Month: April 2016

Forsworn (The Last Oracle #2)

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forsworn
*caution – gushing and fangirling ahead*

“Do you have any idea what it feels like to try to hate someone you love? It’s agony. Beyond agony. It’s like there’s something deep inside you, eating away at your insides. I couldn’t do anything, I was so full of anger. Every day it got worse. Because it goes against my very nature to hate you. Hating you – it’s like trying not to breathe.”

I have the wonders of Netgalley to thank for introducing me to the awesomeness of Emily Wibberley’s writing. Early last year I managed to snag a copy of the first book in this series and fell in love. So in love in fact, that I immediately emailed Emily to let her know. A bit of back and forth and the next thing I know, Emily is asking me to be a beta reader for the next installment. A chance to read the book before anyone else, and have input about it? What on earth was I going to say? No? Not a bloody chance in hell.

So I beta read it, gave my thoughts and looked forward to reading it when it was published. Then I forgot about it, because life and reasons.

It wasn’t until the cover reveal for the third book came through that I was finally prompted to read the finished edition of this book and it has surpassed my every expectation.

Clio. She’s one of my all time favorite YA protagonists. I think it’s a tie between her and my love Alexis. But fark. Clio. She’s matured a lot since the first book and while she still makes some stupid decisions, she is a much more sensible young woman, and with the weight of the world on her shoulders, I think she is doing a pretty great job of handling all the issues she comes across.

Riece. *swoons*

Sure. He’s a complete asshole for the first half of the book, and usually I would be all like “blah blah I hate love triangles whinge whinge” but this WORKS. It works so well. I love that Riece is an asshole to Clio. I love that Clio is a bitch to him. And then I love that Riece breaks down and says shit like this:

“I thought back to holding you in that Temple, to finally pressing my lips to yours. I think about that every night, and yes it hurt to think I might never have that again, but even the pain was sacred because it was proof that I had something worth living for, worth dying for.”

The sexual tension in this was off the chain. Be prepared to sit and wait for the goodness to come, cause Ms. Wibberley sure as fuck makes you wait for it, but when it comes, and it’s only kissing, but fuck me, its sizzles off the pages better than some erotica I have read. Lady got skillz for writing the love times.

There is an awful lot going on in this book. Such story. Very drama. So intensity. Wow.

I do have to say that the pacing is a little off, there is SO MUCH happening at the end of the book my mind nearly exploded because of the information overload. And then we are hit with that cliffhanger which is amazing and I’m not even angry about it because Clio is badass and I love her. But compared with the start, it is a little bottom heavy? Top heavy? Second half heavy? You get the picture.

I don’t understand how this book and this series isn’t at the top of YA lists everywhere. I love it and I can’t bloody wait for the next book to come out.

LOVES

4 i-want-to-have-riece’s-babies Stars

I was a beta reader for this story and was gifted a copy of this e-book for my time. This has not influenced my rating.

Silver Metal Lover

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“Mother, I am in love with a robot.”

Excuse me while I sploosh everywhere. And then worry about the sploosh tarnishing the robot’s gears and machinery. 

This is the story of Jane, a sixteen year old sheltered, pampered and wishy-washy young woman, who falls in love with a robot called Silver. Silver, however, is not a normal robot. He has been designed to be better than human in every way and is so lifelike that Jane never sees him as anything other than a human man, except when she is at her most vicious. 

This love story is heartbreaking. This story is told through the eyes of Jane, so we see Silver purely through her eyes and experience him through her, and what an experience it is. He has some amazing , swoon worthy lines. Dude’s got so much game. And he isn’t even human. Would bang. Get in the dungeon.

Jane’s progression as the story develops is particularly well done. The start of this story is terribly melancholy and Jane is not likable in the slightest. But as she falls further and further in love and learns to live her own life away from the constraints of her family and so-called friends, she really blossoms and becomes a better person. 

Her friends and family are all selfish assholes and giant pieces of shit. I want them all to die. They are a horrid group of people and they deserve nothing short of the fires of hell for eternity. But Jane’s naivete and willingness to forgive even the most horrible of trespasses, is actually pretty awe inspiring. 

This was a wonderful story. It took a while to get going, for me, but about a hundred pages in everything started to click and I couldn’t put it down. I even hid in the change rooms at work so I could read the final few chapters, in tears. 

I do have to say, for a while there I thought there was going to be a twist where it is revealed that (view spoiler) but alas, that was not to be.

This is a story about love in all it’s forms. It showcases the way love can help you become the best version of yourself, and how it can bring out the worst in others, too.

I truly had no idea what to expect going into this book. But I’m so glad with what I found. A wonderful story full of character progression, love, trials, tribulations, heartbreak, hopelessness and forgiveness. 

I look forward to reading the second one, as soon as it arrives in the mail. Tanith Lee is a word wizard and I hope to read much more of her work in the future. 

“Jane, Jane, a pane of crystal, the sound of rain falling on the silken grain of marble, a slender, pale chain of a name.”

4 silver-nail-through-the-heart Stars

Thanks for putting this book on my radar and buddy reading with me Heather and Karly!