This story picks up where Forbidden ended. Jayden is living on her own in the desert, and she is determined to find Kadesh, the man she believes was killed by her betrothed, Horeb, because she has heard rumors of someone who looks and acts like him being in the area. The story begins with her being attacked by one of Horeb's men, and she kills him to save herself. From there, she is reunited with Kadesh, and the two of them begin traveling to Kadesh's homeland, Sariba. Conveniently, they are able to convince Jayden's father and grandmother to travel with them. The sad part is that her grandmother dies while on the trip, and Jayden is left as the only woman in the entourage.
Eventually, the group makes it to Sariba, Kadesh's kingdom, but they are barely there before Horeb and his army catch up to them. Predictably, one of the Edomites who was supposed to be helping Kadesh was working for Horeb, and as a result, Horeb is able to stay closer to them than they expected. I was a little shocked that the author killed off the traitor, but not the other Edomite who was helping him.
The first story was a little more entertaining to me than this one was. The characters in this book were more predictable than they were in Forbidden, and I kept waiting for a bigger conflict to happen than what actually did happen. Jayden continues to be an insecure teenage girl who is naive and a little too trusting, while Kadesh is still the typical prince (knight in shining armor) who can do no wrong. I was a little tired by the end of the story because no matter how many times Kadesh told Jayden he loved her, she still didn't believe him.
The other part that bothered me about this one is the power that the "Goddess" holds over the people in Kadesh's kingdom. I know that in ancient Mesopotamia there were various religions, and that the people of Abraham tried to remain true to their God, but the power that the author gives to the other religions is a bit much, in my opinion. The villain in this story is the Queen of Sheba's half-sister who wants to rule Sariba and turn it into a stronghold for the Goddess. My problem with this is that I know that during these times the culture was very patriarchal, and I cannot see a religion who worships a woman having as much hold on a community as the author makes this one have. I would find it much more believable for the religion of Ba'al to have more hold in a kingdom than the religion of a Goddess.
By the end of the story, Jayden and Kadesh have conveniently put aside all of the misunderstandings, and they are ready to be married. But, of course, there is a shocking conflict during the wedding, which is where the story ends so there can be a third book in the series. I will read the third one just to see how the author ends the series, but at this point, I feel like the entire story of Kadesh and Jayden could have been covered in one book, and the author is simply milking it for what it's worth to get more money. While I would recommend Forbidden to those who enjoy historical fiction/romance, I wouldn't recommend this sequel unless you're like me and you hate to not finish a series after you have started it.
Sunday, February 23, 2020
My Lady Jane
I first read the novel My Plain Jane because I received it in a book subscription box, and as a result, I really wanted to read the first by these authors, which is My Lady Jane. It only took me about two years to be able to find a copy because it was so popular, and the library always had holds for it. I finally found a copy from the school library, and I fell in love with this story!
I have always loved British history, and I especially love learning about the Tudor family and Elizabethan age. The story of Jane Grey is one that is often overlooked, and I was excited to read this take on her reign. Of course, the Lady Janies take liberties with the story, and they turned it into a comedic fantasy, but that is what makes it even better in my personal opinion.
The story starts with King Edward receiving the news that he is dying, and Lord Dunlop encourages him to marry his cousin, Jane Grey, to Lord Dunlop's son so that Jane's son will be king upon Edward's death. Edward does so willingly, and he feels a little regret for marrying Jane off, but he feels like it was the right thing to do.
The funny part is that Jane's husband, Gifford (G), turns into a horse by day, and he is only human at night. He is what is known as an Edian, and although Henry VIII was also an Edian, there have been bad feelings towards them since his death. Jane has no idea that G is an Edian, and she thinks he is running off to spend his time with prostitutes, and so she isn't happy with the idea that Edward married her off to a philanderer.
As time goes by, Edward is captured by Mary, his half-sister, and he is imprisoned. Fortunately for him, his other sister, Elizabeth, is an Edian, and she hints to him that he is one also. Just as Lord Dunlop and Mary are about to kill him, he turns into a kestrel and flies away. As a result, Jane is told that Edward is dead, and she is made the queen with G as the new king. Of course, their reign doesn't last long because Mary comes in with her army, and she has them thrown into the prison of the Tower of London. Fortunately, at this point, Jane also learns that she is an Edian, and she turns into a ferret just in time to escape and get G out of the prison as well.
The story goes on with all kinds of misunderstandings, and I honestly got very frustrated with Jane and G because neither one of them would tell each other the truth. They slowly fall in love, but they are both too stubborn to admit it. Also, Edward eventually reunites with them, and he meets his own Edian love interest as well. By the end of the book, most of the royal family are Edians, but they have to dethrone Mary before she decides to get rid of all of the Edians in England. They enlist the help of the King of France, and Mary, Queen of Scots, to get rid of Mary, and there were times when I felt that it just wasn't going to happen. I actually felt like the true part of the story would happen where Jane is beheaded and Edward dies leaving no heir to the throne.
However, the authors do a great job of taking a tragic history and turning it into a Happily Ever After fairy tale. All of the characters survive, and they eventually get what their hearts desire. In order to remain true to the historical facts though, Edward does not remain king, Jane and G do not reign in his place or lose their heads, and Elizabeth becomes the queen after getting rid of Mary from the throne.
Overall, it was a delightful read for me, and I know that my students who love historical fiction and/or fantasy will enjoy this one. It may upset readers who want historical fiction to remain true to the facts, but I thought the twists on the truth were very well done. In fact, the twisting of the truth led me to do research into what really did happen because I knew so little about Jane Grey and her brief rule of England. This is definitely one I recommend if you enjoy history, fantasy, and humor.
I have always loved British history, and I especially love learning about the Tudor family and Elizabethan age. The story of Jane Grey is one that is often overlooked, and I was excited to read this take on her reign. Of course, the Lady Janies take liberties with the story, and they turned it into a comedic fantasy, but that is what makes it even better in my personal opinion.
The story starts with King Edward receiving the news that he is dying, and Lord Dunlop encourages him to marry his cousin, Jane Grey, to Lord Dunlop's son so that Jane's son will be king upon Edward's death. Edward does so willingly, and he feels a little regret for marrying Jane off, but he feels like it was the right thing to do.
The funny part is that Jane's husband, Gifford (G), turns into a horse by day, and he is only human at night. He is what is known as an Edian, and although Henry VIII was also an Edian, there have been bad feelings towards them since his death. Jane has no idea that G is an Edian, and she thinks he is running off to spend his time with prostitutes, and so she isn't happy with the idea that Edward married her off to a philanderer.
As time goes by, Edward is captured by Mary, his half-sister, and he is imprisoned. Fortunately for him, his other sister, Elizabeth, is an Edian, and she hints to him that he is one also. Just as Lord Dunlop and Mary are about to kill him, he turns into a kestrel and flies away. As a result, Jane is told that Edward is dead, and she is made the queen with G as the new king. Of course, their reign doesn't last long because Mary comes in with her army, and she has them thrown into the prison of the Tower of London. Fortunately, at this point, Jane also learns that she is an Edian, and she turns into a ferret just in time to escape and get G out of the prison as well.
The story goes on with all kinds of misunderstandings, and I honestly got very frustrated with Jane and G because neither one of them would tell each other the truth. They slowly fall in love, but they are both too stubborn to admit it. Also, Edward eventually reunites with them, and he meets his own Edian love interest as well. By the end of the book, most of the royal family are Edians, but they have to dethrone Mary before she decides to get rid of all of the Edians in England. They enlist the help of the King of France, and Mary, Queen of Scots, to get rid of Mary, and there were times when I felt that it just wasn't going to happen. I actually felt like the true part of the story would happen where Jane is beheaded and Edward dies leaving no heir to the throne.
However, the authors do a great job of taking a tragic history and turning it into a Happily Ever After fairy tale. All of the characters survive, and they eventually get what their hearts desire. In order to remain true to the historical facts though, Edward does not remain king, Jane and G do not reign in his place or lose their heads, and Elizabeth becomes the queen after getting rid of Mary from the throne.
Overall, it was a delightful read for me, and I know that my students who love historical fiction and/or fantasy will enjoy this one. It may upset readers who want historical fiction to remain true to the facts, but I thought the twists on the truth were very well done. In fact, the twisting of the truth led me to do research into what really did happen because I knew so little about Jane Grey and her brief rule of England. This is definitely one I recommend if you enjoy history, fantasy, and humor.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
The Library of Lost Things
This title is misleading. If you are looking for a title that lets you know a little bit about the book then this isn't the one you want. Also, if you don't want to read a cheesy romance then this isn't for you either. But if you enjoy teen romance and learning who you are as a person, then you will enjoy this book.
Darcy Wells is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in LA, and she has never known her father. She has one close friend, Marisol Robles, and she loves books. She has books memorized almost line for line, and she escapes through her books when life gets to be too much for her. However, Darcy has a secret that she is hiding, and the secret is that her mom is a hoarder. Since Darcy doesn't have a father, she and her mother rely on her mother's income, but at times, her mother's shopping prevents Darcy from paying for necessities, like rent, groceries, and maintenance for their apartment. Darcy is counting down the days until she turns eighteen and Child Protective Services cannot take her away from her mother. However, prior to her eighteenth birthday, her grandma has been helping out financially, and her grandmother tells Darcy that once Darcy is eighteen if she chooses to continue living with her mother then the money will be cut off. Darcy decides to stay with her mom, but her part time job at a bookstore doesn't cover everything that she needs. So, Darcy, with the help of Marisol, starts selling some of her mother's hoarded makeup online to make up for the income that she loses from her grandmother.
In addition to dealing with her mom, Darcy meets Ashton. Ashton graduated from her high school, and she never really knew him, but he starts showing up at her work each day during his break. Ashton had a goal to get into the military, but an automobile accident right before he graduated caused him to lose full mobility in one leg, and the recurring headaches from the accident make it so he can't fly anymore, which was his dream. As Darcy starts to spend more time with Ashton, she gets to know him, and they develop a relationship, but she still doesn't let him fully in to her life. She doesn't want Ashton to know about her mother or the problems that she faces with a hoarder as a mom.
Because I am a sucker for Young Adult romance, I fell in love with this one pretty quickly. I love Darcy because she was me when I was in high school. I still would much rather read a book than face reality, and a lot of times, I try to make books my reality. It's much easier for me to read and escape into a fictional world than to look someone in the eye and tell them about my personal struggles.
I also love Asher because he wasn't the typical teenage boy that I expected at first. He accepted Darcy from the beginning for who she was, and surprisingly, he didn't leave when he learned the truth about her mother. In addition, he was open and honest with her about who he was, and he never hid anything from her. It was refreshing to see a boyfriend who wasn't trying to be the "perfect boyfriend".
The only drawback to the story was that I was a little surprised at how quickly Ashton and Darcy started dating. I thought for sure that their relationship wouldn't really begin until closer to the end of the book, but instead, they actually started dating about halfway. The real conflict was Darcy coming to terms with her mother's hoarding and also learning who she really was as a person. I loved the end of the book, but I won't ruin it for you here. Let's just say it ends happily, and there is hope for Darcy to continue to grow and become the person she wants to be.
I would definitely recommend this for lovers of young adult romance and coming of age stories. It's one that I feel the female readers in my class would enjoy, but I know that there are a few males in there who would enjoy it as well. It will be one that is on my list of recommendations for all of my classes from now on.
Darcy Wells is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in LA, and she has never known her father. She has one close friend, Marisol Robles, and she loves books. She has books memorized almost line for line, and she escapes through her books when life gets to be too much for her. However, Darcy has a secret that she is hiding, and the secret is that her mom is a hoarder. Since Darcy doesn't have a father, she and her mother rely on her mother's income, but at times, her mother's shopping prevents Darcy from paying for necessities, like rent, groceries, and maintenance for their apartment. Darcy is counting down the days until she turns eighteen and Child Protective Services cannot take her away from her mother. However, prior to her eighteenth birthday, her grandma has been helping out financially, and her grandmother tells Darcy that once Darcy is eighteen if she chooses to continue living with her mother then the money will be cut off. Darcy decides to stay with her mom, but her part time job at a bookstore doesn't cover everything that she needs. So, Darcy, with the help of Marisol, starts selling some of her mother's hoarded makeup online to make up for the income that she loses from her grandmother.
In addition to dealing with her mom, Darcy meets Ashton. Ashton graduated from her high school, and she never really knew him, but he starts showing up at her work each day during his break. Ashton had a goal to get into the military, but an automobile accident right before he graduated caused him to lose full mobility in one leg, and the recurring headaches from the accident make it so he can't fly anymore, which was his dream. As Darcy starts to spend more time with Ashton, she gets to know him, and they develop a relationship, but she still doesn't let him fully in to her life. She doesn't want Ashton to know about her mother or the problems that she faces with a hoarder as a mom.
Because I am a sucker for Young Adult romance, I fell in love with this one pretty quickly. I love Darcy because she was me when I was in high school. I still would much rather read a book than face reality, and a lot of times, I try to make books my reality. It's much easier for me to read and escape into a fictional world than to look someone in the eye and tell them about my personal struggles.
I also love Asher because he wasn't the typical teenage boy that I expected at first. He accepted Darcy from the beginning for who she was, and surprisingly, he didn't leave when he learned the truth about her mother. In addition, he was open and honest with her about who he was, and he never hid anything from her. It was refreshing to see a boyfriend who wasn't trying to be the "perfect boyfriend".
The only drawback to the story was that I was a little surprised at how quickly Ashton and Darcy started dating. I thought for sure that their relationship wouldn't really begin until closer to the end of the book, but instead, they actually started dating about halfway. The real conflict was Darcy coming to terms with her mother's hoarding and also learning who she really was as a person. I loved the end of the book, but I won't ruin it for you here. Let's just say it ends happily, and there is hope for Darcy to continue to grow and become the person she wants to be.
I would definitely recommend this for lovers of young adult romance and coming of age stories. It's one that I feel the female readers in my class would enjoy, but I know that there are a few males in there who would enjoy it as well. It will be one that is on my list of recommendations for all of my classes from now on.
Monday, February 3, 2020
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
I have had Six of Crows on my to-read list since it was first published, and I put it on my kindle almost a year before I actually got around to reading it. The story takes place in the city of Ketterdam, which is a city inspired by Amsterdam. Kaz Brekker is a owner of the Six of Crows club, and he is also looking for revenge against Pekka Rollins, a man he blames for the death of his older brother. When Kaz is offered the chance to make more money than he has ever dreamed of, he cannot pass it up. He recruits Inej, Nina, Jesper, and Wylan to help him, and the five of them soon break Matthias out of prison to get him to join the team. The six of them then travel to Fjerda to rescue Bo Yul-Bayur from the Ice Court where he is being held to manufacture a drug that renders Grisha (people with magical powers) basically indestructible. However, the drug is also very addictive, and Kaz and his crew know that if they don't rescue Bo Yul-Bayur then other groups will control him, and the drug could lead to the destruction of the Grisha and the world as they know it.
I have to say that this is one of the better Fantasy books that I have read recently, and as I started the book it was easy for me to see what the appeal was to my students who had read the book. I loved learning about the past of each of the characters, and I was swept away with them in all of their adventures. Bardugo does an excellent job of weaving their lives together, and she creates believable stories for each character. I found myself wishing that I knew more about each character, and I felt that each one of them could have a book of their own to tell their back story.
Another part that I loved was the way that Bardugo was able to get the characters out of situations that I thought for sure they would not be able to get out of on their own. It was so fun for me to see how Matthias worked against the Fjerdan government and turned his back on his home because of his love for Nina. I loved seeing Inej get in and out of predicaments thanks to her own quick thinking and the help of her crew. There were some parts that I thought for sure one of the characters were going to get killed, but Bardugo apparently didn't want to see any of them die, and I was happy to read a story where none of the main characters were killed off.
The end of the story is clearly a cliffhanger, and there is a second book to follow up. I also read online that many felt you should read the Shadow and Bones series prior to reading this, but I don't see that as a necessity. The Shadow and Bones series would help you understand a little more about Ketterdam and the world the characters live in, but I felt that there was enough background information given in this one that I didn't need to read the series that came before. Overall, I highly recommend Six of Crows to anyone who loves young adult fantasy with a little bit of romance mixed in.
I have to say that this is one of the better Fantasy books that I have read recently, and as I started the book it was easy for me to see what the appeal was to my students who had read the book. I loved learning about the past of each of the characters, and I was swept away with them in all of their adventures. Bardugo does an excellent job of weaving their lives together, and she creates believable stories for each character. I found myself wishing that I knew more about each character, and I felt that each one of them could have a book of their own to tell their back story.
Another part that I loved was the way that Bardugo was able to get the characters out of situations that I thought for sure they would not be able to get out of on their own. It was so fun for me to see how Matthias worked against the Fjerdan government and turned his back on his home because of his love for Nina. I loved seeing Inej get in and out of predicaments thanks to her own quick thinking and the help of her crew. There were some parts that I thought for sure one of the characters were going to get killed, but Bardugo apparently didn't want to see any of them die, and I was happy to read a story where none of the main characters were killed off.
The end of the story is clearly a cliffhanger, and there is a second book to follow up. I also read online that many felt you should read the Shadow and Bones series prior to reading this, but I don't see that as a necessity. The Shadow and Bones series would help you understand a little more about Ketterdam and the world the characters live in, but I felt that there was enough background information given in this one that I didn't need to read the series that came before. Overall, I highly recommend Six of Crows to anyone who loves young adult fantasy with a little bit of romance mixed in.
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