Guest Review: The Siren by Kiera Cass

The Siren by Kiera Cass

Release Date: January 26th, 2016

Read: December 2017

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Standalone

Format: Paperback, 336 pages

Description from GoodReads:

   Kahlen is a Siren, bound to serve the Ocean by luring humans to watery graves with her voice, which is deadly to any human who hears it. Akinli is human—a kind, handsome boy who's everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. Falling in love puts them both in danger . . . but Kahlen can't bear to stay away. Will she risk everything to follow her heart?

Review:

  We were stars. We were music. We were time.

   I love The Selection series, so when I found out Kiera Cass had a standalone book I was dying to   read it. 

   I received The Siren for Christmas and about a week later started to read it. I was really fascinated in the beginning when she was becoming a Siren, because I've always been more interested in books that have interesting beginnings right from the start.  As I read, I became interested in the whole concept of a siren, how they lived, how a siren’s voice was poison,  and how her singing could kill.  I really enjoyed where the ocean would come in to hear about how a siren lives and have such a deep connection to her sirens, especially Kahlen. I do wish there was more about the history of the sirens, it would help to really understand them, and the ocean, because at times the ocean was a bit confusing.

   I was fond of the story between Kahlen and Akinli, but I wish things moved slower between them. Like how did Kahlen grow to like him so fast if she knows people easily fall for her? Like, what? I would have really loved to read behind how Kahlen first became a Siren, as well as more about the sirens that had left the ocean, like Aisling who was originally there for 100 years. 

   Besides that, I really did enjoy The Siren and was I was satisfied with the ending.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"He saw me not just as a mysterious beauty, but as a girl he wanted to know.”  ~Kahlen

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Mermaids, Romance, The Selection

Guest Review: Now I Rise by Kiersten White

Release Date: June 27th, 2017
Read: October 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: The Conqueror's Saga, #2
Format: ARC, 471 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Description from GoodReads:

   She has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself.

   After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada Dracul is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.

   What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?

   As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won…and souls will be lost.

Review:

   No one will be more ruthless
   Like the previous book, this one serves up a lot of drama, deep questions, and make-or-break decisions. It leaves you constantly wondering and complaining about choices the characters have made. And that makes it so good. It's not often that a book leaves me questioning and hoping for a character's safety and joy.

  And I do love each and every character, good or bad. They are all well-developed, and always show a little bit of humanity, no matter how evil their actions are. Lada is by far my favourite. She is ruthless but doesn't require forgiveness. Her storyline in this book is, in my opinion, more interesting.

  The whole book reads like a young adult, and less complicated Game of Thrones. I could not wait until the next chapter from either Lada or Radu's perspective, and I cannot wait until the next book.

Rating: