Book Review

Review: Temeraire by Naomi Novik

/ beckireads / 3 Comments
Temeraire #1

Temeraire by Naomi Novik

Title: Temeraire (Temeraire #1)
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre:  Alternative History, Fantasy
Publisher:  HarperVoyager (16th June 2011)
Blurb:

Captain Will Laurence has been at sea since he was just twelve years old. Rising on merit to captain his own vessel, Laurence has earned himself a beautiful fiancée, society’s esteem and a golden future. But the war is not going well. It seems Britain can only wait as Napoleon plans to invade.

After a skirmish with a French ship, Laurence finds himself in charge of a rare cargo: a dragon egg bound for the Emperor himself. Dragons are much prized: properly trained, they can mount a fearsome attack from the skies. One of Laurence’s men must take the beast in hand and join the aviators’ cause, thus relinquishing all hope of a normal life.

But when the newly-hatched dragon decides to imprint itself on Laurence, the horrified captain’s world falls apart.  Gone is his golden future: gone his social standing, and soon his beautiful fiancee, as he is consigned to be the constant companion and trainer of the fighting dragon Temeraire . . .


Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

Temeraire is the first book in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. The series is an alternative history for adult readers of the Napoleonic wars, that features dragons. Some have therefore considered it a steampunk series, but I think it is actually an alternative history series as  the only change is the inclusion of dragons.

Continue reading →

Review: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

/ beckireads / Leave a comment

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Genre:  Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperCollins (9th September 2003)
Blurb:

‘There isn’t really a gay scene or a straight scene in our town. They all got mixed up a while back, which I think is for the best . . . And whether your heart is strictly ballroom or bluegrass punk, the dance floors are open to whatever you have to offer. This is my town.’

Meet PAUL. Gay his whole life, and finding love as wonderful, confusing and heartbreaking as every other teenager in his high school.

Meet Paul’s friends:

JONI – his best friend, who  may not be his best friend any more;

TONY – his other best friend, who can’t leave the house unless his parent’s think he’s going on a date . . . with a girl;

INFINITE DARLENE – homecoming queen and star quarterback on the football team;

KYLE – the ex-boyfriend who won’t go away;

RIP – the school bookie who sets odds;

And NOAH – the boy who changes everything.

Witty, engaging, refreshingly upbeat and slightly surreal, this book is a celebration of love in all forms.


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

This is another book I picked up because it was on Sarah Rees Brennan (which you can find here). I’d also heard good things about the author, so I decided to give it a try.

Continue reading →

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

/ beckireads / 2 Comments
The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Genre:  Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher:  HarperVoyager (4th August 2011)
Blurb:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

In our brave new future, DNA engineering has resulted in a terrible genetic flaw. Women die at the age of 20, men at 25. Young girls are being abducted and forced to breed in a desperate attempt to keep humanity ahead of the disease that threatens to eradicate it.

16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife. Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage – and Linden’s cruel father. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left.


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Wither is the first book in Lauren DeStefano’s The Chemical Garden Trilogy. Time is running out for Rhine, for Linden, and for Gabriel: for the rest of humanity too.

Continue reading →

Review: The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

/ beckireads / Leave a comment
The Iron Fey #3

The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey #3)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  Mira Ink (21st October 2011)
Blurb:

In less than twenty-four hours I’ll be seventeen.

Although, technically, I don’t actually be turning seventeen. I’ve been in the Nevernver too long. When you’re in Faery, you don’t age. So while a year has passed in the real world, age-wise I’m probably only a few days older than when I went in.

In real life, I’ve changed to much I don’t even recognise myself.

MY NAME IS MEGHAN CHASE.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.

THIS TIME, THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK.


Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

The Iron Queen is the third book in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series. The ending of The Iron Duaghter was pretty dramatic, and this book takes off pretty much where that one left-off.

Continue reading →

Review: Kiss The Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

/ beckireads / Leave a comment
An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel #21

Kiss The Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton, UK edition cover.

Title: Kiss The Dead  (An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel, #21)
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher:  Headline (7th June 2012)
Blurb:

I KNEW WITHOUT DOUBT THAT IF ANY MORE VAMPIRES TRIED TO ATTACK US I’D KILL THEM TOO, REGARDLESS OF APPARENT AGE, RACE, SEX, OR RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS. I WAS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY EXECUTIONER; I KILLED EVERYBODY.

My name is Anita Blake and I am a vampire hunter and necromancer, as well as  a US Marshal. So when a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it’s up to me to find her. And when I do, I’m faced with something I’ve never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people – kids, grandparents, soccer moms – all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving their vampire master. And where there’s one martyr, I know there will be more . . .

But even vampires have monsters they’re afraid of. And I’m one of them . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Review:

Kiss The Dead is the twenty-first book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s epic An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Novel series. Anita is in a very different place to where she was in the first book Guilty Pleasures, and at this point in the series it is very definitely an adult book. On the whole I’ve really enjoyed this series, watching Anita and her guys change and develop, and this book was no exception.

Continue reading →

Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

/ beckireads / 2 Comments
Vampire Academy #1

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Title: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Penguin (26th May 2009)
Blurb:

Lissa Dragomir is a mortal vampire.

She must be protected at all times from the fiercest and most dangerous vampires of all – the ones who will never die.

Rose Hathaway is Lissa’s best friend – and her bodyguard.

Now, after two years of illicit freedom, they’ve been dragged back inside the iron gates of St. Vladimir’s Academy. The girl’s must survive a world of forbidden romances, a ruthless social scene and terrifying night-time rituals.

But above all, they must never let their guard down, lest the immortal vampires take Lissa – forever . . .


Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Vampire Academy is the first book in Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. Although this series has been out for around five years, this is the first time I’ve read it. I read its spin-off Bloodlines first (read my review here) so I had a bit of an idea what I was getting into when I started this book.

Continue reading →

Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

/ beckireads / Leave a comment
The Iron Fey #2

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey #2)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  Mira Ink ( 15th April 2011)
Blurb:

I’ve been in the palace of the Winter fey for a while now. How long exactly? I don’t know. If I ever get out of here, I might find a hundred years have passed and all my family and friends are long dead.

I try not to think about that, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder.

My name is Meghan Chase

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fitted anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey – ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting the prince who betrayed her, deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

The Iron Daughter is the second book in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series. It continues an indefinite amount of time after the events of The Iron King.

Continue reading →

Review: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

/ beckireads / Leave a comment

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, UK edition cover.

Title: Revolution
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Genre:  Historical Novel, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Bloomsbury( 3rd October 2011)
Blurb:

Andi is broken. She is failing school and failing life. Since the death of her brother, all she cares about is music. Taken to Paris by her estranged father, she makes a discovery that could transform everything. Hidden in the compartment of an old guitar case is a lost diary from Revolutionary France . . .

Alexandrine is a street performer who is trying to save a young life from the devastation of war. She writes her deepest thoughts in her diary, hoping that one day someone will read them and understand.

These two girls, though centuries apart, are tied together by more than just the diary. As its words transcend paper and time, Alexandrine’s past becomes Andi’s present and lives are changed for ever.


Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Revolution is a stand-alone young adult novel half set in Brooklyn, New York and half set in Paris, France both in the present day and during the late 1700s whilst the French Revolution is reaching its peak.

Continue reading →

Review: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

/ beckireads / Leave a comment
The Iron Fey #1

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron King (The Iron Fey #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre:  Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher:  Mira Ink (21st January 2011)
Blurb:

My name is Meghan Chase.

In less than twenty-four hours I’ll be sixteen. Countless  stories and songs have been written about this wonderful age, when a girl finds true love and the stars shine for her . . .

I DON’T THINK IT WILL BE THAT WAY FOR ME.

MEGHAN CHASE HAS A SECRET DESTINY – ONE SHE NEVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED . . .

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fitted in at school . . . or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar and her little brother is taken, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.

She could never have guessed the truth. Meghan is the daughter of a faery king and a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will have to choose between a normal life and her magical destiny – and between her best friend and a darkly dangerous prince.

It’s time for Meghan to enter the faery world . . .


Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

The Iron King is the first book in Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Fey series. Mum got me this book because of my interest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as some of the characters in the play feature in the series.

Continue reading →

Review: Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

/ beckireads / 3 Comments
Unbound #1

Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Title: Blood Bound (Unbound #1)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Publisher:  Mira (1st September 2011)
Blurb:

Bound by blood, condemned by fate.

As a blood tracker, Liv is extremely powerful. And in a world where power is a commodity that can get you killed, Live’s learnt to survive by her own rules.

Rule number one? Trust no one.

When a friend’s daughter goes missing, Liv is bound by a potent magical oath. She can’t rest until the child is safe. And that means trusting her dangerous ex, Cam.

A sinister prophecy tells that she and Cam will be the death of each other, yet Liv’s tired of being a slave to destiny. She’s ready to play the forces controlling her world at their own game.

No matter what the cost.


Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

Blood Bound is the first book in Rachel Vincent’s new adult series Unbound. As I enjoyed her The Shifters series, this was a must read for me.

Continue reading →