Posted January 25, 2016 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments
Winterspell by
Claire Legrand Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2014)
Hardcover (454 pages)
Rating: Reading Challenges: 2016 Backlist Books,
2016 Retelling Challenge,
2016 Royal Challenge,
Read 2016 Synopsis
The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince…but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.
New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.
Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.
Her home is destroyed, her father abducted—by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets—and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed—if she leaves at all.
Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.
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Tagged as 2 star, Read 2016
Posted January 21, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Library of Souls by
Ransom Riggs Series: Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #3 Publisher: Quirk Books (2015)
Hardcover (458 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children,
Hollow City Also in this series: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children,
Hollow City Reading Challenges: Read 2016 Synopsis
A boy with extraordinary powers. An army of deadly monsters. An epic battle for the future of peculiardom.
The adventure that began with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and continued in Hollow City comes to a thrilling conclusion with Library of Souls. As the story opens, sixteen-year-old Jacob discovers a powerful new ability, and soon he’s diving through history to rescue his peculiar companions from a heavily guarded fortress. Accompanying Jacob on his journey are Emma Bloom, a girl with fire at her fingertips, and Addison MacHenry, a dog with a nose for sniffing out lost children.
They’ll travel from modern-day London to the labyrinthine alleys of Devil’s Acre, the most wretched slum in all of Victorian England. It’s a place where the fate of peculiar children everywhere will be decided once and for all. Like its predecessors, Library of Souls blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reading experience.
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Tagged as 5 star, All Time Favorites, Read 2016
Posted January 18, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Illuminae by
Amie Kaufman,
Jay Kristoff Series: The Illuminae Files #1 Publisher: Knopf (2015)
Hardcover (599 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: These Broken Stars,
This Shattered World,
Their Fractured Light Reading Challenges: Read 2016 Synopsis
This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
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Tagged as 5 star, All Time Favorites, Read 2016
Posted January 11, 2016 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments
Ice Like Fire by
Sara Raasch Series: Snow Like Ashes #2 Publisher: Balzer + Bray (2015)
Hardcover (478 pages)
Via: Library Rating: Also by this author: Snow Like Ashes Also in this series: Snow Like Ashes Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.
Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?
Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?
As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.
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Tagged as 5 star, All Time Favorites, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
Posted January 7, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Sword of Summer by
Rick Riordan Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1 Publisher: Disney Hyperion (2015)
Hardcover (491 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: The Lightning Thief,
The Sea of Monsters,
The Titan's Curse Reading Challenges: 2015 Mythology,
Read 2015 Synopsis
Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.
The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.
When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.
Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .
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Tagged as 5 star, All Time Favorites, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
