Goodreads Monday #3

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren @ Lauren’s Page Turners. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back to Lauren’s Page Turners and link up to the inlinkz so others can see what you picked!

This week I'm reading a YA fantasy novel, Bohermore by Jennifer Rose McMahon.  

Here's another YA fantasy I'm planning to read:

Finnikin of the Rock

(Lumatere Chronicles #1)

by Melina Marchetta

Synopsis:

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.

But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.

Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock--to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin is not what she seems, and the startling truth will test Finnikin's faith not only in her but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

Which book did YOU feature in your GM post today?

Review – Penny White and the Temptation of Dragons by Chrys Cymri

Title: Penny White and the Temptation of Dragons (Penny White #1)
      
Author: Chrys Cymri

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis: Bishop Nigel smiled at me. ‘Holy water doesn’t harm vampires. Which is just as well, as it would make it impossible to baptise them.’

When I was asked by a dragon to give him the last rites, I never dreamed it would lead to negotiating with his cannibalistic family or running from snail sharks. Life as the priest of a small English village is quite tame in comparision. At least I have Morey, a gryphon with sarcasm management issues, to help me. And if all else fails, there’s always red wine and single malt whisky.

As if my life weren’t complicated enough, a darkly beautiful dragon named Raven keeps appearing where I least expect him, I’ve met a handsome police inspector who loves science fiction as much as I do, and my younger brother is getting into trouble for trying to pick up vampires.

That’s what happens when you’re dealing with an incredible and dangerous parallel world full of mythical creatures. And I have to learn to navigate it all without losing myself, or my brother…

Source: E-copy from the author


My Thoughts:

I cannot thank Chrys Cymri enough for providing me an e-copy of Penny White and the Temptation of Dragons. It was pure fun to peek into the daily life of Penny White, vicar of a small English village and Vicar General of Incursions. The latter title makes our Penny a dragon rider, a snail shark tamer and a friend of a gryphon among many things.

What gripped me in this book?

We have an adorably crazy protagonist. Penny is a Doctor Who and Buffy fan and she often throws in references to these and other series during conversations. Being a Whovian myself I welcomed this addition to the character. She is a very funny individual, she often goes into witty banters with Morey, the gryphon who becomes a sort of sidekick in the story. I liked that she was realistic (you know, despite the fact that she was surrounded by all kinds of mythical creatures). She is a very caring person, yet sometimes she fights her inner battles against selfishness – like all of us do. She fulfils two different kinds of role successfully and that’s something, if one of the roles occasionally include dealing with cannibalistic dragons or entering a bar full of drunk harpies…

It was great to get a glimpse of the everyday life of a vicar in England and get to know what tasks they have to handle. Of course the book was spiced up with humour, but I believe we get a close-to-real picture of what goes on in a vicarage if we take the colouring layers off the story. You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy Penny’s day to day journey though; even religious matters are shown in a humorous light (however, religion is not treated offensively, remember, both the protagonist and the writer are priests).

The part that is set on Earth reminds us how impossible – impossibly ridiculous? – people can be sometimes. Consider this excerpt for example:

The baptism family grinned indulgently as I apologised and let the call go to messages. But then I had accepted without comment the name they had given their son, Friday Storm (He was conceived on a Friday during a storm) and that they had chosen eight people to be the godparents. Including an atheist who was still happy, they said, to make the promises and the profession of faith.

But Penny doesn’t spend all her time on Earth. After she encounters a dying dragon on the road and gives him the last rites she is offered a job: she has to help mythical creatures and humans that accidentally end up on Earth or Lloegyr (a parallel world where the creatures live).

Penny gets to meet dragons, vampires, unicorns, elves, harpies, gryphons and other strange beings. I was so pumped when it turned out there are snail sharks in the book!! I have a thing for giant snails/ snail monsters for some reason.

All of the creatures speak Welsh (a language I want to learn since I watched Torchwood), that was really lovely!

The plot revolves around the death of the dragon and how Penny learns to manage her double life. She also has to try to keep the peace between James – her brother – and the gryphon, Morey, she ends up living with.

There is a mysterious dragon that appears to her at the most unexpected places, too. Raven takes an interest in Penny and the vicar soon realises the curiosity is mutual. I have to confess I was afraid there would be human/dragon racy stuff in there – I don’t know if I’d be comfortable with that – but the relationship is written very tastefully so far. It’s all hugs and dragon rides (no pun intended, haha :).

There were a few tiny things for which I took away a star, but they weren’t major issues.

One: Penny’s reaction was too mild when she saw the dragon in the beginning and she digested the existence of Lloegyr too easily I think.

Two: There was too much booze in the story for my liking but drinking became a character trait of Penny in a way, so I got used to it after a while.

And three: I was a bit confused during the first half of the book because I didn’t understand why one person can see the creatures but others can’t. It gets explained too late why it’s so, I think.

But then again, these don’t change the fact that I loved this novel and I can’t wait to read the second instalment in the series. I think I haven’t written such a long review in a while and I still could go on and on… It means something, doesn’t it?

Goodreads | Amazon

Next in the series:

Penny White and  the Cult of Unicorns 

Review – The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

Title:
UK: The Painted Man (Demon Cycle #1)
US: The Warded Man
      
Author: Peter V. Brett

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis: As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise – demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards – symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human members dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night. 

My Thoughts:

Imagine a world where you have to hide behind wards every night because demons rise from the ground once the daylight disappeared. Your line of defence is made up of mere drawings that can fade or can be covered and still; those scribbles protect your life. Don’t leave your home. Don’t step over the circle. Never let the night find you on the road without necessary equipment. If you don’t obey these rules you’re as good as dead.

 
The Painted Man follows the story of three demon attack survivors: Arlen, Leesha and Rojer. We see them first as children and we stay with them as they learn the tricks of their profession. One of them has a mission, another a village to look after and the third lives to entertain the crowds but all of them end up becoming something more than they aspired to be.

But how can a Messenger, an Herb Gatherer and a Jongleur make a world haunted by corelings a better place? First they have to make their hands dirty with the enemy’s blood.

This book deserves all the praise because it is not a horror story yet sometimes it chilled me to the bone. It wasn’t the demons that scared me to be honest, but the people and what fear did to them. I think the biggest message of the story is that the greatest enemy is fear and if you defeat it, you are capable of anything.

The character that is the main advocate of this lesson is Arlen and that’s why he becomes the real protagonist of the first book. I liked him but I confess sometimes he seemed unnecessarily reckless to me and there were a few times I didn’t understand his decisions. I was happy with the development he went through close to the end of the book though, I liked the man he became eventually.

Leesha and Rojer were also very likable but I can never resist a woman with a strong will so I would call Leesha my favourite. She’s also very sensitive and in connection with this let me mention that Peter V. Brett writes emotions very well. He lets women cry, he lets little boys and men cry. Like every writer should.

I am satisfied with the world-building too because we get glimpses of how a village and a city looks like, we get a picture of how people alter their living environment in order to be able to defend themselves against every kind of – wind, rock, wood, water and sand – demon. I enjoyed the part that was set in a desert the most.

In short, I’m glad I put this book on my TBR and I count myself lucky for coming across it in a small bookshop in London. Book two, here I come!

Goodreads | Amazon

Next in the series:

The Desert Spear

Look at that cover! Isn't it gorgeous??

WWW Wednesday #1

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. 

WWW stands for three questions: 

1. What are you currently reading?

 The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle  #1)

by Peter V. Brett

Synopsis:

As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise – demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards –symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human members dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night. 

I think the beginning of this book bears some vague similarities with the movie called 'The Village' that I recently rewatched. Although here there are demons that try to attack the people each night, not porcupine-looking monsters. They just grow out of the ground after sunset. Kinda creepy. It is a thrilling read so far.

2. What did you recently finish reading?

Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)

by Laini Taylor

Synopsis: 

Art student and monster's apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she'll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

Read my review here.

3. What do you think you'll read next?

This is always a hard question because I'm a mood reader but what I'll most likely start pretty soon is:

The Cider House Rules

by John Irving

 Synopsis:

Homer Wells' odyssey begins among the apple orchards of rural Maine. As the oldest unadopted child at St Cloud's orphanage, he strikes up a profound and unusual friendship with Wilbur Larch, the orphanage's founder - a man of rare compassion and an addiction to ether. What he learns from Wilbur takes him from his early apprenticeship in the orphanage surgery, to an adult life running a cider-making factory and a strange relationship with the wife of his closest friend...

I have never read a John Irving novel before and I definitely want to start with this one because I've seen it everywhere and heard great things about it.

The questions are answered, my part is done here but I want to hear about you too!

What is it that you are currently reading, you've just finished and you're about to read?

Leave me links or answers in a comment below if you feel like to!