Review: The Lost Prince

Title: The Lost Prince
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten (books 5 in the Iron Fey series, book 1 in the Call of the Forgotten trilogy)
Rating: 4/5
Blurb:

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall for.


Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Review:

Ethan is all grown up!

I was super excited when I found out Julie Kagawa was writing a trilogy continued from The Iron Fey featuring Meghan Chase's younger brother, Ethan. I know it would be an amazing book, as Kagawa never disappoints, and I was right.

This book included all of Julie Kagawa's usual awesomeness. Amazing writing, exciting and heart-breaking plot twists, old and beloved characters, new characters that you just want to hold close to you in order to keep them safe... It had it all. And the storyline, of course, was fabulous. The lost and forgotten fey had intrigued me when we met them in The Iron Knight, and I was glad this was something Kagawa decided to write on.

I definitely recommend reading the entire Iron Fey series before starting this one (although it is not competely necessay, it would better benefit you, as a reader, to know the whole background story about what happened to Ethan's sister Meghan), including the novellas and especially Iron's Prophecy.

I'm intrigued to find out where the rest of the series take us, though mostly I am terrified. The next book is titled The Traitor Son, and I am biting my nails in anticipation and fear. I won't say much more as I don't want to spoil anything in the previous books, but if you have been on the fence about this series, it is one that I highly recommend!

Iron Fey Comics plus Giveaway

So it's official: Julie Kagawa is working with a team at Bluewater Productions to make Iron King (and the rest of the books) into comics!
Julie Kagawa talks about the project and how they are looking for pledges in the form of donations to help the project along (and how you can win Iron Fey-related prizes for pledging!) in the video below:

Exciting!

Julie Kagawa is also having a giveaway on her blog (international!!!) for anyone who helps to spread the word about the Kickstart.

Link to Julie Kagawa's blog post

Kickstart page

Life and Stuff

This will be a short blog post, and I cannot say when the next time I will post on here will be, because I myself do not know.

It has been nearly a month since I have last posted and as much as I love blogging about books, I just don't have the time anymore. Between working basically full time hours and my writing and reading, I don't want to have to worry about a blog to run as well. I will be posting on here, but the posts will likely be few and far between, and will most likely contain updates on my writing and such. Perhaps a review of something I've read that I feel the need to write a review on. I don't know; I can't predict my future productivity.

Well that's a lie. I predict this blog will one day turn into an author's blog (or maybe I just hope that?), so we shall see.

In the meantime, I wish you all well. I hope you still follow me and don't mine the slight hiatus-of-sorts I am going on.

Mini update on my current reads:

I am halfway through Paper Towns by John Green. I have read The Fault in our Stars and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, so it seems I am reading his published works in reverse order (based on publication dates), so I suppose the next book from him I will read will be An Abundance of Katherines, and then finally Looking For Alaska, which has been spoiled for me. But hey, it's been out for years, so I guess that's my fault for not picking it up sooner. Still, though, I hate spoilers.

Before this I finished two books, one being Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. A great YA fantasy. I definitely recommend if you are into fantasy.
I also read a novel self-published by a Twitter/writer friend of mine, Allie Brennan, Tight Knit. You can buy it in e-book format on Amazon or Kobo, or in paperback on Amazon. A great mature YA contemporary you should all check out. As I have previously stated on this blog, contemporary is not my favourite genre, but I've been easing myself into it (with some of John Green's books on my shelf, as well as The Waiting Sky, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and I think that's it), and Tight Knight is one I thoroughly enjoyed (also I'm in the acknowledgements)!

I've been trying to make a book haul video (I have many new books I want to share with the book vlog community), but between dying camera batteries and lack of days off when my family isn't home, I haven't had much luck. So we'll see what happens.

I'm off to go read some more Paper Towns before I get some sleep before work tomorrow, so good night! And hopefully I'll be back on here sooner than later.

Happy reading!

Old Favourites #2: Christmas Classics

(I'm bringing back Old Favourites. If you would like to participate in this meme, let me know in the comments and link me to your blog. If enough people participate, I can make this an official meme with a specific blog post about it and a list of blogs participating and everything!)

It seems only fitting to do a Christmas-themed blog post, right? Thought so.

This episode of Old Favourites (it's okay to call it an episode, right? Pretend you're watching tv or something. Okay. Moving on) I'd like to talk about one of my favourite Christmas classics.

Yep. How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss, right? I, along with hopefully everyone ever, grew up reading Dr. Seuss. And each year my brother and I would sit in front of the tv several times in December watching the half hour animated movie adaptation of this wonderful book.

It features everything a book about Christmas should have: memorable morals, remarkable rhymes, and incredible visuals (sorry, I couldn't keep up with the alliteration there. I hope you'll forgive me).

Dr. Suess' stories are classic, and I'm glad to see that parents are still buying their children these books, and especially that they are continuing to buy those that have been made into movies. But that's a topic for another blog post.

Christmas. Old Favourites. Right. Get back on track, Courtney.

The moral in The Grinch is, of course, an important one. It highlights family and community unity, reminding children that Christmas (and other holidays) are not all about the decorations and the presents (even if those are great bonuses). Christmas is about family and friends and being with the people you care most about and who cares most about you.
It's an important anti-materialistic message that everyone should be introduced to at a young age, especially with the advances in technology that are mind-blowingly putting iPads in the hands of six year olds (seriously, parents?). It's messages like those in Seuss that our children should be reading (or hearing, if they are too young or inable to read).

Not only that, but Seuss' stories are fun to read! And that's what makes them all the more appealing. I had no idea I was being taught life lessons in these books when I read them. I read them and I loved them, and I even read them today.

Parents, aunts/uncles, grandparents, guardians, older siblings, etc, I hope you're gifting some Seuss to the children in your life.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, fellow readers and bloggers.
And, of course, happy reading!


Since we're on the topic, what are your favourite Seuss books?
Green Eggs and Ham and The Lorax both tie at number one for me.

Worldwide Covers #2: Pure

(A book blog meme hosted by Librarian Mouse. To participate and for more info, click here)

More book covers! Because let's be honest, we all judge them. It's one of the first impressions we get on a book. This time I'll be sharing and comparing the worldwide covers to the book I am currently reading.

Pure by Julianna Baggott

Above is the USA and Canada cover. I love the simplicity of the cover; it's one of the things that first drew me to this book. (My boss recommending it is what ultimately made me pick it up, but then I went home and went to add it on Goodreads, only to realise I already had!)

The UK paperback cover is pictured above. Not my favourite, but I love the font!

Another UK paperback cover that was released several months after the first printing. Very fiery and eye-catching and sure to draw in Hunger Games fans.

The German cover. Basically the same as the American cover, but in German.

The Italian cover. The colour pops out a little bit more on this one.

And above is the Polish cover, which is very different from the others. Still a great design!

So which cover is your favourite?

I personally am attached to the American cover, probably because it's the one I'm reading. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Tainted by Lynn Rush

I am very pleased to be involved in the cover reveal for the third installment in Lynn Rush's Wasteland series.
The cover is absolutely beautiful, but I will just stop typing now so you can all see that for yourself...

Ta-daa!

I love the red against the snow, personally. Awesome cover. I can't stop staring...
Oh, right. The blurb!

THE TAINTED BACK COVER BLURB (from Goodreads):

Even death can’t stop true love…After over four hundred years as a Guardian, Durk Langdon rebuked it all. Walked away from everything when his mate, Jessica, was brutally murdered. Yet he has no recollection of anything since that gruesome day. 
Nothing alleviates his longing for Jessica or his disdain for the Guardians until a former brother-in-arms joins him and his cause. Visions of his lost love start appearing in the most unlikely places, until Durk learns she survived. 
But when he sets out to find her, demonic obstacles he never could have imagined tear them apart. 
If only he had trusted her.

 And of course, a portion of all proceeds will be donated to cancer research and treatment.

Add Tainted to your goodreads to-read list! And if you have yet to read the first two books in the series, click here to check them out on goodreads as well.

Connect with Lynn Rush:
Follow her on Twitter: @LynnRush
Visit her website
Like her on Facebook



And to make this cover reveal even more exciting, there is a giveaway you can enter! See the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, and happy readying to all!

Cover Judging #2 + Cover Reveal: Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa

The publishers of the Blood of Eden series have designed new covers for Julie Kagawa's vampiric dystopian series, Blood of Eden. The new covers looks great, and I am excited for them, but I do understand why some fans of the series are concerned about the new cover designs. However, I have a few points that should soothe your hesitation, Kagawa fans.

(The first edition The Immortal Rules cover)

Like with Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me trilogy, Blood of Eden is going to have new cover designs, presumably so the series can have covers that flow. Both YA series had standard covers featuring the main character (See my post on the new Shatter Me trilogy cover reveal here), and I believe that having a cover that features more of a design than a face will appeal to readers. Current fans already love the series, and a cover that could appeal to everyone would only benefit the series. I don't want to get into a super deep analysis of what type of covers attract what groups of people, so I won't say much else about that.
Plus there isn't much you can do with a character's face at the cover, unless you change up the characters featured on the cover, or if you do what the Delirium trilogy did with their covers (which I personally am not a fan of, because it was just different angles of Lena's face with a different colour featured on each colour. It did not feel as creative as it could have been, but hey).

Cover changes happen, and usually it is for the better, even if not everyone is a fan (and it's impossible to please everyone, so) of the changes.

And honestly, I had a feeling the covers would change. I personally love the new covers. They're fun to look at, and even though this means I'm going to have to buy another copy of The Immortal Rules so my covers will match, I can live with that.

So what are your thoughts on the new covers? Let's discuss in the comments!