Author: Ambrosia

Book Review: Dragonwich

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Who Will Dare to Face the Dragonwitch?

Submissive to her father’s will, Lady Leta of Aiven travels far to meet a prospective husband she neither knows nor loves–Lord Alistair, future king of the North Country.

But within the walls of Gaheris Castle, all is not right. Vicious night terrors plague Lord Alistair to the brink of insanity. Whispers rise from the family crypt. The reclusive castle Chronicler, Leta’s tutor and friend, possesses a secret so dangerous it could cost his life and topple the North Country into civil war.

And far away in a hidden kingdom, a fire burns atop the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Acolytes and priestesses serve their goddess to the limits of their lives and deaths. No one is safe while the Dragonwitch searches for the sword that slew her twice…and for the one person who can wield it.

I was not aware that this was part of a series when I signed up for the tour, but I am so glad that it is. I am now going to go back and read the others. That said Dragonwich can stand on it’s own feet and is a book apart. The story is deep and entrancing and takes you on an adventure as you flip through each page. There were moments when I thought I had it all figured out, and then I was shown that I really did not know anything at all. This is one of the better Fantasy reads that I have read all summer.

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 8/13/13

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

My Gemstone Rating:

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Challenge Updates as of August 1st.

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Wow okay I have not done an update of my challenges in a little bit and after going through and updating my challenge page I can say I am completed with all but two. I have 6 more books I need to read this year for challenges. Not to bad if you ask me! I have more more Animal challenge book and 5 more for the TBR challenge. Going great if I do say so.

I had to update my overall challenge again because of how much I am reading. I took the jump and named 100 books for the year to be my goal. Don’t think I will fly by this one like I have the last two but you never know. Great year for books!

Book Review: The Goddess Chronicle (Canongate Myths #13)

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

From internationally bestselling crime writer Natsuo Kirino comes a mythical feminist noir about family secrets, broken loyalties, and the search from truth in a deceitful world.

In a place like no other, on a mystical island in the shape of tear drop, two sisters are born into a family of oracles. Kamikuu is admired far and wide for her otherworldly beauty; small and headstrong Namima learns to live in her sister’s shadow. On her sixth birthday, Kamikuu is chosen to become the next Oracle, serving the realm of light, while Namima is forced to serve the realm of darkness—destined to spend eternity guiding the spirits of the deceased to the underworld.

As the sisters serve opposite fates, Namima embarks on a journey that takes her from the experience of first love to the aftermath of scalding betrayal. Caught in an elaborate web of treachery, she travels between the land of the living and the Realm of the Dead, seeking vengeance and closure.

At the heart of this exquisitely dark tale, Kirino masterfully reimagines the ancient Japanese creation myth of Izanami and Izanaki. A provocative, fantastical saga, The Goddess Chronicle tells a sumptuous story of sex, murder, gods and goddesses, and bittersweet revenge

Oh I wanted to love this book instead I only liked it. I can not complain with how it was written, or the plot and how everything was presented all of that was well done. To me there just seemed to be a little something missing, and I think that happens when you can not read the book in the original language. I think something just comes off as missing and a little bit try. That is how I felt about this one anyways. I would still recommend it to people to at least give it a try, you might not feel anything was missing like I did.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Teaser Tuesday 7/30/13

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

With a jar of wine and a basket of barley cakes, I went to the old temple of Isis. With Saturnalia celebrants still stumbling drunk about the city there was no one to stop me. Pg. 206 Song of the Nile by Stephanie Dray

Book Review: The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #2)

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Harold Gaynor offers Anita Blake a million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. Knowing it means a human sacrifice will be necessary, Anita turns him down. But when dead bodies start turning up, she realizes that someone else has raised Harold’s zombie–and that the zombie is a killer. Anita pits her power against the zombie and the voodoo priestess who controls it.

In The Laughing Corpse Anita will learn that there are some secrets better left buried-and some people better off dead..

So we see an increase to 4 gems from the second Anita Blake book for me that will please a friend of mine.

Anita spends the whole of the book swimming in Alligators as she says and the danger is ramped up even more. This time however the danger does not come from Vampires, granted Jean Claude could be a danger but he is far to cute and rather fancies her so don’t think we have to much to worry about there at the moment. No the danger is from Vodoo and Zombies! Now I am not on the whole Zombie band wagon and Zombie Apocalypse and all of that, but I like a well written plot involving dark magic and boy there was some dark magic going on in this one. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but this was a nice fun read, and when Anita fully embraces her power over the dead well, watch out everybody. She knows how to command her Zombies and even gets the attention of the “undead” as well. I will be looking forward to the next read in this series, maybe she will put on some heels again!

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments.

Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong.

The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

This was an impulse get from the library and turned to be out one of those, backfires of when I think a cover looks cool. Boy was I wrong. This book was complete and utter drivel I wanted to hide it so that no one would check it out again, but then I did not want to have to pay the fee for a lost book. So it went back. The plot is not original at all not one iota Two people fall in love only one is not a person yada yada.

The other reason besides the utter drivel? Well Angel from heaven gets drunk and contemplates sex before marriage. Nuff said. Hey everyone knows I am a Pagan but I was raised Catholic and I know the rules. So unless we are going the Loki and Bartleby route knock it OFF. Like seriously.

Gave it two gems (stars) for the cover.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Teaser Tuesday 7/23/13

- Ambrosia 5 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“Tell me Charles do you see much of Lord Avery Lately?” she surprised him with the Question.
“Only at Westminster”
“How does he go on?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea, expect for the fact that he does go on about my reformist leanings every time we meet” ~ pg.97 Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss by Deb Marlowe

Musing Monday 7/22/13

- Ambrosia 1 Comment

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

 

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Do you ever have that moment when you look at your very large (or maybe not very) To Read pile and go…”I have nothing to read?”

Book Review: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Chloe’s older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can’t be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby’s friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.

It is hard to write a review on this book and not give to much a way. It is distressing and yet intriguing. I am still really not sure what to think of this one truly. It is a mystery and it has a lot of different levels and layers to the mystery to it. Disturbing..and creepy and yet you can not help but read it. Another reviewer said if it was music it would be jazz, a movie David Lynch movie, yeah I think that is about right.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Book Review: Faerie Wars (The Faerie Wars Chronicles #1) by Herbie Brennan

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

When Henry Atherton helps Mr. Fogarty clean up around his house, he expects to find a mess and a cranky old man; what he doesn’t expect to find is Pyrgus Malvae, crown prince of the Faerie realm, who has escaped the treacherous Faeries of the Night by traveling to the human world through a portal powered by trapped lightning. An egomaniacal demon prince, greedy glue factory owners Brimstone and Chalkhill, and the nefarious Lord Hairstreak, leader of the Faeries of the Night, all dream of ruling the Faerie realm and are out to kill Pyrgus.

Enlisting the help of his sister, Holly Blue, and his new friend, Henry, Pyrgus must get back to the Faerie world alive before one of his many enemies gets to him instead. But how many portals are open, and can Pyrgus find the right one before it falls into the wrong hands?

Conjuring scenes filled with vivid color, unforgettable detail, and fearless characters, author Herbie Brennan brings readers to the Faerie world, where nothing is ever what it seems and no one can be trusted

I am very glad that I got this one at the library because if I had spent money on it I would have been very disappointed. This book was just pretty bad. Now I know it is a young adult novel but I actually think to get enjoyment out of this one it would have to be geared even younger, and even then I am not sure.

The first many chapters run very slow and I mean like a frozen river in the middle of a Minnesota winter. Most younger readers I know like things to be a bit more up tempo then that. Some of the humor was pretty good and that is why I plugged along and why it got two stars.

My Gemstone Rating:

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