Recreated by Colleen Houck

Title: Recreated (Reawakened #2)

Author: Colleen Houck 

Date Published: August 22nd 2016 

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Ratings: 2 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb: 

From Colleen Houck, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Curse, comes Recreated, the second book in the epic Egyptian-inspired Reawakened series, in which a seventeen-year-old must literally go to hell to save the love of her life.
Lily Young thought traveling across the globe with a reawakened sun prince was a grand adventure. Now she’s about to embark on the journey of a lifetime.
When Amon and Lily part tragically, he transports himself to the Netherworld—what mortals call hell. Tormented by the loss of his one true love, he’d rather suffer in agony during Lily’s mortal years than fulfill his duty to protect humanity.
Heartbroken, Lily seeks refuge on her grandmother’s farm. Yet she can feel Amon’s pain, and she has been having dreams—dreams of Amon continually suffering. For before he departed, Amon gave Lily something very special, an item that connects them even though they are worlds apart. Now Lily must use this object to free him, and to free their realms from darkness and utter chaos. She will do whatever it takes.

Isn't that cover absolutely brilliant?

Sadly the book itself does not hold a candle to the cover. I am terrible disappointed with how this book fails to deliver. The characters were awkward, the plot annoying, and the writing absolutely lifeless. I loved Ms. Houck's Tiger's Curse series, it was fabulous. But all I was thinking while reading this book is what went wrong? 

I think its because the plots are almost completely recycled. Yes, this book is based on Egyptian mythology (and any reference to that made in this book I loved, hence the 2 stars), but it was similar to the books in her previous series in that they follow a formulaic pattern! First the character is presented with a challenge, she goes through some kind of transformation that makes her a bit different from who she was in the last book (either mentally or physically), has to solve/figure out around 2-4 small challenges, then she fights the big "battle", and at the end of the book, just when everything seems resolved she's dragged into another problem. 

Yes, I've heard of the Hero's Journey, and that's pretty much what I described above, but most authors tend to employ it a bit more creatively! There should be more to the story than following this mold, and I think that is exactly the reason I disliked this book so immensely. However, there were bites of Egyptian mythology which I happily gobbled down, and even some of the characters seemed like they could be interesting. One (two?) such character being Lily+Lioness= Sphinx. 

The Sphinx is the only interesting concept in this book. Literally. To explain a bit, in order to save Amon from the Netherworld (in which he inadvertently finds himself in while quitting his "job"), Lily has to turn get turned into a Sphinx, which happens when a spell is cast and Lily kills a lioness. But Lily fails to kill the lioness. Instead, the lioness sacrifices itself, and this complicates everything because now the Lily the Sphinx is now Lily and Lioness the Sphinx. The issue with this is both have to share the same body, and the fight for control plays out well. Another aspect of the book I can say I enjoyed is "meeting" all the characters. We are introduced to some Egyptian gods, better introduced to Amon's brothers, and also a crazy Pixie (which I honestly don't understand, because how in the world does it fit in with Egyptian mythology?) that takes up residence in Lily's head. Along with Lily and the lioness (this being the problem that the book ends with). 

The fight for control between Lioness (aka Tia) and Lily took center stage as the most interesting part of this book. Hearing them converse/argue was fun, and the only time I laughed during this book was because of Tia. I recommend this to those who enjoy Egyptian mythology and haven't read Tiger's Curse, because there is a good chance you will not get tired of the homogeneous plots. 

And I Darken by Kiersten White

Title: And I Darken (Conqueror's Saga #1)

Author: Kiersten White 

Publication Date: July 7th 2016

Publisher: Delacorte Press 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

(this isn't the same cover as the book I read, but this one captures the book better)



Goodreads Blurb:

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.
Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.
But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

After reading Ms. White's other books, I was shocked at the writing style, characters, and literally everything in this book; I can't believe the person who wrote the Paranormalcy series wrote this book! I think it's impressive that an author can try out and succeed with different styles and different genres, and even though I wasn't a fan of this book, many thoroughly loved it.

My feelings about the book itself are definitely conflicted. On one hand, the plot and characters were really complex, but on the other, they were a bit too complex that it was difficult to understand what was going on.

What I Liked:
* loosely based on history
* Lada was fierce, driven, and downright scary
* Radu was sweet and serious throughout the novel
* Mehmed was mysterious
* the narration was intense and the plot was driven
* there were a lot of historical allusions to the Ottoman Empire that I understood
* the writing style was good

What I Didn't Like:
* the plot was too much (for me), and the descriptions were a bit tedious
* Lada was a little too negative and bitter sometimes
* literally only three characters who were fully developed
* the book skipped the shift in Mehmed, from little kid to king
* role of women/ the stereotype was appropriate to that time period I suppose but it was still silly that Ladu was trying to be "manly" and stifle her feminism

Overall, it was not a fun, light read. It was engrossing and tough. The world they live in is brutal and at times a bit too fantastical. It is harsh and there weren't many positive, happy feelings in this book; I found it to be very dark and as a generally happy person, I found it discomfiting and wanted something a little more light. However, it was written in a time period that was harsh and gritty, so this book was successful in capturing that mood.

I recommend it to fans of historical fiction as well as those who enjoy reading dark, intense stories about thriving when the odds are stacked against you, about losing what makes you human, and about the darkness in all of us. Also, if anyone is interested in Vlad the Impaler, Lada is supposed to be the female version of him.

The Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen

Title: The Warrior Witch (The Malediction Trilogy, #3)

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Date Published: May 3rd 2016 

Publisher: Angry Robot

Rating: 5 out of 5 

*ARC provided by NetGalley* 

Goodreads Blurb:

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil they have unleashed upon the world.
As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything. And everyone.
But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

If there is one thing you should read this book for, it would be the ending.

That ending was a bit idiosyncratic, especially as it did not entirely "match" with the rest of the book. But it was beautiful and quite possibly one of the most heart-breakingly wonderful endings I have ever read. I am now going to create a tag just for that.

Cecile has lost so much over the course of this series. She lost here freedom when she was first kidnapped to Trollus. And then she lost her mom twice, once to the city and then again to the witch Anushka. She loses her innocence as she sees the evil in the world of Trollus as well as in Trianon. And then, this probably doesn't count, but she loses her heart to Triston.

This novel picks up exactly where The Hidden Huntress ends and, even more than the last, incorporates supernatural forces and alternate worlds.

One big problem (and non-problem) was that Tristan and Cecile seemed to be working for two different end goals and did not feel as united as they were in the first two books. This created more conflict/tension, and although it was annoying, it added a lot of suspense. It opened up a lot of possibilities: Tristan and Cecile were going to become enemies, maybe they were going to reconcile at the end, maybe Cecile realizes that trolls are evil and monstrous.

The freeing of the trolls was the catalyst for everything that happened in this book (which was catalyzed by the death of Anushka). The dilemma of freeing them/ not freeing them ended after Anushka's death. But a new dilemma arose- how would Tristan keep them under control? And who is the new king? SPOILER Tristan's mom and dad die, and although I personally was happy to see the crazy Troll King go, his death allowed another power-hungry to wreak havoc. This begs the question: are trolls evil? And if not for Tristan, Marc & the Twins my answer would have been a resounding yes.

There were a few epic/memorable moments (the singing during the battle, the death/ "rebirth" of one of my fave characters, and the awesome ending, but there were also silly/bad moments, such as when Cecile feels useless and decides to wander off right into the hands of the witch, when Tristan chooses to forget/dissolve the bond (that was truly annoying), and when the fairy King dude forces Tristan to leave to the other realm, which was frustrating.

If you liked the first two book, I think this one will come as a shock because 1) it is much different, and 2) it does not go the way you expect it to. But if you read it without expectations, I think you'll be able to thoroughly enjoy, just as I was able to.

I recommend this to fantasy lovers as well as those who are interested by magical (evil) creatures and life after death ;)