Cover Reveal – The Pirate Princess by Catherine Banks

About the Book

Title: Pirate Princess

Author: Catherine Banks

Genre: YA/NA Fantasy

As the daughter of the Pirate King, Tilia Swanson has an unusual upbringing learning skills that aren’t often available for women. As the heir apparent for the Kingdom of Crilan, her skills set her apart as she is trained by the best in the land and taught to harness her magic. However, piracy is in her blood, and draws danger to Tilia in the way that treasure draws pirates. Some treasures are more valuable than others. Will this lesson be learned in time or will the betrayal of those around her be her undoing?

Author Bio

Catherine Banks is the author of the Artemis Lupine Series, Little Death Bringer Series, Ciara Steele Novella Series, and the novel Daughter of Lions. She began writing fiction stories when she was only four years old and finished her first full length novel at the age of fifteen.

Catherine is a Northern California native and has lived within a twenty mile radius her entire life. She plans to travel to as many places as possible in her thirties to make up for her lack of traveling experience. She is married to her soulmate and best friend, Avery, who blessed her with two amazing children. After her full time job she reads books, plays video games, and watches a lot of anime shows and movies with her family to relax.

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"Waiting on" Wednesday #3

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by breakingthespine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

The following book is one I truly can't wait to put my hands on. Guys, it's a steampunk Frankenstein retelling! With a Clockwork!Monster. Sounds awesome.

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

Date of publication: Sept 22, 2015

Synopsis:

In 1818 Geneva, men built with clockwork parts live hidden away from society, cared for only by illegal mechanics called Shadow Boys. Two years ago, Shadow Boy Alasdair Finch’s life shattered to bits.

His brother, Oliver—dead.

His sweetheart, Mary—gone.

His chance to break free of Geneva—lost.

Heart-broken and desperate, Alasdair does the unthinkable: He brings Oliver back from the dead.

But putting back together a broken life is more difficult than mending bones and adding clockwork pieces. Oliver returns more monster than man, and Alasdair’s horror further damages the already troubled relationship.

Then comes the publication of Frankenstein and the city intensifies its search for Shadow Boys, aiming to discover the real life doctor and his monster. Alasdair finds refuge with his idol, the brilliant Dr. Geisler, who may offer him a way to escape the dangerous present and his guilt-ridden past, but at a horrible price only Oliver can pay…

Review - Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman

Title: Chivalrous (Valiant Hearts #2)

Author: Dina L. Sleiman 

Publication date: Sept 8, 2015

Rating: 2/5 stars

Synopsis:

Strong and adventurous Gwendolyn Barnes longs to be a knight like her chivalrous brothers. However, that is not an option for her, not even in the Arthurian-inspired Eden where she dwells. Her parents view her only as a marriage pawn, and her domineering father is determined to see her wed to a brutish man who will break her spirit.

When handsome, good-hearted Allen of Ellsworth arrives in Edendale searching for his place in the world, Gwendolyn spies in him the sort of fellow she could imagine marrying. Yet fate seems determined to keep them apart. Tournaments, intrigue, and battles--along with twists and turns aplenty--await these two as they struggle to find love, identity, and their true destinies.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts:

Chivalrous by Dina L. Sleiman was the first Christian fiction novel I read and I won’t want to start another one in the foreseeable future. I was raised a Roman Catholic and  – although I have a complicated relationship with God – I do believe in Him. I pray every day and I often see His work where others see coincidences. BUT I do not have the mindset that was represented in this novel, I couldn’t and, frankly, didn’t want to make it mine.

It’s okay if someone feels God’s presence and it brings him/her peace. It’s okay if a person silently recognizes that He leads him and he often thinks of Him. But to have God involved in every single thought of yours and not voice a sentence without His name... it’s called obsession in my dictionary. Even for a medieval setting the religious reasoning was too much. And I was surprised when suddenly, out of nowhere, it hit me because the story didn’t start out badly.

I enjoyed the beginning, right until the point Allen became a member of the council. This is how it went: on one page he was a religious, but reasonable guy, on the next he was a bigoted fellow who found fault after fault in the girl he fell in love with, a fellow who kept on worrying that God might not like that he desires a lady of ’ill behaviour’.

Examples for the ’faults’:

„If she was capable of fighting in a tournament as a man, what other troublesome deception might this enticing woman be prone to?”

or

„But perhaps this was God’s way of saving him from a woman who did not share his devotion.”

In other words: wanting to be yourself and not being blindly religious were unacceptable traits (or lack of traits) for our knight in shining armour.

In Gwen’s place I would have wanted to be saved from Sir Allen and his strange way of thinking… Fortunately by the end Sir Allen began to understand and accept Gwen the way she was (the fact that she started to feel closer to God helped a bit), but I still would have hooked up with Randel…

So all in all God was pushed onto the reader especially through Allen’s character and it resulted in serious eye-rolling from my part from time to time, it basically ruined the book for me.

I gave Chivalrous two stars only because it would have been a decent, entertaining tale without putting that much emphasis on religion. 

Goodreads | Amazon

 

"Waiting on" Wednesday #2

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by breakingthespine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

 This week's choice o' mine is a YA gothic novel that seems to be just my cup of tea.

Sanctuary by Jennifer McKissack

Date of publication: Sept 19, 2015

Synopsis:

After the untimely death of her aunt Laura, Cecilia Cross is forced to return to Sanctuary, a rambling, old French-Gothic mansion that crowns a remote island off the coast of Maine. Cecilia is both drawn to and repulsed by Sanctuary. The scent of the ocean intoxicates her, but she's also haunted by the ghosts of her past--of her father who died at Sanctuary five years ago, and of her mother who was committed soon after. The memories leave Cecilia feeling shaken, desperate to run away and forget her terrible family history.

But then a mysterious guest arrives at Sanctuary: Eli Bauer, a professor sent to examine Sanctuary's library. Cecilia is intrigued by this strange young man who seems so interested in her -- even more interested in her than in the books he is meant to be studying. Who is he and what does he want? Can Cecilia possibly trust her growing feelings for him? And can he help her make peace with her haunted, tragic past?

Review - Simon by Michael Mullin

Title: Simon

Author: Michael Mullin

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis:

His father is dead. His mother has remarried. His uncle is . . . his new stepfather? When the ghost of Simon Elsinore's father returns and claims he was murdered by his own brother, the nineteen-year-old film student must determine what is true and exact the revenge his father demands.

I received an ebook copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts:

To tell the truth I have my issues with modernized Shakespeare, but from time to time I pick up a book or watch a film adaptation that sets one of the Bard’s story in modern times just to see if I can take anything away from it. Very often I don’t like the whole setting, the whole atmosphere of these works, simply because I adore the mood that Shakespeare originally created so much, it’s hard for me to stop expecting it to be there.

Now what is extremely interesting in the case of Michael Mullin’s Simon is that my favourite thing about it was the alienation I experienced when reading it. I kept pushing the story away to a safe distance where I could look at it with an analytical eye without having to be a part of it.

When I became conscious of my withdrawing from the happenings in Simon I started thinking of its reason – you see, I never felt the need to ’keep away’ from Shakespeare’s Hamlet this way, I was always eager to brood over matters of life and death together with the Prince never feeling the weight of it… and ay, there’s the rub… Simon, being set in today’s America, in our time, made Hamlet’s story REAL.

Simon begins with the end: from the news we get to know a massacre happened in the suburbia of an American town. Isn’t it something we hear in the telly every day? Murders, massacres, mayhem. It is too familiar and too tangible. In Simon the safety that the distance in time provides in the case of Hamlet disappeared and it made me feel uneasy. It may sound a bit contradictory, but the need to distance myself from the events of Simon brought me closer to Hamlet and made me see it from a different light. I think if a retelling opens new, interesting, windows on the original work it is well worth reading.

The story is well known, but of course you can’t rewrite it in the 21th century without making certain changes. I think Mr. Mullin did a good job with the little bits that eventually made this old tale adjust to the present. I especially enjoyed the usage of media and technology. I felt the book wanted to put an emphasis on the shift in communication that took place between then and now (Hamlet’s time and today).

I liked how the film as medium was represented in the book. Inserting the grave-digging ’scene’ was a phenomenal idea. Speaking of grave digging… the metaphors and symbols were very strong in Simon, sharp even, which I loved. The depiction of the wedding/funeral got me hooked in the very beginning.

The reason why I didn’t give 5 stars to this novel was Simon. He didn’t strike me as a Hamlet figure despite him being the title character. For me there was too much doing and too little reflecting when it came to him. Maybe I missed something, but he didn’t seem deep enough for me.

All in all, the stars and – I hope – this review tells everything. Happy reading, Shakespeare geeks! 

Goodreads | Amazon

Review - Beyond Reach by Siobhan Davis

Title: Beyond Reach (True Calling #2)

Author: Siobhan Davis

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Synopsis:

Back on Earth, Ariana is caught in a dangerous crossfire between clandestine rebel organization Clementia and the power-hungry government. Refusing to divulge the location of the secret information entrusted to her by her late father, she desperately tries to bargain for her Mom, Lily, and Cal’s rescue. She’s fighting a losing battle, and the clock is ticking.

Presented with evidence of her fiancé Cal’s apparent betrayal, she loyally defends him despite her concerns. With her emotions in turmoil, matters become even more complicated as she grows closer to her ex-boyfriend Zane.

When the stakes are raised, a succession of shocking revelations rocks her world, setting her on a path that will not only change her destiny but the fate of humanity.

Confronted by a memory so abhorrent comes a truth she would do anything to forget.

But some things just can’t be undone.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts:

This action packed sequel of True Calling just didn’t work for me. I had my issues with the first book and I had high hopes that the second one will win me over, but it didn’t. The plot, I like. It is fast paced and many things happen, the conspiracies and secrets that come to light from time to time are engaging. I could almost overlook the fact that there are too many elements drawn in from other popular YA books, too. 

But… the thing is, the love triangle became too much for me in this instalment. One quarter of the book was basically like an emotional ping-pong match with Ariana and Zane playing on one side and Cal on the other, and another quarter was the same only with Cal playing next to Ari. And it was tiring to ’watch’ to be honest.

Too bad, because new interesting characters were introduced and the book ended with a cliff-hanger – which bugs me, because at the moment I’m not planning to pick up the last book in the series.

Read my review of the fist book in the series here: True Calling

Goodreads | Amazon