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Tour: Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler

15 Feb

Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane ZahlerPrincess of the Wild Swans
Diane Zahler
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Pages: 224
Challenges: 2012 YA/MG Fantasy Challenge, 2012 YA Historical Fiction Challenge

Rating: 3.5 stars

Princess Meriel’s brothers have been cursed. A terrible enchantment–cast by their conniving new stepmother–has transformed the handsome princes into swans. They now swim forlornly on a beautiful heart-shaped lake that lies just beyond the castle walls.

Meriel will do whatever it takes to rescue her beloved brothers. But she must act quickly. If Heart Lake freezes, her brothers will be forced to fly south or perish.

With help from her newfound friends Riona and Liam–a pretty half-witch and her clever brother–Meriel vows to finish a seemingly impossible task. If she completes it, her brothers may be saved.

But if she fails . . . all will be lost.

Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler was a super cute, fast read. I had so much fun reading and am excited to check out Diane Zahler’s other books after this.

The beginning was a bit disjointed for me, and I didn’t really get into Princess of the Wild Swans until probably a third of the way in.  Then I was super invested in it, and didn’t want to put it down. I loved trying to figure out what would happen next. I wish this one had been a bit longer, as I would have loved to know what happened just a bit beyond the conclusion of the book.

The characters were a lot of fun. I just loved Liam and Riona – both were such good hearted people. Meriel was such a strong character and I loved seeing her grow over the course of the book.

I just love this cover of this one – it is such a image and it fits the book so well. I would recommend Princess of the Wild Swans to people who love fairy tales retellings, because this one had such charm.

February Fantasy Releases

11 Feb

Sorry this post is a little late – I have had a crazy few weeks with school. But with out further ado, here are all the February fantasy books coming out this month :)

February 2012 Fantasy Releases

Pendragon Legacy: Sword of Light by Katherine Roberts – February 1
Once by Cameron Dokey – February 7
Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney – February 8

February 2012 Fantasy Releases

Bewitching by Alex Flinn – February 14
Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell – February 14
Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer – February 14

February 2012 Fantasy Releases 3

Above World by Jenn Reese – February 14
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen – February 14
Faery Tales and Nightmares by Melissa Marr – February 21

February 2012 Fantasy Releases 4
When the Sea is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen – February 28
A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford – February 28
Allegiance by Cayla Kluver – February 28

Fantasy Five Friday: Interview with Maureen Lipinski

10 Feb

I am very excited to have Maureen Lipinski here for another Fantasy Five Friday interview :)

Maureen LipinskiMaureen Lipinski is the author of Shadow’s Edge, which is her debut young adult novel, as well as A Bump in the Road and Not Ready for Mom Jeans. She graduated from Miami University and lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and two kids. You can visit her on the web at her website.

Here’s a bit about Shadow’s Edge:

My magical life is dead to me now . . . This is my last chance at freedom. Once, Leah Spencer didn’t mind being a natural-born Shaman to the Creatuir, a human helper to faeries, shapeshifters, and other magical beings. But that was before she listened to her friend Fiona and broke Rule #1, traveling unprepared to the Other Realm where she quickly lost a whole year of time. She missed out on everything–holidays, school, her sixteenth birthday, the boyfriend who ditched her. After that, Leah swore to leave all things magical behind and lead the life of a normal high school girl.

Now Fiona is missing, and something is killing off the Creatuir, both Light and Dark. As the Creatuir prepare to go to war, Leah is torn between her safe new life and solving the Other Realm murder spree. With the help of her three sisters (each with her own magical gift), and three gorgeous guys–who may or may not be part of the evil magic–Leah must vanquish an ancient dark force. Unless an unimaginable secret about her family destroys her first.

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of  your book?

SHADOW’S EDGE is about sixteen year old Leah Spencer, a natural born Shaman to the Other Realm, who has  to choose between attending regular high school and “getting all CSI” on a mystical murder spree.

Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

Ooh, fun question! I would love to be a creature with the ability to stop time. I always seem to have a mile-long To Do list and too few hours in the day to accomplish everything. I would love to be able to stop time and catch up on all my projects…or maybe I would just take a nap!

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

My favorite fantasy book will always be Madeleine L’Engle’s A WRINKLE IN TIME. I still remember being a kid and tearing through those pages while sitting on my pink Laura Ashley bedspread.

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the plot?

Usually, the characters come first. Often times, I have an idea of where I want the book to go, I’m just not sure how the characters are going to get there. Of course, there are also many times when the characters have other ideas in mind and I have to go with it!

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

The Game of Life! I LOVED that board game growing up. Still do, actually. I remember my little brother would always lose the pink and blue pegs representing kids and husbands so we’d have to use push pins. It wasn’t nearly as fun.

Thanks so much Maureen for stopping by!

Buy Shadow’s Edge: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository 

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

9 Feb

Everneath by Brodi AshtonEverneath
Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Harper Collins / Balzer + Bray
Release Date: January 24, 2012
Pages: 370

Rating: 4 stars

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld… this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s…

Everneath by Brodi Ashton was a super cool take on the myth of Persephone and Hades. It was treat to read, and I couldn’t put it down. I read this one through work, through class, and while I was supposed to be doing homework. The story really just had an addictive quality about it.

I loved the relationship between Jack and Nikki. The story surrounding it was so much fun to read. I loved and hated  Cole at the same time. And I think that was the brilliance behind his character. I would’ve liked to get to know more of the more minor characters in Everneath, as I felt like some of them were great characters, but just didn’t get to see enough of them.

The way Everneath was written was great. There was the present, but also the past in alteration, which I loved. You didn’t know the whole story to start off, so you were piecing things together and trying to come up with a bigger picture.  With the fresh take on mythology Everneath took, that was another aspect that kept me so eager to keep reading. I wanted to know how the plot would flow.

The ending was super dramatic. But I don’t feel that it left completely satisfied. I was looking for more. It was almost as if the big moment happened a bit before the end, and then it trailed off. That doesn’t mean I’m not extremely excited for the sequel though. There was just something missing from the end for me.

I really loved Brodi Ashton‘s take on this myth – it made Everneath one of the most unique books I’ve read in awhile! This really was a great, fast read that I didn’t want to put down the entire time I was reading.

Fantasy Five Friday: Interview with Courtney Allison Moulton

3 Feb

I am super excited to have Courtney Allison Moulton here at The Book Cellar today, for another Fantasy Five Friday.

Courtney Allison Moulton is the author of Angelfire, Wings of the Wicked, and the forthcoming Book 3 in the Angelfire series. She lives in Michigan with her horse, Pia.You can find her on the web at her website, twitter, and blog.

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

A teenage girl with extraordinary powers battles the armies of Hell with
the help of her reaper Guardian.

Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

I’d love to have superhuman abilities like in the X-Men. It would be fun
to be a secret government weapon or something. For like a weekend.

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the
plot?

This varies. I have about a hundred or so projects to finish on my
computer, and sometimes the world comes first and sometimes the character.
I don’t really know why one or the other, but I just go with the flow.

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book
could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

Hungry Hungry Hippos with human faces on the little balls and you, as
Ellie, have to chop their heads off before they eat the little people.
It’s like Anti-Hungry Hungry Hippos. I want to play this now.

Courtney’s next book, Wings of the Wicked, is coming out on January 31st.

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

Buy Wings of the Wicked: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Wings of the Wicked’s trailer is super awesome! 

2012 YA/MG Fantasy Challenge: February

1 Feb

The prize pack below is open to participants of the 2012 YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge only (make sure to sign up on that page or else you are not eligible to enter in the monthly giveaways). Link to your fantasy reviews that were posted in February below – each one will gain you an entry in this month’s prize pack! Please post your reviews in the format of Title by Author (Blog Name), and make sure to use a direct link, not simply a link to your blog.

FIRST OFF – January’s winner is Heidi @ Bunbury in the Stacks with her review of Daughter of the Centaurs. So Heidi, email me your address at thebookcellar @ wi.rr.com and I will get that out to you shortly :)

This month’s prize pack contains:

Books:
Witch’s Brew by Heidi R Kling (Ebook)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Bookmarks:
Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
Breath of Angel by Karyn Henley

Other Goodies:
Sweet Venom Sticker
The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney Chapter Sampler

Link up Your February Reviews Below :)



Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

31 Jan

Wings of the Wicked (Angelfire #2)
Courtney Allison Moulton
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Pages: 528
Challenges: Sophomore Challenge, YA/MG Fantasy Challenge

Rating: 5 stars

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton was an absolutely stellar read. It is rare for me to like book 2 in a trilogy better than book 1, but Wings of the Wicked just blew away Angelfire, and I have some immense love for Angelfire. From Angelfire to Wings of the Wicked, Courtney Allison Moulton has grown as a writer, and I simply cannot wait to see how this trilogy ends.

One thing I love most about the Angelfire trilogy is how well written they are. The voice is so prominent. Everything that happens, I can simply hear Ellie’s voice in my head and actually start to anticipate how she will respond.

Wings of the Wicked has the best mix of scenes ever – you go from exceptionally written fight scenes to these smokin’ scenes between Will and Ellie. I love the diversity, since I never know WHAT is going to come next. The plot of these books is so original, and the mythology Angelfire explores has only been deepened further in Wings of the Wicked, and broadens the scope to really paint the full picture. I just LOVE the idea with the reapers – they aren’t typical reapers with the cloaks and scythes, though some may appear like that, and it is just fascinating. The stakes are high in this book, and Courtney Allison Moulton keeps readers on the edges of their seats for the entire ride.

Wings of the Wicked has a wonderful cast of characters, I just love them all. You really get to know some of the more minor characters from Angelfire in Wings of the Wicked, which was awesome. I love Ellie – she is so fun-loving and unpredictable. I think it is a fact that should be acknowledged by all, that Courtney Allison Moulton writes the BEST boys. Will and Cadan to start with, but there’s also Nathan and Marcus and they are all just great. I fell for both Will and Cadan in Angelfire, and in Wings of the Wicked, I fell even harder (If that is possible?).

The ending of this one is one of those heart wrenching I-just-tore-out-your-heart-and-stomped-on-it sort of endings. Oh gosh. The wait for the concluding book in the trilogy is going to be even more painful than the wait from Angelfire to Wings of the Wicked.

Wings of the Wicked was a extremely well done sophomore novel from Courtney Allison Moulton. Everything was more awesome in this second installment of Ellie’s story, and I am so intrigued to see how it will end. This series is one of those must reads that you should rush out and get right now, because it has a story that is so unique and fascinating, and I just love it.

And if you haven’t read book 1, Angelfire, feel free to check out my review here.

Fantasy Five Friday: Interview with Heidi R Kling

27 Jan

I am super excited to have one of my all time favorite authors, Heidi R Kling, by the blog today for another Fantasy Five Friday!

Heidi R Kling is the author of Sea as well as the series, The Spellspinners of Melas County. Witch’s Brew, the first book, came out last week! She also has short stories in three anthologies, Truth & Dare, The Visitors Guide to Mystic Falls, and The First Time. You can find her on the web at her website, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Here’s a bit about Witch’s Brew:

Spellspinners is an “Active Fiction” title, a new type of e-book from Coliloquy. In this Active Fiction series, your input influences future books from this author. Specifically, in Spellspinners, your input influences what happens to star-crossed lovers Logan & Lily. Spellspinners is a young adult series about a witch, a warlock & their forbidden love. Once soulmates, the witch & warlock covens have been estranged for a century. Twice a year, their teens meet in the Solstice Stones, a magical battleground, to draw energy from each other. Logan & Lily have trained their whole lives for the Stones. In Witch’s Brew, Lily is torn between her feelings for Logan & her loyalty to her coven. The lovers race against time, their distrust for each other & their powerful elders to unravel the mystery of the past before their future is destroyed. While Lily & Logan’s fate may be decided, the author explores several paths to get there. The author sees the aggregate statistics on what option gets picked the most, so the more you read, the more you influence what she writes!

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

A witch, a warlock, and their fight to save their magic–and their forbidden love.

Since you have a fantasy novel, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

While I would LOVE to be a witch like Lily, I’m going to go with my first reaction: a unicorn. (Sorry Team Zombie.)

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

Most recently I’ve liked A Discovery of Witches–can’t wait for the sequel!

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the plot?

This go round it was the world. I could see it with such shimmering clarity. I knew from the get-go I wanted to combine nature’s innate magical elements with supernatural charms and enchantment. Setting the Spellspinners series in a modern beach town make perfect sense to me. There’s something so magical about the ocean and the coastal redwoods near where I live.

And then, once the town and the plot were in place, the characters popped into the places they intrinsically belonged.

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

Oooh AWESOME question. How about a Spellspinner edition of MONOPOLY. Where players can gain a power, lose a power? Confront Jacob and Lose A Life?

Or Chess. A Logan chess piece. Now that’d be cool. :D

Thanks so much for stopping by Heidi! And I would LOVE that edition of Monopoly or a Logan chess piece! :) Make sure to check out my review of Witch’s Brew, which I absolutely adored!

Buy Witch’s Brew

Arcania by Liz Maverick

25 Jan

Arcania (Trial by Fire #1)
Liz Maverick
Publisher: Coliloquy
Release Date: January 11, 2012

Rating: 4.5 stars

A young adult fantasy series about an underachieving teen thrust into an MMO-like world of magical combat, where she must master her own genetic gifts while investigating her twin sister’s suspicious death.

Arcania by Liz Maverick was a super cool book. It was fantasy, but definitely had a bit of a sci-fi feel to it for me! I loved the characters and the plot. Arcania was a great read and start to a series, and will only take off from here.

When I first started reading, I was a bit confused. It took a bit of reading and then I was able to more fully grasp what was going on. The set up of the story is very intriguing, so I can’t wait to see where the story will continue to go. Certain aspects of the plot were not as developed as much as I would have liked, but I’m hoping those will be sorted out in future books.

The world was super cool as well. I would love to know more about the different planes and Arcania, as I didn’t get a real great idea of what it was like. It was part of the experience I feel like, since Adia is so lost and not filled in on all the happenings, so I was discovering things along with her. As Adia grows in Arcania, I am super intrigued to see more about the world, the plots, and the Ether.

I really liked the characters. The only one I wasn’t crazy about was Minka, something about her was just off for me. Finola, Grey, and Seger were hands down the best characters of the book. I loved all three, and while I liked the other characters, they were just too awesome. I really hope to see a lot more of them in the next book. Adia was an interesting main character; I hope she grows a lot as the series continues, as she was a bit weak at times. It was almost a bit cliche with the “my sister is the talented one and I will be the under achiever”.

Needless to say I am very excited for book 2! Its release cannot come fast enough. The ending was a killer – the plot is built, and I cannot say how awesome I feel the next book will be. Arcania for me had a few bumpy spots, yet for me, all of that was forgiven with the awesome plot and the wonderful characters. For the most part while I was reading I just wanted to read more and find out what was happening, what was next, and who was behind what.

Witch’s Brew by Heidi R Kling

21 Jan

Witch’s Brew (Spellspinner’s of Melas County #1)
Heidi R Kling
Publisher: Coliloquy
Release Date: January 11, 2012

Rating: 5 stars

Spellspinners is an “Active Fiction” title, a new type of e-book from Coliloquy. In this Active Fiction series, your input influences future books from this author. Specifically, in Spellspinners, your input influences what happens to star-crossed lovers Logan & Lily. Spellspinners is a young adult series about a witch, a warlock & their forbidden love. Once soulmates, the witch & warlock covens have been estranged for a century. Twice a year, their teens meet in the Solstice Stones, a magical battleground, to draw energy from each other. Logan & Lily have trained their whole lives for the Stones. In Witch’s Brew, Lily is torn between her feelings for Logan & her loyalty to her coven. The lovers race against time, their distrust for each other & their powerful elders to unravel the mystery of the past before their future is destroyed. While Lily & Logan’s fate may be decided, the author explores several paths to get there. The author sees the aggregate statistics on what option gets picked the most, so the more you read, the more you influence what she writes!

Fantasy has always been my favorite genre, so when I learned Heidi R Kling was writing a fantasy book, I was beyond ecstatic. For those of you that have read my blog at any point before, you will know of my love for Heidi R Kling‘s debut, Sea, and how I harbor this immense crazy love for it. Something I didn’t think was possible happened with Witch’s Brew – I loved it even more. I should learn to never doubt Heidi R Kling, as she is simply a mastermind with words and can write the most beautiful stories.

Witch’s Brew is told in split point of view between Lily and Logan. First off, I just loved this – Split point of view is one of my favorite things for an author to do, and Heidi R Kling rocked it. Lily and Logan both had great voices and I found them to be great narrators – I really liked both of their voices.

Another really neat aspect to Witch’s Brew is that there are two different options for the story to go You reach a point a little ways into the book and are given two paths, like a choose your own adventure. That means you get double the characters (specifically double the Logan) and double the story! I loved both options – both were super intense and I loved them for different reasons.

The world Heidi R Kling has spun is wonderful. Her take on witches is fresh and new – which made reading so much fun. I never knew what the rules of the witches and the warlocks were or how they lived. It was a completely new experience. I also just love Kling‘s prose – it is so whimsical and has a musicality about it. My emotions were running high the entire time I was reading – I found myself cheering with the characters or get upset when things weren’t going the way I wanted or well for the characters. That is my favorite type of book to read, one where I can get so into the story!

The originality of the witches in Kling‘s world really helped make the plot that much more interesting. I had no expectations for what would happen, so I just loved walking through Lily and Logan’s world to figure out what would happen next. There were elements of mystery in the cases of both the witches and the warlocks, and I’m very curious how that will all pan out.

The characters of Witch’s Brew were so much fun. Logan will be sure to catch every girl’s attention – I know he has definitely made the top to my list of hot YA boys. He is just so nice and so pure hearted I felt like. I loved Lily – she is a great main character and another great soul. Daisy was a character who was so fun any scene she was in – I hope to hear a lot more from her in future books! Orchid had so much spunk – She’s another character I’m looking forward to see more of. Maggie only appears in one scene, but she’s yet another character to hear more from in the future.

I simply cannot wait for the second Spellspinners of Melas County book. Kling has built the perfect structure for the series with this book and it will simply take off from here. The last pages of Witch’s Brew built with an immense amount of intensity to just the perfect point, then breaks off in quite the cliffhanger. It is a cruel ending, yet definitely peaked my interest beyond belief for the next book.

Witch’s Brew by Heidi R Kling is the book I have been waiting for since the day I finished the last page of Sea. There’s something about Heidi R Kling‘s books that is so magical. The stories she tells and the characters she chooses, they all are just so wonderful and worthy of being told. The cast of characters in this series definitely have a story worth telling, so the wait until book 2 begins now.

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