Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong is the first in a new YA epic fantasy series. It tells the story of Ashyn and Moria, twins who are destined from birth to take on the roles of Seeker and Keeper respectively. In the world of the Sea of Shadows, the dead don’t always rest quietly, and it’s the job of the Keeper and Seeker to keep them under control and to send them to their rest. Ashyn and Moria are new to the role and are inexperienced, and naturally, this is the point at which the dead choose to mount a full scale attack. Their attempt to control and investigate this uprising brings them in contact with the upper echelons of power and all the accompanying politics. I must admit I found this a difficult book to get into. That wasn’t through any fault of the book itself I don’t believe; it just didn’t appeal to me personally. What I liked The relationships. I thought the relationships between Ashyn and Moria and also between the girls and their respective love interests was well written and believable. I did feel invested in the pairings and I am glad that there was no…
Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong is the first in a new YA epic fantasy series. It tells the story of Ashyn and Moria, twins who are destined from birth to take on the roles of Seeker and Keeper respectively. In the world of the Sea of Shadows, the dead don’t always rest quietly, and it’s the job of the Keeper and Seeker to keep them under control and to send them to their rest. Ashyn and Moria are new to the role and are inexperienced, and naturally, this is the point at which the dead choose to mount a full scale attack. Their attempt to control and investigate this uprising brings them in contact with the upper echelons of power and all the accompanying politics. I must admit I found this a difficult book to get into. That wasn’t through any fault of the book itself I don’t believe; it just didn’t appeal to me personally. What I liked The relationships. I thought the relationships between Ashyn and Moria and also between the girls and their respective love interests was well written and believable. I did feel invested in the pairings and I am glad that there was no…
Pawn by Aimee Carter is a YA dystopian novel that tells the story of Kitty Doe a young woman whose similarity in looks to the niece of the Prime Minister catapults her into a dangerous game of politics. I absolutely loved this book and breezed through it so quickly. What I liked The setting. Carter has done a wonderful job in creating the setting for Pawn. Kitty lives in a society in which every member sits a test on his or her seventeenth birthday which determines his or her worth to society and therefore his or her caste. In Kitty’s world, as in ours, a formal test isn’t always a true indicator of a person’s intelligence and Kitty’s dyslexia means she is assigned a lower ranking than she’d hoped and that her intelligence deserves. She is clearly very smart, but not in a way that can be reflected in a written exam. Kitty’s rank is tattooed on her neck, implying that once a rank is assigned there is no way of improving one’s status in life in Kitty’s world. Those who are judged to be able to provide no value to society are banished to “Elsewhere’ and one of the…
My review of Pawn by Aimee Carter buy from Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Audible
The Dream Keeper by Mikey Brooks tells the story of Parker and Kaelyn, two teenagers who must work with Dream Keeper Gladamyr in order to defeat Fyren and save Dreams. it is aimed at middle grade readers and to be perfectly honest I struggled to finish the book. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson this is definitely not. It is the first in a series, but I doubt I will be reading the next one. What I liked The concept. I thought the concept was interesting and well thought out – sleeping humans being sent to either Mares or Favor and the impact an imbalance in those two realms could have. I would have liked to have seen more of the impact of dream deprivation on the human population to show just how devastating that could be. I did feel though that the author had the magic system well thought out and planned. Gladamyr. I felt this character was interesting and intriguing. I liked his history and that it was his choices that made him what he is in the story. What I didn’t like The writing style. In fairness, I received an advanced readers copy of this book via…
The Dream Keeper by Mikey Brooks tells the story of Parker and Kaelyn, two teenagers who must work with Dream Keeper Gladamyr in order to defeat Fyren and save Dreams. it is aimed at middle grade readers and to be perfectly honest I struggled to finish the book. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson this is definitely not. It is the first in a series, but I doubt I will be reading the next one. What I liked The concept. I thought the concept was interesting and well thought out – sleeping humans being sent to either Mares or Favor and the impact an imbalance in those two realms could have. I would have liked to have seen more of the impact of dream deprivation on the human population to show just how devastating that could be. I did feel though that the author had the magic system well thought out and planned. Gladamyr. I felt this character was interesting and intriguing. I liked his history and that it was his choices that made him what he is in the story. What I didn’t like The writing style. In fairness, I received an advanced readers copy of this book via…
All Our Yesterdays by Cristen Terrill is a YA dystopian sci-fi time travel novel which tells the story of spoiled teen Marina and freedom fighters Em and Finn. The twist – Marina and Em are the same character, only four years apart in age. Em and Finn have travelled back in time to try to prevent the creation of the dystopian police state in which they are living. To do this, they must kill “the doctor” a figure with close connections to all three of them. It is the first in a two-book series although it could work as a standalone, depending on your interpretation of the ending. What I liked Character development. One of the great strengths of All Our Yesterdays is seeing the characters’ journey. Through time travel timey wimey we meet three characters at two separate stages of their lives, Marina/Em, Finn and James. We see how their experiences in a four-year period have changed them. Through Em we see where Marina will end up if Em and Finn are unable to complete their task. The Marina we meet at the beginning is, let’s face it, one of the most annoying, bratty teens in YA – think…
All Our Yesterdays by Cristen Terrill is a YA dystopian sci-fi time travel novel which tells the story of spoiled teen Marina and freedom fighters Em and Finn. The twist – Marina and Em are the same character, only four years apart in age. Em and Finn have travelled back in time to try to prevent the creation of the dystopian police state in which they are living. To do this, they must kill “the doctor” a figure with close connections to all three of them. It is the first in a two-book series although it could work as a standalone, depending on your interpretation of the ending. What I liked Character development. One of the great strengths of All Our Yesterdays is seeing the characters’ journey. Through time travel timey wimey we meet three characters at two separate stages of their lives, Marina/Em, Finn and James. We see how their experiences in a four-year period have changed them. Through Em we see where Marina will end up if Em and Finn are unable to complete their task. The Marina we meet at the beginning is, let’s face it, one of the most annoying, bratty teens in YA – think…
It’s always fun when you pick up a great read unexpectedly. I first saw Crewel by Gennifer Albin on the Tor website, where they were offering the first five chapters for free. The concept seemed very fresh (although reminiscent of the Three Fates from Greek/Roman mythology – can’t go wrong with an age-old story) and intriguing so I picked up the free five chapter sample. Before long I’d finished the first five chapters, and happily bought the full book. It really sucked me in. The premise of a girl who has the power to literally weave people’s life stories and that of her region proved as intriguing as my initial reaction and I really like where Albin seems to be taking this in the next book in the series. The characters were engaging enough, with about the depth you’d expect from a young adult novel. Adelice is no Arya Stark, but then again she’s no Bella Swan Cullen either. The novel is written purely from Adelice’s point of view, so she – and the reader – are never entirely sure which of the people she meets can be trusted. This increases the tension nicely. This is in a similar vein…
It’s always fun when you pick up a great read unexpectedly. I first saw Crewel by Gennifer Albin on the Tor website, where they were offering the first five chapters for free. The concept seemed very fresh (although reminiscent of the Three Fates from Greek/Roman mythology – can’t go wrong with an age-old story) and intriguing so I picked up the free five chapter sample. Before long I’d finished the first five chapters, and happily bought the full book. It really sucked me in. The premise of a girl who has the power to literally weave people’s life stories and that of her region proved as intriguing as my initial reaction and I really like where Albin seems to be taking this in the next book in the series. The characters were engaging enough, with about the depth you’d expect from a young adult novel. Adelice is no Arya Stark, but then again she’s no Bella Swan Cullen either. The novel is written purely from Adelice’s point of view, so she – and the reader – are never entirely sure which of the people she meets can be trusted. This increases the tension nicely. This is in a similar vein…