I believe the 18th Mini Reviews edition should have something for every YA reader. Angels, demons and sinners, a cyborg mechanic from a futuristic China and mermaids. Today I'm reviewing SWEET PERIL by Wendy Higgins, CINDER by Marissa Meyer and OF TRITON by Anna Banks.
Anna is still the good girl at heart, no matter how many innocent humans the Dukes make her turn into sinners. Together with Kopano, the Son of Wrath she's travelling the world to find new allies in fellow Nephilim and ultimately fight for their freedom. Her feelings for Kaidan are true, they can help her win this war...or put her in great danger.
We meet new Nephilim, Zania and Flynn. Kopano, Blake and the twins are in for a fight against the Dukes as well.
With our jet set queen Anna travelling to meet the other Nephs we are seeing different cultures and exotic places. The change in scenery is
well-done, taking us to places all over the world.
It's a lovely collection of new impressions and the travelling makes SWEET PERIL so much more exciting. Whenever we were granted a scene with Kaidan all my senses were set on high alert, forbidding myself to miss even the tiniest details. This
boy sure is the right to be the Son of Pharzup, the Duke of Lust. SWEET PERIL allows us to see many new facets of him, e.g. his emphatic and selfless character. Anna and
Kaidan are exploring their domestic and cuddly side as a couple a bit. As much as they can be smoking hot, they can be cute as hell, too.
5/5 ***** SWEET PERIL -
The seven sins have never been sweeter and more tempting!
After an amazing first
book in the SWEET EVIL trilogy, I read SWEET PERIL in only one day. Engagingly written as it is, it
was just as addicting as Wendy Higgins debut novel. Don't underestimate
Kaidan Rowe's lust or better love spell!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publishing Date: April 30th
2013
Length: 371 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, lust, sins, travelling
Length: 371 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, lust, sins, travelling
Source: Bought
Author's Homepage
Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
Cinder is just a simple mechanic with a step-mother and two step-sisters. That's until she meets Prince Kai and gets on the bad side of Lunar Queen Levana by awakening Kai's interest. See the fairy-tale parallels? Of course, it's Cinderella!
CINDER is set in New Beijing, so there are apparent Chinese and Asian influences on characters and story. New Beijing has an original history which is currently determined by a plague that's spreading through the nation.
There are a bunch of fairy-tale retellings, but
this one has an impressive magic of its own. Marissa Meyer
took just one idea of an old story and made her very own story out of it.
A very basic Cinderella retelling is pimped with a futuristic sci-fi interface. Who would think to make cinderella a cyborg? Sadly, I didn't click with the cyborg elements, even though they were inventive and a highlight for other readers.
Kai and Cinder's dialogues are too
funny, sometimes even sneaky and allusive, hinting at a more
romantic interest on both sides. Their love story did help make CINDER a more interesting read, but wasn't a highlight either.
3,5/5 ***/* CINDER - A futuristic and cyborg-tastic fairy-tale world created by Marissa Meyer with much care and love for detail.
CINDER is not as explosive as I thought it could be, but unlike any other
YA novel I've read. Marissa Meyer wrote a fairy-tale retelling of a whole new quality. She invented her own world, with the potential to not only be home to one fairy-tale character but a few more, like Rapunzel or Little Red Riding Hood. A versatile world I'm definitely coming back to!
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publishing Date: January 20rd
2012
Length: 387 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, futuristic, cyborg, fairy-tale retelling, romance
Length: 387 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, futuristic, cyborg, fairy-tale retelling, romance
Source: Bought
Author's Homepage
Being the reason for starting a war between the two kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton isn't the worst there can be about your life, right? Finding out that your mother is the long-lost Princess of an underwater kingdom is worse. You are forbidden to be with your love, a true Prince. And what about learning that as a Half-Breed both kingdoms want to see you dead?
OF TRITON might fill the spot next to OF POSEIDON on your book shelf, but barely adds progress to the actual story. What happened to Anna Banks' brilliant plot of the first book? Couldn't see it continuing in this sequel.
As Emma's mother's past is very important for the story in this second book, parts of her history are recapitulated and reconstructed and with that the story took a direction I couldn't enjoy that much anymore. Her mother's infuriating temper doesn't allow any discussions at all. And so she couldn't very well count on me to feel any kind of sympathy towards her. Then Emma and Galen's relationship isn't as fresh and as adventurous as in OF POSEIDON (which I loved). Can we please just abandon the adults in this story and let the teens have their sexy times?
3,5/5 ***/* OF TRITON - Not as much splashy underwater fun as the first book offered.
This is probably the shortest sequel ever. OF TRITON is weaker in story-building and romace-wise than the first book in the series. Nevertheless it felt great to be back with our awesome sea crew, because Emma, Galen and their friends sure provide entertainment. I'm setting all my hopes on OF NEPTUNE to be the worthy and epic conclusion to OF POSEIDON.
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publishing Date: May 28th
2013
Length: 246 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, underwater kingdom, mermaid, romance
Length: 246 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, underwater kingdom, mermaid, romance
Source: Bought
Author's Homepage
I felt the same way about Cinder - none of the elements truly came together and clicked for me because of the lack of world-building. Moreover, the reveal at the end was obvious from the beginning of the story itself, which was a little disappointing. Plus, like you, I enjoyed the relationship between Cinder and Kai, but didn't love it. The sequel, Scarlet, is much better, IMO. I really fell for the romance between Scarlet and Wolf and though the world-building doesn't improve, it is a stronger book than Cinder - for me at least. I'm curious to see what you think of it! :)
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of Sweet Evil so I'll skip Sweet Peril. I haven't read Of Poseidon yet. I'm a little cautious about it since it has a lot of mixed reviews. Cinder, however, I'm quite obsessed with, lol. It's actually one of my best of 2013 reads. I hope you like Scarlet more!
ReplyDeleteDespite having a few issues I'm glad you enjoyed Cinder overall! Curious to see what you think of the sequel. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in love with Cinder, but I think I loved the sequel Scarlet more. Things came together, more world-building and some of my favourite characters are introduced (hello Thorne <3)
ReplyDeleteSWEET PERIL!!!! YAAAAAY! That is one of my all time favorite series, I just can't get enough of Anna and Kaidan. Maybe Kaidan more than Anna, but that can't really be helped. I just adore him. I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I CANNOT WAIT for Sweet Reckoning:)
ReplyDeleteI agree about Cinder. I liked it, but it wasn't amazing for me. I've still yet to read the sequel. I'm looking forward to Sweet Peril, though! I had some mixed thoughts about the first book, but I've heard nothing but good things about this one. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteAw, I'm sorry you didn't fully love Cinder. I truly loved it, hih. <3 I have yet to read Sweet Evil, but hoping to do so soon :) Glad you enjoyed book two! I enjoyed Of Triton, but had a few small issues with it. Glad you didn't hate it :) Amazing reviews. <3 thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't like Of Posiedon and so won't be continuing that series. I loved Cinder though so I'm a bit sad that you didn't enjoy it as much. But, I'm glad you liked it enough that you want to give Scarlet a try. I still need to read the Sweet Evil series.
ReplyDelete