♠ REMINISCING SUNDAY - BIRTHMARKED by Caragh M. O'Brien (Birthmarked #1): A Warrior Fairy review

In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the walled Enclave and those, like sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone, who live outside. Following in her mother's footsteps Gaia has become a midwife, delivering babies in the world outside the wall and handing a quota over to be "advanced" into the privileged society of the Enclave. Gaia has always believed this is her duty, until the night her mother and father are arrested by the very people they so loyally serve. Now Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught, but her choice is simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.








Originally reviewed on  December 2011

Rating: 3 out of 5

I was quite interested in this book. First off, the cover is beautiful in that dark, haunting way. Secondly, the premise seemed promising and original. I wish I could have loved this.

♠ TUESDAY TRACKBACK - UNWIND by Neal Shusterman (Unwind Dystology #1): A Warrior Fairy review

 

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.







Originally reviewed on February 2012

Rating: 4 out of 5


I had very high expectations for this book, mainly because of the hype surrounding it. I probably did it a disservice going into this with that in mind because while it was a great book, I expected... well, I didn't know what to expect. More? I just didn't get the sense of fulfillment I'd have wanted when I finished it.

I applaud Shusterman for his originality and for daring to write on the value of life. I think his main concept, unwinding, was what ultimately drew me to this. Just the thought of parents sentencing their children to this might make it hard to believe at first, but then I think about what history has already shown us on what we can do, and maybe, just maybe, it's not that unbelievable at all.

♠ FLASHBACK FRIDAY - FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK (Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta: A Warrior Fairy review

Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.

Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself.




Originally reviewed on March 2012

Rating: 5 out of 5

This was my first introduction to Melina Marchetta's writing. I had no idea what to expect and I was hoping for a rich story. Melina Marchetta did not disappoint at all. This may be my first, but it will far be my last.

I discovered this book while on the GR page of Megan Whalen Turner's The King of Attolia. I'd just finished The Queen's Thief series, and I happened to see that readers who have read MWT apparently also enjoyed this. Oh how grateful I am that I clicked on this, for it is certainly a treasure of a novel.

What lies in these pages is a story so powerful, it will resonate within you. This is a story about people trying to reclaim not just their lost kingdom but their home, their family. The story of these people will grip you and make you feel so much, both happiness and sorrow.

✦✦WEDNESDAY REWIND - THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak: A Warrior Fairy review✦✦

 It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.







Originally reviewed on August 2013

Rating: 5 out of 5

♠ SATURDAY RECOLLECTION - STAR CROSSED by Elizabeth Bunce (Thief Errant #1): A Warrior Fairy review

Digger thrives as a spy and sneak-thief among the feuding religious factions of Gerse, dodging the Greenmen who have banned all magic. But when a routine job goes horribly wrong and her partner and lover Tegen is killed, she has to get out of the city, fast, and hides herself in a merry group of nobles to do so.

Accepted as a lady's maid to shy young Merista Nemair, Digger finds new peace and friendship at the Nemair stronghold--as well as plenty of jewels for the taking.

But after the devious Lord Daul catches her in the act of thievery, he blackmails her into becoming his personal spy in the castle, and Digger soon realizes that her noble hosts aren't as apolitical as she thought... that indeed, she may be at the heart of a magical rebellion.





Originally reviewed on December 2011


Rating: 4 out of 5


When I read the book summary, I was reminded of another series I absolutely loved - The Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. (I've included it in my recommendations post here.) I've been looking for a book or series similar to it so imagine my excitement when I found Star Crossed. It sounded promising, a story full secrets, lies, mystery and political intrigue.

♠ YA Fantasy Recommendations: by the Warrior Fairy

Hey everyone, this is the Warrior Fairy here. I thought I'd make a list of my top YA fantasy favorites. Fantasy is broad and has a lot of subtypes, but I lean more towards the classic or high fantasy, rather than urban and paranormal. It's not everyone's cup of tea (or coffee, if you prefer), but hopefully you guys will check them out and give them a try if you haven't read them yet!

Before that, here is a quote by GRRM that I think captures a lot of the feelings (but not all) I have for fantasy:

"The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real … for a moment at least … that long magic moment before we wake.

Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?

We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La.

They can keep their heaven. When I die, I’d sooner go to middle Earth."

Without further ado, here they are in no particular order: 

Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima

 

The first thing that drew me to this book was the stunning covers! The cover in itself already promised me a story full of adventure, magic and mystery. More importantly, I discovered this when I was in great need of an awesome high fantasy series to read. 

♠ ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE (Farseer Trilogy #1): A Warrior Fairy book review

 In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.  




Rating: 4 out of 5

Hello everyone! This is the Warrior Fairy here and this is going to be my first review. My books and are going to be a little (or waaay) different from the other fairies' genres, but that's what's great about having a group blog. There's a lot of variety! I hope you guys won't neglect me and that I won't get lost in a sea of romance on this blog, lol.

As a self-proclaimed fantasy fan, I am slowly going through those famous works that every fantasy fan must read. The Farseer trilogy is of course, one of those.