Spoiler Free Series Review of The Lumatere Chronicle by Melina Marchetta

Series includes:
Book 1; Finnikin of the Rock
Book 2: Froi of the Exiles
Book 3: Quintana of Charyn

Goodreads Description of book 1, Finnikin of the Rock:

Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.

Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself.

My Thoughts:
The Lumatere Chronicles is a new all time favourite high fantasy trilogy of mine. It is a fantastic series. I enjoyed every minute of it. 

Something to know before picking up one of the books- This is not a companion series; I've heard people say each book focuses on a different character which is true but the story line from book one continues on on the second and third book.

The Lumatere Chronicles has a huge cast of characters. In the beginning it gets confusing but you gradually get to know them all and grow to love them so much. The side characters are fleshed out just as much as the main cast which I really appreciated.


What's great about having such a big cast of characters is that all their seperate stories cross paths. Marchetta expertly weaves all the storylines so that everything connects really nicely. It is so cool seeing the different plots come together.

The plot (of all three books) is so well paced. There is lots of adventure with twists and turns everywhere. A lot of the story focuses on journeys through the different lands which means there is lots of world building. We get to go to lots of different places and learn about their cultures and politics.

The first book does have a satisfying ending so you can stop reading after that one unless you want to know more about the side characters. The last book in the trilogy has a really great ending too. Everything is wrapped up really nicely.

I highly recommend The Lumatere Chronicles. It's classed as YA but it does have some adult content/themes. If you are only getting into YA high fantasy I don't think this series is for you. It's not heavy on the magic but is hard to get into if you're not used to reading HF with big worlds and huge casts of characters.

My ratings: I gave all three books 4.5 out of 5 stars

Thanks for reading,
A :)
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This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Series: Monsters of Verity, #1

Publication:July 5th 2016 by Greenwillow Books 

Goodreads Description:
There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives. 

My Thoughts:
This Savage Song is a truly unique story that captivated me from the very first page. It is unlike anything story I have ever read before and I enjoyed reading it because it was so fresh and new.

Kate is a very intense character. She is hard to like because she so cut-throat and edgy. The only problem I had with her was she is a rebellious bitch who rebels for the attention in the beginning of the story. I did really grow to like her though. It was slow going but by the end of the novel I did like her.

August on the other hand, I loved straight away. He is the sweetest monster. I loved reading about how he just wants to be human. It was also cool reading his POV becuse he is really into music; so the way he describes things was so interesting.

Kate and August end up in an unlikely friendship and it doesn't hint have any hints of  romance which is so refreshing to read a YA like that. Usually the romance in YA can take away from other aspects of the story like plot but because there is no romance in This Savage Song this isn't a problem!

The world building is done really well. The story is set in a very dull war torn city with humans and monsters trying to live alongside each other. The different types of monsters is explained really well. I found the concept of monsters being the results of different negetive actions so interesting and fascinating.The Malchai are formed from murders, the Corsai are formed from violent act and the Sunai are formed when there is a major catastrophe such as bombs. 

The plot is a bit slow in the beginning but I didn't mind because I was so interested in learning about the world and characters. The plot really picks up when Kate and August meet. And the story gets really fast paced towards the end of the story.

The writing is amazing,as expected since it's Victoria Schwab! The duel points of view are easy to distinguish because Augusts' uses sound and music to describe a lot of things whereas Kate doesn't.

Overall This Savage Song is not my favourite Schwab book, but I still really enjoyed it. 

My rating: 4 stars

Thanks for reading,
A :)

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Initiate by Laura L. Fox

*I received an eARC of Initiate by Laura L. Fox from the publisher, OfTomes Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Publication:November 15th 2016 by OfTomes Publishing

Goodreads description:
The only home Riga Garrison has ever known is the Tunnel, a subterranean research facility buried deep beneath Antarctica’s ice and snow. 

Yet, while a safe haven for the last outpost of humanity governed by the Initiate, it is also home to a secret so dark that they will risk anything to protect it.

Surrounded by deceit and faced with exile to a frozen wasteland, Riga must defy not only the Initiate's top biologists and loyalists but also her own mother, in an attempt to unearth the truth.

My thoughts:
I liked Initiate but didn't love it. I think my expectations were too high as I was expecting to be blown away with it but I wasn't. It was an enjoyable read for the most part but I had a lot of problems with it.

Firstly, the writing. The writing style was not for me. I felt like it was very inconsistent; especially at the start. Sometimes it felt very formal and at other times it felt like it was trying to hard to sound like a teenager. There were parts though that Riga's narration did feel natural it just took a while to get right. I also noticed there was a lot of long paragraphs; some were almost a full page long. Personally long paragraphs are hard for me to read as I get lost reading them.

The main character Riga annoyed me so much. All her problems were problems because she made them problems. There was easy solutions too most but she made stupid decisions and complicated her situation by making rash decisions. 

Riga's friendship with her best friend was probably the best part of the story. It was nice to see two girls being there for each other as opposed to being against each other. I wish we had gotten a bit more time exploring their relationship.

I was not a fan of the romance- if there was any? Riga does start a relationship- i guess that what you would call it...later in the book but I didn't feel any romantic chemistry between the two characters. To me they felt more like friends so it was weird when they turned their relationship into a romantic one.

The plot takes a while to get rolling and it is pretty predictable for the most part. But there was some mystery and a few action scenes that were enjoyable.

The setting was super interesting- there's lots of explanation which is good but I felt like it could have been executed better; as I mentioned earlier there was a lot of long paragraphs and a lot of them were explanation about the world.

The ending wasn't really an ending- it felt more like the start of a story. As if what I had just read was only half the book. I assume this means there will be more books to make it a series. I'm not sure if I will pick up the next book.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Thanks for reading,

A :)

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Spoiler Free Review of The Dark Elements Trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

Book 1: White Hot Kiss
Book 2: Stone Cold Touch
Book 3: Every Last Breath

Goodread Description of book 1, White Hot Kiss:
One kiss could be the last. 

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses. 

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever. 

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul. 

But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne… it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.

My thoughts:
The Dark Elements Trilogy is such a fantastic fun fast read. Don't let the titles or covers of these books turn you away. I'm telling you now you do not want to miss reading this trilogy. I had so much fun reading it! It is such a good read to get out of a reading slump- I'd recommend marathoning the series. I read them back to back in a few days.

This series is about gargoyles! How cool is that? I'd never read anything like it before. I loved learning about the wardens and demons. It's explored a lot more in the last book compared to book 1. It was so interesting learning the mythology behind the two races.

The plot is pretty predictable, but there are a few surprises which keep the reader on their toes.

Layla is such a fun character. Her character arc in the series is well written. In the first book she acts pretty childish at times and is annoying but she gradually grows into a more likeable character over the course of the books.  She struggles a lot with her identity because she is half warden half demon so she feels like she can't really be one or the other. Her dealing with that, especially her demon side and soul addiction, is super interesting to read about. 

Of course it's not a Jennifer L. Armentrout book without a good romance, and The Dark Elements has a pretty interesting love triangle. Firstly there is Roth, who has that typical bad boy misunderstood feeling. He is so snarky and sassy. His banter with Layla was hilarious. He reminded me of Daemon Black from The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I was team Roth from book 1! On the other side of the triangle is Zayne- I liked him but didn't ship it. He felt to big brotherly for me to really get behind any romantic relationship between him and Layla.

The side characters are all so much fun. Layla's best friends Stacy and Sam were a bigpart of the story which I liked because usually mortal friends in these kinds of books are abandoned pretty early on. Another side character that I love is Bambi- I really liked her in the first book but grew to love her so much over the course of the series.

Overall, The Dark Elements Trilogy is such a fun fast paced read and I'd highly recommend it!

My Ratings: 
White Hot Kiss: 4
Stone Cold Touch: 4
Every Last Breath: 4

Thanks for reading,
A:)


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