Category: Fantasy
Water by Terra Harmony
(Cover picture courtesy of Terra Harmony’s site.)
Elemental powers in the palm of her hand…and it won’t be enough to save her.
When Kaitlyn Alder is involuntarily introduced to a life of magic, she becomes part of an organization hell-bent on saving the Earth. Just as her new-found life holds promises of purpose, romance, and friendship, the organization divides and a rogue member holds Kaitlyn hostage. Now one of the most terrifying men the human race has to offer stands between her and Earth’s survival.
Water is a contemporary eco-fantasy, the first of a four book series. This novel contains adult language and sexual situations (some non-consensual).
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Water is an interesting book, for lack of a better word. It has some interesting magical scenarios and some good characters but it also made me slightly uncomfortable, which I suppose was Terra Harmony’s intention. If some of the scenes here hadn’t made me uncomfortable I suppose I should be in therapy right now.
Part of what I loved about Water is the whole mythos surrounding Gaias (women who control the elements). Kaitlyn accidentally found out she was a Gaia like many before her. She can control all of the elements, but unlike so many heroines actually has to train long and hard before she can even begin to master some of the most basic tasks. Her relationship with Micah complicates things slightly in her training and I like how when he does terrible things to her in the name of ‘training’ she gets mad at him and stays mad. No Insta-Forgiveness here, thank goodness. Later on, when we learn some of the horrifying implications of being a Gaia and what has happened to past Gaias a lot of what happens to Kaitlyn makes sense.
Obviously, I liked Kaitlyn as a character. She’s a heroine who, when she gets mad, stays mad at someone. Of course she’s capable of forgiveness, but some of the things that happen to her (the greenhouse incident comes to mind) aren’t easily forgiven. She isn’t a kick-butt heroine all of the time, but nor is she a damsel in distress. Her actions once she’s kidnapped prove that despite the psychological, physical and sexual torture she’s put through. I don’t want to go into much detail because of spoilers, but Terra Harmony put in a trigger warning for a reason when it comes to the last half of the book.
The only thing I didn’t really like was Shawn as the villain. On the surface he seemed like he had some motivation, but when you peel back the thin layers he’s not what I would consider a memorable villain. Maybe later on he gains far more motivation for wanting to get rid of Kaitlyn, but at the moment he definitely seems like your stereotypical mad villain. I’m picky with my villains, so that’s a comparatively minor complaint when you consider all of the good things Water has to offer.
The plot slowly becomes fast-paced after Kaitlyn discovers she is a Gaia and I’m so glad that Terra Harmony knew something about pacing. The tension slowly ratchets up as it builds up to the climax and even the ending doesn’t bring total relief. What a cliffhanger to leave readers with! Despite my misgivings about Shawn, Water was an overall great read that has some really good things going for it. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Air.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Prophecy of Solstice’s End by Diantha Jones
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Summer Solstice is here. Let the games begin.
Nothing but lies (some of them her own) and deceit have brought Chloe to Olympus for the Solstice Olympic Games. As the Oracle and the special guest of the King of Myth, Chloe becomes immersed in a life of unfathomable luxury, taunting history, and overwhelming excitement. Though scheming and untrustworthy, the gods remain on their best behavior as the tension and anticipation builds around the outcome of the Quest of the Twelve Labors, the deadliest competition of the Games. All seems well on the celestial front…until athletes start turning up dead and a philosopher missing for months returns with a most terrifying story…
But that’s not all.
As Strafford confronts his troubled past and more is learned about the Great Unknown Prophecy, Chloe grows close to another, setting off a chain of events that will bring her face-to-face with a truth that will rock both of her worlds to their core.
And it’ll all happen before Solstice’s end…
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy from Diantha Jones as part of her blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
With the first two books in the Oracle of Delphi series achieving high levels on the ‘awesome book’ scale I thought it would be hard for Prophecy of Solstice’s End to measure up. Yet Diantha Jones keeps surprising me over and over again. Once again, this book is better than the last one! And considering how much I loved Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise, that’s even more of an accomplishment.
I love how Chloe and Strafford’s relationship intensity is cranked up to 11 throughout the book. They’ve sort of settled into the whole being in a relationship idea and what results is whole new levels of commitment on both their parts as well as more drama later on. I can’t go into much more detail without giving anything away, but let’s just say that with the passion comes doubt and misunderstandings when Chloe joins Strafford in Myth.
One of my many favourite parts of Diantha Jones’ whole series is how she portrays the gods and goddesses from the Greek myths. Apollo is manipulative even with his own children, Hera hangs on every display of affection from her husband, Zeus is a scheming letch, etc. They’re portrayed as essentially the same people they were in the myths only now they’re in the modern day and are a huge threat to Chloe as the new Pythia. I also like how the children of the gods reflect their parents’ personalities, especially in the case of Aphrodite’s daughters. What was more interesting than how the gods were portrayed was the dynamic between them and their children. Some of the demigods fully accept their roles as heroes while others like Strafford are obviously questioning them. It certainly makes for lots more tension in Myth.
As with her last two books, Diantha Jones kept throwing twist after twist into the plot that blindsided me completely. The Regalis Stella problem from the last book? That’s not resolved yet either and in fact the problem is cranked up to 11 in Prophecy of Solstice’s End. In addition to that, Apollo’s war with Zeus is looming and it’s not as simplistic as it would seem. To be fair, nothing is simplistic in Prophecy of Solstice’s End and that’s one of the strengths of the Oracle of Delphi series: it keeps you guessing as to what’s going to happen next. And with that massive cliffhanger at the end of the book in the epilogue I’ll be left guessing about what will happen in Prophecy of the Betrayed Heir, the next book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Vanish by Sophie Jordan
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
An impossible romance.
Bitter rivalries.
Deadly choices.To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
Unfortunately, Vanish by Sophie Jordan suffers from Book 2 Syndrome: it does nothing but set up the third book. Seriously despite my love of Firelight all that happens in this book could have essentially been told over 100 pages, not nearly three hundred. Of course there’s a lot of pressure on YA writers to write trilogies these days, but in all honesty Sophie Jordan probably could have just cut down on the fluff and made a longer sequel that concludes Jacinda’s story.
You can’t in all honesty call the plot of Vanish fast paced, but I suppose you could call it consistent. Consistently boring, that is. There is a little character development to make up for the complete lack of action, but the disastrous attempts at a bizarre sort of love triangle as well as Jacinda’s general moping around make it a painful 294 pages. All that happens in this is that Miram gets kidnapped and Will shows up again to learn that something mildly terrible has happened to Jacinda because of Cassian. Did I mention that there’s a lot of moping about Will? It’s like one big pity part here: all Jacinda does is pine after Will, give Cassian horrible mixed signals and get jealous about her sister’s new powers.
We do learn a lot more about the draki and their primitive attitudes and tribal structure, but that’s about it. Sure, Jacinda’s life in the pride does genuinely suck at some points (the ostracism, Tamra’s new celebrity, etc.) but the angst does get tiring after a while. Even though Sophie Jordan is awesome at writing highly emotional prose, there can only be so much angst in one book before I feel like throwing it at the wall. At least by the end Jacinda is starting to almost accept her life back in the pride and sees Cassian is maybe not all that bad, Tamra deserves a bit of celebrity and maybe she should stop moping. Of course with such a cliffhanger at the end of the novel I’ll still read Hidden, the last book in the trilogy. I’m just hoping that Sophie Jordan pulls it together for the concluding book.
I give this book 2/5 stars.
Solar, Defeated by Diantha Jones
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
From the moment Strafford Law saw Chloe Clever, he knew he was destined to love her forever. But a dishonorable past and a bleak future threaten to destroy him before he gets the chance.
Looking back, he recalls his life before it came crashing down around him…a time when the one he now loathes most of all was the one he adored more than anything.
SPOILER ALERT: Read as Oracle of Delphi #2.5! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy from Diantha Jones as part of her blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
Ooh, we finally get to learn more about our tortured, broody Sun Prince! I won’t call myself a fangirl, but the fact that Strafford has changed so much by being in love with Chloe makes him one of my favourite love interests ever. I mean, in pretty much every YA book out there the dark, tortured love interest is still a jerk by the end of the book/series. That’s definitely not the case and Solar, Defeated provides a lot more insight into how Strafford fell into disgrace amongst other demigods and became said tortured, broody Sun Prince.
A lot of novellas that connect to series are boring and don’t really provide much of an addition to the story, but Diantha Jones has stayed away from that trap. We learn things we otherwise probably wouldn’t in the series and seeing things strictly from Strafford’s point of view is great. His decisions make sense from his point of view and his emotions feel more…real. It’s much easier to connect with him after reading Solar, Defeated because we get to see more of his flaws. (His main one being hubris, something we all suffer from occasionally.)
If you’re enjoying the Oracle of Delphi series and just can’t get enough of the moody, protective and incredibly attractive Strafford Law, I’d highly recommend this tie-in. It’s definitely worth your time.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Spinning Gold by Vivi Andrews
(Cover picture courtesy of NetGalley.)
No princes need apply.
Juliana Ravel will do anything to save her innocent brother from the executioner, but what the supposedly charming prince demands is impossible. Spinning straw into gold? He might as well ask her to fly. Her only hope is a family heirloom – a gold medallion rumored to be the magic prison of one of the fabled golden fae.
Trapped inside the medallion for hundreds of years, Rue isn’t fool enough to trust Juliana, but he can’t help but be tempted by the feisty beauty. Even though she is the spitting image of the witch who betrayed and imprisoned him, Rue agrees to help her. For a price.
Entranced by the exotic, golden-skinned man, Juliana agrees to his terms, believing her worries are at an end. But when the tyrannical prince finds her surrounded by riches, he isn’t about to let her walk away – instead holding her prisoner within the corrupt court. Juliana’s only freedom is her nights with Rue, where their negotiations turn to seduction, and together they construct a desperate plot to escape a life where they must keep spinning gold… or die.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m generally suspicious of fairytale retellings, especially Rumpelstiltskin ones, but the blurb for Spinning Gold was irresistible. It sounded like a wonderfully unique retelling that was well-written with great world-building. For once my impressions from the blurb were right! Spinning Gold is a great Rumpelstiltskin retelling and it even explains how we got our ugly little man idea from the ‘real story’.
Unlike so many female main characters in fairytale retellings, Juliana is an amazingly strong narrator that carries the whole book on her shoulders. She’s not passive when her brother is accused of being a traitor and instead bargains with what is essentially her own life with the evil prince to save him. When she promises that she can spin straw into gold, she knows she may be only buying herself and her brother a trip to the executioner, but that night in her cell she discovers something amazing: her family amulet. When she cries on it, Rue springs forth and almost kills her, believing her to be her great-grandmother, the woman who trapped him inside it in the first place. Not exactly a great start to a relationship but they eventually work things out and Rue spins gold for Juliana, which brings her more trouble than she bargained for as now the evil prince wants to marry her.
Still, despite the threat to her life from being at court, she is drawn to Rue in her dreams and finds herself slowly falling in love with the mysterious man. At the same time, she tries to continue what her brother started with the rebellion to overthrow the prince. But being the prince’s fiance doesn’t make that easy in the slightest. So you can see why Juliana is one of my favourite narrators: she doesn’t just sit by. Rue is also one of my favourite love interests because he’s tortured and untrusting of Juliana but it’s actually for a good reason. As he slowly warms up to her, the romance between them explodes but remains believable.
The world-building in this is fantastic! I don’t want to spoil too much by saying that Rue’s bargain with Juliana is nothing like the Rumpelstiltskin story we know, but does actually resemble it in some aspects. So where did the Rumpelstiltskin legend we know today come about? Well, let’s just say that the un-charming prince and his adviser Torlemain were excellent spin doctors and leave it at that. As for how Rue is able to spin straw into gold, that’s also part of Vivi Andrews’ amazing world-building in her fantasy world.
The plot isn’t frantically paced, but rather slowly speeds up as the book goes along. For a short book that’s awesome and none of the character development or world-building is sacrificed in the process. At the same time, you won’t be able to put Spinning Gold down. The romance between Rue and Juliana is sizzling and there are so many plot twists your head will be left spinning by the end. Yet the plot twists still make sense and I love how Vivi Andrews hinted at them a little but not enough to spoil the fun at the end.
So to recap: Spinning Gold is a great fairytale retelling with believable characters, awesome world-building and a fast-paced plot that will keep you reading into the early morning hours.
I give this book 5/5 stars.