Tagged: katherine
Accession by Terah Edun
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Sixteen-year-old Katherine Thompson wasn’t trained to rule a coven. That was her sister – perfect, beautiful Rose. But when a mysterious plane crash kills off the heir presumptive of the Sandersville coven she has no choice.
After stepping in to fill her sister’s shoes, Katherine realizes she didn’t have a clue – faery wars, depressed trolls and angry unicorns are just the beginning.
For centuries, her family has served the high Queens on both sides of the Atlantic but it is a well-known rule that mid-level witches stay away from high-level Queens.
But when Katherine’s youngest cousin vanishes without a trace in the Atlanta court and no one wants to investigate, Katherine decides to step into the darkness on her own. She will soon discover that nothing, especially in a queen’s court, is as it seems.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
First off, as with all of Terah Edun’s work (especially her Courtlight series), I was really impressed with the world-building here. There are fairies, unicorns and trolls but they’re not really your typical fairies, unicorns and trolls. Not only that, there are new creatures like Gestap that we encounter that are totally unique to Accession. The politics between witches in different cities and towns was also interesting, even though we didn’t really see much of the inner workings of the courts in this first installment. Still, what we did see was interesting and I’m definitely interested in finding out more.
Katherine is not a bad character but she’s not exactly my favourite narrator ever. She’s more reactive than proactive as she comes into her new role as heir apparent to her mother, who rules the town as a Queen witch. I’ll admit that it would be hard to find your feet in such a crazy place when you’ve never cared to learn the subtleties of area politics, but I was a little disappointed that Katherine didn’t really come into her own in the story. She does grow stronger (I’ll admit) and grows as a character, but she really does have a long way to go.
The only thing I felt was actually lacking in Accession was the plot itself. It doesn’t seem to be having that greater, over-arching goal that gives the character a sort of purpose. Instead, we get bogged down in little subplots through the entire book before at the end we finally, finally get to the meat of the story before the cliffhanger ending. Sure, Katherine’s goal of finding her sister’s killer is always in the back of her mind, but she doesn’t really seem to care as much as you’d think she would. Katherine may have had her disagreements with her sister, but she really did love her and that’s why her lack of drive to find her killer struck me as odd. It made it feel like the story was lacking a coherent plot.
Still, I have faith in Terah Edun that this series will only improve as it continues, just like the Courtlight series. With that cliffhanger ending, I really can’t wait for the next installment to see whether Katherine truly matures or not.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
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*Not available.
Mine to Tarnish by Janeal Falor
(Cover picture courtesy of YA Bound Book Tours.)
Katherine’s place is the same as any woman’s—on the shelf next to the dresses and bolts of cloth. When she’s sold to a warlock, life grows even bleaker. Her new owner is as old and rancid as he is cruel, driving her to do the unthinkable: run.
Nothing prepared her for being on her own. And she’s definitely unprepared for the warlocks hunting her down. But she must stay one step ahead because if caught, the best she can hope for is death.
[Full disclosure: Janeal Falor provided me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.]
A lot of times I’m not a big novella fan, I admit it. Even when they’re prequels or just extra information about characters. Sometimes they’re repetitive, but sometimes like with Mine to Tarnish they add a whole other dimension to the rich world the author has created.
I was always fond of Katherine in You Are Mine, but seeing her story through her own eyes is so much better than having it secondhand through Serena. Serena and Katherine are very different people to start out with, but their situations are remarkably similar. It’s just how they deal with those situations that I found fascinating. For instance, when Katherine chooses to escape I was cheering for her the whole way! In a world where violence against women is the norm and women are nothing but property, I had a hard time finding hope for poor Katherine’s life even outside of marriage but it was better than the alternative.
You can technically read Mine to Tarnish before you read You Are Mine, but I’d recommend sticking to the publishing order. It’s nicer to go back and hear Katherine’s backstory because then you at least have a better grasp on the world she’s living in from the full length novel. At the same time, you can get a pretty good taste of the terrifying world of the Mine series by just reading the novella first. It really depends on your personal tastes.
The novella was fast-paced and well written. There wasn’t really any time when I was tempted to put it down because I liked the faster pacing. That, and it helped that Katherine’s story is pretty remarkable for a woman in that world. You can’t help but like the feisty Katherine who was raised by a remarkable woman who believes in true equality, even if she hides it.
Really, what more can I say? If you read and liked You Are Mine, you’re going to love Mine to Tarnish. If you’re new to the Mine series, let me say welcome and I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!
I give this novella 5/5 stars.
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*Unavailable.
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
(Cover picture courtesy of The Streetlight Reader.)
To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…
The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.
A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg’s gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.
Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.
I believe I said this before, but it bears repeating: Jorg is like Genghis Khan if he’d gotten started on the whole conquering business in his teen years. Trust me, King of Thorns and the whole of The Broken Empire trilogy is brutal in terms of blood, guts and gore. It’s not for the faint of heart.
With that said, I still love Jorg as a character. Mark Lawrence has managed to create a character that is far from sympathetic, but is more empathetic. Readers get an in-depth understanding of who Jorg is and why he is the way he is, but it’s hard to feel sorry for him very often. Rather, he’s an interesting character so you can’t help but keep on reading to find out what happens to him. Although the narrative was a little more disjointed, you can certainly tell how Jorg has changed from the first book now that he’s eighteen years old. Is he any less ruthless? No. But he does feel at least a little sympathy for some human beings by this point.
My only complaint about King of Thorns is the disjointed narrative. We get treated to excerpts from Katherine’s diary, Jorg’s point of view four years ago immediately after the events of Prince of Thorns and the current wedding day/battle. During each of these points in the narrative there are flashbacks within the flashbacks, so I admit it did get a little confusing. Could Mark Lawrence have written this in a better way? Probably. Does it still work out? Yes. The plot is tied up nicely by the final battle and even though Jorg has changed, his last main action at the end of the novel is so completely in character you can’t help but laugh. Then again, maybe you won’t because I personally have a morbid sense of humour.
What I really liked about this second book in the trilogy is that Jorg is an even better character than before, but also that we got to see more of his world. This post-apocalyptic quasi-Medieval world is absolutely fascinating! You can tell Mark Lawrence really put effort into world-building because we get all kinds of subtle hints at the events that brought along the apocalypse as well as how it changed the world. I don’t want to give things away, but from the sounds of the Builders and the political strife that occurred after their fall it’s no wonder Jorg is the way he is. It’s a brutal, cruel world and seemingly good men like the Prince of Arrow are swallowed up by it.
Overall, I absolutely loved King of Thorns. It was fast-paced if a little disjointed at times, the characters acquired more depth and the world-building was expanded upon. If you like dark fantasy/post-apocalyptic fiction you’ll love The Broken Empire trilogy.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.