Book Review: In the Hand of the Goddess (Song of the Lioness #2) by Tamora Pierce

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 264 pages
Author: Tamora Pierce
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: January 1st, 2005
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Disguised as a boy, Alanna of Trebond becomes a squire, to none other than the prince of the realm. But Prince Jonathan is much more to Alanna; he is her ally, her best friend, and one of the few who knows that she’s really a girl. Now it will take all of Alanna’s awesome skill, strength, and growing magical powers to protect him from the mysterious evil sorcerer who is bent on his destruction, and hers!

Here continues the story of Alanna, a young woman bound for glory who is willing to fight against enormous odds for what she believes in.

NOW I’M GETTING INVESTED.

I find it rare to come across a short fantasy book (less than 300 pages). I’m loving that this are this short because it’s a good break from big daunting fantasy books.

Alanna is someone I think we can all cheer for. I love continuing to watch her grow and become a powerful woman in her own right. She makes her own decisions and has her own convictions about how she wants her life to go and I applaud her for trying to attain those goals.

Yes, things could be overall fleshed out more. That’s the downfall to shorter reads. This has a lot of focus on just Alanna. A lot of information is thrown into casual conversation without any backstory. I occasionally was confused as to why things happened but, I like focusing on Alanna and what she’s going through rather than what everyone else is doing. This is a rare case of me being able to overlook these matters.

Her kinda sort-of-ish love connection is intriguing. I like that Alanna is choosing who she wants to be with on her own volition (but also you said you didn’t want to be with anyone…so….?). It’s good and fine and all, but I’m not sure they’re endgame. I think it would be interesting if she actually ended up with no one and she originally intended. WE’LL SEE.

The villain still makes me laugh. He’s not evil enough for me and since Alanna keeps besting him, there’s not a push and pull of issues between them.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: some kisses, mentions of spending the night with each other, but no actual depictions of those nights
  • Violence: swords, poison, magic, kidnapping, murder, battle skirmishes

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Top Ten Tuesday: Book Characters I Would Love to be Best Friends With

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Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

I would want to be friends with SO MANY CHARACTERS. Why aren’t any of them real!? (Not that I wouldn’t want be caught in their situations most of the time haha).

Below are a handful that came to mind when I wrote this post! I know there’s plenty more that will cross my mind before I even publish this. Lets talk in the comments about what character you’d love to be friends with!

Sevro – Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown

Okay, who WOULDN’T want to be friends with this Howler? Especially after just finished Dark Age I am so down for being besties with Sevro, ALWAYS.

Night Court – ACOTAR Series by Sarah J. Maas

I can’t even pick one. I want to be a part of this whole dang court. Fictional characters can be made real, right?

Fenrys – Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

Honestly, I’d love to be friends with pretty much anyone in this cast, but Fenrys has a special place in my heart. I love him so much!

Kestral – The Winner’s Curse Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

I flippin’ love Kestral. She’s brave, kind, and amazingly smart. I love how her scheming mind.

Vhalla – Air Awakens Series by Elise Kova

AH I LOVE HER SO MUCH. I am almost finished with the last book and I can’t get enough of Vhalla. I would love to be her best friend. She’s seriously the best.

Lira – To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Quite frankly, I just want to be best friends with a mermaid. That is all.

Elizabeth Bennett – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I think I would have an absolute ball being friends with Elizabeth. She is a kindred spirit in many ways.

Spensa – Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Not only would I love to have Spensa watching my back, her friends M-Bot and Doomslug would be the most amazing side kicks ever. I love them all.

Annabeth Chase – Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

I need Annabeth keeping me in line and not letting me get away with anything. We all need a friend like that.

Kazi – Dance of Thieves Duology by Mary E. Pearson

I am obsessed with Kazi as a person and would love nothing more than to be her sister. We would be as thick as thieves.

Fictional characters need to be real. I could use some friends like this in my life! What about you? Are any of these on your list? Who would you want to be friends with?

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Book Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 456 pages
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderberry Books
Release Date: June 4th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

A FANTASTIC SOPHOMORE BOOK.

I initially went into this book a little nervous because I was iffy on her first book, An Enchantment of Ravens. I LOVED this book so much more! Oh I’m so happy I picked this up, it was an easy 4 stars to give (which yes, still means I enjoyed it!).

One of my previous issues was that the writing was too flowery for me personally. I don’t need a page describing a tree for me to feel like I’m there. This book really cut back on that, but still built an amazing setting and world. It was such a relief. The way the grimoires were crazy clever. I loved the idea of the books being able to come to life and having their own personalities.

The sass from Nathaniel was on point. I love a good cheeky sorcerer as much as the next fantasy reader. The relationship between Elisabeth and Nathaniel was a great slow-er burn. I never felt like it was rushed and actually wondered at times when it was coming back on screen. This was another big step-up from book one. They had great chemistry and it was easy to ship them.

I could have used a little less of Silas *shrugs*. At times I felt he was a bigger piece of the book than Elisabeth was and she’s the main POV. I’m cheering for her, and I don’t want the focus to continually be on a side character. I did like his arc and thought he was the perfect dose of a creepy, good-at-his-core, demon. Those are hard to find.

Elisabeth was a great character. She had emotions, ambitions and went out and did what needed to be done. I appreciate that she didn’t wait around to move the plot forward and took matters into her own hands. She was brave and strong, and I would definitely love to be her friend.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: some kisses, an almost love scene (clothing is beginning to be removed), make-outs
  • Violence: magic, poison, explosions, swords, murder

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Book Review: The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA fantasy + mythology
Length: 320 pages
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: June 10th, 2014
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When Percy Jackson receives an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he’ll need his powerful demigod allies at his side; his trusty bronze sword, Riptide; and . . . a ride from his mom.

The demigods race to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two powerful half-bloods, whose parentage is unknown. But that’s not all that awaits them. The Titan lord Kronos has set up a devious trap, and the young heroes have just fallen prey.

Hilarious and action-packed, this third adventure in the series finds Percy faced with his most dangerous challenge yet–the chilling prophecy of the Titan’s curse.

JUST PLOWING THROUGH THIS SERIES.

I’ve been listening to the later books on audio and the narrator does voices for everyone and it’s so fun! Really liking this format.

Book three brought it better than book two. YAY.

I love meeting so many new characters! Each book has had a new layer of mythology plus the addition of characters to back it up. It’s great meeting other kids and gods and really rounding out the story as a whole.

There’s more adventure and we see Percy have to handle the situation without Annabeth (which of course, has many ups and downs). I missed Annabeth though! I lover her intelligent, slightly snarky, but golden-hearted self. Her connection with others and ability to help those around her willingly makes her a forever favorite. The chemistry between Percy and Annabeth (and I’m not even meaning romantically) is easy to love and I am fully behind this friendship before anything.

I do have hope that Luke is heading for redemption. I think in this series it would be a great character arc for him to realize his faux pas and be able to come back to the fold. There were some other character moments I didn’t see coming! I’m curious how that will play out in the next book with different people going different ways. No matter, this series is fun and engaging.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult/middle grade fantasy + mythology
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: some, never gory, all creatures “disappear” rather than die a bloody death

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