2/29/2020

Nevernight-Die Rache by Jay Kristoff

To be honest, this one hasn´t thrilled me as the others have before. Yes, most of the book was what I consider a reading pleasure and I rated it with the same number as I did the others before. But there were also pages and chapters I see as unnecessary filling material. Sad, but that is how I feel about this last Mia book. 

Nevernight-Die Rache*

by Jay Kristoff

The Nevernight Chronicle #3

Translation Kirsten Borchardt

Original Title Darkdawn**

Publisher Fischer TOR on January 29, 2020

Genre Fantasy

Pages 776

Format Hardcover

Source Publisher 

Goodreads

✶✶✶✶ 

The Great Games end with the boldest murder in the history of the Republic of Itreya – but unfortunately, it hits the wrong person. Consul Julius Scaeva survived the attack, and his power in the state is now almost limitless. Just like his hatred of Mia Corvere. Hunted by the Assassins of the Red Church and soldiers from the Republic of Itreya, Mia embarks on her last great journey to uncover the secret of her origins and find out how to defeat Sacaeva. But she has to hurry, because the next Truedark is approaching, and night falls over the Republic. (personal translation ©Vi at Inkvotary).

Story

Mia is willing to do what it takes to get her revenge and to find out the secret that lies behind being a Darkin. But Scaeva´s power is now limitless and his powerful hatred a dangerous thing. She has no other choice but to find a way to gain even more power and that means she has to give up what she desires the most. Pain and loss are very close and once again she is forced to do what needs to be done to bring everything back into balance.

Style

Forget the footnotes. Whether you like them or not, the author doesn´t give a damn. And that is totally ok with me *lol* So leaving that aside, I have to say that this third and last book was even more brutal, bloody and cruel as the other two have been altogether. And I am still trying to find out how I feel about it. I mean, the end wasn´t as shocking as I had expected it. And I have still some unanswered questions about Mia and Scaeva. And considering the fact, that the author doesn´t believe in happy endings, I was surprised about the end this book had. That was almost too much if you ask me.  

Characters

I missed the Mia I´ve got to know and fell in love with from the first book. THAT was one hell of a badass. Here she seemed like a very calmed down and very emotional version of the once revenge-driven girl who wanted nothing more but to get justice for her dead family. I loved how she handled the situation with her little brother Jonnen. And it was great to watch her while dealing with Scaeva and some other figures in here. The way how she gained the throne she never wanted was an incredible scene. There the smart badass came back. Her cleverness, her will to get what she wants no matter how and that she isn´t hesitant when it comes to killing others. THAT was the Mia I loved watching during Nevernight. 

Conclusion

Although I am considering this as a reading pleasure, at least in some way, it wasn´t what I was expecting. The end was a bit disappointing and too corny. Mia and corny just don´t fit together. Ok, she has some hot love scenes and the author brings a huge amount of Erotic into this story, but on the other hand that´s nothing that makes you blush anymore. Well, go and see for yourself if that is a worthy end to the Mia story or not. 

Happy reading

*This book was kindly provided to me by Fischer TOR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.

** Darkdawn was published by St. Martin´s Press on September 3, 2019. 

Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff is an internationally bestselling author of The Lotus War, The Illuminae Files and The Nevernight Chronicles. He is the winner of four Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, nominee for the Locus award. David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards, named multiple times in the Kirkus and Amazon Best Teen Books list and published in over thirty countries, most of which he has never visited. He is as surprised about all of this as you are. He is 6´7 and has approximately 12,665 days to live. He abides in Melbourne with his secret agent kung-fu assassin wife, and the world´s laziest Jack Russel. He does not believe in happy endings.

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8/07/2018

Nevernight-Das Spiel by Jay Kristoff

I am still in a weird emotional state. This wasn´t what I was expecting. Not at all. With Godsgrave the author throws you into a world where the sun burns mercilessly down on everything, where Mia has to prove to herself that she is more than an ordinary assassin and where blood means nothing to some of the folks. Good, I had some trouble getting into the novel, for quite some chapters, but that wasn´t because of the novel, but because of me. If you like the way how Jay Kristoff writes his stories, you might like the story about Mia as well. 

Nevernight-Das Spiel*

by Jay Kristoff
The Nevernight Chronicle #2
Translation Kirsten Borchardt
Original Title Godsgrave
Publisher Fischer Tor on April 25, 2018
Genre Fantasy
Pages 697
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher

Goodreads

✶✶✶✶

Mia returns to Godsgrave, the city of bridges and bones. As a contract killer of the Red Church, she follows their orders to the word and kills without asking questions. Her real goal, however, are the men who have her family on their conscience: Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo. When Mia finds out that the Assassin Order is protecting Scaeva, she turns her back on him and commits her greatest stupidity to date: she sells herself into slavery to become a gladiator in the Big Games. For the winner, it is said, is granted a private audience with the consul … (personal translation by ©Vi at Inkvotary)

Story

Mia wants revenge. But when she discovers, that the Red Church is protecting the men she wants dead, she has to change her plans. Becoming a gladiator and fighting in the Big Game seems the only way for her, to come close to those, who killed her family. Under the mercilessly burning sun, she trains and does everything to get what she desires the most. And maybe even more.

Style

I hate footers. And this book has quite some of them. Good, they are all written in Mia´s very sarcastic and ironic voice, but still. They are disturbing, no matter how much information I get out of them. 

But enough of that. 

I was, again, impressed by how the author has created the world Mia lives in. Mia works now as an Assassin, does what the Red Church wants her to do and her private revenge is well underway. Good, the romantic part of this novel wasn´t necessary, at least not for me, but well. Be prepared, that there is a lot of bloody scenes, cruelty, and sex. Mia´s world is merciless. If you can´t fight your life is worthless and if you´re not smart, you are already dead. I was very impressed by all the twists and turns the author has put into this novel. There was never a dull moment or something I was expecting all along.

Characters

Mia can use all the things she has learned in book one to survive the evil things that happen in this second book. Someone isn´t happy that her Domina is using her to get what she wants and does everything to prevent her from becoming a winner in the Big Game. This time we see a bit more of the private Mia. The female side she is using to get what she wants. I missed a bit of the action that had happened in book one, and I missed some of her sarcasm and irony she used to show. This time she seems more settled, quieter, and not as rebellious as before. But still one hell of a great girl!

Conclusion

An intensive, gloomy, sexy, and very thrilling fantasy novel. Mia is on a path of revenge and shows some sides I´d never expected to see. And after that end, I am looking forward to seeing, how things will finally unfold. A book that gives you for sure some wonderful reading pleasure. 

Happy reading

*This book was kindly provided to me by Fischer Tor in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.  Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.

The book was published originally under the title Godsgrave.

Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff is an internationally bestselling author of The Lotus War, The Illuminae Files and The Nevernight Chronicles. He is the winner of four Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, nominee for the Locus award. David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards, named multiple times in the Kirkus and Amazon Best Teen Books list and published in over thirty countries, most of which he has never visited. He is as surprised about all of this as you are. He is 6´7 and has approximately 12,665 days to live. He abides in Melbourne with his secret agent kung-fu assassin wife and the world´s laziest Jack Russel. He does not believe in happy endings.

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9/20/2017

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

OMG – that cover rocks! Dark, mysterious, bloody and with colors that fit completely. And the fact that you get a hint of how Mia looks, is a plus as well. And when you read the novel, you can see that everything on the cover has its meaning. A book that isn´t only well designed when it comes to its cover: the inside is a real beauty as well. There is only one thing I didn´t like about this edition: what that is you can read in my review below *smile*

Nevernight*

by Jay Kristoff
The Nevernight Chronicle #1
Publisher Thomas Dunne Books on September 08, 2016
Genre Fantasy
Pages 448
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher

Goodreads

✶✶✶✶

In a land where suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against powers who destroyed her family. Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father´s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father´s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Now, a sixteen year old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic -  the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her with the Church´s halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the only thing she desires. Revenge.

Story

Mia wants revenge. For the death of her family, for her destroyed life and that she never got the chance to see her little brother grow up. With her mother in prison, she flees from the once nice comrades her father had.

Style

As bloody, ice-cold and brutal the story is, she is also written in an elegant and wonderful way. Sure, I didn´t like the many footnotes that were spread across some pages in the German edition – some of them were covering almost an entire page with stuff I wasn´t even interested in – but besides that, the author has one hell of beautiful fantasy. Sure, the plot is dark, the Red Church an ice-cold and cruel place where only the best of the best teach the future assassins how to do what they do. Don´t look for some conscious in them, because there´s none. But the words are well placed, the language is one great melody and with all the brutality in it, Mia is still showing some consciousness and not willing to give up everything she is, only to become the best.

Characters

Mia knows what she wants. In every detail. She is a smart badass heroine without being a smart ass. She loves to read and knows a lot about poison. Her way to see things others don´t give her some advantage. But with Tric stepping into her life and the others who want to become an assassin working for the Red Church, she discovers for the first time in her life that not everyone is on the same page. Except that they all want to become the best.

Conclusion

This book is heavy. Not only by the number of pages it contains (at least the German edition is 701 pages strong) but by its story and characters as well. You will dive into a world where time is a completely different thing from what we´re used to, and where killing and being an assassin is almost a religious thing. Jay Kristoff wrote with Nevernight a great fantasy novel that brings you to the edge and yet shows some feelings and a certain sensitivity. Read! 

Happy reading

*I read the German edition new release by Fischer Tor on August 24, 2017.

Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff is an internationally bestselling author of The Lotus War, The Illuminae Files and The Nevernight Chronicles. He is the winner of four Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, nominee for the Locus award. David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards, named multiple times in the Kirkus and Amazon Best Teen Books list and published in over thirty countries, most of which he has never visited. He is as surprised about all of this as you are. He is 6´7 and has approximately 12,665 days to live. He abides in Melbourne with his secret agent kung-fu assassin wife, and the world´s laziest Jack Russel. He does not believe in happy endings.

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3/10/2017

The Hope Chest by Viola Shipman

Make sure to have some tissues nearby. This novel is filled with emotions and will make you cry sooner or later because of its beauty, grace, and the sensitive way the author has brought them to life. This is a must-read for everyone who loves meaningful novels with a touch of romance in it. Okay, the German edition doesn´t look as good and beautiful as the original edition does, but I can ignore that. The novel itself counts and this one is just beautiful.

The Hope Chest*

by Viola Shipman
Publisher Thomas Dunne Books on March 21, 2017
Genre Novel
Pages 320
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher

Goodreads

✶✶✶✶✶

The discovery of one woman´s heirloom hope chest unveils precious memories and helps three people who have each lost a part of themselves find joy once again. Ever since she was diagnosed with ALS, fiercely independent Mattie doesn´t feel like herself. She can´t navigate her beloved home, she can´t go for a boat ride, and she can barely even feed herself. Her devoted husband, Don, doesn´t want to imagine life without his wife of nearly fifty years, but Mattie isn´t likely to make it past their anniversary. But when Rose, Mattie´s new caretaker, and her young daughter, Jeri, enter the couple´s life, happiness and the possibility for new memories return. Together they form a family, and Mattie is finally able to pass on her memories from the hope chest she received from her mother. With each item – including a favorite doll, family dishes, an embroidered apron, and an antique Christmas ornament – the hope chest connects Mattie, Don, and Rose to each other and helps them find hope again in the face of overwhelming life challenges. 

Story

Rose needs a new job and when she gets told that she would have the chance to take care of Mattie Tice, a woman who got diagnosed with ALS, she prays to God that she will get the job. Together with her daughter Jeri, she spends an unforgettable afternoon at the place where Mattie and her husband Don just had moved in, and very soon it becomes quite clear to Rose, that she needs them as much as they need her.

Style

The Hope Chest is told by an invisible narrator who gives you intense and very touching insight into the life of two families. During the novel, you read about the years when Mattie grew up and later met Don as well as the present things that happen. Both are smoothly combined in a heartbreaking but beautiful written novel about love, hope, and what it means to always believe. Not necessary in a religious way but in something you feel comfortable with. Viola Shipman´s writing style is sensitive, full of emotions, and a wonderful landscape. Like his first novel, this one tells the story of the items that are contained in the hope chest and which Mattie wants to share with Rose and her daughter. The author uses little things that give this novel the-special-something. The symbolism of colors, the meaning of each flower and plant, and all the items that mean something to Mattie and Rose.

Characters

There are not many figures in this novel, but those who are there are very well created. You won´t get huge figure descriptions but with their acting, you get a fantastic picture of them. And Jeri is a girl you will love. How she talks and acts with Mattie, how she treats her, and what she does to understand everything is so sweet and remarkable – I fell in love with her right away. There is a power in Mattie, despite her illness; a strength and energy that makes it even sadder that she can´t control her body anymore. But her fantasy, her will to fight is as strong as ever.

Conclusion

You´ve got to read this book. A novel filled with intensity, hope, happiness, sadness, and love; and beyond that the answer to all the things that count in life: you.

Happy reading

*I read the German new release edition by Fischer KRÜGER on February 23, 2017. 

Wade Rouse

Viola Shipman is a pen name for Wade Rouse, a popular, award-winning memoirist. Rouse chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, to honor the woman whose charm bracelet and family stories inspired him to write his debut novel, which is a tribute to all of our elders. Rouse lives in Michigan and writes regularly for People and Coastal Living, among other places, and is a contributor to All Things Considered. 

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7/16/2016

The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman

When I got the first glimpse at the German edition and went on to see how the original cover was looking, I was not very much impressed. Why have the German editions sometimes such awful covers? The original looks so charming and so beautiful, why not just do something like it for the German readers? Thanks to the author´s first name and the interesting sounding content I was convinced enough to give it at least a try. And it was really worth it. Okay, I had to ignore the look of the German edition (bright orange in combination with pink and copper – not really my thing!) but it is the novel itself that matters, right? Right! And so I began to read and after I was finished I have to admit, that it caught me on the last few pages. I had tears in my eyes when I closed it and believe me, not very many books can say that they were able to achieve that.

The Charm Bracelet*

by Viola Shipman
Publisher Thomas Dunne Books on March 22, 2016
Genre Novel
Pages 304
Format Softcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶

On her birthday each year, Lolly´s mother gave her a charm, along with the advice that there is nothing more important than keeping family memories alive, and so Lolly´s charm bracelet would be a constant reminder of that love. Now seventy and starting to forget things, Lolly knows time is running out to reconnect with a daughter and granddaughter whose lives have become too busy for Lolly or her family stories. But when Arden, Lolly´s daughter, receives an unexpected phone call about her mother, she and granddaughter Laura rush home. Over the course of their visit, Lolly reveals the story behind each charm on her bracelet, and one by one the family stories help Lolly, Arden, and Lauren reconnect in a way that brings each woman closer to finding joy, love, and faith.

Story

Arden is one of those women who need years to recover from an ugly divorce. And her daughter Lauren has to pay the price for it – at least when it comes to her future plans and her passion for art. Arden is invincible, a gray mouse who does the work from others but is never part of the actual party. A letter from her mother Lolly, who still lives in the small town of Scoops, starts to change things for Arden and her daughter.

Style

It is at first a novel where family values, tradition, and some rituals are highly valued, even though some of the figures have forgotten them.

Viola Shipman has a nice way to put things in perspective, sometimes a bit kitschy but mostly The Charm Bracelet is a wonderfully written novel. There is a lot of wise saying in the story, charming figures come across – some of them stay, others walk by. The authors’ language is as simple as you can imagine but very touching and moving as well. With very few words she describes a captivating landscape, emotional scenes, and some deep down and long-buried rituals that come to the surface again.

The novel starts from the personal point of view by Arden and switches then to an invisible narrator until the epilog, where it goes back to Arden`s personal point of view again. Viola Shipman used her grandmother’s bracelet as plot and so the book is structured in eleven chapters – each for one of the charms Lolly has on her Bracelet. And what story each of them has!

Characters

You will see mostly women in this novel. Each and every one of them as unique and individual as you can imagine. Some of them will drive you nuts while others will just stun you.

Arden is the typical grey mouse possible. All her life she tried to be different from the way her mother is and now, as a mother of a young woman herself, she does everything to thwart her in every imaginable way. Don´t do this because it will put you in danger, don´t do that because it´s not safe there and you can´t study this because there is no guarantee that you will be able to make you living out of it …

Arden is a woman who has totally forgotten what it feels like to live, how to feel, and to let others make her feel good. And when she figures out, that her mother is sick and that the day will come sooner rather than later where she needs everyday help, she starts to forbid her mother everything that makes fun. Excuse me?

Lolly has a lust for life that is beyond every imagination. She is one heck of an old woman who wears all kinds of silly kitchen aprons, owns more wigs than shoes, and enjoys every day to its fullest. What she does in town at Dolly´s shop is remarkable and something Arden doesn´t approve at all.

Conclusion

The Charm Bracelet is a wonderful moving, charming, and very touching novel full of life, love, and a beautiful birthday ritual. If you´re looking for a book that will inspire you, show you how to do things the best way possible; then this is your book.

Happy reading

*I´ve read the German edition new release by Fischer KRÜGER on May 25, 2016 

Wade Rouse

Viola Shipman is a pen name for Wade Rouse, a popular, award-winning memoirist. Rouse chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, to honor the woman whose charm bracelet and family stories inspired him to write his debut novel, which is a tribute to all of our elders. Rouse lives in Michigan and writes regularly for People and Coastal Living, among other places, and is a contributor to All Things Considered.

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