Left (Reflections #12)
8.0
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I spent five hellish years in a constant state of fear, convinced that we were only a heartbeat away...
Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Enemy Red (Mark of Lycos #1)
8.0
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The magic of love lies in the arms of his fiery enemy. No one likes an arranged marriage, and...
Adult Paranormal Romance Shifters Novella
Mythology (Mythology #1)
10.0
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Hope Gentry doesn’t believe in Fate. Born with an unusual power to see the dark memories of those...
Young Adult Urban Fantasy Romance Mythology
The Wicked (Mythology #2)
8.0
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A demon with a pure heart, Micah Condie lives his life by a code of ethics, but breaking that code...
Young Adult Urban Fantasy Romance
Rebels (The Reverians #2)
10.0
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Em returns to Austin Valley, but there are many things that don’t add up about her homecoming....
Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian
Ladybird, Ladybird
10.0
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Samantha was born under a full moon to a mother already dead. Revived by doctors and given to her...
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Autumn and the Silver Moon Stallion (The Abandoned Trilogy #3)
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An abused, neglected filly is abandoned on a remote country road, left to die. A young woman...
Young Adult Animal Fiction Series
Southern Today (21 KP) rated And I Darken (The Conqueror's Saga #1) in Books
Nov 7, 2017
Again, I did not like the voice of the reader for this novel. She was grating, could not do much variation of the voices and I wish she would not have tried, and was the reason I often considered stopping the track. And I have no idea how to spell any of the names without looking them up.
This novel, by Kiersten White, follows Lada and Radu, in the 1400s, in the Ottoman empire as insurances for the Sultan.
I wonder if, like many young adult series, this would have been better as a single book with the next being far in the future or following other characters during the same time frame.
If you enjoy war novels, historically-set novels, or stories of growing up in difficult circumstances will enjoy this.
Alright, SPOILERS BELOW, SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE SCROLL FOR DISCUSSION there, that is out of the way.
So, this book covers a good lifetime, showing us the development, fully, of characters. Saw the gay man coming as soon as he was born, which is kind of sad. Why, why make the gay man beautiful? Why make it so obvious from the start?
Why have her fall in love with the future Sultan?
I wanted her, based on the description of the book, to be in her homeland more often than they are. The hatred between the siblings isn't what is odd, but what causes it. How Radu doesn't understand Lada's love towards him and what drives her. I do not understand it.
This book is also supposed to be a gender-bend of Dracula the Impaler. Which is interesting, because I did not figure that out from reading it. It is the correct time period, but gender bending DOESN'T WORK historically. I am sorry, it would be far to complicated to do that. It, it just doesn't work. You can write it and ponder what it would have been if one character was different. But not all. So, is that what this is?
I think I will be reading (or listening?) to the second book of this.
THIS VOICE IS TERRIBLE!
Alright, there. Little bits done
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Cleopatra's Moon in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Catered to the young adult market, <i>Cleopatra's Moon</i> has a lot to offer older readers as well. While there may not be as much meat on the bones as many adult historical fiction novels have, the history is plentiful and smoothly incorporated into the story. Aside from a few, minor instances, not much Cleopatra Selene said or did stood out as odd and the history seemed sound (though I am far from an expert). The author's writing style is easy to read, has a nice flow, and the descriptions are well-done; I could easily picture the surroundings, so the scenes came alive for me. She doesn't shy away from suggestive scenes, making the story feel more realistic, though nothing is described explicitly either. The author is up front about what is and is not fact in the six-page section at the end of book entitled "The Facts Within the Fiction," which gives the reader more information about the people mentioned within the book. If anyone goes into this book expecting more love story than historical fiction, they will be sadly disappointed. Any love story takes a back seat to Cleopatra Selene's struggle with both herself and her circumstances in life.
If I had one quibble with the book, it was the children's and Cleopatra Selene's voices. The children sounded a bit too mature at times, including Cleopatra Selene when young. Although in her case, it was more her voice didn't change much throughout the ten years the book covered and it was too familiar. I've come across other young adult protagonists that sounded very similar to her, both historical and contemporary, so I was hoping hers would be a bit more distinctive from the rest. Still, it's a very small thing and I did like Cleo Selene; she wasn't passive, but she wasn't aggressive either, she fell somewhere in between the two, which worked well for the book.
After all has been said, <i>Cleopatra's Moon</i> does what any (good) historical fiction novel should aspire to, it made me want to know more about the time, people, and places.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Half the World in Books
Nov 14, 2019
Brand has a problem. He wants to be a warrior and do good. But he finds that doing good does not always go down well with other people.
Thorn is a problem. She wants to be a warrior like her father, but in Gettland women don't fight and despite her abilities with a sword she is seen as an embarrassment. When an accident in training happens it seems like the perfect excuse to get rid of her once and for all.
This is the second book of a young adult trilogy set in the Shattered Sea. Told from the point of view of both Thorn and Brand as they journey across half the world with Father Yarvi in search of allies this is also a journey of discovery for the two of them as they find out who they really are and what they really stand for.
As would be expected from Abercrombie the journey they undertake is fairly brutal involving physical hardship, battles and meetings with dangerous and powerful rulers. The crew of the boat start off as a rough bunch of (mostly) strangers but bonds are forged between them. As usual characterisaton is excellent and the development of both Thorn and Brand in their different ways is very well done. Abercrombie really does have a magic touch in providing characters that do not fit into the usual rough and tough warrior mould. Each has their own story and their own personality. As usual the female characters are easily as strong as the male ones; Abercrombie is an equal opportunity employer of characters.
I was worried that the ending would use the oldest fantasy trope in the book but I needn't have been concerned. The author is an old hand at setting up expectations on standard epic fantasy lines and then suddenly twisting them a different way and he does that a number of times in this novel.
Sterling work, gritty and harsh as always with that wonderful touch of dark humour from the characters and with a story that drives along leaving the reader guessing all the way.
Rating: Lots of fight scenes, a couple of non-explicit sexual scenes and some scatalogical swearing from the the saltier characters but still suitable for a 'young adult' (or indeed adult) reader.