Publisher: Penguin Random House

Review: Frostbite – Ski Slopes and Mortal Vampires

Posted May 25, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Review: Frostbite – Ski Slopes and Mortal VampiresFrostbite by Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #2
Publisher: RazorBill (2008)
Paperback (327 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: Vampire Academy, Shadow Kiss
Also in this series: Vampire Academy, Shadow Kiss
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…
It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks… This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…

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Review: Island of the Blue Dolphins – A Story of Survival

Posted May 18, 2015 in Reading, Review / 2 Comments

Review: Island of the Blue Dolphins – A Story of SurvivalIsland of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Series: Island of the Blue Dolphins #1
Publisher: Laurel Leaf (1960)
Paperback (208 pages)
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2015 Alphabet Soup, 2015 Birthday Month, 2015 Color Coded, 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015

Synopsis

In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephants and sea birds abound. Once, Indians also lived on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind.
This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building a shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

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Review: The Pharaoh’s Daughter – An Egyptian Princess Risks Everything

Posted May 13, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Review: The Pharaoh’s Daughter – An Egyptian Princess Risks EverythingThe Pharaoh's Daughter by Mesu Andrews
Series: Treasures of the Nile #1
Publisher: WaterBrook Press (2015)
eARC, Paperback (384 pages)
Via: Blogging for Books
Rating:
Also by this author: Miriam, Isaiah's Daughter, Isaiah's Legacy
Also in this series: Miriam
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

“You will be called Anippe, daughter of the Nile. Do you like it?” Without waiting for a reply, she pulls me into her squishy, round tummy for a hug.
I’m trying not to cry. Pharaoh’s daughters don’t cry.
When we make our way down the tiled hall, I try to stop at ummi Kiya’s chamber. I know her spirit has flown yet I long for one more moment. Amenia pushes me past so I keep walking and don’t look back.
Like the waters of the Nile, I will flow.
Anippe has grown up in the shadows of Egypt’s good god Pharaoh, aware that Anubis, god of the afterlife, may take her or her siblings at any moment. She watched him snatch her mother and infant brother during childbirth, a moment which awakens in her a terrible dread of ever bearing a child. Now she is to be become the bride of Sebak, a kind but quick-tempered Captain of Pharaoh Tut’s army. In order to provide Sebak the heir he deserves and yet protect herself from the underworld gods, Anippe must launch a series of deceptions, even involving the Hebrew midwives—women ordered by Tut to drown the sons of their own people in the Nile.
When she finds a baby floating in a basket on the great river, Anippe believes Egypt’s gods have answered her pleas, entrenching her more deeply in deception and placing her and her son Mehy, whom handmaiden Miriam calls Moses, in mortal danger.
As bloodshed and savage politics shift the balance of power in Egypt, the gods reveal their fickle natures and Anippe wonders if her son, a boy of Hebrew blood, could one day become king. Or does the god of her Hebrew servants, the one they call
El Shaddai, have a different plan—for them all?

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Review: Tortall and Other Lands – Wonderful Short Stories

Posted May 6, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Review: Tortall and Other Lands – Wonderful Short StoriesTortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce
Series: Tortall
Publisher: Bluefire (2010)
Paperback (369 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2015

Synopsis

Alanna the knight, Numair the mage, Daine the wolf-speaker and more! Favorite and unfamiliar characters in 11 tales, including three brand new stories!
Collected here for the first time are six tales from the land of Tortall, featuring both previously unknown characters as well as old friends. Filling some gaps of time and interest, these stories, some of which have been published before, will lead Tammy’s fans, and new readers into one of the most intricately constructed worlds of modern fantasy. Also included are four other fantasy stories . . . one set in a remote desert, two in an unknown town, and one set in a very familiar locale: New York City, in the present day. Also, as a bonus, there is a non-fantasy story set in contemporary Idaho that proves that Pierce’s ability to spin a tale is not limited to realms of dragons and magic.

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Review: The Girl Death Left Behind – Grieving and Growing Up

Posted April 23, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Review: The Girl Death Left Behind – Grieving and Growing UpThe Girl Death Left Behind by Lurlene McDaniel
Publisher: Laurel Leaf (1999)
Paperback (176 pages)
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2015 Birthday Month, 2015 Re-Reading, Read 2015

Synopsis

Beth’s world has been torn apart. She cannot figure out how to go on when a car accident claims the lives of her entire family, and she is the only survivor. Things seem to get even worse when she moves in with her aunt and her spoiled cousin, Terri. But with the love and support of her aunt and some unexpected friends, Beth struggles to overcome the despair that threatens to consume her. Will she be able to move past the painful memories without feeling guilty for being a survivor?

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