Book Review- The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Title: The Gathering Storm

 Author: Robin Bridges

Series:  The Katerina Trilogy #1

To be published:  January 10 2012 by Delacorte Press

Length: 400 pages

Warnings: a little violence, romance

Source: Netgalley

Other info: This is Robin Bridge’s debut novel.

Summary : Debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.
 An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.
 The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

Review: This is set in 1880s Russia, and centres around Katerina, a young necromancer. As well as the dead being brought back to life, this Russia also contains many different types of vampires, faeries, witches and many paranormal creatures connected somehow to Russian folkore. And with all the mystery going on at court, various things happen and Katerina is the only one who can really do anything about it.

I don’t normally read things involving Russia, mainly because there’s not that many YA books set in Russia. Or maybe they are, and I’ve not heard of them. But anyway, this was a new culture for me. The way the faerie and vampire and other paranormal races were woven into the Nobility was very interesting, and done in a way that I love.d. Really, the actual nobility were the creatures. Fun. 

Katerina is a great lead character, she’s strong, not afraid to voice her opinions and dreams of being a doctor, something almost unheard of for women in those days. I don’t think the other characters were quite as well done, possibly excepting her mother, who was strong and interesting in her own way. The romance, while not being particularly amazing, didn’t detract from enjoying the book either, and was just there.  The biggest drawback in this is the names. All very similar, as per Russian tradition, but hard to remember and distinguish.

The mystery and the part of the plot that was interesting didn’t really pick up until later on in the novel. Until then, it was fairly repetitive. And then when it did all pick up, I was hooked until the end.

I loved the rich mythology and the whole variety of things used. It was very interesting to read about the set up of the nobility, and also the set up of the Faerie and Vampire courts and so and so.

We're kept guessing throughout the second half, partly due to the stuff that's happening and the ways it could go, and partly because of the way things are easily mixed up (at least for me).

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a very original book with a strong heroine that I want to see more of.

Links: Goodreads |

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Book Review- Ward against Death by Melanie Card

Title: Ward against Death

 Author: Melanie Card

Series:  Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1

Published:  August 2011 by Entangled Publishing

Length: 306 pages

Warnings: kissing, fantasy violence, 13+

Source: Library

Summary : Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.
 But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.
 However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…

Review: Edward “Ward” de’Ath (I love the name so much) is trying to start his career as a necromancer. This fails when his relatively easy task goes wrong and the dead girl (who he’s just risen) is dragging him out to the sewers, demanding they find justice for her murder. Celia (the girl) is insistant she's been murdered, and they go on an adventure through sewers and towns and all sorts. One thing's certain for Ward-something that should be simple, won't be, and something that should not be deadly, will be.

The fantasy setting of The Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer is amazing. It's easy to imagine, and get the feel of the place as everything from the layout of the sewers to the social hierarchy to the religion of the place is described. The only downside to this historical/fantastical new world is the fact that some names of things are long and hard to remember.

Ward and Celia are two strong characters. I think Ward developed most thoughout the novel, from being an unexperienced necromance semi-experienced necromancer who is a lot more confident than when we first find him.

The side characters were nice additions to the story too, but I never really cared about them throughout. They gave a good idea of possible characters to appear in later books though.

The romance was done nicely. It was interesting that Ward obviously felt for Celia in a romantic way, but (unlike most teenagers in YA fiction of today) also managed to remember that his love interest is dead.

I loved the plot. Completely original and very fun, it was paced well and had a few subplots not focussing on Celia, which was nice. I wasn't expecting the narration to be in the third person, but it flowed well with the occasional parts  that made me really laugh out loud.

Overall:  Strength  4 tea to a fun adventure/mystery with a great setting.

Links:  Goodreads | Author website | 

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Japanese YA Week review- Battle Royale by Koushun Tamaki

Title: Battle Royale

 Author: Koushun Tamaki

Series:  N/A

Published:  2003 by Viz. First published 1999.

Length:623 pages

Warnings: Nearly 40 deaths, almost all in graphic detail. Profanity. A few suggestive situations.

Source: Library

Other info: It has an M rated manga published once by Tokyopop and two films based on it.

Summary : Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, now available for the first time in the English language

Review: This is probably the only one of the week you’ve heard of before now. In it there’s elements of Lord of the Flies, and the Hunger Games , and lots of other things. Even the title is used to mean a huge fight. So, maybe you have heard of this. Or maybe you haven’t.

A class of forty 15-year-olds are knocked out with gas on a school trip bus, and wake up in a strange classroom with collars around their necks. Then a relatively cheerful looking man tells them they have to kill eachother, gives them a few rules as to where and where not they can go, and sends them out with food, water and a weapon. Weapon meaning anything from a machine gun to a sickle to a fork. Shuya Nanahara and Noriko team up with mysterious Shogo, and 35 other students work out their own ways of playing THE GAME.

The premise is one that shocked readers when it first came out. It’s also one on which there have been a lot of variations. There’s a lot you can do witht hte kill or be killed idea, and Koushun Tamaki has taken just one route with it.

My favourite thing is the character depth. Almost all of the characters get a long backstory (what did you think the 600+ pages were full of? Thirty deaths in great detail won’t fill all of that!), some of which are funny, some are intriguing and some tragic. With that, and the actions of the students in the game, they all become real flesh and blood people, before they become just flesh and blood.

It’s very fast paced. People betray everyone left, right and centre and it’s really amazing to see what will happen to  people once they’re put into a situation that they weren’t expecting but s till have to fight for survival.

One really helpful bit about this is the fact that at the end of every chapter, it say “X students remaining.” With the X being the number of students remaining. Seriously, if it wasn’t for that, I would have lost count within the first few chapters of the game.

Overall: Strength 5 tea to a fast paced thriller with many many full characters. Can’t wait to see what Tamaki has next. Which is apparently in progress, if the author bio is to be believed.    

Links:  Goodreads

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Japanese YA Week review- Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Title: Vampire Hunter D

 Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi . Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano

Series:  Vampire Hunter D

Published:  2005 by Dark Horse Publishing

Length: 268 pages

Warnings: Profanity, moderate sex content, vampires, violence, 16+

Source: Library

Other info: This has spawned an anime, manga, animated films, live action film, and video games.

Summary : It is the year 12,090 AD. The world has ended, ravaged in a firestorm of man's wars and madness. But from the wreckage a few humans manage to survive. A few humans...and something else. Doris Lang knew what her fate was when the vampire lord Count Magnus Lee bit her. An agonizing transformation into one of the undead, to be stalked by her fellow villagers or cursed to become the bride of the unholy creature and face an eternity of torment, driven by the thirst for human blood. There was only one chance, and as she watched him ride in from the distance she knew there was hope. Salvation...from a vampire named D.

Review: Some of you may have heard of Vampire Hunter D, some of you might not. It's post-apocalyptic, set 10,000 years in the future and a few humans are still alive. And there's some other things out there that aren't exactly human and aren't exactly alive either.

Vampire lord Count Magnus Lee has bitten Doris Lang, cursing her to transform into a vampire, be fought by her neighbours or marry this vampire. Not a bright outlook. But Vampire Hunter D is able to save her. Add in Rin-Ginsei, rogue who I can't really figure out the point of,  and you generally get the plot...

Some time ago, everyone seemed to have read or seen VHD, apart from me. So I got the library to buy it. I then got put off it at the content in the first chapter. Which looking back on it wasn't too bad, but to a young and somewhat innocent twelve year old was quite bad. So now I'm older, I went back to it to have another go.

 The set up is good, with a clear idea of where it can go if Doris doesn't get the help.

Doris was a fairly strong female main, able to stand up for herself and handy with a whip,  but does rely on D for help. As I said, I didn't see the point of Rin-Ginsei other than as a character to oppose D, but oh well.

The vampires in this are traditional ones, with   laws and ceremony surrounding wives, and biting and other things like that.

The writing was third person and seemed distanced from me through most of it. However, the action scenes were incredibly well written.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a book that I can understand why it spawned a huge franchise, but it just doesn't do it for me.

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Book Review- Pyxis, The Discovery by K C Neal

Title: Pyxis-The Discovery

 Author: K. C. Neal

Series:  Pyxis #1

Published: Ebook Oct/Nov 2011, Print Dec 2012  

Length: 216 pages

Warnings: Sex references, suggestive situations, 14+

Source: Author in exchange for review

Other info: This is the first book in the series. Book two, The Peril, will come in Spring 2012.

Summary : Corinne lives an average teenage life working at her dad’s cafe, hanging out with her best friend, and trying to forget a falling-out with her almost-boyfriend Mason. Things take a strange turn when she uses her late grandmother’s food dyes for a bake sale, and her customers suddenly find her irresistibly alluring. Then she discovers she and Mason are haunted by the same dreams of a dark force that consumes everything in its path. Pursued by shadowy figures and a crazy woman with secrets from the past, Corinne must find out who her grandmother really was. In her quest to unravel her family’s history, she learns she is destined to protect this world--and the dark world of her dreams. She races to find the answers she seeks before her nightmares break free. 

Review: some time ago, there was a thing on K.C.Neal’s website saying book bloggers could reserve an e-ARC. I read the vague summary, and requested one not knowing at all what I’d actually get. It could have been anything. It was  an original concept with the cakes being the thing that starts a discovery, which then quickly escalates into something  really awesome.

After realising tipping liquid from strange bottles into cakes that will be given to strangers is not the best thing to do, as the customers start acting really weirdly, Corinne and her friend Ang and nearly-boyfriend Mason investigating. They come across a list with their names on it, with mysterious initials and many more unexplained things. Corinne and her friends must learn about their new status quickly...

The characters were all well developed. Corinne was very relatable, as were her problems of being a teen girl in general, with the added fact that she’s received a letter pre-written (if that makes sense) by her grandmother telling her what to do. How much I love Grandma Doris and her opening to the explain all letter... “if you’re reading it [the letter], I must be dead. What a pity!” The other characters were all fleshed out just as well, and I can see some of them coming into play majorly as we go through the series (I’m looking here at Harriet and Sophie...)

The romantic side actually added quite a lot to the book, something that doesn’t always happen with books. Mason and Corinne’s   relationship was open for exploration, and towards the end when they are bound together magically in a way, you could tell there was another slight layer to this.

The pacing was a little slower at the start, but it quickly picked up. Some bits were a little predictable, but  there are some bits that really kept me thinking about what happened/what will happen.  The book ends at an annoyingly convenient part- convenient because here was a logical place to end it, but annoying because it had just turned a huge corner in terms of plot development and I wanted to read on!

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to an amazing book that I can’t wait for the sequels to. I want to carry on with Corinne’s story and I also want to see if my suspicions are correct...

Links: | Goodreads | Author website | 

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