Aprille Legacy

3.5

Liked it, but some obvious flaws. Didn't detract from the overall thrill or mystery though. Would be keen to continue if it's a series.

I have been through the emotional wringer.
Review to come.

A tough book to rate for obvious reasons, but I don't really feel like I have a choice.

That cover tho <3

Dang it. I don't know what happened with this book. I loved the writing, the setting, and was growing to love the characters too.

But it just. hasn't. grabbed me. I don't feel compelled to pick it up. I waste half my lunchbreak on my phone instead of reading. And when the library notice came in that this would be due soon, I knew I wasn't going to finish it in time, and I'm kind of resigned to just letting this one go.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed with myself for not pushing on, but there you have it. Sorry, Mr Butcher.

Loved it.

Teared up when Thrawn died. It was a sad death, and I really did like him as a character. Weird, as he's supposed to be the villain.

Was a little disappointed that Delta Source wasn't a person, but instead some trees with microphones in them. I thought someone was going to be a traitor, and had spent the last two books marking out people as suspects - but trees are good too...?

Mara seemed grossly underpowered. I mean, she was the Emperor's Hand, and force-sensitive... surely he would've trained her to be Sith?


So I have the Hand of Thrawn duology, do I need to read the Jedi Academy trilogy beforehand?

This is Sonya Lano's best work yet.

Under a Caged Sky is a twisting, turning tale of hardcore dystopian government, underground mutants, and painfully beautiful love. I'm not big on romance, but it was done well in this book. There was no bullshit about it - it was very clear between the two lovers what was between them, and it blossomed in a wonderfully believeable way.

The book is told in Depositions - the main character is being held in prison, and as such we're treated to interesting viewpoints at the beginning of the book (the prison cameras, the readout from her wristband, the security drones etc). I'm a fan of different formats in books, and I loved reading those sections especially.

Nothing is straight forward about Under a Caged Sky. This book was so unpredictable I stopped even trying to guess where it was going in the end. The author is a MASSIVE troll at one point, which is good, because I was getting ready to cry, yell and generally be upset about a certain scene. I won't say anymore on this subject.

This book has been meticulously gone over. Every paragraph is polished and gorgeous, and some of the writing is so gosh-darn beautiful that I used the highlight function on my Kindle for the first time:

"It feels like I'm standing on the edge of an abyss, arms widespread, head up to the stormy sky, the wind whipping my back and egging me on. I'm about to jump, but nothing's below me. No safety net. No bottom. And there's no guarentee that I'll fly. I fling myself off, anyway, my words escaping on a breath. "I love you.""

"Like two young girls in a fairy tale left alone in a deep, dark forest, enemies all around in the shadowed corners, under the stones at our feet, in the bony branches over out heads. But strength resides in the slender arm around my waist, healing resides in the wings curled around my back, and fire flashes in the heat of hers, ready to lash out at any foe. But most of all, it's her love that bolsters my faith and upholds any real vision of a future. That she will let nothing break us."

"It may be that with each step, our burden grows, but so does our strength. Our strength, Anza. Inside, we are cores of steel over stupid mushy hearts, but those hearts are what make that steel so strong, because it's forged in the lava of the fiercest emotion of all, the only one that can never break down when it runs as pure as it does in our veins. We love, Anza. That makes us stronger than any disunited hatred that tries to divide us."

This book is so gorgeous and so epic. I think there's another one in the series (there had better be) and I'm eagerly awaiting it. I highly recommend this read.

Beware though - this book is a heartbreaker.

Eh. Couldn't care less about the ending of this book. On the last disc but returning it to the library.

Actual rating 3.5 stars

This book kept surprising me. Loved it, and just found that I have the second volume!! Onwards to Dark Force Rising!

*mild spoilers. Probably don't read if you're going to pick up the novel*

This is the first Disney-Hyperion book I've read that has really dropped the ball.

What starts off as a beautifully written, lavishly different take on history quickly becomes a historical Days of our Lives - and not in a good way.

The quotes by Beyonce and Lorde at the beginning of the parts (again, another book that needed part 1, 2 and 3 for no discernible reason. I don't like that this is becoming a trend) felt strange and out of place. It felt like putting a Backstreet Boys quote at the beginning of a Game of Thrones novel. Weird. Didn't like.

What could've been an amazing story of four young women coming into their own turned into a complete mess of 'I can't accept your proposal... oh you're rich?? DAMNIT'. Seriously. That's the premise. Or Marie changing her mind five friggin times and screwing Gill over, who by the way was risking his life to be with her.

Marie asking Aelwyn to take her place as princess just outlined how self-involved these characters are. She just asks her to give up her looks, identity and any hope of her own future. Meanwhile, Aelwyn is eying off Marie's betrothed like 'mmmm gonna get me some of that... even if he is marrying my best friend. But they don't love each other anyway, so may as well'.

Then there's Wolf, who I liked to begin with, but then became the biggest sap. "I'm sad this girl I just met and don't know from a bar of soap isn't marrying me. Teehee, imagine if she said yes and then discovered I'm a crown prince! What lolz will be had. WAIT SHE SAID NO, WTH."

Leo who should've been shot directly in the groin for being a rapist.

Isabelle who was the only character I continued to like, getting royally fucked over (pun). Having her beloved killed by the man who'd raped her since she was nine, finding out she was pregnant with the rapist prince's child. Here was me thinking she'd devise some amazing plot to become Queen of France, but instead she was just a barbie doll.

Ronan, I liked. I did. Until she became so two-faced I couldn't figure her out. "I like Wolf. Oh wait, here he comes to dance with me and propose, better dance with everyone else and be a bitch to him." There's playing hard to get, and then there's Ronan.

Urgh. Also, was the second half of this novel edited AT ALL? There are three events in the last twenty pages which were skimmed over like 'they put the barrels of magefire out to sea, they exploded, kah-blooey, then this engagment was announced, also btw the first prince was a sorceror which suddenly clears up, like, three plot points not previously discussed - never mind that magic has never been seen anywhere else in the world. Oh wait, that's coz he wasn't the REAL prince, so it was just lucky he was shot tbh.

*internally screaming*

There's a second book. I kind of want to read it. To quote the Sith Warrior character on Star Wars: The Old Republic:

"It's like a starship collision... you can't help but want to watch."

I don't know what to think. I'm a bit conflicted at the moment.
I enjoyed the story while I was reading it, but now that I'm thinking about it... Hmm. I will finish the series because I like the world and some of the characters - but there's something that doesn't click for me.

*insert screaming gif*

This should've been called '100 Things They Don't Want You To Know... And I'm Not Going To Tell You Either'.

The book consists of 100 stories that are a mixture of conspiracies and mysteries. But they're only very briefly touched on, which bothers me a little. Most of the book is taken up by (very pretty) colour photographs. Most cases in the book would be about a hundred words on the subject and some pictures. Then it was on to the next one.

If this book had covered a range of about twenty-five cases, it would've been able to give each one justice. But it felt so brief that I couldn't get into it. As a fairly well read conspiracy theorist, I knew 99% of the cases in the book, and the information was old hat.

In addition, the typos in this book were so distracting and reoccurent that I'm glad I borrowed it from the library. This book felt hastily edited - the typos were glaringly obvious and should've been picked up.

Two stars, and returned to the library gladly.

** GIVEAWAY ** I interviewed Emm Cole on my blog! Check it out and enter the (international) paperback giveaway! http://aprillelegacy.com/2015/11/11/author-interview-emm-cole/

The Short Life of Sparrows was brought to my attention by the 'I Can't Believe it's Self-Published!' list. When it reached the top, I was sucked in by the cover, and I knew I had to have it.

My (gorgeous) paperback copy arrived about a week ago, and I devoured this book in only a few nights. The writing is spectacular, and I cannot fault it in any way. The characters are so real they practically jump off the page.

But what surprised me most was the romance. (Mild spoilers, nothing serious). I was so ready to accept the cliched romance that I thought was coming. I wasn't expecting to be proven wrong, and I was. I've stated before that I love books that can do this. Surprise me, and you'll get five stars. I'd give this book ten, if possible, because it consistently surprised me. This book is not cliched - and I love it.

The character development - which so many authors struggle with, myself included - was perfect. It was slow, and deliberate. The changes made within each character was explained and relative to reason. The happenings within the coven and their attitude to Ordinaries pushed certain characters to reassess what they considered important - which led to some startling revelations... and relationships.

This book doesn't shy from tough writing, hereby meaning 'the gross demon' and the sexual side of relationships. The one sex scene was tastefully done and correlated directly with the character development.

My one gripe with the story When Calli decides to leave with Rowe, she doesn't say goodbye to Daphne or attempt to make her leave with them. Daphne really got screwed over by this ending, and my heartbreak was all for her. I kind of wanted an epilogue so we could see what happened to Daphne, but by the last scene in which she's present, I don't think we want to see how that ends.

Read this book. I'm about to track down the author's other series because I need more of her writing in my life. I cannot recommend this highly enough - if you're only going to read one indie book this year, make it The Short Life of Sparrows.

This became way too convoluted