Fire by Kristin Cashore

Titel: Fire
Author: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Gollancz
First published: 2009
Pages: 461 (Paperback version)
Series: Companion Novel to Graceling and Bitterblue
Star rating: *****


It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.

This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she has the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.

Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City. The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there’s more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.

If only she weren’t afraid of becoming the monster her father was.


Fire, fire, fire... Where to start? 

I really enjoyed this novel, it took me rather long to read which is rather odd, since it was really a wonderful story that Cashore told. I don't think I liked it better then Graceling, they are equal. 

The main characters in this one were all so awesome! I loved Fire, she had so much spirit and personality. Her powers are really cool as well, I liked the idea of monsters. Fire had a lot of depth and you kept on discovering new sides of her, that were all so interesting.

I really just adored Brigan, he was just fantastic. First he seemed rather cruel, but as the novel wore on you learned so much more about him, and his reasons etc. His and Fires relationship was also so wonderful, and probably one of the reasons I never really liked Archer. Lots of the other characters were really great as well.

I really love the court and royal business and there is lots of it in this one. You got to see a country at war with itself, and a king struggling to keep the Kingdom together, the spies network, switching loyalties at court and so on. 

The plot in this novel was really cool but the pacing was sometimes a little weird a bit as in Graceling, but otherwise it worked just fine and wasn't confusing or anything

This was a great companion novel to Graceling even though I missed Katsa and Po... I definitely think you should read Graceling first since Fire can give away a few spoilers for Graceling.

Switched by Amanda Hocking

Titel: Switched
Author: Amanda Hocking
Publisher: Tor
First published: 2010
Pages: 328 pages
Series: Trylle Trilogy
Star rating: *****


What if your entire world was built on a lie?

Wendy Everly knew she was different the day her mother tried to kill her and accused her of having been switched at birth. Although certain she’s not the monster her mother claims she is – she does feel that she doesn’t quite fit in...

She’s bored and frustrated by her small town life – and then there’s the secret that she can’t tell anyone. Her mysterious ability – she can influence people’s decisions, without knowing how, or why...

When the intense and darkly handsome newcomer Finn suddenly turns up at her bedroom window one night – her world is turned upside down. He holds the key to her past, the answers to her strange powers and is the doorway to a place she never imagined could exist. Förening, the home of the Trylle.

Finally everything makes sense. Among the Trylle, Wendy is not just different, but special. But what marks her out as chosen for greatness in this world also places her in grave danger. With everything around her changing, Finn is the only person she can trust. But dark forces are conspiring – not only to separate them, but to see the downfall everything that Wendy cares about.

The fate of Förening rests in Wendy’s hands, and the decisions she and Finn make could change all their lives forever...

The premise of this book didn't sound overly original, but it was about trolls! Most books are about Vampires, faeries, Witches, Wizards, werewolves and that kind of stuff. But this is the first I have encountered that featured trolls outside of a fantasy realm.

The trolls in this book are not really troll like. When someone says troll to me I think of those ugly dump creatures from Lord of the Rings. That is not the case with Amanda Hocking. When someone says troll to her it is a person who looks rather human and with humanintelligence, short tempered, hate shoes, prefer organic food, crazy hair and sometimes some weird superpowers. This is when I go WHAT? You call that a troll? That just sounds like human with some special interests and superpowers, not a troll.

Aside from the fact that the trolls are rather weird, the world of Förening is really awesome. So if we could just swap those excuses for some trolls with real trolls or superheroes it would be awesome! We can keep the trackers and the mänskligs.

The characters in this book were alright, they weren't the best characters ever, but they weren't irritating either... At least most of the time they weren't.

Wendy was a fine character I didn't love her or anything, but she made some good and bad choices, was lucky and unlucky, sometimes i wanted to just slap her in the face, but other times I was cheering her along.

Finn -The love interest if hadn't figured that out from the synopsis was an okay character but he was rather withdrawn and one moment he is one way and a few pages later he is a whole other person. It's like he keeps on changing personality to fit the story and that is rather irritating

Asides from those two I liked most of the other characters. I really likes Rhys, he was always so happy compared to all the others and i liked Rhiannon as well.

I have one more thing that is bugging me about this book; The ending. It felt so rushed and everything beforehand had been described in great detail and then the last part wrapped up so quickly and then it was just done...

So overall I liked this book, but is not my favourite book ever, since I had some issues with it but enjoyed the book in general.

Pegasus and the Flame by Kate O'Hearn

Titel: Pegasus and the Flame
Author: Kate O 'hearn
Publisher: Hodder childen's books 
First published: 2011
Pages: 344
Series: Pegasus
Star rating: *****


When Pegasus crashes onto a Manhattan roof during a terrible storm, Emily’s life changes forever. Suddenly allied with a winged horse she’d always thought was mythical, Emily is thrust into the center of a fierce battle between the Roman gods and a terrifying race of multiarmed stone warriors called the Nirads. Emily must team up with a thief named Paelen, the goddess Diana, and a boy named Joel in order to return Pegasus to Olympus and rescue the gods from a certain death.

Along the way, Emily and her companions will fight monsters, run from a government agency that is prepared to dissect Pegasus, and even fly above the Manhattan skyline—all as part of a quest to save Olympus before time runs out.


Hmm, in between 3 and 4 stars I think...Whatever I'll just give it 4 stars, Since I have no idea how to give half stars..
This book tells the story of Emily who is thrown into a world full of Roman myths and all of that. Since I love greek and Roman mythology and stuff like that, this sounded like a book I would enjoy, and I definitely did. It was just so full of Action and I really liked that.

The gods were written about more humanlike then I am used to from my beloved Percy Jackson series. They are just so different, and sometimes different is a good thing and sometimes not. In this book it was mostly a bad one. Maybe it's just because I am used to the way they are presented in Percy Jackson, and not really liking the change. That is probably very likely. 

The other myths I found really cool though especially Pegasus. Which is a good thing since Pegasus is kind of important in this book, and probably the next ones as well. 

This book was really fast paced, and sometimes it was too fast paced. In the beginning where Emily meets Pegasus she starts of totally not believing and then 5 minuts later she is running down in her apartment to get a WINGED HORSE food, and actually believing that it's a winged horse! For real? You believe in the myths like that? The horse didn't even explain a thing, or anything like that Pegasus just stood there, and Emily believed in the myths..

All together I think this is a very enjoyable novel, very fast paced light adventure. It has myths and that is basically what makes me like this book. It is also rather clear that it is written for children, and is a good fun adventure read if you have just read some really heavy book.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Titel: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Harper Collins
First published: 2012
Pages: 570
Series: Everneath
Star rating: *****


Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. 

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...


So this book is another book that has twisted the Hades and Persephone myth, and I think that Brodi Ashton did it well. It is not an exact copy of the myth, but that would be kind of boring, and I like the twists in her version. 

So when it comes to the characters I really like most of them, and some of them I dislike because they were written to be disliked, it therefore makes a whole lot of sense to not like them. Lets start of with Nikki or Becks or Nik or whatever. She is a really good character, and she grows a lot through this novel. After just being in the underworld (Everneath) for 6 months or actually 100 years, you can't come out unscratched an she doesn't. She struggles a whole lot with dealing with all of this stuff, and trying to figure out more about the everlings and everneath, and of to interact with all of the people she knew before going to Everneath and I really liked her development.

Next up is Jack...
Jack was just so endearing, I really just liked him. He was left broken after Becks left, and struggles with a lot of his own problems, along with helping Becks. You couldn't help but feel sad for him, because you know stuff... Then there is Cole the opposite of Jack. i really disliked him, but he was probably written to be dislikable, but on the other hand you kind of feel sorry for him at points, so is not all bad like "He who most not be named". 
The other characters were fine too, but really we did not see that much of them, but I really liked Meredith too.

Now back the mythology thing. While I liked the spin on the Hades and Persephone myth, I missed some more greek mythology, some more besides this one. The Hades & Persephone myth was pretty much to only myth along with Orpheus and Eurydice, you got to know in the story and I wanted more of the stories, and not just their story maybe you know some of the other gods as well, but maybe that will arrive in the next one. Who knows? (Well Brodi Ashton knows...)

I liked the way it was written as well, with the flashbacks giving you the parts you were missing, they were well done and they made sense. They didn't just pop out of nowhere, it was related to the present. 

All together I really enjoyed this book, I started reading it in the evening thinking I would just read a couple of chapters and then go to bed. I ended up reading about half of the book. Even though it was not much of an action book, which I usually prefer I really liked it, and of course a Cliffhanger. Now I really need the next one Everbound, and it doesn't come out till sometime in 2013

The son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Titel: The son of Neptune
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Hyperion
First published: 2011
Pages: 521
Series: Heroes of Olympus
Star rating: *****


Synopsis: 

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, 
To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth 

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem - when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for and evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams. 

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery - although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely - enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart. 

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven




So I have no idea why it took me so long to get along to reading this. I mean it is by Rick Riordan, Greek/Roman Mythology and PERCY! Whatever I finally read it, and I am so glad I did!! I had really high expectations for this book, but it surpassed them.

Lets see what was awesome about this book. PERCY! 
I missed him so much in the Lost Hero, I mean Jason, Piper and Leo were really cool too, but they just weren't Percy, but his parts were written in 3rd person, which was a little irritating because I had gotten so used to having him written in 1st person like in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but aside from that it was just wonderful to get to read about Percy again. But on the otherhand I still miss Annabeth...

Then there was the other camp, it was just really cool, since it was structured to differently then Camp half-blood. Some parts of it was better, but definitely not all of it. It was just really cool to get some more of the Roman Myths I think I still prefer Greek but Roman mythology is very cool too. This other camp also helped explain a lot of about Jason, whereas when you have Percy Exploring Camp Jupiter you have Camp Half-blood to compare to, and such. 

There was also a bunch of new characters, which mostly were so so cool! I really liked Hazel I think she was just such an awesome character, and her background story was just brilliant! Reyna was actually quite awesome too, at first she seemed (At least to me) like just a new Clarisse, but she was so much more then that. After a while you get to see some of her backstory and then she just became so much more then just another Clarisse. Frank, well I didn't love him as I loved some of the other characters, but I mean I was quite cool, and so was is family gift (So COOL!) but I just couldn't really connect to him, like I could to some of the other characters. 

So this was just another wonderful book by Rick Riordan and I can't wait till October for the Mark of Athena, because of course Rick Riordan just had to end on a cliffhanger....

The fellowship of the ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Titel: The Fellowship of the ring
Author: J.R.R.Tolkien
Publisher: Grafton
First published: 1954
Pages: 529
Series: Lord of the rings trilogy
Star rating: *****


The first volume in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure The Lord of the Rings.

In a sleepy village in the Shire a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord's evil dominion.

Another wonderful tale by Mr. Tolkien. 

This one left off a great deal of time after the Hobbit, but you still got to meet Bilbo and Gandalf and such, and got introduced to a bunch of new characters, that I ended up liking a great deal as well. I think that Frodo's companions are just all to wonderful. I definitely liked the hobbits the best. Pippin, Merry and Sam were just so super awesome. These small little creatures that just end up being really important, and they come with some funny comments in sad spots and all of that and it is just brilliant. Also Strider is just so cool! (And he is played by a danish actor in the movies) He has this secrecy to him, sort of like Gandalf does, and that is just so cool. You just wanna know who he is and where he came from and really just his entire story. 

Also I found that this one was more fast paced then the Hobbit, and that was one of my few problems with the Hobbit, and that was just great. Also just the entire adventure in this one seems a whole lot more meaningful and serious, then that of the hobbit.

Again like in the hobbit the world building is just amazing, I don't even wanna know how long Tolkien spend on getting all of this together, because it is just amazing. There is all of these awesome creatures and awesome enchanting forrests, secret castels, tons of different cultures and it is just remarkable how well thought out this world is. Yes, it is sometimes a little irritating having him describe a tree for an entire page or something like that, but when it comes to imaging the world it really helps to have this amazing description. 

So I really enjoyed this book, the fantasy was again amazing, and by know I have gotten more used to Tolkiens writing style, and all of that. Already started the next and so far it is just as good.

Looking Back (April)

I'll be doing this "Looking back" at the end of each month, to wrap interesting things that happend through April about books in my little world. Therefore it will mostly be about interesting books that came out, other book announcements, books I bought or got and so on.
This month I started book-blogging again, which I will try to do often, but I can't do it everyday, that of course is big news concerning books and me.
This month the title for J.K. Rowling's new book was announced, and it is to be called "The Casual vacany" and to be released September 27th, and I am so excited for it to come out, even though it's synopsis is not something I would typically read, but since it's J.K. Rowling I am sure it will be good.
This month I also started reading Lord of the rings, which I have been wanting to do for so long, and now I finally started, and so far I am really enjoying it.
This month I bought 4 books. I was so lucky that the bookstore that I was in actually had an okay selection of English books, since I live in Denmark this is not something I often come across. So you can imagine my excitement, but they didn't have many books I wanted anyways so it wasn't that good. They would have some in a series, but not the ones I wanted, but I did manage to find 4 books. I bought Everneath by Brodi Ashton, Pegasus and the flame, Pegasus and the fight for Olympus, Pegasus and the new Olympians all by Kate O'Hearn. They all look quite good so I am looking forward to reading these.
This is just shortly what happend of interesting things this past month, hope you all had a great month, and look forward to May just as I do.