Literary Criticism
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Review: Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms #3) by Morgan Rhodes
The King of Blood continues to rule over the kingdom of Mytica with an iron fist. His son and heir, Magnus, is married to the former princess, Cleo, against both of their wills. Cleo and Magnus know that the King searches for the legendary Kindred in hopes of gaining absolutely power through their magic. The King plans on using Magnus’s sister, Lucia, a powerful sorceress, to find the Kindred but her magic threatens to consume her. The King looks for witches who can tutor her and teach her to temper her powers but so far, there have been none. From across the sea comes two visiting royals, Ashur and Amara who also seek…
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Review: Rebel Spring (Falling Kingdoms #2) by Morgan Rhodes
After a bloody siege, Auranos has been defeated and the young queen, Cleo, is a captive in what was once her home and kingdom. The three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica with the King of Blood as their ruler. At the heart of this conflict though is the quest for magic. Four brave young people search for that magic and the power it promises. For Cleo, the magic would enable her to reclaim her royal seat. In Jonas’s hands, it frees his nation, and in Lucia’s, it fulfills the ancient prophecy of her destiny. And if the magic were Magnus’s, he would finally prove…
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Review: The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff
With war on the horizon, Adelia Monteforte’s parents send her away from Italy to America in hopes of saving her from the Nazi invasion. When she arrives in America, she is clearly an outsider. Her aunt and uncle take her in, they have no children of their own so they try their best with the teenage Adelia. In hopes of distracting Adelia from her alienation and loss of her parents, they take her to the shore over the summer where she meets the Connally family. The four brothers welcome her with open arms and nickname her Addie. They make her feel like a normal girl though she is a foreigner and a…
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Review: Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) by Morgan Rhodes
In the kingdom of Mytica, magic had been forgotten until three three very different rulers look for what was once lost. In the north where Prince Magnus lives, the King of Blood rules and longs for power and unlimited magic. In the middle region, which is full of rebels lives Jonas…and there the people are ruled by a chief claiming to have magic but none have seen it, and in the south a prosperous region exists where Princess Cleo lives in a wonderfully naive world where magic is the stuff of myth and legend. When a man is murdered in cold blood by Princess Cleo’s friend, his death sparks a…
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Review: War of the Roses: Margaret of Anjou by Conn Iggulden
War is coming….or is it winter? This is the book that inspired the wildly popular A Song of Ice and Fire series (AKA Game of Thrones). This latest book in the War of the Roses series was a constant action sequence. I haven’t read the first book in the series and that did put me at a bit of a disadvantage because I didn’t fully understand the relationships between some of the characters but I do know my British history so it didn’t take too long to get situated in the story. the year is 1454 and King Henry VI has remained all but exiled in Windsor Castle, struck down…
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Review: Miss Emily by Nuala O’Connor
Emily Dickinson is one of America’s most beloved poets. But who was the woman behind all that passion and genius? This book offers a glimpse (albeit a fictional glimpse) into the life of Emily and her life as a recluse in Amherst, Massachusetts. The story alternates between Emily’s POV and that of her new Irish maid, Ada. Ada has left her family in Ireland in favor of seeking employment in a prosperous new world. When she lands her job at the Dickinson residence as a’ maid of all’, she knows she is fortunate to be in with such a well to do family. Emily and Ada quickly hit things off and…
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Review: The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson
Princess Lia and her handsome Prince Rafe, are being held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda. In an effort to save her from certain death, Kaden, Lia’s would be assassin, tells the Vendan Komisar that she has the sight and will be a great asset to the Vendan people. The Komisar agrees to spare her life…..for now. But her position is precarious. The same goes for Rafe, he lies to the Komisar and tells him that he is an emissary sent on behalf of the Dalbreck Prince to negotiate an alliance. But this lie has only bought Rafe at best a month before his sham is revealed. Lies. Lies. And more lies. Lies roll off of…
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Review: The Last Town (Wayward Pines #3) by Blake Crouch
The last time we saw Wayward Pines, all hell was breaking loose…..literally! The abbys had arrived in town and everything was in complete and utter chaos. Ethan Burke called David Pilcher’s bluff and told the residents of Wayward Pines what the town really was and in retaliation, Pilcher opened the gates and let the abbys in. Now the town is under attack and there is no way to stop the abbys. With humanity down to only 400 people, there aren’t that many people to ‘spare’ and with the abbys making short work of the remaining towns people, Ethan hopes to find a way to stop the abbys and save the…
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Review: The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
It’s summer time in small town America. In the panhandle of West Virginia, Layla is cut off by her wealthy family in the middle of the Great Depression. She is forced to find a job with the Writers Project writing the history of Macedonia, a small town in West Virginia. While working, she will board with the Romeyn family and where we will meet two other main characters: Jottie and Willa. Layla’s assignment is to write the official history of the town, she learns there are plenty of secrets in the town, not to mention plenty of colorful characters. She begins investigating the town and her inquiries force the Romeyn family,…
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Review: The Oracle (The Sarah Weston Chronicles #3) by D. J. Niko
Sarah Weston’s latest adventures and archaeological pursuits have taken her to Greece where she is working with her American colleague (and sometimes romantic interest) Daniel Madigan, cataloging artifacts from a near by dig. In Delphi, there is a cult of neo-pagans who have painstakingly recreated ancient rituals to glorify the god Apollo and deliver oracles to seekers from around the world. When some antiquities are stolen from a museum in Thebes, Sarah Daniel are drawn into a dark plot….someone is using the Delphian oracle as a smoke screen for an information exchange, which could result in devastating consequences. Sarah and Daniel are in a race against time and their own personal demons…