KEEP CALM AND LOVE BOOKS: Magic

Pages: 404

Publication Date: October 7th 2003

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

ISBN: 0425226883 (ISBN13: 9780425226889)

On the night of her twenty-fifth birthday, alone in her apartment, Air Force Sergeant Christine Canady wished for one thing: a little magic in her life. After drinking way too much champagne, she performed, of all crazy things, a goddess-summoning ritual, hoping that it would somehow make her life a little less ordinary...but she never believed the spell would actually work.

When her military plane crashes into the ocean, CC's mission overseas takes an unexpected turn. She awakens to find herself in a legendary time and place where magic rules the land—occupying the body of the mythic mermaid Undine. But there is danger in the waters and the goddess Gaea turns this modern, military gal into a beautiful damsel so that she can seek shelter on land.

CC is soon rescued (literally) by a knight in shining armor. She should be falling in love with this dream-come-true, but instead she aches for the sea and Dylan, the sexy merman who has stolen her heart.

Now, What I Thought:

WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW. I was so not expecting to like this book. I couldn't believe how hooked I got!! Immediately I thought our protagonist, CC, was weird and that I was not going to like her at all. Yep. As you guessed it, I was 100% wrong. It took a couple chapters (maybe up to 4) for me to really start to realize how great this story was. It's not a regular, stereotypical siren/mermaid love tail (no pun intended) but instead, the love was magical and CC's transformation between a strong, Air Force and independent women to this love filled, desperate mermaid was incredible!! There are 7 books in this series and when I saw that, I was immediately confused. The novel ended beautifully and I couldn't imagine continuing CC and Dylan's story anymore but then I realized they're all different plots!!! Every book in P.C. Cast's series has different settings, plots, God's and characters. I can definitely say I will be reading more of her works because she is a fantastic writer. Now, just for reader's discretion, this should be labeled Rated R considering there is sexual content in this. I've definitely read worse but some people might find the sex scenes in here a little too much. I truly didn't mind it at all, I found it fitting because it showcased Dylan and CC's love perfectly! I will admit I did not get how Dylan and CC had sex. Sorry, I'm just going to put it out there... It didn't make sense to me but oh well.

CC was incredible. She was brave, strong, independent and hello! An Air Force Sergeant!!! I love anything with a strong female lead, especially one in the army, so this was perfect. She really knew when to stand her ground and make herself known to the empowering men. CC goes into a realm and world where on land, women are looked down upon and beauty is considered a sin and evil, especially a women's beauty. So of course, CC in this beautiful body of Undine, demands attention by her very existence. The abbot running the monastery where she resides, does not take to her and instantly hates her. Lot's of drama transpires but I managed to stay so impressed with CC and her strong will and not giving up even though the situations were SO degrading to women, I wanted to scream.

"I did so enjoy learning the Poultry Dance," Gwenyth said, waving a hand in front of her heated face.

"Chicken Dance," CC corrected with a giggle.

"Chicken Dance," Gwenyth repeated. The old woman's eyes sparkled."

Dylan was just sooooooo fine. He was perfect. From the moment we met him to the very end was amazing. He was such a good match for CC and I loved that he made sure to mention from the beginning that he loved CC for CC, not Undine's body. He really, truly loved her and it was love at first sight. I liked that we got his P.O.V sometimes because it allowed us to see his true intentions and make us fall in love with him even more! Gaea was so sweet. She was just so lovely to read about! I loved her immediate love and protection for CC, even though her own daughter was away from her. She really was a great mother and Goddess. I liked when we met Lir in the end. Lir was definitely not what I was expecting though! Usually with Greek mythology novels, I detest when an author makes God's and Goddess's nice and sweet, because in myth and legend, they were brutes that loved to kill and have sex. Cast really held that balance with Gaea and Lir, whom is Poseidon by the way, and we really saw that they were capable of in the last couple chapters. Let's not forget Lynelle. I knew from the beginning they would be close friends. Lynelle really shown through on her trust and support for CC even after she found out what she was. I liked that Cast gave Lynelle character growth as well!

“True love is not a potion one person can swallow and another refuse to drink. It happens only when the souls of two join together to form one."

There were a lot of moments in this book where I wanted to scream at the abbot, Andres, Sarpedon and many more characters but that was just the thrill to see the judgment get passed onto THEM in the end. Really guys, this was a wonderful book and I assure you I will be reading the others in this series because I can't get enough of Cast's writing!

P.S. Yes, the original cover was just so boring I had to use the 2008 paperback edition one because it's clearly more interesting. The ISBN is of that edition, just to be clear.

air force - 2:22:00 AM

Goddess of the Sea (Goddess Summoning #1) by P.C. Cast | Review

Pages: 404 Publication Date: October 7th 2003 Publisher: Berkley Sensation ISBN: 0425226883 (ISBN13: 9780425226889 ) On t...

Pages: 428 pages

Publication Date: August 18th 2015

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 0373211724 (ISBN13: 9780373211722)

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…

Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…

Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.

And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the shocking details of real history, New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known, Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Now, What I Thought:

This book follows Alexander the Great, yes the same one we learn about in high school, in his teenage years to becoming the king of Macedonia . It takes place in 360 BC, which is just crazy to read about in Herman's amazing descriptive text. This did take me a while to read and get into but that's only because of the amount of characters with crazy long ancient names. I needed time to remember the roles some of these people played in our protagonist's storylines. With that in mind, there were A LOT of different character arcs. I actually really liked Herman's writing and the distinguishing between the characters, it was really fun and different to read about this mysterious, unknown time period from a historian's (Eleanor Herman) mind.

For everyone's storyline, we have 3 main plots: Alexander, Katerina and Zofia's. Among those we then have the minor plots with different P.O.V chapters: Jacob, Hephaestion, Cynane, and Olympia. It sounds really confusing but it wasn't! I liked how we heard from everyone's head and it gave us more perspective on the story and world we're set in. Speaking of the word, this takes place in, again, 360 BC, so the Gods and Goddesses from Greek mythology are pretty prominent in this. We always get references about how not long ago the Gods roamed the earth. I really liked the incorporation of mythology and how we frequently get references of Zeus, Ares, Oracle of Delphi, Athena etc. Again, Herman is a historian so it does not surprise me that she included history that's pretty accurate to today's knowledge.

This is a quote from the Author's Note at the end of the book:

"Though this is a work of fantasy with some fictional main characters—Katerina, Jacob, and Zofia—I wanted to make their world of 340 BC as historically accurate as possible... While Alexander’s half sister, Cynane, might feel too modern, she really did model herself on the Amazons and was known for her military prowess....His father, the king, was distant and harsh; his manipulative, ambitious mother was devoted to her snakes and widely regarded as a witch; his older half sister, Cynane, was a jealous, competitive Amazon; his younger half brother, Arrhideus, was mentally handicapped; and his tutor, Leonidas, employed educational methods that would today land him in jail for child abuse."

I loved how accurate this was and it really does make me want to read more of her work.

Now, for the actual characters and storylines, the only plot that really advanced in the beginning was Princess Zofia. Right away, her story just goes to the max with drama and she has to fight for what she wants and realize the dangers outside of her well protected and sheltered life in the palace. We left her story very open ended and I'm excited to see how her's will end in the sequel. I also just really want her to help with the war in Pella and meet everyone. We start the book off in Katerina's P.O.V and we can already tell she's not normal. She definitely has some strong magic coursing through her veins and I liked how the book ended with her owning her true self and I'm so excited to see her embrace herself fully. Heph, Alexander's best friend (even in history), was pretty dull, but I still liked hearing his thought. His one problem, which clearly states in the book, is his pride. I really found his pride annoying at times but towards the end, like everything, he was just getting better and I think he's going to be a great hero in the end.

My favourite storyline had to be between Kats and Cynane, Alexander's sister. Something about her abrasive manner and how she'll do anything to prove she doesn't want to be just a lady (GoT's Arya basically) was amazing. From the start of her P.O.V chapter, I knew I'd like her.

"As she slips through the crowd, she intentionally brushes against different men. She’s not sure why she does it—to remind herself of her power over them, perhaps? Or maybe because even through the coarse cloth of her dress, it feels kind of thrilling when they touch—as if anything could happen."

I just feel like there are so many great moments in this book that I need to quote them all for you guys. If you need convincing to read this book at all, just look at all of the glorious reviews it has. This book was amazing and I can say it is my favourite read in 2016 so far. I can't remember a book I read that just left me speechless and MAKE me want to search the web to find out more of the stuff that conspired in 360 BC. Guys, just read it. It's simply amazing and I am now going to read Eleanor Herman's other novels.

Here are some quotes to persuade you further:

Alexander's P.O.V:

"Down on the street, a man driving an empty cart is cursing bitterly, trying to back up his donkey and cart to make way for another vehicle. That’s how it is, Alex thinks. Someone always has to give in. But not for long. He has other plans, plans his father doesn’t know about. And if he succeeds, he’ll be the greatest leader this world has ever known."

Cynane's P.O.V:

"True loyalty—it’s almost unheard of. And it’s exactly what Cyn has been looking for all these years. Correction: it’s what she has been looking to destroy."

Katerina's P.O.V:

"“There was, long ago, in the time before time, a great battle between gods and monsters,” Ada begins, looking straight ahead. “The gods won but lost much of their power and became almost mortal, mating with humans.”"

Hephaestion's P.O.V:

"“Kat, you’re going to be all right,” he lies. She doesn’t answer. She’s looking in wonder at the sky, moving her pale lips. He turns to see what it is that so fascinates her. It’s the hellion, flying in wide lazy circles over the battlefield, howling as it rises higher and higher, and is gone."

I am so excited to read Herman's sequel to the Blood of Gods and Royals series, Empire of Dust.

Alexander the Great - 7:07:00 PM

Legacy of Kings (Blood of Gods and Royals #1) by Eleanor Herman | Review

Pages: 428 pages Publication Date: August 18th 2015 Publisher: Harlequin Teen ISBN: 0373211724 (ISBN13: 9780373211722) Im...

Arya Stark - 3:30:00 PM

Game of Thrones: Home (Season 6, Episode 2) Recap/Talk

Air Date : Sunday, May 1, 2016 Time : 9 pm ET TV Channel : HBO Director : Jeremy Podeswa Writer : Dave Hill Bran trains with the T...

anticipated - 4:33:00 PM

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling BOOK TRAILER TALK!

For those of you who haven't watched the trailer yet, buckle up and get ready for a teasing and wonderful ride! Fantastic Beasts and ...

Publication Date: July 25th 2006

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 541

ISBN: 076531178X (ISBN13: 9780765311788)

In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more?

In Brandon Sanderson's intriguing tale of love, loss, despair and hope, a new kind of magic enters the stage — Allomancy, a magic of the metals.

Now, What I Thought:

This was really good!!! It was super long but considering how fast-paced it was, it was almost perfect. So the world we're set in is a fantasy dystopia. The sun has turned into a red giant and instead of clear skies, ash rains down almost indefinitely. The story follows this bad-ass 16 year old girl, Vin, and 35 year old, another hugely bad-ass, Kelsier. So there are two classes basically, the Skaa and the Nobles. The Skaa, which Vin is classed in are serving people, they are the 'poor' in this world. The Nobles on the other hand sometimes have access to magic in this world known as, Allomancy. Magic in this world is fuelled by elemental and alloyed metals. This magic can enhance abilities like super strength for example and the abilities differ from different metals the nobles ingest. This whole book is basically a heist for Kelsier and Vin's thieving gang to overthrow the Lord Ruler of the land.

It was really exciting to read and the way we got introduced to the characters was such a brutal and honest way! This whole world is just a wasteland, it's almost like this could happen to us, in real life, in about a couple billion years. We all know our sun is going to burn out sometime and become a red giant like all of the other stars have, it's just a matter of time. I really really really enjoyed this book, and I do wish I had read it sooner! During the book we obviously get a couple attempts by the gang to overthrow the Lord Ruler. Lets just say the first try did not go well. We really get to see why the Inquisitors, unbeatable and unstoppable powerful guards, are so feared of and holy crap that was intense.

There were a lot of moments when I literally thought Sanderson was going to kill the main characters because taking on that big of a heist was bound to have many, if not, all casualties.

WARNING: This is not a happy book. This is a sad, intense, thrilling adventure but not happy. The world Sanderson built and made is living in poverty and a literal wasteland with ash to cover their grounds, do not expect a happy ending. Kelsier was definitely one of my favourite characters, maybe tied with Vin. He was so bad-ass and a complete Dumbledore-like character that his words were so strong and wise. He really was a legend to people.

“That’s where he got those scars, you know,” Disten said. “The ones on his arms. He got them at the Pits, from the rocks on a sheer wall he had to climb to escape.”

Harmon snorted. “That’s not how he got them. He killed an Inquisitor while escaping—that’s where he got the scars.”

“I heard he got them fighting one of the monsters that guard the Pits,” Ulef said. “He reached into its mouth and strangled it from the inside. The teeth scraped his arms.”

Disten frowned. “How do you strangle someone from the inside?"

The only word I can think about for this novel is, intricate. It was so finely wound and woven into this thick, deep and thoughtful plot line and story in general. The whole book was so believable and possible because of the actual realness in the setting and the background behind the people and not to mention the actual world, and what happened for it to get to this point. Again, I really did like this and I'm very happy I finally read it! The characters are simply amazing and so memorable that I absolutely loved everything in this entire novel. This is such a raved about book that it deserves all of the hype it's getting!

Allomancy - 12:42:00 AM

Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson | Review

Publication Date: July 25th 2006 Publisher: Tor Books Pages: 541 ISBN: 076531178X (ISBN13: 9780765311788) In a world where...

Pages: 214 pages

Publication Date: June 11th 2011

Publisher: Createspace

ISBN: 1461082064 (ISBN13: 9781461082064)

Being empathic is the least of Davy's problems. She wants to go to college and live a normal life until someone gives her something she doesn't want. Now she has to deal with the supernatural and a prophecy that no one knows about.

Now, What I Thought:

I honestly don't know how many reviews I can do until I prove to everyone in the world that Tijan is an amazing author! I can go on and on about her books for a while but for the sake of this review, I'll just leave it with, read her books!!! Davy Harwood is in university just living her life, trying to live stress-free and vampire-free. Davy is an empath, so she's not new to the world of magic and such, especially vampires. You see, Davy is a bit of a known vampire killer, so to speak. She had a rough run in with a vamp once and he soon became obsessed with her... until she killed him withe her fire magic that is. Basically everyone knew not to fuck with Davy and Davy was fine with that. Until the day a girl jumps to her death off of Davy's work roof. Davy, having caught her just before she jumped, was basically all sorts of confused as to what this mystery girl was ranting on about. Leaving Davy with just a couple of words, she jumped off and ended her life. Yep, the book starts off like that. She's also been noticing a lot of weirdness about the vampires, they're always around, too much for comfort sometimes but there seems to be about 10 x the amount than normal.

Davy then runs into Roan, the mysterious new kid, or as Davy points out right away, to his face might I add, that he is a vampire and a strong one at that.

"He'd been staring right at me the whole time. This was not good, not at all. He knew that I knew. I knew that he knew I knew...He'd seen. I smiled smugly and whispered, "I know what you are." His face didn't move. His eyes didn't react, but I knew I'd made him angry."

NICE GOING DAVY. Piss off the new and strong vampire. And from that point on Roan had shown up at every possible time in Davy's life. Literally everywhere, with her friends, in her common room and even at clubs. It was an exciting book to read because Roan was so dangerous and smart that Davy and myself were just so entranced by him. It's no secret that Davy was attracted to Roan the moment she saw him but little does she know that he felt the exact same way. In this book we have vampires, werewolf's, and magic wielding folk. It was an epic ride and I enjoyed practically all of the book except for some points when Roan was being a jack-ass as main love interests usually are.

The ending was pretty spot on and left us wondering a lot, like what the hell was Tijan going to write in the next book! So far there are 3 books out and I don't think Tijan is writing a 4th one so stay tuned for those reviews!!

Magic - 11:38:00 PM

Davy Harwood (The Immortal Prophecy #1) by Tijan | Review

Pages: 214 pages Publication Date: June 11th 2011 Publisher: Createspace ISBN: 1461082064 (ISBN13: 9781461082064) Being e...

Pages: 333 pages

Publication Date: September 10th 2013 by Tor Teen

ISBN: 0765334437 (ISBN13: 9780765334435)

The Goddess War begins in Antigoddess, the first installment of the new series by acclaimed author of Anna Dressed in Blood, Kendare Blake.

Old Gods never die…
Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.
Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.

These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.
Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.
Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their last breath.

The Goddess War is about to begin.

Now, What I Thought:

I loved this depiction of Greek Mythology! For those who know me personally, you'll know that I love mythology, and it's always been a tie between Norse and Greek. So you can imagine my excitement when this book came out by the same author as Anna Dressed in Blood. I'm very excited to say that this novel was amazing, Blake has a way of writing that is so descriptive. I can just remember the first couple of pages and how I knew right away that this was going to be a great book.

This novel is about the fight that the Gods and Goddesses never thought they'd be fighting- losing their immortality. The thing is that you'll probably need some pre-knowledge for this book, I will say. For example, you should brush up on your facts about the Trojan War, Odyssey, and Troy. Those are talked about in this book, and obviously in their own fictional depiction but still Blake uses a startling amount of accuracy. There are moments in the novel where you'll have to think back to High school english or College English and remember the relations these Gods and Goddesses have, and what their most known for. For example, Athena, our main protagonist, is the 'virgin' Goddess and cherishes Owls. Just stuff like that and you should be fine with fully comprehending and understand what is happening or rather, why it's happening. Blake does do a great job at explaining past events and the characters, which I do appreciate.

Get ready for graphic descriptions haha. I mean, Athena is pulling blood- covered feathers out of her own throat so... It is so much fun to read about the feud between Athena and Hera, her father's wife. It's pretty crazy what these Ancient Olympians will do to prolong their lives. Poseidon probably surprised me the most with his feral actions.

Anyways, this book is pretty interesting and I definitely loved the Greek Mythology knowledge we got from it. Definitely a staple in someones reading collection that loves mythology and just learning about it. Blake did a great job with this novel and her depiction of myths and legends.