Reading – Page 44 – Lyndsey Hall

Feeding my book addiction

I did it. I joined my local library. I was popping to Tesco, and the library is just round the corner, and I had something with my name and address on it in my handbag. Basically, the stars aligned, and I am now the proud owner of a library card and three – yes, three more! – books.

I can hear you shaking your head at me. It’s an addiction, I can’t help it. Fortunately, I get to borrow books for 3 weeks, and renew up to 3 times online, so I could technically keep them for 3 months and that’s plenty of time to read them…

Want to know what I got? It’s a pretty eclectic selection. To be honest, I was disappointed with the small YA section, but being a tiny, rural village library, I can’t really complain. Plus, I can order any book I want them to get in, reserve any book that is already on loan, and do everything online except picking up the actual physical book. But, they also have e-books and audiobooks for rent! So I could borrow books without every leaving my house! Winner.

Here’s what I picked up.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

If you saw my post about My growing TBR, you’ll know I recently acquired and ARC of Red Sister. Having never read anything by Mark Lawrence, I wanted to start at the beginning with Prince of Thorns. I saw the second book in the series on the shelf as well, so I’ll pick that up when I return this.

So, the book is about Jorg Ancrath, the titular Prince of Thorns, who sounds almost like a dark and murderous version of Robin Hood. He leads a band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities, and has the ability to master the living and the dead. But, he will have to face his nightmares and the ghosts of his past when he returns to his father’s castle.

It sounds like it’s set in the future, but after an unsubscribed catastrophe the world has regressed to a medieval style society. Similar to The Queen of the Tearling, perhaps, which I really enjoyed. Either way, this one should be good!

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

This one is by the author of the Hush, Hush saga, which I loved, so I’ve had this on my radar for a while. It’s got very mixed reviews on Goodreads, it’s got almost 4 stars, but the top reviews are all very negative, so I’m going to give it a chance, but I don’t have the highest hopes. I think I’m less critical than some, so I’ll probably end up enjoying it.

It’s billed as a YA thriller, and I don’t think I’ve read many of those, plus it’s a standalone, and I definitely don’t read many of those (in YA) so it’ll be interesting.

It seems to be about a girl who has been training to climb a mountain, and before she sets off her ex-boyfriend asks if he can join her. They get separated by a blizzard and she takes refuge in a cabin, where two fugitives hold her hostage. She discovers evidence of a series of murders, and starts to wonder if she is next, but one of the fugitives shows her kindness. Could he be an ally?

I do love a good thriller, so I’ll let you know how I like this one.

The Girl with all the Gifts by M. R. Carey

I remember hearing about this one a while ago, it has a really fascinating premise and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Mark Lawrence (of Prince of Thorns fame) has actually given if 5 stars on Goodreads, so I’m looking forward to this one.

I’m not sure if this is a spoiler, but I read a review that says it’s a zombie book, the little girl, Melanie, is infected and kept in a prison/science lab to be tested as they hope her blood will lead to a cure. I don’t know how far into the book you find this out, so I might have completely spoiled you – sorry! I’ll pop a review up of this one as well when I’m done, I have high hopes for it as it was quite widely publicised when it was released and has lots of positive reviews.

So, there you have it – my library book haul. Increasing my current TBR to 9 paperbacks and five audiobooks…excuse me while I go and build a fort in my spare bedroom and not come out for six months. I’m sure my husband will bring me food, and the dog will probably keep me company.

Have you read any of these? Loved them? Loathed them? Tell me in the comments, and I’ll be back with some reviews soon!

Lyndsey

Current word count (second draft): 28,954

My growing TBR

Let’s not talk about the fact that I haven’t even read all of the books on my TBR from January.

Moving on! In the past two months, I have managed to acquire two new paperbacks and five audiobooks! I have, however, failed to join my local library and borrow any books, probably because of my already vertiginous to-be-read pile. There’s always next month.

Last night, I went to a local writers’ group. A local, published author, Julie Malone (pen name Jae Malone) who has written a series of middle grade fantasy novels about a boy from Nottingham, The Winterne Series, spoke about creating characters and world building. It was aimed at the fantasy genre, but most of Julie’s points were adaptable to every genre.

It was a really interesting talk, and reiterated the tips and advice I had already read about creating a fantasy world. It was reassuring to hear from a successful, published author that what I’m doing is right! Plus, now I have a huge list of fantasy authors to check out.

Everyone in the group was absolutely lovely, they meet fortnightly, with every other meeting being an informal ‘write-in’ where they are given a prompt and have to write as much as they can in an hour, and then share their work.

Having returned home from the group, I discovered that my lovely dog had decided to destroy my Illumicrate, which had arrived the day before. The box was absolutely shredded, and there were several teeth marks in one of the books. She is now banned from spending any time alone with any of my books, the little demon. Luckily, she didn’t actually eat any pages or damage it beyond reading, or she’d be for dinner tonight. Just kidding, she is my fur baby and any evil actions were probably learnt from me, I do love to devour books.

An unboxing of my Illumicrate (minus the box) will be up soon!

Right, on with the show, here’s what I’ll be reading if I ever get round to it.

Paperbacks

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

This was the first book I received in February’s Illumicrate, and it’s been on my wishlist since I first heard about it online. Based on the fairy tale about the Goblin King – and the movie, Labyrinth in which David Bowie played the character – it tells the story of Liesl, whose sister has been taken by goblins, and her quest to bring her back home.

The book is inspired by JJ’s love of music, Liesl composes songs with the Goblin King as her muse, having met him in the forest as a child. When the Goblin King refuses to let Kathe go without another maiden taking her place, Liesl volunteers. Captivated by the king, she finds that he still inspires her years later.

How amazing does that sound? I definitely feel the need to watch Labyrinth now!

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

This was the second book in my Illumicrate, a surprise ARC of Mark Lawrence‘s new book, the first in a new series called Book of the Ancestor.

I’m ashamed to say that I am yet to read a book by Lawrence, but I do have them all on my Audible wish list, ready to download at some point…That point has now been moved infinitely sooner! I get the impression this new series will be set in the same world as The Broken Empire and The Red Queen’s War, so I’ll have to work out if I need to read those series first.

According to the blurb, the Convent of Sweet Mercy trains young girls into lethally-skilled women, spending ten years teaching them to become deadly assassins. Women called Red Sisters. Nona Grey is eight years old and due to hang for a murder she didn’t commit. Saved from execution and taken to the convent, she must learn to become an assassin, but she can’t escape her secret and violent past.

Cannot wait to get to this one, it sounds right up my street. I tend towards YA fantasy, but a bit of adult fantasy will make a nice change and hopefully spark some ideas for my books.

Audiobooks

King’s Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard

I’m currently listening to this one, but I have to say I’m struggling with it. This isn’t one of my favourite series, but I’m persevering to the end because I’ve invested so much time and want to see how it ends.

It’s not a bad series, loads of people love it, but it just hasn’t gripped me. I don’t like any of the characters, I’m not rooting for any of them – aside from the obvious division between right and wrong. I’m not a huge fan of the story, it’s heavy on the politics and war strategy, and I prefer stories that focus on the characters. Also, it seems to borrow heavily from a few others series that I have enjoyed a lot more, like The Hunger Games and The Grisha Trilogy.

My feelings on this book are that a lot of it could have been cut or condensed, making it a trilogy instead of a four book series. The bits where Mare is held captive are quite dull and drag on, and I don’t like Cameron’s POV. But that’s just me! You might love this one, don’t let me put you off!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I’ve heard a lot about this one, and it was on offer on Audible for £1.99, so I had to buy it. I’ve read that it’s similar to Caraval, which is a new book that I’m really keen to read, so I thought I’d check this out first so I can compare.

Le Cirque des Reves appears one day without warning, and is only open at night. It is utterly unique, unlike any circus you have ever seen. But behind the scenes, two young magicians, Celia and Marco, have been raised to compete in a game that can only end one way. Only one will be left standing. Until, they fall in love.

How magical does that sound? I absolutely cannot wait to listen to this one, I bet the audiobook will be fantastic. There are certain books that are just made for audio, they really come to life, and I can imagine this is one of them.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Another one I’ve downloaded thanks to the amazing reviews I’ve seen online, I wasn’t sure whether to get this one on audio or in paperback as I read that it includes footnotes and I wasn’t sure how that would work on audio, but the Audible reviews clinched it for me.

Mia Corvere is the daughter of an executed traitor, a fledgling assassin seeking vengeance against those who destroyed her family. Mia has an ability, she can speak to the shadows, and she is apprenticed to the deadliest group of assassins in the Republic, the Red Church. With a killer on the loose in the halls of the Church, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation going on in the shadows she so loves, will she survive initiation and have her revenge?

I can’t get enough of books about assassins, the Throne of Glass series is one of my absolute faves, and this sounds just like my cup of tea. Plus, apparently, there is a talking shadow cat, so yeah…

And I Darken by Kiersten White

This is a Dracula retelling where Vlad the Impaler is actually Lada Dragwyla, a brutal Wallachian princess torn between her gentle younger brother, Radu and Mehmed, the heir to the Ottoman throne.

I am really excited about this one, I’ve been desperate to read it for ages and can’t wait to get to it, but as you can see, I’ve got so many amazing books on my TBR!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

If you read my review of The Scorpio Races, you’ll know I’m a massive Stiefvater fan. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read The Raven Cycle yet, I know it’s most people’s favourite Stiefvater series, and it’s been on my radar for a long, long time, I just never got to it. But, now I have the first book and I think I’m going to listen to it next, despite not having the other three books, and having so many others in my library (that’s my Audible library, sadly I do not have a physical library in my house).

So, The Raven Boys centres around the myth of the Raven King, which is a Welsh legend about Bran the Blessed. It follows Blue and Gansey, the daughter of a clairvoyant who can’t see, and a rich, private school boy who, unhappy with his lot, goes on a strange and dangerous quest, with his three friends. Blue has always known that she will be the cause of her true love’s death, and now she is being drawn to Gansey and starting to worry about what that means.

I have high hopes for this one, thanks to the buzz it gets online, so it better not let me down! Especially, after I adored The Scorpio Races.

So, those are the books I have added to my TBR in the last two months! What with the several books from my last update that I still haven’t read, I definitely don’t need to be buying any more books for a while! I wish I could read more quickly, but I’m still editing my novel, and beta reading for a couple of writer friends.

I also signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo this week, which takes place in April, and I thought was a real life camp, like a writers retreat, but have discovered is all online, like the November version. So, yeah, I’m pretty busy for the next couple of months! If you’re taking part in Camp Nano, add me as a buddy, I’m lyndleloo (same as on Twitter and Instagram!).

Lyndsey

Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I am a big Stiefvater fan, having read The Wolves of Mercy Falls series and Books of Faerie (Lament and Ballad – still waiting for that third book, Maggie!) years ago. The Scorpio Races had been on my list for so long, but to be brutally honest I wasn’t sure about the premise. Flesh-eating water horses? A standalone?? No sequels???

How wrong I was. This novel is perfection! Yes, I am gutted that there won’t be a second or third instalment, but the story tied up so neatly at the end that I can’t even complain.

TL;DR Every November flesh-eating water horses crawl out of the sea onto the island of Thisby, and riders race them on the beach to win money. The boy who wins every year wants to buy his horse off the stables he works for. A girl who’s parents were both killed by the horses needs to win enough money to save the house she and her brothers live in. Throw in magic, rituals, an island with its own personality and a supporting cast of vividly drawn characters, and you’ve got The Scorpio Races.

This book has one of the best opening lines in all of literature (according to me):

“It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.”

If that doesn’t suck you into the story and make you want to read it, nothing will. But I’ll go on anyway…

Stiefvater (pronounced steve-otter, the things you learn listening to audiobooks) based the book on the myth of the Capaill Uisce (pronounced ca-pull ish-ka – again, audiobooks), which is a legendary Celtic water horse that lives in the sea and eats human flesh.

At the end of the audiobook, Maggie read her Author’s Notes, and explained some of the inspiration for the story. She got the idea to write about water horses when she was younger, but she was never happy with the story she created or how the myth fit into it. In the end, she realised she could pick and choose which bits of the myth she wanted and which bits to discard. So, her version of the Capaill is different to every other.

Back to the story, then. The action takes place on an island just off the mainland called Thisby. We’re never told the name of the mainland, but the audiobook is narrated by two Brits, so I like to imagine it’s England, and Thisby is maybe the Isle of Wight? The aesthetics of the island fit for me, and the Isle of Wight is a major sailing mecca, so the idea of Thisby as a big racing community (albeit, on horses instead of yachts) makes sense to me.

The island is almost a character within itself, the residents regularly refer to Thisby as though it is a living thing rather than a piece of land. Especially, when the riders each had to make a blood sacrifice to mark their participation in the races, I felt that the island was more than just the place where the characters lived, it had a power over them.

“Tell me what to wish for. Tell me what to ask the sea for.”
“To be happy. Happiness.”
“I don’t think such a thing is had on Thisby. And if it is, I don’t know how you would keep it.”

One of the major themes in the book is the choice between staying on Thisby and leaving for the mainland – this is the root of one of the main conflicts of the story. For many, the island has a grip on them that they don’t understand, for others, the island is oppressive and they need to get away.

The mystical elements in the book were really interesting – the horses themselves and the magic they seemed to possess, convincing humans to walk into the sea and be dragged under or eaten. The luring power of the sea to both the horses and the men – Sean is constantly referred to as having one foot on the land and one foot in the sea. The festival where the woman in the horse head mask gave Sean a seashell to wish upon. There were lots of references to superstitions, rituals and beliefs held by the people of Thisby.

My favourite thing about the book, though, was the characters. Sean is a stoic, reserved nineteen-year-old, whose father was a rider before him, and has won the Scorpio Races four times in the last six years. He has a way with the horses, both normal and Capaill Uisce, and his Uisce mount, Corr, is the fastest and most loyal horse on the island. Kate, or Puck as everyone calls her, is a strong-willed, resilient girl, living with her two brothers since the death of both of their parents at the hands of the Capaill Uisce. She decides to take part in the Scorpio Races, despite her brothers’ protests, in order to win enough money to make sure they don’t lose the house they grew up in.

Both Sean and Puck had such strong motivations and reasons for winning that I found it impossible to decide who I was rooting for to win.

I loved the incredibly slow-burning romance between them, it was far more believable than many YA romances, especially with two such independent, stubborn and hard-headed characters. They were a perfect fit!

“I think every now and then about Sean’s thumb pressed against my wrist and daydream about him touching me again. But mostly I think about the way he looks at me – with respect – and I think that’s probably worth more than anything.”

I gave The Scorpio Races 5 stars, it’s my new favourite by Maggie Stiefvater, but I have heard nothing but good things about The Raven Cycle, which is next on my list now!

The one question I have left over is whether the book has any further links to A Midsummer Night’s Dream than the names of Thisby and Puck? I Googled it, but haven’t found a definitive answer. I’m just curious because the names of some of my characters (Auberon, Xander and Baz Demitree) are inspired by the play too (Oberon, Lysander and Demetrius).

If you read and enjoyed any of Stiefvater’s other books and haven’t picked this one up yet, do it now! It’s the best audiobook I have listened to in months, if not ever. The performances were excellent, with Steve West reading for Sean and Fiona Hardingham for Puck.

Have you read The Scorpio Races? Did you love it? Tell me in the comments, I must know! And, how perfect is this image? She reminds me so much of Puck 🙂

Lyndsey

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