Traitor to the Throne Review

Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✰

Amani survives.

However, she is faced with new challenges after recovering from a bullet through her hip, and awakening to discover Jin has abandoned her.

Compared to her first novel 'Rebel of the Sands', Traitor to the Throne sees significant improvement in character and world building. There is also more intrigue, which Hamilton deliver quite well. The ending was a twist I did not see coming, and whilst Traitor is more slow paced it is no less action packed. At  some points I struggled to put it down.

Format: Paperback
Dimensions: 129 x 198 x 36mm | 399g 
Publication: 02 Feb 2017 by Faber and Faber
Pages: 592 

The Immortal Heights Review

Star Rating: ✭✭✰✰✰

Relatively bland ending to a wannabe epic saga. I say this because it ended exactly how I expected it to. I feel the series as a whole was quite underwhelming, as I had so much hope. The whole story was a wreck of cliches, riding to much on want you expect to make a good story. The only reason this series will stay on my shelves is because of the covers.

Format: Paperback Dimensions: 132 x 203 x 28mm | 340g  Published: 11 Oct 2016 by Balzer and Bray Pages: 433

The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas - Review

Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✰

Still following Iolanthe and Titus' quest to slay the Bane, The Perilous Sea ended with suspense, deceit, and plot twists. 

What bothered me the most about this sequel, even though it carries of that weird style of writing (using notes in a novel), was the constant switching of time frames between chapters. I feel that if you're going to make someone loses their memory, start off the it, and then once they regain it, use the flashback or recollection to fill in the gaps between "now" and the last book.

The only reason I gave this four stars, is because of the ending. Otherwise it would have received two, since I hate the use of memory loss or amnesia in books. I feel most authors use it as a scapegoat when they can no longer think of anything else.

Format: Paperback
Dimensions: 132 x 203 x 28mm | 318g 
Published: 15 Sep 2015 by Balzer and Bray
Pages: 448

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The Girl on the Train - Movie Review

Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✰

Storyline -

"The Girl on the Train is the story of Rachel Watson's life post-divorce. Every day, she takes the train in to work in New York, and every day the train passes by her old house. The house she lived in with her husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. As she attempts to not focus on her pain, she starts watching a couple who live a few houses down -- Megan and Scott Hipwell. She creates a wonderful dream life for them in her head, about how they are a perfect happy family. And then one day, as the train passes, she sees something shocking, filling her with rage. The next day, she wakes up with a horrible hangover, various wounds and bruises, and no memory of the night before. She has only a feeling: something bad happened. Then come the TV reports: Megan Hipwell is missing. Rachel becomes invested in the case and trying to find out what happened to Megan, where she is, and what exactly she herself was up to that same night Megan went missing" - imdb.com

Review -

The Girl on the Train is based the novel written by Paula Hawkins. It focuses on Rachel, an alcoholic struggling to deal with her divorce from Tom, who has remarried to Anna, and now has a child. Rachel attempts to hide her drinking problem by traveling to and from New York City each day via train, which passes the house she bought with Tom, who still lives there with Anna. Through her travels, Rachel has developed an obsession with the couple next door to Tom and Anna, Megan and Scott. Drawing impressive sketches to pass the time.

One day on her way to the City, she witness Megan committing adultery. This crushes Rachel's delusions of their "perfect love", causing her to drink to excess which in turned causes her the blackout and make an irrational decision on the way home, to get of the train and confront Megan, being so intoxicated she blacks out after screaming at Megan "WHORE"! Megan is later found dead, with Rachel being the prime suspect.

The Girl on the Train had a dark suspense that had me so enthralled, I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie. While the start was somewhat slow-paced, the characters were well developed. I found the themes of abusive relationships to be quite raw, as it is not something often brought to light in major motion pictures. It was also intriguing to see how each of the women were connected to one another in the end.




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Information - 

Release Date: 07 Oct 2016
Time: 1 hr 52mins
Cast:

	Emily Blunt	...	Rachel
	Haley Bennett	...	Megan
	Rebecca Ferguson	...	Anna
	Justin Theroux	...	Tom
	Luke Evans	...	Scott

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas Review

Star Rating✭✭✭✰✰

Storyline - 

"Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's been told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of the Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the most powerful tyrant and mage the world has ever known. This would be a suicide task for anyone, let alone a reluctant sixteen-year-old girl with no training.

Guided by his mother's visions and committed to avenging his family, Prince Titus has sworn to protect Iolanthe even as he prepares her for their battle with the Bane. But he makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the tyrant closing in, Titus must choose between his mission—and her life." - Goodreads

Review - 

A powerful mix between the world's of Harry Potter and A Darker Shade of Magic, possibly because of the same distinct British themes through out the book. It follows the journey of Iolanthe Seabourne and Prince Titus Elbron, who are on the run from the Inquisitor and the mysterious Bane. Both who wish to obtain Iolanthe, often referred to as Fairfax, for her great power.

Okay, the weird thing about this book is that it contains notes in the back of the book, which I found unsettling. Having to stop every 20 pages to flick to the back of the book irked me. I feel that it is a sign of poor world development or story-telling skills, as it interrupted the flow of the book.

Outside of that, it was an easy read with interesting concepts of magic. My personal favorite being The Crucible, which was basically a magical version of Grimm's Fairytales that the character's were transported into.

Overall, average fantasy.

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Information:

Format: Paperback
Dimensions 132 x 200 x 30mm | 340g
Published: 16 Sep 2014 by Balzer and Bray
Pages: 449