romance – Page 80 – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Heather Fawcett

Format: Hard Cover

Pages: 427

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Dragons, Witches, Adventure

Book Blurb:

Kamzin has always dreamed of becoming one of the Emperor’s royal explorers, the elite climbers tasked with mapping the wintry, mountainous Empire and spying on its enemies. She knows she could be the best in the world, if only someone would give her a chance.

But everything changes when the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village and demands to hire Kamzin—not her older sister Lusha, as everyone had expected—for his next expedition. This is Kamzin’s chance to prove herself—even though River’s mission to retrieve a rare talisman for the emperor means climbing Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas. Then Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer who is determined to best River, and Kamzin must decide what’s most important to her: protecting her sister from the countless perils of the climb or beating her to the summit.

The challenges of climbing Raksha are unlike anything Kamzin expected—or prepared for—with avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and even worse at every turn. And as dark secrets are revealed, Kamzin must unravel the truth of their mission and of her companions—while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

MY REVIEW

Even the Darkest Stars took me on quite an adventure and it was so refreshing. I was transported to the mountain village of Azmiri, where we meet Kamzin, who is a girl dreaming to become a royal explorer for the Emperor. She gets her chance when the greatest and most current Royal Explorer, River Shara, comes to her village needing a guide to climb the tallest and deadliest mountain, Raksha.

This story isn’t only about a climbing expedition, there is a reason River needs to get to the top of that mountain, but it’s not what everyone thinks, though some do suspect what he’s after. There is magic, witches and even dragons in this story, though the dragons seem more like domesticated pets than the deadly fire-breathing soaring creatures we’ve come to know in other stories.

The world building kept me in this story because it was so different and I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for those movies about climbing Mount Everest. There is always danger in those movies and the study of human nature: the will to go on, the need to reach the summit and can they even reach the summit?

I loved the mysticism and traditions of the mountain villages we journey to in Even the Darkest Stars, and learning about the witches that once roamed the land – but of course the emperor put an end to that by binding their power. Then there are ghosts, winged beasts and even a fire demon! I loved it all.

But there was one point in the book, around 75% into it – that I had to skim through some of the climbing scenes because I just was so eager to know what was coming.

As for the characters, I liked Kamzin. She’s brave, intuitive and one of the best climbers River has ever been with. Her sense of adventure comes through and it’s infectious. Kamzin is a second daughter though and feels she has something to prove to her village. So sometimes that desire to be more than what she is, causes her to make some questionable decisions.

Kamzin and River connect right away through their love of adventure. But Kamzin also has her level headed, best-friend, ex-boyfriend, Tem, who journeys with her and the team to Raksha. The love triangle was present in the book but it didn’t distract me or overtake the story at all. When reading a love triangle, I usually feel a strong pull towards one side, #Teamwhoever, 🤣 but in this one, I didn’t quite know who I wanted her to end up with. I like that Tem knows her so well and looks out for her but River is exciting and she could share her love of adventure with him. I guess we shall see how it plays out in book two.

I’m excited that I had borrowed the second book along with the first one because of that ending – oh you fire demon, you! Okay, I’ll be right back, going to immerse myself in book two, All The Wandering Light. 😉

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Rebecca Ross

Reading Format: E-book

Pages: 480

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic

Book Blurb:

When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

MY REVIEW

The first time I attempted to read this book, I had borrowed a physical copy from the library. I thought it was too slow for me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to read it? I can’t quite pinpoint what didn’t interest me about this book.

Fast forward to present day, I borrowed this book on Overdrive as an e-book. I started it earlier in the day when my daughter napped because I remembered how slow the beginning was. I recognized pages I’ve already read and it enticed me back into the world. This time I was interested, very interested. And what really drew me in as I immersed myself in this world was the oh so beautiful writing!

Brienna is half Maevana and half Valenian. She lives in the kingdom of Valenia and is sent to Magnalia House at ten years old, a place where girls learn certain subjects and excel in them. Later on these girls “passion” (think of it as graduating and earning a degree) and find a patron to contract themselves too. The passions are: Wit, Drama, Knowledge, Music and Art.

I loved reading about Brienna’s interaction with her fellow ardens or sisters, as she calls them. Yes to sisterhood! She has trouble picking a passion but eventually settles with Knowledge. Her relationship with her Master (her instructor), is verging on being taboo so though it doesn’t go further than tension filled glances, and one touch on the hand in the beginning, I think it stays pretty mild. Now romance is not the main theme in this book, which I actually appreciated a lot. There was enough intrigue and plotting going on that romance wasn’t needed. It does come back later in the story though when Brienna isn’t a student anymore and her Master is someone she didn’t expect him to be.

Although the beginning is slow, I believe it’s due to the world building being outstanding. I was transported to Valenia while reading the author’s very lyrical writing. I’m glad it went slowly because I had a chance to savor the words. I felt like I was Brienna and when a plot to overthrow the ruler of the neighboring country Maevana takes place, I got very nervous things would not work out. I could not put the book down, even though I had to! I started at noon, took a break here and there because of my kids, then once they fell asleep at night I picked it up again and thankfully didn’t have to read past midnight. By then I managed to finish the book before midnight. Yippee!

There is a lot happening within the story after Brienna finds a patron. She is involved in a scheme to overthrow the ruthless ruler of Maevana. Brienna also harbors memories of her dead Maevana ancestor – which means she is the only person who can find two objects that the rebels need to secure the loyalty of the people to help fight in the rebellion. I was so glad Brienna got to learn about her Maevana side. I mean a kingdom that used to only be ruled by Queens with magic? Yes please!

I’m so glad I decided to read this book again! Brienna started off as just a girl with so many missing parts: no mom, didn’t know her dad, her grandpa sent her away to school. She wasn’t the strongest in her passion, she was always conflicted. But Brienna managed to balance her conflicted thoughts and emotions to her strength and found a way to help her Maevana friends and newfound family. I actually felt this could have been a stand alone book but I know the second book, The Queen’s Resistance, has just been published. I look forward to reading part two in Brienna’s journey and read more of Rebecca Ross’s gorgeous writing! 😍