Book Review: Samara's Peril by Jaye L. Knight-Spoilers

 When news arrives that Emperor Daican has been in contact with his chief war strategist, it signals potential doom for the country of Samara. Determined to intervene, the resistance in Landale, headed by Lady Anne, embark on a covert mission in hopes of unearthing further information. However, a shocking discovery leads to complications no one could have foreseen. 

Armed with their newfound knowledge, they set out for Samara to warn the king. War is inevitable, and they must face two desperate battles—one on the walls of Samara’s great stronghold, and the other on the battlefield of Jace’s heart, where victory might only be achievable through great sacrifice.

I was so elated to get to read this book, I had been anxiously awaiting it for a long time now, but on top of all that my sister was one of the beta readers making it the time seem even longer. But it was worth the wait!

The plot was wonderfully orchestrated and there was definite middle book feeling to it-not a bad thing. Resistance and The King's Scrolls both felt like the beginning chapters, but I felt like this was a good transition over to the middle of the series. Beside that, this book belonged more to Jace-something I was very, very happy with-and for that reason had a different feeling to it. It was somewhat similar in format to Resistance, which was sort of a debut book for Kyrin, in that things in her life begin to move crazy fast, it is the same for Jace in Samara's Peril.

The progression in Jace's heart and mind is refreshing, he grows much in this book and his character arc is done well. I loved how much more of Jace's feelings we got to see, he was much, much more open in this book. In this book it all gets laid on the table, the rawest, harshest, most horrid places in Jace are there for us to see, but it is beautiful. He is beautiful, he is a person who has done many violent, bad things and yet in his brokenness is great redemption.

Now I would just like to say, Holden is a darling! Since Jace is already Kyrin's, I call dibs on Holden. His friendship to Jace in this book was much needed, yet again showing her writing prowess Jaye has taken a character you disliked and turned him to one you adored.

Jace's new family-for the most part-is wonderful. This book was the turning point for him and I cannot wait  to see him in the next three books. Also the progress in Jace and Kyrin's relationship left me very, very happy.

Elon, the Son Elom. I know that there were some people who felt there wasn't enough prefacing for Him but I disagree. I felt that Jaye spoke of Him enough that when you met him it was smooth. His sacrifice, though I did not feel especially emotionally involved, was written well. It was personal, which is sometimes a better way to bring one's emotions into it.

There were some harder subjects handled in this book-Jace's beginning was a violent one, his mother not having a choice in the matter, and at one point Kyrin almost has the same thing happen  to her-
however Jaye handled it very well, and did not dwell on it more than necessary. I thought those parts were done nicely.

The dragon vs. firedrake fighting sequences were really good. I appreciated how much Kaden stepped up in this book, as well as Liam and Marcus. The dragon fighting scenes and the few on the wall really left me hoping for a large battle in the upcoming future of Ilyon.

Well, once again Jaye has done marvelously! I have no doubt all Ilyon fans will love this book! Total 5 stars! Look for it on May 13th! It is worth the buy!

Book Review: Songkeeper by Gillian Bronte Adams

War ravages Leira and the Song has fallen silent.

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young 

Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.

Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran's fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it to achieve victory. Everyone believes Birdie is the one, but the elusive nature of the Song and rumors of other gifted individuals lead her to doubt her role. Unleashing the spring could defeat the Takhran once and for all, but can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?

Since reading Orphan Song I have been awaiting Songkeeper with much anticipation. For the most part I wasn't disappointed.

One thing I will start off with is that Songkeeper took on quite a darker plot than Orphan Song. It was full of many gory and thematic details and for that reason I don't believe anyone younger than twelve or thirteen should be reading this book, however for older readers it is a heart-pounding adventure any fantasy lover is guaranteed to enjoy.

The plot was wonderfully orchestrated, and there was a well established end goal in mind. The journey leading up to that was exciting enough but at the end of the book I was hanging onto the edge of my seat, feeling like I couldn't breathe for the stress whenever I finished a chapter.

One thing I did not enjoy however was Gillian's usage of the British cuss word "bloody" many times. It rather felt like she was trying to be edgy without technically doing anything wrong. It cheapened Songkeeper. 

As to the characters the old characters' progression arc was done very well, and the new characters were quite enjoyable. 

My favorite character, Ky, had some pretty incredible scenes in this book. If you were a fan of Ky in the last book you will love the progression of his character. He has gone through so many horrible experiences yet he still does what's right, he has such a deep passion for his "family", and he is just plain awesome.

Birdie, poor Birdie. I felt horrible for her throughout this book. She is stuck in a whirl-wind of hard, scary events and is just so confused. Birdie is a wonderful female lead, she is not the kick-rear, sarcastic, hard-as-nails female character that is so expected nowadays. She is sweet and gentle and yet has incredible strength and resilience. She is confused, hurting, and trapped by circumstances but she still does what's right. 

Amos! There are many people who personally quite enjoy Amos, for the most part he annoys me. He is rather whiny and frustrating. While I do think the deep love he has for Birdie is sweet and his outlandish insults bring a level of spice and humor to the book, I would not be to sad if he was not a part of the book.

Gundhrold is a steady, someone you can always count on to be there for Birdie when she needs him.  He is very much a grounding force for this book that Birdie needs desperately.

The new cast of characters was done incredibly well too, my favorite of the new ones being the Saari warrior Sym.

Takhran. *shudders* Ugh! He was an appropriately horrifying villain. I think Adams did a wonderful job portraying the complete disgusting, evilness of him and creating a wonderful villain. 

The culture of the Saari was very cool, and the riding lions thing as pictured on the cover is awesowe. 

As said above, the end of this book is crazy! Intense, stressful, scary. And while Gillian said that the last scene was very meaningful to her, it was too fast and too brief. For all you had just experienced in that book, the end was very small, and did not really affect me as I had been anticipating. So that was rather a disappointment. 

Overall this book was a wonderful sequel to Orphan Song. If you enjoy fantasy this heart-pounding book will not disappoint.