Category: Book Review
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland
(Cover picture courtesy of Kingston WritersFest.)
Set against the magnificent decadence of Louis XIV’s Versailles, Mistress of the Sun is the extraordinary story of Louise de la Vallière, the beautiful young equestrienne who won the heart of France’s charismatic Sun King. The spirited child of minor nobility, unable to marry and too poor to join a convent, Louise grows up to become a consort of the King, capturing—and then tragically losing—his favour. A riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its heart, Mistress of the Sun illuminates both the power of true love and our reckless attempts to capture and tame it.
Historical romance isn’t something I often read, but when I do make an exception to my rule I’m almost always impressed. Sandra Gulland succeeded in sucking me in to the world of King Louis XIV and his tumultuous, backstabbing court. It’s not often that I really believe how authors set up romances between known historical characters, but the one between Louise and Louis was quite natural. It was gradual, but with an undeniable, mysterious attraction.
Of course this book focuses more on characters than on plot. That’s a good thing because Louise carries the story on her shoulders quite well. She’s not a heroine with modern sensibilities that you tend to see cropping up in historical fiction: she believes her love of Louis outside marriage is sinful and wrestles with the guilt that comes with it. Yes, she rides horses well and can be one of the boys, so to speak, but she actually has the perspective a woman of her time would have. Louis himself is an enigmatic character as well. Sometimes he acts like a King, other times a normal young man and still other times a cruel man. His character is complex but you can’t help but see why Louise falls in love with him.
Although Sandra Gulland chose to use composite characters to simplify the plot, the main players in the story are real. And although I can’t vouch completely for her accuracy, judging from the fact that she devoted an entire blog to talking about her research, I’d say Mistress of the Sun is pretty accurate. Since I don’t know much about the time the simplifications of plot and characters don’t annoy me, so I don’t think most people will mind. It’s just a great novel, through and through.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Elite by Kiera Cass
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.
America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.
Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.
[Full disclosure: I received a free print ARC from HaperCollins Publishing in exchange for an honest review.]
I know there are some fans out there who are pretty irate at Maxon for what he did (or didn’t do) throughout the book, but I’m more annoyed at America than Maxon. Of course she has reasons for everything she does and they make sense at the time, but if I’m mad at anyone it’s her for her occasional stupidity. Well, I wouldn’t say mad so much as slightly disappointed.
At the end of The Selection it looked like America had finally decided to choose Prince Maxon, but in The Elite Kiera Cass turns things up a notch and throws and wrench into their easy going relationship. The funny thing is, it didn’t feel contrived because the catalyst was events pretty much outside their control. Mainly, the rebels and the king. Part of the reason why I loved The Elite was that we get to see a lot more of how Maxon deals with affairs of the state and how he gets along with his father, the king. It gives his character a little more depth and the explanation for some of his out-of-character behavior at the end of the book makes sense. There were little clues all throughout the two books, but Kiera Cass’ big reveal connects all those hints together perfectly.
Compared to The Selection, I actually enjoyed The Elite more because of the focus on the characters themselves rather than the excitement of the competition. Since it’s down to only six contestants, we actually get to know the finalists a lot more. America has also matured and is really starting to consider how her feelings for Maxon may trump the terrifying prospect of being queen. She does some idiotic things at the end of the book and although they’re annoying at the time, upon reflection I can think of times when I did similar things. People don’t think everything through, so why should characters in books?
I knew we’d be able to see more of these mysterious rebels but I didn’t know they’d play such a significant role in the book. They’re always in the background, a sort of omnipresent threat hanging over the heads of everyone in the palace. Although I can’t say much without spoiling the book, let me say that because of their actions at the end of The Elite I think they’ll play an even greater part in the final book in the trilogy, The One.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Thirst No. 2 by Christopher Pike
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
What Alisa has desired for five thousand years has finally come true: She is once again human. But now she is defenseless, vulnerable, and, for the first time in centuries, emotional. As she attempts to reconcile her actions as a vampire with her new connection to humanity, she begins to understand the weight of life-and-death decisions. Can Alisa resolve her past and build a new identity, or is she doomed to repeat her fatal mistakes?
With the cliffhanger at the end of Thirst No.1 I just had to read the second volume of stories. Alisa/Sita becoming human? This I had to see: a ruthless, conscience-less 5000 year old vampire being human. As it turns out it doesn’t work out really well, as much as Sita keeps wishing it does.
Without giving too much away, I have to say that both the mythology mixed in to Christopher Pike’s series and his new emphasis on the characters makes Thirst No. 2 even better than the first volume. The focus of the first set seemed to be more on Sita’s past and her present situation, with a much broader focus on plot, but I love how Christopher Pike turned to exploring Sita’s character more here. There is so much potential for a character like Sita and some of the things she encounters in this book really change her outlook on life. The other characters that I can’t mention because of spoilers are amazing too and are definitely not what they seem to be.
If you loved the first volume in Christopher Pike’s series, you’ll love the second one even more. A fast paced plot, a bit of interesting mythology and Christian theology and even better character development make Thirst No. 2 one of the better books I’ve read lately.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Once by Anna Carey
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
For the first time since escaping from her School, Eve can finally sleep soundly. She is living in Califia, protected from the terrifying fate that awaits orphaned girls in The New America in the year 2041. But she was forced to abandon Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at Califia’s gates. When Eve gets word that Caleb is in trouble, she sets out into the wild again to rescue him, only to be captured and brought to the City of Sand. Trapped inside the city walls, Eve uncovers a shocking secret about her past and must confront the harsh reality of her future.
In this breathless sequel to Eve, Anna Carey returns to her tale of romance, adventure, and sacrifice in a world that is both wonderfully strange and chillingly familiar.
It’s very, very rare for the second book in a trilogy to be better than the first, but Anna Carey pulled it off in Once, the sequel to Eve. There were some times throughout the novel where I had my doubts, yet things aren’t always what they seem.
In Eve, we have a protagonist who is *gasp* completely loyal to her love interest, with no confused feelings about another attractive man! And, most shocking of all, she has more political instincts than a lemming. That’s incredibly rare in YA, trust me. Especially since we find out who the King of The New America really is and what he really wants from Eve. What’s surprising for me in Once is Eve’s growth as a character as she becomes more mature and realizes that yes, she truly does love Caleb.
The whole forbidden love aspect is often overplayed in YA books, but it really doesn’t feel that way in Once. It’s more of a sweet, very passionate first love for both Eve and Caleb and it feels more genuine than a lot of romances you’ll encounter in YA literature. Being in the City of Sand, things get a lot more complicated for Eve and Caleb, but I like how their love remains strong and they seem to trust each other.
Aside from the decent romance, what I really liked was the glimpse of a rebellion against a tyrannical king and the rebuilding efforts after such a devastating plague. I found it hard to believe there were no rebels yet when I read the first book, so the introduction of rebels in Once was quite satisfying. The Eve Trilogy is dark in general, but it’s uplifting in that (although using slave labour) humanity is starting to rise and rebuild once more. It’s sort of a testament to the strength of the human will, even if it is the will of a dictator who wants to conquer more territory in his rebuilding efforts.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
(Cover picture courtesy of Geeky Scifi.)
The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF’s toughest operations. They’re young, fast, strong, and totally without normal human qualms.
The universe is a dangerous place for humanity—and it’s about to become more dangerous. Three races we’ve fought before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDF’s biggest secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did.
Jared Dirac—a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin’s DNA—is the only person who can provide answers. Jared’s brain should be able to access Boutin’s electronic memories, but when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades.
At first, Jared is a perfect soldier. then, as Boutin’s memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reasons for Boutin’s betrayal…and the fact that some of humanity’s enemies have worse things in mind than our mere defeat.
Just like the first book in the series, Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades was nothing like I expected. If you thought it was a little cliché for the Colonial Defense Forces to be the undisputed ‘good guys’ as it seemed in the first book, you’ll love the spin John Scalzi puts on the CDF in his sequel. Trust me, you do not want to read this book if you’re squeamish because here we see the ugly side of the CDF and its Special Forces, the Ghost Brigades.
Enter our protagonist, Jared Dirac. With some questionable ethics, he was specially grown and implanted with the consciousness of another man in an attempt to figure out why one of the leading scientists turned traitor. I won’t even pretend to understand John Scalzi’s science-filled explanations for consciousness transfer, but fans of hard sci-fi will love them. There’s also some throwbacks to earlier sci-fi writers who experimented with the ethics surrounding consciousness and souls. Of course all this involves some pretty heavy ethical debates, but that’s just a sign John Scalzi actually puts faith in the intelligence of his readers.
Jared is an interesting character. Since he’s born an adult, he’s also born without a personality and must develop one when it’s seemingly clear that Charles Boutin’s consciousness hasn’t taken. We get to see the Ghost Brigades very intensive training, see some of their horrible missions and watch as Jared’s personality slowly develops through all of the crazy events. And just when you think you’ve guessed how things will end for poor Jared, you’ll find out that you’re wrong. John Scalzi is just that good at making believable plot twists motivated by the characters themselves.
I give this book 5/5 stars.