Showing posts with label Kiersten White. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kiersten White. Show all posts

Monday, October 30, 2017

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:




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Friday, July 8, 2016

Book Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Release Date: June 28th, 2016
Read: June 9th-25th, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: The Conquerors Saga, #1
Format:ARC, 484 pages
Source: Gift from Brittany's Book Rambles



Description from GoodReads:


   No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

   Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.


   But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point

Review:


   Let her be strong. Let her be sly. Let her be ugly.
   I had missed out of getting And I Darken at BookCon 2016, for the Be First event. Fortunately for me, a good friend of mine, Brittany from Brittany's Book Rambles had an extra copy that she was willing to send me. Where I had wanted to read And I Darken because of its hype, I had also read White's previously released books, and enjoyed those quite a bit. With this one taking a bit of a different route than where the previous books had gone, I didn't enjoy And I Darken as much as I did the others.
   I felt like the book was missing it's hook that connected me to the story, I never felt like I was actually there witnessing the story take place. I felt more like I was a stranger watching from afar. The story felt so slow to a point where I was literally dreading having to finish it, it took me a month to almost read the whole thing.
   I also felt that the story having taken place over such a long period of time made things worse, in fact I think it's what made the story feel so long in the first place. I couldn't connect with the characters because their ages were constantly changing, until they weren't, and I wasn't able to recall what age they ended with.
   And I Darken, was a very well researched novel with its historical accurateness , but it was not for me. Depending on the circumstances, I do not see myself picking up it's sequel in the future.


Rating:


Favourite Quote:


"When you have something someone else wants, there is always an element of power." 

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:


Young Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Kingdoms, Ottoman Empire



Friday, September 12, 2014

Ohana Talks: Going Geek for Greek


   Hey everyone! Today's topic for Ohana Talks is Going Geek for Greek, I've been a huge fan of Greek mythology for years now. It seems as the years go by I've become more and more obsessed can you say? With the stories of the gods. So for today I'm going to give you my top five favourite greek retellings! 
   The listing is in no particular order(:

Wake

Author: Amanda Hocking
The Watersong Trilogy
St. Martins Press

Description from GoodReads:


   Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

   Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

   Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

   
A greek twist that involves mermaids!


The Lighting Thief

Author: Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Disney Hyperion Books


Description from GoodReads:




   Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

   Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.


   I adored this series and it's prequel series! A Camp for Half Bloods! What an idea! This is the series that started my love for Greek Mythology!

The Goddess Test

Author: Aimee Carter
The Goddess Test Trilogy
Harlequin Teen

Description from GoodReads:


   Every girl who had taken the test has died.
Now it's Kate's turn.

   It's always been just Kate and her mom - and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

   Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

   Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

   If she fails...


   I loved the idea that she was under a test to see if she was worthy, from all the greek stories you'd think this was actually pretty smart of them. The series was a different sort of Greek Mythology story, I enjoyed it very much and loved the cliffhanger for Goddess Interrupted even more so! The Goddess Test series is a Persephone retelling.

Everneath

Author: Brodi Ashton
Everneath Trilogy
Balzer+Bray


Description from GoodReads:


   Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her boyfriend—before she’s banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

   Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance—and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

   As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s queen.

   Everneath is a another Persephone retelling, this retelling focuses more on the underworld and being there for the '6 months' rather then the gods. 




The Chaos of Stars

Author: Kierstin White
~
Harper Teen


Description from GoodReads:


   Isadora's family is seriously screwed up—which comes with the territory when you're the human daughter of the ancient Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. Isadora is tired of living with crazy relatives who think she's only worthy of a passing glance—so when she gets the chance to move to California with her brother, she jumps on it. But her new life comes with plenty of its own dramatic—and dangerous—complications . . . and Isadora quickly learns there's no such thing as a clean break from family.

   (Some what spoilers.)
   This story is mostly about Egyptian mythology, but close to the end Greek mythology is brought in. Making it one of my favourite stories, as well as it having one of my favourite book covers!



   Thanks for stopping by for Ohana Talks today! I hope you'll give these reads a try, let me know if you enjoyed or adored them!

   Until next time!



Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Illusions of Fate

Author: Kiersten White
Expected: September 9th, 2014
HarperTeen


Description from GoodReads:


   “I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

   Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.


Why I Want It:


   I adored Kiersten's sassy writing in her Paranormalcy Trilogy, as well as her The Chaos of Stars. She is practically a must read author now! Plus who could not want to read this book after reading that description?

Why You Should Want It:


   Sass, perfection and Downtown Abby meets Cassandra Clare are what you await with this book! 


   That's my Waiting on Wednesday for this week! Will you be picking up Illusions of Fate? Let me know in the comments!