Book Review: Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse

October 10, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads8 Comments

Fevered Star (Between Earth and Sky #2)
Publisher: Saga Press
Pub Date: 19 April 2022
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

_{(4 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

There are no tides more treacherous than those of the heart. —Teek saying

The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent.

The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded?

As sea captain Xiala is swept up in the chaos and currents of change, she finds an unexpected ally in the former Priest of Knives. For the Clan Matriarchs of Tova, tense alliances form as far-flung enemies gather and the war in the heavens is reflected upon the earth.

And for Serapio and Naranpa, both now living avatars, the struggle for free will and personhood in the face of destiny rages. How will Serapio stay human when he is steeped in prophecy and surrounded by those who desire only his power? Is there a future for Naranpa in a transformed Tova without her total destruction?

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Misgendering, suicide, self-harm for blood magic, alcohol consumption, blood & gore depiction, body horror, death of a parent recounted, murder, torture, war themes

TL;DR: Becky and I have finally continued our buddy read of this series and I’m glad not too much time has passed between our reads of books 1 and 2. A couple of days have passed since I finished reading this and the more I think about it, the more I realise that I enjoyed it a little less than I initially thought. That’s not to say this was a bad book and I’m still rating it 3.5-4 stars but compared to the intensity, action and excitement that book 1 roused, this one fell rather flat. By the end, this very much felt like a filler book to set the scene for the finale, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I expected more.

Book Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

August 22, 2024 Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1)
Publisher: Solaris
Pub Date: 14 October 2022
Genre: Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

_{(4.5 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

The first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Slavery mentioned, abandonment, child abuse & neglect, emotional & physical abuse. suicide, alcoholism, alcohol consumption & abuse, drug use, blood depiction, physical injury, beheading, graphic dismemberment, forced blinding, scarring, grief & loss depiction, death of a parent, death of a child, mass murder, poisoning, kidnapping, physical assault, imprisonment, cults, animal death

TL;DR: Holy grandfather crow! This was amazing and I’m kicking myself for putting it off for so long. I don’t even know where to begin because everyone else seems to have already said it best but I will say that I 100% get the hype. Black Sun is a testament to Roanhorse’s brilliance as a writer. She has a great ability to create culturally rich, diverse and spellbinding epic fantasy worlds, and compelling well-rounded characters. It was so easy to immerse myself in the setting and by the end, I was fully invested in our character’s arcs. I can’t wait to see what happens next! 😍

ARC Review: The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman

May 18, 2022September 10, 2022 Dini @ dinipandareads10 Comments

Special thanks to Clarion Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Goodreads: The Ivory Key (The Ivory Key Duology #1)
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publish Date: 04 January 2022
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Panda Rating:

_{(3.5 pandas)}

Magic, a prized resource, is the only thing between peace and war. When magic runs out, four estranged royal siblings must find a new source before their country is swallowed by invading forces. The first in an Indian-inspired duology.

Vira is desperate to get out of her mother’s shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country’s only quarry running out of magic–a precious resource that has kept Ashoka safe from conflict–she can barely protect her citizens from the looming threat of war. And if her enemies discover this, they’ll stop at nothing to seize the last of the magic.

Vira’s only hope is to find a mysterious object of legend: the Ivory Key, rumored to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and retrieve it, she must reunite with her siblings, torn apart by the different paths their lives have taken. Each of them has something to gain from finding the Ivory Key–and even more to lose if they fail. Ronak plans to sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for escape from his impending political marriage. Kaleb, falsely accused of assassinating the former maharani needs it to clear his name. And Riya, a runaway who cut all family ties, wants the Key to prove her loyalty to the rebels who want to strip the nobility of its power.

They must work together to survive the treacherous journey. But with each sibling harboring secrets and their own agendas, the very thing that brought them together could tear apart their family–and their world–for good.