First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
It’s the 2nd Friday of November but I feel like the month is almost over? At least when I look at my calendar and I see Thanksgiving creeping up! I remember months ago I was reading 2-3 books a week and now I feel like I can do only 1 a week. I finally returned library books that I knew I couldn’t read by the time I had to return them (and yes I even renewed them). I’m going to concentrate on the books I bought and my NetGalley arcs.
But I am so excited for Christmas, I already picked out a tree theme (we never do a tree theme 😅) but for some reason, Target has all these pretty blush pink ornament palettes. I also found these super cute little animal ballerina ornaments and since my daughter have been doing the mommy/baby ballet class, I thought it would make a pretty tree theme. Yes…I’m so ready!
Anyway, here are some lines of a book I got as a birthday gift from my mother in law!
“For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in town.”
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Practical Magic is one of my favorite movies, especially at Halloween time, but really any time of year. I love the sister bond between Gillian and Sally, the curse, the aunts, just the whole movie was fun. So I hope the book is too! Thanks to my mother-in-law for this and another Alice Hoffman book!
Title: The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising, #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 352
Publication Date: November 5, 2019
Categories: Fantasy, Camelot, Young Adult, Arthurian Legend
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.
I’ve been around long enough to read a fair share of King Arthur and Camelot legends. I remember devouring The Once & Future King by. T.H. White and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley back in high school! I was obsessed. But it has been awhile since I’ve been interested in the legends and when I heard of The Guinevere Deception, I was intrigued!
This story is told through Guinevere’s perspective and what a view it is! We revisit Camelot through Guinevere’s eyes but deception is everywhere in this book. All is not what they seem at Camelot and magic is forbidden at Camelot, so what does that mean for Guinevere who was sent there for her ability to do magic? Arthur is under threat and she must protect him this time but is she able to or will all her efforts become unraveled?
The familiar characters from the Arthurian legends is nostalgic. It’s hard to resist a story about this boy who pulled a sword out of stone and is now a man and a most beloved, golden king. We have the knights and the villains, the legends have been retold so many times, it was nice to enter the world of Camelot again.
The story of Camelot is really magical with Merlin the wizard, the knights of the round table and Guinevere. I loved the world building of Camelot in this story, it reminded me of why I fell in love with the legends in the first place.
Kiersten White is a talented author and I’ve read a few of her books and love them. Once again, her writing shines and sucks you into the story.
The backstory on the characters is important especially for someone new to the King Arthur legends and I thought it was done well. It helped jar my memory about certain characters I had forgotten.
Love the twists about Guinevere, Lancelot, and even Mordred! I like how this book is reimagined for our current times. The author added LGBT relationships, and tweaked a few things about the story but I really enjoyed the changes.
The book cover is amazing. 😍 I can only imagine what it looks like in real life!
I loved the beginning of the book because we meet Guinevere. But about 15%-20% into the book I felt like I was just waiting for something more to happen. I understand though that the backstories of some characters are important, but after Guinevere gets to Camelot it felt like the story slowed down.
I struggled in the middle of the story because here is Guinevere who is sent to protect Arthur…but her magic seems so minimal. It seems like nothing much happens for a good half of the story, just world building, but the second half has much more action.
I hope we get more character depth in the sequel because outside of Guinevere they were kind of bland. Sometimes even Guinevere was a bit blah…I’d like to see if Merlin comes back into the equation and maybe see Arthur being tested (like he was in other legends) and even Guinevere, the ending shows us there is much to learn about her!
Overall, I enjoyed The Guinevere Deception, but the second half is much more engaging than the first half. It gives a some backstory for newcomers to the Arthurian legends and I enjoyed the changes and twists in the story. It’s a solid debut for this series and I look forward to reading the sequel!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
What are you currently reading?
Didn’t think I’d still be reading this! I started on the weekend and I’m only halfway through. It was a new release yesterday so I hope I can finish today.
What have you finished reading?
I’m on the blog tour for this one, so review will come nearer to publication in February 2020, but let me say this…WOW.
What are you going to read next?
Another eARC I’m doing a blog tour for next week so I better read this one next right?
What are you reading or reading next? Leave me a comment below!
Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. Check out her blog for more Top 5 Tuesday topics and other bookish content. Here is this week’s topic:
Top 5 books on my current TBR! (books you’re excited to read right now)
I’m so happy it’s coming out this month! I love this series.
I enjoyed The Wicked Deep a lot so I’m definitely looking forward to Winterwood. This one is out today, but I have to wait to read it at the end of the month when my OwlCrate box arrives. 😦
This is an eARC I just got approved to read on NetGalley, it comes out today also, so I hope I’m finished with this book by the time this post publishes.
Day Zero is a title I’m doing a blog tour for, so hopefully I can finish this one soon.
I got this title at the library last week, so I hope I can finish this one before it’s due back.
What are you excited to read this month? Leave me a comment below!
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Onna can write the parameters of a spell faster than any of the young men in her village school. But despite her incredible abilities, she’s denied a place at the nation’s premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don’t think there’s anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education. But as soon as Onna arrives, she’s drawn into the mysterious murder of four trolls.
Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader’s daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon the body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira’s life. Soon, unbeknownst to each other, Onna and Tsira both begin devoting their considerable talents to finding out who is targeting trolls, before their homeland is torn apart…
Thank you to ACE and Netgalley for giving me an opportunity to read this eARC.
My reason for requesting this on NetGalley was first and foremost the cover. I love it and then the synopsis mentioned magic and trolls? Well it definitely piqued my curiosity!
But when I started this book I thought maybe I had made a mistake and I wasn’t sure I would be interested in even finishing this book. I thought okay, a girl who is trying to get into a school with mostly boys…nothing new there. I put it aside for a few weeks and finally came back to it and wow, I did not stop! Though this story starts off with a teenage girl named Onna – this is not a young adult novel. It has cursing and lots of sexual themes exploring a romance between a troll and a human male. Yes there is troll sex. 😲
There are two main characters in this story. Onna, is a seventeen year old genius wizard and it’s rare for a girl to exhibit these traits. She is trying to get into a school to further her studies but her gender works against her, no matter how smart she is. Tsira is a troll, who is half human, but in her troll community she is too small, and not considered good looking among her people. She leaves her clan to make her own living, earning her own money but Tsira is also conflicted with her cultural rules about begetting a clan.
Though their paths and lives are different there is one thing Onna and Tsira have in common, they are trying to figure out who is the serial killer on the loose targeting trolls.
The world building in Unnatural Magic is so unique! I love how smart Onna is even though at times I didn’t understand parameter spells – it’s basically complicated math, enough said on that. She’s smart! She thinks out of the box and Onna doesn’t give up, which I love about her.
The most fascinating part of the story has to be about the trolls. It was so interesting to learn about their customer and way of life. Females (and some with male parts) ruled the clans! Tsira’s vahn (which I didn’t totally understand right away), vahn being her “wife” but a male wife – in her case, a human male, was totally the submissive one in the relationship. Tsira and Jeckran’s romance is different and unconventional – Tsira is very masculine, and 10 feet tall! So just trying to imagine how they managed to do the deed was…interesting! 🤔 But hey they managed it! Anyway there is a lot to learn about troll life. I was learning along with Jeckran (Tsira’s vahn). In this world for the most part trolls and humans lived together side by side peacefully until the murders occur. Then we start to see how some humans resent trolls and their magic.
There are other colorful characters in this story, one of my favorites being the Lord Mage, Loga, of Hexos. Onna becomes his apprentice and he is quite humorous and flamboyant, I enjoyed his fun personality!
As for the mystery of the troll murderer, I did have my suspicions and I was right. Onna, Loga, Tsira and Jeckran made a great team together hunting down the killer. This book really had a bit of everything and it pushed my imagination in ways I didn’t expect! It has a happily ever after ending as well but also leaves me wondering what will happen to these characters? Will Tsira and Jeckran be okay? The author did a great job of making me care for these characters. 💕
This is a fantastic debut and I hope to read more from this author! Unnatural Magic is an unforgettable fantasy story full of complicated magic, humor, adventure, mystery and romance.
Categories: Norse Mythology, Family, Fantasy, Young Adult
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
When Lena’s younger sister Fressa is found dead, their whole Viking clan mourns—but it is Lena alone who never recovers. Fressa is the sister that should’ve lived, and Lena cannot rest until she knows exactly what killed Fressa and why—and how to bring her back. She strikes a dark deal with Hela, the Norse goddess of death, and begins a new double life to save her sister.
But as Lena gets closer to bringing Fressa back, she dredges up dangerous discoveries about her own family, and finds herself in the middle of a devastating plan to spur Ragnarök –a deadly chain of events leading to total world destruction.
Still, with her sister’s life in the balance, Lena is willing to risk it all. She’s willing to kill. How far will she go before the darkness consumes her?
Thank you to Flux and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eArc.
This was an interesting read and what kept me reading was watching Lena deal with the grief of losing her sister. But as the story went on and Lena makes a deal with the goddess of death to bring her sister back, I thought Lena was at some points, truly losing it.
Making that deal made her do some heinous things and all because she wanted her sister back. Talk about sisterly devotion.
The Norse mythology with the involvement of gods and goddesses in Lena’s life was something I enjoyed. It definitely made Lena make some interesting choices.
Lena’s love for her sister is admirable and tragic. Everything was motivated by Fressa’s death, or so we think.
The portrayal of grief and how it can make someone spiral into depression and despair was well written. I could totally relate to all of that.
I like the expression of a “weight of a soul” and how it is explained. That was quite fascinating.
I love the cover and the gray palette!
Poor Amal (Lena’s friend), I felt like all he was doing was crying in this book. But his life is so messed up by Fressa’s death and then Lena’s actions. He couldn’t catch a break. But I felt like he could have stepped into the role of future leader of the clan much better. But all we see is someone falling apart as much as Lena is (understandably) – and here I am now not cutting him some slack! Sorry Amal! 😂
I felt like most of the book was just going through Lena’s grief and not much else. It was a bit slow for me in certain parts and some chapters were really short, I don’t know if that was on purpose or an error.
With all the Norse mythology represented, I felt like it was lacking something – not enough mysticism? It was dark for sure but I think I wanted it to delve more into Lena’s darkness. Is it bad that I want this dark book, to get darker? 😅
I mostly liked the book but was left feeling the story was just okay. But the writing is good, I think it’s just I’ve read a few Viking inspired stories the past few months and they were much grittier, harsh , brutal, and you get my drift. So I felt like this book could have gone deeper, especially with Lena’s character. But that’s just my personal preference though!
I think most people who like Viking-inspired and Norse mythology stories will actually enjoy this one.
Format: eBook (provided by author for an honest review)
Pages: 113
Categories: Short Stories, Irish Mythology, Adult Fiction
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
From a quest to find the Starbucks mermaid, to a god’s dream of saving the planet, this collection of short stories has an abundance of imagination as well as ingenuity and style. In serene and sparkling prose, David Jordan will introduce you to places and people that you have never encountered before, with a unique voice and vision that will satisfy story lovers everywhere.
Thank you to David Jordan, for providing me a copy of his new book, The Echoing Green and Other Stories.
I don’t read or feature many short story collections on my blog but I am always open to reading works by indie authors. And who would have thought that this book, The Echoing Green and Other Stories would pique my growing interest in Irish mythology. I’ve read a few books set in Ireland and featured Irish mythology lately, so what a coincidence that these short stories fit in with what I’ve been reading lately.
In this short story collection the stories are contemporary yet mixed with fantasy, psychology and mythology elements. In whole it felt like I was I was sucked into a dreamscape atmosphere, which I enjoyed!
The infusion of Irish mythology in a modern day setting is fantastic because I’m from somewhere so far away from Ireland, I don’t know a lot about Irish mythology. In this collection I learned new words and names like Fomorian and Goibhniu. I definitely googled a few of these names and words. I did recognize a few names so I wasn’t totally lost.
The writing is wonderful, it drew me in right away. I got a sense of the setting, and the characters which just a few lines.
My favorites of the collection are The Echoing Green and Dreamer’s Eve because it’s fluid and strange like how real dreams are. I mean, searching for the Starbucks mermaid? It’s clever and why not? I’m always searching for the Starbucks mermaid myself, almost daily haha! Gods and Monsters was another story I enjoyed for it’s psychological twist.
Nothing really…maybe that a few of these would make really good full stories? 🙂
The Echoing Green and Other Stories is a really quick read as it’s just only a little over hundred pages. I enjoyed the Irish mythology that is infused in the contemporary settings of each story. Overall this is a wonderful, creative collection of short stories and I’m glad I had a chance to read it. If you like short stories and mythology, definitely get a copy of this book!
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
It’s November! Woohoo! That means birthday month for me, my best friend, a few other friends and cousins. So many celebrations this month plus I’ll be dog sitting a beautiful, sweet husky named Maya. My family and I can’t wait – we miss having a furry friend in our home.
So let’s see – I got in some library books so I’ll randomly pick one. Here are the lines:
“Being nice is like leaving your door wide-open.”
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It’s kind of nice to get out of reading dark-themed books haha, I needed a break from it! Has anyone read this book? Leave me a comment below!
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 