Cover Reveal - Whispers of Shadow & Flame by L. Penelope

Today let me present you the cover reveal for book 2 in L. Penelope’s Earthsinger Chronicles, 

Whispers of Shadow & Flame

The first book in the series, Song of Blood & Stone was named one of TIME Magazine’s top 10 fantasy books of 2018. 

Read my review of the book here.

Check out the sequel's cover and a giveaway below!
 

Title: Whispers of Shadow & Flame (Earthsinger Chronicles, Book 2)

Author: L. Penelope

Published by: St. Martin’s Press

Release Date: October 1, 2019

Genre: Fantasy

Book Description:

The cursed will face the gods. They have nothing to lose.

"A master class in fantasy world-building.” - TIME Magazine on Song of Blood & Stone

The Mantle that separates the kingdoms of Elsira and Lagrimar is about to fall. And life will drastically change for both kingdoms.

Born with a deadly magic she cannot control, Kyara is forced to become an assassin. Known as the Poison Flame in the kingdom of Lagrimar, she is notorious and lethal, but secretly seeks freedom from both her untamed power and the blood spell that commands her. She is tasked with capturing the legendary rebel called the Shadowfox, but everything changes when she learns her target’s true identity.

Darvyn ol-Tahlyro may be the most powerful Earthsinger in generations, but guilt over those he couldn’t save tortures him daily. He isn’t sure he can trust the mysterious young woman who claims to need his help, but when he discovers Kyara can unlock the secrets of his past, he can’t stay away.

Kyara and Darvyn grapple with betrayal, old promises, and older prophecies—all while trying to stop a war. And when a new threat emerges, they must beat the odds to save both kingdoms.

Pre-order the paperback today!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Shadow-Flame-Earthsinger-Penelope/dp/125014809X

BN: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whispers-of-shadow-flame-l-penelope/1130016254?ean=9781250148094

BAM: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Whispers-Shadow-Flame/L-Penelope/9781250148094?id=7469620796685

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250148094

Catch up on the Series:

Song of Blood & Stone, Earthsinger Chronicles Book 1  – Special Edition Paperback releases July 16, 2019. (Ebook & hardcover available now).

Breath of Dust & Dawn, Earthsinger Chronicles Book 1.5 – Available now!

About the Author:

L. Penelope is an award-winning fantasy romance author. Equally left and right-brained, she studied filmmaking and computer science in college and sometimes dreams in HTML. She lives in Maryland with her husband and furry dependents. Sign up for new release information, exclusives, and giveaways on her website: http://www.lpenelope.com.

Website: http://www.lpenelope.com

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

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/leslyepenelope

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9870934.L_Penelope

Youtube: http://www.lpenelope.com/youtube

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/l-penelope

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/lpenelope

Cover Reveal Giveaway:

L. Penelope is giving away a signed, hardcover copy of Song of Blood & Stone. Open internationally.

Enter the giveaway

Review - The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer

Title: The Oddling Prince

Author: Nancy Springer

Synopsis:

In the ancient moors of Scotland, the king of Calidon lies on his deathbed, cursed by a ring that cannot be removed from his finger. When a mysterious fey stranger appears to save the king, he also carries a secret that could tear the royal family apart.

The kingdom’s only hope will lie with two young men raised worlds apart. Aric is the beloved heir to the throne of Calidon; Albaric is clearly of noble origin yet strangely out of place.

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

My Thoughts: 

I've seen tons of three-star reviews about this book on Goodreads. Tons. However, after reading it I feel I have to take it in my hands to do justice to The Oddling Prince because to me it didn't come across as mediocre as review writers generally make it out to be.

There are two princes in this story who share a strong bond. One of them, Albaric, is from a faraway land. He comes to Calidon to save the king's life, yet his motive for the heroic act upsets king Bardaric a good deal after his recovery. Aric, the prince of Calidon, tries to shield Albaric from his father's wrath but the king's behaviour pains the foreign saviour none the less. Still, when the kingdom is threatened by inside and outside forces alike, everyone must stand on the same side to prevent its demise.

Going into the book knowing that it is a fairy tale and a celtic one at that, I expected nothing less from the writing style than to reflect the genre and the historical quality. Ms Springer's sentences are beautifully composed and her descriptions are nothing short of poetic. It's true that some might find the style a little dense, hard to get used to, but it all depends on the person's reading history and even if it's new to someone it doesn't mean it can't amaze after getting through the initial bumps while getting accustomed to it in the beginning. 

I actually saw some reviews that say The Oddling Prince is written in 'old English'.

Old English is what Beowulf was written in, even native speakers cannot really read and/or understand it now. Talk about exaggeration...

The truth is, this is a character-driven novel and those who pick it up to read action packed fantasy fiction can be disappointed. It is not usual for a fantasy story to lean that heavily on its characters vs the plot and therefore it was a risky choice from the author, but believe me when I say that it works in this case. There is little travelling in the novel, basically there is one setting (the castle) but it feels enough (the only part when the princes left the castle seemed superfluous to me to be honest). 

There's some sword fighting though and dangerous situations at times, the book doesn't completely lack action, only it's not as important in it as the relationship of the characters.

Speaking of characters... We have a male protagonist, which is very rare in YA. Aric is endlessly kind, goodhearted and caring. He doesn't have one bad quality. Many reviewers deemed him flat, but again, we are talking about a fairy tale – the genre is not exactly famous for complex characters, since very often these tales are based on a fight between good and bad and there is no in between. Aric's one-sidedness was therefore absolutely acceptable to me. His love for Albaric warmed my heart.

The ladies of The Oddling Prince were so lovely! Aric's mother and his bride, Marissa, were both smart and wise and they understood their male companions so well. They had so much strength and insight, they were my favourites. 

As you can see I liked The Oddling Prince a lot and this was me trying to defend its merits. I just thought it deserved a champion and it might as well be me... 

Goodreads | Amazon

Review - Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Title: Red Queen (Red Queen #1)

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Synopsis:

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. 

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

My Thoughts:

I  think the hype around Red Queen is well-deserved. The book is a solid fantasy that transports the reader to a cruel world where the colour of people's blood decides about their place in the social hierarchy, since it renders them weak or strong from the moment they're born.

When Mare Barrow finds out she is special, she realizes her exceptional state can serve the Red cause. Only by that time she is involuntarily put on display at the Silver Court where the Royal Family does everything they can to hide her 'otherness'. A power play begins that shatters families and turns hearts.

Red Queen would have been a very quick read for me had I not signed up for a scheduled read-along that featured this title. The story pulls you in and you want to know what happens next. There are quite a few twists and turns along the way; there was a part towards the end that left me kinda shocked because it put Mare and Cal (the crown prince – love interest no. 1) in an entirely unexpected situation.

I loved how varied silver powers were in the story. They were like superpowers and they came in all shapes and kinds: someone could temper with nature, others could control metal or force people's mind to yield to them. These powers were amply used in the story for a myriad of purposes – good and bad. I found that creative.

The politics are intriguing. Silvers are desperate to hold onto power but Reds even without abilities are able to scare their overlords. I can't wait to see if later they'll manage to weaken the evil royals' grasp on the realm.

You cannot help but care for the characters and you'll find yourself trying to put yourself in their shoes. I found Cal especially fascinating because he struggles between two sides all the time and I myself couldn't figure out what I'd have done had I been in his place.

There are truly spiteful characters as well, like the Queen and Evangeline, Cal's betrothed. You'll love to hate them, I'm sure.

The story is rich, the characters make an impression, the world building is superb and I was not bored for one minute when I was reading this book. What's more to ask? I do recommend it to every fantasy-lover!

Goodreads | Amazon

Red Queen Read-Along Update #2

Synopsis:

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. 

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

Goodreads | Amazon

This read-along is coming to an end on Monday but I promised you a second update before I post my review so here we go.

I'm currently in chapter 24, on page 306 out of 388 

BUT I'll only summarize my thoughts about chapters 12-21 now to leave something to reflect on in my review too.

There have been quite a few twists along the way regarding the characters. Mare, of course, as one would expect, joined the Red Guard; no surprises there. On the boy front however, I don't even know what to think. Both the princes stand on the opposite side to where I would have imagined them to stand. And Kilorn – he is an enigma to me. In the beginning of the book he was straight out scared of fighting in the war and now he is in the midst of things completely willingly. Go figure. 

Actually I don't mind getting something else than what I expected, it keeps the whole situation interesting and it keeps me guessing. I have this feeling Maven is not who he makes himself out to be. There is a reason why the line "Anyone can betray anyone" appears in the book so many times and I'm about 70% sure Maven is leading Mare by the nose. Then again, maybe I'm mistaken, we have yet to see if I'm right or not. 

The politics is intriguing, especially because all of the characters are caught up in its net. You can't help but look at the happenings from two angles – the thing is, on some level I understand Cal's reasoning too. There are no clearly good choices, nothing is white or black and probably whatever happens, there will be bloodshed.

We still don't know much about Mare's power, my main question – why does she have it?? – hasn't been answered yet. I'm not sure we'll get an explanation in this book, maybe in the next one...? 

I'm still captured by the Red Queen and can't wait to see how the first book ends. A non-cliffhanger ending is too much to hope for right??

 

A character I like: Julian!! Let him be okay, please.

A character I hate: (and NOT love to hate!) Evangeline. She is clearly jealous of Mare and she has anger management issues. 

A character I want to see more of: I will go with more characters here, Mare's brothers. We only know them from Mare's thoughts and from a brief meeting when Mare visited her home once. I'd like to know more about them.

I hope you enjoyed this update post, you can expect my full review of the Red Queen next week!