Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

Summary (from Goodreads):

When Sybella arrived at the doorstep of St Mortain half mad with grief and despair the convent were only too happy to offer her refuge - but at a price. The sisters of this convent serve Death, and with Sybella naturally skilled in both the arts of death and seduction, she could become one of their most dangerous weapons.

But her assassin's skills are little comfort when the convent returns her to the life that nearly drove her mad. Her father's rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother's love is equally monstrous. But when Sybella discovers an unexpected ally she discovers that a daughter of Death may find something other than vengeance to live for...

Review:

This book was rather intense. It reminded me a lot of Bitterblue by Cashore. Except poor Sybella suffered a lot more bodily harm than Bitterblue did. Sybella lives in a world where women are beaten and raped for the slightest wrong, sometimes even for no wrong at all. And when she finally feels as though she’s found some kind of refuge (with the assassin nuns from book 1), she is sent back into her nightmare of a household.

Granted, she agreed to go back –for the chance to assassinate her father. She goes on a revenge mission. However, she’s not supposed to kill anyone until they have the mark of death on them. And her terrible father never has the mark. In the process of helping with a side mission, Sybella is forced along on a different journey that will reunite her with Ismae and remind her that she deserves more in life than what she been stuck with.

The book reads as part historical fiction/ part fantasy. The fantasy parts are in relation to the supernatural aspects to certain gods and saints. But the rest reads as rather historical. There’s a lot of war and war strategy. And while there is eventually romance for Sybella, hope and love are not things that come into the story for a long time. I definitely think Grave Mercy was more of a romance.

But, like the first book in the series, this one has a lot of murder, death, politics, and brutality. I was both glued to the edge of my seat, unable to stop reading the action and afraid to keep reading, terrified of what new terrors would befall Sybella. I loved her love interest, Beast. Watching Sybella learn to love and be loved was part of what made this book so special. I can’t imagine going though all of the stuff this main character has. And then being able to trust any man at all seems rather impossible.

I loved all the scenes where the main character was in disguise. She was always helping out (finding traitors, killing rapists, avenging farmers, etc.) I find it so cool that someone with so much dark history can learn to fuel her emotions into the offensive so well. This main character kicks serious butt and I’m kind of a sucker for a revenge story. This was the ultimate revenge story. No one deserves revenge more than Sybella’s father.

Robin LaFevers does an excellent job painting the scene. I kept forgetting this was a fantasy because everything seemed so real. The world building was amazing. I have so many questions about the abbess and everyone that serves Death. And I can’t wait to read the next book to get some much needed answers.

I’m not sure how loyal these female assassins will continue to be to their church in the next book. And I can’t wait to read about any small, yet justified rebellions that might arise. There isn’t anything negative to say about this book. It gets a 10/10.

Rogue by Gina Damico

Summary (from Goodreads):

Lex is a teenage Grim Reaper with the power to Damn souls, and it’s getting out of control. She’s a fugitive, on the run from the maniacal new mayor of Croak and the townspeople who want to see her pay the price for her misdeeds. Uncle Mort rounds up the Junior Grims to flee Croak once again, but this time they’re joined by Grotton, the most powerful Grim of all time. Their new mission is clear: Fix his mistakes, or the Afterlife will cease to exist, along with all the souls in it.　

The gang heads for Necropolis, the labyrinth-like capital city of the Grimsphere. There, they discover that the Grimsphere needs a reboot. To do that, the portals to the Afterlife must be destroyed…but even that may not be enough to fix the damage. Things go from bad to worse, and when at last the fate of the Afterlife and all the souls of the Damned hang in the balance, it falls to Lex and her friends to make one final, impossible choice.

Review:

Overall, this series has been one crazy, hilarious, dark, and interesting ride. These books are never what I think they will be, and this is kind of what I love most about them. They never cease to surprise me. I wish I liked this last book more than I did, but overall, Damico scores serious uniqueness points for her series.

This book had all the dark humor, the crazy deaths, the weird characters, the strange supernatural twists, and the morbid society of the other books. Add the series’ already previous awesomeness to a book that finally sheds light on some much needed information and you get this conclusion. Finally, I get Driggs’ story! Also, I got so many answers about the whole grim world that I feel like questions were answered for questions I wasn’t smart enough to even ask.

Also, I was shocked and then shocked some more throughout the whole thing. And wow, that was an insane ending. Insane. I can’t really talk too much about this book with spoiling key things. Just know that Lex and her crew are still being hunted. Now, they are on a mission and countdown to save the afterlife. However, saving the afterlife will mean giving up certain amazing things and people! Seriously, Damico is not afraid to kill characters. Be warned. This last book was kind of like a season finale of the Walking Dead. No one is safe!

So, why did I not like it as much as the other books? For starters, it took me a week to read! Normally that is the kiss of death for a book. The first half of the book was just not maintaining my interest. I felt like there was a lot of stuff in the beginning that didn’t necessarily need to take so much time.  (The rest of this paragraph is a spoiler of book 2) And the whole boyfriend is a ghost thing was really not working for me. It just felt stale and cliché, which seriously did not fit with the rest of the awesome story. And Lex with a ghost boyfriend was kind of whiney. She seriously had the whole world on her shoulders and I was tired of the “I’ll fix it” tagline that seemed to define her character in this book.

The second half of the book was way more interesting with way more action. I found the Grim capital to be super fascinating. I found the side characters sort of holding the weight of my interest more than the main ones. Lex just seemed more interesting when she was damning things…I get why she changed. I really do. I just kind of found the redeemed, nicer Lex to also just not be as interesting. And I’m not sure that I believed one conversation could change her as drastically as it did. One conversation with Driggs changed everything, and I’m not so sure this fits with Lex’s character. I’m not saying she can’t be redeemed; I just don’t think it means all of her decisions she makes should reflect this always.

I also wasn’t totally buying the reaction all of the Grim leaders had at the end.  Some of it was a little far-fetched, though I guess this story is far-fetched in general, and in the past I’ve found it rather charming. Now, I just feel a little cheated out of a plausible ending. Also, does suicide have to be so glorified? How many characters have to willingly decide to go for the greater good (and I’m not saying they all do)?

There is so much I just typed, but then deleted because of spoilers and I hope I haven’t already said too much. I don’t want to sound like I hated this book. I did enjoy it’s humorous charm that Damico has maintained from the first two books. And I loved the action and the idea of this world. I just was kind of hoping for a more unique, plausible, ending that fit the characters as I knew them. Less self-sacrificing hero moments and less ghost drama in the beginning really could have made a world of difference for me. It’s always hard rating the last of a series because I feel like I need to rate all of the books. But, I can’t give this more than a 7/10, despite how much I love the other novels.

Waiting on Wednesday (77)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on The Here and Now by Ann Brashares (4/8/14):

Description (from Goodreads):

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

Thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking, The Here and Now is a twenty-first-century take on an impossible romance. Ann Brashares’ first novel for teens since The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Meet seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth. But everything changes when she falls for Ethan Jarves.

Why I’m Waiting:

First, Ann Brashares wrote another YA novel???? Yes please! I loved her other books, and I’m not sure if there is even an adult book this woman has written that I don’t own and love. She’s a writer who I hope never stops writing. Beyond that, this plot sounds ridiculous! Viruses, time travel, and love story? This sounds rather epic. And I cannot wait until April to get my hands on this!

What are you waiting on this week?

Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

Summary (from Goodreads):

When seventh grader Georges (the S is silent) moves into a Brooklyn apartment building, he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer's first spy recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: how far is too far to go for your only friend?

Review:

I don’t know why I’m so surprised that I loved this book. I absolutely adored Stead’s When You Reach Me. And I guess this took me a little bit of time to get into the story. It had a bit of a slow start, or maybe it’s not so easy to get me into a middle grade book about a boy moving to a new apartment. It’s not so long though before the book morphs into so much more than that and I was lost in Stead’s words again.

I came to love Georges (with the silent “s”). He clearly was more than the kid who struggled leaving his old family house for an apartment when his dad got laid off. He’s also the kid who gets picked on at school by the school bully. And he’s the kid who knows how to look at the bigger picture and not focus on the bad and immediate. His mom taught him to look at life as you would look at a painting by his namesake, Georges Seurat. Up close, life is just dots of ugly paint. But far away, the bigger picture is beautiful.

Who can’t love a main character who knows what people are worth being friends with? He lost his best friend when he came back from summer camp, “cool.” And instead of trying to win over the bullying cool people, Georges looks for friends elsewhere. Mean people are not worth winning over.

And my favorite character is his new friend, the spy (aka: Safer). Safer puts up a flyer in his apartment building, in effort to recruit people to his spy club. The flyer doesn’t give a date or time, so Georges’ dad decides to ask when it is (by writing his question on the flyer). And Safer responds with a time. Georges feels guilted into going to the written in time slot for the meeting because he doesn’t want some kid to be waiting on him.

Safer trains Georges how to observe things and how to spy. They have a spy mission of monitoring the goings on of a certain neighbor, who only wears black and always carries a mysterious suitcase. So between the adjusting to a new home, rarely seeing his mom because she’s always working double shifts at the ICU in the hospital, and suffering through some mean kids at school, Georges goes on spy missions.

Safer is so interesting and smart. He knows the apartment building like the back of his hand. And he there were definite moments when I was comparing him to Sherlock because of the extent of his observations about people. Safer and his little sister are home-schooled and spend a lot of time inside, and Georges immediately grows to like them. He also eventually becomes friends with the rest of the picked on (at school).

I’m starting to think this wouldn’t be a Stead novel if there wasn’t some kind of twist. And the twist here was very unexpected for me.  It was emotional and surprising in all kinds of ways. And it made me love Georges even more.

I love that all of the characters in this book were flawed in some serious ways. Georges’ dad seemed to be OCD. One new friend was addicted to candy, and another was afraid of almost everything. Another friend likes to draw all the time (especially in class), but then creates his own kind of language.

What makes this book is the characters. They are all so believable in their flaws. And Georges most grows as a main character when he accepts everyone for who they are. Between the spy missions, the interesting people, and the school drama, this was one great read. It did have a slow beginning. But, the twist more than made up for it. I give it a 9/10.

Champion by Marie Lu

Summary (from Goodreads):

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position.

But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything.

With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

Review:

I have been reading this series for a long time. I received an ARC of the first book, months before it’s release and I knew from the beginning pages of book one that it would be an amazing story. And I was right. I had no idea how complex the plot would become or how intensely terrifying the world Lu wrote could be.

I think what I love most about these books is how strategic they are. All dystopias as of late have deal with revolutions. But this one seriously deals with revolution. There’s wars, there’s threat of war, there’s treaties and political propaganda and half the novel reads more like a war story than anything else.

Also, the love story always takes a back step to the war and the action. I like that the love story is there; it’s the classic love story between the character that has wealth and the one that doesn’t. But, the story is more about hope, and about finding some kind of peace than it is about an epic love story.

And this final book in the installment had more action than ever before. Between city bombings, political senate meetings, trips to Antarctica, assassination attempts on June, escaped murderers, high-stake murder trials, people dying of the plague, street shootings, city-wide evacuations, and being blackmailed by the colonies, this book never has a dull moment.

Actually, the dullest moment for me was finally getting an explanation for June’s brother’s death. Seriously, the dullest moment of the book is June getting the scoop from her brother’s killer…in prison. Not very dull, right? And I guess, the love story was a little more at the forefront of this book than it has been in the past because of June’s and Day’s separation and obvious missing of each other. And oh yeah, the whole (SPOILER ALERT from book 2) Day slowly dying thing. But I needed this. I needed something hopeful to hold me through all the tough stuff.

This book was rather bittersweet. The love story was sizzling and it was sad, and I knew that it most likely was not going to end well. I kind of think that all duel perspective dystopias can result in at least one main character death…I literally postponed finishing this book for days, dreading the conclusion to this relationship. But, I feel kind of stupid admitting this because I kind of loved the end. It was sad, bittersweet, and emotional. But, it also was kind of perfect. I liked how certain characters were able to grow up.

I loved getting to know Day’s brother. I also loved watching June realize who she was as a person. She had to figure out how political she wanted her life to be. How much did she want power? And how much did she miss being a soldier? Granted, the story would be nowhere near as good if June didn’t have the political knowledge she did in her powerful role. However, all the scenes with the new elector were kind of awful. There’s nothing good about watching a character you love settle for someone who’s not the one, and I don’t know what I would have done if June did any more settling.

It was also fascinating to see how many people supported the new republic. No one wanted to be taken over by the colonies. And Day still had just as much magnetism, just as many followers, and possibly even more bravery.

I loved watching the characters grow up over time. I loved watching YA characters not put their relationship above all else. Both June and Day sacrificed everything for what they believed was right (even their love). I loved the non-stop action. I loved the war story and the survival story. I loved how political it all was and how much strategy was involved in the story. I loved the world Lu created (the capitalist colonies, the digital Antarctica, the militaristic republic), and never once did I feel that any of this was impossible. Because at the heart of it all is the war between the haves and the have-nots, and this is a war that can be seen everywhere. This book (and this series) gets a 10/10 from me. I can’t even think of anything negative to say about it.

The Offering by Kimberly Derting -Spotlight BLOG TOUR

I am so excited to be a part of this tour today! Thank you I Am A Reader, Not a Writer for hosting this tour. I have been a Kimberly Derting fan since The Body Finder first came out, and I’m so happy to be celebrating her new book’s release.

 


Author Kimberly Derting Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series, THE PLEDGE trilogy, and THE TAKING (coming April 2014 from HarperTeen). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter
or Facebook for the entire world to see.  

Praise for The Offering

"This was a truly epic ending to the series." --Crystal Perkins, Goodreads Review

"The final book in Kimberly Derting’s Pledge trilogy is a thrilling conclusion. I was immediately swept up into it and powered right through. It was pretty much what I wanted with a few surprises along the way." --Krys at Bibliopunkk Reads

  

Teaser Excerpt:

And then Eden stopped pacing and turned to face me. Her expression was hard to read, but her mood wasn’t. “I don’t want to be a guard any longer,” she stated with impervious resolve, and I remembered her the way I’d first seen her when she was part of Xander’s underground resistance. When all I could think was that this woman, with her muscular arms and her piercing black eyes, was a weapon in her own right. “I’m done with all that nonsense. All I want is to get Xander back.”

I didn’t know if I could give her that, because I didn’t know if Xander was alive or not. She surely knew as much too.

I nodded, agreeing to every unspoken term forging between us. “Good,” I told her, my blood hot and my skin starting to glow beneath the heat of our new alliance. “Because I don’t want you to be my guard. I want a partner. And if you help me get to Astonia, I’ll do whatever I can to help you get revenge.”

Tour Giveaway!

Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash. Ends 1/21/14.
a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Waiting on Wednesday (76)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that allows bloggers to share which books we are most anticipating.

This week I am waiting on The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings (6/10/14):

Description (from Goodreads):

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.

Why I’m Waiting:

This intense plot seems right up my alley! For fans of Moira Young? Yes please! This sounds like such a dark, violent book with a crazy, suspenseful plot and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m not the biggest fan of the cover, but I guess you can’t win them all.

What are you waiting on this week?