Tag: feiwel & friends

REVIEW: To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo (March 6, 2018)

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Woke up this morning to learn that Snarky officially has had over 90,000 hits!  Thank you for letting me gush about things I love and rant about things I hate.

Speaking of things I love: this book.

Retellings of fairytales and/or classic lit has become a favorite genre of mine. I wasn’t expecting this to be a reinterpretation of THE LITTLE MERMAID and I was a very happy reader. Just swap in sirens and add more blood. A lot more blood.

The 411: Siren Princess, Lira, is known as the Prince’s Bane–having made her name by exclusively killing mortal Princes. One a year for her seventeen years of life. On her way to number 18, she is responsible for the death of a fellow siren and her mother, the Big Bad Sea Queen aka Ursula on Steroids, isn’t having any of that. Lira is transformed into a human (but she doesn’t wish she could be part of that wooooooooooorld) with the mission to deliver the heart of Prince Elian to her charming mother before the Winter Solstice. The trick? Prince Elian isn’t your Prince Eric. He’s a pirate and a siren hunter, dead-set on serving some revenge on the Prince’s Bane.

So there’s glaring similarities to THE LITTLE MERMAID, yes? Ok–but TO KILL A KINGDOM stands completely on its own and is such a fresh, imaginative take that it feels original. Lira is not Ariel and Elian is not Eric and the mermaids in the story are physically hideous and annoying creatures, they’re the Flotsam and Jetsam of this story.

This book was so much fun. If you’ve read my blog before, you know that I love books that skew towards the darker side and this definitely ticked that mark. Congrats, Alexandra Christo! I’m excited to see what you come up with next!

MY RATING:  ✰✰✰✰
RECOMMENDED FOR: lovers of retellings with a darker twist and pirates!
MAY I ALSO SUGGEST: DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING duology by Tricia Levenseller

Thank you Macmillan / Feiwel & Friends for my galley! To Kill a Kingdom is available March 6.

Preorder links!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Book Depository

REVIEW: Renegades, Marissa Meyer (Nov. 7, 2017)

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Renegades | Marissa MeyerI’ve just started diving into Marissa Meyer’s catalogue and I was so excited to get a pre-release of Renegades. I love superhero origin stories, dystopias, and pretty covers, and Renegades has all three wrapped in nearly 600 pages of badass-ery. (PS, don’t let the length daunt you, you’re going to breeze through it too because the world is so engaging and the characters are awesome.)

Let’s dive in, shall we?

The 411: Our world is one where people with X-Men-like abilities, aka prodigies, historically were forced to keep their powers a secret and live underground. Enter Ace Anarchy, who rose to be a prominent figure, fighting for acceptance of prodigies. In response, several “villain” gangs formed, leading to the formation of OG “hero” organization, the Renegades, who overthrew Ace and ushered in the age of the Renegades.  Nova Artino is our main gal. Nova is determined to bring down the Renegades after her family was brutally murdered by a villain gang and the Renegades failed to intervene. She also happens to be the niece of one Ace Anarchy.

So the main plot involves Nova, aka Nightmare, infiltrating the Renegades to bring them down from the inside. Before the “I’ve heard this story” thoughts start infiltrating your mind and you completely cross this off…yes, you’ve probably heard/seen this storyline several times. I know I have…and I didn’t care at all. Our other narrator is Adrian, the adopted son of Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden, two of the original council Renegade members. He has the unique ability to draw anything and bring it to life. He’s also hiding some other secrets…dun dun dun

The different array of powers also super impressed me. I feel like we always get the same teleportation, telekinesis, metal manipulation, etc. But there were many abilities in Renegades that I’ve never encountered, i.e. Honey Bee’s swarm of (you guessed it) bees and Monarch’s butterflies.

And because I’m a sucker for teeny bopper romances, there wasn’t as much progress with the main pairing that I would’ve liked, but the pining and inner turmoil was satisfying for a first novel. I can’t wait to see where the story takes off from here.

MY RATING: ✰✰✰✰1/2 (or Novas if you will…ok, I’ll stop)
RECOMMENDED FOR: lovers of superheroes and interesting, well-rounded “villains”

Thank you Feiwel & Friends for my galley! Renegades is available now.