Gamila's Review

Brittany watches from behind her cello in the orchestra pit as her friend Amanda charms the crowd, star of the high school musical. Just like she charms the boys around her with her flirtatious and confident personality. Amanda seems to have a new boyfriend every week, while Brittany finds boys hardly ever pay attention to her. Instead when boys find out that Brittany is Amanda’s best friend they often try to use her to get a date with Amanda. So, when she finds out someone actually likes her, and only her. She is suspicious. Especially, since the boy is the co-star in the musical with Amanda. Then Brittany starts receiving anonymous notes threatening her friend. Amanda starts receiving the notes too, and Brittany starts to worry that her friend might be in serious danger.

I like the fact that the main character plays in the orchestra pit, because it gave Brittany something she was really good at, and gave the book an interesting angle. I think it is unique to have a character playing the cello, removed from the main action, but close enough to watch it. This situation made for a few very suspenseful scenes on stage, while Brittany tries to keep an eye out for who is making threats against Amanda. I enjoyed reading this novel, and got caught up in the story and the characters. There wasn’t really anything in the book that pulled me out of the story or bugged me. That’s high praise right there! If the story sounds interesting be sure to try it out.

Author's website: http://www.kristenlandon.com/

The King of Idris has known for years that he would send his daughter Vivenna to marry the heathen God King of Hallandren. He is convinced that war will break out between the two nations within a year. So, sending his daughter to the foreign court is a mere formality, a stalling technique. He questions using Vivenna, a wise, dutiful, pious daughter as a token when she could be a help to her people. Almost at last moment he decides to send his youngest daughter--Siri, rebellions, hot-headed, and flamboyant into the clutches of his enemy.

After being introduced into the court of Hallandren Siri discovers secrets about the God King that could put her, as well as him, in grave danger. The gods are posturing and aligning in preparation for the coming war, and Lightsong the Bold, who does not believe in his own divinity, is faced with difficult decisions. He has control over a large portion of the Kings armies, and others are tying to influence how he will manage them in the rumored conflict.

Meanwhile, Vivenna, decides it is time to manage her own fate, and makes a secret trip to Hallandren to rescue her little sister Siri from the God King.

So, I’ve been a Sanderson fan since the first Mistborn book. I totally got my husband hooked right after we got married, and The Well of Ascension came out. So we are a Sanderson fan household. My husband and I both agreed on this one. It is a good book, and a nice read but it doesn’t beat out the Mistborn series. Still, I enjoyed reading this one there is more romance, less fighting scenes, and a lot of political intrigue. I like the political intrigue, history, and economics that Sanderson puts into his books. It makes his worlds feel more real and complex. The best part is that he really knows how to center his characters in these conflicts so they can really shine. That was one thing Sanderson did really well in this book, to give all of his characters interesting internal journeys. I feel like all of the characters had to grow to overcome a conflict, which was then successfully resolved in this book, and that makes for a really satisfying read.

The only thing I really didn’t like is that when the book ends I’m not sure that the problems that existed in his world changed. When I put the book down I wasn’t sure if Hallandren and Idris were better off or worse off. I felt like the problems between them didn’t really change, or get resolved. This book felt a bit more edgy to me, but not offensively so. I could see conservative LDS readers getting mad because characters’ immodest clothing is described in detail. The court of the gods his immoral elements to it, referenced often in character dialogue. Nothing explicit in that area, and I’ve read worse, but I thought it would be nice to give a heads up. It’s annoying to get surprised by content from a book you expected to be completely clean.

Abby is just an ordinary teen at an ordinary high school. She plans on going to college in the fall, co-directs the school play, and has a cute and nice boyfriend. There is just one problem with her life—there are no surprises. She feels trapped in her ordinary plans, and in her predictable relationship with a boy she has know since before Kindergarten. Then Dante, an Italian exchange student, moves into town and joins the school play. While everyone agrees that there is something strange about him, Abby doesn’t really believe the rumors that he is dangerous, or on the run from the law. He is handsome, mysterious, and Abby is attracted to him. As she spends more time with him strange things start to happen. Will Dante tell her the truth about his past soon enough for her to protect those around her?

Alright, from the beginning of this book I got a Twilight vibes, and I was going to be mad if the big secret Dante revealed was that he was a vampire. So, I was pleased when the book went another direction entirely. So, while the book is similar to Twilight it is totally different. I also liked it a lot more than Twilight because the characters seemed a bit more realistic and honest. I really didn’t like that the author played up so much on the fact that Dante was dangerous/deadly because he wasn’t in the way you would expect. I would have preferred more of a mysterious secret/past angle. Yet, no doubt, a deadly boyfriend does lend itself to more conflict than mysterious past does. So let’s not quibble. This is a suspenseful romance with a time travelling plot that has its foundation in historic Italy. This really is an excellent book with clever twists, strong characters, and a great plot. I really would recommend.

Lisa's Website:http://www.lisamangum.com/

(Spoilers-Present-Post-Script=Gamila’s weird musings. So, I was a Latin major, and so this book should get extra points for quoting Virgil, right? But I never really liked Virgil. I always liked Ovid or Cicero better, but I thought I would share my awkward intellectual literary ponderings with you. So, you know how I like the underworld right? Go back tohere to remember. So, with Dante and Virgil obviously present and influencing the creation of this book. Can we say that the bank scenes in this book could be a sort of underworld? On the bank there is a river, which is a huge feature of many underworld geography. They have a guide system of a sort, and clear geography and etc. If I came up with a three column comparison and contrast chart and thought for a long time I could probably write a small paper that said something interesting about the connections. What would happen if we compared Abby to Dante or Aeneas? What did she learn on the bank(aka underworld) that helped her complete her Hero’s Journey? Eh? Eh? How’s that for intellectual ramblings?! I could totally write a paper, but I won’t because I don’t have too. Hurrah!!! Okay, one way this series could get awesomely cooler is if Abby actually got to time travel to Italy.)