Swift By R J Anderson (4/5)

I read this book pretty much in one sitting, lounging in a patch of early Spring sunlight. It was a very easy book to read and to get lost in. I find that about everything R J Anderson writes: it's just like a familiar cosy blanket that you can pick up and snuggle into, knowing that you'll feel happy and content for a while. (I feel I've demonstrated this in my previous review of Anderson's work, Arrow) I think it's the author's skill at world building that creates this effect. You can tell that she does her research to make the world we're reading about fit comfortably in our own. The places that she describes are so clear to the reader that parts of it feel like a travel guide. I almost want to make notes of places I want to visit, both faerie and human.

From the beginning of this story, I felt I was thrown into Ivy's everyday life. Getting to know her world was enjoyable right from the start, because she had such a unique voice learning about her world felt natural. Her family and her community, her feelings about herself and her place all provoked the reader's interest, particularly when right at the end of the prologue her mother disappears, leaving only a blood stained scarf behind.

Ivy is a very likeable character; she is brave, very loyal to her family and in spite of being told her limitations she refuses to believe them and craves more. You can't help but feel sympathy for her character when the thing she desires most, flight, has been denied her by a cruel fate that caused her to be born a Piskey without wings. Ivy is put through a lot in this book, her love for her family means she faces betraying her community more than once and throughout everything she shows strength and bravery. Even though she is aware she faces punishment from the only home she has ever known it is up to her to face multiple threats to the community that raised her, both from the outside and from within.

It's been a while since I've read Arrow, so I'm sure I missed some of the hints to this book's relation to the previous series, but I did really enjoy the ones I managed to pick up. After completing Swift, I'm left with the temptation to start reading the books from the beginning again. These are worlds that I can't wait to explore and fall into and I'm left anticipating what could happen to these characters next.

I won't divulge too many further details of the story as there are a few spoilers that are worth finding out for yourself. Overall, Swift was a thoroughly enjoyable, immersive read I would recommend to anyone who loves a reading experience based around exploring fantastic worlds and for whom the scenery and the backdrop are as important as the events and the characters therein.

The Silver Blade By Sally Gardner (4/5)

“Paris, 1793. The blade of the guillotine falls on the neck of the King himself, and the spirit of the French Revolution lies in tatters. The Reign of Terror has begun. Yann Margoza is helping desperate people to escape to England, where Sido, the girl he loves, waits to hear from him. But Yann's past haunts him. He is in grave danger, and so is Sido. For under the streets of Paris, in the catacombs, the howl of a great beast can be heard. And a boy with angelic looks and an evil heart is ready to do the bidding of a man who has made a pact with the devil. A thrilling tale of secrets, of murder, revenge and romance, written with the vividness and passion that made The Red Necklace such a fantastic success”

I stumbled across this book in a tiny bookshop in a little quiet town, whilst on a weekend away. Rather perfect for me, small town, cute bookshop I was in heaven. (Well almost! I will discuss Hay-on-Wye “Bookshop That Becomes A Cocktail Piano Bar” in another blog post *faints*) I was curiously scanning a bookshelf looking for a book that I hadn't read yet. This book jumped out at me because of my “It's shiny” Magpie personality. It had the wonderful shiny image on a black background look, that I am fond of. All it took was turning over the book to read the top line “Paris, 1793.” With that it had to be mine. I have a certain weakness for any adventure in a historical setting, add in Paris and the devil to that and the Bibliophile in me is putty in your authorly hands.

I really enjoyed this book for reasons that weren't always central to the plot. I loved the setting, I loved the darkness, the fear of the aristocracy and the gritty, dirty, realism of the newly empowered working class. I could picture the bars with their straw covered floors, could smell the spilled beer and neglected to recently wash patrons. In the scenes with the actors you could smell the greasy face paint, see their stressed, haggard expressions in a very real way. That is talented writing at its best. I think I've read so much urban fantasy recently that this was slightly out of my comfort zone, but in a wonderful swashbuckling adventure kind of way.

This book was dark. Dark in a way that a lot of other books try for and miss. Dark in a casual, almost easy way. It pulled you in and sat you next to the characters, made you hide in the shadows and clutch your loved ones in sympathy for the aristocrats. There were certain parts to the book that didn't grip me as much as other books have done, didn't make me feel for the individual main characters in some way. I didn't care for them as much as I usually do when I read fiction. But this world, the atmosphere, the background characters, the setting, they grabbed me and brought me into the world in a way that the main characters didn't quite manage to do. But for once I didn't think that this detracted from my enjoyment of the book. The fear and world was more than enough for me and I indulgently fell into it and savoured the experience.

I was greatly disappointed when I realised that this book was a sequel, meaning I would have to read them in the wrong order. This didn't reduce my enjoyment of the book though, even though it should have. This was a world that I really enjoyed to explore and would like to visit again.

Arrow By R J Anderson (4/5)

Once again R J Anderson has allowed us to visit the wonderful world that she created in the first of this series “Knife”. (Review of previous book in this series, Rebel.) In this book we are shown the battle for the Oakenwyld through the eyes of Rhosmari, a Faerie who has lived her entire life on the Green Isles as one of The Children of Rhys. The Faerie population of these Isles are pacifist by nature and have no desire to join a fight, but after the loss of their Stone of Naming they are unsettled and one of the Elders, Rhosmari's mother, is considering aggressive action to get the stone back. The thought of this scares Rhosmari so much that she decides to run away to the mainland and try and find Garan, the Faerie responsible for the removal of the stone from the Isles and Rhosmari's ex betrothed, and get it back.

I loved Rhosmari's attitude in this book, she was strong and yet completely naïve to the world outside of her personal experience. Even though she was very knowledgeable and a very accomplished scholar she had some preconceptions about herself and the world around her that were altered quite extremely throughout her journey. I loved her gentle, idealistic nature and found her a character that was very likeable, especially when she found solace in research. She meets many people on her journey and doesn't always know who to trust, even though she is wise it turns out she is easily manipulated because of her somewhat optimistic spirit. Her morality is tested quite a lot throughout the story as she interacts with people who handle situations differently than she would. She questions her own extreme views and has to accept that in certain situations deception and violence are unfortunately a necessary evil. The development of her character in this way was a fascinating read, I respected her because of her peaceful attitude and watching her morality shift and change because of the distressing situations she finds herself in really pulled me into the story to travel with her on her journey.

Another theme to this story that I found great was the concept of loyalty and betrayal. When you are setting out on a journey on your own how do you know who to trust? What does someone need to do to prove themselves to you? And even then can you ever really know what someone, or even what you yourself are really capable of? Rhosmari's trust is tested a lot in this story, people she thought to be friends turn out to be less than trustworthy and people who she naturally distrusts because of actions which she sees as immoral turn out to be the ones she can rely on the most.

I really enjoyed reading this book and read it very quickly over a couple of days. I had a rather over excited moment when Cardiff was visited in the story, as this is the place that I am currently moving to. : ) Like the previous books in this series I loved the world building and vast amount of characters. This book also had a plot that was like a snowball, once it started to roll it just grew and grew. There was never a slow moment, or a part that felt like it suffered for editing, it was all great reading.

At the end of the book I am treated to the news that not only is Anderson releasing another book in this story, “Swift” but also a story for older readers, “Ultraviolet” I can't wait for more on these. I have great faith in this author to give me a rich world I can fall into it, main characters that I invest so much hope into and villains that I can't bring myself to dislike no matter how deplorable their actions are. This is because whatever she writes she makes it feel real and tangible, everyone has a history and a story of their own. I can't wait for more.


Currently Reading: The Iron Witch By Karen Mahoney

Linger (ARC) By Maggie Stiefvater (4.5/5)

"Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain. Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demon, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of being human. For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces- wolf and human- with love baring it's two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?" (From inside front page of Linger)

My love for Shiver was strong and true! The review I wrote for it can be found Here I had insane expectations for it's sequel!

I am going to keep this spolier free for obvious reasons! I adored it, the same wonderful human emotion spills from the book, and now we have a 2 whole new POVs to see the story from. This was a wonderful way to refresh the book, and to make it different from the first in the trilogy. I loved the new character of Cole and the new perspective of Isabel. I found myself seeing her in a whole new light, when I was inside her head. I heard her say things that I myself have said (especially when it comes to men!), which made me take her a lot more seriously, I loved her matter of fact statements and her coping mechanisms.

At first I wasn't too sure about Cole, I usually have my doubts about people who choose to lead their life in a certain way, but once his history was flushed out, and his character was expanded, I began to love reading about him. He gave the book a whole different side, that was occasionally callous and self serving, but still made sense and was understandable in the context. I enjoyed his parts a lot, which was a surprise, considering how eager to read about Sam and Grace I was.

Oh Sam and Grace, finally I get around to you. How I adore you both! I just want to smush them. I love their love, which is quite extreme coming from a cynical sceptic, like myself. They make me want to believe that human nature isn't always selfish and self centred, and that people aren't always just out for what they can get. Their love is deep and emotional, but manages not to come across as unhealthy, fake, lust driven or sickly sweet. They made me believe in them.

I really enjoyed Grace's developing relationship with her parents in this book, and I shared her outrage when they acted in the manner they did. I really like Grace's independence, but that this has come at a cost of a decent parent-child relationship, makes me feel for her. She has created her own family in a way, with Sam, and I supported them being each others family. In my mind it didn't seem too soon, or rushed. Just natural.

I can't wait for the third book in this trilogy, I won't even think about the wait, because I am aware it is going to be an unnaturally long time before this book reaches the UK. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book from Maggie, as a prize in a competition. The first ARC to hit my bookshelves and I love it. I am so grateful for this opportunity and am eagerly counting down the years until I get the third book!



Currently Reading: Beautiful Creatures By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Rebel By R J Anderson (4/5)

Fast paced, entertaining and nice characters that are relatable in their complications. Well written and greatly enjoyed. This was the first time in a couple of months that I read a book in one sitting. Can't wait for Arrow. I really hope that R J Anderson gets the recognition that she deserves from these YA novels.

I love the way that she makes all her characters unique and fleshes them out to give them individuality, all the while not allowing them to be defined by any one quality.

I really enjoyed the adventure of this story and the way that a friendship builds between the characters under such strange and stressful circumstances.

I also loved the gilmpses of Knife's story as well. Having such a time span between the two books was a good method of being able to answer a lot of questions off the page also. The transition that Knife made from one world to another was covered very well I felt, without detracting from the main theme of the story.

And the cover art is just delicious. : )