Showing posts with label R. C. Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label R. C. Lewis. Show all posts

Monday, October 19, 2015

Review: Spinning Starlight

Info: 
Title: Spinning Starlight
Author: R. C. Lewis
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Source: I received a complimentary eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men show up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.

Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word and her brothers are dead.

Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home-a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?

Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Wild Swans strings the heart of the classic with a stunning, imaginative world as a star-crossed family fights for survival in this companion to Stitching Snow.

Review:
I enjoyed this book, although not quite as much as I enjoyed Stitching Snow. The problem for me was the pacing; this one dragged a bit for me in the middle. But I did enjoy the story in the end.

Liddi is insanely famous. As the heir to a massive corporation and youngest member of a genius family, she is under a lot of pressure. Liddi was a fairly likable character. I really felt for her lack of privacy in the beginning and appreciated her love for her brothers. I didn't fall in love with her, but I did like her.

Once the story really gets going, she meets Tiav, who is pretty much the nicest guy ever. He is so patient and understanding with Liddi. In fact, it seemed a touch unrealistic to me. But not too bad, since he did seem like a genuinely nice guy.

The big issue for me was the plot. It just dragged on in the middle, since Liddi can't explain anything, so we spend the majority of the book waiting for Tiav to figure out what is going on. I understand that Liddi's inability to communicate was a major part of the plot, but it got a bit tedious after a while. Other than that, the plot was fairly interesting.

I got a bit confused on this one, since I thought it was going to be a sort of sequel to Stitching Snow, but it wasn't. Not even set in the same world. Confusing for me, because the covers follow the same theme. So don't go in expecting a sequel!



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Friday, December 5, 2014

Review: Stitching Snow

Info: 
Title: Stitching Snow
Author: R. C. Lewis
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 14, 2014
Source: I received an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Synopsis:
Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

Review:
I'm beginning to realize that I have a soft spot for YA sci-fi. I (almost) always end up really enjoying them and this one was no exception. Space ships and secrets and intrigue for the win!

I ended up really liking the main character Essie. She's pretty gruff and, while her pushing everyone away got a touch annoying, her strong spirit more than won me over. Let'a just say Essie is one tough chick. Seriously, she makes extra money by fighting a bunch of surly miners. And builds robots in her spare time.

Speaking of Essie's robots, I really enjoyed them and the parallels to the seen dwarves they represent. Especially Dimwit, who I totally fell in love with.

Then there's Dane. A crash landing brings them together, but there's a lot more than that to keep them together (not always with both party's consent). I really liked Dane. He actually probably one of my favourite YA boys of 2014.

The part with Essie's dad really creeped me out a lot. However, I feel like it should have been bigger somehow to have a bit more impact, because I do think it added another layer to the story.

Overall, I'd call Stitching Snow a win. Definitely adding it to my list of YA Sci-fi, which is possibly becoming my new favourite sub-genre.
 



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