[Livro] Dragon Redeemer, de Amy Bearce

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Título em Português: --
Série: World of Aluvia #3
Autor(a): Amy Bearce
Editora: Curiosity Quills Press
Páginas: 220
Data de Publicação: 23 de Maio de 2017

Sinopse:

Four years have passed since a fairy swarm released the voice of prophecy in Nell Brennan. In that painful moment, a skilled warrior became a reluctant leader and defender of Aluvia’s magic. Now a new enemy threatens their still-fragile lands, one Nell feels powerless to stop even with help from the voice within her. A mysterious dark alchemist from the Ice-Locked Lands is rising to power on the strength of his sword arm and an ice-breathing dragon obedient to his command. He promises unlimited magic to his followers and death to those who defy him. If he takes over the ports, his corrupt elixirs will disrupt the delicate balance of peace between Aluvia's people and all magical creatures. The voice of prophecy sends Nell and her friends to their enemy’s treacherous domain to find a sword of legend. Only the sword’s magic can prevent a return to a world of dying fairies and caged merfolk. But Nell’s up against the toughest foe she’s ever faced. In order to defeat him, she must master the unimaginable power of the sword―and the unwanted magic inside herself.

~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da editora Curiosity Quills. Obrigada! ~

Opinião:
Este é o terceiro e último livro da série World of Aluvia. O primeiro era sobre Sierra, o segundo sobre Phoebe e o terceiro é sobre Nell, ainda que todos eles tenham personagens tão importantes como estas heroínas.

Nell é uma guerreira e sente que a sua vida está um pouco fora do seu controle desde que (no primeiro livro) foi picada por fadas e uma magia no seu interior foi desperta, tornando-a uma profetisa pela salvação de Aluvia. Apesar de perceber a importância desta função e o quanto a sua vida melhorou, Nell sente falta de...não é bem de lutar, mas de ter uma espada na mão, por assim dizer. E Corbin, o seu apaixonado e fairy keeper, não percebe esta ânsia de algo mais.

Quando Aluvia se vê confrontada com um novo vilão que quer roubar a magia e fazer com que todas as criaturas mágicas lhes obedeçam, Nell, Corbin, Sierra, Micah, Phoebe e Tristan vêem-se numa nova missão por terras de gelo.

Nell é assombrada por magia negra que puxa pelas suas piores características e tem de lutar não só uma batalha física por ela e pelos seus amigos, mas também uma batalha emocional por quem ela verdadeiramente é e pelo quanto evolui desde que a conhecemos no primeiro livro.

Não querendo de todo estragar o enredo para quem queira ler o livro, direi apenas que a magia continua o tema frequente, com relações interpessoais a passarem por vários testes. Tive pena que praticamente só a Nell (e o Corbin) tivessem mais importância aqui, porque apesar de ser o livro deles, foi quase como se o resto do grupo não fizesse ali falta, o que não senti nos outros livros. É verdade que há momentos que a magia de Micah e Tristan é imprescindível mas...não é tanto a magia deles (indivíduos) mas a magia da terra e do mar, que poderia ser manuseada por outras personagens (se estas tivessem sido criadas, claro). Sierra ainda foi a que para mim esteve menos presente, o que foi uma pena. Gostava de ter visto mais interacção entre o grupo e não só a Nell e o Corbin e a Nell e o Dragão (o homem que quer roubar a magia de Aluvia).

Gostei de ler a luta interior de Nell e como a voz que fez dela uma profetisa se manifestou ao longo do livro, e gostei principalmente do final, com uma história de redenção e evolução. Foi um bom final para esta série, apesar de ter falhado nalguns pontos.

Title: Dragon Redeemer
Serie: World of Aluvia #3
Author: Amy Bearce
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Pages: 220
Publication date: May 23rd 2017

Synopsis:

Four years have passed since a fairy swarm released the voice of prophecy in Nell Brennan. In that painful moment, a skilled warrior became a reluctant leader and defender of Aluvia’s magic. Now a new enemy threatens their still-fragile lands, one Nell feels powerless to stop even with help from the voice within her. A mysterious dark alchemist from the Ice-Locked Lands is rising to power on the strength of his sword arm and an ice-breathing dragon obedient to his command. He promises unlimited magic to his followers and death to those who defy him. If he takes over the ports, his corrupt elixirs will disrupt the delicate balance of peace between Aluvia's people and all magical creatures. The voice of prophecy sends Nell and her friends to their enemy’s treacherous domain to find a sword of legend. Only the sword’s magic can prevent a return to a world of dying fairies and caged merfolk. But Nell’s up against the toughest foe she’s ever faced. In order to defeat him, she must master the unimaginable power of the sword―and the unwanted magic inside herself.

~ We received an eARC from the publisher Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~

Review:
This is third and final book of the series World of Aluvia. The first one was about Sierra, the second one about Phoebe and the third one is about Nell, although all of them had characters almost has important as these main female characters.

Nell is a warrior and she feels that her life is a bit out her control, since (in the first book) she was stung by fairies, survived and awakened the magic inside her, which made her a prophetess who spoke for Aluvia’s salvation. Although she understood the importance of her mission, and how much her life had improved with it, Nell misses… not really fighting, but the feel of having a sword in her hand, so to speak. And Corbin, her love and fairy keeper, doesn’t understand her hunger for something more than just being a prophetess and a healer.

When Aluvia finds itself confronted with a new villain than wants to steal magic from magic beings and make them all obey him (in his mind giving the power to humans – meaning him), Nell, Corbin, Sierra, Micah, Phoebe and Tristan find themselves in a new mission through iced lands.

Nell is haunted by dark magic that pulls to the surface her worst traits and she has to fight not only a physical battle, but an emotional one as well – not just for who she really is, but for her friends too. I really liked seeing how much she had evolved since the first book.

I don’t want to spoil the plot for those of you who might want to read this book, so I’ll just say that magic is still the main theme, with interpersonal relationships going through several tests. I was a bit sad that most of the book is just Nell (and Corbin), and I missed the rest of the group – they were there, but it was almost like they weren’t missed or needed, which I didn’t feel in the previous books. It’s true that are moments when Micah and Tristan’s magic is indispensable, but it’s not really their magic (as individuals) but Earth and Water magic, which could have been used by other characters (had they been created, of course). Sierra was probably the least important and present character for me, which was a shame. I wanted to see some bonding time between these enemy-to-friends girls, and maybe have Sierra support Nell a bit more. I wish there had been more interaction between the whole group of friends and not just Nell and Corbin, and Nell and the Dragon (the villain, the man that wants to steal Aluvia’s magic).

I liked Reading about Nell’s interior fight and how the voice that made her a prophetess manifested itself throughout the book and I enjoyed the ending particularly, which included a story of redemption and evolution. It was a good ending for this series although it missed some crucial points.

• Fairy Keeper , by Amy Bearce (World of Aluvia #1) (Joana)
• Mer-charmer, by Amy Bearce (World of Aluvia #2) (Joana)

SOBRE A AUTORA/ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amy writes stories for tweens and teens. She is a former reading teacher with a Masters in Library Science. As an Army kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they’re raising two daughters and are currently living in Germany, though they still call Texas home. A perfect day for Amy involves rain pattering on the windows, popcorn, and every member of her family curled up in one cosy room reading a good book.

Find Amy Bearce Online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

[Livro] Alice Takes Back Wonderland, de David D. Hammons

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Título em Português: --
Série: --
Autor(a): David D. Hammons
Editora: Curiosity Quills Press
Páginas: 283
Data de Publicação: 28 Setembro 2015

Sinopse:

After ten years of being told she can't tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she's going crazy.

Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real.

But all is not well in Wonderland.

The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful.

But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?

Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows.

Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.

With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland.

~ Recebemos este eARC através da Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~

Opinião:
Antes de mais nada quero agradecer à Curiosity Quills por me ter cedido Alice Takes Back Wonderland para leitura. Qualquer coisa relacionada com Wonderland e eu estou pronta para agarrar com unhas e dentes.

Muito sinceramente não sei o que estava à espera deste livro. O início foi algo enfadonho e, confesso, continuei a ler porque era um eARC do qual teria que escrever uma crítica. Mas ainda bem que o fiz porque melhora substancialmente. Não fazia ideia que Alice Takes Bacl Wonderland seria uma mistura de tantos contos de fadas (só para referir alguns: Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Branca de Neve… entre muitos outros, mas também mitologias como a Grega e Viking.) e acho que essa foi uma das partes que mais gostei do livro. Há crossovers entre os vários contos, havendo mesmo sobreposição de personagens – que não vou revelar para não deixar passar nenhum spoiler.

Apesar de o livro melhorar mais ou menos a meio, o livro soube-me a pouco. Não senti aquele nonsense e maravilhoso de Wonderland. Fiquei um tanto ao quanto desiludida, ainda que tenha sido uma leitura minimamente decente, pois não tiro o mérito ao autor, uma vez que é, de facto, um livro bem escrito. Só que para mim falta qualquer coisa que para um livro relacionado com Wonderland tem que ser.

Title: Alice Takes Back Wonderland
Serie: --
Author: David D. Hammons
Publisher: TEXTO
Pages: 283
Publication Date: Semptember 28th, 2015

Synopsis:

After ten years of being told she can't tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she's going crazy.

Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real.

But all is not well in Wonderland.

The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful.

But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?

Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows.

Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.

With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland.

~ This digital arc was sent by Curiosity Quills in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ~

Review:
First of all, I want to thank to Curiosity Quills for sending me Alice Takes Back Wonderland so I could read it. I’m always ready to read anything related to Wonderland.

To be honest, I don’t know what I was expecting from this book. The beginning was boring, and I must confess, I only continued with my reading because it was an eARC sent to me so I could review it. But I’m glad I did it, because it got a lot better. I didn’t know Alice Takes Back Wonderland was suppose to mix so many different fairy tales (just to name a few: Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White… and so many others, but also mythologies as Greek and Viking), and I think it was the best part of the book, in my opinion. There are crossovers between fairy tales, and some characters even overlap – I will not reveal any of them, so I avoid spill spoilers.

Although this book gets better halfway through it, it's a bit unsatisfactory. I didn’t feel the nonsense and wonder usually associated to Wonderland. I felt disappointed, even though it was a half decent reading. It was actually well written, the author did a good job. But for me, there is missing something really important for a book related to Wonderland.

[Livro] Rasputin's Supernatural Dating Service, de David D. Hammons

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Título em Português: --
Série: --
Autor(a): David D. Hammons
Editora: Curiosity Quills Press
Páginas: 265
Data de Publicação: 10 de Janeiro 2017

Sinopse:

Monsters, ghosts, dead, undead, and Frankensteins still unsure if they’re depressed because they’re abominations against existence or if it’s just been forever since they’ve been laid, all can find love with Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service! Eli Kowalski has seen his share of freaks as a Certifier for Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service. It’s his job to weed out the real monsters from the weirdos with too much black lipstick. While on a routine certification, he comes across the Tablet of Nicaea. A powerful witch and self-proclaimed “Men’s Rights Activist” wants to steal the tablet and use it to kill all supernatural creatures so that “nice guys” like him can have a better chance with women. Eli must unite with the supernatural policing agency, the witch’s ex-girlfriend, and the constantly-naked Rasputin to save supernatural creatures in the name of love. He’ll probably excuse himself from Rasputin’s victory orgy, though.
Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service casts a humorous, silly light on romance in the paranormal community. Fans of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens and Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job will find similarities in the book’s comedic treatment of the supernatural.

~ Este livro foi cedido pela Curiosity Quills Press. Obrigada! ~

Opinião:
Confesso que o que me chamou a atenção neste livro foi mesmo o título. Digam lá que Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service não é apelativo? A questão é que não li a sinopse quando pedi este livro à Curiosity Quills, e fiquei surpreendida com o enredo, uma vez que estava à espera de algo diferente. O quê exactamente, não sei.

Apesar da surpresa, o livro tornou-se numa leitura bastante agradável. Março não foi um mês favorável para mim, mas esta leitura tornou-o bem mais divertido e interessante. Em Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service temos como personagem principal Eli Kowalski, um samoano que trabalha como certificador para Rasputin, um velho místico russo cujo principal objectivo é espalhar o amor por todas as criaturas, monstros e seres mágicos. O que Eli faz é certificar os monstros, fantasmas, não-vivos, etc e evitar que humanos passados da cabeça entrem no website RSDS e ponham em perigo estes seres. Numa destas certificações é lhe entregue a Tábua de Nicaea por um vampiro. Esta Tábua é capaz de matar todos os seres supernaturais; e é aqui que a trama se adensa e Eli conhece Meri, uma bruxa que o ajuda a identificar a Tábua.

Este livro é extremamente divertido, começando pelo próprio Rasputin que, para ele, a vida é resolvida com amor e sexo, daí ter criado este dating service. Surge, então, um bruxo frustrado que quer a Tábua de Nicaea para destruir todos os seres sobrenaturais, pois acha que assim as raparigas/mulheres começarão a dar mais atenção a “tipos como ele”, ou seja, os tipos porreiros que as mulheres deixam sempre pelo bad boy. Resumidamente, Maxwell é daqueles que fica lixado com o não de uma mulher; daqueles que acham que só porque são simpáticos para uma mulher, ela tem que ficar com ele e não aceitam ser amigos, ou seja, a temível friendzone, que só é má para os homens, pois nunca vi nenhuma mulher a queixar-se da friendzone. Meri e Maxwell foram um casal por breves instantes e ele nunca superou essa situação e achou que a culpa era dos seres sobrenaturais e, por essa razão, a forma de ele arranjar namorada (e, desculpem-me a expressão, uma queca) era destruindo os sobrenaturais.

A forma como o enredo se vai desenvolvendo, as peripécias por que passam Eli e Meri atrás deste bruxo maluco é o que torna o livro tão engraçado. Não é um livro extraordinário, com um enredo super originial, mas é giro e divertido. E este é o grande objectivo, e ponto positivo, do livro. Maxwell irritou-me desde o primeiro momento em que surgiu, e parte de mim queria espetar-lhe dois tabefes nas trombas, mas Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service foi dos livros ligeiros mais divertidos que li recentemente.

Title: Rasputin's Supernatural Dating Service
Serie: --
Author: David D. Hammons
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Pages: 265
Publication Date: January 10th 2017

Synopsis:

Monsters, ghosts, dead, undead, and Frankensteins still unsure if they’re depressed because they’re abominations against existence or if it’s just been forever since they’ve been laid, all can find love with Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service! Eli Kowalski has seen his share of freaks as a Certifier for Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service. It’s his job to weed out the real monsters from the weirdos with too much black lipstick. While on a routine certification, he comes across the Tablet of Nicaea. A powerful witch and self-proclaimed “Men’s Rights Activist” wants to steal the tablet and use it to kill all supernatural creatures so that “nice guys” like him can have a better chance with women. Eli must unite with the supernatural policing agency, the witch’s ex-girlfriend, and the constantly-naked Rasputin to save supernatural creatures in the name of love. He’ll probably excuse himself from Rasputin’s victory orgy, though.
Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service casts a humorous, silly light on romance in the paranormal community. Fans of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens and Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job will find similarities in the book’s comedic treatment of the supernatural.

~ This digital arc was sent by Curiosity Quills Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ~

Review:
I must confess that it was the title of this book that caught my attention. Please, tell me if Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service is not appealing? The thing is I asked Curiosity Quills for this book without reading the synopsis, and I was really surprised by its plot, since I was expecting something different. What exactly, I don’t know.

Despite the surprise, this book turned out to be a really enjoyable reading. March was not a good month for me, but this book made it more interesting and fun. We have Eli Kowalski as main character of Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service. He’s a Samoan who works as certifier for Rasputin, an old Russian mystic whose main goal in life is to spread love to all magical creatures, monsters, undead, etc. What Eli does is certify these creatures, and keeps crazy humans at bay from the RSDS website, to avoid putting these supernatural creatures in danger. In one of these certifications, a vampire gives to Eli the Tablet of Nicaea. This tablet has the power to kill every supernatural creature on the planet. That’s when the plot thickens, and Eli meets Meri, a witch who helps him identify the Tablet.

This book is extremely funny, beginning with Rasputin himself, to whom life can be solved only with love and sex, which is the reason why he created this dating service. And then a frustrated male witch shows up and wants the Tablet to destroy all the supernatural creatures. He thinks this way girls/women will pay attention to guys like him, as in “the nice guys” who are left behind by the women who always go for the bad boy. Summing up, Maxwell is one of those frustrated men who believe that since they were nice to a woman, she must love him immediately; he doesn’t know how to take a no from a woman. Friendzone, this terrible thing that only bothers men – since I never heard of a woman complaining about being friendzoned –, is the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Meri and Maxwell were briefly a couple, but he can’t get over it, and thought it was the supernatural creature’s fault. The only way we could get a girlfriend (and pardon me for using this expression – get laid) was to kill all the supernatural beings.

The way the plot develops, and what Eli and Meri go through while chasing this crazy witch is what makes this book so funny. It’s not an extraordinary book with a super original plot, but it’s a fun read. Which is the main goal of this book, and its major positive aspect. Maxwell annoyed me since the first time he showed up, and I wanted to slap him in the face, but Rasputin’s Supernatural Dating Service was one of the funniest light book I’ve read recently.

[Livro] Escape From Witchwood Hollow, de Jordan Elizabeth Mierek

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Título em Português: --
Série: --
Autor(a): Jordan Elizabeth Mierek
Editora: Curiosity Quills Press
Páginas: 178
Data de Publicação: 29 de Outubro de 2014

Sinopse:

Everyone in Arnn - a small farming town with more legends than residents - knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees.

After losing her parents in a horrific terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria and her older brother escape New York City to Arnn. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope, when she should be afraid.

Perhaps the witch can reunite her with her lost parents. Awakening the witch, however, brings more than salvation from mourning, for Honoria discovers a past of missing children and broken promises.

To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness.

How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?

~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da autora. Thank you! ~

Opinião:
Escape from Witchwood Hollow foi-me enviado pela autora para que eu pudesse ler e escrever uma crítica honesta. E ainda bem, porque de outra forma não saberia da existência deste livro.

Este livro tem uma composição interessante, porque nós seguimos a estória de três raparigas diferentes de períodos diferentes no tempo (1600’s, 1800’s e 2000’s), e elas estão todas relacionadas. É um livro bem escrito e bem organizado, pois nunca nos perdemos no plot, mas eu senti que poderia ter sido melhor. No final do livro, este não me prendeu às suas palavras; eu não senti nada. E para ser honesta, gostaria de ter lido mais sobre a bruxa, de a conhecer melhor, porque eu acho que nunca a compreendemos verdadeiramente e não sabemos muitos sobre ela, excepto alguns detalhes.

Eu não gostei da Honoria. Bem, eu também não desgostei dela, simplesmente não consegui relacionar-me com ela. Eu não sei dizer o porquê, apenas não consegui; foi algo que senti, ou melhor, que não senti, para ser mais concreta. Nós temos várias personagens, mas eu acho que nenhuma delas é mais do que os pequenos pormenores que vamos lendo sobre elas. Não são profundas. E isso é basicamente o que eu senti com este livro. Eu terminei o livro no inicio do mês e pouco mais consigo escrever sobre ele, porque ele não agarrou.

Eu gostei de o ler, foi prazeroso e está bem escrito, mas não é um livro que fique connosco depois de o fecharmos.

Title: Escape From Witchwood Hollow
Serie: --
Author: Jordan Elizabeth Mierek
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Pages: 178
Publication Date: 29th Octorber 2014

Synopsis:

Everyone in Arnn - a small farming town with more legends than residents - knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees.

After losing her parents in a horrific terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria and her older brother escape New York City to Arnn. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope, when she should be afraid.

Perhaps the witch can reunite her with her lost parents. Awakening the witch, however, brings more than salvation from mourning, for Honoria discovers a past of missing children and broken promises.

To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness.

How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?

~ We received this eARC directly from the author. Thank you! ~

Review:
Escape from Witchwood Hollow was sent to me not by the author, but by someone in her behalf so I would read it and write an honest review. And thank goodness, because otherwise I would not know the existence of this book.

This book has an interesting composition, because we follow the story of three different girls from different periods in time (1600’s, 1800’s and 2000’s), and they are all connected. It’s well written and well organized, we are never lost in the plot, but I felt it could be better. At the end of the book, it didn’t hook me to its words; I didn’t feel anything. And to be honest, I would love to read more about the witch, to know her better, because I think we never fully understand her and we don’t know much about her past and life story besides a few details.

I didn’t like Honoria. Well, I didn’t dislike her either, but I couldn’t connect to her. I can’t say why, but just didn’t; it was something that I felt, or didn’t feel to be more accurate. We have a bunch of characters, but I think none them is more than just a few details we read about them. They are not deep. And that’s pretty much what I felt about the book. I finished it at the beginning of the month and I can’t say much about it, because it didn’t stay with me.

I enjoyed it while reading, it was pleasant and well written, but it’s not a book that stays with us.

[Livro] Mer-Charmer, de Amy Bearce

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Título em Português: --
Série: World of Aluvia #2
Autor(a): Amy Bearce
Editora: Curiosity Quills Press
Páginas: 219
Data de Publicação: 9 de Maio de 2016

Sinopse:

Fourteen-year-old Phoebe Quinn is surrounded by magic, but she can’t muster any of her own. Her sister is a fairy keeper. Her best friends are merfolk. And all she does is dishes and housework. When Phoebe finds out a terrible sea creature is awakening that preys upon the peace-loving merfolk, she becomes determined to help them, even though it means going with Tristan and Mina to their home deep in the sea. Beneath the waves, Phoebe learns she’s more like her sister than she realized. The merfolk are drawn to her, and she can sense the magic of the sea all around her. Magic is finally at her fingertips, but that’s precisely why the stirring dark power under the waters decides it wants her most of all. Now she must not only help the peaceful merfolk escape this ancient enemy, she must master her out-of-control powers. If she fails, she will die and darkness will rise and enslave the merfolk once more. But embracing her full power could cost her the very people she loves the most.

~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da editora Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~

Opinião:
O primeiro livro desta série não foi nada de extraordinário, mas deixou-me curiosa o suficiente para querer ler o segundo – e ainda bem que o fiz, pois este foi melhor que o primeiro.

Enquanto que no primeiro livro tínhamos a história de Sierra, aqui temos a história da sua irmã mais nova, Phoebe. Esta jovem foi muito maltratada no primeiro livro, e mexia especialmente com o leitor pois ela era uma (na altura) criança, muito querida e amorosa, que não fazia mal a uma mosca. Agora, e com a ajuda da sua irmã e dos jovens Tristan e de Mina, a irmã deste, Phoebe aprendeu a lidar melhor com o mundo e tornou-se muito próxima de Tristan e Mina, duas sereias (um tritão e uma sereia talvez mais politicamente correcto?).

Tristan tinha-a salvo no livro anterior e um romance começa a desenvolver-se (tardiamente) entre estas duas personagens. Enquanto que Sierra tinha magia (a sua ligação com as fadas – que é explorada no primeiro livro), Phoebe sempre se sentiu um pouco à parte da família e dos amigos, pois não tinha qualquer forma de magia – ou assim se pensava.

Se leram o primeiro livro, sabem que o namorado de Sierra, o fauno Micah, consegue sentir fragâncias que distinguem pessoas com capacidades mágicas. Neste livro aprendemos que, quando conheceu Phoebe, Micah sentiu um breve cheiro a mar, mas tinha-o relacionado apenas com a magia temporária que os amigos da jovem partilhavam com ela durante os breves instantes que lhe permitiam respirar debaixo de água. Depois de circunstâncias extraordinárias que não irei desenvolver (se não conto a história toda), percebemos que Phoebe sempre tem alguma magia ligada aos oceanos.

Todo o livro revolve à volta do problema que o povo do mar tem – os seus poderes diminuem e há a possibilidade de um antigo monstro estar a voltar à vida depois da libertação de poder e energia que Sierra e as fadas causaram no primeiro livro. Ora, isto parece confuso, não é? Se houve uma libertação de energia e o monstro dos mares a consegue captar, porque não o povo do mar? Pois estes foram perdendo a sua capacidade de absorver e aproveitar a magia que lhes pertencia depois de serem escravos dos humanos durante dezenas de anos.

Phoebe, com a sua magia agora descoberta e outras peripécias, decide ajudar Tristan e o seu povo, pois quer corrigir o mal que o ser humano lhes fez e quer, acima de tudo, agradecer a Tristan e a Mina a sua ajuda pelo seu salvamento das mãos de um homem asqueroso. Mas o povo do mar, com razões justificadas, tem medo que Phoebe os queira enganar e escravizar, e ela quase perde a vida ao tentar prová-los errados. É aqui que toda a aventura acontece, nas profundezas do oceano, com templos destruídos e abismos escuros.

Não vou desenvolver mais o enredo do livro, mas digo apenas que a sua história e a resolução dos problemas está muito bem pensada e acaba por trazer aos leitores, se não o fim que se queria, um fim com que nos contentamos alegremente.

Enquanto que no primeiro livro fiquei um pouco de pé atrás com a escrita que me parecia demasiado juvenil, neste já não me incomodou e deixou-me a querer saber o que ia sempre acontecer no capítulo seguinte. Foi uma história cheia de aventura e um romance muito suave e querido. Ainda bem que continuei a série.

Title: Mer-Charmer
Serie: World of Alluvia #2
Author: Amy Bearce
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Pages: 219
Publication date: May 9th 2016

Synopsis:

Fourteen-year-old Phoebe Quinn is surrounded by magic, but she can’t muster any of her own. Her sister is a fairy keeper. Her best friends are merfolk. And all she does is dishes and housework. When Phoebe finds out a terrible sea creature is awakening that preys upon the peace-loving merfolk, she becomes determined to help them, even though it means going with Tristan and Mina to their home deep in the sea. Beneath the waves, Phoebe learns she’s more like her sister than she realized. The merfolk are drawn to her, and she can sense the magic of the sea all around her. Magic is finally at her fingertips, but that’s precisely why the stirring dark power under the waters decides it wants her most of all. Now she must not only help the peaceful merfolk escape this ancient enemy, she must master her out-of-control powers. If she fails, she will die and darkness will rise and enslave the merfolk once more. But embracing her full power could cost her the very people she loves the most.

~ We received a digital arc from the publisher Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~

Review:
The first book of this series wasn’t extraordinary, but it left me wanting to know what would happen in the second book. And I’m glad I did read it, because this book was better than the first one.

In the first book, we were told the story of Sierra, and in this one we have the story of her younger sister, Phoebe. This young lady was very badly treated in the first book, and it made the reader feel protective towards her, because she was a very sweet and loving child, that didn’t hurt a fly. Now, a bit older, with the help of her sister and the young merfolk Tristan and Mina (Tristan’s sister), Phoebe learns how to deal with what happened to her and becomes quite attached to the merman and the mermaid.

Tristan had saved her in the last book, and in this one a romance begins between these two characters. Sierra always had her magic (her connection with the fairies), which was developed in the first book and Phoebe always felt a bit left out, from her family and friends, because she didn’t have any magic –or so everyone thought.

If you read the first book, you know that Sierra’s boyfriend, the faun Micah, can smell certain fragrances that distinguish people with magical abilities. In this book, we learn that when he met Phoebe, Micah smelled the sea in her, but it was so subtle he thought it was related with the “borrowed” magic her merfolk friends would give her to allow her to breathe underwater. Something happens and we realize that Phoebe really does have magic connected to the sea and the ocean.

The whole book revolves around the Merfolk’s problem – their powers are diminishing and there’s a possibility that an ancient monster may be coming back to life, after the release of energy/magic/power that Sierra and the fairies caused in the first book. Now, this sounds a bit confusing, right? If there was a release of magical energy, then why can’t the merfolk use it? Well, they lost their ability to channel, absorb and enjoy their magic, after being enslaved by humans for many decades.

Phoebe, with her newly discovered magic and some other adventures, decides to help Tristan and his people, to correct the wrongs mankind had done to them and, above all, to thank Tristan and Mina for saving her from a disgusting man. But the merfolk, with good reason, don’t trust her and they’re afraid that she’ll try to enslave them again, and Phoebe almost loses her life trying to prove them wrong. It’s at this point in the book that all the major adventures happen, so I won’t develop it much more. It’s an adventure full of magic, ancient temples and dark abysses.

The story and the resolution that the author presents the reader with may not be the one we ideally wanted, but it’s a very clever way of solving everything, with an ending that will please most readers.

Although in the first book I wasn’t quite pleased with the writing that seemed a bit youngish, in this one that didn’t bother me and I was always anxious about reading the next chapter. It was a story full of adventure and with a very sweet and innocent romance. I’m glad I read it.

SOBRE A AUTORA/ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amy writes stories for tweens and teens. She is a former reading teacher with a Masters in Library Science. As an Army kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they’re raising two daughters and are currently living in Germany, though they still call Texas home. A perfect day for Amy involves rain pattering on the windows, popcorn, and every member of her family curled up in one cozy room reading a good book.

Find Amy Bearce Online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

[Livro] Artificial, de Jadah McCoy

Ler em Português Read in English

Título em Português: --
Série: The Kepler Chronicles #1
Autor(a): Jadah McCoy
Editora: Curiosity Quills
Páginas: 226
Data de Lançamento: 04 de Abril de 2016

Sinopse:

She struggles to feel human.

In 2256, the only remnants of civilization on Earth’s first colonized planet, Kepler, are the plant-covered buildings and the nocturnal, genetically spliced bug-people nesting within them: the Cull. During the day, Syl leaves her home in the sewers beneath Elite City to scavenge for food, but at night the Cull come looking for a meal of their own. Syl thought gene splicing died with the Android War a century ago. She thought the bugs could be exterminated, Elite city rebuilt, and the population replenished. She’s wrong.

Whoever engineered the Cull isn’t done playing God. Syl is abducted and tortured in horrific experiments which result in her own DNA being spliced, slowly turning her into one of the bugs. Now she must find a cure and stop the person responsible before every remaining man, woman, and child on Kepler is transformed into the abomination they fear.

He struggles not to.

For Bastion, being an android in the sex industry isn’t so bad. Clubbing beneath the streets of New Elite by day and seducing the rich by night isn’t an altogether undesirable occupation. But every day a new android cadaver appears in the slum gutters, and each caved in metal skull and heap of mangled wires whittles away at him.

Glitches—androids with empathy—are being murdered, their models discontinued and strung up as a warning. Show emotion, you die. Good thing Bastion can keep a secret, or he would be the next body lining the street.

He can almost live with hiding his emotions. That is, until a girl shows up in the slums—a human girl, who claims she was an experiment. And in New Elite, being a human is even worse than being a Glitch. Now Bastion must help the girl escape before he becomes victim to his too-human emotions, one way or another.

~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da editora Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~

Opinião:
Este é um livro bastante bom. Eu não estava à espera de gostar tanto. Bom trabalho, Jadah McCoy!

Artificial é o primeiro livro de uma estória distópica; a Terra como nós a conhecemos não existe. Humanos criaram os androids, que por sua vez evoluíram e nos ultrapassaram, criando algo para destruir-nos como uma praga. Sylvia, ou Syl, é humana e vive nos esgotos com os outros humanos – a que chamam a “cidade” de Elite. Eles caçam durante o dia, e escondem-se nos esgotos à noite, fugindo dos Cull – algo semelhante a insecto, meio-humano-meio-qualquer coisa estranha, criada pelos androids para matarem os humanos. É uma morte horrível.

O que a Syl não sabe é que existe uma outra cidade – chamada de New Elite – onde os androids vivem “pacatamente”. Se um android tem sentimentos é chamado de Glitche, e supostamente devem ser destruídos, tal como qualquer simpatizante dos humanos. Syl é capturada e levada para New Elite, onde lhe fazem várias experiencias. Ela não sabe o que lhe fizeram e precisa de ajuda. A única coisa que sabe é que não pode voltar para Elite e viver com os outros humanos, porque ela pode se tornar num desses Cull e matar toda a gente. Em New Elite, ela conhece B4st10n – ou Bastion – um Glitche.

Eu não vou avançar mais em relação ao plot. Terão que o ler e se sentirem envoltos nesta estória fantástica. É bastante cativante, e faz-nos querer continuar a ler e descobrir o que mais irá acontecer a Syl, e se ela será capaz de resolver as coisas. Eu quero muiiiiito continuar a seguir esta estória!

Title: Artificial
Serie: The Kepler Chronicles #1
Author: Jadah McCoy
Publisher: Curiosity Quills
Pages: 226
Publication Date: 4th April 2016

Synopsis:

She struggles to feel human.

In 2256, the only remnants of civilization on Earth’s first colonized planet, Kepler, are the plant-covered buildings and the nocturnal, genetically spliced bug-people nesting within them: the Cull. During the day, Syl leaves her home in the sewers beneath Elite City to scavenge for food, but at night the Cull come looking for a meal of their own. Syl thought gene splicing died with the Android War a century ago. She thought the bugs could be exterminated, Elite city rebuilt, and the population replenished. She’s wrong.

Whoever engineered the Cull isn’t done playing God. Syl is abducted and tortured in horrific experiments which result in her own DNA being spliced, slowly turning her into one of the bugs. Now she must find a cure and stop the person responsible before every remaining man, woman, and child on Kepler is transformed into the abomination they fear.

He struggles not to.

For Bastion, being an android in the sex industry isn’t so bad. Clubbing beneath the streets of New Elite by day and seducing the rich by night isn’t an altogether undesirable occupation. But every day a new android cadaver appears in the slum gutters, and each caved in metal skull and heap of mangled wires whittles away at him.

Glitches—androids with empathy—are being murdered, their models discontinued and strung up as a warning. Show emotion, you die. Good thing Bastion can keep a secret, or he would be the next body lining the street.

He can almost live with hiding his emotions. That is, until a girl shows up in the slums—a human girl, who claims she was an experiment. And in New Elite, being a human is even worse than being a Glitch. Now Bastion must help the girl escape before he becomes victim to his too-human emotions, one way or another.

~ We received a digital arc from the publisher Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~ ~

Review:
This is a really good book. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much. Good Job, Jadah McCoy!

Artificial is the first instalment of a dystopian story; Earth as we know now doesn’t exist. Humans had created android, but those androids had evolved and surpass us, creating something to destroy us like a plague. Sylvia, or Syl, is human and lives in the sewers – they call it, Elite – with the other humans. They hunt by day, and hide in the sewers by night, running away from The Cull – something kind of bug, half-human-half-something created by the android to kill humans. It’s a horrific death.

What didn’t Syl know was that there was another city – called New Elite – where the androids lived in “peace”. If an android had feeling it was called a Glitch, and was supposed to be destroyed, as any the Human-Sympathisers. Syl is captured and taken to New elite, where she’s experimented on. She doesn’t know what was done to here and she needs help. The only thing she knows is that she can’t go back to Elite, and live with the other humans, because we might turn into one of those Culls and kill everyone. In New Elite she meets B4st10n – or Bastion – a Glitch.

I’ll not say anything else about the plot. You’ll have to read it and be immerse into this awesome story. It’s a quite captivating story and you just want to keep reading to discover what else can happen to Syl, and if she’s going to make it. I’m totally in for the next books!

SOBRE A AUTORA/ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jadah currently lives in Nashville, TN and works as a legal coordinator. When not babysitting attorneys, she can be found juicing her brain for creative ideas or fantasizing about her next trip out of the country (or about Tom Hiddleston as Loki - it’s always a toss up when she fantasizes.)

She grew up in rural Arkansas, yet can still write good and sometimes even wears shoes! She did date her first cousin for a while but they decided against marriage for the sake of the gene pool. 

Her true loves are elephants, cursing, and sangria - in that order. If you find an elephant that curses like a sailor whilst drinking sangria, you’re dangerously close to becoming her next romantic victim - er, partner. 

She cut her writing teeth on badly written, hormone-driven fanfiction (be glad that’s out of her system), and her one true dream is to have wildly erotic fanfiction with dubious grammar written about her own novels. Please make her dreams come true.

Find Jadah McCoy Online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads