Book Review: Defiance (The Courier's Daughter #1)

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Author: C. J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 403 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Defiance by C. J. Redwine is rich postapocalyptic YA fantasy perfect for fans of Graceling and Tamora Pierce.

While the other girls in the walled city-state of Baalboden learn to sew and dance, Rachel Adams learns to track and hunt. While they bend like reeds to the will of their male Protectors, she uses hers for sparring practice.

When Rachel's father fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the city's brutal Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector: her father's apprentice, Logan—the boy she declared her love to and who turned her down two years before. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father's survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can't be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

    

Review:

Protagonists: Rachel and Logan are, at their core, fairly by the book protagonists for this genre. Rachel is a fierce and impulsive girl who knows how to hold her own in a fight, while Logan is her foil, he's more of a planner, who takes time to run through variables before charging in guns blazing. At first, I wasn't all that impressed with these characters, that is until I saw how these characters reacted to certain events that transpire in this book. How they react, and how their choices affect them in this story and bring about real consequences, was really interesting to see. As the story goes on these characters' flaws come out and we see them grow into well fleshed out characters with real issues and having to deal with that on top of this post-apocalyptic mess.

Romance: So, I wasn't too taken with this romance. Maybe it's that Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill has a very similar romantic premise, even though that story came out after this one, but there wasn't anything about that romance that hooked me. I mean, there is chemistry between the two characters, but their emotional connection doesn't feel developed past, they'll die for the other, and I really wish there were flashbacks, things to really drive home the connection between these two characters, also it was a tad annoying to have the male romantic lead not have feelings for our female lead, only to develop them when the plot called for it. Overall, I felt it was underdeveloped as a who and could have been fleshed out more.

World Building: Going into this book I was expecting more of a fantasy than a post-apocalyptic world. There are a couple of fantasy elements to the story, but that doesn't quite come through. It's not that there's anything wrong with post-apocalyptic books, in fact, if I read this around the time it came out I probably would have loved the story and this world but I wasn't a huge fan of the post-apocalyptic setting, that mixed with the extremely sexist city-state our characters lived in, which for the record is meant to be terrible, it just wasn't something I was prepared for, I almost threw the book because of the horrific villain in this book. On the whole, I really enjoyed the premise, but at this point, it's not exactly my cup of tea.

Predictability: Looking over this story, I don't really know if there was anything I was able to predict. I mean, I was able to see where the story was going to go more or less, though there were a few twists I didn't see coming, I had a vague idea how the plot would progress, it just sort of progressed rather slowly, so there wasn't all that much that ultimately happens in this story, I mean I feel like we didn't get to the main meat of story until over halfway through the book. As things got to the end, well there were quite a few things I did not see coming.

Ending: The final climax of this book is intense, although, I was listening to this book on audio from my local library, and I would recommend just actually reading the book because I didn't really feel the urgency in the final climax, but I know I would have if I just read the ending. Anyway, the final climax is really interesting because it's very game-changing and again I was happy to see real consequences for characters' actions, whether that's a protagonist or antagonist I'm talking about you'll just have to read and see. THe cooldown period as the dust settles seems to just wrap up this installment's story and begin setting things up for the sequel.

Rating:

I would say this is a pretty middle of the road book, I didn't hate it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea at the moment. I'm sure I'll continue with this series and maybe by then, I'll be in a more post-apocalyptic mood. Regardless, this is an interesting adventure and if you're looking for a post-apocalyptic tale with a touch of fantasy, give this book a try.

Book Review: The Traitor Prince (Ravenspire #3)

Release Date: February 13, 2018
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 416 pages
Source: Edelweiss eARC

Javan Najafai, the crown prince of Akram, has spent the last ten years at school, far away from his kingdom. He’s been eagerly awaiting his return home to his ailing father, but his journey there goes dangerously wrong. A mysterious imposter has taken his place—and no one will believe Javan is the true prince.

After barely escaping the imposter’s hitmen, Javan is thrown in the most dangerous prison in his kingdom—Maqbara. The only way to gain an audience with the king and reveal the truth is to fight his way out in the prison’s yearly tournament, which pits inmates against a coterie of the deadliest creatures in the world.

The one person who can help him is Sajda, a strong and secretive girl who has been enslaved by Maqbara’s warden since she was a child. Working with Sajda might be the only way Javan can escape alive—but she’s hiding something.

Together, Javan and Sajda will have to outwit the dangerous warden, outfight the hundreds of deadly creatures, and outlast the murderous prisoners intent on killing Javan before he can win—in order to fight for their freedom, and take down the imposter once and for all.

    

Review:

Protagonists: Javan has spent the last ten years of his life doing everything he can to be the best student at the Milisatria and fulfill his mother's dying wish that he be the best student so he can be the best King for Akram. That is until an imposter takes his place and he finds himself in Maqbara, a terrible prison where he is forced to fight in a deadly tournament to win an audience with his father and hopefully put all this treachery to rest. There he meets Sajda, the warden's slave girl hiding a broken past and a dangerous secret. As these characters try and face their own adversities, they learn to lean on each other and find themselves forming an unlikely friendship that just might lead to more. I love these characters, Javan is very honorable, almost to a fault, and strives to be the best in his classes, but there's more to learn about the world than math, history, and mythology, and Javan's predicament shows him just how corrupt his kingdom can be. Sadja is wounded and broken by her years as a slave but hasn't given up hope to somehow escape and taste freedom. I love how each of these characters grew both together and independently to figure out who they really are and what they truly want out of life.

Romance: It's really hard to talk too much about this romance without spoiling small parts of how things unfold but I'm going to do my best. There is a fair bit of romance in this story, the bond between Javan and Sajda is amazing and I loved how the author told their story. The romance doesn't affect too much of the plot until much later on in the story, and I really enjoyed a lighter romance in this book. There wasn't a lot of drama and I really felt a draw to the relationship between these characters. There's a part of the book that talks about how well Javan fits with Sajda's broken edges and it came off 100% authentic. These characters go so well together and I couldn't stop rooting for them while I was reading, not even for a second.

World-Building: While the romance might not have a lot of drama, the rest of the story certainly does. There are a great number of villains in this story, not just Rahim, the Traitor Prince himself, though Rahim is the true villain. I love how the author really amped up the villainy in this book because it really heightens the stakes and there are a good number of times where I could see no way out for our heroes and my stress levels went through the roof in the best way possible. The previous two books in this series had strong ties to the fairy tales that inspired them, and well, unfortunately, I'm not well versed in the fairy tale this story was inspired by, and because there wasn't that nostalgic tie to a childhood tale, this story didn't feel as steeped in fairy tales as the other stories did, but honestly, at the end of the day I didn't care. I just loved getting to see more of this expansive world and I was surprised at just how much more of this world we got to see. Because the arena matches also include monsters we get to see so many more creatures that roam this world and it was so fun to see more of this world's ecosystem and while we didn't get a large selection of creatures from all over, it was still an exciting every time a new round in the arena started. Finally, yes there are connections to the other books in this series, mainly The Wish Granter, and it was fantastic to see how everything in this story connects to the rest of the world.

Predictability: Even though it was fairly easy to pick up on the foreshadowing in this book, that never really affected how I experienced this story. I was never bummed if I figured out a twist early on in its development and there were quite a few times when I was genuinely shocked at a large twist to this tale. There are actually a lot of great surprises in this story that completely caught me off guard and added to the excitement of this story. I wish I had more to say here but that pretty much sums it up. The book isn't completely unpredictable, but I didn't mind and there were still a number of exciting surprises to keep me going.

Ending: The final climax of this book is EPIC, I may have used those same words to describe the endings to other books in the past, but this one stands high above all others. Throughout this entire book, I wasn't quite sure how everything was going to be resolved because in all honesty, this one of the most dastardly villains yet, and with no magic to boot! However, with how everything went down in the final climax, I'm still shaken and I loved every minute of it. There isn't too much time at the end for a nice cooldown period, but it didn't need to be, in fact, I liked how things sort of quickly wound down toward the end and how the story ended with a fantastic epilogue!

Rating:

This was no surprise to me. Even though I was a little unsure about this book because I wasn't as well versed with the inspiration for this story as I was with the previous two, this might be tied with the second book as my favorite of the series so far. It's full of action, romance, and some dark and twisted political intrigue! I loved it so much, but I'm sort of cursing myself because I need the next book right away, and now I have to wait a while!

The Traitor Prince (Ravenspire #3) by C.J. Redwine (WOW #26)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

Javan Najafai, crown prince of Akram, has spent the last ten years at an elite boarding school, far away from his kingdom. But his eagerly awaited return home is cut short when a mysterious imposter takes his place—and no one believes Javan is the true prince.

After barely escaping the imposter’s assassins, Javan is thrown into Maqbara, the kingdom’s most dangerous prison. The only way to gain an audience with the king — and reveal Javan’s identity — is to fight in Maqbara’s yearly tournament. But winning is much harder than acing competitions at school, and soon Javan finds himself beset not just by the terrifying creatures in the arena, but also a band of prisoners allied against him, and even the warden herself.

The only person who can help him is Sajda, who has been enslaved by Maqbara’s warden since she was a child, and whose guarded demeanor and powerful right hook keep the prisoners in check. Working with Sajda might be the only way Javan can escape alive — but she has dangerous secrets.

Together, Javan and Sajda have to outwit the vicious warden, outfight the deadly creatures, and outlast the murderous prisoners intent on killing Javan. If they fail, they’ll be trapped in Maqbara for good—and the secret Sajda’s been hiding will bury them both. 

The Traitor Prince releases on February 13, 2018, from Balzer + Bray

Gah! I need this book in my hands right this second. First off, the cover is PURPLE!!!! Secondly, this author has already written two fantastic standalone installments in this series and while I'm not as familiar with the story that this installment is based upon, the Arabian folktale called The False Prince, I still can't wait to see what new adventure this author will take me on next. Another thing I love is that while these books are standalone and you don't have to read the others if you do the world really starts to take shape before your eyes. This installment looks like it's full of action and a rather heated romance. I love how this author is shaping this world and I have been chomping at the bit for this book for months and now it finally has a cover and title and it's becoming so real. I'm already scouring Edelweiss every day making sure I can get my hands on it as soon as humanly possible.

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Blog Tour Guest Post: The Playlist for The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2) by C.J. Redwine

Release Date: February 14, 2017
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 432 pages

An epic fantasy inspired by the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen.


The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence that he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague, who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother...and her soul.

    

Guest Post:

Music is a huge part of my writing process. I have a playlist developed for every book I’ve written, along with playlists in development for quite a few future projects as well! Listening to the same songs in the same order works like a Pavlov’s dog syndrome for my brain. It’s an instant shortcut into the world of the story. You can visit my Spotify profile to listen to the full Wish Granter playlist, or any of my other lists. https://open.spotify.com/user/1213294486

Here are a selection of songs from THE WISH GRANTER’s playlist that are particularly meaningful to the book.

1. Distant Memories by Nox Arcana: This is the first song on the playlist, and it served to immediately ground me into the atmosphere of the story. There’s a haunting solemnity to it that conjured up the creeping fear that began to take over the kingdom of Sundraille as Alistair Teague took control.     

2. Snuff by Slipknot: This is the song I listened to when I needed to get into Sebastian’s head. He was terribly abused by his father, and he wants nothing more than to escape the city of Kosim Thalas, live in solitude, and never become the man his father is. While the second verse doesn’t apply to his situation, the overall atmosphere of the song is perfect.

3. This Night by Black Lab: Another song for Sebastian. This one was perfect for figuring out who he was becoming as his friendship with Ari developed, and as he decided that getting involved with the terrifying danger he’d been hoping to run from was worth it if it meant he could save her.

4. Centuries by Fall Out Boy: This is the song that I listened to as I wrote Teague’s scenes. He’s a dangerous immortal fae, and he’s been alive for centuries, so there’s that correlation. But more importantly, he is determined to be untouchable, all-powerful, and remembered for ages as the most ruthless creature to ever draw breath.

5. I Dare You by Shinedown: This is the song I listened to for Ari. She’s so forthright, so confident, and so unflinching when it comes to doing the right thing. And she’s the kind of girl who will rise to the occasion, no matter what it costs her.

6. Follow You Down by Shinedown: Romance! This is the song for Ari’s and Sebastian’s sweet, slow-moving romance, and it epitomizes the fierce loyalty that is the heart of their relationship.

About the Author:

C.J. Redwine loves fairy tales, Harry Potter, and Sherlock. She is the author of the Defiance trilogy, a post-apocalyptic fantasy from Balzer + Bray. C.J. lives in Nashville with her husband and children. If the novel writing gig ever falls through, she’ll join the Avengers and wear a cape to work every day. To learn more about C.J., visit her website at www.cjredwine.com Where you can find C.J.:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest |Goodreads

Giveaway:

1 winner will receive a signed paperback of THE SHADOW QUEEN and a signed Hardback of THE WISH GRANTER, US Only.

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Book Review: The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2)

Release Date: February 14, 2017
Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 432 pages
Source: eGalley via Edelweiss

An epic, romantic, and action-packed fantasy inspired by the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from C. J. Redwine, the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen. Perfect for fans of Graceling and the Lunar Chronicles.

The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown.

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself.

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother…and her soul.

    

Review:

Characters: The way this story starts out is interesting. At first, we get a glimpse into the mind of our main villain, Alistair Teague. We see him approach young Theo Glavan, in his most desperate of moments and we see how he gets Theo to agree to the terms that he sets, it's all very compelling. (Especially of you imagine being read in a sinister voice, not just Teague's dialogue, but the exposition as well) We see Teague as this jaded fae, untrusting of humans, believing them to all be selfish at heart. It's a prologue that draws you into this story and more specifically into a curiosity of who Teague was in the past and what happened to make him so cruel and power hungry. Then the actual story starts. We meet Ari, now officially a princess of Súndraille, yet defying nearly every convention of what a princess should be. She's not demure, she will eat what she wants when she wants, and if you get on her bad side, heaven help you. Through the story, we discover just how far she'll go to protect those she cares about and just how much strength she has to see her friends, her family, and her country safe from Teague. Then there's Sebastian. Sebastian is that type of broken character that you just want to hug and reassure that everything will be alright. He has a surprising connection to Teague's criminal empire, though despises the fae and everything he stands for. His journey is much more internal. Like I said he's a bit broken, he suffers from PTSD due to an abusive childhood and has anxiety issues that resonated very strongly with me. I love how Redwine writes such in-depth characters and even gives you a glimpse into the villain to learn about and understand them as the story goes along.

Romance: Since Ari grew up a bastard princess she was never treated as a member of the nobility, because of that she treats everyone the way they deserve to be treated, not the way others of her now higher station treat them. After searching out Sebastian, her brother's new weapons master, in hopes he can help her with her brother's Wish Granter problem, they form an unlikely friendship, mainly due to Ari's relentless pursuit of a friendship with the young weapons master. As they grow closer as friends, it's obvious there's something more there. The romance unfolds at a great even pace. The characters fit so well together, and I never felt like the author was forcing things to go too fast or running toward an end goal with them, but rather chronicling their romance as it would naturally happen. This, of course, led me to root for the couple through all their trials and tribulations, mostly external as there actually wasn't a lot of romantic drama between the two, and made me feel that it's almost serendipitous that this book comes out of Valentine's Day.

World Building: After reading The Shadow Queen, I was itching to get back into this world, and while we only have one little cameo from previously seen characters, I ended up loving this book more than the first. In this book we visit the kingdom of Súndraille and follow a story inspired by the classic fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, I say inspired by and not based off of or a retelling of because while it does involve a wish granting fae entrapping someone into a deal that's nearly impossible to break, this wasn't a retelling. It's its own story that merely shares similar themes to the fairy tale. I wasn't bothered that this wasn't really a retelling as the story is so compelling I couldn't put it down. In this book, we learn more about the fae who reside in Llorenyae and each bit of info we get makes me more and more excited for a possible book taking place in that kingdom. It follows pretty standard fae lore, Winter and Summer Kingdoms, magical folk, etc. all of which is so enthralling. We do see a bit of another fairy tale in this one, I won't say how, but I was sort of giddy, for no real reason, when it's brought up, but it just speaks to this incredible fairy-tale inspired world the author has created.

Predictability: Since the last tale in this companion novel trilogy followed out heroes as they traversed across the kingdom of Ravenspire, I was interested to see if our new heroes would also set out of a kingdom trekking journey, however, it became obvious very early on that this story all takes place inside of the capital city of Súndraille. Because of that, the pacing of the book is a bit different, focusing more on the knowledge needed to defeat their enemy than the magical strength required to oppose them. As the story moves on things begin to pop up, bits of information that over time begin to tie together. While there were a few twists to the story that I saw coming, due to the different pacing my guards were down and most of the time that a twist was coming up, all I really had to go on was the feeling that something was brewing, but never really being able to pinpoint what. This led to a lot of great tension filled moments that left me nearly breathless as I scanned the pages (screen?) to find out what happened next and how this twist would play into the story. It was exhilarating.

Ending: Does anybody else notice that the closer you get to the end of a book, the faster you read or is that just me? As the ending of this book commenced I was glued to the words I was reading. The final climax of this book was phenomenal as things didn't quite go the way I expected and watching our heroes face their final trials against the fae crime lord left me speechless most of the time. Since this is a standalone companion novel everything wraps up rather neatly, for better or worse, and every second I got closer to the end, the more I realized I never wanted it to end. However, I am pleased with the closure this story has, and am torn because, on the one hand, I love this story, but on the other, the wait for the next adventure in this world is going to eat away at me day by day, I just know it.

Rating:

Given the glowing review I gave this book, it should come as no surprise that I gave this book five stars. I love this book even more than the first. The world building is immaculate, the characters are enchanting, and the romance is to die for!

The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2) by C.J. Redwine (WOW #22)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

An epic, romantic, and action-packed fantasy inspired by the tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a bastard princess who must take on an evil fae to save her brother’s soul, from C. J. Redwine, the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow Queen. Perfect for fans of Graceling and the Lunar Chronicles.

The world has turned upside down for Thad and Ari Glavan, the bastard twins of Súndraille’s king. Their mother was murdered. The royal family died mysteriously. And now Thad sits on the throne of a kingdom whose streets are suddenly overrun with violence he can’t stop.

Growing up ignored by the nobility, Ari never wanted to be a proper princess. And when Thad suddenly starts training Ari to take his place, she realizes that her brother’s ascension to the throne wasn’t fate. It was the work of a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague who tricked Thad into wishing away both the safety of his people and his soul in exchange for the crown. 

So Ari recruits the help of Thad’s enigmatic new weapons master, Sebastian Vaughn, to teach her how to fight Teague. With secret ties to Teague’s criminal empire, Sebastian might just hold the key to discovering Alistair’s weaknesses, saving Ari’s brother—and herself. 

But Teague is ruthless and more than ready to destroy anyone who dares stand in his way—and now he has his sights set on the princess. And if Ari can’t outwit him, she’ll lose Sebastian, her brother…and her soul.

The Wish Granter releases on February 14, 2017, from Balzer + Bray

Gah! I can't wait to start this book! I read The Shadow Queen last year and really enjoyed it. When I first heard the title for this installment I expected an Aladdin retelling, but was happier to discover a Rumpelstiltskin retelling instead. Not that I wouldn't have like an Aladdin retelling, but a Rumpelstiltskin retelling was a really nice surprise. I like that this all appears to be contained to one kingdom, instead of spread over two like the previous one, and I'm chomping at the bit to see if there's any sort of crossover than just the fact that the two books exist in the same world.

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?