Tagged: masq1
The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
(Cover picture courtesy of the author’s website.)
One day Han Alister catches three young wizard setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet away from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to ensure the boy won’t use it against him. The amulet once belonged to the Demon King, who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece so powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.
Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna has her own battle to fight. She’s just returned to court after three years of riding and hunting with her father’s family. Raisa aspires to be like Hanalea, the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But it seems that her mother has other plans for her—plans that include a suitor who goes against everything the Queendom stands for.
The Seven Realms will tremble when the lives of Han and Raisa collide in this stunning page-turner from best-selling author Cinda Williams Chima.
I’ve had my eye on this book pretty much since it came out. It intrigued me to a point because it had potential to be a great book but I just never really got around to reading it. Then I found it in the used section of my local bookstore and decided to give it a go. Why not? It could be pretty good. The blurb certainly had potential.
First off, is this the best fantasy novel I’ve read, like ever? No, it doesn’t rank in the top 10 of all time if I’m honest but it definitely has a place in the top 20. Considering I’ve averaged 200 books read per year (and a significant amount of them being fantasy) that’s still pretty good. The Demon King won’t absolutely blow your mind, but I think most people will enjoy it.
My favourite thing about The Demon King was the world-building. Cinda Williams Chima doesn’t immediately try to tell you everything about the seven realms. No, instead she lets the characters reveal the background a little more organically. Raisa (the princess), for example, often tries to discover more about the history of the Fells so she can be a better ruler when she assumes the throne. Han Alister (Hunts Alone), on the other hand, helps us learn more about the history of the tension between wizards and the Clan who make the magical amulets after the rise of the Demon King. I like how instead of going for the traditional Medieval European castle-filled fantasy, The Demon King is more of a mixture of cultures. There are a lot of elements of Native American cultures as well as more Eastern values present in Fellsmarch, the capital. You even learn that in the southern kingdoms there are more traditionally Medieval European values when it comes to the church’s control over women.
Not everyone will like the characters, but I couldn’t help cheering for Raisa and Han. I cheered for Han because I loved the whole reformed-thief/streetlord angle as he tried to stay on the straight and narrow. Alas, fate would not really let him and it costs him dearly. Raisa is probably my favourite character in the whole novel. She doesn’t want to be this perfect princess who is stifled by her mother but at the same time she knows how to fake the social graces. So many rebellious princesses in stories can’t even do that, but Raisa knows when to fight and when to back down and play her role. Unlike a lot of YA protagonists, Raisa also knows how to act fairly well. She can lie convincingly, what a novel concept!
The plot was the weak point of The Demon King. It was pretty slow in the beginning but there were times when the pace was ridiculously fast. It sort of jumped all over the place which isn’t really what you want in a novel. I don’t mind the occasional jump, but generally speaking I like a smooth transition to the climax as the author slowly ramps up the tension. That doesn’t really happen in The Demon King.
At the end of the day I usually judge books on whether I want to read the rest of the series/trilogy or not. It just so happens that I do want to read The Exiled Queen. Badly. There was quite a cliffhanger at the end and I have a feeling that the second book is going to be even better than The Demon King, especially with that huge reveal at the end. As I said in my introduction to the novel, this is not the greatest fantasy book you’ll ever read. It probably won’t rank in the top 10. At the same time, it is a worthwhile read and I can’t wait to see where the series goes.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
(Cover picture courtesy of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s site.)
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there’s this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that’s possible. Against all common sense, I’m falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…
I have a confession to make. This series is pretty much guilty pleasure for me. It follows the pretty typical YA formula of girl meets hot jerk at school, falls in love, finds out he’s [x] supernatural being, etc. Normally I would hate this with a passion.
And yet I don’t.
Katy may not know her mind like some of my favourite heroines, but she doesn’t take crap from anyone. Not even Daemon Black. When he at first tries to woo her she rejects him over and over because she remembered how he treated her like garbage for three months. That sort of treatment just doesn’t go away overnight, no matter how many apologies are said. Yet when Daemon actually starts to prove he’s really not a jerk you start to see Katy at war with herself as she becomes more attracted to this new Daemon while remembering how badly he treated her.
The thing that separates Onyx and the rest of the Lux series from most YA is that it’s well-written. Dare I say that I literally laughed out loud because some parts were so funny? (The people around me have now become inured to my book-laughter so I didn’t get the usual ‘crazy’ stares.) At the same time, there were some very touching, serious scenes, especially toward the end of the novel.
I haven’t read a girl loves alien book yet so the premise is actually quite refreshing despite the overall formulaic approach. Jennifer L. Armentrout’s alien race (the Lux) are truly fascinating and how the government treats them is disturbing. And realistic. I like how the full scope of Daemon’s power is revealed in slow increments rather than being thrown at us all at once. The history of the Lux is also shown in greater detail in Onyx, especially concerning the Department of Defense’s relationship with them.
Is this the most unique book ever written? Of course not. However, Onyx is well-written, fast-paced, funny and touching at the same time. The characters seem like your typical YA characters at first, but then Katy and Daemon acquire so much more depth. They really grow throughout the books and I can’t wait to see what happens in Opal.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Ingenue by Jillian Larkin
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Power . . . love . . . scandal . . .
There’s never enough to go around.In the city that never sleeps, Lorraine Dyer is wide awake. Ever since she exposed Clara Knowles for the tramp she was—and lost her closest confidante in the process—Lorraine has spent every second scheming to make her selfish, lovesick ex–best friend pay for what she did. No one crosses Lorraine. Not even Gloria.
True love conquers everything—or so Gloria Carmody crazily believed. She and Jerome Johnson can barely scrape together cash for their rent, let alone have a moment to whisper sweet nothings in the dark. And if they thought escaping Chicago meant they’d get away with murder . . . they were dead wrong.
Clara was sure that once handsome, charming Marcus Eastman discovered her shameful secret, he’d drop her like a bad habit. Instead, he swept her off her feet and whisked her away to New York. Being with Marcus is a breath of fresh air—and a chance for Clara to leave her wild flapper ways firmly in the past. Except the dazzling parties and bright lights won’t stop whispering her name. . . .
INGENUE is the second novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic Flappers series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . where revenge is a dish best served cold.
Ingenue is very different from the first book, Vixen, in that we’re already familiar with the world of the flappers. Gloria has very truly rebelled this time and is bold enough to live alone (and unmarried) with a black man in 1920s America. I don’t know about you, but it takes a lot of courage to defy those heavily ingrained societal prejudices surrounding both living together without being married and having an interracial relationship. That’s why Gloria is still my favourite character in this second novel. She’s far from perfect and her relationship with Jerome is rocky at times but by the end you’re even more sure that they truly love each other.
I hated Lorraine in the first book but she seems to have developed quite a bit by Ingenue. She was rather naive despite her rebellions in the first book but she’s a little more worldly by this second book. At the same time, she retains a lot of that naivete and it gets her into trouble quite a bit. Clara’s storyline was also fascinating in that I loved her struggle between Marcus and her old, daring flapper life in New York. The addition of Vera was probably my favourite part (character-wise) of the whole novel. Black women don’t often get a voice in historical fiction set around this time, so seeing Vera and how she is treated throughout Ingenue was fascinating.
As for the plot I’d have to say it’s a little slower than the pace in Vixen but it certainly doesn’t drag on and on. It’s fast-paced considering that four different characters are telling the story but Jillian Larkin never compromises on character development. If you like action/thriller novels you’ll probably find the pace a bit slow, but for such a character-driven novel Ingenue speeds right along.
I learned so much more about the 1920s from Ingenue as the world of the flappers expanded. Gangsters, racial relations, fashion, journalism and so much more were all discussed in great detail all through the novel. I can’t comment on the accuracy of Ingenue or the rest of The Flappers books but I have a feeling Jillian Larkin has done her research fairly well. You certainly feel immersed in the world of the Roaring Twenties from page one.
Overall, Ingenue was a pretty good second book. If you liked Vixen and are invested in the characters of The Flappers you’ll definitely want to stick with the series until the end.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Defy by Sara B. Larson
(Cover picture courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.)
A lush and gorgeously written debut, packed with action, intrigue, and a thrilling love triangle.
Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king’s army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince’s guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can’t prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.
The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she’s sworn to protect?
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Hold on, I know what you’re thinking! You’re thinking: “A love triangle, really? And a teenage girl disguised as a boy? How many more clichés can one author fit into a blurb?” You’d be right to doubt Defy at first glance, believe me. I was pretty doubtful as well but I decided to take a chance and request the book on NetGalley.
I hate love triangles with a passion. But I actually liked this one in Defy. Alexa has been pretending to be a man for so long that she has to relearn how to be a woman. She also has to reconcile the fact that she’s at an age where crushes develop, especially since she’s surrounded by men. It makes for a lot of interesting tension and some rather awkward situations but that makes it all the more believable. The thing I liked most about this love triangle is that Alexa doesn’t angst over it the whole time. Sure she thinks about it, but it’s not always front and centre in her thoughts for 100% of the book.
I love Sara B. Larson’s fantasy world. It’s not your typical Medieval European fantasy world and it actually seems to take place in a more tropical area. There are recognizable fantasy tropes, yes, but she doesn’t rely on them to tell the whole story. I also love how politics are never simple in the world of Defy, just like they’re never that simple in real life. Warring factions commit atrocities against one another, people die and civilian life reflects the constant presence of war. I can’t wait to see how Larson chooses to expand it later on to reflect the events at the end of the novel.
The characters were great. I really felt Alexa’s struggle, not only her inner turmoil but also her physical exertions. It takes a good writer to really put me in the shoes of someone who is naturally athletically gifted and yet in Defy this was the case. I liked how Prince Damian was not all that he appeared to be. Usually in YA the main character and her love interest can’t act worth a darn. Yet Alexa plays her role of bodyguard fairly well and Damian plays his role of spoiled prince exceedingly well.
Was this absolutely the best book I’ve ever read? No. But it certainly wasn’t awful and although there were a couple times when the plot dragged I never really felt the urge to throw my Kindle at the wall. For a book with a love triangle and a girl dressing up as a man, that’s pretty darn good. So if you think Defy sounds interesting I’d say go for it. It’s not a bad book at all.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike
(Cover picture courtesy of All The Stacks.)
Tavia Michaels is the sole survivor of the plane crash that killed her parents. When she starts to see strange visions of a boy she’s never spoken with in real life, she begins to suspect that there’s much about her past that she isn’t being told.
Tavia immediately searches for answers, desperate to determine why she feels so drawn to a boy she hardly knows. But when Tavia discovers that the aunt and uncle who took her in after her parents’ death may have actually been responsible for the plane crash that killed them–and that she may have been the true intended victim–she flees for the safety of Camden, Maine, where the boy she sees in her visions instructs her to go.
Now, Tavia is on the run with no one to trust. No one, that is, except for her best friend and longtime crush, Benson.
Tavia feels torn between the boy who mysteriously comes to her at night and the boy who has been by her side every step of the way. But what Tavia doesn’t know is that the world is literally falling apart and that to save it she will have to unite with the boy in her visions. Only problem? To do so would mean rejecting Benson’s love. And that’s the one thing Tavia Michaels swore she’d never do.
I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. It was a Christmas present from my best friend, who usually has pretty good taste in books. She thought it sounded interesting, I thought it sounded slightly interesting. Why not give it a try?
Except for the fact that it’s a waste of your money, totally and utterly. If you changed the character’s names around you probably wouldn’t notice until about halfway through that the book isn’t Twilight. It’s trite and cliché and the characters were just painful. I was stuck in the viewpoint of Tavia the whole time and began actively cheering for her doom sometime around page 50.
Tavia is what we in the book industry call Too Stupid To Live. She believes her male stalker is not only trustworthy and harmless, but attractive as well! She follows this stalker in an unfamiliar place, not telling anyone where she’s going and all this while she’s on the run from people who want to kill her. Then she puts on the necklace that the voice of her past self in her head tells her to, essentially knowing that it’s going to change her forever and possibly kill her. Too. Stupid. To. Live.
Could the love interests be any blander? Quinn is a stalker, as usual, but Tavia loves him because he’s such a nice stalker! He would never harm her. (Cue eye-rolling.) Benson is such a typical geeky best-friend-who’s-secretly-in-love type that it made me want to throw the book at the wall. I would have but I don’t condone book vandalism. There was no unique spin on him and even at the end when his character supposedly changes I saw it coming a mile away and if you have the misfortune to read Earthbound, you will too.
The plot, oh the plot. It was all over the place, as if Aprilynne Pike couldn’t decide what she wanted to write: a reincarnation love story, a contemporary thriller or an urban fantasy novel. When we finally get an explanation for the Earthbound people my eyes almost rolled out of my head. Triangles being their sign, really? You couldn’t think of anything more original than that. There wasn’t even a new twist on that! Also, Pike needs to do some research about ancient Egypt. She seems to have gotten the First Dynasty mixed up with the Fourth. Oh well, what’s a couple hundred years?
The only reason I finished this book is because I’m incredibly stubborn. It’s not worth your time or the few braincells that are required to read it. There are no redeeming qualities in Earthbound at all so I guarantee this is the first and last book I’ll read by this author.
I give this book 0/5 stars.