Review: The Immortal Circus: Act 2 - A. R. Kahler

Enter back into the world of the Winter Court's circus, where Queen Mab plays ringleader to a troupe of magical beings.

What happened in the last book was only the beginning, but the show has quickly picked itself up again with the addition of new members. Vivienne now knows all about the dream trade and it's place in the Cirque Des Immortels, but there are more secrets that are yet to be discovered.

Vivienne still does not know who she is or how to use her new-found powers, but she is about to find out. All the memories that she had pleaded to forget are coming back to her, as is the power that was kept at bay by Kingston.

A short but engrossing read, The Immortal Circus, Act 2 is something you can't simply put down. Vivienne's character is now completely believable, and Kingston becomes even more intriguing in this book. We learn a lot more about the fey and the land of faerie, as well as the Summer Court. Characters are brought into focus that were not before as Kahler creates an even more complex and involved world to go with his story.

The only qualms I have are that the story was slightly too quick, so everything change of mind seemed to happen too fast. Vivienne seems too easily convinced by Oberon and Pan and her feelings toward Mab are extremely quick to change. Despite this, the book was still a great read.

The plot is growing thicker, and a surprising twist at the end leaves Vivienne in a very difficult position, What one earth will she do? I can't wait to find out! 8.5 out of 10.

Wednesday Wishlist #2

Hello and welcome to my second wishlist! I'm carrying on with my unfinished series today, so we shall kick-start it off with;

Hero - Alethea Kontis


I absolutely adored Enchanted, with the way that the fairy-tales were so cleverly intertwined and the brilliant heroine. This time we take a trip aboard a pirate ship with Saturday, whose exploits we only had a glimpse of in the first book. I'm looking forward to some swashbuckling adventures in this one (er, sorry for the cliche but sometimes it can't be helped). Also, I'm beginning to notice that most of the items on my wishlists have an awful lot of pretty detailing and pretty dresses. I do apologise to those who are against such girlieness.

Cress - Marissa Meyer

Who doesn't love the Lunar Chronicles? Cinder and Scarlett are captivating, and the way that Meyer has invented a detailed futuristic setting for each of her fairy-tale characters is incredible. The series is a wonderful invention and it really make me want to start writing my own fairy-tale retelling. I can't wait to meet Cress properly and hear more about her story. Oh and check out the stunning cover design.


Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore

I read Graceling utterly years ago, and I loved it, but really it was Fire that set my heart alight. Fire was everything a book should be, and she was the protagonist I loved the most (at the time anyway). I think I'll need to re-read the first two for Bitterblue, but I've been told very,very good things about it.


Have you read them yet? What did you think? Please let me know in the comments section.

Top Ten Tuesday #1 - Most Aggravating Female Characters

Top Ten Five Most Aggravating Female Characters

I was sitting on the sofa the other day, trying to thinking about things to do for my first ever top ten, and looked over to my boyfriend who was sitting across from me, reading Catching Fire (I'm so proud). As I thought about certain annoying parts of that book, it occurred to me that I hate an awful lot of characters. So here is my definitive list of hated females. Oh and by the by, there will most definitely be spoilers in this blog.

1. Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

Everyone loves Peeta, every sane woman out there would choose him over Gale, but Katniss is quite clearly insane, because for 2.9 books she procrastinates between them both, and then finally decides she wants Peeta when she can no longer (feasibly) have him. This girl is too selfish and too mean in my opinion, even if The Hunger Games is awesome, she's just not.

2. Bella Swan, Twilight

This one's a vampire, and this one is a werewolf. Exactly how long do you really need to get the picture? I got bored waiting for her to click. Also, she is always walking into trouble on purpose. If a guy tells you he's like to drain you dry, you do not come on to him, you run. Sappy and stupid, not a good combination.

3. Annana, The Assassin's Curse

Badass pirate lady escapes from an arranged marriage only to find herself pining for a scary, surly guy she just met, who nearly killed her, by the way. Enough said.

4. Rebekkah Barrow, Graveminder

Unable to admit she loves the man who she's been toying with all her life. Is constantly running away or avoiding awkward stuff, which makes for some very frustrating conversations. Eventually she grows up, but not nearly enough in my opinion.

5. America Singer, The Selection

This girl entered a competition to win the Prince's heart, having just broken up with someone. Not only does she fall swiftly back into said dumper's arms as soon as he beckons, but she then can't make up her mind about which boy she liked more. To make matters worse, she constantly thinks up issues so that her feeling tend to alternate between one and the other for the most part of two books (probably three, but as I haven't read The One yet, I don't know).

Guest Annoyance:
6. Claire Tanith, Cursed
Always feeling sorry for herself and putting herself down. The story and the idea aren't bad, but the character makes it a DNF.

These are all really enjoyable books, but these characters made me want to shake them, or tear my hair out, or both simultaneously. These ladies clearly need to learn the art of 'not procrastinating' and the other two simply need to grow working brains.

Rant over. Do you agree? Is there anyone you would like to see added to the list?

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

OK, so this is how it begins. I have seen the first two films and am well aware that there is a book series but have no desire to read it despite my love of reading. Why you ask? It’s quite simple. I thought both films were brilliant, but as most of you know any film based on a book can never be as good as the book itself, for obvious reasons. So my logic is this ‘why would I want to read the books and ruin the films for myself when the last one hasn’t even come out yet?’. This whole scenario is going on with my girlfriend, by the way, and my logic seems to have won out, but then you must be thinking 'why this report?' If you worked that out, well done my learned friend! The problem came when the announcement that the third film would be split into two films. This of course means my missus will have to wait two years for me to read that books and this isn’t good enough! So the nagging begins...nag nag nag nag nag nag nag. This is of course when I give in. Oh, you thought at the start of this paragraph that I was talking about how the book begins. Don’t be stupid! I called you clever earlier and now you throw it back in my face, shame on you! For this is not necessarily a review of the books but a review of the franchise itself! And of course in order for me to tell you this I have to tell you about not only the books, but the film and my personal experience with it all.

So this is how it begins...no, still not the book, will you get over that? I open the book onto page one to see the size of the font and the spacing used throughout the book. At this point I should probably tell you I am dyslexic; so you will understand when I thought I would finish this book in just over a week, I meant it would not take me long to do so, by my standards anyway. Secondly, I read the first couple of lines and discover to my horror that it is written in the first person. Now as you may have guessed from this statement that I am not a fan of books written in this style. However, when I first picked up a David Gemmell book I did not like the style it was written in but after reading the first book, Legend, I fell so in love with the character he created that I ended up with him as one of my favourite authors. So for this reason I give it a chance...

Now as the book unfolds I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the book plays out more or less exactly like the film, with a couple of minor bits that couldn’t be less relevant. The book follows a young girl who lives in a country called Panem that consists of twelve districts plus a city called the Capitol. A civil war 74 years ago between the districts and the Capitol, which the Capitol won, has lead to an event called the ‘Hunger Games’. In these game two ‘tributes’, one male and one female, are selected from each district to go to the Capitol and fight to the death on a television show in which the last person alive is the ‘victor’. Events ensue and our main girl ends up winning the ‘Hunger Games’ along with her male competitor from twelve, which is unheard of since there should only be one winner. In doing this she embarrasses the Capital and insights a small uprising in a couple of the districts. The whole story is told from the point of view of our main girl as she does everything possible to protect herself from death in the arena, enemies in the Capitol and her eventual return to her district.

 You begin to feel for some of her characters and as things go on you meet more characters that you actually like rather than ‘feel for’. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is obviously meant to be your strong independent female character but this is often challenged as she is young and often relies on other characters to help her deal with situations. This is not completely clear at the start of the book but is made more apparent as you read on. However, she is ruthless and is solely focused on her own survival, even when at a later date she is protecting her fellow tribute, Peeta Mallark. The best character is without a question Haymitch Abernathy, a drunken former champion who acts as a ‘mentor’. Of course I already wanted to like this character since he is played in the film by Woody Harrelson, one of my favourite actors. He offers an often outspoken and straightforward view on events as well as being able to ‘play the game’ as it were.

Now I said at the start of this rant that I expected to finish this book in just over a week, so imagine my surprise when less than three days after I began the book that I had already finished it. Despite having seen the film and knowing what was coming, I completely bought into the characters and their struggle for survival. The complexity of events, the consequences of every action and the game itself are so elaborate that they keep your attention from start to finish, with your mind always working to keep up with all the information you are allowed by the author. All in all I am very glad that I read this book despite my reservations about ruining the film and would recommend it to anyone who was on the edge like me!

8 out of 10

The Reading Pile #1

So many new posts this month!

Today I want to share with you some of the books I got in the past couple of weeks. Some will take longer to read and review than others so bear with me! I've included some links for you, just in case you want to find out more information on this lot.

The White Queen - Phillipa Gregory
I found this in a charity shop and absolutely had to have it, since it cost all of £1.99. I've seen the TV series, and no doubt the book will be even better.

Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini
A Kindle Daily Deals special; I can never resist a book that's been on my wishlist for ages, especially when the price is a meager 99p.

The Diamond Thief - Sharon Gosling
A circus, a big diamond, thievery and steampunk all mixed into one? Yes. Please. A big thank you is in order for this one, because it had been gifted to me by Capstone to review. So thank you!

Cursed - Casey Odell
I've been hearing things about this book recently, and yesterday I decided to buy it. I was doing a bit of research for a new blog post (coming out on Tuesday) and it was mentioned to me. Since it's free on Kindle, I went for it. I'm looking forward to reviewing it, that's for sure.

Tempus - Holly Lauren
This one is my favourite of the lot at the moment, because I won it yesterday! Thank you very much to Daisy Chain Book Reviews for hosting the giveaway. I can't wait to read it!

Have you read any of these books yet? What did you think?