kariny's book frenzy : March 2017

ARCs from authors

HAVEN REVIEW

TITLE: Haven

AUTHOR: Katherine Bogle

SERIES: Chronicles of Warshard #1

PUBLICATION DATE: May 11 2016

PUBLISHER: Friesen Press

SOURCE: Netgalley copy

Princess Haven was never meant to be Queen.
Her immortality has saved her time and time again, but when the last of her royal family dies at her feet, she is next in line to rule a nation on the brink of war. With no formal training on how to be Queen, Haven must rise to the occasion with the help of her best friends, and personal guard, or risk losing everyone she has ever loved.
With war to the West, and no escape to the East, the evil tyrant Kadia sets her sights on the six kingdoms. Haven’s neighbors are quick to fall under the swords of Kadia’s shadow soldiers, leaving a sea of bodies and a clear path to Haven’s only home.
As Kadia’s obsession with Haven mounts, little time remains, and Haven must make a choice; join together with her fellow Royals, and test her immortality in a final stand against the evil Queen, or flee across the sea to a foreign republic in hopes of salvation. Both choices have a cost. Both plans could go awry. Haven must decide quickly, or she might be the only one left.

MY REVIEW

Wow wow wow!!!!!!!!!

This book was so plot focused on war and its alliances! Loved it! It's a total immersion into a YA world with six kingdoms on the brink of war with an evil queen that's been attacking the kingdoms. You've got secret council meetings between the monarchs so they can plan out how to help each other. A swoony love interest, a gentle queen and her three badass guards!

Kadia-the tyrant- was CREEPY AS HELL. I was literally cringing every single time she appeared in the book! She was a formidable villain but she was without a doubt absolutely batshit crazy. A total psychopath who was obsessed with how Haven and her curse "worked" so she really wanted to...experiment. The things she made Haven go through omigod it was HORRIBLE. It was pretty brutal stuff but still, wow, Kadia was such a good character!

Image result for the huntsman winter's war evil queen gif

Haven was such a compassionate character and she was so dedicated to people. She really broke apart from the usual warrior female characters that have literally been overtaking YA books lately. But she was a warrior through her intellect and the way she always put her people first. I was really picturing her as Adelaide Kane from Reign!

Image result for adelaide kane gif reign

There was also a lot of conflict in Haven's character. She can never die from diseases/wounds until old age came for her and she saw it as a curse. So she kind of shields herself from the possibilities of love because she didn't ever want her children or descendants to be in the same position as she was-left completely alone without the escape of death until she became old. Even though it was a curse she was grateful at times because her country needed someone with her immunity in these harsh times. She really developed in the sense that she stopped trying to close herself off from others and learns to live and not just survive.

I wish we would have had some more information on how she had this curse and i also thought the romance went a little too fast! I loved both characters (I'm not gonna say who the love interest is) but i think it developed a little too fast and i would have liked to see more of them together.

And while it's true that Haven wasn't physically a warrior, the author balances that out with her three personal guards who are all women and her best friends! Also kudos for mixed characters we have a homosexual couple!

This book can absolutely be read as a standalone! But we were introduced to the Seaburn kingdom in this book. And this kingdom kidnaps children from all over the kingdoms and puts them in awful harsh training academies so they can become full fledged warriors. We met Nina towards the end and her father Drakkone who are part of the Seaburn empire-and the second book in this series will be about Drakkone and a girl named Breen who i think was Nina's mother! So i'm really looking forward to reading more about Seaburn and the horrible academy!

Katherine Bogle did an amazing job at world building and creating strong and passionate characters! It was so good to finally read a high fantasy YA standalone!!! Thank god i have an ARC of book 2 so i can dive right in!

March 29, 2017

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ARCs from authors

CRYSTAL CASTLE REVIEW

March 28, 2017

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Netgalley

DEATH'S QUEEN REVIEW

TITLE: Death Queen

AUTHOR: Janeal Falor
SERIES: Standalone

PUBLICATION DATE: March 6 2017

PUBLISHER: Self Published

SOURCE: Netgalley ARC

Nameless. Unknown. Alone.
An assassin without a name, born to kill. Owned by a vicious man who refuses to call her anything but girl, she is forced to commit atrocious acts of violence. Vowing to take her future into her own hands, the seventeen-year-old decides to risk everything on one act of defiance—drinking from The Death Drink. The beverage kills most whose lips touch it—only allowing those who are destined to be royalty survive the first sip.
Powerful. Revered. Hunted.
To the astonishment of the nation of Valcora, she imbibes it and lives, which crowns her queen. Thrown into a life of royal intrigue, she now has a purpose—to rule with the fairness she was never shown. Despite her altruistic plans, it becomes apparent that someone wants her dead. The new queen must use her training from the former life she only wants to forget in order to stay alive long enough to turn her kingdom into something she can be proud of. She’ll hold onto the crown… or die trying.

Going into this book, i was pretty nervous thinking it would be a little too similar to Throne Of Glass but the only similarities were that both MC's were assassins and they had manipulative former masters. The MC from this book (we don't know her name) wasn't voluntarily an assassin and every time she kills she dies a little more inside which is why she decides she'd rather die than keep killing.

The MC's character went through an awesome evolution! When she first took the crown, she was completely lost and was using it only as a means to hide from her previous owner. So she spent her days locked up in her room and creating chaos with her lack of tradition. But after a while she starts to open up to her responsibilities with the guidance of Nash, her bodyguard whom she promoted to Royal Adviser.

I liked Nash's intellect, he really compensated for the MC's rash and rough exterior. Where she lacked social skills and public communication, he excelled and so helped to improve her interactions with the members of the council who pretty think she's a joke.

I liked the idea that only Queen's ruled the country and they weren't allowed to marry/be in a relationship in case they got heirs who would later fight for their claim to the throne, It was actually a pretty intelligent concept when you think about it cause no one would ever claim the throne as a birthright or something.

Okay i just have to rant about what an AWESOME personality the MC has! And no i'm not talking about her kickass fighting skills which just seem like a dull background compared to her badass attitude. So when she first gets to the castle and she noticed the court adviser is a total snake and doesn't respect her, what does she do? Does she exile him? Nope. Does she kill him? Nuh-uh. Frame him and then put him in jail? No. She makes him her Royal Furniture Adviser because the furniture is ugly and uncomfortable!!!

Image result for i dub thee annoying gif

(Side note: Baby Daddy is one of the best comedies out there you guys should watch it :P!)

She doesn't have a care in the world for traditions and she doesn't melt under the pressure of becoming a poised and graceful queen. She really remained true to her antisocial/opinionated/generous self. She took Scandalous Queen to a whole new level!!! Even refusing to see her Ladies In Waiting for weeks (i don't blame her they were irritating!). Oh and she basically has zero social skills since she mostly stuck to the shadows as an assassin; which makes being a queen much more difficult for her. Not to mention she doesn't earn many fans within the council.

I can't give it above 4 stars because i wasn't really feeling the romance and though the plot was good, it was pretty basic. And i would have liked more world building! We get hints and a few magical aspects but i needed a little more! And i kind of already guessed who was trying to kill her...There was a lot of potential but it fell a little short to me.

Nevertheless it was a quick, short and enjoyable read! Loved the concept and the characters but i just wished it was a little more developed! I would definitely pick up a sequel though :P!