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samantha_randolph's Reviews (1.59k)
Ruby Red is the story of a girl named Gwyneth who comes from a long line of time travelers who get a big shock when Gwyneth turns out to be the one with the gene, not her cousin Charolette who they expected to have it. Mysteries arise, dangerous and potentially sinister plots come up, and romance unfolds in the first book of the Ruby Red series. I give it four solid stars, because of the humor, mystery, unique ideas on time travel, and the excellent main character. The only downside for me was the male lead, Gideon. I understand this is the first in the series so he will not be an open book, but I would have liked to have seen more dialouge with him, learned a little more about his character. I'm all for being eager to find out more of him in the other books, but I still feel that readers could have been given more of a taste for him. But that is in no way a major flaw, and I immensely enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a little history, adventure, and the mysteries of time.
Whenever I pick up a new book, I usually get a good feeling on whether or not I will like it. Because of that, I expected to enjoy this book, but I was amazed at how much I truly did. The Pledge takes place in a dystopian world, a very popular setting today, but I thought this world was a little different than the rest. While most focused on a power mad, corrupted government, this focused on one evil and powerful queen looking for an heir whose line had been banished years and years ago to put her "Essence" in. Her Essence is her soul that has lasted centuries because of her putting in a new body generation after generation.
The protagonist of the story, a Vendor class girl named Charlie, is special. Every caste in this book has their own language to seperate them, but Charlie understands them all, something she could be punished by death for. Her gift gets her caught up in the swirl of a rebellion and the evil monarch, as well as drawing the attention of a man named Max who she can't stop thinking about.
The action is high; the book is fast-paced; the characters draw you in and make you care, and the romance keeps you on your toes. I can't wait to read the sequel.
The protagonist of the story, a Vendor class girl named Charlie, is special. Every caste in this book has their own language to seperate them, but Charlie understands them all, something she could be punished by death for. Her gift gets her caught up in the swirl of a rebellion and the evil monarch, as well as drawing the attention of a man named Max who she can't stop thinking about.
The action is high; the book is fast-paced; the characters draw you in and make you care, and the romance keeps you on your toes. I can't wait to read the sequel.
Wow is nearly all I can say after reading this outstanding sequel to The Pledge. I recieved The Essence free through Goodreads FirstReads, and I was ecstatic when I got it in the mail. After reading The Pledge, I couldn't wait to see what happened to Charlie and her queendom. As much as I enjoyed the first book, The Essence is ten times better. If you haven't read this series, start. If you have, be prepared to laugh, cry, and throw the book across the room in frustration when you read.
The Pledge left off with Charlie taking the throne of a cautious and weary queendom, while ex-Queen Sabara still lurks in the back of her mind. The Essence picks up only a small time later, with matters good and bad. While most people are welcoming the changes Charlie is making, a small, but deadly and potentially crazy force of rebels are becoming bold with Brooklynn's own father leading them. While dealing with threats at home, Charlie also faces the uncertainty with the other Queens she has yet to meet. When she is invited to attend the summit, nerves are high, and they discover a traitor lurks among them. The plot twists and turns, and you can't be sure what will come next, but you know it will be exciting.
I enjoyed seeing more of the minor characters come to life in this book. Brooklynn's true personality takes more of a hold, and Max becomes even more lovable. Also, new characters emerge. The Queens all have interesting personalities, making Charlie unsure who is an ally or an enemy, and a strange man from Sabara's past makes a large appearance. All in all, excellent book, excellent plot, excellent dialouge and characters. Five stars all the way.
Fans of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy books, Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games, and anyone who just adores a good read should give this series a try.
The Pledge left off with Charlie taking the throne of a cautious and weary queendom, while ex-Queen Sabara still lurks in the back of her mind. The Essence picks up only a small time later, with matters good and bad. While most people are welcoming the changes Charlie is making, a small, but deadly and potentially crazy force of rebels are becoming bold with Brooklynn's own father leading them. While dealing with threats at home, Charlie also faces the uncertainty with the other Queens she has yet to meet. When she is invited to attend the summit, nerves are high, and they discover a traitor lurks among them. The plot twists and turns, and you can't be sure what will come next, but you know it will be exciting.
I enjoyed seeing more of the minor characters come to life in this book. Brooklynn's true personality takes more of a hold, and Max becomes even more lovable. Also, new characters emerge. The Queens all have interesting personalities, making Charlie unsure who is an ally or an enemy, and a strange man from Sabara's past makes a large appearance. All in all, excellent book, excellent plot, excellent dialouge and characters. Five stars all the way.
Fans of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy books, Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games, and anyone who just adores a good read should give this series a try.
The Prism of Ashlai is the story of a young girl (Ashlai) on a quest to find seven broken shards of the Prism of Ashlai and put them together to save a kingdom, while trying to find herself along the way.
To be honest, I was not a big fan of this book. I did not think it was a bad read, and i think the storyline has a lot of potential, but certain aspects of it just didn't go over well in my opinion. I admire the journey Ashlai takes, but during the first half of the book I almost forgot she was there. I didn't feel the connection to her that main characters need to make. She didn't talk much, and while I get that quietness was part of her character, it didn't leave enough dialouge with her actively participating. I kept hoping for a romance to happen to get her to be more involved in the story, but it held off until later in the book, and I was surprised at the partner. The boy, Aryl, was a big part of the story, but during the long stretches when Ashlai faded to the background, I thought he was going after a different character, a girl named Mandolin, another person helping in the quest for the shards. I was to the point of thinking Ashlai wouldn't have a love interest by the time they started leaning toward each other.
The action scenes were described very well, and the use of powers was a very interesting part of the story, but only in the scene when one of the characters "dies" did I feel that quest was difficult. Yes, they got attacked several times, but it seemed over very quickly, and they always got out of it. As ruthless as the antagonist was described, I expected a much more intense and rough journey.
Though I found many things lacking in this story, it did have its good points. I thought the family relationships were very believable and liked the scenes involving Ashlai and Gailea. Towards the end of the book, Ashlai was finally more involved in the story, and the time she spent at the front of the story wasn't bad. I think overall I just felt this could have been more. The ground work is there; there just needs to be more built off the groundwork. All in all, it is an ok read, but there is a lot of potential there to do better.
To be honest, I was not a big fan of this book. I did not think it was a bad read, and i think the storyline has a lot of potential, but certain aspects of it just didn't go over well in my opinion. I admire the journey Ashlai takes, but during the first half of the book I almost forgot she was there. I didn't feel the connection to her that main characters need to make. She didn't talk much, and while I get that quietness was part of her character, it didn't leave enough dialouge with her actively participating. I kept hoping for a romance to happen to get her to be more involved in the story, but it held off until later in the book, and I was surprised at the partner. The boy, Aryl, was a big part of the story, but during the long stretches when Ashlai faded to the background, I thought he was going after a different character, a girl named Mandolin, another person helping in the quest for the shards. I was to the point of thinking Ashlai wouldn't have a love interest by the time they started leaning toward each other.
The action scenes were described very well, and the use of powers was a very interesting part of the story, but only in the scene when one of the characters "dies" did I feel that quest was difficult. Yes, they got attacked several times, but it seemed over very quickly, and they always got out of it. As ruthless as the antagonist was described, I expected a much more intense and rough journey.
Though I found many things lacking in this story, it did have its good points. I thought the family relationships were very believable and liked the scenes involving Ashlai and Gailea. Towards the end of the book, Ashlai was finally more involved in the story, and the time she spent at the front of the story wasn't bad. I think overall I just felt this could have been more. The ground work is there; there just needs to be more built off the groundwork. All in all, it is an ok read, but there is a lot of potential there to do better.
