Review: "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead

Title: Shadow Kiss

Series: Vampire Academy #3

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Year: 2008

"It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all... might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose's forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line - and choose between the two people she loves most."

Man.. just… man… I always thought reviewing the book right after I finished it is the way to go. But not when you finish “Shadow Kiss”. I should have given myself more time to recover.

Okay, lets see what is making me all emotional rollercoaster.

This story had a lot of what I usually like to get out of the first books of the series. You get to live the world of the characters, before it is all turned upside down. Most of this book is around the field-experience for novice dhampirs. They have to protect a Moroi assigned to them for weeks. And when I said that I like to get this out of a first book, then that does not mean it was not fun in the third one. It was actually great, maybe even better. We already have the world. Plus you can have various subplots that would otherwise be hurried. 

Also, this is where the story starts to get darker. Why things are so out of hand for Rose is explained towards the end. Speaking of the end. I think I almost cried. I don’t cry over much. But a single, very manly’ish tear might have escaped my eye when I read the last line in the book. I have read this before but it gets me every time. 

Rose is still Rose in this. We see her kick some major ass. And for the times that she herself is an ass… well there is an explanation. No spoilers, so that’s all I will say about this.
Lissa and Christian are still awesome together, but will have a few problems down the road. I think Lissa was a little blind about some things and in my eyes, Christian was more right. I also liked that Christian and Rose got more bro-bonding time. Those two bickering are always fun.
I also liked that Eddie got more of a role in this book. After what happened in book two it would have been very weird if he would have remained in the background. Plus he is actually a really sweet character. And I like that there is a male who is purely a friendly interest.
Dimitri is interesting in this one. Seeing as we get the story from Rose’s point of view and Richelle Mead is an amazing writer then I for one have to say that it was a blast and maybe sweet (sometimes so sweet felt like I had to check my bloodsugar levels) to see how he had to admit more and more of his feelings about Rose. Or Roza as he likes it.
Adrian does not get as much action in here as I would like him to. But he does keep pursuing Rose. And again, at the end, I really felt for him. He is underrated. 

So yeah. Needless to say that I loved “Shadow Kiss”. I will keep loving this book and series for years to come. Five stars, as always for Richelle. I bid thee good night. 

  This review has been brought to you by your Book Mistress for the day.
 

-Linda

Review: "The Magicians Guild" by Trudi Canavan

Title: The Magicians Guild
Series: The Black Magicians Trilogy
Author: Trudi Canavan
Publisher: Orbit
Year: 2004

"Each year the magicians of Imardin gather together to purge the city streets of vagrants, urchins and miscreants. Masters of the disciplines of magic, they know that no one can oppose them. But their protective shield is not as impenetrable as they believe.

Sonea, angry, frustrated and outraged by the treatment of her family and friends, hurls a stone at the shield, putting all her rage behind it. To the amazement of all who bear witness, the stone passes unhindered through the barrier and renders a magician unconscious.

The guild's worst fear has been realised . . . There is an untrained magician loose on the streets. She must be found before her uncontrolled powers unleash forces that will destroy both her, and the city that is her home."

Old but gold. I have read this time more times than I could ever remember. It was the first story of magic I read after Harry Potter and it has stuck with me for almost 8 years. I have always loved it but this was the first time I read it in English. To all Estonians who might read this review I can promise that it has one of the best translations out there. For once the original book has been done justice.

Trudi Canavan is a woman with an amazing imagination. I believe that high fantasy is harder to write. I am not sure why but even though you have so much that you can bend to your will, it must be so hard to strike the exactly right balance between logical enough but still out of this world. I salute the author for the most wonderful job well done. Trudi Canavan does fantastic descriptions, such heartfelt characters and getting the story from multiple point of views was great.

The story itself is actually quite a simple underdog story. I mean we have all heard of the poor girl who discovers that she has magical powers. Sure, a lot of other things follow but compared to others stories, this book will not have her defeat an evil overlord and establish herself as the best of all magicians. But I think that the fair simplicity of the story really helps to establish the high fantasy world. There are so many rules that have to be put in place for the imaginary world of Imardin. A very elaborate story might have made the book too complicated. I got exactly enough from it that I started saving up for the next instalment as soon as I finished with “The Magicians Guild”. I don’t want you to think that nothing happens in this book, it is actually full of interesting events but I do not want to spoil too much.

I really liked the heroin: Sonea. The way she was written made her seem like someone who has a good head on her shoulders. She has disliked the Guild her entire life so she flees from it after discovering her powers. I liked that she was very believable and intelligent. She had heart but still thought logically and could be quite witty at times. I loved her.
Usually Rothen would be more of a side character but due to a big part of the book being introduced through his eyes, then I think of him sort of as the second main character. When I was young I always thought of him as someone younger, I am not sure why. This time I was aware that he was actually older, probably in his late forties, even in fifties. Rothen is your all-on good character. Sometimes I can’t help but think that he is too perfect. But somehow he still seemed human, like someone we should strive to be. He was very likeable and seeing as his goals were most probably the same as the readers then you can’t help but cheer him on.
There is a LOT of characters in this book. Sonea’s friend from the slums, called Cery, will be a prominent part of the next books. Lord Dannyl was Rothens long-time friend and former student. Again he will have a lot bigger part in books to come. But I was a little sad that there were quite a few characters from the slums that were introduced but would almost never again surface across the next two books of the trilogy.

This book is a wonderful story that would be a great read for all ages. I definitely loved it and give it five childhood filled stars.

  

This review has been brought to you by your Book Mistress for the day.

-Linda

Review: "Hunger" by Jackie Morse Kessler

Title: Hunger
Series: Riders of the Apocalypse #1
Author: Jackie Morse Kessler
Publisher: Graphia
Year: 2010
















"“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?"

I am speechless. 

Just kidding. I have a lot to say about this book. First of which should be that it was amazing. It is great to have a book that has a nice blurb. I mean when you hear about a book that’s about an anorexic girl who becomes Famine, one of the four Riders of the Apocalypse, what do you think? I thought that this is the coolest thing I have ever heard!

Jackie Morse Kessler publishes under two names. One is this one and the other is Jackie Kessler. Before this one I knew only of her adult works. But boy. While her adult works were highly entertaining, then here she touches on topics that most authors either shy away from or do not manage to quite execute in a way that is believable. Kessler’s writing style is very enjoyable, the pages of the book fly by with a blink of an eye.

Speaking of flying by, this book is not a particularly long one. I cannot decide if that is good or bad. Bad in the sense that I wanted more. I wanted to keep reading about what Famine does, what happens to Lisabeth. But the book is so perfectly paced. I have a feeling that adding or cutting anything else might have disturbed that. So all in all, I would say that it is a good thing. Kessler does not need fillers, her own story is too compelling. Plus, short or not, this book packs the punch of a book two to three times that long.

On to the story. The blurb sounded awesome. And the story does not disappoint. There are good ideas out there. And there is no shame in doing something that has an established coolness, as long as it is well done. But the idea in “Hunger” is the most original thing I have read. And aside from the fantastic idea, it is not only the blurb that is cool. The book itself holds up to the promise and it is a rollercoaster.
And I like that the problem of eating disorders was not pushed to the background of the fantasy element. It gives an amazing insight to what people who have that kind of a problem think. For a moment it all seems logical. And then you distance yourself from it and realize how it really is a disease. Sure, it is something that goes on in their heads (at first), but that does not make the problem any less real. I am sure every girl (and I imagines most guys) have the days when they feel bigger than they should. The “thin” voice that Lisa has… I am sure it intimately calls to many readers. I did not know whilst reading this that Kessler had a problem with an eating disorder when young, so I was especially amazed with how believable it all was. But I guess that sort of understanding only comes out of actually having experience with it.

The protagonist is an anorexic seventeen year old girl, Lisabeth. She herself does not believe she has an eating disorder, believing that if she were anorexic then she would be thin. I think Lisa is impossible not to sympathize with. I may not agree with what she thinks, but she so strongly believes in what she does that it really got to me. Sadly what she does is not the least bit positive. But she really grows as Famine. For this story she is the perfect heroine. Not perfect in the sense that she is pretty and smart and confident. But her flaws make her… well... flawless (that sounded a lot more elegant in my head)
We have a few side characters. Tammy is Lisa’s friend who is bulimic. It is kind of odd to see how Lisa idolizes her. I do not want to give anything away so I will leave this at that.
She has a caring father, a distant mother and a nice boyfriend. But I have to say, I immensely enjoyed Death as someone who looks like Kurt Cobain, singing Nirvana songs and having the, and I quote, “A gallows humour”. 

All in all this is an amazing book. It deals with a delicate subject with a touch of fantasy. I loved it and I think it would give insight to many. I really recommend it to everyone. It gets five stars. Serious ones.

 This review has been brought to you by your Book Mistress for the day.

-Linda

Review: "Frostbite" by Richelle Mead

Title: Frostbite
Series: Vampire Academy #2
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Year: 2008
















"Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose...

It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price..."

I seem to forget how wicked of a writer Richelle Mead is when I stay away for her books for too long. Withdrawal I guess. Or a coping mechanism. Because she really is the best. I have liked every single one of her books. “Frostbite” was no exception. Allow me to explain what made this book so great.

The story picks up right where we left off with the last one. Now that the world for the series has been established, Richelle Mead is gearing up. In this episode gruesome attacks by the Strigoi shake the Moroi and dhampir community. And what do the rich and fabulous do? Hide out in a skiing lodge! You heard that right. Okay it might sound a little silly but the whole thing actually works really well together. Rose gets her man trouble that was on the background of the first book. We meet her mom. And our side-characters get a fair share of action as well. The story is well thought out and the ending sets up a darker mood for the books to come.

Rose is still fun, but is also growing up. Metaphorically speaking, because she can’t help but speak before thinking. And it is still funny. A few times I thought that she is being quite stupid, but the transition period is necessary into cool and collected does not happen overnight.
I really liked Lissa in this book. She is embracing her role in the Moroi society and while she does not get much attention in “Frostbite”, then I have to point out that she is cleaning up good.
Lissa leads me to Christian. He is sort of what Rose is, but male. A lot of one-liners and fun times guaranteed.
I liked that other novices (dhampir-kids) got more attention as well. Mason was a big part of this book. He was a sweet one. In Rose’s position I would have probably done what she did though. Or planned to do. No spoilers.
Dimitri… I still don’t know why I am not rooting for him that much. Oh wait, yes, I do. Adrian. Sir Fabulous has been introduced and once again I love him. He is ridiculously arrogant, self-assured and in this case self-medicated. What’s not to love? But back to Dimitri. He shows his fun side when with Tasha (which pisses Rose off to no end, of course). He was growing on me, with his suppressed lust and all, until Adrian came along. Sorry Dimka. 

While “Frostbite” is the shortest book in the series, it still packs a punch and is a worthy follow-up to “Vampire Academy”. My hands are itching for the next book. I must go, my books need me.

But I almost forgot. Star thingies. Five of em. No doubt.

 This review has been brought to you by your Book Mistress for the day.

-Linda