Tag: amwriting

Review: Song Of The Current by Sarah Tolcser

Song Of The Current by Sarah Tolcser

Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens Books

Publication Date: June 6th, 2017

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 373 pages

Format: eGalley (Netgalley)

Rating: ★★★★ (4 Stars)

*HUGE thanks to Bloomsbury, Netgalley & Sarah Tolscer for the eGalley copy of Song of the Current. All opinions are my own.

Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. For generations, her family has been called by the river god, who has guided their wherries on countless voyages throughout the Riverlands. At seventeen, Caro has spent years listening to the water, ready to meet her fate. But the river god hasn’t spoken her name yet—and if he hasn’t by now, there’s a chance he never will.

Caro decides to take her future into her own hands when her father is arrested for refusing to transport a mysterious crate. By agreeing to deliver it in exchange for his release, Caro finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies, with dangerous pirates after the cargo—an arrogant courier with a secret—and without the river god to help her. With so much at stake, Caro must choose between the life she always wanted and the one she never could have imagined for herself.

From debut author Sarah Tolcser comes an immersive and romantic fantasy set along the waterways of a magical world with a headstrong heroine determined to make her mark.

Song Of The Current is THE book you must read if you’ve been seeking adventure in the high seas! the main protagonist Caro has a passion & true calling for sailing and adventure, she is an Orestia after all! Caro is waiting for the day that the River God calls her name to meet her fate however, it hasn’t happened & this makes her question if she’s even cut out for the waterways. Nevertheless she continues to work alongside her father taking contracts to smuggle all sorts of goods (some shadier than others). It is when her father is imprisoned for refusing to help smuggle a highly classified item that Caro is forced to take the helm. She plans to get her dad out of prison with or without the help of the river god by fulfilling the contract her father declined. This job will take her far away from the river she knows so well, into the vast ocean & troubled waters where only a true captain & thrill seeker would dare go. Caro has no idea what lies inside the crate she’s been tasked with transporting in exchange for her father’s freedom, only that it’s highly secretive. We follow Caro on an adventure that may seem like fate after all. This book has it all! Privateers VS. Pirates, people of color, politics, its own mythos, frogmen, Gods, feminism, & a bit of romance.

Diversity rules the pages of Song of the Current & I just LIVED for every single character introduction! Starting with Caro our main female protagonist who is described as being darker skinned with  dark reddish colored coiled hair. Although when we meet Caro she is content with life up and down the river alongside her father, we get a sense that hers is a destiny much larger. With Caro, there is nothing traditional & she’s just not having it, this includes any ideologies on being a housewife. Our MC knows what she wants & isn’t afraid to go after it. I loved seeing the strong bond she had with her dad, Father-daughter relationships are my Kryptonite. On their modest ship it’s only three of them: Caro, her dad, and Fee a Frogmen (half human/half frog). They have each others backs and basically just aim to survive until it all changes. Along the way we meet Caro’s mother but I won’t go to much into her role for fear of spoilers. I will say that Caro’s mother is also a POC & that I LOVED her flawed & all! the love interest is another I can’t go into too much detail but I will say that he is the complete opposite of Caro & that the age old saying “opposites attract” would apply here 😉

Song of the Current is THE ULTIMATE! Pirate book so if you’re a hardcore fan of pirates, this is the book you’re going to want to read. Down to the lingo used in the dialogue, you’re getting pirate talk which made for a more authentic reading experience. Earlier in the year I read & LOVED Daughter of the Pirate King (MUST READ! Lol) but I also came across reviewers who felt they didn’t get the full on Pirate experience. Song of the Current will satisfy those looking for a Pirates of the Caribbean experience. The pacing however, if i’m being completely honest, was a bit on the slower side to start. However, I was never bored and the the story itself hooked me in (see what I did there? ehhh) from the very start. The love interest wasn’t my favorite but I’m beginning to see more & more of that in YA Fantasy with strong female heroines. My thoughts on the romance are that it isn’t made to take center stage to Caro’s story & in that sense I was OK with it, her feelings are explained in the book. The world building was A+ from the lingo, clothing, way of life, and mythos behind the Gods. This is book 1 in what I think is a duology? (correct me if I’m wrong) & the ending (one of my faves) was perfect! just enough to make me want to come back for more. After-all, Caros fate awaits her…

Have any of you bookworms picked this one up yet? If you have, how did this adventure fare with you? excited for the sequel? let me know in the comments 😉

Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay kristoff

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Date of Publication: October 20th 2015

Genres: Young Adult Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Pages: 599

Format: Hardcover (I own)

Rating: ★★★★★

 So I just realized how descriptive the Goodreads synopsis really is LOL. I never read it until now but it pretty much sums it up all right, so instead I’ll talk about some of the things I loved about Illuminae (GR Synopsis @ the end of review).

* The fact that this book starts off with a break up scene. Could you honestly picture yourself breaking up with your boo one second & the next being caught up in a war between 2 major corporations over your small (yet oh so resourceful) planet? Usually, well at least in my experience, when you break up with someone it’s definitely to put some space & distance between you and said individual. Kady & Ezra however, found themselves running for their lives… Perspective plays a major role in how these two carry on afterwards.

* The fact that Kady is neither a damsel in distress nor a fighter experienced in hand-to-hand combat or even swordplay lol. No, Kady is a computer whiz who is in her element when handling 0’s & 1’s. After the attack on Kerenza (their planet) the people of Kerenza were shuttled to 3 different aircrafts (spaceships): The Alexander, Copernicus, or the Hypathia. Each ship has its strengths, with Alexander basically being their leader. Depending on your skillset, you would be assigned jobs on your designated spaceship. Kady had access to computer systems & she used this to set forth and uncover the truth behind the attack on Kerenza.

* The dialogue. The entire book is formatted in a series of e-mails, Briefs, and chats. Through these quick bursts in communication you get to familiarize yourself with the characters aboard these ships. In a time where nothing is certain, people are being fed lies, and a virus has broken loose, our characters are much in touch with their sense of humor. I had many laugh out loud moments at some of the crudest jokes between Ezra & his boys which we can safely compare to military boys lol. Kady is sarcastic & just an overall kickass female protagonist. The Lisbeth Salander (who I loved, so yay!) Of YA without the whole Emo thing Lisbeth had going on lol.

*AIDAN aka the Artificial Intelligence. I think I hated him for half of the book but then came to like him during the second half. It was definitely interesting reading his thought process, which sometimes came off as ramblings.

*Zhang. I really liked Zhang & his chats (the equivalent of IM’s) with Kady & how well they worked together. Their conversations were very entertaining even when it was strictly hacking that they were doing.

* The representation of different ethnic backgrounds & LGBTQ. I loved the diversity in this book & was thankful because it was a realistic depiction of a ship carrying thousands of human beings.

* Last but never least, the women in command positions. There were a few actually, and I appreciated the presence of women in a military style environment, not being pushed into lesser roles.

I could seriously talk about this book for hours but It turns out I’m not the last human being on this planet to not have read this book lol. I tried to keep all spoilers out for those who plan on reading Illuminae before this fall’s release of Gemina. Now that day, I will make sure to use a sick day on *coughs into the future*

Goodreads Synopsis:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.