Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

*This post contains spoilers for the first 2 books in the Shattered Realms series, Flamecaster and Shadowcaster*

Series: Shattered Realms, #3

Publication: April 3rd 2018 by HarperTeen

Goodreads Description:

The third book in the thrilling four-book Shattered Realms series from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima

The empress in the east—the unspeakably cruel ruler whose power grew in Flamecaster and Shadowcaster—tightens her grip in this chilling third installment in the series.

Vagabond seafarer Evan Strangward can move the ocean and the wind, but his magical abilities seem paltry in comparison to Empress Celestine’s. As Celestine’s bloodsworn armies grow, Evan travels to the Fells to warn the queendom of her imminent invasion. If he can’t convince the Gray Wolf queen to take a stand, he knows that the Seven Realms will fall. Among the dead will be the one person Evan can’t stand to lose.

Meanwhile, the queen’s formidable daughter, Princess Alyssa ana’Raisa, is already a prisoner aboard the empress’s ship. Lyss may be the last remaining hope of bringing down the empress from within her own tightly controlled territory.

Multiple intricately interwoven storylines converge in this gripping novel about a brave, coordinated effort to undermine a horrific tyrant. 

My thoughts:

I had the best time reading Stormcaster! It was a phenomenal addition to the Shattered Realms series! I absolutely loved it and it is now tied for first place with shadowcaster as my favourite in the series. I loved it that much!

In Stormcaster all the storylines are weaving together into this bigger plot with higher stakes and I loved it. All our characters are working towards the same plotline by the end of the book. 

There are so many characters to keep track of now and I love every single one of them! There are a good few POVs so don't be worrying if you are 300 pages in and still haven't heard from some characters I promise they do get page time! The bad thing about all the POVs is that while I loved all the storylines i hated how I had to wait like 50-100 pages before going back to the ones I was obsessed with. I loved them all but was itching to get back to Ash and Evan in particular.

We were introduced to Evan in Flamecaster but weren't given much information about him until Stormcaster. In this one we get Evan's whole backstory about his childhood and how he met Destin. He quickly became one of my favourite characters. 

There are some great pay offs in this book we've been waiting for since book 1 which I loved and even more to come in the next book!

Raisa got a good bit of page time which I wasn't expecting but appreciated because who doesn't love that woman?

Storylines not crossing is something I get frustrated about, I am just such an impatient reader and want the characters to cross paths and interact with each other. But I know all the waiting will pay on when I read the final book! The ending of this one set the next one is very interestingly so I am very excited to see where it goes. I have lots of theories and questions so I am eagerly anticipating Deathcaster!

Thanks for reading,

A :)

A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab

Short review today guys! I'm on placement and am super busy!

*warning this review contains spoilers for the first two books in the Shades of Magic series, A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows.

Series: Shades of Magic, #3

Publication: February 21st 2017 by Tor Books

Goodreads Description:

Witness the fate of beloved heroes - and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED...

The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?

Kell - once assumed to be the last surviving Antari - begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?

Lila Bard, once a commonplace - but never common - thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?

And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay. 

My thoughts:

A Conjuring of Light is the brilliant conclusion to a fanatic trilogy I was hoping for! This series has made it onto my favourite series shelf and will stay there for a long time! I had so much fun with this series especially this final book!

My favourite character is of course Lila but I love Alucard too but also Kell and Rhy. So basically everyone. Lila is her usual bad ass self; so witty and hilarious; I love her and Kell's relationship but really liked her and Alucard's friendship in this one! I loved how sassy Rhy was and how he had such a nice arc in this final book, he really steps up and becomes as selfless as his brother. 

There was lots of Holland in A Conjuring of Light and he even had a POV where we are given lots of his backstory which I wasn't a fan of. I just didn't care about him to be honest. He had a nice arc but I dreaded his chapters. I found them so boring; they were important to understanding him and his character growth but I just wanted to stay with Lila and the others. I found Holland's chapters to be so slow and they definitely affected my reading experience.

The plot was up and down and all over the place and I loved it! There was super intense crazy parts and then slower calmer more character driven parts and I loved it. A jean really got the balance just right. 

The writing was of course as elegant and beautiful as it always is with VE Schawb! It's so simple but so not at the same time. She's one of my favourite authors for sure.

A conjuring of Light was a lovely end to the trilogy, everything wrapped up nicely but there were a few tiny loose threads but it didn't bother me as it was nothing major. I really wish we could spend more time with these characters and see what adventures they go on next.

ACoL might be my favourite in the series, i haven't decided yet though because I loved book 1 so much! 

My rating: 4.5 stars

Thanks for reading,

A :)

Inherited by Freedom Matthews

Series: Curses of VIII,#1

Publications:July 12th 2016 by Oftomes Publishing

Goodreads description:
If saying 'I love you' meant death, would you still say it?

The Wilted Rose, of faery-tale and folklore, is a pirate ship filled with unfortunate souls-each forbidden to love. One such soul is Valencia 'Lennie' Roux. Raised in a brothel and an heir to a curse; Lennie never expected to pique the interest of any man. Yet with the arrival of vivid-eyed Nathaniel, she is torn between wanting to know him better and fearing what that knowledge would mean.

With Nathaniel bringing the crew's total to six, the Wilted Rose sets off in search of the remaining two heirs. They hope that in reuniting, they will convince the faery Sorceress responsible for the curse, to end it. However lurking beneath the water is a long standing enemy of the Wilted Rose; who is determined to thwart their quest and bring down its leaders.

Together the eight heirs fight for survival, friendship and love.

My thoughts:
Unfortunately I didn't love Inherited like I thought I would. I had a lot of problems with it and it just wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be this epic quest of pirates fighting fantastical creatures while looking for the two lost heirs but it wasn't so I was kind of disappointed.

The author created a lovely whimsical tone and atmosphere in the first few chapter while introducing the characters and the boat but I felt like this whimsical tone got lost as the story went on.

I think one of the strong points in Inherited is Lennie's character development. She definitely goes through a lot of growth in the story and I think it was portrayed very well. Unfortunately I didn't feel connected in anyway to Lennie. Her character is built up to be this tough girl who has suffered terrible hardships, which is true, but I felt like these hardships were used to define her. Even after spending 500+ pages in her head I still feel like I know very little about her.

I really liked reading about Lennie's different friendships with the other crew members, in particular her relationships with Claudette and Butch. I felt like these where the two characters/relationships that were developed the most.

The plot was engaging at times and boring at others. At some parts it felt like too much was happening and at other times it felt like nothing was happening that was relevant to the what I thought was the whole point of the story which was getting rid of the curse. The pacing was a bit all over the place to be honest.

I thought the antagonist of Hadnaloy could have been developed a lot more. I felt like she wasn't built up to be that threatening in my eyes.

Lennie and Nathaniel's relationship is definitely a big part of the story. Unfortunately I wasn't the biggest fan of it. It was too insta- lovey for my liking but if you don't mind insta-love than this aspect of the novel wouldn't bother you.

Sometime I thought the dialogue wasn't great. The only I can think to describe it is choppy. It didn't flowing right and sounded a bit unnatural to me. Every time I picked up the book it would take a few pages for this to stop bothering me.

I think the world was very underdeveloped. I have a lot of questions about it that were never answered. It's built up to be a fantasy world with curses and witches and faeries. We are on a magical boat and we visit magical forests and then smack bang in the middle there's a section of the book that takes place in England. It's was kind of jarring to me to have a real place in the midst of what I previously thought was a fantasy setting.

It sounds like I didn't like this book but I did. I guess my expectations where just too high. I wouldn't not recommend this book to people because I can see why some people who love it but I just wasn't for me.

My rating: 2.5

Thank you to Oftomes Publishing for sending me an eARC of Inherited in exchange for a review. As always all opinion are my own!

Thanks for reading,
A :)
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