Cleopatra, American Style

Expected Publication:  January 8th, 2013

Cleopatra Ascending (Shadow's Edge # 2)

By: Maureen Lipinski

Flux

ISBN-13: 9780738731933

Sweet Sixteen = You're a Queen

Despite living with a shaman, a witch, and a muse for sisters, Rhea Spencer feels like a normal teenager-even if she is the reincarnation of Cleopatra. But all that changes on Rhea's sixteenth birthday, when her visions of the Egyptian queen start unraveling a very different version of history, and Declan, a hot representative of the secret Order of Antony, shows up on the doorstep to keep her from being kidnapped. Together, Rhea and Declan travel to Egypt to stop the Octavians, a dark cabal trying to tap into Rhea's growing powers. The cabal seeks to access the magic deep below the desert sands, a potentially devastating force that only Rhea can protect.

Review

     Rhea Spencer had lived around the supernatural her whole life without any major problems.  Her Mom is a psychic, and her sisters are a shaman, a witch and a muse.  Oh yeah, and Rhea also just happens to be the reincarnation of Cleopatra!  But on her sixteenth birthday, Rhea starts having visions of her life as the Egyptian queen and than the Order of Antony shows up to 'protect' her from another, darker order - the Octavians.  The Octavians want to kidnap Rhea and use her to unleash an army of the undead and take over the world.  Forced to leave behind her family and her boyfriend Slade (who was just made King of the Dark Creatuirs), Rhea and Declan (a member of Antony) travel to Egypt to take back the Book of the Dead and stop the Octavians for good.  Will they be able to save the world or will everything be lost for good to an ancient evil?  This book intrigued me from the start, seeing as I have always loved ancient Egyptian mythology and history.  The idea of an American teenager being the reincarnation of Cleopatra was amusing.  I liked Rhea's sarcastic, yet fairly happy existence.  The dynamic of her family was a good change from all of the splintered ones I see in YA fic on a constant basis.  I got the feeling while reading this book that I had missed something, from all the references to her sister Leah's role with the Dark Creatuirs, and I was right.  I had read this without knowing it was number two in a series.  I hate it when that happens, but for the most part it didn't affect my experience too much in this case.  It was more of an annoyance than anything else.  Rhea's romance with Slade, who is a different species, kind of squicked me out.  And the whole Romeo & Juliet thing they have going on gets old really quick.  Especially when Rhea is constantly and immaturely pining over him, whining about how much she misses him.  Yuck, I hate gushy teen romance in YA books.  Resolution came a little too quickly for my taste and I felt like the way the conflict ended was sloppy and lazy.  Overall an interesting attempt, but not my favorite mythology rendering and I wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is January 8th, 2013.*

Owner of a Lonely Heart



Expected Publication: October 9th, 2012
Iron Hearted Violet
By: Kelly Barnhill
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780316056731

IRON-HEARTED VIOLET is a story of a princess unlike any other. It is a story of the last dragon in existence, deathly afraid of its own reflection. Above all, it is a story about the power of stories, our belief in them, and how one enchanted tale changed
the course of an entire kingdom.

Princess Violet is plain, reckless, and quite possibly too clever for her own good. Particularly when it comes to telling stories. One day she and her best friend, Demetrius, stumble upon a hidden
room and find a peculiar book. A forbidden book. It tells a story of an evil being—called the Nybbas—imprisoned in their world. The story cannot be true—not really. But then the whispers start. Violet and Demetrius, along with an ancient, scarred dragon, may hold the key to the Nybbas's triumph…or its demise. It all depends on how they tell the story. After all, stories make their own rules.

Review

   Violet is a beloved princess, the only living child of her parents and they live in a kingdom ruled by tales of the old gods who created their world.  But she isn't the way a princess is supposed to be.  Violet isn't pretty, graceful or cautious.  Violet only has one real friend, Demetrius (the stablemaster's son) and she loves to tell stories about beautiful princesses and evil dragons.  But when her Father goes on a quest to find the last living dragon (not to kill it, but to learn from it) and her Mother becomes sick, she and Demetrius find a book in a hidden room.  Violet thinks the book and the creature trapped in it are the answers to all her problems.  But the Nybbas may not be all that it presents itself to be.  When her very world starts to crumble, only Demetrius and the Dragon will be able to help her stop the Nybbas from taking over the world.  Can they change the story for the better?  This book is from the point of view of the court storyteller which was an interesting departure from  the ususal third-person omniscient or first-person point of views.  At first I was really drawn into the enchantment of the mirrored-world and it's unconventional princess.  I immediately knew what was going to happen when Violet's Father went away and her Mother became ill, and it made me sad.  I loved the fact that Violet was best friends with the stable boy Demetrius.  But the fact that she is so eager to get rid of everything that made her unique and she didn't see anything wrong with it made me angry.  Even by the end of the book I felt like Violet was only sorry that things had gone so wrong, barely understanding that she was perfect the way she was.  I liked the fantasy aspect of the evil god being trapped in the Forbidden Book.  But I felt like the book was overly moralistic and it really began to annoy me by the last 50 pages or so.  The characters were interesting, but I felt like the only ones that were developed enough were Violet and the court storyteller.  The rest of them were slightly two-dimensional.  The plot was intriguing, but I feel like there was too much filler surrounding the main points of action for it to truly shine.  The fact that this book was an ARC and didn't contain the illustrations that will be in the final version also detracted from my enjoyment.  Overall, a good middle-grade, fantasy novel but not really one I would recommend to anyone over thirteen and expect them to fall in love with it.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on October 9th, 2012.*

You Disappeared Into the Shadows...

Expected Publication: September 11th, 2012
Shadowfell (Shadowfell # 1)
By: Juliet Marillier
Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780375869549

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill--a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk--Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

Review

   Neryn has been on the run with her Father for the last few years, after the King's men burned her village to the ground and the rest of her family died.  Now they are wanderers, with almost nothing to their names except each other - until her Father tries to gamble Neryn away on a Riverboat for a bet.  She's saved by a strange man named Flint, who doesn't harm her like she expects him to.  Instead he helps her to realize that the only place she'll ever truly be safe is one that might not even exist except in her brother's stories...Shadowfell.  It's a place where Neryn might be able to live without being afraid of dying because she is gifted.  Neryn has the ability to see the Good Folk (fae and other magical creatures) whether or not they want to be seen and to communicate with them.  In order to become the person she needs to be, Neryn has to pass tests laid out by the Good Folk, to prove her worth to them.  It is said that only a certain type of person can overthrow King Keldec's evil rule.  Could that person be Neryn?  Will she be able to find the strength and courage within herself to make it happen?  There was a lot of build-up in this book.  It's understandable considering it's the first in a new series.  At the beginning Neryn sort of annoyed me.  She acted really wimpy and frightened all the time, going with Flint after he won her in a game of chance.  I will say that she wasn't entirely unquestioning, but she didn't fight for herself as hard as a normal person would.  There is a lot of interaction with the Good Folk, who aren't exactly fond of humans due to Keldec's reign of terror (totally plausible) and are skeptical of Neryn from the start.  Some want to help her and manage to aid her in times of trouble but others want nothing more than for her to fail.  I am not normally fond of books involving Fae, but this one was more into other versions of little folk than just solely Fae.  The mythology of the land wasn't touched upon much, but what came across interested me a lot.  Flint was definitely not what I expected personality-wise, although the revelations about his identity weren't totally unwarranted.   One thing that bugged me was the lack of anything that actually had to do with Shadowfell, the place, until almost the end of the book.  I did enjoy the battle scene though and liked the overall plot and resolution to the first book.  I already liked Marillier's writing and this book was no exception, although not perfect.  I am excited to see Neryn's new adventures in the next novel.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is September 11th, 2012.*