Magic

Down The Wormhole by Ana Franco

/ Absidity Art / 1 Comment

23783793

Down The Wormhole by Ana Franco

Release date: March 17th, 2015

Publisher: French Press Book Works

The Pitch: “A young orphan girl bonds with four mythological gods while trying to find a true home for herself”.

I received an ARC from the author to read and review, so thank Ana Franco.

Synopsis mk2In a city there is a tiny lane that separates two orphanages – one for boys and one for girls. Inside live two very special groups of teenagers. These teenagers carry a secret and leave it tucked safely away in their mysterious lives.

Then one day, a girl named Kitty arrives. No last name, just Kitty.

Before Kitty has time to be astonished by the teenagers’ real identities, she is whisked into a magical realm that slowly unfolds her own. She must come to terms with her true place in the world while she can, because time is ticking and there are secrets in the wormhole.

Travel with Kitty and her new friends Down The Wormhole into a mysterious world of magic, mythology, and mayhem.

“Ana’s YA Novel weaves mythology with modern life and creates a magical tale that will attract readers from all genres.” – Pen Name Publishing.

“The narrative in this book was something else. I mean that in the best of ways. This: ‘She widened her eyes and opened her mouth, looking like an email emoticon’ was one of the best descriptions I’ve read in a book in forever. It had me laughing silly for the longest time.” – Blackbird’s Nest.

“Throw in a plot twisted with deceit, revenge, a magical bracelet, and a wormhole leading to the land of gods, and you have an enticing journey. Oh, and there is also the gratuitous love story many young readers seem to expect.” – Amazing Stories.

“Down the Wormhole is a good book. It’s barely 100 pages, so Franco does not waste pages with anything unnecessary to the story, which I am always appreciative of, especially if sequels are promised.” – Purple Owl Reviews.

 

My Thoughts mk2To start off with we get a Lewis Carroll Alice in wonderland quote to set the mood:

“Alice laughed: ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said; ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’ 


‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’”

Alice in Wonderland is one of my all times favourites, so I was very nervous here – Was this going to be a copycat sort of thing?

I realised very quickly that Ms Franco has her own strong voice and has created a unique story using a blend of Nordic, Celtic and Egyptian mythology with modern day teenagers in all their overreacting drama filled glory.

The beginning was so strong. The first chapter of Eris and Sif fighting in The Land Above All Clouds was fantastic; I would have loved to have read a whole story up there about those two.

Once we swapped from Sif’s to Kitty’s life it lost a little bit of it lustre for me. I had to keep reminding myself thought-out the story to stop being an adult and enjoy the impossible happening.

My favourite character was the villain of the story, the Goddess of Chaos, Eris. But I think the aim was for people to love Kitty, Oops my bad. My least favourite character was Anna. Anna’s treatment of Kitty during labour put her right up there with the likes of Dolores Umbridge in my hatred of book characters.

The writing was choppy with a furious pace and to her credit Ms Franco fitted a hell of a lot of story into very few pages. I really wanted to love this story. It had some of my favourite things in it – mythology, magic, love and revenge. The synopsis sounded interesting and it had gotten a few good reviews. But I just couldn’t get into it. I read an ARC so I can’t comment on what the finished product will be once it is buffed and polished, but this version had a lot of mistakes (sentences with words out of order, misspelled words). I’m normally not one to nit-pick at grammar and spelling as my skills are very poor – if it doesn’t affect the story then I really don’t care. But I found it very hard to read this at times and I really do think that is what lowered my enjoyment. Once it is published I will buy a copy and re-evaluate, because there was real potential for an awesome story under it all and Ms Franco has a wonderful vision of a fantastic new fantasy world.

Author’s Links mk2Blog – https://anaisthebookworm.wordpress.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/anathebookworm

Twitter – https://twitter.com/anathebookworm

Publisher – http://www.frenchpressbookworks.com/

Arcane (The Arinthian Line, #1) by Sever Bronny

/ Absidity Art / 2 Comments

23617581

 

Synopsis

Warlocks before their time …

Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true.

The Lord of the Legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts–and Augum’s mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all … and change the course of history.

Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series The Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy.

 

My Thoughts

I received a copy of this book from the author, through the Goodreads Group “YA Lovers” in exchange for and honest review. So first, I am going to say Thank you!

Augum; I really liked him. He had it tough as an abused orphan slave boy, until he ended up in the care of Sir Tobias Westwood. Westwood taught Augum to read, hunt, etc. and it is thanks in large part to Westwood that Augum survives to end up with Mrs Stone. Augum has spent all of his life ridiculed and beat up on for being a gutter born orphan and it is beautiful to see that turn around for him as he finds true friendship.

Mrs. Stone; the awesome elderly super powerful bad arse Mrs. Stone. I loved her. Go Grandma, Go, Go. I think it is probably the mother in me that loved her as the hero / saviour in this novel so much (I would be interested to see a teenage boy’s response to her character)

Bridget & Leera; Augum’s back up besties. I quite liked the girls and think that they balanced Augum out nicely. Leera got to kick some butt in the book alongside Augum and I hope that in the future books they get their chance to shine independently.

Prince Sydo; I have to mention him as, Sydo is nasty spoiled foul mouthed brat and I hated him. I think you are meant to hate him, but I found him really disrupting my enjoyment of the story at times. I hope he wakes up to himself in the next book.

The story follows 14-year-old Augum. I found the story a bit hard to get into at first and some of the chapters lagging early on and towards the middle as we are getting crammed with background information. There are some cool plot twist along the way and we get a new style of magic with the Arcane discipline. Once I got into the vibe of the book and stomached all the world building, I really started to enjoy the story, but I cannot really say too much about the story without giving all the twists away.

So I will just say the Last 20% of the book was a fantastical rush. The end of the book is an exciting frantic flurry of action, with a brilliant ending, bring on the next instalment Mr Bronny.

Goodreadsauthors website

I am going to knock this up as number one for my Debut author challenge; it is Mr Bronny’s first book and was published last year. I was intending to purchase any of the books I read for the debut author challenge and I was given this one, but I think as I am going to buy the next book Riven (The Arinthian Line, #2) due out in February that it counts.

Debut Author Challenge Button

The Griever’s Mark by Katherine Hurley

/ Absidity Art / Leave a comment

24202316

 

Synopsis

Astarti would bet her life on one thing: she will never escape her master Belos.

After Belos found her as an abandoned infant, he planted within her a Leash, which he uses to control her power. Astarti is a Drifter, able to manipulate the energy world of the Drift–to shape weapons, to bind others, to travel great distances in mere seconds. Astarti’s job is to strike deals with desperate souls who would Leash themselves to Belos for political or personal gain. Her other objective is to kill any Earthmaker–those who wield the power of the elements–whenever possible.

But when Astarti lets one handsome Earthmaker escape, she sets into motion a chain of events that will lead her to question everything she knows about herself and her power. Even her Griever’s Mark tattoo, the symbol of her mother’s abandonment, may not mean what Astarti has always been told.

My Thoughts

I received a copy of this book from the author, through the Goodreads Group “YA Lovers” in exchange for and honest review. So first up I’m going to say Thank you!

The more I like a book a book the harder I find it to say anything about it without gushing like a school girl high on sugar holding hands with her crush for the first time. So I will try to contain myself.

I dived into the world that Ms Hurley created and was in love. She gives as an immensely rich world with forbidden love (My favourite kind of love) earth magic (my favourite kind of magic) evil twisted bad guys, treason, turf wars and a heroine with a dark and mysterious past. Yes please, give me more! I can’t say too much about Astarti, her mother, The Drift, Logan or Earth Magic without giving away the big plot points of the story.

As this is the first book in a series there is a lot of world building and background information given to us, but Ms Hurley makes it all flow beautiful into a enthralling story. In this book we met Astarti and through her adventures we learn all about her life and discover her secret family history with her. We also get to meet Logan the delicious earth maker as she does. We learn a little about Logan and his world in this book, but at the end of the book we are left with questions of his heritage and what his fate will be. So yes we are left with a cliff hanger; the ending brings a whole load more to be answered in the next book and plenty more adventures for Astarti to tackle.

I am looking forward to reading the next instalment.  Five Stars.

Goodreads authors website

The Hunter’s Companion (Familiars #1) by Lori Powell

/ Absidity Art / Leave a comment

20753152

Synopsis

Witches and hunters. Blood and magic. Heartache and lust. Will history repeat itself?

Lora Smith’s life changes forever one day deep in the English fens. Caught up in the Witch trials of 1645, her life ends tragically early, yet her legacy lives on.

Regan White is a 21st century Brighton girl who loves to shop, party, and shop some more. Forced to relocate to her aunt’s crumbling old house in the fenland of West Norfolk, away from everything she’s ever known, Regan’s life takes a mysterious twist.

A box of old diaries tell of strange happenings, striking a chord with Regan’s own recent unnerving experience in the lingering fog of the fens and drawing her deeper into the mystery. Destiny is a big word but it seems that Regan’s is irrevocably entwined in this bewitching landscape.

How do the diaries, her band of new friends, and the captivating American Nate Hunter, all tie together? Will Regan find the link before it is too late, or will she share Lora’s fate?

My Thoughts

I received a copy of this book from the author, through the Goodreads Group “YA Lovers” in exchange for and honest review. So first up I’m going to say Thank you!

Straight up the book was filled with full on imagery. I really really wanted to like this book as the first half of it was brilliant. I loved Ms Powell’s take on Witches Familiars. I was fascinated learning about them as the main characters did.

The chapters alternate between Lora in 1645 and Regan in 2013, I came to care for both of female protagonists. The switch between times is done quite well and Ms Powell manages to capture both time periods beautifully.

The Regan character really grows throughout the first half of the book. We see Regan going from silly seventeen party girl to eighteen, adult with responsibilities and evil creatures to fight, which creates all sorts of drama. With Regan discovering some old family heirloom diary’s in the attic, we finally find out the connection between Lora and Regan (with help from the mysterious and delicious Nate).

We get a lot of information given to us in the book as it is the start of a series. The first half of the book is faced paced and fascinating, but after about the 60% mark it starts to get bogged down. The ending however picks back up and leads to a perfect opening for the next book.

I think that the next book will out do this one, as thanks to the first book we won’t need all the background info and it can all be action.

I did come across a few grammar and formatting issues in my copy while trying to read it, I know some people like to nit-pick at this, but I found it in no way detracted from the story, I’m just warning the picky people out there.

There were a few things later in the book that irked me; language I didn’t feel fit the characters (it just felt wrong) and the unnecessarily dragged out Regan / Nate love or not business. I breathed a sigh of relief when I’d finished reading it, as at around the 70-90% mark I was getting rather stressed out at how drawn out everything was becoming and I just wanted to know how it was going to end.

So to sum it up first half of the book was awesome, but up until the last few chapters is was rather Meh, but it definitely redeemed it’s self in those last chapters.

Goodreads authors website