The Unfailing Light Blog Tour Kick Off: Review + Giveaway

Read (September 23, 2012)

Book: The Unfailing Light (The Katerina Trilogy #2) by Robin Bridges

Publishing Date: October 9, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte BFYR

Number of Pages: 320

Genre/s: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical Fiction

Lush and opulent, romantic and sinister, "The Unfailing Light, " Volume II in The Katerina Trilogy, reimagines the lives of Russia's aristocracy in a fabulously intoxicating and page-turning fantasy.

Having had no choice but to use her power has a necromancer to save Russia from dark forces, Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, now wants to forget that she ever used her special powers. She's about to set off to pursue her lifelong dream of attending medical school when she discovers that Russia's arch nemesis--who she thought she'd destroyed--is still alive. So on imperial orders, Katerina remains at her old finishing school. She'll be safe there, because the empress has cast a potent spell to protect it against the vampires and revenants who are bent on toppling the tsar and using Katerina for their own gains. But to Katerina's horror, the spell unleashes a vengeful ghost within the school, a ghost more dangerous than any creature trying to get in. - (source)

“I believe you can create the life you want, Katiya. You are strong enough to make all of your dreams come true.” - taken from an uncorrected ARC 

I've always admired Katerina. She is strong-willed and compassionate. Her dream of becoming a doctor to help and heal others is all the more inspiring because it's very uncommon in her time and for someone of nobility. Other girls her age think of nothing but balls, gowns and only ambitions to marry someone rich and powerful. But Katerina also has a dark gift and despite her efforts not to be involved with the continuously rising dispute in the St. Petersburg's royal courts, she always finds herself dragged in the middle of it all. Everybody just wants to use her. Amidst all of this, Katerina struggles to remain untouched by darkness and this just made her truly endearing. 

One of the many positive qualities of The Unfailing Light is its ability to enthrall its readers with its atmosphere. Imperial Russia is depicted as regal and majestic but it is also sinister and foreboding and boasts quite a number of paranormal creatures that would scare the living wit out of an unknowing, oblivious ordinary person. It's still hard to keep track of the lineages and who's who but the mystery that was sustain all throughout the book just made The Unfailing Light such a thrilling read.

Katerina's time back in Smolny Institute was definitely one of my favorite parts. I kept trying to guess what's really happening, who to trust, who's behind it all as Katerina attempts to appease the uncontrollable, vehement presence to protect her friends.

We also get to see more of Katerina's power. It's getting stronger and with it Katerina seems to be evolving, too. She's still the same stubborn yet kindhearted girl but she's growing to become someone formidable. Her relationship with George progresses as well. Their secret meetings and stolen kisses were surprisingly enough to make me giddy and lighthearted.

In The Gathering Storm, Bridges introduced us to Imperial Russia in all its glory but we quickly learned that behind all the glamour and curtsies, power struggles exist. In this second installment, the conspiracy and deceit was as palpable as ever. But like in the first book, the ending left me a little frustrated and somewhat disgruntled. Bridges really has a knack to end her books in a way that will left her readers wanting more. 

Overall, The Unfailing Light is a strong, compelling read. Full of intrigue and magic, The Unfailing Light is as enchanting as its predecessor.

Cupid's Verdict:

4 Cupids

A copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley
in exchange for an honest review.

***

I am very honored to be kicking off this blog tour and I'm offering a copy to one lucky reader courtesy of the wonderful people from Random House Kids. This giveaway is open to US only. Sorry international peeps! To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

By day, Robin Bridges is a mild-mannered writer of fantasy and paranormal fiction for young adults. By night, she is a pediatric nurse. Robin lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband, one soon-to-be teenager, and two slobbery mastiffs. She likes playing video games and watching Jane Austen movies. (If only there was a Jane Austen video game!) The Katerina Trilogy began with the The Gathering Storm and continues with The Unfailing Light.

You can find Robin Bridges here: Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

***

Here are the rest of the stops. Don't forget to drop by! ;)

~September 25th: Casey’s Crew

~September 26th: Much Ado About Books

~September 26th: The Streetlight Reader

~September 27th: Infinite Reads

~September 28th: The Hiding Spot

~September 29th: Girls *Heart* Books

~October 1st: Mom Reads My Books

~October 2nd: Magical Urban Fantasy Reads

~October 2nd: The Book Review Club

~October 3rd: The Book Review Club

~October 4th: Kimba Caffeinated

~October 4th: My Life is a Notebook

~October 5th: My Life is a Notebook

~October 6th: Candace’s Book Blog

~October 7th: Reader Girls

~October 8th: Bookish

~October 8th: Peace, Love, Books

~October 9th: YA Bibliophile

~October 9th: Reader Girls

~October 10th: Wastepaper Prose

~October 10th: Imaginary Reads

~October 11th: Imaginary Reads

~October 12th: Well Read Wife

~October 15th: Libby Blog

~October 16th: Cracking the Cover

~October 17th: A Bookish Libraria

~October 18th: A Novel Review

~October 19th: In the Best Worlds

~October 20th: Tripping Over Books

Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Read (June 17 - 21, 2012)

Book: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Publication Date: June 12, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers 

Number of Pages: 303 

Genre/s: Young Adult, Mermaids
Source: ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love—just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty. - (source)

My first mermaid book and unfortunately I couldn't really say I loved it. 

In all fairness, I love the concept of mermaid here. They're not the Disney version. They don't sing, they don't collect human artifacts, and they don't certainly save drowning humans. They kill and they are dangerous. Promises are of the utmost regard for them and if it's broken then you have to repay it, no matter the cost. 

Lies Beneath had a gorgeous cover and it also had the best opening line I've read in a while. It hooked me right in, but sadly, my interest level was not sustained. Why? Because I felt like I've read this kind of story a thousand times before. The only difference was it was told in a male POV and there were mermaids. After the novelty lost its charm, everything just started to go bland. 

It's not exactly gripping either. Mostly because, the plot line was predictable and I couldn't connect to any of the characters. But Lily is commendable because she thinks and she didn't fall for Calder immediately. They read poems at each other, too, which honestly didn't help. I never really like poems. I suck I know.

Lies Beneath has a lot of potential though. The scenery was captivating and the writing was good as well. Too bad, it's not the case with the characters at all. I just couldn't relate to them. Shame.

Cupid's Verdict:

2 1/2 Cupids

A copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley
in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Read from April 2, 2012
to April 4, 2012

Book: Starters by Lissa Price

Publication Date: March 13, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Number of Pages: 368 pages

Genre/s: Young Adult, Dystopia

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER 

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. 

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. - Goodreads

Excerpt: "Did Cinderella ever consider fessing up to the prince, that night she was enjoying herself in the fancy ball gown? Did she even think of telling him, oh, by the way, Prince, the coach isn’t mine, I’m really a filthy little barefoot servant on borrowed time? No. She took her moment. And then went quietly away after midnight."

I think it's important to note my previous reading history before I landed myself into the world of Starters. I read How To Kill A Rock Star by Tiffany DeBartolo which totally rocked my socks off and Partials by Dan Wells which was now enlisted as one of the best dystopians I've read this year. The thing is,  although those two books are from different genres (the former is contemporary BTW), they are both masters in the art of plot twist. 

Definitely, I'm on my reading high and I was expecting a lot from Starters. Unfortunately, it was in a lack of a better word, just OK. And yes, I need to explain that but I think I'd let this out of the bag first.

I just don't get it. 

If you have read the synopsis, it sounded so awesome, and I'm so optimistic that aside from delivering something new and wow-zah in the dystopian genre, Starters would be mindblowingly good. The concept was indeed original and the basic question was, "Would you in exchange of a big fat check (totally got that from **HIMYM, sorry where was I?) allow others to rent your body?" 

You see, in Callie's world, unclaimed minors are scrounging for money and a place to stay. The streets are dangerous and children kill for food even for a single cookie. The Marshals are everywhere and if you're not street smart and a runner-extraordinaire you could end up in an institution. They don't have parents anymore and being an unclaimed minor is the worst thing that you could ever be. The Enders is on the complete opposite side of the scope, they are wealthy, they live luxurious life and they could buy anything, even your body. And yup, I forgot that this was all after the war, the so-called Spore Wars, wherein the only vaccinated people, the younger and the older ones lived. 

Sounds tragic, right? It was. I was hooked from the first page. I think I didn't care for a character any faster than I did with Callie and Tyler. I could see the devotion of Callie to his little brother. His sick and she's the only one that's there. She's the grown-up now and she has to do the surviving for both of them. So she went to Prime Destination (in short, Prime--meh) and signed for a three rentals meaning three Enders get to use her body and she's done. However, by her third and last rental everything fishy starts to unfold.

Cue for the fun stuff to start. But you know what, I got lost. Somewhere when everything was supposed to be happening, I was confounded. I tried to be as gripped as I was but I just couldn't. So I did other things. Worst decision ever. Not only that made me more detached from everything, the world started to lose its attraction. 

But let's be more objective.

There are great points to Starters. The protagonist, Callie was relatable and endearing. She always thinks of others especially her little brother, Tyler. As I said, the concept was original. The pacing was great from the start. The villain was creepy. The Old Man was really something. Starters indeed has its moments, because if Tyler and Callie's and other unclaimed minors didn't break your heart, then Sara from the Institution would.

However, its great points also somehow become it's not so great points. Callie while relatable and endearing at first, became somewhat dreary to me in the long run. She was a survivor, yes. She has his brothers best interest at heart, yes. But why, is she so invincible? Why is she holding a gun every second and lose it everytime she closes her eyes. OK, that's totally off the point, but yes, why don't she have any concussion or limp from all the bumping and falling she gets from all her escapade. 

What my point really is, before you ask what's this got to do with anything, this little point along with some others just made it so unrealistic for me. I think my brows were so close to hitting the ceiling as I turn pages and pages, and I keep seeing Callie as a bad version of Angelina Jolie in Salt. 

I do think this all boils down to the concept of "body renting". Who in their right minds, especially older adults in their 150s-200s wants to use another body for fun? Are old people really like that? Do they fantasize to be young again so that they could party harder and be more attractive? Then those who undergo the renting gets to have a chip in their brains, and then the Enders get to used their body? If the technology was that advanced, then why weren't they able to vaccinate everyone so that nobody would die?

And to be honest, I just don't really understand this body renting business, how it works, how the real body is in some other place sleeping, while the Enders whose using the body is in the club sipping drinks or flirting. Why can someone alter the chip but not take it out? How the hell can you alter the chip without taking it out? Why did it not explode if you somehow did manage to alter it without taking out? I have questions, so many questions. 

I don't know. I still don't know what I feel about Starters even after all those griping and questioning. It wasn't really that bad. I think it just didn't work for me. Am I excited to read the sequel? Not really but I will read it, I swear. Like I said, I have so many questions and there's only one way to find out, read the sequel and hope for the best.

Cupid's Verdict:

3 Cupids

An advance copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley.

**I was referring to How I Met Your Mother, a hit comedy TV series on CBS. 

Review: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Read (February 3, 2012)

Book: The Gathering Storm (The Katerina Trilogy 1) by Robin Bridges

Publication Date: January 10, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Books 

Number of Pages: 386 

Genre/s: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Paranormal
Source: ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart? - (source)

“We lived in the strangest of times. Russia was steeped in mysticism and the occult, and science was struggling against superstition to pull the country in the future. It was like dreaming you were in a fairy tale, and knowing you should wake up but not being able to. Unfortunately, I knew for a fact that monsters and faeries existed. I might even be one of the monsters. And there was nothing science could do about it.” - taken from an uncorrected ARC 

What immediately drawn me to The Gathering Storm was the setting. Set in Russia where Tsars, Duchesses and Dukes were held with much importance than anything else. Power struggles were common and marrying a man or woman with high position was any parents' dream. I've always been fascinated with Russia ever since I've heard the story about Anastasia and the Romanov's family. It was intriguing, indeed but what really interested me was the unsettling fact that nobody survived in that family. 

But The Gathering Storm was not about the Romanov's at all. It tells the story of Katerina Alexandrovna. A girl with a huge dream to be a doctor someday. But she was held back by what society dictates: A fine young lady marries someone of importance. End of story. But there are far more things, sinister things she has to hide if she wants to live a normal life and avoid condemnation.

Katerina stood out to me. She was a sensible, smart girl and didn't think too highly of herself. She's hiding a terrible secret—a power she views as a curse not a gift—that she has kept hidden for years. She's afraid it would consume her and bring her to the dark side. But one evening, while attending a ball she used her powers to save someone from an evil spell. Unfortunately, somebody saw her and she was blackmailed. It's either she will use her power for them or they will reveal her secret. Quite the dilemma, isn't it?

Katerina reminded of Fire from Kristin Cashore's Fire. She saw herself as a monster not knowing that what she hated the most about herself will save not only her family but the entire Russia. She's passionate about being a doctor even though in her time, it's frowned upon when a woman with title would "work" instead of being happily married. A little bit cynical about love so it was really cute to watch her fell in love with someone she despises the most. On the other hand, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich reminds me of Brigan from the same book by Cashore. Brigan hated Fire. Judged her harshly, treated her with contempt, but he will always be there to save her in the nick of time. With their constant meeting and unexpected brushes with out-of-the-ordinary creatures, he learned more about her and grew to love her.

What my problem with The Gathering Storm was the names and the titles. It took getting used to. But although that's the case, I'm happy that I know now the difference between the usage of -nova and -vich. Also, the ranks and familial relationships baffled me to no end. Everyone was someone's cousin, granddaughter or great great grandson.

The creatures, the superstitions and the lore, were enough to drive me crazy. Everything just keep popping out of place and it made everything so complicated. I almost poked my eye with a pen (yes, I'm reading at class again) when I discovered what's lurking beyond the forests that first time. I never thought I'll see that kind of creature again in another book. Think of Die For Me. ;)

And the sudden realization of Katerina that she loved Brigan—er George was enough reason for me to eat my socks. I think the naiveness can be pointed out with the fact that she was cynical about this. But I'm telling you that came out of nowhere. Although, I applaud this book because there's no insta-love, that out of nowhere realization just bothered me a bit. Who knew you'd fell in love with someone that fast and you'd realized it because you're not going to be able to dance with him at a ball because you're already engaged? Ha!

However, my only real thorn about this was the ending. Why does it have to end that way? Is there any awesome explanation why the ending must be in a completely different level from the rest of the book?

Nevertheless, The Gathering Storm was refreshing and different. The descriptions and the details were very well done, I've felt like I've been to Russia myself, attended the balls and curtsied 'til my knees and ankles hurt. I enjoyed it and I am expecting to know more about Katerina and her painstakingly decision (rolls eyes) to make in the next installment. Filled with glamour, myth, mystery and adventures, fans of Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Fire from The Seven Kingdom series will surely like this book.

Cupid's Verdict:

4 Cupids

A copy was provided by the publisher at no cost via Netgalley
in exchange for an honest review.