
Sutterfeld, You are Not a Hero: A Novel
Book
Charleston Sutterfeld does what people do: shows up to work, tends to assigned tasks, avoids...

Fandemonium: A Comic Novel
Book
Ray Sirico used to have it all. Once, he was the brilliant and outrageous Clown Prince of Comics,...

Pete Wareham recommended Back With A Banger by Wiley in Music (curated)

Nuts To You
Book
How far would you go for a friend? In Nuts to You, the funny and moving illustrated novel by Newbery...

Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Descend (Awakened Fate #2) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
So if <i><a href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-awaken-by-skye-malone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Awaken</a> </i>reminded me of <i>The Little Mermaid </i>minus Sebastian, I’m not sure what to compare <i>Descend </i>to, honestly. (And it’s probably a good thing that I have nothing to compare it to.)
<i>Descend </i>is the second book in Skye Malone’s <i>Awakened Fate</i> series, continuing from where <i>Awaken </i>left off at after Chloe’s near-death encounter with the Sylphaen, a cult supposedly dead for a century that wants to get rid of the world of people like Chloe. Descend takes us into the world of Nyciena, a world below the ocean that is the only place safe enough for her to seek refuge from the Sylphaen. But Nyciena isn’t the place Chloe wants to remain in for long - she wants to get back to the surface, where her friends and family have no clue where she has gone.
As much as I really enjoyed the <i>Awakened Fate</i> series in general, I feel like something is missing from <i>Descend </i>that didn’t hit the mark with me (really, I need to get better at figuring out why certain books don't work for me). For the duration of the book, Chloe is basically running from the Sylphaen and trying to figure out what she really is. Noah is hoping but not hoping that Chloe will come back to shore. Meanwhile, he’s trying to protect Chloe in his own way, who will no doubt get hunted down by his cousins should they ever find her. Zeke is trying to get his father and older brother to understand that the Sylphaen has returned - they’re not as dead as hoped.
The world and culture of Nyciena are little to none in <i>Descend</i>, aside from the few moments Ina, Zeke’s sister, tries to show Chloe around the kingdom. But the few that I did get to read about Nyciena intrigue me enough to hopefully learn more about the kingdom. (They’re also party people, so I hope that’s not what they’re really all about?)
The same goes for the greliarans, which are a group of people who hunt down the dehaians, the group of mermaid people Chloe seeks refuge from the Sylphaens. From Noah’s perspective, we learn a few facts about how they operate, but it’s even less than the world and culture of Nyciena. They’re extremely strong and are humans who can turn into Hulk-like creatures with a desire to kill.
<i>Descend </i>is very plot driven - and the same can be said for the series thus far. It’s the book to go to for those who want a book that is somewhat slow in character and world development, but also those who don’t mind the slow progression throughout the series.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-descend-by-skye-malone/" target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Lonely Planet Bali & Lombok
Lonely Planet and Ryan Ver Berkmoes
Book
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Bali & Lombok is your...

Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Brilliant Death in Books
Jan 16, 2019
This book plays with the gender binary, giving us two characters who dance from boy to girl and back again when it's convenient for them. Teo uses this ability to masquerade as her brother, going to the capital city when summoned by the ruler of her country after the assassination of her father.
If Teo's name and the use of the word "strega" hadn't given it away, the book is very Italian-inspired. The family ties, the landscape, the names, the atmosphere is unmistakably Italian. While that's still a Western European culture, it's not one we actually see in fantasy that often, which makes this book more enthralling.
While Teo juggles loyalties to family, country, and friends, Cielo is on a mission to find out what happened to their mother. Falling in love isn't in the plan for either of them, but when is it, really?
I loved the magic, the characters, and the setting of this one, and I really hope there's going to be a sequel. The plot was definitely left open enough to allow for one, though I could be happy with this as a standalone, too.
You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com

Diary of a Madman: The Geto Boys, Life, Death, and the Roots of Southern Rap
Brad "Scarface" Jordan and Benjamin Meadows Ingram
Book
One of Rolling Stone's Best Music Books of 2015 From Geto Boys legend and renowned storyteller...

Destination London: German-speaking Emigres and British Cinema, 1925-1950
Tim Bergfelder and Christian Cargnelli
Book
The legacy of emigres in the British film industry, from the silent film era until after the Second...

Empire at the Periphery: British Colonists, Anglo-Dutch Trade, and the Development of the British Atlantic, 1621-1713
Book
Throughout history the British Atlantic has often been depicted as a series of well-ordered colonial...