Waiting on Wednesday| A Torch Against the Night

Waiting On Wednesday is a book meme set up Breaking the Spine where all those who participate share weekly those book releases we are dying to get our hand on as soon as they are released.

This week's WoW post is:

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #1)

Sabaa Tahir

Out: 8th September, 2016

Synopsis:

Elias and Laia are running for their lives.
After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf - the Empire's most secure and dangerous prison - to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars' survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene - Elias's former friend and the Empire's newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus's will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own - one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape... and kill them both.

Thoughts:

 I have just finished An Ember in the Ashes (review too come) and although I enjoyed it, I didn't love it like everyone did. That being said I am excited to welcome the sequel this coming September on my ever growing shelf.

HarperVoyagerUK honoured me with an arc of this highly anticipated sequel so a review will be coming up soon. Once I've read it.

REVIEW| Nevernight

Evernight (The Nevernight Chronicles #1)
Jay Kristoff

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+
Synopsis:

Mia has many names: The Pale Daughter, The Crow, or Kingmaker; she is the killer of killers and destroyer of empires; but her story begins when she is only ten years old and forced to watch her father hang as a traitor.

At the time of his death, her shadow deepens and a darkness joins Mia. A darkness that takes the shape of a cat and helps her to escape the men tasked with her disposal.

She calls him Mister Kindly, and he drinks her fear. 

Review: 

Holy sh*t! Where do I even begin?

First, let us discuss this cover. This alone I would give five stars, who wouldn't? I have never seen a more beautiful fantasy cover -- that is for a first edition print-- HarperVoyagerUK did an amazing job at selecting the right artist. The thing I love most about this cover is that, the more you read and loose yourself in Kristoff's world of Itreya, the more you notice the details that the artist, Kerby Rosanes, has put into the illustration design. The Barrel, the masquerade mask, the not-cat- everything so beautifully placed within the body of the crow. The motif for the Covere familia.

A while ago I sent out a tweet for recommendations for a book with a 'kick-ass female assassin protagonist" this book not only delivered this  but, rather had the added bonus of this well-developed world. Itreya is a world like no other- the title "Nevernight" you learn to derive from how in this world you never get night because of this unfortunate factor that there are three different suns. All giving variant types of light; only becomes "Truedark" after every certain number of years. 

Kristoff builds both the world and the voice of our narrator through the use of footnotes, these tended to be something that didn't offer a whole lot to the overall plot but was something that I enjoyed and brought to life the rich, Italian, medieval setting that Kristoff has based Itreya on. Other times these footnotes were an added sense of humour that really spoke to my sense of humour that just had me giggling.

There was a lot of character growth that felt natural for the duration of the novel, Mia learning about herself and what she feels is important to keep certain traits close to her heart and not loose then when in actual fact where is finds herself is somewhere that could have ultimately stripped them away. Not only was their growth but the plot itself took various twists and turns. I am pretty sure Kristoff through in some red herons in there when I was trying to work out some of the cruicial parts of the plot-- and yes, when I got to page 553 I did have a WTF moment. 

I am still not over it. 

At all.

This book left me broken and hurt. A double edged blade- one side left you broken and crying the other giggling long into the night. A balance only a wielder of words could manage. My salutes, sir.

This, so far, is one of my favourite books I have read this year. I can't wait to get my finished copy in August. Only to speed through it once more before I head off to Bangor.

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY:
| AMAZON UK | AMAZON US | BOOK DEPO |

Waiting on Wednesday| Ivory and Bone

Waiting On Wednesday is a book meme set up Breaking the Spine where all those who participate share weekly those book releases we are dying to get our hand on as soon as they are released.

This weeks WoW post is:

Ivory and Bone (Ivory and Bone #1)

Julie Eshbaugh

Hunting, gathering, and keeping his family safe—that’s the life seventeen-year-old Kol knows. Then bold, enigmatic Mya arrives from the south with her family, and Kol is captivated. He wants her to like and trust him, but any hopes of impressing her are ruined when he makes a careless—and nearly grave—mistake. However, there’s something more to Mya’s cool disdain…a history wrought with loss that comes to light when another clan arrives. With them is Lo, an enemy from Mya’s past who Mya swears has ulterior motives.
As Kol gets to know Lo, tensions between Mya and Lo escalate until violence erupts. Faced with shattering losses, Kol is forced to question every person he’s trusted. One thing is for sure: this was a war that Mya or Lo—Kol doesn’t know which—had been planning all along.

I came across this book by accident looking through a list over on Goodreads. The opening tag line was:

A prehistoric fantasy—with allusions to Pride and Prejudice.

Already I was zapped into the dying need to own and devour this book.
All the things I've heard so far has just been praise-- my expectation are gonna be pretty high!

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY:
| AMAZON UK | AMAZON US | BOOK DEPO |

Waiting On Wednesday| Nevernight

Waiting On Wednesday is a book meme set up Breaking the Spine where all those who participate share weekly those book releases we are dying to get our hand on as soon as they are released.

This weeks WoW post is:

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicles #1)
Jay Kristoff

Mia has many names: The Pale Daughter, The Crow, or Kingmaker; she is the killer of killers and destroyer of empires; but her story begins when she is only ten years old and forced to watch her father hang as a traitor.
At the time of his death, her shadow deepens and a darkness joins Mia. A darkness that takes the shape of a cat and helps her to escape the men tasked with her disposal.
She calls him Mister Kindly, and he drinks her fear.

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY:
| AMAZON UK | AMAZON US | BOOK DEPO |