Book Trailer Blitz - Allerleirauh by Chantal Gadoury

Title: Allerleirauh

Author: Chantal Gadoury

Genre: Young Adult fantasy

Published by Parliament House Press © 2017

Synopsis:

Once Upon a Time… 

In the Kingdom of Tränen, a king makes a promise to his dying wife that he'll only remarry a woman who possesses her golden hair. In time, the king's eyes are turned by his daughter. Realizing her father’s intentions, Princess Aurelia tries to trick him by requesting impossible gifts: dresses created by the sun, moon and stars, and a coat made of a thousand furs. But when he is successful, Aurelia sacrifices her privileged life and flees her kingdom, disguised by the cloak and a new name, Allerleirauh.

She enters the safe haven of Saarland der Licht, where the handsome and gentle Prince Klaus takes her under his care. Hoping not to be discovered by her father’s courtiers, Allerleirauh tries to remain hidden under her new identity when she finds unexpected love with Prince Klaus, even though his arranged marriage to the princess of a neighboring kingdom approaches. Risking everything, Allerleirauh must face her troubled past and her fears of the future along her journey to self-acceptance in this triumphant retelling of the classic Grimm Fairy Tale.

Read my review here.

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4UjJoIdipA

Pre Orders are available on Amazon and iBooks 

About the Author:

Chantal Gadoury is a young author who currently lives in her hometown, Muncy PA. She enjoys to paint, drink a good cup of coffee when she can and enjoys her favorite Disney classics. When she’s not busy crafting or reading, Chantal is dedicated to her family: A Mother, sister and a furry-puppy-brother (and sends a prayer to her Dad, who now resides in heaven.) As a 2011 college graduate from Susquehanna University, with a degree in Creative Writing, writing novels has become a dream come true!  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cgadoury16

Blog: http://www.chantalgadoury.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chantalgadouryfans

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8059023.Chantal_Gadoury

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantalgadouryauthor/

Review – Witch's Sacrifice by Crissy Moss

Title: Witch's Sacrifice (Witch's Trilogy #1)

Author: Chrissy Moss

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis: 

Her forbidden secret will make her powerful… and hunted.

In Marizza's world, magic is evil. Since her youth, her mother told her witches were wicked creatures who deserved imprisonment. The tyrannical acolytes sacrificed all users of magic to the almighty kraken. It was the life she knew, until one fateful day changed everything.

When young Marizza is attacked by the town bully, she defends herself with magical abilities she didn't even know she had. After the acolytes come looking for the next witch to sacrifice, Marizza is left with no choice but to flee. She must journey across the Sea of Tears, where she'll make a choice that could transform the lives of everyone she loves. 

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

My Thoughts:
 
I chose to give Witch’s Sacrifice a try because of its water-y theme. I don’t think I ever read a book with mermen and a kraken in it, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Well, this was definitely a good place to start…

I loved this fantasy world I got invited to. There is nothing pretty or rosy about it, because witches are hunted and sacrificed to the Kraken, yet there is magic and magical creatures that make it exciting.

Frankly, I was surprised how dark this book was at times. I expected something lighter, but I was satisfied with what I got. There is a lot of tragedy in there, pain and loss, but love and hope too, that somehow gets the edge off the sad parts.

The protagonist, Marizza, is a likable character; she is a young witch who gets saved from the Kraken by Little Mother, an old and wise woman, also a witch. The old lady later offers her an apprenticeship and the girl accepts, because she is eager to learn… Up until the point when Artiro, the young merman appears on the island where the two witches live.

The young love in this book is as naïve – and so as realistic – as it comes. They are ready to give up everything for each other, they are careless and reckless. Eventually they pay the price for their foolishness, but something comes out of their love, that can mark the end of the evil acolytes’ rule over the Sea of Tears.

Marizza and Artiro don’t steal the story completely though. We follow Little Mother a lot, we see how she helps young witches all over the islands and we meet Brother Hawk too, who happens to be my favourite character in the story. He is a man with a curse: half hawk, half man, who has to follow the will of the acolytes, the will of the Kraken. He is a bitter and tortured soul, but there is hope for him yet… I was glad he got involved with Little Mother’s business.

The story is neatly framed with two fighting scenes; the end is both an end and a new beginning, it sets the purpose of the sequel pretty well.

I got charmed by Witch’s Sacrifice, I won’t lie. It was a joy to go back to this book whenever I had time to read, as it made me forget everything else completely. I am ready for more.

Goodreads | Amazon 

Review – Among the Flames by Shelby K. Morrison

Title: Among the Flames (Legend of the Liberator #2)

Author: Shelby K. Morrison

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis:  

After fleeing her home in Tharien with the Emperor's forces hot on her heels, Aia Wynnald has only one goal: To end the two-thousand-year-old discrimination against Benders—a race of beings like her, with a misunderstood gift. But when the Emperor’s Church of Mighty retaliates with a new threat, her noble plans are put on hold.

With her companion Cole Balain, a former enemy, by her side, Aia must halt the devastation triggered by her well-meaning actions. The only way she can fight the Church is with the help of a disenchanted group of rebel Benders who'd sooner submit to their fate than follow Aia's lead.

Can she inspire them to fight and work together to resolve this new crisis, or will her ingrained submissive nature bring her, and the Benders of Dyel, to their knees?

My Thoughts:

After reading the first book in the Legend of the Liberator trilogy I couldn’t wait to continue reading the story, but unfortunately a couple of years passed until the second instalment debuted. It has arrived at last and it was very exciting to re-join Aia and Cole, to follow a newfound band of rebels that was determined to gain freedom.

I really like Shelby K. Morrison’s writing, it flows so nicely, it’s very dynamic and makes you want to keep reading. Even though I didn’t have much time for reading recently it was no problem for me to read bigger chunks of this novel at once.

I’m still in love with this fantasy world, the benders, how the legend from the name of the series is being created on the pages. In Among the Flames I appreciated that the other kingdoms in the empire were shown to us. There were a lot more travelling than in the first book, that made me happy, since in From the Ashes the characters didn’t move around much.

A lot of new characters were introduced, I enjoyed the variety and my favourite new face was Fynris. I found his double agent status intriguing and hoped he would make the right decision all along.

The thing is, I gave Among the Flames three stars, but the reason why I didn’t give it a higher rating is due to personal taste. First of all, for a long while the rebels hid in an underground tomb and the pacing in the story was a bit off for me.

Whenever I read books about rebellions at some point it turns out that the rebels have a secret hideout underground and the characters’ activities stop, they become a bit idle usually; sure, they plan things, but don’t act for a while and I very often get bored when that happens.

The other thing that I find a bit slow in the trilogy is the romance. Aia and Cole are running circles around each other and I expected something to happen between them in the second book, but they were still too shy about their feelings.

Despite these two things that bothered me a bit, I enjoyed the second book very much and I would recommend the series to everyone who likes fantasy. I can’t wait to know what Aia will be up in the next book.

Read my review of From the Ashes here.

Goodreads | Amazon