Tag Archives: Magic
Book Breakup: The Rose Throne by Mette Ivie Harrison
Ailsbet loves nothing more than music; tall and red-haired, she’s impatient with the artifice and ceremony of her father’s court. Marissa adores the world of her island home and feels she has much to offer when she finally inherits the throne from her wise, good-tempered father. The trouble is that neither princess has the power–or the magic–to rule alone, and if the kingdoms can be united, which princess will end up ruling the joint land? For both, the only goal would seem to be a strategic marriage to a man who can bring his own brand of power to the throne. But will either girl be able to marry for love? And can either of these two princesses, rivals though they have never met, afford to let the other live?
For some reason, I got my authors mixed up when I requested this on NetGalley. I vaguely thought this was a new novel by Eva Ibbotson. After thinking Ms Ibbotson’s writing wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as I remembered, I realised my mistake.
It turns out The Rose Throne is by the same author of Tris and Izzie, a book I thought was pretty poor and said so two years ago. Had I known, I wouldn’t have requested this one for review, but I did, so I felt obliged to give it a go. However nowadays I’m much less inclined to continue reading a book I’m not interested in and at 19% I’m moving on from this one.
I don’t think it’s really fair to give a full review of The Rose Throne having read so little, but I will say that I do think this is a better book than Tris and Izzie. The two main characters are bland, and don’t seem to really react to anything, but on the up side, they don’t inspire feelings of complete disgust in the short time I spent with them.
That being said, I don’t see any signs of this being a great book either. The writing is just too emotionless for me, something I recall bothering me in Ms Harrison’s previous work. Unfortunately, it’s a bit like reading one long monotone. There appears to be two types of magic taweyr and neweyr, in Harrison’s world. The author kind of dumps the reader in the middle of all this without cohesively explaining it, but from what I can gather, neweyr is a female power, connected to new life, growth and nurturing, while taweyr, the magic of death and war, is a male power. The existence of taweyr in a woman, or neweyr in a man is deemed unnatural and those with the wrong weyr are despised, hunted down and killed. Not being at all confident this author could explore this uncomfortably sexist magical system in a satisfactory way and being completely bored by the prose, I swiftly decided The Rose Throne, sadly, wasn’t for me.
As with Tris and Izzie, I really do love the cover though.
Many thanks to Egmont USA and NetGalley for making this ebook available.
*Please keep in mind that this review is based on an Advanced Review Copy from NetGalley and therefore some of the narrative and dialogue may change before publication.*
Book Review: A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton
I was given A Witch in Love for review a long time ago, so I have to apologise to both the author and Hachette for taking so long to get around to reading this.
Anna still finds it hard to believe that Seth loves her and has vowed to suppress her powers, no matter what.
But magic – like love – is uncontrollable. It spills out with terrible consequences, and soon, Anna is being hunted.
Some spoilers for A Witch in Winter
As the title suggests, there is a bigger focus on romance in this book, and that’s probably why I didn’t enjoy A Witch in Love quite as much as its predecessor. I had hoped the books (and the characters) would move on from Anna’s love spell but we’re left rehashing much of the same stuff and it all gets too melodramatic and angsty for me. Readers rooting for these two will love this book but I was never a fan of Seth and Anna. Seth is far too perfect and consequently dull, while Anna turns rather needy and pathetic whenever it comes to Seth. These two are just way too wrapped up in each other and I don’t feel the chemistry.
Emmaline was sorely missed in this book. She provides any witch-related answers for Anna as needed, but she’s lost her snark (or any sort of plot line of her own), which so endeared me to her in the previous book. In fact, the majority of the secondary characters I was eager to reconnect with are absent from A Witch in Love. Abbe (who I was hoping would be fleshed out in this book) confesses something towards the end that has a lot less weight than it should have done, mostly because he only pops briefly in and out of the story twice in the lead up to it. Also missing is the atmosphere from the first book. Though it makes sense that A Witch in Love should be more focused on events rather than setting the scene, I missed it all the same.
If all this sounds like A Witch in Love was a big disappointment to me, than it wasn’t. Overall I think the book is a pretty good read, and didn’t suffer too much, in my opinion, from ‘second book syndrome’. A Witch in Love has a compelling plot line, one where Anna is trying to find out about her past and who her mother was. Anna is a far more likeable character when she is struggling to uncover her family’s secrets, compared to her acts of petty jealousy or mooning over Seth the rest of the time. Ultimately, Anna still remains a little too ‘vanilla’ to be a truly remarkable heroine. There’s also a dangerous hate group gathering in Winter and Anna is refusing to learn how to control her magic. Needless to say, this causes some serious repercussions along the way.
Much of my feelings and issues from the first book remain and this second installment definitely didn’t strike as good a balance between romance, friendship and plot as the first. But A Witch in Love is still an enjoyable and well-paced read and I’m looking forward to seeing how Warburton concludes everything in the final book.
*Many thanks to Hachette Children’s Books for sending this in exchange for an honest review*
Book Review: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
I’ve yet to read all of Ms Snyder’s work, but I’m starting to wonder if she’ll ever be able to surpass her first novel, Poison Study. Like many of her readers, I can’t help but compare her later fantasy books with her first one. And in the case of Touch of Power, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d read it before. Characters, relationships, the basic storyline, even specific scenes, were all very familiar. Touch of Power is a bit like reading an early version of Poison Study, one that’s nowhere near as well written or developed.
Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.
Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life…
Touch of Power definitely has an intriguing set up: fifteen kingdoms decimated by a plague. A Healer’s Guild that has been completely destroyed, its Healers hunted down and executed, a school where future leaders are sent to hone their skills in diplomacy and manipulation, magicians, death eating plants (a subplot I still don’t quite understand). What’s disappointing is that we learn little else beyond this. Touch of Power is the first book in a trilogy, so I wish more time had been set aside to allow the reader to actually experience some of these places instead of learning of them through a brief character conversation. The world building in this book is pretty vague and light on detail.
A lack of interest in any of the characters also prevented this from being a memorable read. Too many of them read like pale imitations from the author’s previous work, but even someone new to Snyder’s writing would likely find them fairly nondescript.
Avry in particular felt undeveloped and unrealistic. Avry isn’t what I would describe as a closed off character, yet she never seems to react to anything. She accepts her sentenced execution in the opening chapters without a fight. She shows no hurt or disbelief after being betrayed by people she trusts, or little regret over her strained relationship with her sister. Even more concerning is how she never expresses any real anger, fear or sense of violation over Tohan’s treatment of her.
Avry can heal people, but only by taking on their disease or injuries herself. Here we have a heroine who is perfectly willing to sacrifice her health, not to mention her life, time and time again for everyone else. She’s never once resentful about this. Why does she heal people who would recover perfectly well on their own in time or with medicine? Avry is an extremely self-sacrificing character, to the point where she shows little concern or thought for her own life. While there are characters that care for her, everyone finds it perfectly natural that she should spend her life taking on other people’s pain and suffering. I wanted Touch Of Power to explore at least a little some of the emotional impact all this would have had on Avry. I wanted a little selfishness of Avry’s part, for her to question if being a healer is all she wants from life. She claims healing is her choice, but the description of her magic contradicts that. If anything, she seems to have little control over the rise of whenever anyone nearby is hurt.
So much about Touch of Power suggests this is a fantasy aimed at young readers – the light world building, the lack of character depth, the fairly basic, predictable storyline, the simple narrative and often childish, modern dialogue at odds with the setting (‘Yippee’. ‘Kill. Me. Now’ etc). But a twenty-year-old protagonist and certain content suggests this book is intended for a more mature reader.
I don’t know. Touch of Power has enough action and adventure to make it an entertaining read, (I read it in one sitting) but it’s missing the emotion – the soul, to make it a fantastic story. Even the problematic romance was dry for me. I’m not really inclined to revisit these characters, despite having the second book for review on NetGalley. It’s alright if you enjoy light fantasy, but I could certainly point you in the direction of far more sophisticated and satisfying books within the genre.
Book Review: Charmfall by Chloe Neill
A while back I was sent Firespell and Charmfall for review, books one and three of a series. I wasn’t overly impressed by Firespell and unfortunately, the same points I flagged in that review are still present in Charmfall.
High school can be a battlefield, but for Lily Parker, surviving at St. Sophia’s School for Girls is a matter of life and death…
Protecting Chicago from the dark side can be an exhausting job, especially when you’re a junior. So when the girls of St. Sophia’s start gearing up for Sneak, their fall formal, Lily decides to join in on some good, old-fashioned party prep—even if it means not giving demons, vampires and the twisted magic users known as Reapers her undivided attention.
But when a Reaper infiltrates the school, Lily doesn’t forget what she’s sworn to protect. She reaches deep into herself to draw out her magic—and finds that it’s gone. And it turns out she’s not alone. A magical blackout has slammed through paranormal Chicago, and no one knows what—or who—caused it. But Lily knows getting back her magic is worth the risk of going behind enemy lines…
The pacing is still slow. The majority of the story actually consists of Lily giving the reader inconsequential and pointless information. There’s a running commentary on the brat pack’s movements, their clothing, the decorations Lily’s putting together for a school dance etc. It’s just not information we need, nor really care, to know.
The Adepts are supposedly at war with Reapers, but there never seems to be any sort of, well… fighting going on. As with the first book, there is a distinct lack of danger or action and despite words like ‘battlefield’, ‘life and death’ and ‘protecting Chicago’ thrown around in the synopsis, nobody really does anything. As far as I can tell, mostly the Adepts sneak down into the underground tunnels most nights and have meetings in their secret room, which turns out to be pretty much round the corner from the Reaper’s underground base. Perhaps I missed all the major movements in book two, but considering nothing seems to have changed or moved on plot-wise from the end of the first book, that seems unlikely.
Someone is behind a magical blackout, forcing the Adepts and Reapers to work together to gain their magic back. This could have been a potential interesting plot line, but it ends up being mostly a lot of talking, some faffing around, a convenient (and poorly written) fairy tale that provides the answers and the whole thing is fairly easily resolved with little trouble by the end of the book. There’s seemingly nothing to stop the culprit from working the same mojo again, but somehow that question never comes up.
In fact, there are quite a few unresolved questions popping up throughout this series. Do Lily’s parents really know about magic? What are they hiding? Is Adept HQ as trustworthy as first believed? (Probably not) Are Reapers truly as evil as they’ve been told? (Probably not) Can Lily trust Sebastian? (Who cares — he’s a lot more interesting than Jason.)
It’s just all a bit flat. Charmfall has a lot of unnecessary filler and no character or plot progression. A shame, as I saw some potential in book one, but I’m not inclined to continue with these books. They are shaping up to be a long, lightweight, inoffensive and rambling paranormal series. Not bad for the casual reader but why bother when there are much more satisfying books out there?
*Edit: Just read that there are no further plans to continue this series. I guess the publishers, or possibly the author, aren’t feeling this one either.
Originally review over at Mostly Reading YA
Book Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray
I was left with very mixed feelings about The Diviners by Libba Bray. It took me nearly two months of boredom, frustration and annoyance to get through the first half, and about an afternoon to read the second half. The only reason I persevered was out of stubbornness.
And I’m glad that I did in the end. Somewhere in this gigantic tomb of a book is an interesting story and Bray clearly has a very definite plan for this series. Her writing is evocative and The Diviners is seeped in an eerie atmosphere, not to mention the sheer amount of research that has gone into this book.
It’s 1920s New York City. It’s flappers and Follies, jazz and gin. It’s after the war but before the depression. And for certain group of bright young things its the opportunity to party like never before.
For Evie O’Neill, it’s escape. She’s never fit in in small town Ohio and when she causes yet another scandal, she’s shipped off to stay with an uncle in the big city. But far from being exile, this is exactly what she’s always wanted: the chance to show how thoroughly modern and incredibly daring she can be.
But New York City isn’t about just jazz babies and follies girls. It has a darker side. Young women are being murdered across the city. And these aren’t crimes of passion. They’re gruesome. They’re planned. They bear a strange resemblance to an obscure group of tarot cards. And the New York City police can’t solve them alone.
Evie wasn’t just escaping the stifling life of Ohio, she was running from the knowledge of what she could do. She has a secret. A mysterious power that could help catch the killer — if he doesn’t catch her first.
Aside from the over-the-top and grating use of slang, the Roaring Twenties is richly drawn. Bray weaves American history pretty seamlessly into the pages, not just flappers and speakeasies and the glamour of the period, but there are also nods to the politics of the time, religious organizations, the Immigration Act, the eugenics movement, racial attitudes, the fear of communism, Prohibition, the rise of organized crime. Even with the vaguest understanding of American history I was able to appreciate just how much Bray has put into recreating the period.
That being said, I have some problems with The Diviners. Glancing through reviews, I can see that I wasn’t the only person completely put off by the annoying overuse of 20’s speech. Every other word was, ‘see you soon-ski!’, ‘you bet-ski’, ‘pos-i-tute-ly!’ It sounded ridiculous and was unnecessary, given how well Bray builds up a strong sense of the era throughout the rest of the novel. Thankfully, once the main story line really takes off, the slang is drastically toned down. Unfortunately it takes roughly 240 pages to get there.
And therein lies one of the main issues I had with this book. It felt like one long, long introduction. Bray spends the majority of the novel building up detailed back-stories for her many characters, meticulously laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. The trouble is, none of these plot threads come together, indeed the majority of the characters don’t really have anything to do with the main plot at all and I was left feeling that a whole lot of it felt, well… irrelevant.
Despite spending an endless amount of time establishing Evie, Memphis, Theta, Will, Sam, Mabel, Jericho and several others whose names I can’t remember, I never felt a connection to these characters. A mixture of flat and stereotypical, there was the vague feeling I’d met them all before. Memphis’ chapters in particular dragged. He seemed to just do the same thing over and over again (mostly wonder about, scribble a few lines of poetry and worry about his brother), and yet how many pages were given over to telling us that? Sadly, Evie, the leading heroine in this book, is a brat. A spoilt shallow girl who I found so distasteful I very nearly abandoned the book altogether.
This is one book I can’t recommend nor discourage from reading. There is some beautiful, powerful, evocative imagery, that is occasionally overdone. Too much time is spent setting everything up for the (admittedly intriguing) overarching plot line of the series, but, at times, to the detriment of this novel. The occult murders are gruesome and one victim in particular is very cleverly set up, but Naughty John, whilst maintaining an air of sinister creepiness, kind of felt like a cheap thrill. I find myself both itching to re-read it just to immerse myself again in the world Bray has created and relived that I even finished it at all.
A storefront psychic whose connection to the spirits was nothing more than the pull of a string with a toe to make a knocking under the table felt compelled, quite suddenly, to cover her crystal ball with a cloth and lock it up the a wardrobe. In Chinatown, the girl with the dark hair and green eyes bowed reverently to her ancestors, offered her prayers and readied herself to walk in dreams, among he living and the dead. North along the Hudson, in an abandoned, ruined village, the wind carried the terrible death cries of some ghostly inhabitants, the sound reverberating ever so faintly in the village below so that the men bent over their checkers in the back of the general store glanced nervously at one another, their play suspended, their breath held for several seconds until the wind and sound were gone. Elsewhere in the country, there were similar stirrings. A mother dreamed of her dead daughter and woke, she could swear, to the chilling sound of the words ‘Mama, I’m home.’ A Klansman who’d left his meeting in the woods to piss by an old tree jumped suddenly, as if he’d felt hanging feet dragging across the tops of his shoulders, marking him. There was nothing there, but he brushed at his shoulders anyway, scurrying back toward the fire and his brothers in white. A young Ojibway man watched a silvery shimmer of a hawk circle overhead and disappear. In an old farmhouse, a boy nudged his parents awake. ‘There’s two girls calling me to play hide-and-seek with them in the cornfields,” he whispered. His father ordered him sleepily back to bed, and when the boy passed by the upstairs window, he saw the incandescent girls in their long skirts and high-necked blouses fading into the edges of the corn, crying mournfully, “Come, come play with us…”
~ page 372
Book Review: A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton
Anna Winterson doesn’t know she’s a witch and would probably mock you for believing in magic, but after moving to the small town of Winter with her father, she learns more than she ever wanted to about power.
When Anna meets Seth, she is smitten, but when she enchants him to love her, she unwittingly amplifies a deadly conflict between two witch clans and splits her own heart in two. She wants to love Seth, to let him love her – but if it is her magic that’s controlling his passion, then she is as monstrous as the witch clan who are trying to use her amazing powers for their own gain.
I have always, always loved stories about witches and witchcraft, especially historical novels about witchcraft. When I realised A Witch in Winter was a contemporary, I was momentarily a little disappointed, but Warburton creates quite a rich, historical atmosphere with her setting that there was no chance of this becoming too Sabrina-like. I like my modern-day witches to have a strong connection to the past and A Witch in Winter definitely achieved that.
A Witch in Winter is a fun read, a strong debut and definitely my kind of book. I loved how English this book was, with its fantastic setting, evocative of an old Cornish town by the sea, held up over the centuries by the various spells and enchantments placed by the witches who have lived there over the years. The old, crumbling house Anna moves in to with the witch marks carved into the wood, and the old grimoire found in the fireplace, these were highlights of the book for me. It was great to read about a secondary school where the kids are studying their A Levels (although oddly, I still didn’t recognise some of the classes Anna was taking). I loved all the British insults and it made me smile to hear phrases I’ve heard all my life instead of American ones.
It also made a nice change to have a fairly average protagonist. Anna won’t go down as one of my favourite heroines of all time, she’s too pale to make that big of an impression. But I really appreciated how she reacts to the knowledge that her inadvertent love spell has caused Seth to fall in love with her. She knows it isn’t real, she knows it was a terrible thing to do to someone, is horrified how it makes Seth act and is determined to undo it, no matter how she feels about him. Since I like my heroines a little more feisty, it was Emmaline I particularly liked, and who I hope to see far more of her in the second book, but Anna felt like an everyday teenager, which isn’t a bad thing
Warburton has created a romance that I can see a lot of readers rooting for. Seth seems like a genuinely nice guy (apart from a few overly possessive moments). It is an example of the dreaded ‘insta-love’ but in this case there is a more plausible reason behind it. I liked that neither Seth, Anna, or the reader, can be sure if the growing feelings between these two are real, though I had a few issues. I personally didn’t find Seth all that interesting (I far more intrigued by Abbe). Seth was a bit too much of a ‘golden boy’ and the growing romance between him and Anna got a little too sappy for my liking. Seth also forgives her far too quickly and it just seemed too easy that the boy she barely knows and accidentally casts a love spell on turns out to be the right guy for her anyway. But this is still the first book in a planned series, and Warburton has definitely set up more than one obstacle for these two to be together.
A Witch in Winter isn’t just about a love spell gone wrong. There are darker, more dangerous sides been drawn in this first book and the beginnings of a quite exciting premise that sets the tone for the series nicely. There are more witches and warlocks converging in Winter than Anna realises as she finds herself right in the middle of a powerfully dangerous society.
A Witch in Winter sets just the right tone for Young Adults Paranormal Romance that I think younger and older readers will enjoy. I would have liked a grittier story with more practiced witchcraft and was desperately hoping Warburton would tell us more about the grimoire and the original witch who owned it, but I cannot complain. There’s nothing overly unique here but A Witch in Winter is fresh, atmospheric and has plenty of action, mystery and romance. Though it’s a series and there are some unanswered questions, there’s no major cliffhanger and it works as a stand alone novel. I’ll definitely be picking up A Witch in Love this July.
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Check out my interview with the author here.
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*Many thanks to Hachette Children’s Books for sending this in exchange for an honest review*
Book Breakup: Sword of Light by Katherine Roberts
I feel particularly bad about not finishing this, since Templar kindly sent it to me for review, and it seems like the kind of book I probably would have enjoyed as a kid. I’m not going to rate it, because if I did based on my own enjoyment it would pretty low and I don’t feel that is exactly fair, given that I not only didn’t finish reading this, but that I’m also roughly fifteen years older than the intended audience.
I have read and thoroughly enjoyed a lot of junior fiction, but this one, for whatever reason, just didn’t click for me. The writing was just too simple and I found the characters un-engaging. Unfortunately I couldn’t warm to the heroine. She was the kind of character who is incredibly naive yet thinks she knows best and basically causes a lot of bother for everyone else along the way. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. In this case, I found her bossy and difficult to like. This is quite a long book for its age group and I personally found the story slow going.
Book Review: Shattered Dreams by Ellie James
Sixteen-year-old Trinity Monsour wants nothing more than to live a normal life. But that isn’t as easy as it seems. Trinity is different. She is special. She sees visions, and for those she’s seen, it’s already too late.
Trinity arrives on her aunt’s doorstep in New Orleans with virtually no knowledge of her mysterious heritage. She begins settling into life at a new school and even starts making friends. But all too quickly her dreams accelerate; twisted, terrifying visions of a girl locked in a dark room. And when the head cheerleader, Jessica, goes missing, Trinity knows she has no choice but to step forward with what she’s seen.
But people believe that Trinity has information about Jessica’s disappearance not because of a dream, but because she is involved. She is kind-of dating Jessica’s ex-boyfriend, Chase, and Jessica did pull a nasty prank on Trinity. Revenge seems like the likeliest scenario.
Nothing prepares Trinity for the dark odyssey that ensues while searching for Jessica, including the surprising romance she finds with Chase, or the shocking truths she learns, not just about the girl who has gone missing, but the past that has been hidden from her.
First of all, I feel I should point out how misleading this cover is, it really doesn’t reflect the dark tone the book was aiming for at all.
Shattered Dreams is one of those books you finish reading and think, what the hell happened!? If this book has taught me anything, it’s that I am obviously far too stubborn for my own good (and quite possibly a glutton for punishment), because I made myself read the whole thing even though I wanted to put it down after the first few chapters. Continue reading
Book Review: Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver’s daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans are so fine that some even call her ‘witch-blade’, a dangerous nickname in a country where witches are hunted and burned in the square.
For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate’s father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate.
Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he’ll give Kate the means to escape the angry town, and what’s more, he’ll grant her heart’s wish. It’s a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes she can’t live shadowless forever — and that Linay’s designs are darker than she ever dreamed.
So I’ll admit, I bought this book purely because of the cover (isn’t it just lovely) and because its been a while since I read a really good children’s fantasy book that adults could equally enjoy.
Simply put: I adored Plain Kate and can say without a doubt it has become one of my favourite reads this year.
The main reason for this was, of course, Taggle. Why is it that talking animals tend to make the best characters (Manchee and Mog I’m looking at you!)? I loved Taggle. Utterly and completely (anyone who knows me won’t be at all surprised by this). Bow captures him perfectly; arrogant, regal, sarcastic and totally adorable. Loyal and protective of Kate, Taggle comes across as very human at times, and hilariously cat-like at others,
Taggle climbed into her lap. “Hello,” he said, then rolled over and peered up at her appealingly, “I am fond of you and present my throat for scratching.”
Their friendship is very special and my absolute favourite part of the book. Kate is alone in the world, her father has died and the local villagers are wary of her because of her quiet nature and expressive carvings. She experiences prejudice and fear from both strangers and those she considers family and throughout it all, it is Taggle who is her one true friend and constant companion.
Kate was a character I really came to admire and like — she is a quiet, determined girl with an inner strength and has had to learn how to survive on her own, relying on the kindness of strangers and her own carving skills. But she also comes across as incredibly vulnerable and yearns to be accepted, to be part of a family. It was wonderful to read a story that focused on an independent, solitary heroine in search of her own place in the world.
Bow’s characters are well drawn and have a complexity you don’t always find in younger children’s literature. Linay, the ‘villain’ of this story isn’t just a corrupt, evil character, his motives are very human and I enjoyed seeing the progression of his character. He does some terrible things, but he also shows Kate kindness, perhaps more than most. His relationship with Kate is compelling right through to the end.
Plain Kate is reminiscent of one of Grimm’s fairy tales. It is has melancholy feel to it, is very dark and quite violent in places. Bow explores different cultures, traditions and beliefs and how suspicion and prejudice can all too easily turn to fear and hatred. But it is also very much a tale of redemption, love, friendship and perseverance. The narrative flows beautifully and is quite lyrical in its simplicity.
This is a lovely story. Some readers may be put off by the quiet tone and pacing of Plain Kate as most of the action does take place in the last third of the book. I found it difficult, at first, to engage with Kate. She is a distant character due to her experiences, but I fell in love with her all the same. The ending is just perfect. Bittersweet, heartbreaking and exactly what it ought to be. The only thing I have to complain about is that I didn’t want it to finish.
Ciri came toddling up to them. He was the young prince of the Roamers, a boy of two, the favorite of the dozen naked and cheerful children who chased chicken and snuck rides on horses in Roamer’s camps. Just now he had Taggle in a headlock.
“Help,” croaked the cat.
Drina shed her anger and pulled boy and cat into her lap.
“Ciri, Ciri,” she said, and dropped into the Roamer language, a liquid coaxing in which Plain Kate caught only the word ‘cat.’ Ciri unfolded his elbows, and Taggle spilled out, buy-eyed.
Plain Kate picked him up and scratched his ruff. “Thank you for not killing him.” By this time she knew how to flatter a cat: praise of ferocity and civility both.
Taggle preened. “He’s a kitten.” He arranged his dignity around him with a few carefully placed licks. “Else I would have laid such a crosshatch of scratches on him he’d have scales like a fish.”
Book Review: Crushed by K.C Blake
The Noah sisters rule Titan High with their beauty, brains, and magical powers.
Each year they play a secret game: Crushed. The girls pick their targets carefully and blow enchanted dust into the boy’s faces, charming them, but this year Kristen makes a grave mistake. She chooses the wrong boy and almost dies that same day. Coincidence? Maybe.
But something isn’t quite right about Zach Bevian. He doesn’t behave like a boy who’s been Crushed. He goes from hot to cold, from looking at her with contempt to asking her out on a date. She doesn’t know what to think. Does he hate her or is he truly falling for her? Is he trying to kill her, or is he trying to save her?
Crushed is a fun, lighthearted read and despite its predictability, I enjoyed it. Continue reading