[Review] Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Series: DC Icons #1

Rating: 5 stars

Published: August 28th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

Daughter of immortals.
Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world.
Daughter of death.
Alia Keralis just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark a world war. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.
Together.
Two girls will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.

Leigh Bardugo's books are auto-buys for me, and though this isn't Grisha-related, Wonder Woman proved to be nevertheless a great read. Plus the movie was also (two thumbs up)

Bardugo's book places Diana as a teenager in the modern day. Living on the isle of Themiscrya, she and the other Amazons are isolated from society, until one girl crashes through the border. Turns out, Alia Keralis descends from Helen, and is thus known as a Warbringer, who brings destruction and strife wherever she goes. In order to cleanse this power from her, the two girls set out to Greece, but are met with many obstacles along the way.

[Review] Ironside (Modern Faerie Tales #3) by Holly Black

Ironside by Holly Black

Series: Modern Faerie Tales #3

Rating: 5 stars

Published: April 24th 2007

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the realm of Faerie, the time has come for Roiben's coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing -- her love for Roiben. But when Kaye, drunk on faerie wine, declares herself to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest. Now Kaye can't see or speak to Roiben unless she can find the one thing she knows doesn't exist: a faerie who can tell a lie.

Miserable and convinced she belongs nowhere, Kaye decides to tell her mother the truth -- that she is a changeling left in place of the human daughter stolen long ago. Her mother's shock and horror sends Kaye back to the world of Faerie to find her human counterpart and return her to Ironside. But once back in the faerie courts, Kaye finds herself a pawn in the games of Silarial, queen of the Seelie Court. Silarial wants Roiben's throne, and she will use Kaye, and any means necessary, to get it. In this game of wits and weapons, can a pixie outplay a queen?

Holly Black spins a seductive tale at once achingly real and chillingly enchanted, set in a dangerous world where pleasure mingles with pain and nothing is exactly as it appears.

A culmination of our Modern Faerie Tale. It was some ride.

I can say the same things I've said before - love the romance, the prose, the way Holly Black makes these books addictive, but I'll say a couple of other things too.

Kaye Fierch drunkenly declares her love for Roiben, the new king of the Night Court, and he sets her up on this seemingly impossible task for her to become his consort - find a faerie that can tell a lie. In the midst of this, the war with Silarial and the Bright Court is growing in tension and animosity, and Roiben must find a way to appease his sister Ethine and quell the fighting.

[Review] Valiant (Modern Faerie Tales #2) by Holly Black

Valiant by Holly Black

Series: Modern Faerie Tales #2

Rating: 4.5 stars

Published: May 31st 2002

Goodreads Synopsis:

When seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.

But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. And when one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature with whom they are all involved, Val finds herself torn between her newfound affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

Just as good, if not better than Tithe.

I was worried that because this wasn't directly connected to Kaye and Roiben's story that I wouldn't like it as much, but I loved it!

[Review] Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1) by Holly Black

Tithe by Holly Black

Series: Modern Faerie Tales #1

Rating: 4 stars

Published: 2002

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.

I love how Holly Black writes fae - it's just so immersive and beautiful. Plus there's a ton of complexities to uncover about the courts and their inner workings so each plot twist was carefully hidden and well done.

It also takes place in NJ/NY so I totally love the urban vibes. The Cruel Prince started me on this fae-train so now I can't stop reading about faeries.

Bookstores of Edinburgh

Hello everyone! I'm back from hiatus and should be posting on a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule for reviews again.

For about a month, I've studied abroad in the beautiful city of Edinburgh and absolutely fell in love. I cannot rain platitudes about my experience being abroad enough - but this is a book blog, not my travel blog (which I should update at some point), so I'll be focusing on the literary scene of Edinburgh! Unfortunately my course ended before Edinburgh's book festival (Aug 11 - 17), but I was able to bask in the many bookstores this glorious city offered, from indie to secondhand. What a better way to revive the blog than to bring up bookstores?