The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

Royalty sure does like its games, doesn't it? But unlike another fantasy story with a similar title, this book goes more the historical fiction route, taking place in the Russian Empire in the time of Tsar Alexander I in 1825. Let's see how history looks when there's a bit of magic added to it.

Vika and Nikolai are the only two enchanters left in Russia. Each has extraordinary abilities which the tsar thinks might be very useful to the Empire, especially with the threats of the Ottomans and Kazakhs looming on the horizon. However, only one of them may be granted the title of Imperial Enchanter and advisor to the tsar. The other must die. To decide which of them will inherit the title, the tsar begins the Crown's Game, in which both enchanters are to display their power and imagination in grand feats to amaze the citizens of St. Petersburg and spell doom for their opponent. But things when complicated when the tsesarevich, who happens to be Nikolai's best friend, starts to fall for the beautiful Vika...and so does Nikolai.

The good thing about this book is that they manage to take a familiar situation and play it straight. As I hinted earlier, a lot of stories are taking the "game of life and death" route. Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, even Ender's Game all use this idea to the point where it's become something of a gimmick. So, if you're going to go with this idea then do what this book does and take it in a direction we haven't seen before. I admit there were times when I honestly didn't see something coming. While the situations are familiar, this story takes things in a new direction and I appreciated that.

The characters of both Nikolai and Vika are well done. They each have likable personalities but they both have flaws too. Nikolai's an orphan who came from nothing and is kind to both those better and less than him, but he's prone to lying to everyone around him to keep himself safe. Vika is optimistic and imaginative but her sheltered life has left her a bit naive. You understand these characters and you like them both and want them to succeed, so throwing them into a situation where one of them could die invests the reader into wanting to see them both come out of their situation okay, even if you know they're not. The tsesarevich, Pasha, is another main player in this story and another fun character. He sneaks away from his guards and goes out drinking, but he has a loving heart and he cares about his country that he will one day rule. The overall cast is good and shies away from stereotypes, which I greatly appreciated.

Now, let's have a little chat about the magic in this book, shall we? Each member of the game has five turns to create spectacular feats in celebration of Pasha's birthday while keeping the fact that what they're doing is magic a secret from the general public. Now, that seems like a simple enough detail...until you make islands appear overnight and hallucinogenic benches. I'm sorry, but even human denial has its limits. There's no way that some of these things can be reasoned to exist, especially in 1825! Things that would take years to accomplish are done in a blink of an eye and nobody suspects anything? I found that little detail a bit much to swallow. That being said, the magic is impressive by both enchanters and it certainly made things fun to read about. I just think that it could have been a bit more subtle, especially if they're supposed to be hiding these things from the masses.

The drama comes together in a climax that's...probably not as epic as I would have liked it. There are certain things I didn't like such as Pasha's attitude toward the end of the book and the situation involving a moving corpse. But while the climax wasn't the big, fantastical affair I'd thought it would be but I was satisfied with the conclusion anyway. When a book gives you two good characters in a battle to the death, the resolution can sometimes come in the form of a cop-out. Thankfully, this book avoids that, but doesn't leave the reader in complete despair either. All in all, I think it was handled pretty decently to leave readers satisfied as well as hopeful.

Final Verdict
Overall, I'd say that this book is pretty good. It was its own story and followed its own path, had plenty of intrigue and magic and I think anyone picking it up out of curiosity will enjoy it. I'd say it's worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

Next Time: British humor, two fantastic authors, and the end of the world. Sounds like fun.

Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Happy Boxing Day, everyone! I hope you've had a good Christmas and since I spent some of mine finishing up this little, 500-page nugget, I know I had a great one! I've had this books praises sung to me most of the year and I've finally gotten around to it. Thank goodness for that because this was just fantastic! Let's start.

Lazlo Strange is a dreamer. That is, his mind is full of impossible dreams, fairy tales, and stories he's read while living in the vast library of Zosma after growing up an orphan in a monastery. His favorite stories are of the Unseen City, whose name was stolen some years ago and is now only known as Weep. When an army of warriors, lead by a man known as Godslayer, from that city come looking for the sharpest minds to help them with a problem, Lazlo is decidedly uninvited. But Lazlo refuses to give up on his dream and journeys forth to see the city of his dreams, where he beholds an otherworldly citadel in the sky and the mysterious beings that dwell within.

Wow. Just wow. That's all I could say after I finished this thing. The writing is just superb. You are quickly invested in these characters, you see the vivid images in your mind's eye, you feel the pull of tension and dread that weighs in the atmosphere...it's just fantastic! Lazlo Strange is the kind of bookworm character that other bookworm characters try to be, but don't necessarily succeed at being. His wild imagination and respectful eagerness to witness the world of his imaginings come to life is something anyone with impossible dreams can understand and relate to. He's remarkably humble, happy to see good things happen to other people and thinking nothing of any lost credit he could have had. When he sees the chance to reach his dreams slipping away from him, you feel for him. I even found myself yelling at the book, saying, "You can do it, Lazlo! Go get your dream! What are you waiting for!?" That's how invested I got. It has been some time since I actually yelled at a book...in a good way. Kudos for that.

The other characters in the book are just as good as he his. Thyon Nero, a nobleman who can create gold, serves as a very interesting type of rival character. Most rivals are pretty shallow characters, bullies or downright nasty people and are generally unsympathetic. Nero, however, is an interesting mix. He's not a heartless bully, though, granted, they don't make him the nicest guy either. He's complex and you can understand his bitterness toward Lazlo. Eril-Fane, the Godslayer, also has a very tragic story and you feel the weight that constantly presses on this guy. He's a leader who constantly has to hide the fact that he feels lost. But the other big characters are those of Sarai and the Mesarthim, the powerful, magical beings that watch over Weep. There's a deeply complex history between them and Weep, leaving them caught in a purgatory of past sins and present fears. Each of them has a unique power as well that reflects their personalities, which was a fun detail and told us a lot about them without actually saying anything, which was really clever.

The mythology and set-up of this world is absolutely wonderful. It's vivid and imaginative and filled with dreams and reality. Some of these are ideas you just want to kick yourself for not thinking of first. Roads made of lapis lazuli, pink blood candy that makes you immortal, mythical creatures, wingsmiths...it's all just so gloriously put together and I just loved dreaming these dreams right along with Lazlo. The wonder and spectacle that the book builds up gives us hope along with Lazlo and I just loved it. It opens the mind to limitless possibilities that fantasy gives us, reminding us why we love it so. A book that reminds one how it feels to be a reader, or a dreamer, is one that will stick with you for quite a long time.

Final Verdict
Ladies and gents, we have a winner! I just loved this book! The characters are amazing, the writing is spectacular, the story was thrilling and complex...just read it! Seriously, read it. True praise be unto this book as it takes its place upon the Shelf of Recommendation!

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

Next Time: In Soviet Russia, game plays you!...urgh, I'm sorry. I'm never saying that again...

Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves

Magic spells, a resistance against tyrannical oppressors, mythical creatures, love blossoming in the most unexpected places, and the overwhelming feeling of....meh. Yes, this is another girl-starts-revolution story that tries to actually tie into historical events (poorly) and tries to excite readers with love triangles amidst brewing war and chaos...it just doesn't do it very well. Let's see what happened.

Anna Arden comes from wealthy English family in a world where the rich, nobel classes are the only ones allowed to harness magic and become part of the Luminate elite. But Anna is Barren, unable to use magic at all...except it seems to break the spells of others as she demonstrates during her sister's debut into society. Anna is exiled to Hungary, her grandmother's home country, which is in the midst of a brewing revolution. It is here that she is recruited into joining the resistance in the hopes that she will break the Binding, a spell that keeps the poor from inheriting magic, and give magic and freedom to all people.

The biggest problem with this book can be simply explained by the fact that, for long stretches of time, nothing happens. Between Anna's indecisive nature to the resistance's meetings consisting of everyone sitting around and saying, "We should do something!" "Should we do something?" "Let's do something!" "We shouldn't do something." for about two thirds of the book. The rest of the time we have the feeble romance between Anna and her love interest, a Romani named Gábor, which isn't very interesting because...they aren't very interesting. Anna is a very bland character in which much happens to her but she ends up doing very little in response. She knows that she's being watched and people are keeping track of her every move and yet she goes to rebellion meetings and meets with known heretics anyway. Kinda dumb, sweetie. Kinda dumb. And her Romani boyfriend is really intelligent despite having a very poor upbringing and he's cold and aloof but he's really a sweetheart once you get to know him because he's just "guarding his feelings" and blah blah blah. He's the same YA arm candy boyfriend we've seen a thousand times the same way. Oh, and this broad also kisses her cousin. More than once. Let that sink in, why don't ya?

Now, I know I haven't been saying a lot of good things about this book, but there are nuggets of good in here...kind of. Firstly, the idea of breaking the Binding, Anna's very purpose in this resistance, comes with some pretty dire consequences and the book goes into this. I would have been very easy to say, "Bad guys are bad. Good guys are good. Do the thing and everyone will be happy." as most books do. But they make it a pretty difficult choice. Anna could be potentially making a choice that will change the world completely and put a lot of innocent people at risk. Also, giving magic to those it has been kept from for a thousand years comes with problems as well, as these people haven't been educated and don't always know how to control it, which could end in everything from disaster to death. This is a really good idea, making things not so clear cut and giving the protagonist a truly difficult decision...until the story goes "Never mind! It is a simple choice so go do it and everything will work out swell!" This also adds to the books indecisive problems when Anna is constantly bouncing back and forth between, "I should!" "I shouldn't." "I should!" "I shouldn't." every chapter or so. Making Anna Barren is also a good idea that the book kind of ruins. Her struggles and the problems she faces being a powerless person in a world where magic reigns supreme can make for good potential for a character...but then the book points out that "oh, it's not that she isn't special. It's that she's just super-mega-special and others are afraid of her." Good ideas ruined by bad writing. Simple as that.

Finally, I don't know much about Hungary seeing as I've never been there and I don't know much about the culture. That being said I do find it odd that you'd take an actual piece of this country's history, a revolution that actually did happen and was a largely bloodless affair, and make it the centerpiece for your magical rebellion story and make it an all out war. There's creative license and then there's...this. I didn't feel more educated about Hungarian history because of this book or its culture other than the fact that the Romani guys are really hot. I don't see why the author couldn't just make this a brand new world and used the actual historical facts as inspiration for all of this but...what do I know.

Final Verdict
In the end, I didn't really get mad at this book but it was pretty bland. Frustratingly indecisive, pointlessly draw out, and potentially good ideas wasted with poor payoff. If you just like stories with fancy Victorian era clothes and parties and love between classes go right ahead and check it out...but save your cash and check it out at your local library.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

Next Time: Lucid dreaming has never seemed so cool!

The School for Good and Evil: The Last Ever After by Soman Chainani

It's been a long time coming but I've finally gotten to the third installment of the School for Good and Evil saga. Things are heating up, the characters are facing turmoil like nothing they've yet faced, and it's time to see where things unfold from this point on.

Sophie and Agatha, one time best friends but now enemies, have been separated. Agatha and her true love, Tedros, have been sent back to Agatha's home village of Gavaldon and Sophie now resides in the School Master's tower in the School for Good and Evil. But the School is now solely one of evil as all the students are forced into becoming the next generation of evil or be turned into beasts and old villains are given chances to rewrite their stories, killing the fairy tale heroes of old in the process. Agatha and Tedros must travel back to the school and save their friend at all costs, for Sophie might just become the key to evil's ultimate triumph, putting the fairy tale world and the real world in jeopardy.

This book promises conclusions and fairy tale epic-ness and I'm glad to say it totally delivers. The characters of Sophie and Agatha are just as good as ever. Agatha is struggling to save her best friend while also keeping Tedros's affections and battling with her own lack of self-worth. Sophie is searching for her own happiness and is becoming more and more desperate to find it anywhere she can, even if it means turning to evil and destroying another's happiness in the process. Both these characters have come a long way yet they remain their charming, humorous selves. I really enjoy these characters and the writing in this book. Even though it's been a while since I read the last installment, when I picked up this book I slipped right back into the world as if I'd never left.

While we've met some of the children of old fairy tale characters, in this book we get to actually meet them. Old villains have come back from the dead, seeking vengeance on the heroes that defeated them and the old heroes are trying to stay alive long enough to save both the fairy tale world and Gavaldon. The old heroes are, like most of the characters in these books, funny as heck. The direction these characters have taken since their Ever Afters is actually really interesting to see and Chainani does a great job in thinking up clever ideas and retellings of these stories that we know of. Cinderella's story, in particular, was pretty well done. It was interesting, funny, and also pretty sad. We felt for these characters and wanted them to come out of it okay. Other minor characters in the series, such as Hester, Anadia, Dot and Hort are all given arcs in this story and the students must decide where they stand when it comes time for the final showdown.

That being said, we actually spend very little time in the actual school the series is named after. Sophie is promoted to being a teacher and Agatha doesn't attend at all at this point, as she's gotten her Ever After. Not that the school no longer serves a purpose, for the old Evil castle, now the Castle of Old Evil, is the headquarters of the villains and the final battle takes place at the school itself. There's also this big reveal that I won't give away about Sophie and Agatha's origins and...I'm not entirely sure I get it or that is makes sense or is even needed. Now, it isn't bad, mind you. I just felt that it wasn't entirely necessary. However, the story comes to a truly nail-biting climax where everything comes down to a single choice and things are at their bleakest. The tension and chaos in this book are felt and when a person gets hurt or dies, you really feel their loss. It's big, it's bombastic, and just the wrap-up I was hoping for...which is kind of odd since there is another book after this one. I guess that means it's not technically the Last Ever After, now is it? Oh well. That just means there's more. Yay.

Final Verdict
Just what I was hoping for. All the charm, all the cleverness, and all the entertainment that I've come to expect with this series. It's definitely worth the read and definitely worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

Next Time: I fail to see any roses fighting in this supposed revolution....

The Exercise of Vital Powers by Ian Gregoire

We know all those cliched lines about power. "With great power comes great responsibility", "Those who crave power the most deserve it the least", and so on and so forth. This is one of those stories exploring what it is to have power and what kind of path it can lead you down, whether salvation or damnation. How's it play out? Let's take a look.

Kayden Jayta is the top of her class at an academy which teaches the art of Zarantar, magical gifts that manifest when one reaches a certain age and can be either honed or bound. After Kayden cheats her way out of an important test (this world's equivalent of the Kobayashi Maru), she's approached by  the campus's headmistress, Fay Annis, to accompany her to the headquarters of The Order to undergo a certain test set up by its very founder Master Ari. Little does Kayden know that this test is her last chance. If she succeeds, she returns to school and finishes her education. If she fails, she dies.

Let's just get this out of the way right now. Kayden is a horrible person. She has got to be one of the most arrogant, condescending, rude, manipulative, self-centered characters I've ever read in my entire life. However, it's okay...because it is intentional!  This book isn't insisting that she's actually a nice person and talking about how wonderful and sweet she is. No, people freaking hate her and for good reason. Kayden is meant to be a character who tests your patience and who is at the point in her life where she can be evil or change her ways. Kayden is this close to becoming a villainous character, which is what Fay is trying to prevent. This isn't about Kayden being the most specialist person in the world, it's about taking a terrible, miserable person and saving them before it's too late. It's meant as a redemption story and, while it is a bit of a pain being stuck with this awful person as our protagonist and some people might get turned off by that, it's their transformation that we get to see in the end.

Now, there are actually two redemption stories in this book, Kayden's and another magician named Kenit Darbandian. While Kayden's is given the central focus, I actually enjoyed Kenit's story as well, if not a little more. Kenit's deal is that he ran away from a perilous situation and got his mentor killed.  So Fay devises a plan to help him confront his fears and give him another chance. They way this is devised is pretty clever and it makes for a pretty intense scene. You understand why he wants to run, but you know he needs to fight and the conclusion he comes to hits home deeply. It also helps that Kenit is a more enjoyable character to be around than Kayden and so his story arc is a good one.

Kayden's arc, however, I felt could have been...well, a bit more. She sees where her current path is taking her and deals with the demons of her past but I felt it could have used a bit more power. With other redemption stories such as this, the main character goes through a lot before they change who they are. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge sees three intense visions of his past, present, and future and views his life from the perspective of others in order to see how miserable his life is and the impact he's had on others. In The Thin Executioner, Jebel goes through vast amounts of pain and torment, witnessing things like brutality, slavery, cultism, massacre, even cannibalism before her learns the value of life. For Kayden, it is one hallucination and her journey of redemption takes place over one day. Yup. Just one day and poof. I just feel like a character this rotten could have used way more time and faced way more in the way of trials. Not that what she does go through doesn't leave an impact and does make a difference, I just think going the extra mile would have let a bigger impact.

Also, this book probably could have used a bit more editing. There are a few grammatical errors here and there and I do think some of the scenes were unnecessary. It probably could have ended a few chapters sooner, rather than wrapping up every loose end possible Return of the King style. That being said, the writing is good, the world building is sound, I like the concept of Zarantar as well as the characters of Fay and Ari. They were both very likable, I enjoyed the comradery between the two of them and I kind of wished we had more time with them.

Final Verdict
I always do enjoy a good redemption story and this one was pretty good. Some people might be put off by Kayden as a character, but if this sounds like the kind of thing that attracts you, I'd say go ahead and check it out but wait for it on paperback.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

Next Time: It's graduation time at the School for Good and Evil...

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Picture, if you will, the concept of a Geisha who could raise people, and dragons, from the dead. A surprisingly hardcore image, ain't it? In this book's universe, a young woman who is gifted with magical powers can become an asha, a performer and conversationalist as well as a warrior who can use magic. Now, if that's not a great concept when I see one, I don't know what is. How'd it pan out? Let's take a look.

Tea was very young when her power manifested itself and she summoned her older brother back from the dead. To her horror, as well as everyone else's, she's a bone witch; an asha whose power comes from the dark. She is then whisked away from her home by another bone witch, Lady Mykaela, and taken to the Valerian where she's trained to become an asha. But the world frowns deeply upon dark asha and Tea has a long and difficult road ahead of her.

The culture and style of this world is very well put together. As I said before, the training and careers of asha are very similar to those of a Geisha and the world does have a very feudal Japan feel to it. Several times I was deeply reminded of Memoirs of a Geisha (from which I'd be very surprised if the author didn't draw some inspiration) except with the inclusion of magic and combat training. Yet it doesn't feel like a rip off. This world is similar, yes, but also manages to be its own thing. The set up of the Eight Kingdoms and the politics that take place within it are well thought out. The magic within the story is pretty basic, manipulating elements and whatnot, but also has original ideas such as heartglasses (glass necklaces that reflect your inner thoughts).

But, as good as the world is, the plot can tend to crawl at times. It goes into great detail about descriptions of buildings and what daily life is like for an asha, which is good, but it tends to run away with itself. There are long bouts of nothing happening through this book. Once the action does start, however, it is pretty interesting. There's some really good action and drama in this book, including attacks from dark creatures called daeva, political intrigue, potential love interests, complicated plots from mysterious warriors called the Faceless...it just takes a long time reading through dancing lessons and chores before we get there. Still, the training and lessons can be interesting in their own right, but it isn't always enough to keep one's attention like it should.

The characters in this story are...okay, for the most part. Tea, as far as protagonists go, does tend to be a bit of a whiner. You can understand where she's coming from, for the most part, but it can get on one's nerves after awhile. Fox, the resurrected older brother, is an interesting character but his efforts to protect Tea tend to get in the way of things. He knows she has powers, he knows she can help, but he runs in and goes on about it being "too dangerous". Dude, people are getting killed. Let the woman work! Lady Mykaela is a pretty interesting character, the leader of the Valerian is delightfully disgusting, and the dress maker is fun, but everyone else tends to be either cliche or forgettable. A lot of the asha kind of blend into one another, making it a bit hard sometimes to keep track of who is who.

The story is told from Tea's perspective several years in the future. A future, in fact, where she's an outcast and is raising daeva and keeping them as pets. Now, this insight into what Tea's future holds actually does provide some atmosphere and an odd feeling of dread. We don't know how Tea ended up in such a place and it makes us truly interested as to where the author is going with the story. Couple that with a pretty ominous ending and it will make readers eager to know what happens next. Those bits were the best part of the book for me and it got me genuinely interested in Tea's future and how she comes to be in such a place.

Final Verdict
While the plot can drag and the characters fall flat, the world building and atmosphere still make up for an interesting story and a compelling read. If it sounds like something you'd like, check it out but maybe wait for it on paperback.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

Next Time: For this girl it is either redemption or death....