Reading Diary | January 2016

These will be an update of all the books that I read on January of 2016, with links to reviews already posted on the blog or a small impression on the story.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Published on July 1, 2012 by Random House Books for Young Children 

If you can read in Portuguese I suggest you read my full review here. If you don't, which is more possible, then I will try to convey the same feelings, in less words.

I bought Seraphina around 2013 but only got around to reading it this year, mostly because I was intimidated by it - its a fantasy novel and everyone seems to love it, what if I didn't loved it. Well, I didn't loved it but I enjoyed it quite a lot. I was surprised by the plot, which relies much more revile on the mystery. than the fantasy aspects, coming closer to a detective novel and I liked that, it was fun to keep reading and trying to figure out where every piece of the puzzle came together. The fantasy aspects where pretty low key, since the dragons in here are contained in their human forms.

We do have a lot of politics, but it wasn't confusing as I was expecting to be, it was closer to European  feudalism than nowadays politics. And of course the characters completed the story really well, Seraphina was a strong and intelligent main character and I loved being in her head, her relationship with her uncle was amazing and touched my heart so many times <3 One thing that I didn't enjoyed was the romance, it was completely devoid of chemistry for me and the circumstances turn it kind of cheating, like emotional cheating and I don't see it ending well.

Overall it was a good read and I definitely recommend to fans of fantasy and mystery too.

Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins
Series: Rebel Belle #3
Published on April 5, 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
[This book was given to me by the Publisher. This in no way affected my opinion.]

Oh boy, we reached the ending of this series and unfortunately I have to say I'm quite disappointed with it, the first book was so funny and bantery but the other two never lived up to it. This one was better than the second one but it just felt so anti-climatic and unnecessary, this series should probably just have been a one book kind of thing, maybe a longer one book.

This time around we have much less of the ship together, so less ship feels, it's understandable with the end of book 2 but also disappointing. The adventure was okay and the road trip gave room to a great female squad, we surpassed the girl hate and got a pretty weird friendship which is always a win. With that we also got less romance drama in general, not only from the ship, which is also an improvement to book 2.

Overall I don't know to who recommend this series, maybe just read the first book and stop there, because that one is pretty good.

First & Then by Emma Mills
Published on October 13, 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

If you like contemporary fluffy books you need this one in your life. I really liked this one, it has a super cute romance, that I wish got together before the very last page because I wanted more of the swoons and I think that the change from friendship to romance was a bit quickly and in the veins of "I always wanted you but couldn't see before", so it wasn't 100% perfect but it was like 99% perfect.

The set of characters and the relationship between then is amazing, seriously if you like books that bring on the family feelings this one will be your heaven. So yeah, basically if you like good books, that are more on the light side this one should be your next read. And if you think it isn't, then I urge you to give it a shot anyway.

Scan by Sarah Fine, Walter Jury
Series: Scan #1
Published on May 1, 2014 by Putnam Children's

I was trying to recall what Scan's plot was and I couldn't for the life on me remember it, so that is a bad point, this wasn't a very memorable story.

What I do recall is that there was a mystery surrounding our main character and its father, that in some way relates to the sci-fi aspects of the story, this made the book really fast paced and it goes along the lines of an adventure movie. There was a romance, which wasn't really my favorite part since it was pretty devoid of chemistry and the character were really one dimensional, so there wasn't any feelings or connection.

I would recommend this one to readers looking for a fast paced adventure, but that is basically it.

I also read two short stories of The Raven Cycle series, A Minor Raven Boys Holiday Drabble and 300 Fox Way Holiday Piece, both were posted by Stiefvater on tumblr and were very short and sweet, great to keep the saudade of these characters at bay. The two other books that I read I actually wrote reviews too (yes, I'm shocked too): Symptoms of Being Human and Unhooked.

Exquisite Captive - Heather Demetrios

Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios
Series: Dark Caravan Cycle #1 
Published on October 7, 2014 by Balzer + Bray

Forced to obey her master.
Compelled to help her enemy.
Determined to free herself.


Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

Ever since it was released I've been hearing mixed things about this tittle, some love it and some found it confusing and slow paced, I've to say that both are right and that I fall into these two categories. Reading this book was a roller coast ride but so far we only reached the peak, it started slow and it seemed we only are going straight but them there was some curves and twists and we started gaining velocity and going up and them it ended and I've to wait centuries for book 2 ugh.

So let me try to explain myself. The start is slow, really slow and there is A LOT of information being trow at you about the jinn mythology, their culture, gods, political system and following revolution, how they fit (or don't) on our world, basically Demetrios had a lot to cover to create this world on our heads, so give this book more than a 100 pages to grow on you, but of course if you're not a fan of slow starts maybe this will never really be your thing. For me it worked amazingly well, I read the first 100 pages really slowly in three days and it wasn't a bother for me because I was having tests and stuff so I wanted to read something slow, and them on the forth day I read the other 380 pages in a high and it was awesome.

I really loved the way this world of jinn and human was build, it was created and showed to us in a way that seemed 100% believable, I never asked myself if this could be real or not, if it was unrealistic or saw any plot holes, actually it's one of my favorite fantasy settings like ever. A lot of this is because of Demetrios writing, which is amazing and has a way to waver things like magic and curses together with chaotic Los Angeles setting and make it work, make it seems like that is the only possible place on the world for this to happen.

Now, as always, I can't not speak about the romance on this one and god, this made me feel things. So we have a love triangle, sort of, I mean you know who she is going to end up and it's pretty clear for who she has feelings but there is some other character and they have a dynamic of hatred and attraction, so things get a bit confusing some times. Let's talk about this secondary love interest first, so on my principles I should hate him with all my strength because it's a clear abusive relationship and he's basically a terrible person on all fronts, seriously there is no redeeming him but oh my god if I don't like the scenes between him and Nalia, he is so twisted that is fascinating, seeing his completely wrong ways of searching for love and affection was great and Demetrios wrote each scene in such a compelling way. On the other hand there is the actual love interest, who I'm not totally aboard with yet, I mean I was totally gonna go for that since it was a hate to love kind of thing but them a thing happen and all of sundenlly all the hate is gone and they are super sure they love each other and want to be together forever and ever and even risk things for each other, I was just surprised by this sudden change and it was too much instalove for me.

Overall this was a pretty solid start for a series that left me wanting the sequel, it has a unique and creative world building, strong characters and very twisted and complicated relationships, if you can get past the slow starts I highly recommend trying this one since I've not read anything like it on the YA section.

The Impostor Queen - Sarah Fine

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine
Series: Untitled #1
Published on January 5, 2015 by Margaret K. McElderry Books 
[This book was given to me by the Publisher, this in no way affected my opinion.]

Sixteen-year-old Elli was a small child when the Elders of Kupari chose her to succeed the Valtia, the queen who wields infinitely powerful ice and fire magic. Since then, Elli has lived in the temple, surrounded by luxury and tutored by magical priests, as she prepares for the day when the Valtia perishes and the magic finds a new home in her. Elli is destined to be the most powerful Valtia to ever rule.

But when the queen dies defending the kingdom from invading warriors, the magic doesn’t enter Elli. It’s nowhere to be found.

Disgraced, Elli flees to the outlands, the home of banished criminals—some who would love to see the temple burn with all its priests inside. As she finds her footing in this new world, Elli uncovers devastating new information about the Kupari magic, those who wield it, and the prophecy that foretold her destiny. Torn between the love she has for her people and her growing loyalty to the banished, Elli struggles to understand the true role she was meant to play. But as war looms, she must align with the right side—before the kingdom and its magic are completely destroyed.

First of all let me say that if you didn't read the synopses of this book yet DON'T READ IT! Seriously, the synopses is like 20 to 30% of the start of it and for me that is a pretty big part of the story to have it spoiled to you. If you already read it them, well be aware that the things said in it will take a good part of the book, but don't worry you'll enjoy it nonetheless because this book is awesome.

The start of this book was pretty slow for me, the first 20% or so, we have a lot to understand about this world and its magic and politic (also I may have to blame the fact that The Vanishing Throne came out right when I started reading this one and I mean, after that cliffhanger I needed to get to that one first) but once some spoilery things happen things get more fast paced and oh my god I finished the other 80% in a day. So what I'm trying to say is, if you think this has a slow start stick with it that will be worth ir, trust me.

Elli, our main character, is a strong heroine in a completely new way, she was raised to be a queen and because of that is selfless but that isn't a weakness on her, there is some pretty funny scenes too when she is getting used to live on her own since she was pampered all her life but it was good to see that this didn't turned her useless, she wants to prove herself and her worthy even if not the way she was expecting. The secondary characters were also amazing, I absolutely loved Oskar (btw I kept thinking his name as Oksar when I was reading for some reason unknown) and his family, there was so much touching scenes with them.

And oh my god the shippy feels, like honestly I'm all in with ships and stuff, I'm of the kind that think a kissing book is always better than a no-kissing book but this one took this to a whole new level, there was scenes that I giggled, scenes that I want to push their faces together and make them kiss already because omg I couldn't deal with all the sexual tension, and scenes where I wanted to punch both in the face for being such babies. Also, plus side Elli is a declared bissexual character, yep that's right finally I read a book about a main character that is bissexual and it was a fantasy one and it was amazing, CAN I GET AN AMEN.

 If you still don't think this book is for you I don't know what else to say to convince you, this is an amazing fantasy story that has a slow start but them starts building up and towards the end you don't know what hit you, since it's an explosion of feels both happy and not so much. There is a ship of goodness, a cast of characters that are incredible build that will make you care about them and a unique fantasy take on magic. Please just get reading this one already so we can discuss all the spoilery things.

Alanna: The First Adventure - Tamora Pierce

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Series: Song of the Lioness #1 
Published on December 7, 2010 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Alanna of Trebond is no ordinary girl: her dream is to become a knight. So she disguises herself as a boy and begins training at the palace of King Roald. Alanna quickly finds out that the road to knighthood is not an easy one, but her skills and stubbornness help her become friends with Prince Jonathan and his followers. At the same time, Alanna makes an enemy of the prince's uncle, the overly charming Duke Roger.

Here begins Alanna's first adventure, one that will lead not only to fulfillment of her dreams but to a magical destiny that will make her a legend.

 I feel like I'm the last one coming to this party, everyone seems to have read Tamora Pierce's books when they were young and absolutely loved each one of them. Now, I finally can join the party - at least partially, since omg there is so much books by Pierce - and some things worked for me, others not so much. I will make a list because it's more practical and I'm lazy.

What I disliked:

1. The writing was too much show and not tell at times, I think this happened because this book passes through a long period of time, years actually, so it's understandable that some mundane tasks would be brushed over. But still, nothing really moved me on this writing, it was somewhat distancing from the characters and even on the action sequences I felt my attention span wavering.
2. This is a middle grade book and it shows. Not just on the simplistic writing but also on the little character development, the characters here are pretty simple and what you see is what you get, I'm a very character driven reader so for me this is kind of a big bummer, I hope that on the next books of the series we get to have more complex and emotional situations that show us some character development. 

What I liked:

1. Alanna is a great main character, she is not flawless (far from it actually) and I think she sets a great example for younger children. She is strong headed, determined and don't let her time period rules dictate who she will become.
2. The friendships that Alanna construct on the palace were pretty great too, I loved how they showed time and time again that they would stick to Alanna nevertheless of her actions because that is what friends are for (and it was adorable how surprised she was by it).
3. The action and the magical elements were pretty cool, I definitely want to read more about it on the next books, despite Alanna wanting to be a Knight and not a  deal with her gift I really think it will come in handy on her next adventures and I can't wait to discover more about it.
4. Despite the writing being simplistic once I picked up I only put it down when I finished, so it was really addictive and I just love books that give this urge to binge read them.

I will definitely be continuing with this series, even with my peeves it was pure enjoyment and such a great take on classical fantasy, I felt like watching/reading a book from my childhood. I would recommend it to young readers looking to a fantasy novel that isn't that heavy on the fantasy aspects, or anyone that wants to read something more on the classic feel of old fantasy novels. 

The Falconer - Elizabeth May

The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Series: The Falconer #1
Published on May 6, 2014 by Chronicle Books

One girl's nightmare is this girl's faery tale.

She's a stunner.
Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, has everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title—and drop-dead beauty.

She's a liar.
But Aileana only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. she's leading a double life: She has a rare ability to sense the sìthíchean—the faery race obsessed with slaughtering humans—and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.

She's a murderer.
Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons—from flying machines to detonators to lightning pistols—ruthless Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother.

She's a Falconer.
The last in a line of female warriors born with a gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity. Suddenly, her quest is a lot more complicated. She still longs to avenge her mother's murder—but she'll have to save the world first.

The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller combines romance and action, steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.

When I first read The Falconer, on 2014 I absolutely loved but re-reads are always something that leave me wary because what if I don't love the book as much the second time around? I don't want to tarnish the perfect memories I have of the original read! Oh well I shouldn't have worried, The Falconer was as much entertaining the second time as the first one probably even more. Since I tried to write a review on the regular way and failed I'm gonna do a list of the important factors:

• The World Building: Reading this one for the first time I remembered being highly confused by this world, at the start we are said this is Edinburgh at 1844 but that isn't exactly what we find on this story. The setting is Edinburgh but it's a steampunk version of it, full of new inventions and even different geography aspects; since I already knew what I was going to find this time around I wasn't as bothered by these elements, but be warmed this is a fantasy/steampunk novel that has kind of a alternative historical setting too.
• Aileana: guys, this girl has to be one of my favorite characters ever, she passed through a terrible trauma but instead of cowering and hiding she goes out of her way, defying her society to avenge her mothers death. Despite her strong physical attributes, she shows a lot of weakness on the emotional side, I really hope that with the passing of the series we get to see her coming around on her grief. 

• The Romance: So, when I first read I thought the romance on this book was a love triangle but now I didn't see it that way at all, but more on this next. Right now I want to talk about Kiaran, our dickhead fae that trains Aileana to hunt his own species, it's pretty obvious he has super secret things on his past that made him start hunting his own and it's pretty obvious that despite his facade he has a heart and cares deeply for Aileana. I love the banter between those two, Aileana doesn't take shit from him and is always ready to call him on his bullshit or put him on his place. I really hope that on the next books we get to see more of his good side and less of his emo persona.

• The friendships: Now, as I said above I thought the romance was a love triangle at my first read, but now I don't think Aileana and Gavin's relationship has any romantic elements to it at all. Aileana never has passionate feelings towards Gavin, but they do share a emotional connection that is deep because both of them remind of their lives two years ago with longing, of their lives before the fairies, and also they are the only ones in this society who can understand what each other is passing and be honest with each other, so it's a great dynamic between these two, it sounded true and very deep for me. Also loved the portrait of female friendship, Aileana and Catherine, they are best friends since childhood and despite Aileana not being able to share her new life with Catherine their friendship doesn't falter, Catherine chooses to keep believing on her friend and understands that there has to be a good reason for her lies while still keeping her trust on her. Honorable mention to the adorable pixie, Derrick, that made me laugh like a mad person on so many scenes.

Okay, that was all that I had to highlight about this one, there is much more too it but I can't do justice because well, you have to read it yourself. Trust me on this one, if you're looking for an amazing cast of characters, with incredible relationships and well develop personalities, while also having a fast paced read, full of new twists and action sequences you need to pick this one up. And even if you don't think this is what you want you should pick this one up anyway because I'm pretty sure it can surprise you. 

Jackaby series by William Ritter

Jackaby by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #1
Published on September 16, 2014 by Algonquin Young Readers

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.

My overall feeling with this book was "meh", it wasn't a bad book in any way but it also never really blew my mind as I was expecting. I tried to keep away from the hype and not compare it too much with DW and Sherlock (both of which are favorites of mine) but still it took me forever to read this one and I kept being distracted by other books to read or series to watch.

But on to the better stuff. I really enjoyed the narrative overall since I laughed a lot of times while reading and I always enjoy when a story can make me laugh. I was a little afraid of the misture of paranormal with a detective novel and at first I wasn't sure it would work for me, but things ended up falling into place and I got used to the weirdness of this world. What did surprised me was the fact that, so far, my favorite character isn't Jackaby but Abigail.

Beastly Bones by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #2 
Published on September 22, 2015 by Algonquin Young Readers

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer R. F. Jackaby are called upon to investigate the supernatural.

First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, now home to the exiled New Fiddleham police detective Charlie Cane, dinosaur bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Charlie calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed Beastly Bones a whole lot more than Jackaby! I think one of the main factors for that was the fact that I was already used to all the weirdness of this world Ritter created, we have all kinds of fantastical creatures and at first it can be a lot to digest but once you get used to it, is a very fun ride. As usual this one made me laugh out loud a lot of times and I read it overnight.

The mystery on this is much more weirder than on the first book, at least it was for me and I really liked to see that we are having an overarching plot - I don't know if this series is supposed to be a trilogy or if doesn't have a set number yet, so it was nice seeing that there is yes a connecting between all these cases and that we will probably be finding out more about it soon. Also the way this one ended was mean, it isn't a cliffhanger exactly but we already have the mystery for next volume set and oh my god I need the next book now!

Abigail remains to be my favorite character of the series, this time around even more so - she is determined to not bow to her time costumes and go after the job that she wants to practice despite what the society says, it was great to see her growth through this book and to see her finding herself. But I did enjoyed Jackaby a whole lot more on this one, he shows a more soft side this time around and we can get to see that he does care about other things than his mysteries.

I recommend this series to everyone that loves fantasy and detective novels that were dying to see something with the two genders together.

Falling Kingdoms - Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #1 
Published on December 11, 2012 by Razorbill

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface.

As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed... and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

It's the eve of war.... Choose your side.

Princess: Raised in pampered luxury, Cleo must now embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of magic long thought extinct.

Rebel: Jonas, enraged at injustice, lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished. To his shock, he finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Sorceress: Lucia, adopted at birth into the royal family, discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Heir: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, firstborn son Magnus begins to realise that the heart can be more lethal than the sword....

Okay, so in a way this book managed to keep its promise, which is the promise of every book: to be entertainment and make me want to keep reading it. But fantasy books have a little bit more than this to achieve, like great world building, complicated political games, develop a magical system complex and believable enough and the characters of course - Falling Kingdoms sets out to do all of these, but unfortunately ends up falling short on its premise.

The factor that keep me reading this and made me want to continue with the series is definitely the writing, it was really easy to get sucked into the story and read over 100 pages on one sitting (keep in mind I'm not a fast reader). Other factor was the "wow" factor (is this a thing? now is gonna be), this story takes a lot of turns and twists, fair enough most of them are easily seem a mile away but still was fun seeing all of this unravel, also Rhodes is ruthless with her characters, she doesn't shy away of killing them off - even named ones. 

But taking that away I don't really have much more good to say, the rest of this book can be summed up on one word: shallow. The world building is shallow, we basically have a map, divided on three parts, each with one different name and a different geography and that's it - I'm sorry but that is easily done on paint in 5 minutes or less, if a book wants to be pitched as high fantasy it needs to try harder. Other thing that really bothered me was the political stuff on this book, specially the leaders of these kingdoms - they are suppose to lead an entire kingdom but 3 out of 3 can't take their nose out of their own buts to look outside their palaces and see what the reality of their kingdom and the other are! Like seriously, there was times when I would be like "HOW THE FUCK YOU DIDN'T KNEW THAT? EVEN I KNEW THAT AND I'M ON THIS WORLD FOR LIKE 5 SECONDS" so yeah, and what pisses me more is that this was used a LOT to make characterization and/or move the plot. 

Let's just not even get started on the magical system it just no, is the political games but worse because it doesn't even try. The characters on the other hand I do want to talk about, so they're shallow too, like don't come here expecting great character arcs because ain't gonna be there to find. Our main characters are: Cleo, the princess, starts off as just a pretty face and them passes through some hard stuff and has to grown up, that is fine but she also gets into a instalove that made want to puke; Jonas, the rebel, who could use a little bit more of character tropes, expect not, seriously imagine all the qualities necessary for the noble hero of a fantasy series, that is Jonas; Lucia, the sorceress, who is supposed to be super magical special snow flake but is actually boring as hell; and Magnus, the heir to one of the kingdoms, which is a slight more fascinating character, predictable and too much daddy issues but still out of the bunch him and Cleo are my favorites. 

I wouldn't recommend this book for lovers of high fantasy and/or people looking for something like Game of thrones and the likes, but I do think that people new to fantasy and younger readers could enjoy this one it could work as an initiation ritual you know, to get used to what fantasy is like without the possibility of being confused. 

The Wrath & The Dawn - Renèe Ahdieh

The Wrath & The Dawn by Renèe Ahdieh
Series: The Wrath & The Dawn #1
Published on May 13, 2015 by Putnam Juvenile 
[This book was given to me by the Publisher and this in no way affected my opinion.]

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

It has been a month since I finished reading this book and I still don't know how to put my feelings on words - honestly I don't think it's even possible but I'll try to say what I liked about it.

The best thing, by far, is Ahdieh's writing, she has a way of telling the story as it was a old magic tale I felt like a kid again watching one of my favorite Disney movies for the first time - that feeling of awe and that magic is not only possible but real. Also I had an urge to pick this one back up right when I finished it (and a lot of other times this past month).

I can see the story told in this book not being to everyone but for me it worked since the first page. The first thing that you need to know about this is that the feelings here are <i>intense</i> and they're intense right from the start, so this can be a down side to some readers if they don't get suck into the story right away. There is also some things that you have to hold your disbelief, like the reason why Khalid doesn't kill Shahrzad right away as his other wives, for me this didn't took my enjoyment away at all but just saying.

But I think that even if you don't exactly love these things above, this book has a lot more to offer. Like for instance this is probably one of the best culture diverse books that I have read in a lot of time, this is one rare YA book where we have a different setting than USA and it also doesn't have the other culture making use of american things to make the reader more ~comfortable on the different setting - I felt really immersed on the Arabian culture since there is a lot of words and cultural elements (don't worry, there is a glossary by the end of the book if you don't know the meaning of something).

The other thing that I loved where the characters and their relationships. Shahrzad is an amazing character, she can be totally wrong for the historical accuracy of this story but I say fuck accuracy, I want a strong, kick-ass female lead and that she definitely is. Khalid was an amazing character too, you know he will be a complex one since from the start and it was oh, so good to get to know him. Their relationship doesn't disappoint either, it was intense and gave me feelings since their first interaction and this only grew to epic proportions, I honestly can't even say how I got to this level of shipping, is like I need to create a whole new scale (seriously, I'm not exaggeration, there was one scene that was even before the 30% mark and I was already deep on feelings).

So yeah, I really think you should read this book because it's awesome and there is an epic romance, a intrinsic story that will remind you of classical tales and one of the best writings.

The Holders - Julianna Scott

The Holders by Julianna Scott
Series: Holders #1
Published on March 5, 2013 by Strange Chemistry

17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called 'experts' who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland's perceived problem, Becca doesn't buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland's family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what's best for Ryland.

What they find at St. Brigid's is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family's heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they've been waiting for. However, they are all--especially Becca--in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.

She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There's an attraction between Becca and Alex that can't be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.

Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he's settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he's done?

Okay, so sometimes I watch series or read books out of order that is supposed to be (like with "Chuck" that I started by the last season and worked my way till the first one) I did that with this series, I read "The Seers" back when it was released and only now got back to read the first one. Despite this not having compromised my enjoyment of the second book it did had it's effect on my reading experience with this one.

For start I already knew what was gonna be the major plot twist and what was gonna go down because of that, so it was kind of... Not boring, but I felt like I already knew the plot of this book so at times was like unnecessary - of course that if you're a normal person and is reading them on order it will NOT be because it will basically the whole plot of the book so yeah.

What didn't had to do with me reading the second book first was the time that it took to the actual plot to get going, this book isn't exactly slow paced because since the very first scene we have things happening but is mostly world building of the Holders and their school and stuff like that so it can be really slow at times.

But what made me come back to this series was it's characters and getting to know them, since their first interactions was worthed, Becca continues to be as kick butt and no taking shit as I remembered, Alex is still one of the sweetest guys and these two together where the most sweet thing - it was really fun to see they getting to realise their feelings on this book, since I had only read about them as a couple. Becca and Ryland's relationship too was amazing, I really liked to see how much she cared about him and how important he was to her. But basically Becca and everything is really cool to read about.

I super recommend this book if you're into X-Men, people with powers in general, fantasy/urban fantasy or even paranormal (this one really reads like paranormal to me).

Crimson Bound - Rosamund Hodge

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Published on May 5, 2015 by Balzer + Bray
[This book was provided to me by the Publisher but this in no way affected my opinion.]

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

Okay, so I made a huge mistake when entering this book. The first one was to listen to GR saying that this was part of the same world of Cruel Beauty but the second, and bigger one, was to actually enter this specting a Cruel Beauty 2.0 - which means mythology based novel focused mostly on an epic romance, but Crimson Bound there is much more to it and in a lot of ways is much more successful than Cruel Beauty despite not having given me that much emotions.

The first thing that Crimson Bound differs from Cruel Beauty is in it's world, this time around we spend a lot more time building this world on it's mythology and magical aspects but also on the politics of it, seeing how it works (since Rachelle works for the King), this came to me as a very high fantasy aspect and it did slowed the pace of the book - we need time to digest everything that has been happening to this world and understand how Rachelle wants to change it. For me this parts wasn't boring but if you're not a fan of slow paced books you may want to rethink reading this one.

Rachelle is another wonderful main character that Hodge managed to create. She is a bloodbound, which means she was marked by the forest and killed to survive, working for the king on killing creatures that manage to escape of the forest (which is the magical *thing* of this world) and she does that so she feels less guilty of having killed her aunt. I love the internal struggles that Hodge manages to create with all of her characters, Rachelle is torn between guilty and wanting to be good but also wanting to stay alive, and this created a multi layered character that made me care for her story.

About the romance, this is probably the weakest point of the story, I was highly anticipating a great ship but that wasn't what happened. We kind of have a love triangle, I don't know if I would call it that because it's pretty clear that Rachelle only have feelings for one of the parts, the other part is only there to cause unnecessary complication, usually I don't mind love triangles even the ones that are unnecessary but I really, really didn't enjoyed the execution of this one. On one hand we Erec, which is also a bloodbound but on the contrary of Rachelle he loves it, their relationship is made of snark remarks, lust and an obsessive love from Erec's part and I enjoyed their interactions for the most part. What really annoyed me was the main couple, Rachelle and Armand, I started out really enjoying them but they annoyed towards the end because they would kiss and swear love to each other (or close to it) and then something would happen and they would be all like "Oh my god, I thought you didn't wanted me anymore" and on repeat (I swear they "broke up" and "made out" three times during the novel, and they only get together after the halfway point so yeah).

Except for that I really did enjoyed this book, it was slightly unfair my early comparisons of this with Cruel Beauty since this is completely different and a new unique story by it's own right. Oh, also I don't really know why this is a Red Riding Hood retelling (maybe Erec is the big bad wolf?) because it was really loosely their similarities. I would recommend it to lovers of fantasy and mythology, fans of great lyrical writing and strong and layered characters.

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Published on May 5, 2015 by Bloomsbury Children's

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

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 she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

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

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

ACOTAR is my fifth book by Sarah J. Maas and I already consider her one of my auto-buy/read authors that is not, for me, the same as saying that I love everything that she writes, me and her books had our highs and lows and unfortunately ACOTAR is one of the lows.

1. The Pace: the first 30% of this book were killing me, things were sort of happening and I mean we had to get a lot of world building but oh my god it took me forever to read it (seriously, it took me almost three months, I was reading a chapter and putting it down, reading other books and them coming back reading another chapter and on), some of it had to do with the writing that is really descriptive and beautiful at times but is kind of heavy and hard for me to digest at times. But what really heightened on the pace for me was the fact that we have very little happening on the plot front but a lot of character building happen and we get to my second problem which was that

2. I cared for hardly anyone: I didn't hate Feyre and Tamlim and etc. but I also didn't feel head over heels about any off them, especially Feyre, which is our main character and narrator, she never really stood out of the pages for me, she was strong and determined and all of that but I don't know, there was some spark missing from her, something that I could pin point as a characteristic only of her and not things as generic as the qualities that she did show. The other characters also suffered this, like I could tell what their motivations are to be on this war but I can't say that I know them besides that, which was a real bummer because I was expecting to at lest get to know more about Tamlim. The only character that I had a real interest on was Rhys, he was amazing and a layered character that I really hope has a bigger role on the next book.

3. The Romance: as being a Beauty and the Beast retelling is no surprise to anyone that the romance plays a big part on this story, around 30% into the story something happens and we have Tamlim and Feyre getting close and getting to know more of each other, this part of their romance really pleased me because they would just talk and stuff, Feyre attraction to him seemed a little bit too early on since his appearance wasn't exactly much human with that mask but they did took their time to act upon their feelings so I was overall okay with it. The part that I did not enjoyed was the alpha male trait of Tamlim, I know he is a Beast but still it was really not appealing to me when he would be all like "do as I say" or one scene where he was violent with her and she was all horny with it, just not my type of romance.

4. That late plot: So when we're about 70% (I think) in we finally start to see a plot on the horizon and well, it was really weird and it felt disconnected from the rest of the novel. It was like we were on a Beauty and the Beast retelling until that point and then we switched to a Alice in Wonderland retelling, I swear, I don't think I can talk about this without the spoiler tag so (but is only mildly so if you want to read anyway it won't ruin your reading experience) Okay, so Feyre is having to save her life by doing the most ridiculous tasks, like fight a giant worm, that was like way to dafuck did I just read to me, like I know it was supposed to be like live or death but it was so silly, I couldn't take it seriously also the villain was just a crazy psycho bitch, I mean she got A LOT of lucky when she got the power cause seriously.

5. That ending: I just I don't know what to do with what happened on the ending, I just... I will need to go to the spoiler tag again, bear with me (and this will be totally spoilery so don't read it if you have not read the book yet) So basically Feyre could have been turned a fae all along - I think this was the last part of the curse? That she couldn't know, but it just seemed so... Bad to me, is just like fae's are vampires now and anyone can turn into one, just like that. I guess that if I was liking the rest of it, it would have been awesome and etc. but I wasn't so was just one more thing that made me raise my eyebrows.

6. A Detail: This is just one little detail but with all the rest that bothered just added, so I will mention. So Feyre is supposed to be almost illiterate, she knows the writing of a few words but that's it and the narrative is in first person, so it bugged me that someone that have little to none knowledge of grammatical things and should have a very scarce vocabulary is so well articulate on it's thoughts and speaking. I know the book wouldn't be as beautiful or interesting being wrote on the voice of someone illiterate, but still it was an inconsistency on my view.

Overall I didn't really enjoyed this book, at all, it wasn't really my cup of tea but don't be discouraged by me there is a lot of other people that absolutely loved it. If you never read Sarah J. Maas I would suggest starting with the "Throne of Glass" series first (which I absolutely love) and them trying this one, if you already love Sarah J. Maas other works I really hope you will fall on the group that enjoyed this one.

Magonia - Maria Dahvana Headley

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
Published by HarperCollins on April 28, 2015
Pages: 320
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss

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Maria Dahvana Headley's soaring YA debut is a fiercely intelligent, multilayered fantasy where Neil Gaiman's Stardust meets John Green'sThe Fault in Our Stars in a story about a girl caught between two worlds . . . two races . . . and two destinies. Aza Ray Boyle is drowning in thin air. Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who's always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza's hands lies fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

This book is weird. Like really, really weird. And unique.

At first I didn't knew if I was able to read this because the writing was really hard to get into, it was very emo and trying to be funny-ironic but wasn't working - it also had some lyrical moments that felt really out of place but I got used to it and even found some parts beautiful and touching.

The fantastical aspects also take a while to get used to, it's extremely unique and the images that are described are as beautiful as the cover but still is really weird and it took a lot of my enjoyment and investment on the story.

But what really made this book becoming just okay was the main character, Aza, I just never connected with her making her destine being not as interesting as it should have been. I think Jason was a easier character to connect but there was so little of his POV's that it's practically impossible to know for sure.

I also feel like I missed some point of this book, of course I missed most of the feelings for my lack of connection but I still feel like there is some major plot point or coming of age point or something that makes everything here makes total sense and turn this in an amazing book but I'm not seeing it.

The Girl at Midnight - Melissa Grey

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey
Series: The Girl at Midnight #1
Published on April 28, 2015 by Delacorte Press
[This book was given to me by the Publisher but this in no way affected my opinion.]

For readers of Cassandra Clare's City of Bones and Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone, The Girl at Midnight is the story of a modern girl caught in an ancient war.

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

I started this book with very few expectations, I already lost the count of books comparing themselves to "City of Bones" (for those who don't know TMI is one of my favorite series) and end up being disappointed but on this case I was gladly surprised that "The Girl at Midnight" did lived up to it's praise and also created a new space for itself. Let's talk about the comparisons, I did not read "Shadow and Bone" so can't testify for this book but I found some elements of this book really similar with "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" (which isn't on the summary but still), first Echo starts being adopted by one of the Avicen (people with feathers for hair) and runs errands for them and create portals to go from our world to the Avicen world, this reminded me a lot of Karou and them *something* at the end happened that bothered me by how close it was with DoSaB - like, I already knew what was gonna happen because I had read the other book and this is a little too close for my taste, also some of the amazingness of the ending was lost with that ending.

But on the other side I loved the similar parts of "The Girl at Midnight" with "City of Bones", for me, the thing that makes these two close are their characters a lot of them and their personalities reminded me of characters from the other series and I absolutely loved the characters on this one, and loved even more their interactions. Echo is trying to save the world she loves while not knowing what she needs to do, but still fighting with all her strength, Caius is also trying to save his world and these two end up doing a unthinkably alliance to survive and they do end up on a romance. At first I didn't enjoyed because Echo has already a boyfriend but seems pretty quickly to forget him once she starts to knowing Caius, so I was kind of happy (because yes for less melodrama) but also weirded out that she never thought about her boyfriend (or ex I guess?) but they won me over along the book mostly because there wasn't instalove, also the ending left a open page for their relationship on the next book that could led to a lot of drama and I just don't want that to happen.

So for me the best and most memorable characters were the secondary ones, specially the participants of the gay couple (is that a spoiler if I say their names? Idk) and had such funny scenes and a great banter together, also the final scene of them was just *swoon* is fair to say that I was head over heels for them (also please more scenes with them on the rest of the series). But not only their interactions were fun to read, all the group scenes were funny and a lot of those made me laugh out loud - and this was what made this book a win for me, I completely lost myself reading it and would always come back because I wanted more and more of this characters.

I super recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and fans of The Mortal Instruments series.

The False Prince - Jennifer A. Nielsen

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Series: The Ascendance Trilogy #1
Published on April 1, 2012 by Scholastic

THE FALSE PRINCE is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger and deceit and hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

Eh, this book was a mixed bag for me. For one side I had fun with it, but at the same time it never really lived up to my expectations since I was hoping this would be a new (for me) fantasy middle grade series for me to love. It started good, we have a lot going on at the start with getting to know all the boys and the other characters, trying to guess were all of this is going but the pace slowed around the middle, when all the boys are just training was kind of boring, the end did picked up the pace again but some of my enjoyment was already lost.
The world building, so important on fantasy novels never really was alive for me, we have a map that is pretty simple (really is just a stretch of land, three names on it and some cities) and we do know about the political system which was the most common for fantasy novels, a monarchy, so despite trying it never stood out from another fantasy novels out there.
The characters seemed quite nice at first, Sage did had some funny liners that reminded me of Percy (from Percy Jackson) but soon he couldn't hold up the scene all by himself and unfortunately there was no other character to step up and make my interest grown, a big part for me not caring much about any of the other characters are the fact that they're so damn predictable.
This book is supposed to have a lot of twists on their characters but really, unless you're the actual age targeted audience, you will probably see all these twists with a mile range and unfortunately this does took away some of the fun.
In the end I don't regret reading this book and will probably continue with the series because it was a quickly read with some nice fantasy elements but if you're looking for a great middle grade fantasy serie there are better ones out there.

A Wicked Thing - Rhiannon Thomas

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas
Series: A Wicked Thing #1
Published by HarperTeen on February 24, 2015
Pages: 352
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings

Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss

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Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of what happens after happily ever after. Vividly imagined scenes of action, romance, and political intrigue are seamlessly woven together to reveal a richly created world… and Sleeping Beauty as she's never been seen before.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

This book is the definition of fantasy fun or retelling fun or fairy tail fun idk whichever you want to name it, it was a fun ride. I don't know exactly why it was so fun to just sit and read this book, honestly most of the characters didn't feel all that fleshed out, the plot only started happening at the very ending of the book and there wasn't all that much fantasy to keep me distracted from this flaws, yet while I was reading I kept wanting to pick it up everytime I put it down and now that I finished I found myself wanting the sequel.

Probably the biggest reason for this is Aurora, our princess is nothing like the one from Sleeping Beauty, she just waked up and is confused as hell, everyone she knows is dead and she isn't very found of the idea of marrying some random guy that woke her from her sleep after kissing her, soon she finds out that isn't only for her that she needs to worry but for all her kingdom and who can she trust? I have to say that I liked Aurora, and this was probably one of the reasons that this book didn't dragged for me - even on the middle, when she still doesn't know who to trust and is confused with the current politics of her kingdom and is still figuring out what happened after her curse -, I just always felt her confusion really genuine and liked the fact that despite that she goes on search for answers.

The other characters, unfortunately, didn't felt as real - especially the boys. We have the prince who kissed her awake, Rodric, which I liked he always managed to make me smile on his interactions with Aurora mostly because he was so shy and awkward around her, he is the clear good guy and only wants what is best for his kingdom. Then, there is Tristan, the guy who works on a pub and is the definition of everything Aurora can't have being a princess, he mostly annoyed me they interactions and sudden interest on each other felt fake and forced and I couldn't care for Aurora day dreaming about him. And the visiting prince, Finnegan, which was the one that most interested me, he is ironic and that bad boy type, you know with secrets and maybe he is bad or maybe he is good but who knows? Not me. Also there is a promise of dragons on his kingdom. DRAGONS I'M ALWAYS IN FOR DRAGONS.

For the world building we don't really get one, things are basically there and you have to roll with it, I don't really mind it because it's a retelling so I just imagined some medieval village of sorts but I would have liked a little bit more of descriptions of how the people of that land where, there was one scene with a sort of carnival that was cool, I would have liked more that - cultural things about this land, or geography, or anything really. The plot too wasn't really happening until 90% in and them it happened like it hadn't a yesterday and now I'm at wait of book two for centuries to come.

Recommend this book for readers that like retelling looking for a fresh take on the Sleeping Beauty tale, readers that like fantasy but want something more light or readers that don't usual read fantasy but would like to try it.

Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 28, 2014
Pages: 342
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Romance

Format: eBook
Source: Purchased

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Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Me, when I finished this book

Cruel Beauty is set on a fantastical world based on Greek mythology, it's not a Graceling mets Beauty and the Beast, and if go into this expecting the kind of fantasy that there is on Graceling you will be majorly disappointed. This is very slow paced and more of a character study sort of book, put together with mythology and a extremely well thought world building - about the world building/mythology aspect, I fell like I have to tell, a lot of people said it was confusing and overload at times but I never felt like it, it was majorly beautiful, especially at the end when you see it all come together and how well thought & build this whole story was.

Nyx was never a hard character for me to love, she was born and raised to kill the demon that rules her lands, she is the only hope, the savior but she also was raised knowing that this task will likely be her death. It was easy to get from where it came all her jealousy, her hatred - for me, she was the personification of all the thoughts and feelings and the irrational human instinct that we have but keep buried. Ignifex and Shade were harder characters to get, both are being built during the entire story and I think that only on the end we can really get they personality and more of his reasons to be how they are.

Being a book mainly focused on the romance, if you don't enjoy it you will probably not enjoy this story so much. I have to say something, since always I wanted a romance between a main character and the villain - but not the usual YA guy with the dark secret that end up being good, no a real villain and Ignifex, being a demon, definitely fits this category of a villain that doesn't searches a reason for his acts - so that being said I absolutely loved every second of this romance! It feel like at first we would have a little of a love triangle but it didn't happened (also was really pleased how it turned out at the end) and them we had the glorious ship that is Nyx and Ignifex - they are both despicable people and they match so well together, there was one sentence that Nyx said that was something like "he has seem all the ugly parts of me and still is able to love me" and this is what made me ship these two so hard, they knew each other on the worst and still managed to fell in love. Also they have an amazing banter, both of their characters are very witty and ready to give a sharp answer to one another - especially Nyx, always remind him of her desire to kill him, it's weird that I liked their threats to each other so much? Oh, well. And their kissing scenes too, so good. And that almost ending. And them the real ending. I just, too good.

So many feels. Everything was felt with this book. Everything.

This book is basically amazing, I loved every second of it from the first chapter till the last and I know that this book isn't everyone cup of tea but I highly hope that you will give it at least a chance to capture your attention and see if you enjoy it - because I think you will.