Review #86 - Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce

Details:

Title: Lioness Rampant

Author: Tamora Pierce

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN 13: 978-0689878572

Synopsis:

Having achieved her dream of becoming the first female knight errant, Alanna of Trebond is not sure what to do next. Perhaps being a knight errant is not all that Alanna needs....But Alanna must push her uncertainty aside when a new challenge arises. She must recover the Dominion Jewel, a legendary gem with enormous power for good -- but only in the right hands. And she must work quickly. Tortall is in great danger, and Alanna's archenemy, Duke Roger, is back -- and more powerful than ever. In this final book of the Song of the Lioness quartet, Alanna discovers that she indeed has a future worthy of her mythic past -- both as a warrior and as a woman.

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Review #85 - The Watchmaker of Filligree Street by Natasha Pulley

Details:

Title: The Watchmaker of Filligree Street

Author: Natasha Pulley

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-1408854310

Synopsis:

In 1883, Thaniel Steepleton returns to his tiny flat to find a gold pocketwatch on his pillow. When the watch saves Thaniel's life in a blast that destroys Scotland Yard, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori - a kind, lonely Japanese immigrant. Meanwhile, Grace Carrow is sneaking into an Oxford library, desperate to prove the existence of the luminiferous ether before her mother can force her to marry.

As the lives of these three characters become entwined, events spiral out of control until Thaniel is torn between loyalties, futures and opposing geniuses.

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Readers Crossing Readathon

So this reading challenge is being hosted by ReadAtMidnight and runs from Sunday 10th December until Sunday 31st December 2017.

You can chose a path which are based on the Animal Crossing themes of Cute, Cool, Sporty and Natural or you can just complete the challenges in whatever order you like. 

Review #84 - Everless by Sara Holland

Details:

Title: Everless

Author: Sara Holland

Publisher: Orchard Books

ISBN 13: 978-1408353394  (Released 4th Jan 2018)

Synopsis:

In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything - even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.

Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.

There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever ... and possibly the future of time itself.

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Review #83 - The Woman Who Rides Like A Man by Tamora Pierce

Details:

Title: The Woman Who Rides Like A Man

Author: Tamora Pierce

Publisher: Simon Pulse

ISBN 13: 978-0689878589

Synopsis:

Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of Tortall. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a duel to the death -- either she will be killed or she will be inducted into the tribe. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mythic fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe's first female shaman -- despite the desert dwellers' grave fear of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must fight to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes -- for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall.

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November Wrap Up and December TBR

So in November 2017 I managed to read a total of 10 books.

In order of reading I completed Alanna the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, The X Files Earth Children are Weird by Kim Smith, The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell, A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke, Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller, In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao & The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli.

 

  

I really enjoyed A Shiver of Snow and Sky which I read for the Book Box Club, it was definitely an easy but engrossing read. I enjoyed both of the arcs I read this month and cannot wait to have the finished copies (The Girl in the Tower and Daughter of a Siren Queen). Both Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and The Last Namsara were great fantasy reads and I am looking forward to both of their sequels in 2018. Most disappointing read for me this month was The Knife of Never Letting Go, it was problematic story wise and had I read it rather than listened to it I probably would have DNF'd it.

So in December I actually have a pretty busy month planned. So my somewhat provisional short TBR for December is as follows; The Woman who Rides like a Man and Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce,  The Memory Trees by Kali Wallace, Golden Son and Morning Star by Pierce Brown.

 

 

Review #82 - The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

Details:

Title: The Last Namsara

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

Publisher: Gollancz

ISBN 13: 978-1473222854

Synopsis:

Asha is a dragon-slayer. Reviled by the very people she's sworn to protect, she kills to atone for the wicked deed she committed as a child - one that almost destroyed her city, and left her with a terrible scar.

But protecting her father's kingdom is a lonely destiny: no matter how many dragons she kills, her people still think she's wicked.

Even worse, to unite the fractured kingdom she must marry Jarek, the cruel commandant. As the wedding day approaches, Asha longs for freedom.

Just when it seems her fate is sealed, the king offers her a way out: her freedom in exchange for the head of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard.

And the only person standing in her way is a defiant slave boy . . .

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