Tagged: kayla

The Silver Pear by Michelle Diener

The Silver Pear by Michelle Diener(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

An unlikely princess . . .

Kayla is determined to master her new-found abilities as a wild magic witch. She’s learning everything she can so she and her betrothed, Rane, can put a stop to the sorcerers who are recklessly gathering their power, building up their magic to take each other on in a war that will destroy the countries of Middleland.

An even more unlikely sorcerer . . .

Mirabelle’s father was one of the greatest sorcerers in Middleland, but when he used the magic in the silver pear to bespell his pregnant wife to give birth to the greatest sorcerer who would ever live, he never thought that child would be a girl. Mirabelle is nothing like a usual sorcerer, confounding every expectation, and when she comes to the rescue of Rane’s brother, Soren, she makes a decision few sorcerers would. She saves him, rather than herself, losing the silver pear in the process.

And using magic always exacts a price . . .

With war not just a possibility but simply a matter of time, there are no neutral parties and no fence-sitters in Kayla and Mirabelle’s new world. Everyone is either an ally or an enemy and there is a price to pay for everything. The question is, how high will it be?

[Full disclosure: Michelle Diener gave me a pre-approval widget for NetGalley so I could receive an ebook in exchange for an honest review.]

I must admit that while I downloaded The Silver Pear in fall 2014, I was so busy that I didn’t have time to re-read the first book, The Golden Apple and so I didn’t actually get to read it until a couple weeks ago in February 2015.  So by the time I finally got to read this book, I was more than ready to slip back into Michelle Diener’s awesome fantasy world to learn Kayla and Rane’s fates.

What makes this book different from the first one is that it’s told from four different perspectives grouped into two main sections: Kayla and Rane get alternating chapters before the viewpoint switches to Soren and Mirabelle for alternating chapters before switching back to the first pair.  In the hands of some authors this would never work but Michelle Diener makes each character’s voice so distinct that it would be very hard to confuse the points of view of the four different main characters.  And the alternating points of view sometimes overlap but they’re never just a recap of what happened in the head of another character just one chapter ago.  That makes the plot move forward constantly at a really unrelenting pace; it’s part of the reason why I stayed up to read this book until way too early in the morning.

As with the first book, the characters are amazing.  Kayla still remains my favourite because I love seeing her grow into her power as a wild magic witch but Mirabelle is an interesting new addition to our unlikely quartet.  She has a fantastic backstory that’s filled with both tragedy and privilege and once she learns to trust Soren she reveals it bit by bit in a natural, very organic way that never slows down the plot.  Both Rane and his wayward brother Soren were excellent characters as well and you can tell that both of them care very much for not only their sibling but for the amazing women they travel with for a large chunk of the novel.  All four main characters are well fleshed-out but Michelle Diener also never neglects her secondary characters, particularly Ylana, the earth witch Kayla froze in The Golden Apple.  Ylana is not all that she appears to be and she definitely plays her cards close to her chest.  At the end of the day, you never really know what side she’s going to choose and that kept me in suspense for a fair bit of the novel.

So here we have a great plot and very believable, realistic characters, but how was the world-building?  Like with the first book, I was blown away by Michelle Diener’s world-building.  Only this time our adventures are not confined to the Great Forest!  We get to see many of the kingdoms that make up the world of The Silver Pear and the toll the feuding sorcerers have taken on those kingdoms.  Battles between sorcerers can get very, very nasty and the politics behind which king backs which sorcerer are complex and often fraught with danger.  Will Kayla and the gang be able to corner the worst sorcerer, Eric the Bold and his companion before they both destroy the kingdoms?  I’ll leave it up to you to figure that part out when you read the book.

Really, if you read and loved The Golden Apple, you’re going to love the second installment in the Dark Forest set.  If you haven’t picked up the first book I would definitely recommend reading it before tackling The Silver Pear but it’s not totally necessary because of the handy summary of events Michelle Diener has at the beginning of the novel.  I can’t recommend both books enough so if you like unique fantasy with three dimensional characters and fascinating worlds, you can’t go wrong with either this book or the first book.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Golden Apple by Michelle Diener

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00030](Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Kayla’s world has been turned upside-down . . .

Her father has made her the prize in a deadly, impossible tournament, and Kayla has retaliated in the only way she knows how; by choosing her champion beforehand. But taking control of the outcome changes the game completely, and when the real reason behind the strange test becomes apparent, Kayla realizes not just her life, but her entire kingdom is at stake.

Rane’s honor is torn in two…

In order to save his brother, Rane will do whatever he has to–including deceive and betray a princess. He knew nothing about this tournament would be easy, but when it turns into a deeper, far more sinister game, Rane is forced to see it through to the end, or leave his brother at the mercy of their enemy.

Now their fates are entwined, and they must venture into the deep, dark forest together . . .

Kayla and Rane are bound to one another by an enchantment and Kayla’s actions. But the sorcerer forcing them to do his will may have miscalculated, because no-one comes out of the Great Forest unchanged. No-one.

The Golden Apple is loosely based on the fairy tale The Princess on the Glass Hill.

[Full disclosure: I asked for and received a free ebook copy from Michelle Diener in exchange for an honest review.]

As you guys probably know by now, I’m not the biggest fan of fairytale retellings.  Usually they’re simplistic, boring and utterly predictable.  Usually.

The Golden Apple is anything but usual, however.

The thing I found most striking about this book is the complexity of the plot.  This isn’t your typical straightforward quest where the heroes venture together, defeat the villain and come home to live their happily ever after.  No, in this one Rane and Kayla are forced to confront their deepest fears, do things they never thought they would and work together to try to save their entire way of life as well as their lives.  Just when you think Michelle Diener is going to wind things down for the conclusion she throws another wrench in the works.  It’s definitely the kind of book that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I found the complexity of the plot surprising, but my favourite element of this book was the characters.  Kayla isn’t your typical pampered princess but neither is she a kick-butt action hero.  She is not always able to defend herself but she does try and eventually succeeds as her abilities grow.  It’s nice to see a female character who learns she has an ability and seeks to control and manage it rather than deny its existence and whine about it.  Rane is also interesting.  He loves his brother Soren and he’s willing to manipulate Kayla to free him but then he begins to fall in love with her.  It’s not an easy journey for both him and Kayla but I like how the viewpoints alternated to show their different perceptions of the world around them.

Finally, the world-building was some of the best I’ve ever seen in a fairytale retelling.  I loved learning about the history of the kingdom of Gaynor in small chunks as well as learning about the powerful sorcerers that live in Michelle Diener’s world.  How wild magic is actually created was fascinating, but it makes sense.  How the sorcerers deal with wild magic is just so in line with human nature that I had to laugh when I learned how they contained it.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I guarantee that once you learn who created wild magic and why it seems confined to the Great Forest you’ll laugh too.

Basically, this is a great book.  It’s one of the best fairytale retellings I’ve ever read and although it doesn’t come out until March 24 I can’t wait for the sequel The Silver Pear already.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

(Cover picture courtesy of Random Buzzers.)

The bar code tattoo.  Everybody’s getting it.  It will make your life easier, they say.  It will hook you in.  It will become your identity.

But what if you say no?  What if you don’t want to become a code?  For Kayla, this one choice changes everything.  She becomes an outcast in her high school.  Dangerous things happen to her family.  There’s no option but to run…for her life.

I’ve heard a lot of great and terrible things about this book in the YA community.  Again, this prompts the question: Is it worth the hype?

Well, not really.

Much like Matched, it is an average book, but nothing more.  It’s not fantastic and it’s not terrible, but it falls somewhere in between.  An interesting dystopian society, a decently paced plot and an okay cast of characters…yet there is nothing really exceptional about The Bar Code Tattoo.  Some aspects of it are Orwellian, others remind me of that documentary Food Inc. and still others remind me of The GiverSuzanne Weyn is a competent enough writer, but she doesn’t really stand out for me.

The Bar Code Tattoo is set in a dystopian future where the fears of right-wringers, left-wingers and centrists come to pass.  For the right, it is the scary amount of government overreach and a complete lack of respect for the Constitution.  For the left, it is the fact that the poor are pretty much left to fend for themselves while corporations take over America.  As for the centrists, all this will scare the crap out of them.  This is why I admire Suzanne Weyn’s dystopia in an odd sort of way: it combines the fears of all political spectrums into one decently built future.

Kayla is a decent enough protagonist, but is nothing really special.  To me she’s pretty much your stock dystopian protagonist: she sees nothing wrong with the society until something happens (like falling in love or someone close to her dying) to make her into a rebel.  Highly predictable.  The plot is decently paced, but I could predict every plot ‘twist’.

Overall: meh.

I give this book 3/5 stars.

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