From A to Z: The Riddle by Allison Croggan

Dear Z,

My last book of 2014 was the first book of this series, The Books of Pellinor, and my first review of 2015 is of The Riddle the second book of the series. The Riddle follows Maerad and Cadvan immediately after the events of The Naming. However in The Riddle we learn a lot more about the diversity of the world Croggan has built and there is less focus on Barding in general. To understand the references in this review I do recommend reading my review of the first book here.

Maerad and Cadvan start the second book out at sea as they travel to the island of Thorold. Thorold also has a Bard school but the customs are varied from those in Annar that Maerad visited in the first book. Thorold reminded me of a mix between a Spanish coastal town and Norway. The people are boisterous and mostly very joyful. Their streets are filled with colors and there is an extended mid day break from work, similar to Spain. However they are also at the foot of large mountains and many goat herding villages abound in Thorold. In Thorold the reader gets a peak into how thing are going to turn sour between Cadvan and Maerad. As was said often in the first book, the ways of the heart are hard to understand.

However Thorold is not the only place Maerad travels in the Riddle. She returns to Annar though not for long and the reader gets a glimpse fo the Bard school Gent. Then she goes to the far North as is foretold in her foredream and sees Zmarkan, and goes to the winter hub Murask of the Pillanel people. Maerad herself is half Pilanel. The Pilani peoples travel in caravans doing trade in the southern lands and come back to the Zmarkan for the Midwinter Festival. Maerad has the chance to travel on boat, on horse, and by dog sled. She visits Bards who were not schooled in the Annarien traditiona sense. She even finds family.

And beyond her travels Maered meets another Elidhu, Arkan the Winterking. The Winterking’s reach is far and she comes up against his power throughout the book. He controls storm dogs with baying thunder and paws of cloud that can destroy forests. He also controls Iridugals mountain giants made of stone.

Overall The Riddle is thus far my favorite book of this series. Mind you I have not read the final book so i will give my final verdict then. But having read the first three previously I can say it is still the best one so far! If you love high fantasy you will love this series. It’s buy an esteemed Australian YA author! Go check it out!

Until the Next Read,

A

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From Z to A: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Dear Aly,

I think I was in a reading slump! I’m finished with a lot of books, but every time I try to pick up a new one, I get so disinterested and end up putting it down and watching Netflix. Blegh.

Anyway, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor took me foreeeeever to read, like 90% longer than it should have, simply because I just wasn’t feeling read-y at all!

The book is about Karou, a seemingly ordinary girl; except that she has blue hair. And can draw and paint really well. And has a super-active imagination. Or so we think. She’s constantly drawing these Chimera-things and whenever she has a new set of drawings, there’s always a story to them. Well, they’re real. She lives with three Chimera in a magical shop that deals in teeth (? Right!). She’s often sent on crazy weird errands to pick up or go to auctions for rare animal teeth, but she has no idea why. One day, angels start burning random doors across the world, and then, the portal Karou uses to get to the shop also gets burned and she stuck in the human world. She’s got to figure a way back to her “family” and deal with an angel who keeps popping up everywhere.

This book is such a cliffhanger!!!! The pacing was kind of slow, in my opinion. There was a lot that happened, but I felt like all the scenes were really stretched out, even if they were minor plot points. This made it kind of difficult to get through at times. But but but since this is the beginning of a series, I feel like the next books are going to pick up speed (I hope).

The angels in the story aren’t the angels we think of. They’re called Seraphim but they’re not heavenly, God-related angels. They’re basically soldiers with wings; a separate and fantastical race. The Chimera are so cool, they’re your basic Chimera, comprised of different animals: so some have like the head of a bear, a human torso, and deer legs, or something to that effect. They’re all different but they get along as if they all looked the same, which is really cool!

The story focuses on Karou for the first half, but as her story unfolds and we meet the angel, Akiva, the focus shifts to Akiva, his upbringing and relationships, especially with his brothers and sisters and his love, Madrigal. Towards the end, Madrigal’s story takes center stage.

I didn’t think the story was spectacular but I did have a lot of fun reading it and getting into the fantastical world Laini Taylor created. I wasn’t sure, when I was about halfway through the book, whether I wanted to read the next ones in the series, but since it ends in such a cliffhanger, I feel like I neeeeeeed the next one in order to be satisfied!

Happy reading,

Zoe

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books!!!

Dear Aly,

This past weekend was heaven for book nerds!!! The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is like “Coachella for normal people” (an actual quote by an actual person who passed by me!) I wish I could have packed you away in my suitcase and taken you with me, it was so amazing!

First off, this festival is HUGE!!! It takes over basically the entire main campus of USC! There are little white tents everywhere, lined up in neat little rows. Publishing house representatives abound, with stacks of their best sellers. There was food trucks (yum!), entertainment, and even games for the kids!

Of course the main draw is the more well-known authors. The likes of John Green, Giada DiLaurentiis, T. C. Boyle, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Rob Delaney, Veronica Roth, and Rainbow Rowell topped the lists. A lot of these bigger events required tickets to get in, since they were in larger, indoor halls. I heard the line for the John Green signing was like 2500 people long! That’s a lot of Nerdfighters!

The events I went straight to were all near the YA stage (no surprise there!). Right when I arrived, Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles series) and Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass series) were both holding signings. Finally, my opportunity to buy The Assassin’s Blade and have it signed!!!!

The epic Sarah J. Maas had all her fans sign HER copy of Throne of Glass as well, how cute!

Marissa Meyer! What a cutie

Other amazing YA authors present were: Leigh Bardugo, Laurie Halse Anderson, E. Lockhart, Amy Tintera, Lauren Myracle, Cecil Castellucci, Lauren Oliver, Stephanie Perkins, Laini Taylor, Ann Brasheres, Eoin Colfer, Melissa De La Cruz, and so many more!!!

For me, the main main main thing I could not miss was the Tahereh Mafi signing. You all know how deep my love for Tahereh runs, I was soooooo stoked to meet her and have her sign my shiny brand new copy of Ignite Me! She was so sweet and beautiful and poised and ahhhh I could go on forever! My only regret was that I should have sought out Ransom Riggs as well, since he was having a signing at around the same time. But the starry-eyed effect Tahereh created in me lasted far too long for me to function enough to find Ransom. Meh.

at Tahereh Mafi’s signing! Isn’t she gorgeous??!

If you’re book-nerdy like us, you HAVE to check out the Festival of Books!! I know there’s a ton of similar festivals around the country, so if there’s one near you, go! It’s free, you get to be around like-minded people, books, and just have a good time! It’s a really cool environment, and judging by the amount of people who showed up and hung around all day, I’m confident that books are here to stay!

Read read read! Whether it’s on an eReader, a hard copy, on your computer or phone, just READ! It’s so good for you, it’s exciting, and you get to explore worlds you never knew existed!!

Happy Reading,

Zoe

All my signed books!

YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy panel: Leigh Bardugo, Marissa Meyer, Cecil Castellucci, Sarah J. Maas!

Photo credits to Karina DePiano