Showing posts with label magical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magical. Show all posts

Friday, 3 June 2016

Do You Believe in Magic? 'The Crown's Game' Review



26156203

The Crown's Game

Author: Evelyn Skye

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

Do you believe in magic? Not many people do in 'The Crown's Game'. Magic is limited to four people: two enchanters and two mentors. Because two enchanters exist, they must fight in the Crown's Game.

Likes:

  • Surprise surprise! I liked the romance. Okay....I didn't love it. But I felt something. It might be because of a recent love triangle post from a blogger (whose name I can't remember...nor can I remember the post. Sorry.) But I felt like I was seeing a different love rectangle. The romance seemed real. To a certain point. I could believe that Pasha fell for Vika, this dangerous beauty. I thought that was real.
  • Wow. The ending felt like such a surprise. I thought there would be a cop-out escape. Both of them living, you know? But it wasn't like that. I might have been coddled by anime and happy endings. So this was a major shock to me. Nice taste of reality.
Dislikes:

  • We had three main characters: crown prince Pasha, Enchanter One Nikolai, and Enchanter Two Vika. All of the characters felt very meh to me. They weren't really expanded. I think it's because there were three main characters. You couldn't focus on one for too long to get their emotions and perspective. I wanted more about them, but they didn't get enough time to provide their story.
  • The Enchanters, especially Nikolai, overused magic. They used it for everything from cooking to cleaning. I think that they wouldn't survive in reality, without magic. This is one thing. Another is the seemingly godmodded version of magic. There is no end! They can do anything. With limitless resources. I hated that. There was no explanation for the overnight island or the dream benches. Please explain how these happened. OVERNIGHT. No? You can't? See my point?


0

Thursday, 5 May 2016

Magical Sailing Ship? Yes Please!: 'The Girl From Everywhere'



21979832

The Girl From Everywhere

Author: Heidi Heilig

Nix has spent her entire life aboard her father’s ship, sailing across the centuries, across the world, across myth and imagination. As long as her father has a map for it, he can sail to any time, any place, real or imagined: nineteenth-century China, the land from One Thousand and One Nights, a mythic version of Africa. Along the way they have found crewmates and friends, and even a disarming thief who could come to mean much more to Nix.
But the end to it all looms closer every day.
Her father is obsessed with obtaining the one map, 1868 Honolulu, that could take him back to his lost love, Nix’s mother. Even though getting it—and going there—could erase Nix’s very existence.
For the first time, Nix is entering unknown waters.
She could find herself, find her family, find her own fantastical ability, her own epic love.
Or she could disappear.

This book was one of the most anticipated 2016 debuts. Not just for me but for a lot of people. I'd seen the rave reviews. But when I first started this, I was in a slump. A very bad one, I might add. While this didn't pull me out of said slump, I did quite enjoy this book.

Likes:

  • Kashmir was the bomb dot com. He was sassy and brash and loud. I adored his character. (Not that I'd date Kash. I'm spoken for. Twice over.) He was somebody I'd like to be friends with, though. He'd be a good support system. He really did care for Nix. I could rely on a person like Kash. Honestly, if this book was in his perspective, I'd love it a lot more. (Because I don't love Nix. More on that later.)
  • Blake had his moments too. He was shy but sweet. His ideals, though, were a bit of a sour point for me. If I had to choose between Kash and Blake, I'd choose Kash as my best friend but Blake as my boyfriend. Why? Blake was steady. A rock. Kash would fly free, but you could fall back to Blake. Always.
  • I love fantasy. The dragons and monsters. Ah, just thinking about it makes me happy. And a time traveling pirate ship? Score! While I loved the idea, the actuality was less than lacking. There wasn't a lot of time traveling. Which stinks. I was looking for an adventure. Not a we'll-stay-here-for-the-rest-of-the-book. I don't even know what that is. But I'll still give the idea brownie points for creativity.

Dislikes:


  • The plot was kinda dull. I wanted something with more action. I mean...a time traveling pirate ship and no trouble? Impossible. I wanted swashbucklers on swashbucklers. Not boring heists. (And they were very boring. Nix doesn't get to do anything fun.) I wanted more time travel. Where was the time travel? Moreeee please!
  • Nix was smart. I'll give her that. And very resourceful. But other than that...not very amazing. I didn't love her relationship with Slate. She didn't understand. He loved Lin. And he wanted nothing more than to return to her. What would you do as Slate? Have a broken heart forever? How about no? So I sorta agreed with Slate. (But he wasn't a saint either. He did do some bad things.) I found Nix was too whiny for my tastes. She was just a mopey, teenage girl. Not my favorite type of protagonist. But Kash would be fantastic as a protagonist. Just switch their roles and life would be better.

0