The Brides of Rollrock Island - Margo Lanagan

This was another book where the premise had me hooked and itching to read! Throughout the book I found myself enjoying the book but not as engaged as I had thought I would be until the climax. For probably fifty pages I was so tense that I almost forgot to breath and at the end of the action I had to physically pull myself away for a little while to regroup and finish the book. Because it was just so intense. 

The books setting is a little reminiscent of The Scorpio Races` as in it`s set on a small isolated island where magic is a seamless part of the culture and the Selkies of legend come to life (Selkies are seals who are turned into women for those of you unfamiliar with the term). In this book however the character we begin with is not a plucky young woman determined to earn her place in the world, but is instead a young woman who is constantly on the outskirts of society, mocked by her peers for both her appearance as well as her unusual abilities. Her home life is no better with her mother a horrible harpy and her sisters little better. She spends her childhood and adolescence completely miserable, until she decides to finally use her powers. But young Misskaella doesn`t use her power to improve her life, she uses it to ruin the lives of the women of the island. She brings beautiful, obedient seal women out of the ocean to become brides to the men of Rollrock Island, effectively driving the indigenous women off. 

This book was a roller coaster! At first you are so angry with the townsfolk for the way they treat Misskaella, then you`re so angry with her for being such a horrible witch and living up to their expectations of her, and then your feelings and emotions continue to swing this way and that as you see the story from the perspective of different islanders over a period of several decades. 

Well worth a read! And if you are struggling in the beginning please push through! It is worth it!!

Enjoy!

Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers

This book was an interesting read. I was really taken by the premise, but kind of disappointed overall. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read but the plot was fairly interesting and quick paced. The story takes place in medieval Brittany (a region of France) where our heroine Ismae is born marked by the poison her mother took in order to abort her. She is a daughter of death, feared by her step father and sold to the pig farmer down the road when she reaches marriageable age. Before she can be ruined by a life of physical labour and hardship she is rescued by a group of nuns at the convent of St. Mortain who are assassins, fulfilling Death's wishes by killing those who are a threat to Brittany's independence. Ismae joins the nuns and becomes an expert assassin, particularly well trained in poison. However, things go slightly awry on her first mission and she ends up in the company of a nobleman bound for Brittany's royal court and the intrigue and deceit that comes along with it.

I have to be honest I wasn't really to fond of Ismae. She was a bit whiny. I was also a bit confused as to why the Abbess of the convent would send a woefully unprepared novice to the royal court when there were surely people more adequately prepared for the mission. Ismae spends quite a lot of time questioning her placement there, and while her loyalty to the besieged duchess is admirable, she was quite clearly not the woman for the job. I was also considerably more interested in another one of the novices who arrived at the same time as Ismae. Sybella was a much more engaging character and I was quite pleased to learn that she is the star of the second book in the series! another thing that really bothered me about this book was the fact that as a trained assassin Ismae should really be able to take on any and all opponents, and often she does, but occasionally her skills seem to abandon her and if there's one thing I dislike it's inconsistency. Finally and I'll say *SPOILER ALERT* Sex as a cure for poison? Not so sure about that...

All and all a decent read but not the top of my list!

Enjoy 

Morgan

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

I just have to say first that I really love Maggie Stiefvater. Everything I read by her I really enjoy and The Raven Boys was no exception. Like The Scorpio Races I really loved how she blended mythical and magical elements into everyday life so that magic somehow blends perfectly into contemporary society. There's not really any sense of unbelieveability at all; the insertion of magic is done so masterfully that you just accept that things are the way she's written them. I read a lot of fantasy fiction and Stiefvater is up there with the best of them for sure!

 The Raven Boys takes place in a small town in the United States. The town's population is divided between the local townsfolk who live there year round and the Raven Boys who attend the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The locals tolerate the presence of spoiled rich boys, but there is no love lost between the two groups, so when Blue the daughter of the local psychic gets caught up with four of the most infamous Raven Boys adventure is sure to follow.

Blue is a really interesting character and I have to say that I really fell for her. She's the black sheep of her family, able to augment the psychic powers of her mother and female relatives, but unable to see the future or into the spirit realms. With her powers she is an important tool to the psychic's trade but she's always on the outside looking in, until one fateful night with her aunt in a graveyard. The relationships between the four Raven Boys we meet are also incredibly intricate and are such a wonderful aspect of the story. So often in YA fiction we are only privy to the relationships between the female protagonist and any of the men/ boys she comes in contact with. The relationships that those boys have with other boys is so rarely explored.

This book contains all the elements of a great story. A mystery, a quest, a coming of age, and even a romance or two.

Definitely worth a read!

Enjoy!