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inkandplasma
Full review: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/journey-to-star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-novel-review-round-up/
For some reason I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one? I have literally no idea how I got that into my head, but I put it off for a while, before realising my deadline for this post was creeping up on me. And then I read it in one sitting. Because it was really, really good. So. Kudos for being an idiot past-me, we could have read this excellent book ages ago.
This isn't a high-action Star Wars novel, and I actually really loved that. As much as I love wild Star Wars action, it was nice to see what the world would be like for "normal" people living on planets that weren't being torn apart by Jedi or Sith. It was also really refreshing to see a Force sensitive individual who wasn't a Jedi, because they're few and far between in the novels that I've read - and basically non-existent in the movies.
The story doesn't depend on you having read any other Star Wars novels, so it's actually probably a really good intro story for someone who's seen the movies and wants to read more. I started reading them pretty recently, and one of the things I struggled with with the first few Star Wars novels I read was that they'd mention characters and places that I just had absolutely no reference for. Force Collector is about a teenage boy chasing down Jedi artefacts, and as a result he's following the mythos around great Jedi heroes like Kenobi and Skywalker. It touches in on the prequels and original series at points, while also exploring familiar sites amongst new ones.
The first few chapters were... weird. They were kind of like Harry Potter/Star Wars fanfiction, but once I'd settled into who Karr was and what his quest was going to be, I bought into the world. I'm basically just pretending that there wasn't a few weird scenes set in calculus classes and a very American high school. We don't study calculus in secondary schools in the UK so I struggled to imagine them learning it in space.
I also thought the friendship between Karr and Maize would have benefitted from being a longer term friendship. I get the appeal of having our characters meet in the beginning of the book, and introducing Karr and Maize was a great way to explain Karr's Force powers and his relationship with his grandmother. But then they went from zero to 100 in a really weird way. Who runs away with someone they met an hour ago? I think if they'd met at the beginning of the school year, and were tentative friends becoming closer, it would have felt more authentic. I did love their relationship after that point. It was very wholesome, and I loved the way they supported each other and helped each other out.
I really enjoyed Force Collector, and would highly recommend it, especially as a part of the 'Journey to the Rise of Skywalker' series.
For some reason I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one? I have literally no idea how I got that into my head, but I put it off for a while, before realising my deadline for this post was creeping up on me. And then I read it in one sitting. Because it was really, really good. So. Kudos for being an idiot past-me, we could have read this excellent book ages ago.
This isn't a high-action Star Wars novel, and I actually really loved that. As much as I love wild Star Wars action, it was nice to see what the world would be like for "normal" people living on planets that weren't being torn apart by Jedi or Sith. It was also really refreshing to see a Force sensitive individual who wasn't a Jedi, because they're few and far between in the novels that I've read - and basically non-existent in the movies.
The story doesn't depend on you having read any other Star Wars novels, so it's actually probably a really good intro story for someone who's seen the movies and wants to read more. I started reading them pretty recently, and one of the things I struggled with with the first few Star Wars novels I read was that they'd mention characters and places that I just had absolutely no reference for. Force Collector is about a teenage boy chasing down Jedi artefacts, and as a result he's following the mythos around great Jedi heroes like Kenobi and Skywalker. It touches in on the prequels and original series at points, while also exploring familiar sites amongst new ones.
The first few chapters were... weird. They were kind of like Harry Potter/Star Wars fanfiction, but once I'd settled into who Karr was and what his quest was going to be, I bought into the world. I'm basically just pretending that there wasn't a few weird scenes set in calculus classes and a very American high school. We don't study calculus in secondary schools in the UK so I struggled to imagine them learning it in space.
I also thought the friendship between Karr and Maize would have benefitted from being a longer term friendship. I get the appeal of having our characters meet in the beginning of the book, and introducing Karr and Maize was a great way to explain Karr's Force powers and his relationship with his grandmother. But then they went from zero to 100 in a really weird way. Who runs away with someone they met an hour ago? I think if they'd met at the beginning of the school year, and were tentative friends becoming closer, it would have felt more authentic. I did love their relationship after that point. It was very wholesome, and I loved the way they supported each other and helped each other out.
I really enjoyed Force Collector, and would highly recommend it, especially as a part of the 'Journey to the Rise of Skywalker' series.
DNF at page 242.
I just have no interest in this book. The original Northern Lights trilogy means everything to me and this? this ain't it. Reasons below.
I just have no interest in this book. The original Northern Lights trilogy means everything to me and this? this ain't it. Reasons below.
Spoiler
I tapped out of this book not long after the Malcolm loves Lyra reveal. She's a child when his feelings develop. It's gross. It's creepy. It tainted the whole book for me, and after that I couldn't even begin to get back into the book and keep reading. Reading other reviews, I hear there's an attempted rape scene too, and I'm glad I didn't get there because I hate this? After the rape scene in La Belle Sauvage and then this, does Pullman not know how to give adult women characters depth without having them sexually assaulted? Over it. I kind of wanted to know how Pan and Lyra made up, but given that the reasons for their argument were weak and poorly explained, I couldn't hang around for it.
Rating: 4 stars
I received an advance review copy from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I found Nightchaser a really addictive and engaging read. I read the lion's share in a single sunny afternoon, but I definitely felt more like I was racing through space rather than laying out at home. The setting was interesting, and I'm pleased that it wasn't over-explained as some fantasy novels can tend to be.
Tess was a great main character, her motives were easy to understand but also felt very human. I particularly adored her relationship with Bonk, as a cat-obsessed woman myself. But most of all, I want to scream praise for the portrayal of Jax and Tess's relationship. Best friends, life partners, who don't! have! to! be! romantic! More of this, please, I'm severely lacking in the platonic soul mates representation. The relationships between the characters are the highlight of this novel, and I can't wait for the rest of this series to find out exactly what's going to happen in these space adventures.
Tess is on a mission to survive, and save the orphanage she grew up in from a space tyrant. She's Robin Hood, but in space, and I love that. She ends up meeting Shade, a space pirate with his eye on every high bounty he can get. They fall in love, but there's also a lot more to this world than just their relationship. There's a universe to save, after all.
My main, and pretty much my only, complaint about this book was the sex scenes. In the middle of the book, there was a full chapter and a half of awkwardly written smut, and then another tucked in later in the book. I don't mind sex scenes in my books by any means, but these ones felt kind of weird and uncomfortable with awkward dialogue and weird descriptions. Maybe that's just my perspective, but I hope the second book in the series has more subtle sex scenes, or less awkward ones.
I received an advance review copy from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I found Nightchaser a really addictive and engaging read. I read the lion's share in a single sunny afternoon, but I definitely felt more like I was racing through space rather than laying out at home. The setting was interesting, and I'm pleased that it wasn't over-explained as some fantasy novels can tend to be.
Tess was a great main character, her motives were easy to understand but also felt very human. I particularly adored her relationship with Bonk, as a cat-obsessed woman myself. But most of all, I want to scream praise for the portrayal of Jax and Tess's relationship. Best friends, life partners, who don't! have! to! be! romantic! More of this, please, I'm severely lacking in the platonic soul mates representation. The relationships between the characters are the highlight of this novel, and I can't wait for the rest of this series to find out exactly what's going to happen in these space adventures.
Tess is on a mission to survive, and save the orphanage she grew up in from a space tyrant
Spoiler
who happens to be her dadMy main, and pretty much my only, complaint about this book was the sex scenes. In the middle of the book, there was a full chapter and a half of awkwardly written smut, and then another tucked in later in the book. I don't mind sex scenes in my books by any means, but these ones felt kind of weird and uncomfortable with awkward dialogue and weird descriptions. Maybe that's just my perspective, but I hope the second book in the series has more subtle sex scenes, or less awkward ones.
A fun read, though I didn't find it super gripping. I think I was holding onto The Black Cauldron a little too hard, as one of my favourite children's movies. I did love that it was very dark in places and didn't shy away from that, when I've read modern books that have tried to soften villains to the point where they're not scary. I think the Horned King would have been terrifying if I'd read this as a kid. There was nothing wrong with Book of Three per se, I just wasn't driven to keep picking it up like other books I've been reading lately. I will probably still try the rest of the series though.
Full Review: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/03/26/russian-roulette,-by-anthony-horowitz-(alex-rider-reread-#11)/
I wasn’t expecting the way this story was laid out. It was formatted as Yassen’s diary entries, looking back at his childhood. I’m not usually a huge fan of first person fiction, but I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. For some reason I didn’t think that Russian Roulette would be set when Yassen was younger, but it makes perfect sense. The books are about a teenage spy, so it makes sense for Russian Roulette to be about a teenage soon-to-be-assassin. In hindsight a book about an adult assassin would have been a massive tonal shift – basically, I’m a moron. We get to meet Yassen, or Yasha, at the beginning of his journey, just like we did with Alex. He’s a teenager living a quiet life until a huge disaster blows his life to pieces. The survivor’s guilt on this kid? Phew. To be honest, I think Yassen is pretty well adjusted, considering the trauma he goes through before he even hits eighteen years old.
We knew some of Yassen’s story, knew that he became Cossack and that he was trained by Hunter, Alex’s father. We also know what happens to both Yassen and John. We know that he trained on Malagosto, met Julia Rothman and we know that he was present in Cornwall when Alex fell into his first mission. Russian Roulette fleshes out some of that time in between. I get the impression that Yassen is Anthony Horowitz’s favourite character (I don’t blame him, he’s definitely my favourite) because Yassen is incredibly fleshed out and well-characterised. It can be really difficult to nail a morally grey character in a children’s book, but we definitely see that in Yassen Gregorovich. He does bad things for bad reasons, good things for good reasons, and sometimes he does bad things for good reasons too. He’s complicated and possibly even more traumatised than Alex, but he still has a streak of humanity in him.
The plot itself is a little convenient in places, but that’s not really what this book is here for. This book is effectively a Yassen Gregorovich character study, and it’s an excellent read for anyone who loves that character. Which, I imagine, is exactly what Anthony Horowitz wrote this book for. There are huge amounts of parallels between Yassen and Alex, even though they grew up in totally different circumstances and for die-hard Alex Rider fans, this is a must read.
I wasn’t expecting the way this story was laid out. It was formatted as Yassen’s diary entries, looking back at his childhood. I’m not usually a huge fan of first person fiction, but I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. For some reason I didn’t think that Russian Roulette would be set when Yassen was younger, but it makes perfect sense. The books are about a teenage spy, so it makes sense for Russian Roulette to be about a teenage soon-to-be-assassin. In hindsight a book about an adult assassin would have been a massive tonal shift – basically, I’m a moron. We get to meet Yassen, or Yasha, at the beginning of his journey, just like we did with Alex. He’s a teenager living a quiet life until a huge disaster blows his life to pieces. The survivor’s guilt on this kid? Phew. To be honest, I think Yassen is pretty well adjusted, considering the trauma he goes through before he even hits eighteen years old.
We knew some of Yassen’s story, knew that he became Cossack and that he was trained by Hunter, Alex’s father. We also know what happens to both Yassen and John. We know that he trained on Malagosto, met Julia Rothman and we know that he was present in Cornwall when Alex fell into his first mission. Russian Roulette fleshes out some of that time in between. I get the impression that Yassen is Anthony Horowitz’s favourite character (I don’t blame him, he’s definitely my favourite) because Yassen is incredibly fleshed out and well-characterised. It can be really difficult to nail a morally grey character in a children’s book, but we definitely see that in Yassen Gregorovich. He does bad things for bad reasons, good things for good reasons, and sometimes he does bad things for good reasons too. He’s complicated and possibly even more traumatised than Alex, but he still has a streak of humanity in him.
The plot itself is a little convenient in places, but that’s not really what this book is here for. This book is effectively a Yassen Gregorovich character study, and it’s an excellent read for anyone who loves that character. Which, I imagine, is exactly what Anthony Horowitz wrote this book for. There are huge amounts of parallels between Yassen and Alex, even though they grew up in totally different circumstances and for die-hard Alex Rider fans, this is a must read.
Full review will be available as part of the blog tour on 14/05/2020: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/harrow-lake-by-kat-ellis-blog-tour-review/
This book knows how to hit hard. Within one page of my eARC, I knew I was hooked, and Kat Ellis wasn’t afraid to raise the stakes before we’d even met the main character – I loved that I already knew I was pulled in for the long haul. The last chapter was equally potent – though of course I won’t talk about it because spoilers, and I loved the way it came back around to close the circle.
I adored Lola from the start. I have talked, at length, about how much I love unlikeable female characters. Because I do, I love them, and Lola is an excellent example of that. She’s got lots of unappealing, unfeminine traits, and each of them made me adore her more. I also think that it becomes clear the further into the book that a reader gets, that a lot of Lola’s perceived flaws are intentional. Initially, she seems a little bland and flavourless, and it’s only when you get to see Lola interact with Nolan, her famous father, and Moira, the grandmother she never knew, that you see the truth of it. Lola is a blank canvas on purpose, to survive social situations. She alters herself perfectly to fit the expectations of the person she’s speaking to – ensuring she behaves Optimally – and she resents the whole damn world for making her do it. With her father she’s obedient, and shakes off the resemblance of her mother, whereas with her grandmother she crafts herself perfectly in Lorelai’s image. Lola is our view point into Harrow Lake, an outsider as much as the reader is, and the fact that she’s an unreliable narrator only intensifies the atmosphere that the book creates.
The atmosphere throughout the entire book is intense. Amazingly, viscerally intense. I very rarely find a book that genuinely scares me, but about halfway through this book I dragged myself out to sit in the garden in the sunlight where I felt safer. That’s how powerful the effect this book had on me was. Everything in the book pulled together to create this effect. Lola, as the unreliable narrator, was telling us everything from her perspective, and as the reader gets further into the book it’s clear that her perspective is tainted in many ways to assume the worst.
The book is set in Harrow Lake, the town where Lola’s father filmed his greatest horror movie, Nightjar, and the town is frozen in time in the 1920s when the movie was set. Lola is walking in the footsteps of her father and her mother, and of Little Bird, Nightjar’s protagonist. The descriptions were so vivid that honestly? I’d love to watch Nightjar myself. Alongside the echoes of the horror movie, Harrow Lake is haunted by a town legend. Mister Jitters. I laughed the first time I read his name. I did not laugh any of the times after that. Mister Jitters was terrifying. He’s the town’s bogeyman, and the residents of Harrow Lake have developed strange routines and rituals to appease his hunger. These rituals like the bone tree, no burials, and other things I won’t talk about because spoilers, made him feel so powerful because everyone believed in him so fiercely, even when they didn’t say his name. I had to finish this in one sitting, because otherwise I knew I was going to have nightmares about him tap-tap-tapping.
On a completely opposite note, I really liked the little bit of romance in this book. I’m usually the first to criticise mis-placed romance, but this was perfect because it acknowledged that Lola was in no position to be feeling more than a crush. She was learning how to be herself, alone for the first time in her life, and how to discover a personality that wasn’t created by her father or grandmother. I loved that that was respected, and that Lola could have her crush without it being a part of the character arc we needed to see.
The ending of this book is basically completely impossible to talk about in a spoiler free way, which is a shame because I have THOUGHTS. But it tied together threads that were woven throughout the rest of the book, some of which I’d barely even noticed until suddenly they came together, telling a story about what makes a real monster. This book crawled under my skin and made itself a home there, and I can’t wait for people to start reading it so that I can scream about the ending with everyone I know.
This book knows how to hit hard. Within one page of my eARC, I knew I was hooked, and Kat Ellis wasn’t afraid to raise the stakes before we’d even met the main character – I loved that I already knew I was pulled in for the long haul. The last chapter was equally potent – though of course I won’t talk about it because spoilers, and I loved the way it came back around to close the circle.
I adored Lola from the start. I have talked, at length, about how much I love unlikeable female characters. Because I do, I love them, and Lola is an excellent example of that. She’s got lots of unappealing, unfeminine traits, and each of them made me adore her more. I also think that it becomes clear the further into the book that a reader gets, that a lot of Lola’s perceived flaws are intentional. Initially, she seems a little bland and flavourless, and it’s only when you get to see Lola interact with Nolan, her famous father, and Moira, the grandmother she never knew, that you see the truth of it. Lola is a blank canvas on purpose, to survive social situations. She alters herself perfectly to fit the expectations of the person she’s speaking to – ensuring she behaves Optimally – and she resents the whole damn world for making her do it. With her father she’s obedient, and shakes off the resemblance of her mother, whereas with her grandmother she crafts herself perfectly in Lorelai’s image. Lola is our view point into Harrow Lake, an outsider as much as the reader is, and the fact that she’s an unreliable narrator only intensifies the atmosphere that the book creates.
The atmosphere throughout the entire book is intense. Amazingly, viscerally intense. I very rarely find a book that genuinely scares me, but about halfway through this book I dragged myself out to sit in the garden in the sunlight where I felt safer. That’s how powerful the effect this book had on me was. Everything in the book pulled together to create this effect. Lola, as the unreliable narrator, was telling us everything from her perspective, and as the reader gets further into the book it’s clear that her perspective is tainted in many ways to assume the worst.
The book is set in Harrow Lake, the town where Lola’s father filmed his greatest horror movie, Nightjar, and the town is frozen in time in the 1920s when the movie was set. Lola is walking in the footsteps of her father and her mother, and of Little Bird, Nightjar’s protagonist. The descriptions were so vivid that honestly? I’d love to watch Nightjar myself. Alongside the echoes of the horror movie, Harrow Lake is haunted by a town legend. Mister Jitters. I laughed the first time I read his name. I did not laugh any of the times after that. Mister Jitters was terrifying. He’s the town’s bogeyman, and the residents of Harrow Lake have developed strange routines and rituals to appease his hunger. These rituals like the bone tree, no burials, and other things I won’t talk about because spoilers, made him feel so powerful because everyone believed in him so fiercely, even when they didn’t say his name. I had to finish this in one sitting, because otherwise I knew I was going to have nightmares about him tap-tap-tapping.
On a completely opposite note, I really liked the little bit of romance in this book. I’m usually the first to criticise mis-placed romance, but this was perfect because it acknowledged that Lola was in no position to be feeling more than a crush. She was learning how to be herself, alone for the first time in her life, and how to discover a personality that wasn’t created by her father or grandmother. I loved that that was respected, and that Lola could have her crush without it being a part of the character arc we needed to see.
The ending of this book is basically completely impossible to talk about in a spoiler free way, which is a shame because I have THOUGHTS. But it tied together threads that were woven throughout the rest of the book, some of which I’d barely even noticed until suddenly they came together, telling a story about what makes a real monster. This book crawled under my skin and made itself a home there, and I can’t wait for people to start reading it so that I can scream about the ending with everyone I know.
Full review: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/04/24/nightshade-by-anthony-horowitz-alex-rider-review-13/
Nightshade followed the same trend as the other later Alex Rider books. It’s longer, and darker, and a little slower. I don’t mind that, as I’m really getting to enjoy the depth that they’re finding. The early books in the series are a lot of fun and hijinks, but as Alex grows up it seems right that the books grow up too. And Nightshade, to me, seems the darkest so far. Yes, Scorpia Rising and Never Say Die had the traumatising aspect of Jack’s ‘death’, but honestly there’s something about Nightshade that viscerally horrified me. Without delving too far into spoilers, Nightshade is a terrorist cell consisting of a few Teachers and a group of highly trained children. They’re weaponised in the same way that MI-6 weaponised Alex, but there’s something even more chilling about their complete and unwavering obedience. There’s also something chilling about where the children have come from, but that’s a reveal best discovered during the book.
I loved the infiltration aspect of this book, and the way Alex had to pretend to be Julius Grief in his high security Gibraltar prison in order to befriend the boy they hoped would lead them to Nightshade – a boy who killed MI-6 agents and slaughtered police officers without hesitation. Alex has to earn his trust, and somehow infiltrate a terrorist cell that can seemingly order its members around without words. The stakes felt particularly high, with Alex stranded without any gadgets, support or communication devices, and when he discovers an imminent attack on London, he’s completely isolated – and being hunted by everyone in the UK. The fact that everyone fully believes that he’s Julius Grief, the fact that not even MI-6 can save him? It feels like Alex might finally be in more danger than he can handle.
I loved the concept of the Nightshade group, and I swear they’re the most interesting of any of the ‘bad guys’ Alex has faced so far – though it would be far too spoilery to get into it in too much detail there’s fascinating aspects of mind-control/indoctrination in the children that work in the cell to control every aspect of their lives and make them willing and eager to live and die for their cause. This makes them infinitely more interesting than the usual paid thug characters, if infinitely more tragic too.
Nightshade followed the same trend as the other later Alex Rider books. It’s longer, and darker, and a little slower. I don’t mind that, as I’m really getting to enjoy the depth that they’re finding. The early books in the series are a lot of fun and hijinks, but as Alex grows up it seems right that the books grow up too. And Nightshade, to me, seems the darkest so far. Yes, Scorpia Rising and Never Say Die had the traumatising aspect of Jack’s ‘death’, but honestly there’s something about Nightshade that viscerally horrified me. Without delving too far into spoilers, Nightshade is a terrorist cell consisting of a few Teachers and a group of highly trained children. They’re weaponised in the same way that MI-6 weaponised Alex, but there’s something even more chilling about their complete and unwavering obedience. There’s also something chilling about where the children have come from, but that’s a reveal best discovered during the book.
I loved the infiltration aspect of this book, and the way Alex had to pretend to be Julius Grief in his high security Gibraltar prison in order to befriend the boy they hoped would lead them to Nightshade – a boy who killed MI-6 agents and slaughtered police officers without hesitation. Alex has to earn his trust, and somehow infiltrate a terrorist cell that can seemingly order its members around without words. The stakes felt particularly high, with Alex stranded without any gadgets, support or communication devices, and when he discovers an imminent attack on London, he’s completely isolated – and being hunted by everyone in the UK. The fact that everyone fully believes that he’s Julius Grief, the fact that not even MI-6 can save him? It feels like Alex might finally be in more danger than he can handle.
I loved the concept of the Nightshade group, and I swear they’re the most interesting of any of the ‘bad guys’ Alex has faced so far – though it would be far too spoilery to get into it in too much detail there’s fascinating aspects of mind-control/indoctrination in the children that work in the cell to control every aspect of their lives and make them willing and eager to live and die for their cause. This makes them infinitely more interesting than the usual paid thug characters, if infinitely more tragic too.
Full review available as part of my Harwood Spellbook review round up: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/05/04/the-harwood-spellbook-series-by-stephanie-burgis-(review-round-up)/
I love Cassandra Harwood so much, and I love these novellas. Cassandra is doing her best, every day, and that’s not always… that successful. I think I love her so much because I identify with her fierce independence and stubborn self-reliance. Cassandra spent her life fighting to prove herself as a magician, and now that’s been taken away from her she doesn’t know how she fits into the world – or her relationship with the gorgeous Rajaram Wrexham. While the overt conflict of this novella is Cassandra’s ill-advised deal with a malicious elf, I was far more fascinated by her internal conflict as she tries to assert herself without losing the independence she’s fought for and ‘compromising’ Wrexham. The novella is light and fluffy, and I found myself just laying around grinning at my phone as I read it, and the ending added just enough intrigue that I had to know what was happening next.
I love Cassandra Harwood so much, and I love these novellas. Cassandra is doing her best, every day, and that’s not always… that successful. I think I love her so much because I identify with her fierce independence and stubborn self-reliance. Cassandra spent her life fighting to prove herself as a magician, and now that’s been taken away from her she doesn’t know how she fits into the world – or her relationship with the gorgeous Rajaram Wrexham. While the overt conflict of this novella is Cassandra’s ill-advised deal with a malicious elf, I was far more fascinated by her internal conflict as she tries to assert herself without losing the independence she’s fought for and ‘compromising’ Wrexham. The novella is light and fluffy, and I found myself just laying around grinning at my phone as I read it, and the ending added just enough intrigue that I had to know what was happening next.
Full review: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/05/04/the-harwood-spellbook-series-by-stephanie-burgis-(review-round-up)/
I'm obsessed with the setting of the underwater ballroom. It sounds so beautiful, and the image of gowned dancers swirling around under the water is vivid and gorgeous. And after reading the rest of the series I was weak for Amy and Jonathan, so finding out how they married had my heart aching. One of the things I love about this series is how Stephanie explored all the side characters we adored in the first two books to let us see their own personal adventures and struggles. Amy must be destined to be a Harwood; she's just as stubborn, just as caring and just as willing to throw tradition to the wayside to get what she wants. I loved the way that Amy and Jonathan got together, and I loved seeing Amy at her absolute best - negotiating a complicated political disaster to turn it into a Harwood family triumph. As we all know, I'm absolutely weak for Cassandra, and though she's young in Spellswept, she's still on fine form, and it was a treat to see just how she'd managed to win her way into becoming Angland's first woman magician. The whole Harwood Spellbook Series has found family vibes, but Spellswept was the best of the lot for that family feeling.
I'm obsessed with the setting of the underwater ballroom. It sounds so beautiful, and the image of gowned dancers swirling around under the water is vivid and gorgeous. And after reading the rest of the series I was weak for Amy and Jonathan, so finding out how they married had my heart aching. One of the things I love about this series is how Stephanie explored all the side characters we adored in the first two books to let us see their own personal adventures and struggles. Amy must be destined to be a Harwood; she's just as stubborn, just as caring and just as willing to throw tradition to the wayside to get what she wants. I loved the way that Amy and Jonathan got together, and I loved seeing Amy at her absolute best - negotiating a complicated political disaster to turn it into a Harwood family triumph. As we all know, I'm absolutely weak for Cassandra, and though she's young in Spellswept, she's still on fine form, and it was a treat to see just how she'd managed to win her way into becoming Angland's first woman magician. The whole Harwood Spellbook Series has found family vibes, but Spellswept was the best of the lot for that family feeling.