Powerless, Powerful, Reckless, by Lauren Roberts

Powerless, Powerful, Reckless, by Lauren Roberts

My daughter suggested I read this fantasy series by Lauren Roberts. I think it might border on young adult but is totally enjoyable for any adult to read. It's about a land where a mysterious plague came through, killing many of the people, but it had an interesting side effect for some of the survivors and their descendants--special powers. Some can read minds. Some can become invisible. And the list goes on. However, the king decides that those without powers must be killed or banished to keep the lines of power going. 

Paedyn is a teenage girl who has been on her own for a few years, thieving and working the streets in order to survive, her parents having died earlier, her mother at her birth, and her father was killed. Paedyn has no powers, but her father trained her to be extremely observant so she could pass as a Psychic. 

The land has a lottery, kind of like The Hunger Games, where a handful of young people must fight each other in a series of trials, and possibly to the death---and the winner gets to live as nobility with their own estate and riches. Paedyn is chosen for these trials, and must not let anyone know she is ordinary and powerless. 

That's the first book. The second book, Powerful, is about her friend Adena.

The third book, Reckless, without giving too much away, is about what happens after the trials.

There are supposed to be two more books in the series coming out.

I really enjoyed this series. It gave me and my daughter some things to talk about, such as the king's relationships with his two sons, both viewing the other as favored, while neither one of them feeling they were enough for their father; themes of redemption for those who have crossed a line they never wanted to, but felt they had no choice; forgiveness; family, loyalty, creating one's own family group; and the idea of racism and racial purity and genocide.

It's definitely worth reading if you enjoy fantasy and some romance, and it's a clean romance, so no sex scenes, which I found to be nice. I don't care for reading anything sexually explicit.

 

Deepsix, Jack McDevitt

Deepsix, Jack McDevitt

A Bookcrossing friend sent me this sci-fi adventure to put in my Little Free Library. I set it in Mt. TBR first, and I am glad I did. I like sci-fi, but often it becomes predictable. You know who is going to die or get eaten. You know what the disaster is going to be and what "twists" lie ahead if you read enough or watch enough movies. You figure out who the survivor is going to be or what the underlying plot is. However, with this book, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have it all figured out. The author wrote it in a way that kept it moving and exciting the whole time. I was really happy with it and except for the tiny print on my 40-something eyes that require readers now, I had a hard time putting it down.

It's about a life-bearing planet that was discovered some 20 years earlier and was going to be explored, but it was found that the wildlife was very hostile and so the mission was aborted. Fast forward, and there's a rogue moon that is heading for the planet and it's about to be obliterated. Scans show a building on the planet, so a crew is sent to explore it before the moon hits. Disaster happens, and the crew must figure out a way to get off the planet in a hurry, while trekking across a continent making interesting discoveries and trying to survive the hostile and deadly creatures that live there.

Like I said, it was interesting the whole way through, and there was a lot that I did not expect. I liked that. 

I did not realize it, but this is #2 in The Academy series, the first being Engines of God. I have just found a bunch of his books on paperbackswap.com and have ordered them.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Assistant to the Villain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Assistant to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

This was loaned and recommended to me by my oldest daughter, Elizabeth. She really enjoyed it, and she thought I would, too. She was right. 

This is the story of a young woman who is seeking employment so she can take care of her ill father and her young sister, and as she is out walking in the woods, she meets a mysterious man, who has the king's guards chasing him. He ends up hiring her as his assistant, and we discover he is known as The Villain. 

We learn what it's like  being morally gray and working for a villain who hangs the heads of his enemies from the ceiling, and tortures people in his dungeon. We read the story from Evie's perspective, and also from the Villain's perspective, and  eventually learn what made him the way he is, as their lives become intertwined and they discover some twists and turns in their reality while trying to uncover a traitor in their midst. 

This book gives me kind of an Ella Enchanted (the movie) vibe. It's a fun fantasy read and one can really come to love the characters in it. It's easy to read, easy to understand what's going on, but not so simple that it becomes boring. My daughter and I found a lot to discuss about this book and some of the complexities that we discovered in it. 

There's supposed to be a sequel out later this year. I look forward to reading it. This is an enjoyable read and although it's the first book I have read by this author, I like her style and would gladly read more from her.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

Japanese Folktales, Yei Theodora Ozaki

 Japanese Folktales, Classic Stories from Japan's Enchanted Past

Compiled by Yei Theodora Ozaki

If anyone knows me, they know I love learning about Japanese culture. So I was excited to come across this little paperback book of Japanese folktales. Some of these were already familiar to me, but most I had never heard of before. Many of them feature the Dragon King Rin Jin ruler of the sea, portraying him as both a genteel host as well as a powerful force to respect and fear.

I will be adding this to the Asian culture section of my personal library.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn

My eldest daughter has recently taken up reading as a hobby, and she asked me to read this. She really enjoyed it, even though it isn't the genre she likes. Did I like it? Yes! I felt it was well written and I didn't have it all figured out, unlike many books I have read over the years.

This is the story of a southern black girl who recently lost her mother in a tragic accident. She has started college at a  mostly white southern college. She's trying to reinvent herself and just try to survive, all the while grieving the loss of her mother. From the first day she is at college, though, very weird things happen, things she can't dismiss or forget, and somehow she feels looking into these events might give her a key to understanding what happened the night her mother died.

This is the first book in a series, and she finds out things about herself she had no idea about, shocking things in her past and in her family's past that are brought to light and end up empowering her far beyond anything she could have imagined. 

Oh and did I forget to mention that Arthurian Legend is mixed into this thrilling and fun read?

Yes, there is magic, a fight against evil, and some witchcraft thrown in. 

There is also a look at racism, from a black girl's point of view, and this is written by a young black woman. 

I can't wait to read the second book in the series!!

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck