Me on The Storyteller

Title: The Storyteller
Author: Traci Chee
Release Date: November 13, 2018
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group (Penguin imprint)

Sefia is determined to keep Archer out of the Guard's clutches and their plans for war between the Five Kingdoms. The Book, the ancient, infinite codex of the past, present and future, tells of a prophecy that will plunge Kelanna in that bloody war, but it requires a boy—Archer—and Sefia will stop at nothing to ensure his safety. The Guard has already stolen her mother, her father, and her Aunt Nin. Sefia would sooner die than let them take anymore from her—especially the boy she loves. But escaping the Guard and the Book's prophecy is no easy task. After all, what is written always comes to pass. As Sefia and Archer watch Kelanna start to crumble to the Guard's will, they will have to choose between their love and joining a war that just might tear them apart.

The Storyteller is a sweet and sorrowful end to a series, a world, full of life, death, and the magic of stories.

As with most final books, I find it hard to talk about it on its own for fear of giving away too much to those who haven't read the previous books. On its own, The Storyteller is an ending, it is the conclusion Sefia and Archer have been both running towards and running away from. It is the truth revealed by the Book, it is the war coming to an end. It is an inescapable ending, no matter how hard some try to run or avoid or change the future. Everything is already written down, between the covers of the Book. As a whole, the trilogy is enchanting and expansive, journey after journey, secret after secret. Memory after memory. It feels like a puzzle to be solved that has no true answer. It's an exploration of destiny and fate and the power of words both spoken and written.

All three books are a joy to read, to fall into and follow the characters on their paths, when they don't know where they're going and when they're racing towards somewhere they know they don't want to be. I see the wonder and power of storytelling in these books, journeys easy and hard, endings happy and bittersweet, revelations infinitely small and impossibly large. I would definitely recommend this series to those looking magic and adventure, a little mystery or puzzle here and there, and the everlasting battle between fate and free will.

(I borrowed a copy of this title from the library.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (312)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Now I Rise
Author: Kiersten White
Release Date: June 27, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (Random House imprint)

From Goodreads:

Lada Dracul has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself. After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.

What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?

As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won . . . and souls will be lost.

Why can't they just be happy?  This series is going to wreck me.

Me on And I Darken

Title: And I Darken
Author: Kiersten White
Release Date: June 28, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press (Random House imprint)

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets. Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, who's expected to rule a nation, Radu feels that he's made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she's finally found someone worthy of her passion. But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

And I Darken is an epic tale of survival, of plots and plans, of secrets and deceit. Of a yearning for home that battles against a yearning for a person,

Lada. Lada is a strong girl, a fragile girl, a fractured and broken and hard as iron girl. She has her plans, her ideas, her priorities. She knows what she wants in terms of returning to her homeland, to her Wallachia. She knows what she wants in terms of strength and power, in leading troops and proving that she can be just as cunning and ruthless as all the men around her. She knows what she wants in terms of freedom, to never marry, to be her own person. Her own ruler. But she doesn't necessarily know what she wants when it comes to her heart, when it comes to emotions. When it comes to love. She's lived her life, seen her and her brother Radu used as pawns, as bargaining chips, as things to be tossed aside. She's seen what happens to the weak and she knows what she has to do. Even if it means breaking hearts, including her own.

The world-building here is so expansive and expressive. From the cold and the snow and the rough stone of Wallachia, from the smell of fire and pine trees and fear and sorrow, to the bright sun of the Ottoman Empire, to the luxury and the heat and the deceit of Edirne. From the high ranks of the sultan and his advisors to the slave-like Janissary soldiers. This story stretches far and wide, follows the actions of rulers and princes, follows the impacts of those actions on their children and the sacrifices they must make in order to stay alive. And the depth and variety of the characters. So many of them had plans, careful and cunning plans, and they all thought they would work. They all thought they were right, that they would see it to the end. But with so many plans, so many webs being woven, some were bound to be caught up. And some were bound to slip and fall.

It's somewhat hard for me to describe this book, to review it in any way that isn't a mad rush of words and sensations. This is an epic tale of a girl, a boy, and the boy they come to love. A tale of a girl rough and harsh, carved from stone and ice. Of a boy sweet and gentle, quiet, unassuming, always watching and waiting. Of the boy they love, one who strives to follow a dream and rule his people. There are so many things I loved. How strong and determined Lada was, how she saw certain acts, acts where characters started to find themselves and define themselves, as slights against her plans. How sweet and kind and intelligent Radu was, how after years of hardship and pain and fear as a child he found something to call his. He found a faith to embrace. This is far more historical than fantasy, but I do wonder about some things, about certain events. It'll probably be all in my head, but I can't help but wonder. I can't wait for the next book, to find out what happens next and what peril they will all find themselves in.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Random House through NetGalley.)

Me on The Conjurer's Riddle

Title: The Conjurer's Riddle
Author: Andrea Cremer
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Philomel Books (Penguin imprint)

Charlotte leads her group of exiles west, plunging into a wild world of shady merchants and surly rivermen on the way to New Orleans. But as Charlotte learns more about the revolution she has championed, she wonders if she's on the right side after all. Charlotte and her friends get to know the mystical New Orleans bayou and deep into the shadowy tunnels below the city–the den of criminals, assassins and pirates–Charlotte must decide if the revolution's goals justify their means, or if some things, like the lives of her friends, are too sacred to sacrifice.

The Conjurer's Riddle is a look into revolution and rebellion, the secret-gathering and the spying, the hard journeys and the dangers. The heavy cost.

Charlotte is driven, soft-hearted, and passionate about her chose cause, about saving her friends. But doubt lingers, as it always does. Things aren't the same as they were in the Catacombs or in the Floating City. On their journey west, in New Orleans, Charlotte learns how different things are. How duplicitous and two-faced. How her ideas and reasons for fighting back might differ from other members of the resistance.

In terms of the romance, I still feel that Jack is the only option for Charlotte. I still don't understand why a love triangle was added in the first book why Coe suddenly went from person Charlotte barely knew to romantic entanglement. Charlotte is still drawn to Jack, still attracted to him, still hating him and worrying about him, while Coe just seems there. But there wasn't much time for Charlotte to worry about her feelings for most of the book. She was far too busy travelling, learning secrets, or trying to stay hidden and alive. The romance takes a back seat to Charlotte's journey and the still hidden mysteries of Grave. So hidden, so mysterious.

The Resistance is still fighting back against the Empire, fighting to be free from an oppressive ruler from across an ocean. When you fight back as part of a rebellion, you fight for your beliefs, your friends and family. But at what cost? Destruction of property? Injury? Death? Is revolution the only answer? This book, this series, will always scream America to me. Their idea that freedom is a right, that no one can take it from you, but if it ever is taken you can fight to regain it. Is violence ever the only answer? As a Canadian, it feels so American to go in guns blazing to fight for freedom. It feels like it's all they have, like their identity as American is based on freedom and without it they're nothing.

I'm still intrigued by this world, I think the building of it is creative. To speculate on what a country would look like had a major event in its history not happened, if someone else was still in control. If it was a mixture of colonies and disputed territories. It's a dangerous world Charlotte's in, one filled with deception and the impossible. I want to know more. What is the Resistance's endgame plan? What are Grave's secrets, the ones that even he doesn't know? What else is out there for Charlotte to discover? A great follow-up to the first book.

(I received an advance copy of this title from Penguin Random House Canada.)