“Over everything, I choose you”
- Marissa Meyer, Heartless
This is the delightful and heartbreaking story of the Queen of Hearts before she became the queen that Alice encounters in her adventures.
“Over everything, I choose you” Cath could spend the rest of her life baking in a little bakery with her best friend, Mary Ann, but as the daughter of a marquess, but Cath's mother wants to see her married to the king. However, at a ball thrown by the king, Cath becomes acquainted with the new court joker, Jest and becomes rather enthralled with him. Cath does all she can to put off the interest of the king and make plans to live her life her own way, but life just gets more and more complicated. This is the delightful and heartbreaking story of the Queen of Hearts before she became the queen that Alice encounters in her adventures. I have discovered something totally impossible. I will be rich. Celebrated. A hero of science. And yet in truth I am so bewildered that I can only sit for hours in this room and gaze out at the rain. What can I do with such terrifying knowledge? How can I ever dare use it? Jake's father has gone missing and Jake blames his godfather, Oberon Venn. Venn is obsessed with going back in time to prevent his wife's death. Sarah has a mysterious motive for being at the manor. Rebecca appears to be overly helpful. Gideon, Wharton and Piers are all caught up in the drama that is unfolding. All of which surrounds a mirror. Venn is in possession of an obsidian mirror that allows a person to travel in time, but returning isn't a simple matter. Jake's dad had been working closely with Venn to discover how the mirror works when he disappeared. Jake has forced his expulsion from boarding school so that Venn would then be forced to deal with him. Venn has been falling deeper into despair now that it seems impossible for him to go back and prevent the accident that caused his wife's death and now he has lost his best friend in the mirror. Sarah is an escaped patient from a mental hospital and has begged to be allowed to stay as a servant, but seems to have an interest in the mirror. Rebecca was just a friendly local driver, but keeps showing up at just the right moment to help in some way. In addition to time traveling mirrors and excerpts from old diaries there are the fairies and the Forest which once you enter, you may not return. Though there are a variety of characters at play in this novel, they are all tied together very well. This is the first book in the series, so there should be a lot more development and I'm sure more mysteries before being tied together in the end. I have died three times, and three times been reborn, though I am not yet twenty in the old earth years by which it is still the fashion to measure time. This is the story of my three deaths, and my life between. My name is Khemri. Being a prince isn't all that unique when there are hundreds of thousands of princes in the universe. However, Prince Khemri thinks he is pretty stellar individual. He has high hopes of being the next emperor despite his inexperience and youthfulness. He quickly finds out how special and inept he really is. After an initial stint in the Navy, Prince Khemri is sent on a special training mission. While on the mission he discovers how regular humans live and this completely changes how he thinks about things. When it comes for him to make major decisions, it isn't as easy as he thought it would be. This is a futuristic novel with a lot of made-up tech talk, which can be confusing at times. Once you learn to just gloss over the jargon, the story flows more smoothly. Khemri is incredibly cocky and full of himself, but at the same time he has a great sense of humor. This was a very different type of story, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well. This series is difficult to explain, but it is an extraordinary tale. I had read reviews that highly praised "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," and picked it up in the book store. I quickly discovered the amazing world Laini Taylor created and couldn't put the book down. Karou is an art student in Prague and fills her notebooks with strange creatures. Her background stories for each character is extensive, but that is because they aren't characters...they are real. Each "character" is a chimera, a creature composed of different animal traits. Karou has spent her whole life with this family in their magical portal. She easily blends into our world, but isn't fully allowed into the chimera's world. When we find out why, it is completely unexpected. One day, on one of her missions for Brimstone, the head of the family so to speak, scorched hand prints appear on the portal door and prevents Karou from getting back to her chimera family. Around the world, all the portals that Karou ever used, are closed. Karou meets the source of her consternation, Akiva. Akiva is a breathtakingly beautiful angel and while Karou is displeased with what Akiva has done, to put it mildly, she is inexplicably drawn to him. Then Akiva drops a bombshell on her. The story intensifies from there and thank goodness there is a sequel. No summary I can ever write can do justice to this outstanding story. The only thing I can say is READ IT!!! This trio of companion novels takes place in a collection of kingdoms where there are people born with "Graces," specific abilities, such as strength and fighting. Gracelings are distinguished by their differently colored eyes and in most cases people are wary of gracelings. In the first novel, Graceling, Katsa is a particularly feared because of her graced fighting skills. She is feared even more because her uncle, the king, uses her as a bully to keep his nobles in line. He sends Katsa to deliver brutal physical punishment and threats and Katsa hates to be used so. In an attempt to do something worthwhile in the world, Katsa and several others have formed a council to carry out justice and assist those being oppressed. On one of those missions, Katsa comes across another graceling, one that will change the way she sees her life.
Fire takes place in a neighboring kingdom where there are not gracelings, but monsters - creatures of indescribable color and beauty and Fire is a human monster. Like gracelings, monsters are greatly feared for their ability of mind control. Fire lives secluded with a select company of people who are able to resist her beauty so as to live in peace. She has come to accept her quiet life and doesn't expect more. However, Fire is swept up in the war raging around her when her ability allows her to look for enemies, and she finds something she never expected: love. Bitterblue takes place years after Graceling and Fire and features a character from Graceling. Bitterblue has become queen after the death of her tyrannical father. She struggles to be a good queen after the kingdom has suffered from terrible oppression, but she finds that difficult with advisors who want to protect her from knowing the atrocities her father committed. Bitterblue's frustration leads her to disguise herself and enter the city. There she learns more about her people and the conditions in which they live. She also meets a graceling who intrigues her and pushes her to be a better queen, though he doesn't know her true identity. I absolutely love all three books and while Cashore has said she is done writing books with these characters I felt that the ending of Bitterblue left room for more. I'm hoping she reconsiders and continues giving us more of these characters. |
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