Title: Sacrificed: The Last Oracle
Author: Emily Wibberley
Published: February 13, 2015
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 978-1505896787Genre: Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Knowing the future can save her city – but not her heart.
Born to serve the merciless Oracle, Clio wants nothing more than to break free. But when her entire family is murdered by Mannix, the king's adviser, Clio inherits the Oracle’s power, a power she never wanted and doesn't understand.
Hunted by Mannix, Clio is forced to flee her home in Sheehan and seek refuge in a foreign city where oracles are forbidden. If she's found out, she will be sacrificed atop its great pyramid.
Clio has no choice but to win the trust of Riece, an enemy warrior. Despite the undeniable attraction between them, Clio knows that if he finds out who she really is, he won't hesitate to execute her.
Clio tries to hide her budding powers, but the Visions she keeps having of Mannix and his barbarian army slaughtering her people torture her conscience. She alone has the strength and foresight to stop him, but only if she can embrace her destiny and sacrifice everything.
Rating: ★★★★★
This book blew my mind.
I put this on my TBR list back in January because it looked like it was going to be a good read and then it was promptly buried under the sheer overwhelming force that is my TBR list. Then I came across it on NetGalley and, quite literally, jumped at the chance.
Clio is the youngest, and fourth, daughter of the Oracle of Sheehan. Clio has never been close to her Mother and one by one, the same is happening with her sisters as they all enter into the servitude of the Oracle. When, finally, Clio loses her sister Ali to their Mother and the Deities, she vows never to allow her mother to change her the way she has her sisters and runs away. That night, Clio's Mother and two older sisters are brutally murdered and her sister Ali is taken by the King's (very creepy) adviser, Mannix. As a result, Clio is forced to shoulder the burden that was once her Mother's: she becomes the Oracle.
Desperate to rescue her sister, and best friend, Clio sets out for Morak, a city in which being an Oracle is punishable by death, in hopes that she can get there before it's too late, but she makes it to the City just in time to witness her sister's execution. It is there, in the cells under the Pyramid of Morak that she meets Oracle-hating Commander Riece, whom she must learn to trust, and convince him to trust her, in order to survive and save Sheehan from the ambitions of Mannix.
I loved this book from the moment I started reading it, and once I had, I didn't want to put it down. I've already said that I spent the day at work with my Kindle hidden behind my computer screens just so I could keep reading it without my boss seeing me. There wasn't a dull moment in this book. Emily Wibberley seems to have mastered the art of weeding out unnecessary scenes which add nothing to the story and can often become boring. Every scene was carefully crafted and contributed to the overall plot and kept the story flowing wonderfully.
Clio's character is delightful to read, and she does't change so much as grows and matures through-out the book which is wonderful to watch. She grows from a cynical girl who sees her mother's calling as a bit of a sham into a powerful young woman who holds her own, saves the day and can fully accept her calling in life.
Derik and Riece, our respective love interests actually manage to step outside of the mold and to have a personality of their own and a role to play besides being in love with the main character. It's refreshing to see. In fact, a few of the minor characters are just as memorable: Riece's younger sister is a great motivator for his character but also provides great comic relief and a nice break from the action of the rest of the book.
The world building is great. We don't get to see much of the world in general, admittedly, as the story centers around Morak and Sheehan, but Wibberley throws out the names of a few places that I'm hoping we get to see in the next books. Besides that, she keeps it fairly simple which makes it much easier for you to immerse yourself in the world; it's easier to connect with a story when you don't spend half a book trying to get your head around the world, it's population and it's politics. The untouched were a wonderfully scary addition.
In the end, you're left wanting more. I know I certainly was and I cannot wait for the second book.
That ending, though! Talk about emotional overload!!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Waiting for the Flood
Author: Alexis Hall
Published: February 21, 2015
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
ASIN: B00TWI05QA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
People come as well as go.
Twelve years ago, Edwin Tully came to Oxford and fell in love with a boy named Marius. He was brilliant. An artist. It was going to be forever.
Two years ago, it ended.
Now Edwin lives alone in the house they used to share. He tends to damaged books and faded memories, trying to a build a future from the fragments of the past.
Then the weather turns, and the river spills into Edwin’s quiet world, bringing with it Adam Dacre from the Environment Agency. An unlikely knight, this stranger with roughened hands and worn wellingtons, but he offers Edwin the hope of something he thought he would never have again.
As the two men grow closer in their struggle against the rising waters, Edwin learns he can’t protect himself from everything—and sometimes he doesn't need to try.
Rating: ★★★★★
This is a story about imperfections and ephemery and fasciculing and floods and rivers and houses that should be homes and men who think they're broken and stuttering and environmental agencies and self-consciousness and loss and orange waders and wellies and overcoming and dimpled smiles. It's a story about love.
This is one of those rare occasions when a book was nothing like I expected it to be and still completely surpassed my expectations. And then some I didn't have.
Waiting for the Flood did in 106 pages what many books cannot manage to do in several hundred; it made me feel. I literally smiled the whole way through this book, even when I was crying.
Our Hero is a thirty one year old gay man living on his own in the house purchased by him and his ex boyfriend, trying to come to terms with being alone. Edwin has some pretty serious self-confidence issues which mostly center around his stutter and his feelings of unworthiness brought about by his break up with ex boyfiend Marius. Edwin is a flawed human being; he has cut himself off from the world because he truly believes no one will accept him, that no one truly wants to know him and so keeps to himself and his elderly, octogenarian neighbour. Edwin also has serious trouble coping with social situations or situations which make him feel uncomfortable and often finds himself resorting to sarcasm. He's not perfect, and that's what makes it so much easier to love him.
Our love interest in this novella is Adam Dacre who is working for Oxford council's Environmental Agency and is charged to help flood-proof Edwin's street. Adam is sweet and charming and so ready to see the good and beauty in everyone and everything and, also, the complete opposite of Edwin in every way; he's outgoing and flirtatious and cannily sure of himself in ways that intimidate Edwin and it's so easy to see just what it is that has Edwin so enchanted.
The story is told from Edwin's point of view, so we're given full access to Edwin's inner turmoil and his thought process whilst dealing with Adam and his feelings for the red-headed engineer. Most of all, the thing I love is that we get to see Adam's beauty through Edwin's eyes. Edwin tells us:
"No one could have called him handsome, and the orange waders probably didn't help - but when he smiled? Suddenly handsome didn't seem important anymore - only the things happiness could do to a man's face."
It's wonderful to come across a romance in which a person is beautiful because of who they are - because of the type of person they are and this is exactly what we get with this story: two flawed, imperfect people who meet and see something wonderful in each other and it's beyond beautiful.
Alexis Hall's writing is wonderfully simplistic and exquisite. This being my first Hall book, I cannot comment on whether this is a consistent theme in all of his books but I do know I will definitely be reading more of his works to find out.
This is short and so, so sweet. It is a simple story that is beautifully written and a definite must-read for all romance fans. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you don't.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Published: October 22, 2013
Publisher: Hyperion Books
ISBN: 978-1423159322
Genre: Dystopian/Sci Fi
When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.
Rating: ★★★★☆
How to write a typical Dystopian adventure, and get it completely, 100% right.
I really enjoyed this book. I had such high hopes going in and it did not disappoint me at all.
Really interesting premise and awesome characters, and oh mY GOD A FEMALE CHARACTER THAT I ACTUALLY LIKE!!!1!
The world building is superb. The way that Bracken only gives you enough information to understand what is going on, but little enough to keep you intrigued is terribly clever. There are a lot of authors who try too hard at this end up failing miserably. Not so in this book; the balance is just right.
The characters, whilst certainly nothing I haven't seen before, are infinitely likeable - even her villains. They are complicated, diverse, well-fleshed out and human. It's so easy to make your character into a caricature of what a human being is supposed to be, but Bracken doesn't take it too far here. She captures all of the good and bad parts of humanity in all of the best ways.
And, ultimately, that's what this books is about. Humanity and how we fight to keep it in the worst of conditions.
Maybe a little predictable at times, but there's so many dystopian stories out there now that they're obviously all going to be following the same recipe. This one is no different, but it doesn't take away from your enjoyment at all.
That ending, though. Welcome to heartbreak hotel.
I can't wait for book 2 to arrive.
You said it, Liam.
