December is always a super busy month,
what with anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, catch-ups & carol services,
so I actually didn't get as much reading done last month as I had planned!
What I did read, however, was all absolutely amazing!
I'm still very much on a fantasy/dystopian/YA kick
and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
These genres have so many fantastic authors with so much to offer
and I plan to devour every amazing book I can find!
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
The first book below is the conclusion to a series, so if you haven't read the first 2 books yet,
the blurb might give some things away!
Frost Like Night - Sara Raasch
My Rating: *****
Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading—and no one is safe.
Meira will do anything to save her world. With
Angra trying to break through her mental defences, she desperately
needs to learn to control her own magic—so when the leader of a
mysterious order from Paisly offers to teach her, Meira jumps at the
chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth
deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to
enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she’s learning to
control—and make the biggest sacrifice of all.
Mather will do anything to save his queen.
He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira—and finally tell
her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no
kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the
war—and protecting Meira—slips further and further out of reach.
Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra
had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But
when she’s freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth
behind Summer’s slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true
love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.
As
Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen
must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together . . . or lose everything.
A dark EVIL. A dangerous MAGIC. A Desperate PLAN.
Can Meira master her magic and save her world?
Okay, so the award for longest blurb EVER goes to Frost Like Night!
Apologies if you haven't yet read the first two books from this series,
Snow Like Ashes & Ice Like Fire, because this blurb gives so much away it's unreal!
But, they are great books, totally worth reading if magic & fantasy & hidden royalty is your thing!
I loved this book! As a final instalment in a trilogy, I thought it was perfect.
Meira really comes into her magic, and the growth we see in her as she tries to reconcile being a queen but also still a young girl is phenomenal.
I also really enjoyed the POV chapters of Mather & Ceridwen. Usually, when a book deviates from the main characters POV, I can't wait until I am through those chapters so I can get back to the main part of the story, but Raasch does it so well with these characters! I was just as wrapped up in Ceridwens part of the story as I was in Meiras, which is really saying something!
I thought this was a great conclusion to a fabulous series, and the only thing that I'm sad about,
is the fact that it's over!
Buy it here:
Starborn - Lucy Hounsom
My Rating: ****
Death and destruction will bar her way. . .
Kyndra's fate holds betrayal and salvation, but the journey starts in her small village. On the day she comes of age, she accidentally disrupts an ancient ceremony, ending centuries of tradition. So when an unnatural storm targets her superstitious community, Kyndra is blamed. She fears for her life until two strangers save her, by wielding powers not seen for an age - powers fuelled by the sun and the moon.
Together, they flee to the hidden citadel of Naris. And here, Kyndra experiences disturbing visions of the past, showing war and one man's terrifying response. She'll learn more in the city's subterranean chambers, amongst fanatics and rebels. But first Kyndra will be brutally tested in a bid to unlock her own magic.
If she survives the ordeal, she'll discover a force greater than she could ever have imagined. But
could it create as well as destroy? And can she control it, to right an ancient wrong?
Starborn was such a good debut novel, and I am so excited for the release of the next one,
Heartland, in August!
But I'm going to have to buy this first one again, because the covers have had a massive makeover and they look incredible, and I can't have mismatched books so...yep!
Starborn is like old school fantasy. Kyndra is a normal girl, with a normal life, living in a normal village...well. Normal until you realise they have a weird ritual once you reach 16, that tells you your real name, and what your profession should be.
That is, until it's Kyndras turn, and her so-called normal life is turned on its head forevermore. She flees her village with the two strangers that saved her life and embarks on the kind of adventure she had only ever read about in her stepfathers books!
It sounds kind of cliche, but I actually really loved it.
Kyndra is a strong heroine, with a bit of attitude and knows how to go after what she wants,
so there's no mary-sue here. There also is no love interest for her, the only romance that happens is somewhat in the background between our two fab supporting characters!
In conclusion, I loved it, I can't wait to read the next one, and you should read it too!
Buy it here:
Waterstones || Easons || Amazon
Spinning Starlight - R.C. Lewis
My Rating: ***
Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men shows up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.
Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word, and her brothers are dead.
Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home - a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?
Spinning Starlight is a sci-fi retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's,
The Wild Swans, and it works so well!
I don't read alot of sci-fi, but this book had been on my To-Read list for such a long time, purely because of the gorgeous cover & the fact that it's a fairytale retelling, so when I saw it in my local Waterstones I couldn't not buy it!
Liddi is a really strong main character, made all the more amazing because for 90% of the book she can't speak! Liddi has to work out a way to communicate with other people, tell them what's going on & save her brothers all without saying a word, because her brothers captor has placed an implant in Liddis throat. One word, one utterance of sound and her brothers are dead.
I really liked this book, but the reason it only has 3 stars is because I struggled to connect with the characters enough. I felt like they were missing something.
Maybe it's because Spinning Starlight is a standalone book, and I very rarely read those.
I'm more of a book trilogy or series kind of girl!
But, it's still a very good book that I really enjoyed!
Buy it here:
Waterstones || Easons || Amazon
:::
And that's it for the last month of 2016!
I still haven't counted up how many books I read last year in total, but it would be interesting to see!
3 books does seem to be my standard number of books per month at the moment.
Although, I am already onto my third book of January, so maybe I'll break that record this month!
Have you read anything interesting recently?
Let me know in the comments!
❤
This contains affiliate links*
