BOOKS | Review: The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury

 Name: The Sleeping Prince (The Sin Eater's Daughter series #2)

Author: Melinda Salisbury

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Date published: February 2016

Genre: Fiction, young adult, romance, fantasy

Pages: 373

Rating: 4/5

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.
When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.

- From Goodreads.

The Sleeping Prince definitely felt like an improvement on the first book in the series, The Sin Eater's Daughter. There was more depth to the story, characters and world, although the pacing and plot structure was not so strong, and during the first part of the story I could not really tell where the story was going and it did not feel like it had any forward momentum. However the plot twists towards the end of the book were definitely thrilling and interesting.

I liked reading from Errin's perspective and found her to be a character I could root for, although I think a little more work could have been done to make her more of a distinctive character from Twylla, she just needed a little something more to make her a really memorable character of her own standing, but she was definitely likeable and I could understand her.

The new characters in this book were quite fascinating, I really liked Silas and thought the Sleeping Prince was a good villain. I have to admit none of the mentions of Lief in this book made me like him any more, but there were some other characters I was glad to see return or at least see call backs to.

I enjoyed the continued world building, the explanation of the history of the world and how the legends were built, although at times it was not easy to follow, it was still interesting to read.

I will definitely be reading the third and final book in the trilogy, The Scarecrow Queen, and I am curious to see what happens in it and how the story concludes for everyone.

UNBOXING | Illumicrate Collections: The Night Circus

 

I read The Night Circus last year and really fell in love with it, I really think it is such a magical book, so when Illumicrate announced their special edition for the tenth anniversary of the book, I was really excited to buy it. I am so happy with the book itself, and all of the wonderful items that came with it!

Hanging banner, designed by Sylvia Bi.

Foiled print, designed by Noverantale.

Book tin, designed by rosiethorns88.

Metal bookmark, designed by Danielle.*

Enamel pin, designed by Stacey McEvoy Caunt.

Tea for one tea pot, designed by Chatty Nora.

Exclusive edition of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern with stencilled edges and foiled embossing on the hard cover, signed by the author with an author letter on the front end papers.

I really am so impressed with this box and everything in it, it is all so beautifully designed and each item is so unique and will be wonderful to own. I will definitely be putting the print and banner up in my room and making use of the book mark, tin and the teapot, the pin will look great as part of my pin collection. The book is a really stunning edition, especially under the cover, that will really be a treasure to have and read from. I think the teapot is definitely my favourite, it is just so gorgeous!

If you got this box, what did you think? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to find out more about Illumicrate you can find their website here.

*Usually I would provide a link to find out more about each designer but unfortunately I could not find this artist online.

BOOKS | Review: Bone Crier's Dawn by Kathryn Purdie

Name: Bone Crier's Dawn (Bone Grace series #2)

Author: Kathryn Purdie

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books

Date published: March 2021

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 437

Rating: 4/5

 

 Love is a matter of life and death.
Bone Criers have been ferrying the dead into the afterlife for centuries, a dangerous duty only possible with the powers they gain from sacrificing their amourés, the men destined to love them and die. But Bone Criers Ailesse and Sabine - along with Ailesse’s love, Bastien - are working to chart their own course and rewrite the rules of the afterlife. If they don’t break the soul bond between Ailesse and her amouré, she could die - just as Bastien’s father did.
Sabine struggles to maintain her authority as matrone of her famille - the role always destined for her sister - even as she fights to control the violent jackal power within her.
Bastien is faced with a new dilemma as the spirits of the Underworld threaten the souls of his friends - and his father.
Ailesse attempts to resist her mother’s siren song as she’s drawn into her own version of the Underworld. How will she save her friends once she’s cut off from their world?

- From Goodreads.

I enjoyed reading this sequel and conclusion to Bone Crier's Moon and sped through it quite quickly. However, I think I was expecting something slightly different from the plot, as it felt like the first part of the book did not move on much from where the ending of the first book left off and the characters were almost stuck going in circles with their conversations and emotions.

I also felt that too much time was spent on certain relationship conflicts when if those had been cut down, simplified or executed in a different way then there could have been more time to develop other relationships and plot points to make them more satisfying. I would have especially liked to see more time for Ailesse and Sabine to connect and talk about what they had been going through and to work together.

Unfortunately while I still really liked the main characters and rooted for them as I did in the first book, they were not always written as strongly as I felt they were in the first one and felt weaker in some ways. The characters often made foolish decisions that were frustrating to read, and while I could understand emotions clouding judgement to some extent, some of the choicess they made were so clearly going to lead to bad circumstances that it did not seem believable that the characters would make them, no matter what their emotions were. The characters kept holding each other back, fighting over things that seemed very small in comparison to the larger problems, miscommunicating and being insensitive to each other's pain, and a lot of the time never seemed to even try looking at things from each other's perspective or from the bigger picture. A lot of these things were used to create conflict in the story, but mostly they seemed unnecessary or just too frustrating, which kept the story from being fun to read at parts.

On a more positive note, the writing style was very easy to read and the descriptions all made the story and world clear to imagine and picture in my mind. The mythology and legends of the world were also fascinating to read about and now that I had the understanding from reading the first book, learning more about how the Bone Crier's work and seeing all the revelations about their magic was really interesting.

Overall, even with the flaws in the story, the ending was satisfying enough and I was relieved when the characters found their happy endings and was pleased with where they ended up. I just think it would have felt even better if the journey to reach those endings had achieved its potential and taken a few different routes. It was absolutely still an engrossing and thrilling book with a lot of great ideas, but there could have been a bit more work done to make both books a really solid and cohesive duology.

Despite the parts that I did not like, I think I will read this again someday. I think I will enjoy it more on a second read, as I did with the first one, and perhaps I will change my mind about the weaknesses when I read it knowing that things are going to resolve in a way that I like.

BOOKS | Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Name: Crooked Kingdom (Grishaverse series #5, Six of Crows series #2)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Orion's Children's Books

Date published: This edition September 2019, first published September 2016.

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, adventure, romance

Pages: 544

Rating: 5/5

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

- From Goodreads.

Crooked Kingdom was an incredible follow up to Six of Crows with a exciting plot that kept me invested the whole way through.

The way the emotional journeys of each character developed and wrapped up felt well done to me, and towards the end I found myself quite surprised by how much I reacted to the events and conclusions to the stories. I especially enjoyed Kaz and Inej's developments and how they reacted to each other and helped each other.

I also enjoyed the more in-depth exploration of Ketterdam, since in the first book the main heist took place outside of the city, it was interesting to see more of the place that meant so much to the characters and see it really become its own character. It was so detailed and well built, it felt like such a real place.

The little hints and references to the first trilogy in this series and the characters included from those books were exciting to see and well placed. They felt like they were included with good reason and because they needed to be, not just for the sake of it. Some of the small references even made me a little emotional.

Just as with Six of Crows, although a lot of the plot seemed to be set out in front of you because you knew what heist or plan or trap the characters needed to pull off, the plot still managed to be full of interesting twists and turns that were not expected and kept me wanting to read onto the ending to find out how everything resolved and what tricks the characters had up their sleeves.

Overall this was a fantastic book that was a great addition to the universe of the series in general and a great wrap up to the Six of Crows duology. It was intense and emotional and heart-breaking at times, but also had some really joyful and heart-warming moments.

BOOKS | Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Name: Six of Crows (Grishaverse series #4, Six of Crows series #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Date published: This edition October 2018, first published September 2015

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, adventure, romance

Pages: 494

Rating: 5/5

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist: break into the Ice Court - a military stronghold that has never been breached - and retrieve a hostage whose knowledge could change Grisha magic forever. To succeed would mean riches beyond his wildest dreams - but he can't pull it off alone . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Together they might just be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

- From Goodreads.

Six of Crows was a thrilling story from start to finish, full of mystery and adventure and intriguing and complex characters.

The plot never ceased to be exciting and made for a very addictive storyline to follow. There were some parts where it was a little difficult to understand what was happening, but that definitely heightened the atmosphere of the mystery, and mostly everything was explained later so you could look back and realise what had been happening.

All of the characters had plenty of depth, and the way Leigh Bardugo slowly revealed information about all of them through their different perspectives was quite clever and made me very emotionally invested. I was worried I might not be as invested in all of the perspectives but I found them all interesting and Bardugo managed to give them all distinct points of view, even though it was written in third person.

Although it feels like quite a different book to the three books of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, it still fits into the series well and extends the world in a fascinating way, telling us about different parts of the world we first started learning about in that trilogy whilst also showing us how the world is carrying on after what happened in those books.

Overall this was a really brilliant book that had me very excited to read the sequel, Crooked Kingdom. The characters were compelling and made me want to keep following them to see how their journey continued, the plot was thrilling and full of well-written twists, and the world felt immersive and fit-to-burst with intriguing details. I definitely recommend it for anyone who read the Grisha trilogy and wants to see more from the world.

BOOKS | Review: Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

 Name: Fireheart Tiger

Author: Aliette de Bodard

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Date published: February 2021

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 103

Rating: 4/5

Fire burns bright and has a long memory….

Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.

Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.

Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?

- From Goodreads.

I enjoyed this novella and found it to be an engaging story well told in a short time. 

The characters were all intriguing and realistic, Thanh and Giang being my favourites. I thought the two of them had very compelling personalities and their interactions were thoughtful and emotional.

Although the world of the story had to be kept quite small because of the length of the story, I felt like it was well built and described in an interesting way. The politics felt authentic and the dangers of the world that Thanh was worried about felt real too. All of the story, except for a couple of flashbacks, took place in one palace, and I enjoyed reading the descriptions of that palace and felt it was a fascinating setting for the story to take place in.

Fireheart Tiger was a very sweet and captivating story about a young woman learning to stand her ground and come to terms with her emotions. While there were a couple of places where I felt the story could have used slightly more expansion and moments where characters could have been a little more developed, mostly I really loved it and will definitely reread it and continue to read more of Aliette de Bodard's work.

BOOKS | Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

 Name: Sorcery of Thorns

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Date published: June 2019

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 456

Rating: 5/5

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

- From Goodreads.

Sorcery of Thorns was an extraordinary story that felt like a gothic romance version of Howl's Moving Castle and I loved every moment of reading it, learning about the characters and the world and discovering the plot as it unravelled. 

Elisabeth was a truly wonderful main character and I fell in love with her from the very beginning. She was easy to believe in and relate to, and I really became emotionally attached to her. I really adored Nathaniel too, he was incredibly well written and I loved every moment he was on the page. The two of them together just worked so well and they were a really brilliant couple. Silas was a great addition, a very compelling character and always intriguing to read. I also liked the female friendships and relationships in the story and how they were important to Elisabeth and how she never forgot about them and they remained a presence throughout the story. Every character in this book was well-rounded and felt real and equally fascinating.

The world was so detailed and felt so real and vivid. The ideas that went into it were exciting and interesting to learn about, like the libraries and grimoires and sorcerers, and following Elisabeth in this world I really felt the emotions that the world evoked in her, whether it terrified her or overwhelmed her or made her feel in awe.

I felt the author dealt with the themes that came up in the book very well. Both Elisabeth and Nathaniel had to deal with grief and horrible situations that brought on things like panic and nightmares and it seemed like it was all addressed well and the characters were allowed to experience their emotions and support each other. It was strangely comforting to read because although the characters went through terrible things, they looked after each other and recovered and the end of the story felt very hopeful.

Overall, this was a really marvellous and well crafted book that I was absolutely enchanted by. Everything about it, the mystery, the romance, the magical atmosphere, was just done perfectly.