The Betrayed by Terra Harmony

The Betrayed by Terra Harmony(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Two separate worlds; the Undine of the Deep and the Wolves of the Dry. A history muddled in war but thick with family bonds blur the lines of right and wrong. The youngest members of each race unite, trying to steer their people away from the brink of disaster. Serena and Liam must work together to resolve the problems of their people before the pressure tears these twin siblings apart. But the betrayed are angry, and are out for revenge.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook copy of the whole trilogy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

With that doozy of a cliffhanger at the end of The Rising, I just had to read The Betrayed almost immediately after.  I mean, finding out that not only the King is Serena’s father but that he sacrificed himself to save her and the Undine?  That’s a pretty steep cliffhanger to end the first book in a trilogy on.  It didn’t make the first book unsatisfying, though.  It just made me want to read the second book as soon as possible!

So now Serena is Queen and the problems that were her father’s are now her own.  Not only is the ocean not getting any less acidic where the Undine are situated, the werewolves are still a huge problem after the mini-war that broke out at the end of the last book.  Werewolves were killed and Undine were killed; in the end it brought everyone no closer to a peace deal.  Serena’s father’s sacrifice should have ended the war between werewolves and Undine but Alaric (the leader of the werewolves) is still demanding that the Undine hold to the king’s bargain and surrender Serena for him to experiment on.  That’s obviously not going to happen now that she’s Queen, but Serena has more than herself to think of: only one of the women who were able to mate in the last book has been able to conceive and now the werewolves are blockading the beach again.  Cordelia, the woman in question, now has nowhere to give birth to her child and that’s a major problem for a child who might be the new hope for the entire Undine species.

Serena really is going through a lot.  First she learns that her father isn’t dead and is in fact the king and then he dies to save her and his people.  She loves one of his guardsmen, Kai, but has to pretend to be mated to Murphy, the Captain of the Guard for political reasons so that the older generation will accept her.  On top of all that, the supply of food for the Undine is dying out with the rising acidity of the ocean where they live.  Things really aren’t looking good for Serena but I was really impressed with her character.  She truly does rise to the challenge, even if things start out a little bumpy.  Of course she makes mistakes and isn’t the best politician yet but she’s only 18.  I shudder to think of most 18-year-olds (or 80-year-olds for that matter) trying to tackle all of those problems at once.  And some of the solutions Serena comes up with aren’t popular; still, she sticks to them.

The plot in The Betrayed is a lot more fast-paced than the previous book and some of the plot twists are far less predictable.  There was a lot of intrapersonal conflict on Serena’s part because of all the pressure placed on her but it was interesting since I’ve come to care about her character, particularly in this second book.  She has a tough job and she’s doing the best she can, especially since she was never raised as royalty and never even suspected that the king was her father and she was the rightful heir to the Kingdom of the Undine.  Yes, there’s also a little romantic intrigue because of Serena’s inability to express her love for Kai in the open but that’s sort of a background to the still-simmering tensions between werewolves and the Undine.  The way Serena resolves the conflict is brilliant, if a little messy and while the book ends on another cliffhanger it’s nowhere near as dramatic as the cliffhanger of the first book.

If you enjoyed The Rising I think you’ll enjoy The Betrayed just as much, if not more.  It’s a great second book that doesn’t really drag on and on because of how Terra Harmony makes you care about her characters.  You really do worry about what happens to them and Serena is a very memorable character in her own right.  Basically, if you read and enjoyed the first book you need to pick up this second book.  You won’t regret it and you’ll be just as eager as I am for the third and final book.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Rising by Terra Harmony

The Rising by Terra Harmony(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

Seventeen-year-old Serena is the youngest member of a dying race. The increasing acidity of the ocean is destroying her home, slowly eating away at the once thriving underwater landscape. But since the night of Serena’s birth, it is an outside force that most threatens their dwindling population. Werewolves, who once served as protectors for mermaids in the Kingdom of the Undine, now seek to eliminate all who dwell in the ocean — and Serena is about to find herself right in the middle of the deadly conflict.

Given the title of Werewolf Liaison, Serena is determined to make things right for her people. When she ventures to The Dry, she meets Liam, the werewolf with hazel eyes, and her whole world gets turned upside down. As Serena discovers the real history between werewolves and mermaids, she is left wondering who her true enemies are.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook copy of the whole trilogy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

I had read one of Terra Harmony’s books previously and thought it good, if a little preachy.  I was a little iffy about trying another book by her not because of the preachy factor but simply because I was still not quite sure how I felt about some of the scenes in the book I read, Water.  They were a little graphic, although justified within the narrative, but I was still a little wary.  But I still decided to try requesting the full Painted Maidens trilogy because it sounded good.

The world Terra Harmony has created in the trilogy is just amazing.  The main character Serena is a mermaid, although they call themselves the Undine.  She’s the youngest member of her dying race, which has been unable to reproduce because their land guardians the werewolves rose up in revolt against them and massacred dozens of mating couples and labouring mothers on the beach 17 years ago, including Serena’s mother and the King’s wife and children.  You see, the Undine do swim like mermaids but for normal functions like going to court, sleeping and learning they remain on land in the various cave systems near the island where they live.  It’s actually kind of fascinating to read the little details of Undine transformation because it’s not as straightforward as cartoons and other books would have you think.  (Which does actually make a lot of sense.)

Anyway, Serena is a fascinating character.  She was orphaned by the Full Moon Massacre 17 years ago and lives in a sort of communal nursery with other Undine around her age, although most of them are 18 at this point.  They’re indulged by society simply because they’re the last hope of the species but even among the last class there are hierarchies and old family rivalries.  Serena is most definitely at the bottom of the ladder until the day jobs are chosen for the young Undine and she’s appointed the King’s own Werewolf Liaison, tasked with bringing peace between two species that have been warring for almost two decades.  She was given the job in part because she’s always sneaking up to The Dry but also because of the hidden motivations of those in power.  I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say there’s a very special reason for her appointment.

Serena is a fascinating character.  She’s more scientifically oriented and intellectually curious than many of her classmates but at the same time she really does lack some basic social skills.  Really, she’s the epitome of the awkward teenager and instead of being cutesy-awkward she’s often genuinely awkward as she tries to navigate the pitfalls of friendships and relationships with Undine males.  The fact that Undine society still has some ridiculous gender stereotyping and gender roles doesn’t exactly help the whole situation.  But when she’s named Werewolf Liaison Serena really comes into her own.  She matures and improves on her natural resourcefulness in an attempt to bring an end to the conflict that killed her parents.  And she discovers some terrifying secrets that society has kept from her and her classmates.

Some of the plot twists were predictable but I really do give Terra Harmony credit for keeping the story interesting and fast-paced despite that.  There isn’t a lot of action in the beginning but there’s a lot of interpersonal drama and tension.  It’s also a good thing that the action is put off until later because getting used to Undine society isn’t something that happens in just a few pages.  It’s so alien and different from our own that it really does take getting used to.  Undine society is far from perfect but you really do gain a certain appreciation for it and for its people who are just trying to ensure their species survives.

Basically, if the blurb or my review has got you interested, I’d say go for it!  The Rising is a great start to the Painted Maidens trilogy.  Plus, this first book is free on both Kindle and Nook!

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Qualify by Vera Nazarian

Qualify by Vera Nazarian(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

You have two options. You die, or you Qualify.

The year is 2047. An extinction-level asteroid is hurtling toward Earth, and the descendents of ancient Atlantis have returned from the stars in their silver ships to offer humanity help.

But there’s a catch.

They can only take a tiny percent of the Earth’s population back to the colony planet Atlantis. And in order to be chosen, you must be a teen, you must be bright, talented, and athletic, and you must Qualify.

Sixteen-year-old Gwenevere Lark is determined not only to Qualify but to rescue her entire family.

Because there’s a loophole.

If you are good enough to Qualify, you are eligible to compete in the brutal games of the Atlantis Grail, which grants all winners the laurels, high tech luxuries, and full privileges of Atlantis Citizenship. And if you are in the Top Ten, then all your wildest wishes are granted… Such as curing your mother’s cancer.

There is only one problem.

Gwen Lark is known as a klutz and a nerd. While she’s a hotshot in classics, history, science, and languages, the closest she’s come to sports is a backyard pool and a skateboard.

This time she is in over her head, and in for a fight of her life, against impossible odds and world-class competition—including Logan Sangre, the most amazing guy in her class, the one she’s been crushing on, and who doesn’t seem to know she exists.

Because every other teen on Earth has the same idea.

You Qualify or you die.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

Now, from the description of this novel you may be getting the impression that Qualify is one of those awful Divergent-Hunger Games hybrid novels that publishers think all teens want (again).  That’s not really the truth, though.  Qualify takes some of the good aspects of Hunger Games without the whiny factor of Divergent and makes something completely new and interesting.

Gwen Lark is really a klutz and a nerd.  When she takes many of the tests to officially qualify as one of the ten million humans aged 12-19 that the Atlanteans will save, she really does fail quite a few of the physical exams.  Sure, she gets better throughout the training and she really has to work hard at it, but she knows she’ll never be the number one candidate anywhere.  In this way, it’s a lot more realistic than someone who goes from nerd straight to jock who can kick butt.  But Gwen isn’t just a bumbling nerd; she’s got hidden talents that she’s terrified and really embarrassed about.  When these come to light, they change almost everything for her.

One of the things that Vera Nazarian does is write long books that still hold a reader’s interest.  Qualify is over 600 pages but you shouldn’t let that intimidate you because it really does keep your interest the whole way through.  Sure, some things start out a little stereotypical in the beginning but Nazarian’s amazing descriptive style takes over and things smooth out pretty quickly.  She really does focus a lot on inner conflict as well as interpersonal conflicts so if you’re looking for constant action, you’re looking in the wrong place.  This is a really great look not only at the lives of regular teens under extraordinary circumstances but also a look at how the world really would handle a doomsday scenario like the one presented.  At first there would be every effort to destroy or divert the asteroid, there would be collaboration with the mysterious Atltanteans who just showed up, etc.  But after that?  Things go back to an uneasy calm before the storm as people go into denial and then explode in anger at their impending doom.  All the while, millions of teenagers are competing for the coveted 10 million worldwide spots.  It’s horrific and fascinating at the same time.

While the characters and descriptions were great and the world-building was good, one of the things I noticed was a little rough was voice.  The descriptions of Gwen’s surroundings are amazing and the descriptions of Atlantean technology are good as well but Gwen’s voice is a little rough.  Sometimes her dialogue is incredibly mature for her age (16 bordering on 17) and other times she speaks and acts like a stereotypical teenager.  It makes reading Qualify a little jarring at times and I think this could have been improved with a few more cuts to unnecessary passages.  There is very little fluff in Nazarian’s story here but when there is fluff and filler you really do notice it.  If Gwen’s voice had been a little more consistent, this would have been an absolutely amazing novel.  Instead, it stays at ‘good’ or ‘above average’.  However, having read just one of Nazarian’s other works, I think things will improve with the next book as she gets a handle on her new characters and new world because Gwen’s voice was much more consistent near the end.

So overall the writing is good if choppy in sections, Gwen is a well-defined main character with complicated thoughts, emotions and goals and the world-building is a little vague but there are some hints at amazing detail later on for Gwen and the readers to discover.  Things get pretty intense sometimes and even though this book is around 600 pages, you’ll want to read it in one sitting.  I know I did.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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How to Survive Book Expo America

Even though for 2016 Book Expo America is moving to Chicago (then apparently back to New York for 2017), there are still some pretty universal tips for surviving a massive convention like it.  That’s why I’d like to share some nuggets of common sense and experience so that if you decide to attend the convention, you’ll have some idea of what to expect.

1.  The convention is massive, so wear practical shoes!

You are going to be doing a lot of walking and standing at Book Expo America.  The Javits Center in New York is massive and I imagine the Chicago venue will be similarly sized.  But you would not believe the number of women mincing around in three or four inch high heels!  Are you kidding me?  I was wearing very comfortable sneakers with special gel inserts and my feet still wanted to kill me by the end of the day.  So for goodness sakes, wear some practical shoes!  Even with your dress clothes!  Looking a little odd is a good trade off for still being able to walk at the end of the day and laughing at all the women (and occasionally men) sitting, applying bandages to their blisters because they wore good looking but uncomfortable shoes.

2.  Bring your own food and water.

In New York food is insanely expensive period but within the convention centre the vendors have rather a captive audience and they know it.  They’ll charge you $3 for a bottle of water, sometimes more.  Your best bet is to go and buy a bottle of water from a pharmacy or corner store and bring it into the convention, along with some snack food and a main meal.  If you don’t want to lug your food around all day, then your second best bet is just to go outside the convention centre and find a street vendor.  Their food is just as good as the stuff in the main convention hall and it’s usually half the price.  I’m not sure how things are in Chicago in terms of finding reasonably priced food, but if you go to the New York convention in 2017 you need to make plans to either bring food or bring a little money for street vendor food.

3.  Bring business cards!

I can’t stress this one enough in part because so many people don’t do it and really, really regret it later.  Even if you’re a blogger and don’t go to the BEA Bloggers Convention, you’ll still end up networking with dozens of people.  And most of those people will have business cards they want to exchange.  Business cards are really cheap to design online and get printed.  I got 500 cards for just under $25 through VistaPrint and that’s including shipping to my remote little community.  If you’re spending all this money and all this effort to go to Book Expo America, you might as well get something extra out of it and having business cards for when you network is really important.

Bonus tip: remember to pack your business cards.  There’s no point in making business cards if you left them in your hotel room or in your house halfway across the country.

4.  Talk to people; they don’t usually bite.

One of the things I noticed while waiting in line for various autographs is that very few people actually strike up conversations.  I’m not a natural extrovert but then again, most people at BEA are also bookish introverted people.  So go on, strike up a conversation with the person ahead or behind you in line!  Who knows?  You might get an interesting business opportunity or make a new friend.  Or you might meet an author you admired but didn’t know what they looked like.  One time while I was waiting for a Scott Westerfeld book I struck up a conversation with the short redhead behind me.  She turned out to be Kellie Sheridan, author of Mortality and co-founder of Patchwork Press, an independent collective that I request a lot of books from on NetGalley.

Seriously, just talk to other people.  You’re all here because you share similar interests anyway, so why not?  Even in New York or other big cities, people don’t usually bite when you talk to them.

5.  Only take galleys of books you’re actually going to read and review.

Don’t be that person that always takes books they’re not interested in just because they’re free.  Or because they’re free and they want to use them in a giveaway on their blog.  You’re going to get a ton of books marketed to you so I know it’s hard to say no, but you really do have to learn to say it.  Otherwise you’ll end up with 50+ books and no practical, cost-effective way to bring them home.  Besides, it’s not fair if you take books you have no intention of reading or reviewing and someone who actually is a fan of the author doesn’t get one because of that.  I know it’s awesome to brag about how many books you got (I know I received quite a few books) but you really do need to just take ones you’ll actually read.  It’s only fair.

6.  Have fun!

Book Expo America is by its very nature, fun for book lovers.  But some people take it way too seriously and think it’s a life-or-death struggle to get the most coveted ARC or talk to the most popular author.  Spoiler alert: it’s not.  You can have a plan for when you want to get in line for your favourite author signings, galley drops or panels but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t make some of these events.  Just take a laissez faire attitude to the whole thing and life will be so much better for you.  You have enough stress in your daily life!  Don’t stress out over something that’s supposed to be fun.

Lazy Sundays: The Dance of Dragons (Game of Thrones Episode 5.09)

I wasn’t sure how the writers would top episode 8, ‘Hardhome’ but I think they did with this one so let’s get to it:

1.  I knew Shireen was going to die from the minute Stannis started actually showing more affection toward her.  After Ramsay’s night raid on their camp, I think Stannis is pushed to desperation with not enough food to go forward or back.  In his mind he only has one choice.

2.  I wonder how poor Ser Davos is going to react to his de facto little girl being burned alive by her own father?

3.  Plus, I think the fact that Selyse wanted to stop the burning once it happened really shows that she’s a complicated character.  She thinks she hates Shireen but I think she fears her because of the greyscale and sees her as a failure.  I mean, out of all the children she had, only Shireen, the ‘deformed’ one survived to term?

4.  For a second there I thought Ser Alliser wasn’t going to let Jon Snow and the wildlings through the gate.  But since he did I think he’s angling to take over Jon’s job, forcibly if necessary.  Showing the Night’s Watch their Lord Commander’s ‘greatest sin’ is just one way to really turn sentiment against him.

5.  I knew Arya was going to see Ser Meryn in Braavos from the time Cersei sent him to escort Lord Tyrell.  And after that disturbing brothel scene I think Ser Meryn’s days are numbered just the same as Arya’s time at the House of Black and White is numbered.

6.  I’m glad Bronn and Jaime are making it out of Dorne with Myrcella and Trystane.  But what is Ellaria playing at?  I doubt she’s given up her dream of getting revenge for Oberyn’s death, no matter what she swears to Doran.

7.  Wow, the look on Daenerys’ face when Ser Jorah appeared in the pit again was just perfect.  As was her look when she thought he tried to kill Hizdahr but really just killed a Harpy.

8.  On that note, I was kind of surprised they killed of Hizdahr even before their marriage.  What was the purpose of that particular change from the books?

9.  Also, the choreography in the fighting pit was just beautiful.  Someone must have been drunk or high during that really awful Sand Snake fight scene because this was classic Game of Thrones.

10.  Yay, Dany finally got to ride Drogon.  But I wonder where Drogon will take her?  Will she end up where she does in the books or will the show’s writers change that slightly?

So what did you guys think of this super-intense episode?  I’m very, very excited for the finale this year!