Eight Will Fall - Book Review

Eight Will Fall
by Sarah Harian

What is it about:
In a land where magic is outlawed, eight criminals led by seventeen-year-old Larkin are sent on a mission to kill an ancient evil that plagues their kingdom. Descending into an underground realm full of unspeakable horrors, Larkin and her party must use their forbidden magic to survive what lies in wait, teeth sharp and jaws deadly.

As she fights for her life, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon Larkin and Amias realize their fates are entwined. The eight of them were chosen for a reason.

But as the dangers multiply and her band of felons are picked off one by one, Larkin must confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return.

What did I think of it:
This is a really cool read.

Eight young criminals are send on a dangerous mission to find the source of disappearances and destruction. The source is believed to be hiding deep underground and that's where the eight need to go. But what can eight criminals do where hundreds of soldiers have failed?

I was hooked from the start. There's lots of action, creepy situations, and interpersonal drama. I liked Larkin from the start , as well as some of the other eight, while others got on my nerves. Soon the eight are just seven, then six... And I really started to worry about my favorites I can tell you.

The underground world Harian created (as well as the topside world btw) was really cool and had me amazed as well as squicked out. There were some events I could see coming, but others got me by surprise. All in all a cool and suspenseful read.

This book seems to be a standalone, and the ending reflects that, although I do see possibilities for a sequel or companion novel. I will keep an eye out for more by Harian.

Why should you read it:
It's a really cool YA Fantasy read.


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A Throne of Swans - Release Day Book Review

A Throne of Swans (A Throne of Swans #1)
by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr

What is it about:
In a world where the flightless are ruled by those who can fly...

When her father dies just before her birthday, seventeen-year-old Aderyn inherits the role of Protector of Atratys, a dominion in a kingdom where nobles are able to transform at will into the bird that represents their family bloodline. Aderyn's ancestral bird is a swan. But she has not transformed for years, not since witnessing the death of her mother - ripped apart by hawks that have supposedly been extinct since the long-ago War of the Raptors.

With the benevolent shelter of her mother and her father now lost, Aderyn is at the mercy of her brutal uncle, the King, and his royal court. Driven by revenge and love, she must venture into the malevolent heart of the Citadel in order to seek the truth about the attack that so nearly destroyed her, to fight for the only home she has ever known and for the land she has vowed to protect.

What did I think of it:
Can I just say that I'm so sick of the trend where the love interest is being a total jerk to the heroine and she still falls for him!? Just stop it! Don't tell women that a guy being an ass is romantic! It is not!
I
Ok... with that of my chest, I'll move on to the rest of my review.

Apart from the aforementioned pet peeve I very much enjoyed this book. The world was really intriguing, and the main storyline was full of sneaky politics, backstabbing, and other suspense. Even though Aderyn was a little bit very gullible I liked her, and rooted for her to survive the political games she gets caught up in.

I - of course - totally liked someone other than the love interested a lot better, but nothing new there. Even knowing I was rooting for the wrong guy I couldn't put the book down. I had to see in what way Aderyn's plans and world would blow up around her. As this is the first book in a duology the ending does solve some things, but leaves so much open that I will be eagerly awaiting the next book to find out how this tale will end.

Why should you read it:
It's a very enjoyable YA Fantasy read


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Teasing on a Wednesday - Martians Abroad

I wanted to be a pilot. If being at Galileo made that easier, so be it. But I wasn't convinced that the place was a guarantee to a great life

(page 58, Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn)


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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Come Tumbling Down - Release Day Book Review

Come Tumbling Down (Wayward Children #5)
by Seanan McGuire

What is it about:
The fifth installment in Seanan McGuire's award-winning, bestselling Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones

When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister--whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice--back to their home on the Moors.

But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.

Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.

Again.

What did I think of it:
I read the other books of this series last year when Beneath The Sugar Sky was nominated for the Hugo's and immediately fell in love with them. So you bet I was excited when I won an ARC of Come Tumbling Down in a giveaway so I could read it early.

And this is yet again a wonderful read.

This book continues the story of Jack and Jill and takes the students to the Gothic world first introduced in Down Among the Sticks and Bones. Jill isn't as dead as she seemed to be at the end of Every Heart a Doorway and Jack needs help stopping her or the world she has come to love and everyone in it might suffer the consequences.

There are some difficult choices to be made, and possibly some sacrifices as well. I couldn't stop reading, I had to know how things would end. Would my favorite characters make it through their ordeals unscathed?

All in all this is a really cool story full of suspense and emotion. You bet I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book, because I need more!

Why should you read it:
It's a heartbreakingly cool read.


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Announcing: Twelve Kingdoms/Uncharted Realms Reread

It won't be long before the final book in The Uncharted Realms series - The Fate of the Tala - by Jeffe Kennedy will release.

I love this series and world, and decided to celebrate this final book with a complete chronological series reread, including the Chronicles of Dasnaria.

Here's the reading order of my upcoming reread:

The Chronicles of Dasnaria
Prisoner of the Crown
Exile of the Seas
Warrior of the World

The Twelve Kingdoms
Negotiation
The Mark of the Tala
The Tears of the Rose
The Talon of the Hawk
Heart's Blood

The Uncharted Realms
The Crown of the Queen
The Pages of the Mind
The Edge of the Blade
The Snows of Windroven
The Shift of the Tide
The Arrows of the Heart
The Dragons of Summer
The Fate of the Tala

I'm not sure yet how fast I'll read, because maybe some of you want to read along. So at the moment I will set myself the task of rereading Prisoner of the Crown this week and check back with all of you next Monday. Depending on participation I'll then decide on my pacing. I will probably do at least one giveaway along the way, and depending on interest Jeffe Kennedy might do a giveaway as well.

So let me know if your in for a reread, or first read in the comments, and let me know what pacing you'd like.
You can also join in for certain books if a complete reread is too much, but you do want to (re)read a particular favorite or want to catch up on the series, or just want to join the fun.

Happy Reading!



PS: If you sign up for Jeffe's Newsletter now You'll get to read the first chapter of The Fate of the Tala in the next newsletter at the end of this week!

Teasing on a Thursday - Eight Will Fall

If we fail you're as good as dead, Larkin wanted to scream back, but the vengeful thought was little comfort as they kept moving forward.

(page 72, Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian)


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---------

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones - Book Review

Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones
by Micah Dean Hicks

What is it about:
Swine Hill was full of the dead. Their ghosts were thickest near the abandoned downtown, where so many of the town’s hopes had died generation by generation. They lingered in the places that mattered to them, and people avoided those streets, locked those doors, stopped going into those rooms... They could hurt you. Worse, they could change you.

Jane is haunted. Since she was a child, she has carried a ghost girl that feeds on the secrets and fears of everyone around her, whispering to Jane what they are thinking and feeling, even when she doesn’t want to know. Henry, Jane’s brother, is ridden by a genius ghost that forces him to build strange and dangerous machines. Their mother is possessed by a lonely spirit that burns anyone she touches. In Swine Hill, a place of defeat and depletion, there are more dead than living.

When new arrivals begin scoring precious jobs at the last factory in town, both the living and the dead are furious. This insult on the end of a long economic decline sparks a conflagration. Buffeted by rage on all sides, Jane must find a way to save her haunted family and escape the town before it kills them.

What did I think of it:
I will confess I'm not easily scared by stories, but this book...

A minor spoiler about this story is that the new arrivals in this book are pig people. You can guess I was totally rooting for them, and that they didn't have it easy!

This story tackles some very current themes: the poverty and loss of jobs in rural areas, fear of newcomers, fear of the unknown. Still it does so in a really enticing way, weaving a creepy and tense atmosphere. The ghosts and spirits inhabiting the town and people are scary, not in the least because some of them have very nefarious motives, some of the well-meaning ones were the scariest in how they hurt the people they touch.

As thing escalate and humans, spirits, and pig people clash things get more and more dicey in Swine Hill. In the midst of all this Jane and her brother Henry will have to make choices and find away to stay alive while still being able to live with themselves and their ghosts.

I didn't know what to expect going into this book apart from there being ghosts, but I was soon swept up in the events and the emotions. I rooted for Jane, Henry, and the pig people knowing chances were high my heart might be broken. Still I couldn't put the book down, and I let it take me on an emotional ride full of weirdness and creepiness. This book turned out to be so much better than I expected when I started it, and you bet I'll treasure and reread it.

Why should you read it:
It's weird, creepy, and painfully beautiful.


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