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maggio 20, 2017

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones - Review

Wintersong
by S. Jae-Jones

While I was still looking for some Beauty and the Beast retelling this book pop out. A crossover between a German folk story and the myth of Persephone and Hades, so instead of finding a beast we are rewarded with the beautiful and damn Lord of the Underworld: the Goblin King.

"Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell"

The story is about Liesl, a young woman, who since she was a kid has heard the legends and stories of the mysterious Goblin King, who is also the muse around which her music is composed. While growing up she had to set aside her music in favor of more practical concerns, helping to run the family inn.

But when her sister suddenly disappears taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to the Underworld and cuts a deal with the Goblin King, to exchange her sister life for hers. She becomes the goblin wife; both physical and emotional passions are revived, she is free to be herself again, goes to write and play music. The goes on and while the world above is moving forward be becomes slowly weaker and longer while the goblins feed on her energy.

As the Goblin king and Liesl become closer, they must learn just what is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

The first half of the book has a nice pace, the story was well presented and the first encounter with the male protagonist is exciting, but once we get to the center of the action nothing is really happening. All the reference about music could easily appeal to anyone interested in classic music and even though I felt like they get kind of repetitive after a while, they were poetic. I wasn't able to enjoy the descriptions and I was constantly craving for more action. To summarize my feeling: I felt bored the whole time.

The Heroine is presented as an uncommon beauty, which did charm the Goblin King with her inner passion rather than her external appearance. I liked this new perspective, where a female heroine doesn't have to be extremely beautiful but rather develop her inner self and intelligence, becoming a more interesting character. What I didn't like was that she constantly reminds the reader that she is ugly, so instead of creating a self-conscious and strong heroine, the author built this insecure girl that need reassurance from her lover about her inner beauty.

The writing is beautiful and crafted but the story doesn't develop well, at times I also found it hard to follow and contradictory.

In short: two many beautiful words and so little action!

I'll keep a watch on this writer I'm sure she can do better than this.

2.75/5 STARS

Check out S.Jae-Jones Website!--> HERE

marzo 20, 2017

TEA TIME: Beauty and the Beast - Retellings

by Unknown, in tea time

IT'S TEA TIME !

The disney real-action movie just came out, as a retelling itself, I'd like to honor it and go through all the Beauty and the Beast retellings I've read so far. Since is quite a popular story, there are a lot of books inspired by this classic fairytale but I've gathered down below just the one I've read.

In no particular order - without any further do, let's jump right in!

- A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas -

Sarah J. Maas is probably one of the best master when it comes to Adult Fantasy. In A Court of Thorns and Roses series she took the starting point from the Beauty and the Beast and created a richly imagines fairy tale. We don't have a beast but shape-shifters faeries.

Plot:

When nineteen-year.old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land sh only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamil- one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled the world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But and ancient wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it... or doom Tamlin - and his world - forever.

The story is sprinkled with beautiful themes and sensuality. The world building is inventive and even though you don't get the full picture in the first book, the horizont gets wider and more detailed in the second. The writing is good, and above all the characters development throughout the series is amazing.

I gave a 4/5 starts at this first installment in the series, and a 5/5 star at the second (A court of Mist and Fury), which was just perfect!

- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge -

Rosamund Hodge is well known for her classic stories retellings, her style and characters dosen't do for me but they are loved by plenty, so it's worth a look to in which side you fall.

The story is about Nyx, who since birth has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom - all becouse of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth she is been training to kill him.

Without a choice Nyx, at sixteen, abandons everything to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the curse he put on her people.

But Igenex is not at all what Nyx expected.

Has I said at the beginnings I can't come to like her book, but that doesn't mean that they are not plenty of good they just don't get to me. I thought this book did mix to many myths and legends, and I ended up giving it 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

-Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer-

Scarlet (REVIEW-->HERE) is the second instalment in the Lunar Chronicles series, even if it's supposed to be a retelling of Little Red Hood, there are too many recalls to the Beauty and the Beast. It's impossible in my opinion to pick it up as a standalone, but the series it's really good so I suggest you, if you want to read it, to start of with Cinder (REVIEW-->HERE).

Plot:

Cinder, the cyborg, mechanic, is trying to break out of prison - even though she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have informations as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

The series is beautiful and a fast read, don't get scared of by the massive volume, you will fly through the pages form an exciting adventure to another. I can't say al lot about Scarlet/Wolf's story without spoiling it too much, but to give a reason to the why I put it in the Beauty&Beast category, let's just say that wolf will become quite beastly over time.

I gave this book a 4/5 stars, highly recommend the series!

- Uprooted by Naomi Novik -

Uprooted get the whole Beauty&Beast feeling, but instead of an ugly beast we get a powerful, cruel wizard.

Plot:

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known as the Dragon , to keep the wood's powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.

When the next choosing comes, the Dragon chooses her to serve him.

The story is hugely imaginative, engrossing and vivid; the plot gets pretty twisted but works perfectly, the writing style is highly evocative, and the characters feel real. This is for sure one of the best fantasy novel inspired by folk and fairy tales. I handed up giving it a 4.5/5 stars, you are gonna love it!.

- The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi -

Star-Touched Queen (REVIEW--> HERE) presents itself like a fairy-tale retelling, based on stories like Beauty and the Beast and the greek myth of Hades and Persephone all mixed-up with indian legends. The writer was able to mix all this elements and created an imaginative tale.

Plot:
Maya, one of Bharata Raja's daughter, has been cursed with a Horoscope that promise a marriage of death and destruction, making her an outcast in the court. Content to follow more scholarly pursuit, her world will be turn upside down when her father arranged a political marriage to peace the outside rebellions. She will soon find herself in Akaran, a land in between worlds, married to the Raja Amar - and in his mysterious palace there are many doors that must not be open and many voices not to follow.

All of the lucks in the characters development are mystified by the vibrant, elegant language, Roshani Chokshi use. She is clearly a skilled writer and her poetic vibe did combine wonderfully with the magic atmosphere of India's folk stories.

I ended up giving this story a 3/5 stars.

------------------------------

This were my Beauty&Beast read so far, do you have some other retelling of this story to recommend me?

febbraio 24, 2017

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer - Review

by Unknown, in The Lunar Chronicles series

Winter

by Marissa Meyer

"The young princess was as beautiful as daylight. She was more beautiful even than the queen herself."

For how much I wished there were more books, I'm happily I was finally able to conclude this series and have a sort of closure.

In this final installment one events follows the other quickly without giving you almost time to take a breath; It's fast-paced, heart-pounding and a quite entertaining read. It was a quite long book (p.820), and still it was a really quick read.

This is the fourth installment in the Lunar Chronicles series ( Cinder 1#, Scarlet 2#, Cress 3#, Feriest 3.5#), taking as a start point Snow White's original story. The book starts off from Cinder, Thorne and the rest of the crew still wanted criminals on both Luna and Earth, orbiting unseen in space they need to figure out quickly how to break out a civil revolution on Luna and put an end to Levana's tyranny and their are gonna need a hand from the charming princess Winter.

"She was prettier than a bouquet of roses and crazier than a headless chicken. Fitting in was not an option."

Winter is loved by the people for her kindness and natural beauty; she despise her stepmother, and knows that Levana won't approved of her feeling for her childhood friend/royal guard, Jacin. We already got a good shot of him in the previous book at which end he sold out Cinder and her friends to the Commonwealth, quite a controversial character, definitely different from everyone else.

This is the real prestige that Meyer's books have, every character is unique and equipped with a complex personality. Jacin is fundamentally, from my point of view, selfish in comparison with the other characters he cares only about his princess and it's like that from the beginning to the end. I didn't feel his involvement in the squad as much as for the others, he felt like a temporary addiction, in it just for personal advantage. His crazy princess surely, makes the fun in the couple.

Winter stopped using her Lunar ability to defy her stepmother and have, in a contorted way, more control over her life, but by not using her Gift she is slowly going crazy. Her exchanges with Scarlet were one of the most funny of the book after Thorne's, their friendship was quirky and smart, really really fun to read. In this grand finale we are reminded that romance isn't everything and friendships is as important.

"Did you see any rice in there? Maybe we could fill Cinder's Head with it"

Everyone stared at him.

"You know, to ... absorb the moisture, or something. Isn't that a thing?"

"We're not putting rice in my head."

Marissa Meyer was amazing in orchestrating all the different plot and subplot, making them inter-wine and then finally converge with grace and effectiveness in this last book. The characters were has always right on spot, the true lead of the series. In fact if we consider that settings and background have little space in the book, what left are just the characters, speeches and actions that are able to keep the reader glued to the pages without time to spare.

I'm always surprised at how the author was able to pick up this traditional stories and build around and inside of them, so that you are still able to recognize the plot line but at the same time living a totally different feeling and story.

We all know that usually a fairy tales end with a Happily Ever After, but what really mattered in this book was not the ending but the road that took us there.

"And they lived happily to the end of their days"

-fin-

4.5/5 STARS

BOOK TRAILER:

agosto 22, 2016

The Rose & The Dagger by Renée Ahdieh - Review

by Unknown, in Reviews

The Rose & The Dagger #2

by Renée Ahdieh

The amazing epilog to The Wrath and the Dawn duology.

Renèe Ahdieh created a magical mystical world, that it's again able to warm my heart.

As in the first book the writing is evocative and beautiful, but since our two main character are split apart for most of the book, there is less romance. but it's not any less emotional. Their relationship is more mature, they have accepted their feelings. Now the time for flirtation is over, there is a curse to broken and a kingdom to save.

We left with a city in flames, now Khalid is struggling to rebuild and protect his city and Shahrazad must find a way to break Khalid curse and find her way back to him.

From flying carpets to winged serpents, the fantasy take another step from the first book. Many relationships are put to question, challenged and broken apart. Tariq will have to question his decision and love, leaving aside his pride and doing the right thing.

There are quite a few unexpected plot-twists, making the reading always exciting and addictive. The writing is flawless and gorgeous, the action scenes push the novel at a fantastic pace. All the old characters grow and change in this book, I particularly liked the introduction of Irsa- Shahrazad's little sister. She is very mature for her age, but she lack confidence in her ability and strength, she is not born brave but she walk her way through it. It is definitely a show of strength working hard to overcome her fears.

As in the The Wrath and the Dawn the female characters are strong, smart and self-made women.

If it's even possible I enjoyed the sequel more than the first book, there is more magic and adventure, both well welcome from me. It was a perfect ending for a perfect start.

5/5 STARS

ITALIANO:

(inedito in italia)

Il sorprendente epilogo della duologia La moglie del Califfo.

Renèe Ahdieh è riuscita a creare un mondo magico e mistico, che è di nuovo in grado di farmi andare in brodo di giuggiole.

Come nel primo libro la scrittura è perfetta ed evocativa, ma troviamo meno romanticismo visto che i nostri due personaggi principali sono separati per la maggior parte della storia. C'è meno romanticismo, ma non per questo il libro risulta meno sentimentale. Il rapporto tra Sharazad e Khalid è più maturo, il tempo dei flirt è finito, c'è una maledizione da spezzare e un regno da salvare.

Abbiamo lasciato una città in fiamma, ora Khalid lotta per ricostruire e proteggere il suo regno dai nemici alle porte, metre Shahrazad deve spezzare la maledizione del Califfo e ritrovare la strada verso di lui.
Da tappeti volanti a serpenti alati, gli elementi fantastici fanno un balzo in avanti rispetto al primo libro. Molte relazioni vengono messe in discussione e alcune spezzate. Tariq prima di tutto dovrà rivedere le sue decisioni dietro questa guerra d'onore e trovare un alleato in chi non se lo aspettava, lasciando da parte l'orgoglio per fare la cosa giusta.

Ci sono parecchi colpi di scena che rendono la lettura emozionante e coinvolgente. La scrittura è sempre impeccabile e bellissima, le scene d'azione danno al romanzo un ritmo incalzante.
Tutti i vecchi personaggi maturano e cambiano, mi è particolarmente piaciuta l'introduzione della sorellina di Shahrazad, Irsa. E' una ragazza molto matura per la sua età, sensibile e con poca fiducia nelle sue capacità. Non è coraggiosa ma si sforza di diventarlo, in un certo qual modo è una dimostrazione di forza maggiore, il suo impegno nel affrontare le sue paure. Come in La moglie del Califfo, abbiamo donne forti, intelligenti, artefici del loro destino.

Non so se sia possibile, ma ho apprezzato ancora di più questo sequel, c'è più magia e avventura, due cose che amo in un libro. E' stato il finale perfetto ad un inizio perfetto!

5/5 STELLE

Reneè's interview by Justine Magazine:

agosto 21, 2016

The Wrath & The Dawn by Renèe Ahdieh - Review

by Unknown, in Reviews

The Wrath & The Dawn #1

by Renèe Ahdieh

The first time I saw this book I felt put down by it's cover, but I kept on hearing only good things about it, so I gave it a shot. The saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" does apply literary here.

The Wrath & The Dawn is a beautiful romantic story that take it roots from A Thousand and One Nights.

"One Life to One Dawn"

The story tell us about Khalid, the murderous Caliph of Khorasan, who each night takes a new bride only to hung her at the dawn. When Shahrzad dearest friend becomes a Caliph's victim, she vows to take revenge and volunteers as his next bride, unwit and kill Khalid. Shahrzad escapes death every dawn by telling the Caliph a story and promising to reveal the end of it only the next evening.

Night after night, tale after tale Shahrzad gets to know more about Khalid, and she will see under the monster's mask and start to fall in love with him, she will have to fight her guilt, royale betrayals and a curse.

I've been craving a love that feels so genuine, not the most seen unrealistic insta-love, they fell in love little by little, overcoming their fear and apprehensions. Even though there are many elements of fantasy and action, it's mostly a romance.

The characters are unique and they all had a magnetic attraction for me. Our two main characters, Shahrazad and Khalid, have spontaneous interactions and smart and addictive dialogue. She is a strong lead female character, independent, smart, she knows how to fire an arrow and she stand for her ideals. I always look for a bit of famminison in books and I find in Shahrazad a good example of a strong woman.

But the fantastic characters are not the only beautiful thing about this book, It's beautifully written and poetic in his atmosphere, the place's description are detailed and magical.

I would highly recommend this book, I enjoyed it a lot !

The Wrath and the Dawn is a duology, the second and final book in the series got published this year and it's The Rose and the Dagger.

5/5 STARS

ITALIANO:

Titolo edizione italiana - La moglie del Califfo.

Guardando questo libro per la prima volta, devo dire che la copertina non mi ispirava per nulla, ma continuavo a ricevere soltanto riscontri positivi, così ho deciso di vedere se ne valeva veramente la pena. Il detto "Non giudicare un libro dalla copertina" si applica alla perfezione in questo caso.

La moglie del Califfo è una storia romantica che prende ispirazione dalle Mille E Una Notte.

"Una vita, un alba"

La storia parla di Khalis, lo spietato califfo di Khorasan, ch ogni giorno prende una nuova sposa per farla poi impiccare all'alba il giorno seguente. Quando una cara amica di Shahrazad diventa vittima del califfo, lei giura di vendicarsi e si fa volontaria come sua prossima sposa, per fregare e uccidere il califfo. Shahrazad sfugge alla morte alba dopo alba con una piccola astuzia, ogni sera inizia a raccontare a Khalid una storia permettendo di rivelare il finale solo la sera successiva. Notte dopo notte, racconto dopo racconto, Shahrazad inizia a voler conoscere sempre di più Khalid, vedrà sotto la maschera del mostro e inizierà ad innamorarsi di lui. Tormentata dai sensi di colpa, dovrà affrontare le sue paure, le cospirazioni reali e una maledizione che affligge il regno e il suo sovrano.

Sono stata molto contenta di trovare un libro con un amore realistico e spontaneo, non il solito colpo di fulmine, i protagonisti si innamorano poco a poco, superando le loro paure ed apprensioni. Anche se ci sono molti elementi di fantasia e azione, è da considerarsi prevalentemente una storia d'amore.

Ho trovato tutti i personaggi unici e magnetici. I protagonisti, Shahrazad e Khalid, hanno interazioni spontane e i loro dialoghi sono intelligenti e coinvolgenti. Lei è un forte personaggio femminile, indipendente, intelligente, sa tirare con l'arco e combatte per i suoi ideali.

Cerco sempre nei libri la presenza di un po' di femminismo, e trovo in Shahrazad una splendida rappresentazione di donna forte e coraggiosa.

I personaggi fantastici non sono l'unica bellezza di questo libro, é ben scritto, con descrizioni dettagliate, atmosfere poetiche e magiche.

Consiglio vivamente questo libro, mi ha divertito molto.

E' il primo libro in una duologia, il secondo è ancora inedito in Italia.

5/5 STELLE

Here is a fan-made book trailer:

agosto 10, 2016

Fairest (Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer - Review

by Unknown, in The Lunar Chronicles series

Fairest (Lunar Chronicles #3.5)

by Marissa Meyer

ENGLISH:

I couldn't wait to finally read about Levana background story and I have to say that I was quite disappointed with this spin-off.

I'm loving the Lunar Chronicles series so far and I always enjoy reading about the villain's story, why they became the way they are, what made them so despicable. I'm intrigued by the evil figures in a story, they come out usually more complex and interesting than any other heros (see Vicious by V.E Schwab). But Levana's personality doesn't really evolve, she goes from crazy bitch to major crazy bitch.

I couldn't sympathize with her. I think that what didn't appeal to me was how the writer tried to make you pity her for having such unloving parents and sister. But what I saw was only a spoiled and ambitious brat who doesn't care about using others for her own gain, without considering their feelings. I was not able to justify her stalkerish and dissilluded behavior just on what she is been thought. I would have enjoyed her character far more without the whole pity party.

Not everything was bad about this book, in fact I loved the representation of Levana's sister, Channery, also Cinder's mum. She is fuc***g evil, when her sister is in a borderline between evilish and crazy, Channery has it all. She is pure madness, cruel and uncaring to anyone beyond herself. She reminded my of a modern Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland.
She is evil and she was like this from the start, It's a shame we don't get to see a lot about her, I would have much prefer to read about her.

Beyond the story the writing is always flawless and engaging. The book will be a fast read (only 200 pages) and will give you a better look on the whole story, giving you bits of all the princess start-points.

Now I'm left with Winter the last chapter of this amazing series.

2.75/5 STARS

Here you can find my other review on the Lunar Chronicles series:

Cinder #1
Scarlet #2
Cress #3

ITALIANO:

Non vedevo l'ora di leggere la storia dietro a Levana, purtroppo devo dire che sono rimasta alcuanto delusa da questo spin-off.

Sro adorando la serie delle Cronache Lunari di Marissa Meyer e mi piace un sacco leggere riguardo agli antagonisti della storia, che cosa gli ha resi quello che sono, come sono diventati così spregevoli.
Sono sempre incuriosita dalle figure malvagie presenti in una storia, risultano molto spesso più complesse e interessanti di qualunque eroe buonista (vedi Vicious, Victoria schwab). Ma la personalità di Levana non ha un evoluzione particolare, va da str**za a grande str**za.
Non sono riuscita a simpatizzare con il suo personaggio in alcun modo. Ciò che non mi è piaciuto è stato il tentativo dell'autore di muoverti alla pietà, descrivendo come Levana non abbia mai ricevuto amore dai suoi genitori e sorella. Ma l'unica cosa che ne è emersa, è stata una bambina vizziata e ambiziosa che non si preoccupa di usare gli altri a proprio vantaggio, senza considerare i loro sentimenti.
Non sono riuscita a giustificare il suo amore disilluso nei confronti di Evret, pur comprendendo la sua sfrenata ricerca d'amore. Mi sarebbe piaciuto il personaggio molto di più senza la volontà dell'autore di giustificarne il comportamento.

Non tutto è da buttare di questo libro. Ho amato molto Channery, la sorella di Levana e mamma di Cinder. Lei si che è una vera regina de male!
Se sua sorella si trova i una linea i confine tra malvagia e folle, Channery ha entrambe. Lei è pura malvagità, è crudele, folle, indifferente a chiunque altro al di fuori di se. Mi ha ricordato una più moderna Regina Rossa, di Alice Nel Paese delle Meraviglie.
E' malvagia dall'inizio alla fine senza un motivo, non ha bisogno di spiegazioni, è semplicemente folle! Avrei preferito di gran lunga uno spin-off dedicato a lei, invece che a Levana.

Storia a parte, la scrittura è impeccabile e coinvolgente. Il libro è una lettura veloce, solo 200 pagine, e vi darà uno sguardo più approfondito sull'intera storia, con accenni a tutti gli start-point delle nostre amate principesse.

Ora non mi resta che Winter, l'ultimo capitolo di questa coinvolgente serie.

2.75/5 STELLE

Qui potete trovare le mie recensioni sugli altri capitoli della serie Cronache Lunari:

Cinder #1
Scarlet #2
Cress #3

luglio 25, 2016

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3 ) by Marissa Meyer - Review

by Unknown, in The Lunar Chronicles series

Cress

by Marissa Meyer

This series is so much fun! It's not intellectual letterature, but is funny and enjoyable. It has it all: the romance, the actions and new discoveries about our characters' past. You can't really get bored with it.

This is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles series (1#, 2#), we left at the end of the second book with Cinder, Throne, Scarlet and Wolf aboard the Rampion, they all manage to escape from the Lunars attack in Paris and now they will need to figure out a plan to overturn Levania and stop a marriage, but to succeed they will need the help of an intergalactic hacker, Cress.

"When she was just a child, the witch locked her away in a tower that had neither doors nor stairs"

Cress has been locked up since childhood in a satellite orbiting earth, with only her netscreens as company. After doing all she could to warn Cinder of the Queen's evil Plan she received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her accomplice. After contacting Cinder they put out a plan for her rescue. But we all know that things don't tend to follow plans, in the attempt to free Cress they will get separated. Will this unlikely group of friends be able to save the world and the moon?

In this book we are saving a damsel in distress, but as the level-headed Cinder and the fiery Scarlet , Cress has a unique character, she is not the usual fairytale princess waiting to be rescue, she is adorably naive and lovable, a bunch of cuteness and badass hacking skills. Her fangirling over Throne is just hilarious, they are so nice to read about.

Cinder is upgrading her skills and personality. She is coming to accept her position as the Lunar princess. With every book her character is getting more complex, forget about dress and jewelry this girl is not afraid of getting her hands dirty.

"You can help me pick out a tiara when we're done saving the world"

This book is full of humor and jokes, making it a light enjoyable read, without forgetting to unleash some secrets, crazy battle and escapes.

We also get a pick about to new characters, the Queen's stepdaughter Winter and Jacin, that I'm sure we are going to see more in Winter. They are two interesting figure Jacin, who is insolent and seems to care only about saving his skin and his beloved princess; and Winter who clearly is up against Levania but is a little bit nuts. Can't wait to read more about them!

I'll need to pick up Fairest really soon, I can not believe Levania was always such a bitch, I really need to know what happened to her.

4/5 STARS

Here is the book trailer:

luglio 04, 2016

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) - Review

by Unknown, in The Lunar Chronicles series

Scarlet

by Marissa Meyer

What an upgrade this book had from Cinder! He went from adventure to badassery.

As in the first book this is still a retelling and as you did probably grasp from the cover we are going to get involved with red hoods and famish wolfs. Marissa Meyer takes little from the the original Little Red Hood building her own unique story.

We left, at the end of the first book, with Cinder locked up in a cell; she know will have to escape becoming the the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. In her attempt to escape a new character will tag along with her, Thorne Carswell, a chatty hilarious thief. With this add the story take off to a new level.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing, but her nice will do anything to find her, even getting herself involved with Wolf, a street fighter who seems to have informations about her grandma whereabouts. Scarlet and Wolf will discover that even if her grandmother looked like a harmless old lady, she was carrying secrets that might affect the whole universe.

The two story develop side by side until they get tangled in the end, bringing together all the characters. Now together they will have to find a way to defeat Queen Levana who has no intention of abandoning her plan of hegemony.

I did have some doubts on how the two stories alternated each other, the changes did break up the story, it didn't flow naturally until they unite at the end of the book. But in an overview it had a good plot with some unexpected twist.

The best thing about this second book where the new characters we are introduced to. First of all Thorne, that bring to the story his charming and flirtatious personality; in second the hot and cold relationship between Scarlet and Wolf. Their interactions were more entertaining compared to Cinder and Kai, I enjoyed reading about them and found myself curious where it would lead.

I also like more Cinder and Kai apart from each other than together, as in the first book.

It is a light YA/Fantasy/Sci-fi, but is able to keep you glued to the book until the end. I will for sure pick up with the rest of the series and probably have a peek in Fairest just to see where Levana gets all that bitchery from.

4/5 STARS

giugno 28, 2016

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) - Review

by Unknown, in The Lunar Chronicles series

Cinder

by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is the first book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer; as you might have already gasp, by the title and the book cover, it's a retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tales with a twist. We find our self in a futuristic setting, after the end of the IV World War, peace and alliance had been settling for 126 years on earth - but now a deadly plague ravages the population and from the space, an evil queen threaten to start a war.

The story takes place in the city of New Beijing, under the power of Emperor Rika who rules over the Eastern Commonwealth. Here we get to know the story of Cinder and prince Kaito and who their life will get tangled together.

Cinder is a cyborg and works as a mechanics. She has no memory of her past before falling under the custody of her mean step-mother, Adri.

Cinder does work hard to bring money for the her family, while being abused by her step mom and sisters, that's something that didn't differ from the original story; even though she does get along well with on of the two sister, Peony. She will cross the charming Prince Kai path, when he comes asking for her help to fix his android - but what did start with a simple mechanical task will bring herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

Caught between what she wants and what she has to do, she will have to undercover secrets from the past in other to protect the future.

It was a light read.

The writing was simple, the story well balanced and paced. I think that the writer didn't do a good job with the world building living a lot of questions unanswered: Who are the Lunar? Why did they come to be on the moon? Why is queen Levana interested in the earth?

So many questions still linger in my head. I would have liked a bit of background; the book focus his attention only on the city of Beijing not even giving you a complex configuration of the it but just an idea. Also the characters, apart from Cinder and Kai whom did have a good complexity, were only sketched out.

It still was an entertaining read and I hope there will more space for all those unanswered questions in the next books. I seems like this is just the beginnings....

3.5/5 stars

giugno 25, 2016

Crimson Bound - Review

by Unknown, in Reviews

Crimson Bound

by Rosamund Hodge

This book is been so controversial for me, I couldn't get my head clear on loving it or not.

Let's start with what this book is about. The story should be a retelling of Little Red Hood but as in her other book, Rosamund Bound, gets far away from the original story building her own unique universe.

The heroine and narrator of this story is Rachelle, who carelessly keep on strays from the forest path to meet our "wolf", a forestborn, who will mark her bonding her to die in three days or choosing to become herself one by killing someone. Rachelle decide to live and she will regret her choice throughout the book.

The story twists are all over the place, but I did find them quite predictable. The tension never leaves and the author make you doubt if there's gonna be an happy ending.

It is clearly the work of a good skilled writer, but I kept on having the feeling that there was something itchy about this book. I think that I just didn't come to like any of the characters, they didn't appeal to me, even though we had a strong complex protagonist I detested all the characters surrounding her. The love relationships were frail and not relatable for me, I would have prefer them to follow another direction.

The negative feelings are just personal it's definitely a good book and I'm sure lots of people will love it! 3.5/5 stars

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