next and last installment of this duology.

Overall Recommendation:
Told in third person, Higgins delivers a beautiful tale of sacrifice, love and courage. A great monstrosity is terrorizing the land of Lochlanach and this brings great warriors from far and wide to help defeat it in exchange for Aerity’s hand. With an amazing cast of central characters, especially my dear favourite Paxton, their perspectives and stories draw you in as you dive into their lives and understand what’s at stake for each of them. Full of action and magical intrigue as something darker is looming in the horizon, The Great Hunt is a fantastic read that can put a smile on my face and break my heart at the same time. A definite recommendation.