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    Radio Pro HQ

    Radio Pro HQ

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    "Radio Pro HQ" is a modern internet radio receiver that enables you to listen lots of internet radio...

    Otogi: Spirit Agents

    Otogi: Spirit Agents

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    "Help wanted! Calling everyone with spirit essence! Become a spirit agent today!" Um… I just have...

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Becs (244 KP) rated Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) in Books

Aug 23, 2019  
Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1)
Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1)
Leigh Bardugo | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.1 (26 Ratings)
Book Rating Watch
Captivating story that leaves you enthralled
You can also find this review along with others on my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com

TRIGGER WARNINGS: violence, manipulation, death, blood, absent of parent(s), emotional abuse, anger issues, anxiety – panic attacks, talk of hallucinations

Review:
Firstly, I did not realize that Shadow and Bone was set in Russia or should I say – based on Russia and spun into a fantasy filled folklore novel. It starts off strong in the prologue and holds that captivating appeal throughout. I was enthralled with the whole basis of the story.

The one thing that knocked half of a star off of this review is the extremely overused trope of “the main character is ordinary and then finds out that they are extraordinary.” In Leigh Bardugo’s doing, this trope works perfectly well with the plot line of this story. But it made me really dislike the main character, Alina, quite a lot. Behind that awful trope, lies a girl who is not only strong, but shows intelligence and loyalty. Alina was also extremely relatable through her sarcastic perceptiveness but there was something else about her that I couldn’t put my finger on and found rather annoying.

The Darkling on the other hand was this morally gray character that fascinated me. For example: how he is willing to be ruthless just to pursue his goal of freeing Ravka from the Shadow Fold. His sarcasm that outwits Alina’s. His good looks and charms. I love to hate him! Plus that one scene had me heated from head to toe. If only The Darkling were real…

Overall, all of the characters were multidimensional and extremely interesting! The pacing of Shadow and Bone was done excruciating well and I was absorbed in this fantastical world of magic and war, love and mystery. Finding out more of who the Grisha truly were, kept me turning page after page. The chemistry between characters was even amazing! There was a bit of a love triangle style of trope, yet it wasn’t quite that exactly. All in all, Leigh did an excellent job with giving Alina more than one love interest but showing how vastly different feelings she feels for each.

The plot was extremely engaging and continued on, even after the climax. It enthralled the reader, calling them with a whisper that is interwoven with a dark energy, seeking to break your heart. I did not notice any spelling and/ or grammatical errors that took away from the story. I do however want to know more of not only Alina’s and Ravkas fate, but The Darklings as well.

Leigh Bardugo, why do you do cruel things to me…

“What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.”
  
    Radio HQ (lite version)

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Kate Nash recommended track Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair by Christy Moore in Live in Dublin by Christy Moore in Music (curated)

 
Live in Dublin by Christy Moore
Live in Dublin by Christy Moore
1978 | World
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Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair by Christy Moore

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"Christy Moore is one of my mum’s favourite artists and I listened to this so much growing up. He had a record, Live at the Point, which we would always listen to on journeys around Ireland and Irish music was the first music I experienced live. My mum was born in Dublin, we would go to Galway and go in taverns all the time and it soundtracked my childhood. “I just recently fell in love and ‘Black is the Colour’ was the song that I really liked and listening to it recently I felt like I was like inside romance. I was like, ‘Ah, I’m so in love right now’ [laughs]. I’ve been quite starved of romance for a really long time and I felt I was in it. I was ‘God, this is so romantic and this is just kind of fucking insane’. I’d forgotten the importance of it and how much I wanted it, so that’s why I put the song in here. “If you get the Live at the Point version, at the beginning he says that he’d heard this beautiful song by this guy and at the end he’s ‘gimme that song!’ He wants it and I love that, that’s so cute - that’s what this is about, it’s sharing stories. Christy Moore heard this guy sing this beautiful song and he’s ‘Come on, give it to me, I want to play that tune, I want people to feel that way’ and how beautiful is that? “I’m Irish, so folk is my origin, sharing songs, telling stories and someone else passing on that story. I’ve been really looking into folklore in the past year, that’s one of the reasons that I really wanted to go to Ireland because I was ‘I need to find a record that’s related to this, this is my culture and this is where I grew up.’ As a kid I played the tin whistle and the Bodhrán. I was winning trophies for Irish dancing, I spent my holidays there and I went around playing in fucking fields with cows. And yeah, I’ve been researching fairies and mythology, I love it so much. “There’s so much ancient, beautiful, really respected and protected traditional stuff in Ireland. The traditional aspect can be so cool, there’s so many amazing musicians that just go down to the pub and play and it’s like breathing to them. I stayed in this little hotel with eight rooms in a town called Kilkee, it was in a bay, it was so cute and there was a family playing music in the pub. There was an eight year old boy just staring off, he was playing the accordion and it was so natural - just a bored eight year old that is a fucking genius and has no idea. And then if someone sang an old traditional song a cappella, everyone in the pub would go silent. It was like a movie or something."

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Debbiereadsbook (1421 KP) rated Yours Everlasting (Enchanted Folklore #2) in Books

Apr 14, 2022  
Yours Everlasting (Enchanted Folklore #2)
Yours Everlasting (Enchanted Folklore #2)
Beth Bolden | 2022 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
 sometimes, you need to be made to wait, and the result is such a sweet, sweet thing.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in the Enchanted Folklore series. While it can be read as a stand alone book, to get the full impact of this book, you should read Yours Forever After first. It will give you a better view of Evrard, and just what he means to this world.

As the Guardian of Secrets, he is called Evander. Banished for wanting to keep people safe from power hungry sorcerers, he becomes Rhys, and then Evrard, the King of the Unicorns. Marcos watched from afar for so long, so VERY long but now things have changed and they both need to reveal themselves, and quite possibly save the world from those who were tasked with keeping it safe.

In book one, he is Evrard and then Rhys. Here, we get Evander, as he was in the beginning. And it is very important, that beginning, and it shapes him, for all those years to come.

What I especially loved about this book was the time involved! I mean, Evander has been on the surface for a thousand years, and Marcos has loved for that long, longer in fact. Marcos watched Evander when Evander didn't even see Marcos, from before his banishment. That Evander, as Guardian of Secrets, didn't know that, was surprising!

There is a huge amount of emotion in this book. Evander has been alone for a long time. Gray and Rory helped but Evander is lonely. Marcos is patient, has been a long time wanting Evander, but now things need to move forward, so he makes himself known to Evander.

As things move along, Evander joins the dots, putting it all together, and is surprised by Marcos, many times. Marcos is also surprised when Evander reveals some things he had not noticed after all this time.

There is love, even if Evander doesn't think himself capable of such feeling. Betrayal too, and Evander has to deal with the aftermath of that.

Gray and Rory from book 1 play a huge part, and it was fun to catch up with them and their own surprise at the end.

It's beautifully written, from Evander and Marcos point of view. It takes a long time for everything to come together, including Marcos and Evander, and I love that I had to wait. Because sometimes, you need to be made to wait, and the result is such a sweet, sweet thing.

Are there more? Will there be? I'd love to catch up with Evander, Marcos, Gray and Rory but also, there was clearly something between two other Guardians, and I'd like more on that.

I gave book 1 four stars but I found this a much more engaging read, so beautifully told, a story of everlasting love.

5 full and shiny stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere