Monday, July 15, 2019

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

                                                                                         Photo taken by Emboss&Spine 

Title: Sorcery of Thorns
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: June 4th, 2019

                                       Summary :
"All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined. "

Review :

  Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson leaves me thinking of one word; wow. I have not been able to stop thinking about this book and it's amazing story.  I have fallen in love with the world of magical libraries, the personalities a Grimoire can have, and the main characters.

  Elisabeth is accused of a great crime and is put into the hands of Sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn and his demon servant Silas. Nathaniel is such a well written character, from his witty one liners to the emotional underlining of what makes him the man he is, I couldn't help but lean into the book eager for his dialogue. Then there is Silas. Just thinking his name I can't help but sigh because I love him. Silas has served the Thorn family for hundreds of years, and since the death of Nathaniel's family, Silas is all Nathaniel has. Silas makes an amazing cup of tea, and has a killer sense of fashion and a moral compass no demon should have. I know Elisabeth and Nathaniel are the main characters on a mission to figure out who is behind the releasing of the most dangerous Grimoires - turned monster - when set free, but I would be so happy to have a novella all about Silas. To me, he is the character that you read about and can't help but connect with, want to protect and have more of in a story.

  One thing I really loved about Sorcery of Thorns was how each Sorcerer had their own main color that represented them.  Nathaniel's is emerald green, a lot of his attire would be emerald, whenever he performed magic, it would glow green and leave a glittering emerald residue wherever it touched. Nathaniel would sometimes perform magic that would bring marbeled statues to life, his emotions sometimes would control the weather and whenever he would perform, emerald sparks would flicker from his finger tips. Another thing I really enjoyed about the story was whenever Rogerson would connect you up close with a Grimoire. From scratching one's spine and making it pur, to having them spit ink at you, they each had their own individual personalities. It really made me think "How would my books act if they could come to life?" 

Sorcery of Thorns is a beautifully written and magical story that will enchant it's readers from the moment they open the book. Packed with intense action scenes and heartfelt moments, this book is hands down one of the best reads so far of 2019.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars ~ MUST READ
  

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Nocturna by Maya Motayne

Photo taken by Emboss&Spine (Litjoy edition)

TitleNocturna
AuthorMaya Motayne
GenreFantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Baltzer + Bay
Publication DateMay 2nd, 2019


Summary :

Set in a Latinx-inspired world, a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince must team up to defeat a powerful evil they accidentally unleashed.

To Finn Voy, magic is two things: a knife to hold under the chin of anyone who crosses her…and a disguise she shrugs on as easily as others pull on cloaks.

As a talented faceshifter, it’s been years since Finn has seen her own face, and that’s exactly how she likes it. But when Finn gets caught by a powerful mobster, she’s forced into an impossible mission: steal a legendary treasure from Castallan’s royal palace or be stripped of her magic forever.

After the murder of his older brother, Prince Alfehr is first in line for the Castallan throne. But Alfie can’t help but feel that he will never live up to his brother’s legacy. Riddled with grief, Alfie is obsessed with finding a way to bring his brother back, even if it means dabbling in forbidden magic.

But when Finn and Alfie’s fates collide, they accidentally unlock a terrible, ancient power—which, if not contained, will devour the world. And with Castallan’s fate in their hands, Alfie and Finn must race to vanquish what they have unleashed, even if it means facing the deepest darkness in their pasts  "

Review :

  First, the magic in Nocturna is amazing! It wasn’t just ordinary magic, it was elemental. So I was getting a lot of Avatar the Last Airbender vibes while reading it. Yes, that amazing. The other extension of magic comes from a person’s Propio which is in the form of their shadow. Each Propio is unique to an individual and blossoms from something in them. The main character Alfie, has elemental magic of water but his Propio lets him see magic in different shades and colors and is able to tap into another person’s color of magic and copy it. The other main character Finn has stone magic. Her Propio lets her change her and other people’s faces to whomever she wants them to be. 

  The plot of this book makes sense but the way it started doesn’t really make any. Dark evil magic that has been suppressed for a long time gets released and Finn and Alfie go on a journey to capture the evil and stop it from bringing the world back into Nocturna. But everything before the moment the magic gets released doesn’t really fit into the rest of the story. It felt like two different parts and I think more editorial time could have been spent cutting to make the story line cohesive. But that’s just me.

  Lastly the topic of Finn and Alfie I am on the fence about. I’m all for enemies-turned-lovers and broody sarcastic banter, but their whole story felt like a snail running a race. I knew the story was coming to an end but my god I could only read about tension between two characters for so long. 
I think having a comfortable friendship base is important in a relationship as a beginning stage but to have these characters just stare at each other, each think about their feelings toward the other, hug a couple of times, and hold hands one moment is ridiculous. They hit each other, get on one another’s nerves and maybe find a second when neither are angry to hold hands. It was juvenile and not at all a young adult type of romance. 

  Also the amount of times Finn says ‘Maldito’ is utterly ridiculous. It’s in almost every sentence she speaks. Seriously, did Maya’s editor not get annoyed or think it was too much? Imagine if a character said the word ‘like’ in every sentence. It would cheapen the character. That’s how I felt about Finn. Her character was written with too much force. We get that she is a badass thief but reading her felt like I was being forced to repeatedly remember she is tough. 

  Though the plot of Nocturna could have been arranged a bit differently, Finn could’ve been written a bit better, and the chemistry between Finn and Alfie could have been improved from the level of watching kids in kindergarten try to flirt, I most definitely will be looking forward to the sequel because I loved the magic in this book and Alfie as a character. 


⭐⭐⭐⭐ ~  4 Stars ~ Good Read!