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The Indelible Rambings of a Wadzi
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Faeries

Category
Faeries

Quotes to Remember

Books are awesome and I just wanted to share some of my favourite quotes. They aren’t my Top Ten, or else I think I’d have a lot more Rick Riordan quotes, but please enjoy them nonetheless.

“Well don’t expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear”

-Mockingjay by Suzzanne Collins







Niall: Don’t be an ass


Irial: There are some things you can’t command, my king

– Niall and Irial from Faery Tales & Nightmares (either Stopping Time or Old Habits, I can’t remember) by Melissa Marr



– Carter Kane from The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan





“Grim, wait. Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
Grimalkin smiled. “I am a cat.”And, just like that, he was gone.” 


-Grimalkin from Julie Kagawa’s The Iron Queen

 Just found this awesome photo manipulation of Grimalkin. Link below. I am not responsible for this amazing feat of awesomeness.



http://destinationpopculture.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/iron-queen-contest-julie-kagawa.html?showComment=1338292041048 

“With great power… comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.” 

-Nico Di Angelo in Rick Riordan’s The Last Olympian















“Did you know that ‘I told you so’ has a brother,Jacob?” she asked cutting me off. “His name is ‘Shut the hell up’.” 

– Bella Swan from Stephanie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn








“No, Elenore’s something else. You’re beautiful. Especially when you look at me with that ‘boy he’s a condescending asshole’ expression….Yea. Beautiful.”

– Deirdre from Maggie Stiefvater’s Lament  








“Do you think he’s cute?”I rolled my eyes. “He’s a god, Mom. Of course he’s cute.” 


– Kate from Aimee Carter’s The Goddess Test







“And try to remember what we discussed, Susannah. A mediator is someone who helps others resolve conflicts. Not someone who, er, kicks them in the face.” 

– Father Dominic from Meg Cabot’s Love You To Death (Shadowland in US)







“Love. It’s so close to hate, it’s almost indistinguishable. But this is how it was for the two of them. Love and hate. Life and death. Joy and anguish.”

– Jack and Mimi Force from Melissa De La Cruz’s Revelations 

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COMING SOON

Artemis Fowl & The Last Guardian
To be Published 10th of July 2012

Seemingly nothing in this world daunts the young criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl. In the fairy world, however, there is a small thing that has gotten under his skin on more than one occasion: Opal Koboi. In The Last Guardian, the evil pixie is wreaking havoc yet again. This time his arch rival has reanimated dead fairy warriors who were buried in the grounds of Fowl Manor. Their spirits have possessed Artemis’s little brothers, making his siblings even more annoying than usual. The warriors don’t seem to realize that the battle they were fighting when they died is long over. Artemis has until sunrise to get the spirits to vacate his brothers and go back into the earth where they belong. Can he count on a certain LEPrecon fairy to join him in what could well be his last stand?

US Cover
UK Cover
My Verdict: Well I myself have not read the previous book as I felt that the series should have ended a long time ago. Things got way too confusing after the time travelling business but I won’t stop fans from giving it a go. The US cover is stunning but it takes away a lot of the secrecy I know Arty likes. He would never reveal himself like that! But boy does he look good. As for the UK cover? Meh. Sorely disappointed. I hope Colfer ends this series with a big bang! 
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Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

Alex Rider Series: Ended with Scorpia Rising

I loved Alex. He was like a young James Bond, only cooler and funnier. He went through a lot and this is obvious form the way the series evolved. When he was captured in the earlier books, he would always banter with the villains. Later though, it was far too serious for this and there was a much darker tone. The threats became much more sever. In the first book, he was threatened to have his face carved. In Ark Angel, he nearly faced having a finger chopped off. In Snakehead, he nearly had his organs removed. Very severe. But through it all, Alex has persevered and I very much like his character development.

Favourite villain: Yassen Gregorovich (first appearance: Stormbreaker)
Favourite vialliness: Julia Rothman (first appearance: Scorpia)
Favourite mission: Skeleton Key

Wicked Lovely Series: Ended with Darkest Mercy

I’ve blogged about the Wicked Lovely series before, but basically it is about the different faerie courts. This includes the Summer Court (mostly featured in book #1 and #3), the Dark Court (mostly featured in book #2 and book #4), the High Court (mostly featured in book #3) and the Winter Court.
What is unique about this series is that there is an ever changing multiple narrative throughout the series. This series will entice and grip you. Don’t forget to read Faery Tales & Nightmares, the companion novella!


Favourite character: Irial, King of the Dark court
Favourite couple: I’m caught between Leslie & Niall, and Aislinn & Seth.
Favourite book: Ink Exchange

Missing/ 1-800-Where-R-U-? Series: Ended with Missing You

Jess Mastriani is your typical 16 year old girl with anger management problems. Things take a turn into weird lane when she gets struck by lightning and gains powers to locate missing people through her dreams. Thinking that her new ability is a gift, she begins making anonymous calls to help the police find missing people, but then the FBI try to find her. Then she accidentally finds someone who didn’t want to be found. (Synopsis for the first book, When Lightning Strikes)
And of course there has to be some romance, so queue Rob Wilkins, bad boy extraordinaire. They met in detention! He helps her out through all the madness. But what with him being on parol, he doesn’t think that the two of them can be together. 🙁 Sad times.
This series is exhilarating and thrilling. With action, drama and romance all wrapped in one.

Favourite book: Sanctuary
Strange fact: The protagonist, Jess, and I BOTH play the flute!

How appropriate that the last book is called ‘Missing You’! I miss you too Jess!!!

The Mediator Series: Ended with Twilight/ Heaven Sent (UK title)

Suze Simon is your usual ghost buster extraordinaire! So she’s basically not a typical 16 year old. When her mother remarries and moves them to sunny California, she has a lot of adapting to do, what with her new school run by nuns! Then there’s the hot ghost who’s been dead for over a 100 years living in her bedroom. I don’t know what she had to complain about. This six book series was engaging, and thrilling. There was romance and just a hint of horror (come on! I scare easily!). Read it before you’re undead!

Creepiest character: Paul Slater
Favourite villain ghost: Jesse’s ex

  

The Hunger Games: Ended with Mockingjay

Oh, I’m sure there isn’t a single self respecting teenager alive (living in America and most countries in Europe, at least) who doesn’t know about the amazing Hunger Games Trilogy. 
Favourite Tribute: Apart from the protagonists it would have to be Finnick. Sexy! 


The Kane Chronicles: Ended with The Serpent’s Shadow

So Rick Riordan has ditched his toga for a crook and flail. In this amazing new-ish series (well, the last book was out May 1st 2012), brother and sister Carter and Sadie Kane find out that they are descendants of two great pharaohs. And that they are magicians! You’d think that would be awesome if not for the ancient gods that their father accidentally unleashed on the world. And now if they don’t stop Set, the evil god of Chaos, it’ll be the end of the world- no pressure! ( my synopsis for book #1, The Red Pyramid)
This series captured much of the same humour that made The Percy Jackson series so amazing. This one has two equally engaging narrators and it’s filled with adventures you’ll love to relive.

Favourite god: Bes (Anubis came REALLY close)

Favourite goddess: Bast

Favourite Carter quote: “Noble” I agreed. “That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of pigeons”- The Serpent’s Shadow

Favourite Sadie quote:

Favourtie Horus quote-
Carter: “She’s almost as annoying as you”
Horus: “Impossible! No one bests Horus!”- The Red Pyramid

Favourite Ra quote: “I like Zebras… Weasels are sick”

Most detested villian: Setne

WELL, THAT’S ALL OF THEM. FAIR THEE WELL!

*sobs 
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Coming Soon

The Lost Prince Book Cover Reveal

Saying goodbye to Meghan was sad but there is going to be a spin-off series! With Ethan Chase!

There is not a lot I can tell you about this new series except that it will be called Call of the Forgotten. I will update when I get news, but for now please appreciate Ethan’s hotness.

Please excuse me whilst I wipe my drool.

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Faeries

Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr

This is an anthology book, consisting of short stories from Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, and a number of original ones too. 

Tale of Content 
“Where Nightmares Walk”
“Winter’s Kiss” (Fairy Tales)
“Transition” (Vampires)
“Love Struck” (Selchies)
“Stopping Time” (WL World)
“Old Habits” (WL World)
“The Art of Waiting”
“Flesh for Comfort”
“The Sleeping Girl and the Sumer King” (WL World-ish, it started the series)
“Cotton Candy Skies” (WL World)
“Unexpected Family” (WL World)
“Merely Mortal” (WL World)

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology book. Admittedly, there were a couple of stories that didn’t make any sense to me but the ones that did were great. I have read other anthology books with the some problem, such as Prom Nights from Hell but I think the major advantage with them is that the stories that they consist of are a short read each. I also very much like the dynamic that it presents. F&N revisits some of my favourite character such as Irial, Niall and Seth. But even for those who have never Marr’s WL series, there are some good stand alone short stories, with Love Struck being my favourite.

Seeing Irial, Niall and Leslie was great as I’d really missed them. My favourite quotes was between Niall and Irial:
Niall: Don’t be an ass, Irial
Irial: There are some things you can’t command, my king
Hilarious!
Their strange relationship has always worked for me because for a start, they’re faeries. And the short stories in this anthology is what reassured me that I liked them.  Their relationship is complicated but they are ultimately so interweaved that you can’t get rid of one another. And I’m glad that Niall and Seth are patching up their friendship. For those of you who have read Darkest Mercy, you will understand. 

The stand alone short stories were interesting. For those of you are are unaware of what selchies are, they are basically like mermaids but instead of being half fish, they are half seal. But unlike mermaids, they can get rid of their tail and assume a full human form by removing their pelts. I do not want to give anything else away. Let’s just say it’s about a girl and two selchies. For me, the odd balls were Where Nightmares Walk and Flesh for Comfort. Sorry Marr. 

Ultimately, this is a must read for Wicked Lovely fans, but its definitely open to other readers.

So basically, if you’ve read the Wicked Lovely series, this is a MUST READ! But there are other non-WL stories that are good. I especially liked the Selkie story. I hadn’t expected such a happy ending, but I loved it.

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Never to be Read?

For a person like me it normally takes about 3 days to read a novel. Sometimes a week. But for all my efforts, every now and again I come across a novel that I just cannot finish. Sometimes it’s because they’re boring; other times I’m reading two novels at a time and one just catches my attention more. Here some of the books I have started and am yet to finish:

Artemis Fowl & the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

 Having read the entire series, apart from this one, I was thoroughly disappointed. I loved Arty and all of his adventures. I honestly think that Colfer should have quit whilst he was ahead after about the with book. Once he brought time travelling into the mix, it just got confusing. One Artemis Fowl is quite enough, and having him try and out-smart himself was bizarre but interesting. With The Lost Colony, Colfer introduced the demons, the over race of fairies. Did he really have to call them that? Why not ogres? But besides the name, the race seemed pretty cool and I really liked the new character, Number One.

I did my best to read The Atlantis Complex but I just didn’t things were the same without Commander Root. The events were somewhat confusing and watching Artemis deteriorate into madness was unbearable. Knowing that this book has something to do with Opal Koboi also irks me. I’ve seen enough of this pixie, and now I think that she should just die.

With that pleasant thought, I warn Artemis Fowl fans about this novel and future ones to be written. And Eoin Colfer, I still love you as a writer and I hope you redeem yourself.

Odin’s Voice by Susan Price

I came SOO close to finishing this novel. I reckon I got distracted by another one, as I often do. It’s a pity because it was actually a good book. Set in a futuristic world where the old gods are still worshipped, it follows two very different girls whose worlds are entangled. It is a world where slavery is very prominent and those that are bound by it are called bondsmen, and freewomen and freemen rule. It is the perfect entanglement of the ancient and the futuristic. Unlike Riordan, Price has chosen to go for Norse Mythology.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

This is an uncommon case of the movie is better than the book. The book was just far too slow paced. I tried, Paolini. I honestly tried.

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

This wasn’t so bad but I found that I just didn’t enjoy the reading this style of writing. I don’t hate 3rd person or anything, though I do prefer 1st. I just didn’t feel very connected to Harry. I think this is often the same with Alex Rider from Anthony Horowitz’s series but in this case the action and suspense is enough to let me ignore this. HP is more mystery based but I barely even got that far. I put this book down halfway through, not willing to let myself endure anymore of it.

Sorry to those millions of fans, but I don’t see the hype.

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My Reading List of the Month- JANUARY

So, I am taking the goodreads challenge and I am aiming to read 40 books this year. That probably doesn’t seem very impressive, maybe 50 would have been better rounded but 40 just seemed more realistic to me. So I have read 6 books so far. Goodreads has calculated that this accounts for 15% of my goal, and that I am apparantly 3 books ahead.

So here are the books I read this month. You may notice that I have reviewed most of them already.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet of her kind, she nearly pays with her life, only to be spared by a beautiful stranger sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki–a descendant of dragons whose ability to shift into human form is her best defense.
Forced to flee into the mortal world, Jacinda struggles to adapt. The one bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irrestibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will’s dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away – if it dies she will be left a human forever. She’ll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

This was a very interesting novel, all in all. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to my friends. It was captivating and kept me wondering. The plot line was somewhat familiar, however. I am not a big fan of the main character falling head over heels with the love interest so quickly. It just gave me a case of dejavu. It reminded me of Twilight, but perhaps it was closer to Evermore. It had a great ending that ended rather quickly for my liking but leaves me wanting more. 


FIND MY FULL REVIEW HERE

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

When Meghan Chase finds her life turned upside down, she learns a deep secret that has been hidden from her for all her life. With her brother missing, she finds herself travelling through Faerie in search for him. But not all is lost, for she has help from her best friend, who so happens to be Puck himself. But she is infatuated with the brooding Winter Prince. Armed with inhuman beauty and a deadly sword, he could easily be a foe even more dangerous than she could imagine.

Iron. Ice. A Love Doomed from the Start.

I enjoyed this book greatly. Having read Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, I needed a fantasy book to fill the void in my heart. The Iron King did that and more. Meghan is a great character. She is loyal, brave, and funny. Whilst characters like Bella Swan would wallow away in their own misery, Meg moves forward and kicks ass!


Pick up a copy!


FIND MY FULL REVIEW HERE

Lost in Time by Melissa de la Cruz

The SIXTH instalment in the Blue Bloods series unfolds.

After their brief bonding ceremony in Italy, Jack Force and Schuyler Van Alen depart for Egypt in search for the Gate of Promise. Mimi Force seeks to find a way to bring her beloved, Marin Kingsley, and revenge from her former bond mate. When the twins of the Apocalypse finally face each other for the blood trial, who will be left standing? Confronted by danger, betrayal, and loss at every turn, the Blue Bloods must find the will to fight- and love- another day.

A superb novel, although I still desperately miss Bliss and Dylan. The characters are seductive and their never ending relationship problems are captivating. Yet Cruz uses the right balance between romance, mystery, and action. This is one to stay on my bookshelf for years to come. Be prepared for Mimi to have a heart!

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater   
 Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She’s about to find out she’s also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. When a mysterious boy enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of nowhere, Deirdre finds herself infatuated. Trouble is, the enigmatic and conflicted Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin—and Deirdre is meant to be his next mark. Deirdre has to decide if Luke’s feelings towards her are real, or only a way to lure her deeper into the world of Faerie.


Stiefvater successfully captured the essence of faeries. Some were rather playful, such as the delightful Una, whereas others were simply deadly. They often showed up when you least expected and caused a lot of mischief and trouble in their wake. Dee handled most of these situations quite well and she still managed to some realistic. Every hero and heroine needs help from time to time and her close friend, James was just that. There were many twists and turns along the way and the novel was certainly not predictable. My only criticism was its strong resemblance to Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King.


FIND MY FULL REVIEW HERE


        

Gladiator: Fight for Freedom by Simon Scarrow

It’s Rome, 61 BC. Recruited as a gladiator, young Marcus Cornelius Primus faces a new life of brutal training, governed by strict rules, as he learns the skills of an elite warrior. But Marcus cannot simply forget his past. His father lies murdered by soldiers and his mother has been kidnapped and forced into slavery. Marcus is determined to find his father’s old commander, Pompeius the Great, to seek justice for his family and set his mother free. Yet, unbeknown to him, Marcus is hiding a life-threatening secret. And if the Romans discover it, there will be no escape…
I found this book very enjoyable but rather predictable at times. It is rather like the movie Gladiator with Russel Crowe, but with a child instead. Still, I would not shrug it off so easily. It is a well written book and I enjoyed the twist towards the end.

FIND MY FULL REVIEW HERE

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron Fey, iron-bound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her. Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s alone in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Now, I have heard comments on Goodreads about readers who thought that Meghan came across as a desperate love crazed teenager who simply needed to get over her infatuation- yes, I will use this word again- for the Winter Prince. Personally, I thought that she took it better than a certain depressing character- BELLA SWAN- and DID do her best to get over him. She built a back bone of iron and unlike the vampire crazed, depressed girl, actually did all she could to keep those around her safe. Meg is kick ass, and don’t you forget it.
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Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

UK cover
USA cover



You can never get too much of faery novels. With the mention of a faery assassin, I could not get a hold of this book any quicker. It was alluring and captivating.




Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She’s about to find out she’s also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. When a mysterious boy enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of nowhere, Deirdre finds herself infatuated. Trouble is, the enigmatic and conflicted Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin—and Deirdre is meant to be his next mark. Deirdre has to decide if Luke’s feelings towards her are real, or only a way to lure her deeper into the world of Faerie.


I’ve read a number of books with faeries and faery-like creatures (Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely, Carrie Jone’s Need), so I knew it would take a lot to impress me. The novel was a masterpiece. It was lyrical and enthralling. 
Starting very shy, I was worried that the faeries would chew Dee alive. Being very talented I could tell that she would be a very capable character. I was not surprised that she fell for look, the alluring flautist. Heck, if I met him we could make some sweet music too! He plays my instrument, the flute. 


Stiefvater successfully captured the essence of faeries. Some were rather playful, such as the delightful Una, whereas others were simply deadly. They often showed up when you least expected and caused a lot of mischief and trouble in their wake. Dee handled most of these situations quite well and she still managed to some realistic. Every hero and heroine needs help from time to time and her close friend, James was just that. There were many twists and turns along the way and the novel was certainly not predictable. 


Having said that, I did notice some similarities between Lament and Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King. Kagawa’s series is famous for it’s wonderful love triangle between the protagonist, Meghan, her best friend, Puck and the Winter prince, Ash. So of course Dee’s best friend, James reminded me of Puck. Both are funny guys with a close friendship with the protagonist. They help to give some comic relief to the plot and are unsurprisingly romantically interested in the protagonist. Luke Dillon, the assassin was rather much like Ash. They have the whole brooding handsome guy thing. They are both armed and dangerous and could become the protagonist’s demise. Yet there are differences. The underlining tone of Lament is altogether darker and creepier. With the strange red-headed boy who appeared, the cruel faery queen who has a hold of Luke, it highlights just how cruel faeries can be. So I don’t know who imagined up Tinkerbell, but I think they were rather inaccurate about faeries. The Iron King centralises more on the romance, whereas I think Lament had a protagonist who really growed as a character. 

I give this one four stars out of five!


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Battle of the Faeries!

The first YA book about faeries I picked up last year was Aprilynne Pike’s Wings. And I enjoyed it. Then I was hooked on faeries.

My next series was the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr. Her faeries made Pike’s trolls look harmless. Its brilliance also make reading Pike’s sequel, Spells impossible! It was just nowhere nearly as good! I got halfway through and I just couldn’t go any further.

It’s true that Pike’s protagonist is more like me that any of Marr’s. A lot of the characters in The Wicked Lovely series seem broken in one way or the other. But Pike’s love triangle is typical and boring. I admire Laurel and it’s a great book for tweens but Marr’s novels are just simply more sophisticated.

Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy included creatures other than just faeries but the fey in this novel did stand out. Oh Reth… He is the kind of faery that seems closer to the ones that appears in Wicked Lovely. He is in it for personal game. He’s stunningly beautiful and knows it. He’ll claim to be your friend and then stab you in the back. Very far off from Pike’s goody goody faeries.

Then there was Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series, starting with The Iron King. 

This novel was stellar. The cover art stood out to me and so I had to have it. Shallow, I know. But I read an excerpt online just to be sure and I was intrigued. There are some interesting characters in here, with Puck being my favourite. Yes, Shakespeare’s Puck. And a talking cat named Grimalkin. I’ll post a separate review on this book soon. It is action filled, with romance and utter brilliance. I already have my copy of the sequel, The Iron Daughter. Yes, I am fully aware that the fourth book was out last December. Unfortunately, no one tells me of the great books. I’m the one always recommending books to my friends.

So there was once the rise of vampire and werewolf novels, and then the time of the fey came. What is coming this year I wonder? A little birdy told me that it is the year of Greek Mythology. Well, I’m curious as to what will top Percy Jackson. Then of course, there are the dystopian and apocalyptic novels. The Hunger Games     is terrific but I don’t know if I could find anything as brilliant as it for a long time. 

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