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Book Review: Frostblood by Elly Blake

Jan 23, 2017

Frostblood by Elly Blake

Pages: 304
Publish date: January 12th, 2017
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 1473635179
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

In a land governed by the cruel Frostblood ruling class, seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has spent most of her life hiding her ability to manipulate heat and light – until the day the soldiers come to raid her village and kill her mother. Ruby vows revenge on the tyrannous Frost King responsible for the massacre of her people.

But Ruby’s powers are unpredictable…and so are the feelings she has for Arcus, the scarred, mysterious Frostblood warrior who shares her goal to kill the Frost King, albeit for his own reasons. When Ruby is captured by the Frost King’s men, she’s taken right into the heart of the enemy. Now she only has one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who took everything from her – and in doing so, she must unleash the powers she’s spent her whole life withholding.

Frostblood is set in a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies – but together create a power that could change everything.

Frostblood:

I received a review copy of Frostblood by Elly Blake from Hachette Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

A new year off to a great start. Frostblood was the first book that I read this year and I am so glad that I did because I loved it. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I was hooked from the very first page.

Frostblood follows protagonist Ruby a Fireblood who has spent most of her life hiding her powers, but when soldiers raid her village and kill her mother she reveals her powers and is captured. But she doesn’t stay there for too long. With the help of some ‘friends’ Ruby might just get her revenge.

This world captivated me, the magic, the characters, and the plot. It was like everything that I loved wrapped all into one. It was perfect, but it was sure damn close. One thing that I am upset about, is that I have to wait so long for book 2. Why can’t I have it already?

I really enjoyed Ruby as a protagonist. She has this strength about her that I admired. Ruby had been imprisoned, but it still never really got her down. She was there fighting with all her strength. People treat her like crap because she is a fireblood, but she stayed strong. But then what gave her power, was always her weakness.

Because she never trained, she can’t always control her fire and people could get hurt. So when she has to harness these powers and use them – it breaks her. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, even though people have tormented her. I also like how innocent she was at times. It was sweet actually.

When Ruby is first rescued, she is taken to heal and then learn to fight. And to her knowledge kill the Frost King. She meets some pretty amazing people, mostly importantly Arcus.

Holy crap. I will ship this romance forever. They made my heart melt. It slow, burning and just so good. Arcus is the typical mysterious guy that hides behind a hood. He projects a not so nice attitude, but as the novel goes on you begin to find out why.

The second after of the book was intense. And I’m not spoiler much here and it’s in the synopsis, but she is captured by the Frost King’s soldiers – again. But, this time she is taken right into the Kingdom and meets the King himself. And then all hell breaks loose.

The world of Frostblood is the basic fantasy world with magic. Where one power is seen as superior to another. But, there were so many other layers to this world. That fitted perfectly on top of one another. Everything wasn’t thrown at the reader at the one time but was slowly revealed to both the reader and Ruby.

Overall, I can see that Frostblood might be one of my favourite books of the year. With a mix of everything I love. Frostblood explores the notion of family, finding out who you are, where you belong and to fight for what you believe. I loved the romance and the world. This debut author has done an excellent job and I cannot wait to see what comes from her next.

Have you read Frostblood? Did you like it as much as I did? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Jan 12, 2017

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Pages:
Publish date: January 21st, 2017
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9781473629158
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

Welcome to Caraval, where nothing is quite what it seems.

Scarlett has never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year week-long performance where the audience participates in the show.

Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure. And for Scarlett and her beloved sister Tella it represents freedom and an escape from their ruthless, abusive father.

When the sisters’ long-awaited invitations to Caraval finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show’s mastermind organiser, Legend.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But nonetheless, she quickly becomes enmeshed in a dangerous game of love, magic and heartbreak. And real or not, she must find Tella before the game is over, and her sister disappears forever.

Caraval:

I received an ARC of Caraval from Hachette Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I was very excited to get Caraval in my hands, where it’s all about magic and fighting for what you love. However, it wasn’t what I expected, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.

Caraval follows protagonist Scarlett Dragna and her sister Tella as they are invited to enter the magical game of Caraval. But, when they arrive Tella vanishes and Scarlett must do everything in her power to find her. However, everything is not what it seems. And you don’t know what’s real or not, you have to trust in yourself. And try not to be caught up in the game.

Scarlett was the type of protagonist that I clicked with. She cared so much for sister that she would do anything for even, anything. She has this presence about her that I really enjoyed reading. And as the book went on she grew stronger. One of the things I loved about Scarlett was her weakness – she love and compassion for her sister, was also her downfall.

Tella, on the other hand, was so frustrating at times. She reminded me a lot of one of my sisters when she was younger – and I just couldn’t take it. I don’t know if it’s the big sister in me or what. Although, we didn’t get to see much of her in the book.

One of the things I loved most about Caraval was the notion of family. It was great seeing both sides of the same rock. The readers are able to see the loving relationships between Scarlett and Tella. Where Scarlett will do anything for her sister and vise versa. Then on the other side, it’s the horrible relationship they have with their father. It’s rare that we get to see the good side of families in YA, especially in fantasy.

I don’t know how I feel about the romance in Caraval. It’s very hard to talk about it without giving anything away. But, it’s not your usual YA romance, also there are so hurdles along the way – that she didn’t sit right.

Be warned – Don’t believe anything in Caraval. It’s one of those books where you don’t know what is real and what isn’t until the last page. You are second guessing yourself the whole book, along with the characters. You don’t know what or who to believe. It’s like you are on a scale, tipping slowing. And however frustrating it is, it works in Caraval.

The world of Caraval was fascinating. They have this game that is never in the same place. Where you don’t know what is going to happen next and when you win – you get 1 wish. I was swept up into this magical world with beautiful writing that seemed also fairytale-like.

The ending was intense. The whole of Caraval lead up to this point. And everything clicked or was washed away. It was like layer upon layer finally clicking.

Overall, I enjoyed Caraval. It can be confusing and angry you to the bone, but it works. It explores the notion of family, friendships and doing what you think is right. It’s about finding believing in others and finding yourself. I cannot wait to read the second book in this two book series.

Have you read Caraval? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson

Jan 6, 2017

Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson

Pages: 304
Publish date: January 2017
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760293635
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

What do you wear to Paris? Ami and I discussed it for hours but I still couldn’t think of anything suitable. Ami said a trench coat with nothing underneath but your best underwear. That was only if some boy was meeting you at the airport, I said.

Eighteen-year-old Lisette has just arrived in Paris (France!) – the city of haute couture and all things stylish – to practise her French and see great works of art. Her clairvoyant landlady Madame Christophe forces her to attend language lessons with a bunch of international students but soon Lise discovers she’s more interested in studying boys than art or verbs …

When the undeniably hot Anders jogs into her life it feels too good to be true. Things get even more complicated when she is pursued by Hugo, a charming English antiques dealer.

Can she take a chance and follow her own dreams? How far into the future can Madame Christophe see? And could Lise really be falling in love – in Paris?

Lisette’s Paris Notebook:

I received a copy of Lisette’s Paris Notebook by Catherine Bateson from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

As soon as I started to read Lisette’s Paris Notebook I knew that I wasn’t going to love it. The writing style didn’t sing to, and the protagonist could not stop complaining.

Lisette’s Paris Notebook follows protagonist Lisette as she arrives in Paris where she will be living for the next couple of months. Lisette has just finished High School in Melbourne, Australia. And she decides that instead of going straight to university, she is going to take a gap year.

Lisette was a difficult protagonist to get along with. Throughout the whole book, she could never make up her mind of what she wanted to do. Lisette is only a couple of years younger than me, but she sounded like a fifth-teen year old. However, I did like seeing Lisette grow throughout the novel. At the start, she seems like she is confused about what is going on in her life, but then she starts to find herself and it was great to see.

When Lisette first arrives in France, she thinks that she has it all down pat. She thinks she knows the language, the cultural and what to expect – but some things take her by surprise. I loved this – no matter how much you watch, read and hear. Being and living in a different country can be very hard.

I also loved that Lisette was from Australia. It’s rare that readers see Australian as the protagonist in young adult. The influence of Lisette being Australian had on the book and the way that she interacted with people was interesting and I really enjoyed it.

I didn’t like most of the characters Lisette’s Paris Notebook. I don’t know if it was because they were unlikable or that we as the reader didn’t get to know them. It felt that the author focused too much on Lisette and not anyone else. It was like she had no real connections.

The romance…well. I normally don’t like more than one romance in the books that I read. But, I think the use of more than one romantic interest worked. Lisette’s first love interest is, trying to put it nicely, a dickhead. He’s the guy that you never want to get in a relationship with. Therefore, I was totally okay with Lisette moving on. Maybe not as quickly as she did. But I did enjoy the romance more the second time.

The writing style of Lisette’s Paris Notebook also wasn’t my favourite. I felt that at times I was being talked down upon. It was like the adults in the book were there to tell us the things that teens do are wrong. However, I did keep on reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Another reason why I didn’t like Lisette’s Paris Notebook was that, I felt it was all stereotypes. If I had to read ‘Oh La La’ one more time I was going to lose it. It was like the author just plucked all these sayings and chucked them in. It didn’t feel authentic and I cringe so many time throughout the book. I also felt that some of the remarks about Australia were also stereotypical and the other didn’t say that they were not real.

Overall, Lisette’s Paris Notebook was not for me. It explores family, friendship and romance. It had a protagonist that felt too young to be eighteen and a plot that dragged on. I was expecting and wanting more from Lisette’s Paris Notebook. However, I did keep on reading.