A BLADE SO BLACK By L.L. Mckinney

December 17, 2019 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A BLADE SO BLACK By L.L. MckinneyA Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
Series: The Nightmare-Verse #1
Published by Square Fish on 9/25/18
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.

Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head... literally.

Short and Sweet Review

After her father’s death, Alice meets Addison Hatta. Hatta eventually trains Alice to be a dream walker and takes her into wonderland to fight nightmares. After Hatta ends up being poisoned Alice has to venture further into wonderland than she has before to save her mentor. A Blade So Black was an interesting take on Alice in Wonderland. Our Alice lives in Atlanta and she travels to wonderland through a gate that’s in a pub. It took me a while to get used to Alice and the way she talked but I eventually got used to it. Alice’s mom was very overprotective so she was usually getting yelled at for coming home late or not answering her phone. Alice was great she cared for those around her which made it hard for her to make decisions. The book started off a little slow for me but it picked up in the middle and I thought the ending was great. I loved each of the characters and how they have a distinct personality and how they reflect someone from the original Alice in Wonderland. I’m excited to see what will happen in the sequel!

Filed Under: Reviews

THE WINNER’S CRIME BY MARIE RUTKOSKI

July 5, 2017 by 1 Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE WINNER’S CRIME BY MARIE RUTKOSKIThe Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #2
Published by Square Fish on 3/29/16
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It means one celebration after another: balls, fireworks, and revelry until dawn. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement: that she agreed to marry the crown prince in exchange for Arin's freedom. But can Kestrel trust Arin? Can she even trust herself? For Kestrel is becoming very good at deception. She's working as a spy in the court. If caught, she'll be exposed as a traitor to her country. Yet she can't help searching for a way to change her ruthless world . . . and she is close to uncovering a shocking secret. This dazzling follow-up to The Winner's Curse reveals the high price of dangerous lies and untrustworthy alliances. The truth will come out, and when it does, Kestrel and Arin will learn just how much their crimes will cost them.


Short and Sweet

In the last book we see that Kestrel made a deal to free the Herran in exchange for her hand in marriage to the emperor’s son. Kestrel is now in Valoria surrounded by Valorians and all of the riches she could want, but she’s unhappy. All Kestrel wants is to help further Arin’s cause and help the Herrani people but she also knows that she has to remain loyal to her father the general and her own people.

Quotes

~ “If you won’t be my friend, you’ll regret being my enemy.”

~ “Sometimes you think you want something,” Arin told him, “when in reality you need to let it go.”

My Thoughts

~ There’s so much going on in this book with Kestrel, shes living with the emperor and his son preparing for their wedding, but she’s also trying to figure out how she can help the Herrani from Valoria.

~ Arin is still in Herran and even though his people are technically free, but the Valorians are taking anything from the country and it’s leaving the Herran people with little faith.

~ Kestrel and Prince Verex do not get along during the first half of the book, due to Verex knowing that Kestrel has her own motives for wanting to marry him. They both make a truce and he becomes helpful by letting Kestrel know not to play games with the emperor.

~ At her engagement party Kestrel meets Tensen, Herrani’s minister of agriculture. She agrees to give him political information as long as he does not let Arin know where he’s getting the information.

~ When Kestrel becomes a spy for the Herran she has to try to keep a low profile but that’s hard for her to do especially with Arin around.

~ When Kestrel decided to become a spy I got nervous for her. The emperor was not a nice man and I felt like if she made one wrong move she would be killed.

~ I honestly liked reading from Kestrel’s point of view rather than Arin’s. I know his POV was important, because we got to see what was happening in Herran but Kestrel was risking it all in the Valoria.

~ The ending killed me. I don’t even know how to describe Kestrel, crazy, brave, courageous? Ugh I don’t even know what I would do in that situation and I can’t believe that it even happened the way it did.

Overall

I need to read the final book in this series asap! The ending in this book was too much for me to just not want the next book in my hands. I want to see what Kestrel and Arin do next and how everything will wrap up. If you’re looking for a new series to start this is a great one! There’s love, betrayal, and a lot of politics involved.

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Filed Under: Reviews

THE HEART OF BETRAYAL By Mary E. Pearson

November 22, 2016 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE HEART OF BETRAYAL By Mary E. PearsonThe Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles #2
Published by Square Fish on 8/2/16
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 496
Format: Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar's interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: There’s Rafe, who lied to Lia but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be barbarians. Now that she lives among them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country . . . and her own destiny.


My Thoughts

~ The Heart of Betrayal has to be my favorite book in The Remnant Chronicles series. We got so much more in this book from the world building to the character development.

~ The book was set in Venda which I liked, because we get to see how the Vendans lived, they depended on the Komizar more than the resources they had.

~ Lia doesn’t have any allies in Venda so it was nice to see her make alliances with some unlikely citizens in Venda.

~ We also get to see Lia’s gift become more prominent, which seems to draw the Komizar’s interest.

~ Rafe lies to stay alive in the Vendan kingdom while he waits for his own army to come and rescue him and Lia. I love Rafe he’s smart, calculating, and has a good heart, he tries to do the right thing.

~ There isn’t a set strategy for Lia and Rafe to stay alive they just have to stay alive long enough to escape.

~ I liked seeing Kaden on his own turf, we get to learn more about his past and his relationship with the Komizar. I thought that Lia would have stronger feelings for Kaden since they were in Venda, but she just uses him to survive in his world.

~ Venda is in it’s own world, we don’t learn much about whats going on in the outside world sometimes news is passed around but not much often.

~ We also learn more about Vendan history and about the gift and Lia’s prophecy.

Overall

I loved this book, I liked Kiss of Deception too but Heart of Betrayal has so much more to offer. I loved the ending and I want to see how things are tied up in book three!

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Filed Under: Reviews

THE WINNER’S CURSE By Marie Rutkoski

May 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE WINNER’S CURSE By Marie RutkoskiThe Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Series: The Winner's Trilogy #1
Published by Square Fish on 3/3/15
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

ReviewedbyDani

They were never meant to be together. As a general's daughter, seventeen-year-old Kestrel enjoys an extravagant and privileged life. Arin has nothing but the clothes on his back. Then Kestrel makes an impulsive decision that binds Arin to her. Though they try to fight it, they can't help but fall in love. In order to be together, they must betray their people . . . but to be loyal to their country, they must betray each other. Set in a new world, The Winner's Curse is a story of rebellion, duels, ballroom dances, wicked rumors, dirty secrets, and games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.


Short and Sweet

Kestrel is the daughter of a general, and she has two choices get married or join the military. In this empire the Valorians have enslaved the Herrani. When Kestrel goes to an auction and buys a slave, she doesn’t realize the problem with what she has done until it’s too late.

My Thoughts

~ My favorite thing about Kestrel is how intelligent and strategic. She was also good at getting situations to turn in her favor.

~ Arin was also smart, he knew how to achieve his goals without getting caught.

~ The book is also told in both Kestrel and Arin’s point of view which was interesting, because we get to see what’s going on in their heads and what they’re planning.

~ I liked the relationship dynamic between Kestrel and Arin, it was always shifting. Their relationship also took time to develop.

Overall

I thought this was a great book and I can’t wait to read The Winner’s Crime. I’m interested to see what happens next especially after what happened in the end. I would definitely recommend this book!

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Filed Under: Reviews