Posted July 20, 2015 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments
The Phantom of the Opera by
Gaston Leroux Publisher: Blackstone Audio (1909)
Audiobook {7 hours and 35 minutes} (264 pages)
Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
First published in French as a serial in 1909, “The Phantom of the Opera” is a riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé. Her father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her. After a time at the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to sing beautifully. All goes well until Christine’s childhood friend Raoul comes to visit his parents, who are patrons of the opera, and he sees Christine when she begins successfully singing on the stage. The voice, who is the deformed, murderous ‘ghost’ of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster. Leroux’s work, with characters ranging from the spoiled prima donna Carlotta to the mysterious Persian from Erik’s past, has been immortalized by memorable adaptations. Despite this, it remains a remarkable piece of Gothic horror literature in and of itself, deeper and darker than any version that follows.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
Posted July 15, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Ring and the Crown by
Melissa de la Cruz Series: The Ring and the Crown #1 Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2014)
Audiobook {10 hours and 23 minutes} (284 pages)
Via: Library Rating: Also by this author: The Isle of the Lost Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
Princess Marie-Victoria, heir to the Lily Throne, and Aelwyn Myrddn, bastard daughter of the Mage of England, grew up together. But who will rule, and who will serve?
Quiet and gentle, Marie has never lived up to the ambitions of her mother, Queen Eleanor the Second, Supreme Ruler of the Franco-British Empire. With the help of her Head Merlin, Emrys, Eleanor has maintained her stranglehold on the world’s only source of magic. She rules the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.
But even with the aid of Emrys’ magic, Eleanor’s extended lifespan is nearing its end. The princess must marry and produce an heir or the Empire will be vulnerable to its greatest enemy, Prussia. The two kingdoms must unite to end the war, and the only solution is a match between Marie and Prince Leopold VII, heir to the Prussian throne. But Marie has always loved Gill, her childhood friend and soldier of the Queen’s Guard.
Together, Marie and Aelwyn, a powerful magician in her own right, come up with a plan. Aelwyn will take on Marie’s face, allowing the princess to escape with Gill and live the quiet life she’s always wanted. And Aelwyn will get what she’s always dreamed of–the chance to rule. But the court intrigue and hunger for power in Lenoran England run deeper than anyone could imagine. In the end, there is only rule that matters in Eleanor’s court: trust no one.
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Tagged as 4 star, Library, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
Posted June 15, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Heir by
Kiera Cass Series: The Selection #4 Publisher: HarperTeen (2015)
Audiobook {8 hours and 48 minutes} (352 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: The Elite,
The One,
The Selection Stores: The Prince & The Guard Also in this series: The Elite,
The One,
The Selection Stores: The Prince & The Guard Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.
Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
Posted June 4, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Magic Study by
Maria V Snyder Series: Study #2 Publisher: Luna (2006)
Audiobook {11 hours and 35 minutes} (392 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: Poison Study,
Fire Study Also in this series: Poison Study,
Fire Study Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
You know your life is bad when you miss your days as a poison taster…
With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she’d been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can’t help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don’t think it’s for the better….
Despite the turmoil, she’s eager to start her magic training—especially as she’s been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia’s throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies…
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Tagged as 5 star, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
Posted May 21, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Jewel by
Amy Ewing Series: The Lone City #1 Publisher: HarperTeen (2014)
Audiobook {10 hours and 12 minutes} (358 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: The White Rose,
The Black Key Also in this series: The White Rose,
The Black Key Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.
Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.
Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence… and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.
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Tagged as 4 star, Catholic, Catholic Connections, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
