Happy Canada Day!

I know most of you guys that follow my blog are American, but today I’m not going to post much because it’s Canada day.  I am, after all, celebrating it the traditional way: by sleeping in and then watching British and American TV shows.

Actually I’m going down to watch the parade later and then I’m going to help set up the fireworks for this evening.  I love fire and I especially love fireworks, which is why I end up helping set up the fireworks pretty much every year.  Yep, my life is tough.

In between this I’ll eventually be posting my Best and Worst of June post but it’ll be a couple of hours.

In the meantime, if you’re Canadian too, happy Canada Day!  If you’re American or any other nationality, happy Tuesday!

Threats of Sky and Sea by Jennifer Ellision

Threats of Sky and Sea(Cover picture courtesy of Two Ends of the Pen.)

Sixteen year-old Breena Perdit has spent her life as a barmaid, innocent to her father’s past and happily free from the Elemental gifts that would condemn her to a life in the Egrian King’s army. Until the day that three Elemental soldiers recognize her father as a traitor to the throne and Bree’s father is thrown in jail—along with the secrets from his last mission as the King’s assassin. Secrets that could help the King win a war. Secrets he refuses to share.

Desperate to escape before the King’s capricious whims prove her and her father’s downfall, Bree bargains with him: information for their lives. It’s a good trade. And she has faith she’ll get them both out of the King’s grasp with time.

But that was before the discovery that she’s the weapon the King’s been waiting for in his war.

Now, time is running out. To save her father’s life and understand her own, Bree must unravel the knot of her father’s past before the King takes his life– and uses her to bring a nation to its knees.

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

You know, at first glance it would seem like Threats of Sky and Sea has it all: an interesting plot, some fantastic world-building with new takes on old tropes, a tough main character and plenty of intrigue.  Except when I finished reading Jennifer Ellision’s debut novel I was left feeling kind of hollow.

Unlike with many books, I know exactly why I was feeling hollow by the end: there really wasn’t that much action in the whole novel.  Yes, there’s action when Bree is plucked from her home and there’s quite a bit of action near the end of the novel but there’s really not all that much in the middle.  Despite the minor plot surrounding the king and the king’s generally evil intentions, I was left feeling that the plot lacked something.  I mean, Bree’s in a court where pretty much everyone hates her because of her father’s betrayal of the king.  Surely some people would try to remind her of her place, of her rough upbringing?  Surely there would be some other intrigues!  When it comes to novels I’m not that demanding in terms of plot pacing but I do like for there to be a little more substance to the plot.

Still, despite that I really loved the characters in this novel.  Bree is strong and brave but she at least learns when to keep her mouth shut, unlike a lot of YA heroines.  She’s definitely not your traditional heroine in the looks department either because she has short brown hair (gasp!) whereas the current trend usually has heroines with red hair.  Not only that, Bree really does love her father but that doesn’t mean she isn’t annoyed and hurt by his betrayal.  He told her nothing of her birth, of her abilities for sixteen years and you can’t expect someone to forgive another person (even their own parent) for a betrayal like that.  She grows to forgive her father, yes, but it’s a long path in that regard.

For a first novel, the world-building in here is fantastic.  Even for a second, third or tenth novel as a matter of fact.  I like how people born with elemental powers are both feared and respected as the king takes them in to fight for his army.  Not only that, I like how there is still quite a bit not known about where the powers come from, how and when they manifest, etc.  It makes it a little more realistic than Bree’s crazy teacher having all of the answers about everything.  Not only that, Jennifer Ellision has given quite a great deal of thought to the rest of her fantasy world and you can tell that we’re going to see a lot more of the other kingdoms mentioned in the next few books.

So aside from the lack of substance in the middle of the novel I was very impressed with Threats of Sky and Sea and I can’t wait to see what Jennifer Ellision dreams up next.

I give this novel 4/5 stars.

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Thank You For Your Patience

I know it’s annoying when a blog you follow posts consistently then suddenly posts at erratic times and misses a couple of days in a row.  That’s why I’m so grateful for you all for sticking by me during my tech problem saga of epic proportions.  I won’t trouble you with my latest problems but they involve a ten-year-old modem working better than a brand new one.  Ugh.

I’ve got things mostly figured out so you guys can expect me to finally be back on schedule this week and for my post times to be semi-consistent, if not completely consistent once more.

I’ve Been Invaded by Gremlins!

As you guys hopefully noticed, I haven’t actually posted anything on my blog for two days now.  And no doubt you’re aware of both my internet troubles last week and my computer breaking down this week.  So I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been invaded by gremlins.

How do I know?  Well, the reason I wasn’t posting for two days was that my internet was once again down.  I plugged and unplugged both the modem and the router but nothing seemed to do the trick.  Then just 5 minutes ago (I’m writing this at 1:00am) the internet spontaneously came back on again, leading me to believe that not only do I have gremlins, I have smart-ass gremlins.

So sorry about all that.  I should be getting my newly fixed computer back next week and hopefully SaskTel gets their act together about the internet service in my area.

Blue Violet by Abigail Owen

Blue Violet by Abigail Owen

(Cover picture courtesy of Masquerade Tours.)

2013 Bronze Medalist for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror eBook at the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs)

2014 eLit Awards Bronze Medalist for Fantasy/SciFi

Book #1 of the Svatura Series

Ellie Aubrey is a centuries-old gypsy princess whose extraordinary abilities once inspired her Roma ancestors’ fairytales (or nightmares). Along with her twin-brother, Griffin, Ellie has spent most of her life hiding from the Vyusher, a rival tribe who destroyed their entire powerful family. But after a mysterious dream, Ellie risks discovery in order to find and watch over the Jenners, another group of similarly gifted people. She refuses to let them suffer the same fate.

Alex Jenner has come home to protect his family. His adopted mother can sense danger coming, but not who or when. Suspicious of the new girl in town, Alex challenges Ellie in ways that will spark one of two possible outcomes: they’ll spontaneously combust, or she’ll lose control of the one power she’s fought so hard to contain.

When the Vyusher once again threaten everything she holds dear, Ellie will have to face her worst fear, and Alex will have to face an impossible decision. In this fairytale, the dragon that the prince must slay is also the princess who holds his heart.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]

When I signed up for the Black Orchid blog tour I really wasn’t all too sure about whether I’d like the books or not.  However, the thing that convinced me was that I had read Andromeda’s Fall by Abigail Owen as well and loved it.  Why not give her other series a try?  And let me tell you: I’m so glad I did.  It’s just as good as Andromeda’s Fall and I am now a huge Abigail Owen fan.

The beginning made me cringe, I’ll admit.  New girl in a small town going to yet another new school after moving around lots.  Thankfully this trope was not played straight and soon we learn that Ellie really isn’t all that she seems and neither is the insanely attractive Alex.  Things get awesome pretty quickly so don’t be fooled by Blue Violet‘s unassuming beginning!

Ellie is now one of my favourite heroines.  Yes, she can agonize over Alex but she has the self-awareness to at least realize that he’s a college student and he’s probably not going to be interested in his little sister’s new high school aged friend.  When she realizes that the Jenners also have abilities similar to hers, her first instinct is to protect them, no matter how coldly Alex treats her.  I think the most interesting part about Ellie’s character was her second ability, the one that terrifies her the most.  Abigail Owen really works hard to not only portray her obvious fear of it but also to portray the temptation to use it, especially when the Vyusher come knocking.

I really just loved the world-building in Blue Violet.  Not only are the different abilities unique and pretty darn cool, there are believable backstories for even the villains like the Vyusher.  Of course there are still a couple of questions about abilities and such but this really is only the first book in the series and all of the most pressing questions are answered.  In the beginning we learn pretty quickly of Ellie and Griffin’s abilities, which is refreshing considering writers’ tendencies to drag things out for as long as they can.  Not so in Blue Violet!

Now, with a blurb that focuses on the inter-character relationships you’d think this would be more of a slow paced novel.  It’s definitely not.  While it is character driven to a large extent, you’re never going to get bored as both the personal drama and dangerous outside forces come together to create one heck of an epic climax.  And there’s just a little cliffhanger so you’re eager to read the next book.

All in all, this is definitely not your typical urban fantasy novel and I can’t recommend it enough.  Seriously, go buy it!

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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