Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

Summary (goodreads): London, 1889. Victoria is Queen. Charles Darwin’s son is Prime Minister. And steam is the power that runs the world.

At 17, Claire Trevelyan, daughter of Viscount St. Ives, was expected to do nothing more than pour an elegant cup of tea, sew a fine seam, and catch a rich husband. Unfortunately, Claire’s talents lie not in the ballroom, but in the chemistry lab, where things have a regrettable habit of blowing up. When her father gambles the estate on the combustion engine and loses, Claire finds herself down and out on the mean streets of London. But being a young woman of resources and intellect, she turns fortune on its head. It’s not long before a new leader rises in the underworld, known only as the Lady of Devices . . .

When she meets Andrew Malvern, a member of the Royal Society of Engineers, she realizes her talents may encompass more than the invention of explosive devices. They may help her realize her dreams and his . . . if they can both stay alive long enough to see that sometimes the closest friendships can trigger the greatest betrayals…

Review: This is the first book of a series that is still ongoing and so far consists of four books, I think. I can’t really say that this novel is very different from other steampunk novels I’ve read so far. It is close to All men of genius in terms of characters and story, at least in the beginning. Still, I liked the book quite well. The characters are likeable – or detestable, at least some.

The heroine is intelligent, humourous and not afraid of doing what’s necessary in dire situations. The male counterpart, Andrew Malvern is lovely, of course. Their relationship develops slow but steady I would say, but circumstances are not in their favour, so I’m keen on reading the next few books to see what’s going to happen. The Lady’s crew, with the Mopsies, Snouts, Jake and Tigg is funny and fresh and I enjoy reading their slang. I don’t want to spoiler, so it’s hard to write about this without giving too much away. But I’m sure these characters will follow Claire through the next few books and that is another reason to read them.

The writing style is quite easy, sometimes I stumble over dialogue where I’m not entirely sure who’s talking, but those are minor things that I can overlook. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, not only Claire’s but also Andrew’s, the Mopsies and so on. I find that refreshing and it helps to keep up with the storyline – since not all characters are always together.

So in total, I enjoyed the read and even though it is not very original and certainly no masterpiece, it is great to pass the time on the metro – and since there will be more to the story, considerably more (I heard there will be 8 books), I shall look forward to the continuations. This book gets a 4 out of 5.

All change please by Danielle West

Summary (goodreads): Abbreviated version: In modern day London, the lives of three close friends are instantly set off course when their mutual friend, Laura, is suddenly killed. The three friends – Ophelia, Elise and Kat – find that their current lives are far worse than they could ever fathom. In the light of Laura’s tragic death, do any or all of the women decide to grab life by the horns and do something about how their own existences have exactly lived up to expectations? In a peculiar sort of way, Laura’s death not only shakes the three to their foundations, but it also wakes them out of their own personal slumbers.

Review: I saw this book advertised on another blog, looking for people to review it. I had read so many YA novels and fantasy stuff that I thought it might be nice to read something completely different and All change please sounded interesting enough. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me. I found it very hard to relate to the characters, they are just so completely different from myself. Apart from being Americans in London, which is a very different perspective than being European in London, they smoke, drink, get depressed over nothing and have no real drive to live. I tend to dislike people who wallow in self-pity when I meet them, so I kind of felt the same for those three. Even though I knew it was about death and finding your purpose in life, I had hoped it might be a humourous read, something light. Or maybe something completely dark and tragic. But it was neither, so it took me ages (almost a month) to actually finish it.

I don’t know if this book never got checked properly before being published, but there are quite a number of spelling mistakes and typos in there. The first chapter is even missing the end – I didn’t know if that was supposed to be that way, but it actually ruined the whole experience. Because I couldn’t finish the first chapter, I felt like the rest of the chapters were also missing something. I kept wondering if that was really all or if there should be more to it. It is a shame, because otherwise I might have enjoyed it more.

Since I currently live in London myself, I was looking forward to a London setting. I recognized a few places, which always makes me happy, but I guess I’m just too much of an optimist to share their opinion about London transportation – the tube is really not too bad and in the past month I NEVER got stuck in a tunnel. It’s all about perspective. Americans tend to complain about the tube and find British people rude. For me, that just doesn’t apply.

It seems that in the end, this book is just not right for me. I am glad to have finished it and that it has some sort of happy ending – even though the whole book could be seen more as a collection of short episodes instead of a real story. I had simply hoped for more. I am sorry to only be able to give a 2 out of 5, considering I volunteered to read the book and looking forward to it. I didn’t know that this book was written on a blackberry before, I found out about halfway through and I thought – well, it shows. Sadly.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Summary (goodreads): In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Review:

I had this book in the back of my mind for quite a while. I remember reading a sample some years back ( and in German) and not really liking the story(/translation). But now I finally started it and was surprised when I couldn’t put it down. It was a good read and I will continue with the trilogy as soon as I get my hands on the other books.

The story is pretty straight forward, with the heroine’s choice of faction and the life-changing initiation afterwards. Of course there is an evil plot that she has to overcome in order to save the world from an even worse fate than they already have. Throw in some romance and action scenes and I’m in. It is not the best story I ever read, it doesn’t come close to Poison Study, but it is a lot better than Cast in Shadows, so I was happy.

It was easy to read, Roth has a nice writing style with just enough detail that your imagination can conjure up images without it being overbearing. It is written in first person, from Tris’s perspective and also in the present tense. For me, that helps to get into the story and the character and it was fitting for the novel.

The characters were interesting, though so far the reader didn’t really get to know too much about them. We know mostly about Tris and Four, but the others are not yet described in detail – their story, their motivation and so on. I hope there will be some more talking in the next book so that we might get a better understanding of Tris’s companions.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the Dauntless life-style, the tattoos and piercings and all that hopping off moving trains. It seems thrilling. However, it is a bit illogical as well. There is no way in hell you can get a tattoo one day and do extreme physical excercise (read: fighting) on the next. That cannot be healthy and I doubt that a tattoo would heal properly under those conditions. But apart from the mysteriously fast healing time of tattoos and also injuries, there wasn’t much that I didn’t like about this book.

Tris is a person I can identify with and I’m pretty sure I’d be the same a s she if I lived in that world. So in total, I give this book a 4 out of 5 and hope that the next books are equally good.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Summary (goodreads): Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Review: Well, this book had been on the back of my mind since it was published. I had read a preview of about 90 pages some when in 2011 and liked the story and especially the main character, Karou, very much. At that point, I was in the midst of my final exams and so I didn’t have the time to get the book and read it.

By change, I read a post on another book blog about the second book to this series, and I realized I wanted to read both books right NOW! That’s basically what I did, I started Daughter of Smoke and Bone yesterday morning and I already finished.

The first half of the book is certainly the better one. Karou is such a special character, not knowing who or what she is but being unique all the time. Her appearance, her attitude and the love for drawing made me like her immediately. Karou has the ability to be strong and vulnerable without being whiny or otherwise overly annoying. In the second half, when most of the secret is unveiled, I was a bit disappointed. I had already guessed what she was and was silently praying it wasn’t like that. Basically, throughout the last dozen chapters, Karou doesn’t really DO anything, except for seeing visions of the history, explaining everything. While I liked the world-building and insights on seraphs and chimera, I would have preferred Karou to learn about this stuff more like One Step at a time instead of “BAM!”

The other characters are so very different and distinct that I had no problem with keeping up – I envied the friendship between Karou and Zuzana, marveled at the diversity of the chimera and tried to imagine the beauty of seraphs. Akiva is still a mystery and I look forward to unravel his full story. I can imagine him and Karou being together in the end, but so far this couple has not touched me as much as those in the Clockwork Series. (Unfortunately I know why that is – I’m shallow. Akiva does not long hair and thus I fail to fall completely and utterly in love with him…)

Laini Taylor has a lovely way of writing, colourful, humourous but also quite emotional and serious if needed. I laughed at some passages, but the series has failed to make me cry – yet. There is a lot of potential for that in the following books, I’m sure. I will postpone reading the second book in order to read a book I requested to review.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone gets a 4 out of 5 for the lovely characters and world.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Summary (goodreads): Tessa Gray should be happy – aren’t all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her.

Review: Oh my God, I had been waiting for this book for over a year now. I can’t believe I actually read it and that this journey is over now. I finished it last night and know I just have to tell you what I think about it.

I love the characters, almost all of them and especially the ones that live in the London Institute. They are all deep, they all develop during the whole story and they are just so likeable! There is not a single relationship that I disapprove of, even though they are all so totally different. The Lightwood brothers and the Herondale siblings, Henry and Charlotte, Sophie and Gideon, Gabriel and the Herondales and of course above all else, Tessa, Jem and Will. I have NEVER read a book that had a better love triangle, one where I was so torn between the two men. In all other stories, I had a favourite that I supported all the way, but with the Clockwork story, I just couldn’t decide. I cried and laughed and suffered with the three of them, I felt their joy and agony. There was no ending I could imagine that would satisfy me, but amazingly the actual ending did!

The fight against Mortmain is also a main part of the book, even though it wasn’t the only fighting front. I liked that very much, the fact that the Institute inhabitants had to fight against the Magister, against Jem’s illness and also against the threat of losing the Institute because of the Consul. There is not that much action going on outside the Institute, most of the story is actually inside that building (apart from the last battle, of course), but that didn’t bother me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style – after reading Cast in Secret, it was a welcome change. Everything is described in detail but not so much that you feel overwhelmed. You can follow the story and you sympathize with the characters. The only thing I was slightly confused about was that Ms Clare writes in American English. While that is totally fine for the other Shadowhunter books set in New York, I found it inappropriate for a book set in Victorian London. Especially when writing letters from a British to another British, it would be better to keep their style. I really stumbled over color, neighbor and favorite. Maybe it is because I am living in London myself that I am more sensitive to those differences.

So in conclusion, after waiting a year to get that story into my hands, I am very very happy. This was finally one of those books I wanted to read more than being on my laptop, which is saying a lot. I finished it in a couple of days after getting it and each night I had to force myself to stop reading. When I finished last night I was crying for about the last 90 pages or so, both of sadness and happiness. This is definitely one of my favourite series and I will surely revisit it in the future.

This book gets a deserving 5 out of 5!

Introducing authors – Maria V. Snyder

Maria V. Snyder is one of my favourite authors – I love her writing style, the character development and the storylines in all of her books. So I want to introduce her and her work to you, so that you hopefully decide to read her books as well.

She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and still lives there. Writing was not her first career choice; she has a degree in meteorology and had planned on pursuing a career in that area when she discovered that writing is a lot more fun. After gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in fiction writing, she became a full-fledged author.

For each of her books she did extensive research – taking lessons in glass blowing, riding, lock-picking and fencing to have a better understanding how things work or what is realistic in her stories. There are not many authors who do as much as she does and I respect that very much.

So far, she has written:

Study Trilogy – consisting of Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study

Glass Trilogy – consisting of Storm Glass, Sea Glass and Spy Glass

Inside Out and Outside in

Healer Trilogy – Touch of Power and Scent of Magic, this trilogy is not finished yet.

There are also several short stories to read.

To learn more about this brilliant author and her work, visit her website at http://www.mariavsnyder.com.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James

Summary (goodreads): When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Review: This book is a mystery to me. It shot up the bestseller list in only a few weeks and almost everybody has read it. So I figured I had to do so, too. I started in January and just finished. That alone says a lot.

Let’s see. I dislike the characters. Most of them. Especially the two main characters. The girl, Anastasia, has nothing in common with me. She has no spine and if she decides for something, she doesn’t go through with it. She doesn’t know what she really wants or rather is not willing to “go the distance”. She annoyed me from the first sentence. This whole “I don’t think I’m beautiful but I really am” is so – beugh. I just couldn’t believe anything she did, said or thought. It felt so staged.

Christian Grey is also a man I despised more than I liked him. He may be good looking, but that’s where it ends. His stalking, controlling and “I’m the king, kneel!” mentality enraged me more than once. There is nothing I hate more than being deprived of choices. And since he did precisely that for the whole time, I couldn’t bring myself to like him.

The other characters were ok, I guess. The mother and the friends were normal and not so very relevant. The story was predicable, too. The two meet, and cannot keep their hands to themselves. So each chapter is about Ana not wanting to be a sub and Christian not wanting her to be anything else and the two of them ending up having sex in all ways imaginable. In between there is Ana graduating and interviewing for jobs and Christian taking her to his family. And stalking her. Everywhere. Basically, there was no real storyline. Maybe, so my friends told me, it is about the two of them facing the odds and helping each other and all that. But I didn’t feel that.

I actually laughed at some of the e-mail exchanges, that was a nice touch. And that thing with the Inner goddess could have been funny, too – but I didn’t like her, so… not for me. But the overall style is good and easy to read. I won’t critique that.

I have to say that I liked the ending very much. This is the reason why I will not touch the other two books. My friend told me what will happen, but I am happy the way things are at the end of book one. (Trying hard not to spoil here).

Overall, this book did not impress me much. I guess I just don’t have the right mentality to appreciate the story and the characters, so this is a 2 out of 5. Sorry.

The Devil’s Triangle by Toni de Palma

Summary (goodreads): When 17 year old Cooper dies in an attempt to burn down his school, he finds himself in the afterlife. Lucy, the Devil’s sister who has crossed party lines, decides to give Cooper another shot at heaven. The deal? Cooper returns to Earth and has to find a girl named Grace. The rest is up to him.

While Cooper figures out his mission, he’s thrown into the life he’s always wanted. Great parents, a spot on the Varsity football team and a real future are all within reach. But what he really wants is Grace, a feisty girl with an abusive boyfriend who can pound Cooper into pulp if he doesn’t watch out.

While Lucy plays demonic-puppeteer, clues to an unknown past between Cooper and Grace start to unravel. Cooper discovers that what’s keeping him and Grace apart is far more sinister than anything this bad boy could have ever imagined.

Review: Well. Where to start. I read an interview with this author on a friend’s blog and it sounded interesting. Even though my friend was not particularly ethusiastic about this book, I wanted to try it anyways.

I regretted this decision after only a couple of chapters. The main character is male, which makes it always harder to identify with, but he is also incredibly stupid, not capable of thinking anything through and basically lame. I wanted to smack him or throw him out of the window during the whole book. I don’t like him. At all.

The story is rather predictable, at least for me. Not for the main character, because he is stupid. So while it took me about ten seconds to figure out that code in which Grace writes, he actually needs somebody to tell him what he has to look up on google. And the romance between Grace and Cooper? Non-existent. It seems completely fake. He keeps on saying that his world will end without her and that he oh-so-loves her, but seriously, he doens’t follow up on those words. Again, because he is lame and stupid and not capable of actually forming any plan. He is just running around, offending people, thinking he is bad-ass and all the while letting his family and friends suffer for stupidity. I don’t understand WHY the hell Grace, who is obviously smarter and could do so much better, loves him. And that is not explained. They grew up together, yes, but that would be even more reason not to fall in love with that guy.

So basically I forced myself to finish and when the last sentence was read I was like “Eh? That’s the ending? Lame!”. I was a bit surprised, because in the end, nothing got solved.

De Palmas writing style is very, very shallow. I couldn’t dive into the story and I would have probably hit the bottom of the pool and broken my neck, if I had. There is just no depth at all. There are some threads, hinting at a deeper background, but it is not explained in any way. Random characters such as Shakespeare and Saint Peter are thrown together for no obvious reason (They even call themselves brothers – the hell?). I didn’t really get the problem of the whole story, apart from the “If we are together my family suffers”. If there actually was a real threat, such as a real Lucifer, it certainly wasn’t transmitted as a dire situation. I just couldn’t follow the logic.

For example, after a week of being there, and after three mentioned practise runs with his brother, Cooper is already fitter than all the other players on his team and he can best them in training? Yeah right. I’d like that, too. And he literally said “After all this running”. Dude, running alone doesn’t get you in shape to play football!

Ok, I guess I have ripped this book apart enough. I really feel bad about this, because I don’t like giving such reviews and I would like to say something positive. Maybe it’s that it wasn’t too long. But I heard it has been expanded into a series. Dear god.

Unfortunately, I can only give a 1 out of 5, and I apologize for that. Please have a look at any preview chapter you can find and see for yourself if you might not like it.

Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara West

Summary (goodreads): Seven years ago Kaylin fled the crime-riddled streets of Nightshade, knowing that something was after her. Children were being murdered — and all had the same odd markings that mysteriously appeared on her own skin…

Since then, she’s learned to read, she’s learned to fight and she’s become one of the vaunted Hawks who patrol and police the City of Elantra. Alongside the winged Aerians and immortal Barrani, she’s made a place for herself, far from the mean streets of her birth.

But children are once again dying, and a dark and familiar pattern is emerging, Kaylin is ordered back into Nightshade with a partner she knows she can’t trust, a Dragon lord for a companion and a device to contain her powers — powers that no other human has. Her task is simple — find the killer, stop the murders… and survive the attentions of those who claim to be her allies!

Review: This is the first book I read because goodreads recommended it. I had looked at some of the reviews and was a bit reluctant – so I read the preview on amazon, and decided that I had to read the whole thing.

It took a little while to get into the book. I have read mostly first-person narratives recently, and this one is third-person, so I stumbled over the “she”  and “her” very often. But apart from that, I loved the book.

I could relate to the main character in a way, even though I never failed a class and am never late, her overall attitude touched me. The struggle with authorities and rules, I could definitely relate to that. And I liked the male characters, Severn and the Tiamaris. They are both very different, but both try to protect what is dear to them and both are a bit mysterious. I have a romance playing out in my mind, and that is good enough for me to like them.

The setting is very much fantasy. There are hybrid beings, such as birdlike humans and lionlike humans. Aerians and Leontines. There are dragons, too. And some weirdly beautiful immortals (but none of them is called Edward, and they don’t drink blood). And there are normal humans. I have read far worse and less realistic stories, so I plunged into this one without question.

The story is a little bit confusing at the beginning, because the reader only knows bits and pieces and has to puzzle it out. The characters give information more or less reluctantly and most of the time, more questions arise than are answered. Which is probably because this is the first book of an eight book series. It’s not supposed to be resolved quickly.

While the story itself is rather dreadful, murdered kids and all, the writing style is rather light and there is a lot of joking and swearing involved. And sarcasm, which I always appreciate. As I already mentioned before, I stumbled over the third person a couple of times because the story is written completely from Kaylins perspective and I just expect the “I” everywhere. I felt a bit schizophrenic, thinking of myself as the main character in the third person. You get what I mean?

Well, in the end I read it through rather quickly and couldn’t put it down, and I would like to read the rest of the books as well (still waiting for more romance, here!), but I think I should finish a couple of my books before I start new ones… Anyways, this book gets a 4 out of 5, and we’ll se how the sequels will fare.

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Summary (goodreads): The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good…and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission…and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair…and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Review: I have to tell you in advance that I read this book in German. A friend of mine insisted I read this and lend the book to me. It is the first non-German book I enjoyed in years (the last I remember is a book by Trudi Canavan), so that means a lot! It has been a few months since I have read this, and I have finished another trilogy by Carey, so this review might be a little bit biased.

The characters are very unique and distinguishable and I liked most of them from the start. Phedre is going through a huge development, starting out as a little girl that even her parents didn’t want and growing into a capable and strong young woman who is both desirable and dangerous. Delaunay, her mentor, has a dark history that is revealed in the course of the story, but he appears as a genuine man and teacher. And I admit, I cried at some points. Then there is Joscelin. He is destined to choose over and over again in his life where he wants to stand. So this character is designed for hardship. He is handsome, very skilled with his daggers and a fierce protector. I came to like him best during the Scaldic adventure.

The princess, Ysandre is one of my favourite characters. She is a very strong yet gentle person, even though she is very young has has gone through hard times. It is as much her story as it is Phedres, even though she is not always present.

The story is at first slowly building. We learn about Phedre and her aprenticeship with Delaunay and all that. And we learn about her “specialty” as a courtesan and we read a lot about sex. Yes, this book has a number of sex scenes and not of the light sort. But since most of them are important for the storyline, it didn’t bother me overly much (as opposed to Shades of Grey, but we’ll come to that another time).

The story picks up a lot when Melisandre comes into the story. She is the evil one, even though she looks like an angel. and Phedre, the poor girl is so captivated by her, that she cannot resist. Ever.

I really like the whole setting, Terre d’Ange has grown on me, probably because it’s not unfamiliar. It is, after all, an altered version of France and the other European countries. It has nothing to do with real history and the names are all changed, but it is still recognizable. I admire Careys imagnation, for I couldn’t have come up with half the intrigues and plots she has. While in the beginning I was not too much into the book, I couldn’t put it down towards the end.

Careys style is interesting to read, though at some points I stumble over some sentences that seem odd. She portrays emotions well enough, but I was not always touched by them. I like the description of landscape and buildings, though. It is easy enough to imagine the palace, the scaldic tundra and the battlefield of Troyes-le-Mont.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and the story and wanted to read the next books. At first, I didn’t want to read them in english, because I thought it might be weird. So I read the Moirin Trilogy next. I’ll review that one later. It was not the best book I read, but it was the best translated-to-German book I read in years. For that, I give 4 out of 5.