Category: Book Review
Vows of Revenge by J. F. Ridgley
(Cover picture courtesy of J. F. Ridgley.)
In 295B, Aelia and Lucianus struggle to survive in a world filled with pirates, godfathers and forbidden love. Where patricians rule and plebeians grovel. But, will Lucianus grovel? Don’t count on it.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from J. F. Ridgley in exchange for an honest review.]
To be perfectly honest, I’m not a big fan of romance in general. Especially when a book focuses on the romance. However, I am a big fan of historical fiction that’s accurate and well-researched, which is why I agreed to read Vows of Revenge. After all, I’m generally open-minded when it comes to what I read. Once again, I’m glad my open mind led me to another great read.
As I said, I’m not a big fan of romance; my regular readers know this all too well. However, I really liked the romance between Aelia and Lucianus in this book. Yes, it’s a stereotypical forbidden love on the surface (pleb loves patrician), but there’s so much more to it than that. There’s Aelia’s abuse-ridden past, societal expectations and the novel’s villains trying to get in the way of their relationship. It’s definitely a struggle and it doesn’t feel contrived at all.
I wouldn’t call Vows of Revenge a fast-paced book because it’s more character-focused, but it’s far from boring. Aelia’s character arc is fantastic and seeing things from Lucianus’ point of view keeps things moving constantly. There’s something in here for both romance-lovers and history buffs because Ridgley has done an incredible amount of research. For once, I can say with complete confidence that this book is historically accurate. Yes, the characters are made up. But the details of Roman life, from the background war in Samnia and the severe patrician-pleb divide are accurate. There’s even an historical note at the end of the book for the curious.
Vows of Revenge is written extremely well and is generally free of the typos that you typically find in self-published books. There are a few minor ones such as a missing letter or a quotation mark that faces the wrong way, but nothing blatantly obvious. Certainly not that many to have an effect on the quality of the writing or story and not enough to annoy this picky grammarian.
Even if you don’t generally read romance or historical fiction, I’d highly recommend Vows of Revenge. It’s definitely a worthwhile read.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Short Story: The Curse of Troy by Luciana Cavallaro
(Cover picture courtesy of Kobo Books.)
Enter a world where legend and reality blur. Queen Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world is both renowned and condemned for prompting a war. Two great powers—the Achaeans and Trojans—fighting a bloody battle where thousands of men died. The grounds of Ilium steeped in their blood. Gone is the age where heroes tread the earth with their magnificence and god given gifts.
But did this all happen as we have been led to believe?
(Blurb excerpt courtesy of Luciana Cavallaro’s website.)
[Full disclosure: Luciana Cavallaro provided me with a free ebook copy of her short story in exchange for an honest review.]
This is my first ever short story review, so please bear with me.
However, this is definitely not the first short story I’ve ever read. If I’m going to be honest, it’s probably one of the best I’ve read. I enjoyed The Curse of Troy so much that I wish it had been longer, say novel-lenth. Luciana Cavallaro’s approach to the famous legend of Troy was most definitely unique and it’s one that I’d like to see more of.
Told from the point of view of a young historian talking to the much older Helen after the events of the Trojan War, The Curse of Troy offers a much more sympathetic version of events. I don’t want to give too much away, but have you ever considered that Helen was completely innocent of pretty much everything she was accused of? This sounds quite incredulous, but I assure you that Luciana Cavallaro has packed enough information in this 30 page short story to make you see just such a possibility.
Even in such a limited format, the character of Helen came across very well. Having Helen tell her version of events to our first-person narrator was an interesting approach and we were able to see her reflect upon her youth with an older, more mature perspective. Her interaction with the unnamed young historian (our narrator) also revealed quite a bit of her character. Make no mistake: this story is about Helen, not our mysterious narrator. That doesn’t mean our narrator is necessarily one dimensional—he’s not—but it provides us with a fresh look at the (in)famous woman of legend.
I give this story 5/5 stars.
*Only available as an ebook.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
(Cover picture courtesy of Compulsive Overreader.)
BEFORE. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sex, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.
AFTER. Nothing is ever the same.
To be honest, I was expecting some sappy, cliché-filled teen romance with plenty of drinking, smoking and sex. Because writers think all teen relationships involve those three things. Or maybe I’m just naive and the writers are correct.
Either way, Looking for Alaska was most definitely not what I predicted. In the middle of the book it went in an entirely different direction that threw me off completely. Looking back on things, I think John Green was hinting at what would happen earlier, but at the time the huge plot twist was a surprise to say the least. After that, I could ignore the smoking and drinking and teenage drama and focus on the message John Green was trying to get across all along.
But the thing is that the message isn’t blatantly obvious. You have to think about things and come up with your own conclusion. That’s something you don’t see very often in YA fiction and it’s nice to have a bit of an ambiguous ending. Everything is not hunky-dory and happy-go-lucky; Looking for Alaska is sort of a melancholy book with a melancholy ending. Sure, it’s not the sad YA ending I’ve been yearning for, but it’s nice not to have a completely happy ending.
I think that the characters in this book, whether they’re Alaska, Pudge or the Colonel, will speak to teens. They’re flawed, imperfect and do incredibly stupid things that everyone, not just teens, do. John Green also doesn’t try to write down to his readers; he actually believes in their intelligence. That’s why his teenagers are real people, not just the stereotypes you’ll see in every movie/TV show about high school every made.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
The Singing Sword by Jack Whyte
(Cover picture courtesy of The Templar Trilogy by Jack Whyte.)
Born of the chaos of the Dark Ages, the dream of eagles produced a king, a country and an everlasting legend—Camelot.
It is 395 A. D., and as the Roman armies withdraw from Britain, anarchy threatens the colony that will one day be known as Camelot. Creating their own army and joining with the Celtic people of King Ullic Pendragon, the colonists emerge as a new breed of Britons, ready to forge the government that will be the Round Table and its Knights and to prepare the groundwork for the future coronation of Arthur, first High King of Britain.
I’m the sort of person that loves doing jigsaw puzzles, which is part of the reason why I loved The Singing Sword. It’s a lot like a jigsaw puzzle, what with tiny, barley recognizable pieces of the Arthurian legends slowly being dropped into place. We got the outline or the edge pieces in the first book in A Dream of Eagles (formerly known as The Camulod Chronicles), The Skystone, and now we’re starting to fill in the easy parts.
Publius is obviously more mature than he was in the first book and it’s almost more interesting to see this more mature, worldly point of view as he and Caius struggle to build up the Colony. Their alliance with King Ullic, the growing threat of foreign invaders reaching Roman territory and an old villain reappearing made The Singing Sword very exciting and an entertaining read. Of course, there are the bad parts of the novel as well and I would definitely not recommend it for people who are sensitive to gore. Jack Whyte writes as Publius would have in the times and is less sensitive to the violence all around him. Therefore, it’s difficult for someone with modern views on violence to accept the ancient world for what it was, but The Singing Sword feels all the more authentic for that.
Not only is Publius more mature than when we left him at the end of The Skystone, all of the other characters are more mature. Their newly acquired maturity does not mean that they’re boring or that they don’t have character arcs. Quite the opposite, in fact. Fans of the first book will love to see their favourite characters change even more and will learn to love the new generation that helps bring the legend of Camelot closer to reality.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.
Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Well, I must say that I enjoyed The Eternity Cure even more than the first book in the Blood of Eden trilogy, The Immortal Rules. And considering how much I liked the first book, that’s really saying something.
The Eternity Cure includes betrayals, new revelations, old friends (and enemies) and one of those villains that is just unable to die. Julie Kagawa never was one for sparing her characters any pain, but wow, poor Allie really does go through a lot in this second installment. This is definitely not a case of Book 2 Syndrome. Allison has matured quite a bit and become more accepting of her life as a vampire when the story starts out and she has changed even more by the time it ends. Her search for Kanin certainly isn’t an easy one and it brings her into contact with an old friend and more than a few old enemies.
As for the plot, all I can say is that it takes more than a few twists and turns. There were even some I didn’t see coming, especially that heart-wrenching cliffhanger ending. It was incredibly difficult for me to tear my eyes away from my computer screen the whole time, even for nourishment or sleep. If you loved The Immortal Rules, I guarantee that you’ll like The Eternity Cure even more. So go ahead and pre-order your copy! It releases on April 30 of this year.
I give this book 5/5 stars.