Thursday 31 March 2016

Strange The Dreamer News by Laini Taylor

Strange The Dreamer News by Laini Taylor

Cover Reveal & Prologue Sneak Peek!

I don't know about you guys but I am absolutely ecstatic about Laini Taylor's new novel 'Strange The Dreamer', so I was even more delighted when I was contacted to say that I could spread the news of the cover reveal and sneak peek of Strange The Dreamer. 

If you didn't know Laini Taylor is the awesome author of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy which includes Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight & Dreams of Gods and Monsters. Now she has announced a new duology (I believe) called the Strange the Dreamer duology with the first book Strange the Dreamer being released in September 2016!

And just to get everyone excited about this book read the blurb below! It is tantalizing!!

Strange the Dreamer is the story of: 

the aftermath of a war between gods and men
a mysterious city stripped of its name
a mythic hero with blood on his hands
a young librarian with a singular dream
a girl every bit as perilous as she is imperiled
alchemy and blood candy, nightmares and godspawn, moths and monsters, friendship and treachery, love and carnage.

Welcome to Weep.


Is everyone ready to see the cover! 
Let's start with the UK Cover!

Isn't it just gorgeous!! I love that blue sparkly colour and the moth and the font. It just looks spectacular!


And let's see the US cover now!
Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1)

I have to say that I really love this one too! The difference in the colours and again the font suits the layout of the book. It is absolutely stunning!

And so everyone can see them side by side!

I really can't pick a favourite to be honest, which is really rare for me. Usually I either prefer the UK or the US but never both. Tell me in the comments what you think of both the covers and which one you prefer.


Lastly we have the sneak peek of the prologue! Who is ready???

Prologue
On the second sabbat of Twelfthmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.
Her skin was blue, her blood was red.
She broke over an iron gate, crimping it on impact, and there she hung, impossibly arched, graceful as a temple dancer swooning on a lover’s arm. One slick finial anchored her in place. Its point, protruding from her sternum, glittered like a brooch. She fluttered briefly as her ghost shook loose, and then her hands relaxed, shedding fistfuls of freshly picked torch ginger buds.
Later, they would say these had been hummingbird hearts and not blossoms at all.
They would say she hadn’t shed blood but wept it. That she was lewd, tonguing her teeth at them, upside down and dying, that she vomited a serpent that turned to smoke when it hit the ground. They would say a flock of moths had come, frantic, and tried to lift her away.
That was true. Only that.
They hadn’t a prayer, though. The moths were no bigger than the startled mouths of children, and even dozens together could only pluck at the strands of her darkening hair until their wings sagged, sodden with her blood. They were purled away with the blossoms as a grit-choked gust came blasting down the street. The earth heaved underfoot. The sky spun on its axis. A queer brilliance lanced through billowing smoke, and the people of Weep had to squint against it. Blowing grit and hot light and the stink of saltpeter. There had been an explosion. They might have died, all and easily, but only this girl had, shaken from some pocket of the sky.
Her feet were bare, her mouth stained damson. Her pockets were all full of plums. She was young and lovely and surprised and dead.
She was also blue.
Blue as opals, pale blue. Blue as cornflowers, or dragonfly wings, or a spring—not summer—sky.
Someone screamed. The scream drew others. The others screamed, too, not because a girl was dead, but because the girl was blue, and this meant something in the city of Weep. Even after the sky stopped reeling, and the earth settled, and the last fume spluttered from the blast site and dispersed, the screams went on, feeding themselves from voice to voice, a virus of the air.
The blue girl’s ghost gathered itself and perched, bereft, upon the spearpoint-tip of the projecting finial, just an inch above her own still chest. Gasping in shock, she tilted back her invisible head and gazed, mournfully, up.
The screams went on and on.
And across the city, atop a monolithic wedge of seamless, mirror-smooth metal, a statue stirred, as though awakened by the tumult, and slowly lifted its great horned head.
 (©Laini Taylor, STRANGE THE DREAMER, out September 2016 by Hodder & Stoughton)

So what do you guys think? I know I am so super excited for this book and it is still so far away! Hurry up September!!


Sunday 13 March 2016

Little Hiatus!

Little Hiatus!

Hey everyone! I know it has been a while since I've posted anything and well this post, I guess, is an explanation to the reason why and along with that a lengthening of this hiatus. 

Recently, at the end of February,  my granny had to go into hospital due to chest troubles and had to stay there for a week. She's home now and doing better but is still having some problems so I'm spending all my time looking after her and being with her. 

I also have got a job. At the beginning of March I had an assessment and interview and then started training last Monday.

So basically I have to get myself into a habit and routine for work, free time and everything else. For now I will be on a month hiatus, I think. I may be back before April but I will have to see. I will probably post book reviews as I read bit I also haven't been reading much either. I will probably also be able to throw in the ocassional discussion and such.

I wish everyone the best and hopefully I'll see you all again soon!

Sunday 6 March 2016

Book Review - Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Siege and Storm (The Grisha, #2)Siege and Storm

(The Grisha #2)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic. 

Published: June 5 2014

Pages: 381 pages (Paperback) (Indigo)

Read: January 4 2016 - March 6 2016

Rating: 3 Stars


SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOK AHEAD


The Darkling cupped my cheek with his hand, and when he spoke, his voice was almost tender. 'This is just the beginning,' he whispered.

Alina thought she could run from her past and escape her destiny. She can't.

Mal hoped he'd done enough to protect the girl he loved. He hadn't.

The Darkling, more powerful than before, is hungry for revenge. He needs Alina.

Soon Alina must choose between her country, her power, and the man she loves -- or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm. 

Book 10/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge



Siege and Storm is the second book in The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. So if you haven't read the first book in this series DO NOT KEEP READING! Anyhoo now that that warning is out. Siege and Storm continues off where Shadow and Bone left with Alina and Mal on the run from The Darkling and Ravka. 

I really wanted to love this book. I wanted to love it so much since I gave Shadow and Bone 5 Stars, but I felt that this book suffered from middle book syndrome or perhaps maybe it was just me. 

I did have quite a few problems with this book while I was reading it. The main problem I had though, which probably added a lot to my disappointed with this book was that I was bored... I was so bored reading this book. A large chunk of the middle of Siege and Storm just had me dragging myself through the pages because basically nothing happened. Because of this, I had a terrible habit of putting this book down after a few pages during that middle to start and finish other books which grabbed my attention. So yes, it took me a long time to read this book. 

In truth, the main reason I loved Shadow and Bone was because of The Darkling! Boy, boy, boy, The Darkling just had me at the get go in Shadow and Bone. We all need a bad boy, ain't that right? And The Darkling was just it! He was an amazing, sexy and just gorgeous character and he wasn't in Siege and Storm that much. He was there at the beginning and then again towards the end and that is solely why I enjoyed those parts but he wasn't there for a large chunk of this book and it made me so sad! But instead of The Darkling we got Nikolai. 

Nikolai also made reading this book bearable. I really enjoyed his character. I enjoyed his quirkiness, the way he changed personas, just him and the way he is. He was a really great addition to this series, I really hope we see a lot of him in Ruin and Rising as well as The Darkling!

As for Mal and Alina. I didn't like Mal. I didn't like him in Shadow and Bone and I didn't like him here. Why is he the main love interest??? Ugh... But I started to feel different about Alina too in this book. I enjoyed her character again in Shadow and Bone but as she changed in Siege and Storm, I became a bit indifferent. There was a lot of angst from her, a lot of indecision and a lot of tumbling around the same thoughts. She also made a lot of the same mistakes. But towards the end I did gain more respect for her but I'm still unsure of how I feel right now. 

As I mentioned before I was bored while reading this book. I would have liked to see a lot more action and I just wanted more to happen really. But alas that is not what we got but I will be continuing to read on with the final book of this trilogy, Ruin and Rising, because even though I've heard mixed reviews I need to know what happens. I need to see more of The Darkling too before I say goodbye to this series. Plus I really want to read Six of Crows too!