eProof Review - When Among Crows

As I said in my Queen Macbeth post, I was holding that shorter stories will give my reading the kick up the backside it needed after March’s reading slowdown/slump and the disappointing reads over the Easter break.

So you would be surprised to hear that I decided to read this novella.

Let me explain: I fell in the love with the cover when it came into my Twitter timeline and I was deeply considering buying it, so when I saw it on NetGalley, I requested it but I had my doubts that I would be approved as my stats on NetGalley haven’t been great since the great Amazon Easter Hack/Deleting of 2023 (no idea if someone tried to hack my Amazon account or if Amazon tried to delete my account by accident but, due to this, I lost ALL MY EPROOFS ON MY KINDLE!). Now, imagine my surprise when I found out I was approved and, after reading The Brothers by Kimberley Chambers and feeling so underwhelmed by it, I decided to read this instead of the reads I had planned (The Escape Room by LD Smithson, Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett &/or The Company by J.M. Varese).

Title and Author: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Publisher: Titan Books

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction.

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In modern day Chicago, Polish folklore is alive. Monsters feast on human emotion, knights split their souls to make their weapons and witches always take more than what they give.

Pain brings Dymitr and Ala together. Dymitr’s pain is the monsters he and the other Knights of the Holy Order slay and split his soul into two to create his sword from his own spine, while Ala’s is the family curse she has inherited to see visions of the horrors that the Holy Order committed.

One fateful night, the two meet and agree a bargain: if Ala can help find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. In exchange, Dymitr will give her an enchanted flower that might cure her.

But Ala doesn’t know who Dymitr is and what he truly wants and with less than 24 hours before the flower dies, killing her hopes of the curse being broken, the two need to move fast. But others want the flower and Baba Jaga’s location and they aren’t afraid to hurt and kill to get them… 

Book Review - Carve The Mark

I CAN TALK ABOUT CARVE THE MARK FREELY NOW!!! HOORAY!!! (Back in November of last year, I went to a Carve the Mark event at HarperCollins HQ [write-up for that is here] where I was very honoured to receive a very early Advance Reader Copy of Carve The Mark. With this, I had t sign a Do Not Disclose Agreement - basically, I couldn't talk about the story. I can say I had a copy and was reading it, BUT NOTHING ELSE! But, now it's book's out, I CAN TALK ABOUT IT! HOORAY! [And yes, am a few days late as wanted to post on Tuesday/release date but hey-ho!])

It's hard to explain this duology so bear with me.

On a faraway planet split by war, in a galaxy ruled by the current and by the fates, people receive currentgifts, a unique power that should help shape the future. But this isn't always the case...

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant leader, Ryzek, of the Shotet people. He exploits her currentgift - she can bring pain and death with a single touch. But Cyra isn't just her brother's blade. She's much more than her brother gives her credit for...

Akos is from the peace-loving Thuvhe and his love to his family is limitless. When his brother and he get kidnapped by Ryzek's people for reasons unknown, Akos vows to save his brother at whatever cost. And then he is thrown into Cyra's life...

Honour has no place in survival.

Ok, now, where to start? (I say this as I have been reading this since November and over finished it a few days ago. This book took a while for me to read - thanks Christmas, work, reading slump!). Plus, I went into Carve the Mark a little wary. I suspected that I would like it, but with Divergent getting the fandom and the hype around it (and oh, the horror of the Allegiant movie!), I was worried this wasn't going to live up to the hype and the attention.

Well, this book isn't Divergent rehash. I think a few of us were quite worried that this is what would happen. Instead, we got a space opera that had a Star Wars meets X-Men vibe to it, a mix of characters that were new and fresh, told in a unique writing style (Cyra's chapters were told in first person and Akos was told in third person) and with the intensity level a little higher. Plus, the writing felt stronger and the world building felt more in place compared to Divergent which, at times, felt as if Veronica made it up as she went along...

Also, this felt more character-driven. Yes, there was action, but this book wasn't driven forward by action. It was driven forward by characters like Cyra and Akos, and this could be a problem to some of you guys who like stories to be action driven.

Both Cyra and Akos I really enjoyed reading. I loved that Cyra was a badass and Akos was more gentle. Very different to other sci-fi that I read where the men are badasses and the women are the kind givers. I liked how they worked together. I prefer reading from Cyra's point of view but Akos showed different elements which I also enjoyed. I wasn't a complete fan of the other characters, but I enjoyed spending time with Cyra and Akos. Am curious over Akos's brother, Eijeh. He goes through a big character change through this story and intrigued on reading that... maybe a novella or something told from his point of view, maybe?

However, this book does have a few problems. The first is that, because I was thrown headfirst into this story, it did take a while for me to find my groove. Around 100 to 150 pages is when I found it and that's when I started speeding through. Maybe if the information was spread out throughout the book more or some editing was used to keep the pace and rhythm, it would have worked better. But while in those 150 pages, I did struggle and, at one point, did consider DNFing this, even though I was enjoying the writing.

Am figuring out how to write this problem which other people I have seen and written by far better and more informed people than me (this article here might help if you haven't heard/read). There are problematic aspects over race, antagonism, chronic pain and other issues that might make some readers uncomfortable and called racist. Now, I don't believe Veronica Roth did this to offend nor on purpose (which is no excuse). But I worry that some of you guys will be offend by the issues raised and get upset while reading this so, if you are going to read this, be aware or don't read this book.

Normally, I would give you an "Overall Paragraph", summing up my opinions on if you should read this or not. But with this book, I don't feel comfortable saying one way or the other. So, I will leave it open for you to decide if you want to read this or not. It's your decision and don't let us tell you one way or the other. Just be aware of the information given before you make a decision.

Carve The Mark Event

Last week, I was very kindly invited to HarperCollins HQ, along with a few others bloggers and booksellers. Why, I hear you ask. Well, HarperCollins was getting a few people together to do a live web chat with Veronica Roth about her upcoming novel, Carve the Mark. 

I don't know how I got invited, but I must say thank you to Jessica at HarperCollin for inviting me and everyone at HarperCollins for being so nice and lovely (and for giving me three glasses of wine -a dangerous thing to give a blogger who ate a very rich chocolate moouse from a tiny coffeeshop round the corner). 

Unfortuately, I left my notepad in my bag (and put said bag in the building's cloak room) so I have made no notes. 

I know, blogger fail. 

And there are some things I can't get into because... well, spoilers (well, I say spoilers. HarperCollins UK and US are keeping this book very under wraps!). And with this book, I sense you guys should go into this knowing as little as possible. That way, you can't compare to Divergent. But from the little we know, this book is rumoured to be Veronica's best book to date. 

Can not wait! 

Anyway, there was a tiny Facetime/web chat (not web cat as I wrote a few minutes ago!) with Veronica and she is lovely. And very cool. It's sickening how cool she is. She talked about writing Carve the Mark, fan expectations and, very briefly, about the US elections (aka The Subject Of Which We Do Not Speak Of!). 

And then, out of nowhere, Veronica read a tiny snippet of Carve the Mark. This was the first ever reading from this book. Ever. Big deal. Huge. So, how everyone in the room wasn't freaking out over this, I don't know! But you could hear a pin drop while Veronica was reading and, from that tiny snippet, I can say it's gonna be good. Right up our street - well, my street - reading wise. I can not WAIT! 

After chatting to a few bloggers, booksellers and publishing peeps (and realising that I barely know anything about the book industry!), I came away excited for next year but also two book titles I need to research and being told off for not reading The Good Immigrant yet (I WILL!!!). 

Again, I thank HarperCollins for inviting me, everyone at the event who was a laugh and putting me at ease (I always feel like am faking at being a blogger and last Thursday, I felt very much like I was conning everyone) and for Veronica for putting time out to answer some questions. Including my own (where I was sliding down in my seat, going "I didn't know I had to talk to an international best selling author and my questions are crap!" while trying to get my phone to actually work so I can answer said questions and wondering why my grandparents were trying to call me [wrong number. I checked!]). 

So thank you. Now... who fancies getting their ninja-gear in and breaking into Harper to steal a copy of Carve the Mark? (Am kidding, Harper Collins!)

GoodRead - Free Four

Dear readers,

If you are reading this review, please be warned that there will be a rant involved and it will NOT be aimed at the author (so Veronica Roth, if you are reading this, please don't worry. I love you very much and I hope you never stop writing!)

Ok, now I have that disclaimer out of the way, let's talk Free Four, shall we?

Free Four is an eNovella that tells the famous knife throwing scene in Divergent, but from Four's point of view. It's a short fast read and I really liked it. Like I said earlier on, I love Veronica's writing and it gives a new insight to Four, who we only really hear speak in Allegiant and we can all say that there were moments he wasn't himself...

Ok, now the ranty part. This is aimed SOLELY at the publishers. I have been watching this eNovella for quite a while as I do want to read this (Again, big Veronica Roth fan here!). It was first released on Veronica's Facebook as a thank you to all her fans (for free, by the way), then it was released as an eNovella for £1.99. The price then dropped for 49p and, when I downloaded this, Free Four was free (hence the title. Oh, the irony!). And, if I had bought this for either price, I would have been either very upset or very angry! The rest for this is because of this: the story was only 22%. It's not even a 1/4 of the download. 4% was the title page and author's note. 22% was the story. That leaves around 76% of the download which was the opening chapters of books one and two within the series: Divergent and Insurgent.

And most readers who will buy this eNovella would have ALREADY read either both stories or Divergent. I know I do turn round and say these eNovellas are great for people unsure over whether they want to read a series. But, with all the eNovellas being £1.99 and I heard that this trick is being used on this on each story...

Now you see why I warned you guys at the start of the review.

So, in short, really liked the story, really dislike the attitude from the publisher over how they could/would exploit fans for money...

GoodRead - Allegiant

This is going to be a hard review to write. I finished this book late Tuesday night, writing the review Wednesday and am going to put this online on Thursday. So me writing a review this quickly is very rare, but I think I need to write this and share my feels towards you guys. I will try my UTMOST to keep this review of Allegiant as SPOILER-FREE as possible (but I might have to spoil over the previous two books within this trilogy, Divergent and Insurgent).

So... here we go.

After the shocking ending of Insurgent, all hell has broken loose. The factions have shattered, people are torn over what to do and Tris is stuck in the middle of it all. So when she, Tobias and a few others are offered the chance to escape into a world outside the city, she takes it. Maybe she and Tobias can have a life together, away from violence, deaths and betrayal.

Except that this new world is far more alarming than the one she left behind. New truths make old discoveries meaningless and will change the hearts of people around her. Soon, Tris has to fight once more...

Now, where on earth do I start?

This final book in the trilogy will divide the fandom. I stayed as far away from spoilers/reviews as much as possible (and I wasn't spoiled!) but I have heard that some readers who read this within days of release either really loved it or really hated it. The reason for this is because there is one HUGE twist and this twist is causing waves. I didn't see it coming (and I was trying to second guess what this twist was going to be!) and I can kinda see why this twist had to happen but I was there going "DID SHE HONESTLY DO THAT?!"

This book is a very different book compared to Divergent and Insurgent. It felt, to me, a little more political and a little more personal. We see Tris and Tobias talk and fight and make-up. This book dealt with this issues while moving at speed, though there were times the story did drag, if I am completely honest with you. Another problem with this is Four's point of view. At times, it felt like his story was slower pace than Tris's.

I am struggling to write this. Just so you know. This is HARD to write!

This series is wonderful. It's one of the best dystopian trilogies out in YA at the present moment. Maybe, dare I say it, even better than the Hunger Games.

If you are a fan of the trilogy, then you have to read this. This will be the most emotional of the three. Veronica Roth is a brilliant writer and I demand more from her (thank goodness for the Four: A Divergent Collection will be out in hardback next year!), but I think I need time to get over this book. I need to mourn this book and, maybe next year, I shall reread the whole trilogy.

GoodRead - Insurgent

I have to apologise in advance for this review as I am writing this when I'm not feeling 100% well (hence my Facebook/Twitter silence). But, here is my review of Insurgent, let's hit the ground running.

After the terrible events in Divergent, Tris is haunted by the past. Haunted by the pointless slaughter of her former Faction. Haunted by the death of both her parents. Haunted by her having to kill Will...

As Tris has to come to terms with her grief and guilt, she becomes more reckless in coming to terms with her past and her future. But, slowly, she realises that by doing this, she realises that the truth is still out there. And if she is going to discover what the truth is, she will have to make some shocking choices and sacrifices that could change everything...

 I'm going to say this now: I think Veronica Roth is trying to kill us.

 Seriously, she is! It's been a while since I have read a book that leaves me so breathless that I had to put the book down for a good few minutes to catch my breath. It never slackened its pace. Not for one page.

 It was interesting that Veronica made Tris suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and maybe Survivors Guilt, but it seemed perfectly natural to have Tris suffer with these and, because of these, to react the way she does in the situations that happen in this book.

 I don't want to reveal too much as I know there are many of you that want to read this book and are probably screaming "ENOUGH! ENOUGH!" but I have to warn you about the ending... Oh, the ending... That last few chapters will knock you all for six and will completely change the ball game. And Veronica does it in such a clever that you will not see it coming...

The only snag I had is that there was no catch up. You were thrown straight into the world (which is always a good thing) but you had no catch-up. After a year for most people, it's hard to remember which Faction means which virtue and it takes a while to go "Oh!" over it.

However, Insurgent. This is one breathless read that will leave you hunger for the third and final book in this trilogy. And we have to wait a year for it. A YEAR! *sulks* But still, we can reread Divergent and Insurgent. Just as long as we can put the books down everyone once in a while to caught our breath...       

(PS - quick thank you for Rosi at HarperCollins for letting me have a copy early. Not sure that was a wise decision, but I thank you nevertheless!)

Dauntless Tour - Bravery

When I found out I was Team Dauntless as part of the #InsurgentUK, I was a mix of thrilled and laughing madly to myself and for the UK publisher for seeing me as Dauntless. Thrilled as Dauntless is, of course, the best Faction in the Divergent trilogy (I mean, Tris and Four were part of it! I mean, come on!), but laughable as I don't see myself as brave or fearless. I see myself as someone who has fears but, somehow, manages to copes with them.

So, when my fellow Dauntless were chatting about our tour and suggested I write about bravery and ask the question what is the bravest thing I have ever done, I wasn't sure if I could answer them with the rightness that it deserves (I, secretly, wanted to write a short story about bravery). But the more I thought this question over, the more I realise that I could answer it with the rightness it deserve as it question my views on what bravery means to me.

So, to answer the question of "what is the bravest thing I have ever done?". Well, two things have happened in my life that you could consider brave.

The first was coming out. I know that doesn't seem like a true act of bravery, but it was terrfying. I had to trying to find a way to tell my family for a while and, one day, my mother decide to join facebook. This, for a reason I'm not 100% certain I understand, made me tell her. I was scared of what this news would mean. I was scared of her reaction. But Mum, calm as anything, went "Well, I have suspect for a while now." And with that, during the BBC 10 O'Clock news bullet, Mum and I talked. I can't remember about what, exactly, but we talked and it was nice that we talked about what this meant and how she was happy for me to be true to myself. The next day, she told my sister and got the response of "Well, about bloody time."

If you have come out to your family, then you understand how terrifiying and unnerving it is, and how to its all of your courage to just say it, even though you.

The second bravest thing I've done to survive my father's death. It was very sudden and it felt like my world had ended. Not just my world, but the world of my family. The man I looked up to, the man who who had been there my whole life, was gone. There's a line in Lemony's Snicket's "The Bad Beginning", which sums this up: "If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possible imagine it."

And, somehow, we were meant to carry on living our lives, even though our world had ended. But we did. Somehow, we did. Even though this was hard and painful and frightening. We would burst into tears for no reason (I remember one time suddenly carrying in a temp job's toilet as I heard the song "Remain" by Kubb on my iPod. My dad had never heard of the band, so no idea why that happened). Even though I would find going to sleep terrifiying as I feared I would never wake up again. Even though the world outside the window kept going, while it felt like our world had stopped. But with all of these, we all supported each other and, with our private and collected bravery, we carried on into the unknown future.

I know that this isn't coming across the way I want it to. But, if you ask who I consider to be the bravest people in the world, I would instantly answer by saying "My Mum and my Sister". There are two of the strongest, fearless and utterly remarkable women I have ever know. I owe them so much in the past few years.

And now we get to the point of this blog post: bravery. Or rather, my view on bravery. We all have the power to be brave and fearless. We can be brave like Tris, Four and the rest of Dauntless were in Divgerent, by going things for the adrenaline rush. We can be brave like huge acts of bravery, such as solders and aid-workers who go to warn torn countries, or standing up for people who have no voice such as Aung San Suu Kyi or Martin Luther King. Or we can be quietly brave, by being there for someone who needs someone to hold their hand in a time which frightens you both.

I valve bravery in a person, as I feel most of us do. And while I value the huge acts of selfless bravery, I also value the smaller, often unnoticed acts of bravery, and that, to me, is what being a Dauntless is about. Being brave and fearless no matter the situation: whether that bravery is life-changing or not.

Cover Reveal - Insurgent

Yesterday, EW revealed the cover for for Insuregent, the sequel to Veronica Roth's Divergent! Now, I love the cover to Divergent so am very excited about this and here is the cover...



AREN'T IT BRILLIANT?! And, for those wondering the tree logo is, as Veronica Roth said on her blog, is the symbol for Amity. And it's just as awesome as of the firey symbol on Divergent.

But what do you guys think???

Divergent's Book 2 Title Reveal!

Now, yesterday, while the world exploded with the news of JK Rowling and her mysterious PotterMore (the truth about it will be revealed in 6 days time - click here for PotterMore's website, Twitter and the countdown!), Veronica Roth released the second title to her Divergent trilogy.

Now, as you guys know, I LOVE Divergent and I believe that this trilogy is a MUST READ to all Hunger Games fans so discovering Veronica Roth revealed the title got me very excited!

Ready? Book 2 in the trilogy will be called...




Do you like? I LOVE IT! It fits perfectly for what happened at the end of Divergent and might happen next.

If you want to read Veronica's blog post about the reveal, click here! Now GIVE ME THIS BOOK!!!

Is It Me...?

Is it me or does the firey logo on the cover of DIVERGENT by Vernoica Roth look scaryingly like the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings...?




I asked this on Twitter last night and the author of Divergent herself, Vernoica Roth, replied back saying "It is not just you. Many people say that to me. As a Giant Nerd, I enjoy the comparison."

GoodRead - Divergent

I got this book from a competition from Cicely Loves Books blog so thanks to her for running the competition. I was told from the peeps on Twitter that this book was "The Next Hunger Games" and, when I got it, I was halfway through another book, I gave it to a pal of mine to read (who read the Hunger Games and loves the series). Within days, I got texts and chats from this friend, who was reading it madly and going "This is SO MUCH BETTER than the Hunger Games!"

High praise! But does it live up to the hype?

In Veronica Roth's debut novel, we are in a dystopian future of Chicago where society is split into five fractions - Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice is about to turn 16, which means that she (and other teens that age) must choose the faction to which they will devote their lives. So, she could stay in her fraction and stay with her family or change and never see her family again.

Whatever her choice, the events will shock her. But will she live long enough to regret her decision...

I have no idea how to write this review, seeing as I finished it in a mad rush this afternoon then rushed onto my mobile, chatiing to my friend, going "Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God!"

Expect with this - the rumours are true. This book trilogy IS the next Hunger Games. Heck, it might be even BETTER than the Hunger Games! The unexpected romance that I was warned about I spot a mile coming, but who cares!? The book never lost its fast pacing and set everything up perfectly for what happens next. It's full of twists, turns, gasps and edge of your seat moments.

I ADORE this book and I hope you guys love it too. Now, to wait for book two in this trilogy. BRING IT ON! I WANT MORE!

*

Now, this is usually the part of the review where I put Book Trailers and Music that I out with this book. Weirdly, I didn't listen to any music while reading this book, so I have no idea what would be a good song to use here... am listening to some now, but am putting my first thought/choice here. Hope you like...!