Amina al-Sirafi was one of the most legendary pirate captains at sea. Now she scrapes by in a falling apart house to raise her daughter as far away as she can from the horrors that preceded her birth: a betrayal, a brutal death, and a husband she has vowed never to speak of again. Then opportunity arises for Amina to earn enough money to set her daughter up for life. Unable to turn it down, Amina finds herself pulled back into her old world where she’ll find both friends and enemies, old and new.
In her role as vedma, Kada helped a noblewoman to grow a baby on Goddess Zemya’s tree. The tree grew two babies and one chose Kada to be her own mother. But the fox stole the noblewoman’s baby and now it is after Kada’s own daughter. For fifteen years she keeps her daughter safe, despite the sap in Secha’s blood and the odd magic that runs through it. When Secha turns sixteen her blood will finally run red and she will finally be safe. Unfortunately, the fox knows this too and it is more determined than ever to reach Secha before its time runs out.
Each year in Ithaca twelve girls are hanged on the beach and their bodies are given to the sea in sacrifice to Poseidon. This year Leto is one of them. She tries to hide and she tries to fight, but the noose takes her life and the sea takes her body. The unexpected part is when the sea spits her back out again, changed but very much alive. The unexpected part is Melantho. Melantho who tells her that they can stop the sacrifices. Melantho who offers her revenge. Melantho who offers her love.
Frieda was born deep within the tunnels of the library, or made depending on who you ask. Only one thing is clear, the gods put her in this world for a reason. If only she knew what the reason was.
The Head Librarian took Frieda in and raised her as their own child, letting her wander the tunnels she came from and asking no questions about her unusual communion with the gods. Yet only when her world is on the brink of war do the gods start revealing their true secrets to her. What Frieda does with these secrets is no one’s decision but her own and it might be the biggest decision she has ever made.
[SPOILER ALERT: THIS REVIEW REFERS TO EVENTS FROM BOOKS ONE AND TWO. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE PREVIOUS BOOKS I SUGGEST YOU START WITH THIS REVIEW INSTEAD: ‘The Wolf Den’ by Elodie Harper]
This final instalment of Elodie Harper’s Wolf Den trilogy follows a third new phase in Amara’s life and rise to riches. She has left her daughter and lover behind to search out prosperity and security with her new patron in Rome. A freedman himself, Demetrius treats Amara with respect and dignity and allows her near unrestricted access to his wealth. The only thing missing in her new life is love.
Sylvie is an orphan, a chemist’s apprentice, and a citizen of Mahair. Sylvie is the mask that Essiya, heir to the Jasad throne, created to protect her. The magic running through her veins is a death sentence, even with the invisible cuffs keeping it trapped under her skin. All she wants to do is forget the past and build a new, simple life for herself. Yet the past seems to be chasing her.
Violet Everly is cursed. Her mother was cursed too, but she left when Violet was a child and ran far away to where the curse couldn’t reach her. Raised by her uncles, Violet knows nothing of this. Their plan is to find her mother and make her face the curse before Violet has to, at the same time hoping that their runaway sister might have found a way to break it. But Marianne Everly is nowhere to be found: not in this world or any others.
Abel Cloudesley is a genius inventor of automata. His life changes forever on the day that his wife dies in childbirth. Not only is he mourning the love of his life, but now he must deal with her aunt who seems determined to take his son, Zachary, away. Only when five year old Zachary loses an eye in a workshop accident does Abel finally relent and send him to live with his eccentric aunt in the country. Before he leaves, Zachary makes his father promise one thing: never to play chess with anyone but him. Unfortunately his new gold eye may have shown him the future, but it doesn’t give him the power to change it.
This book is made by its characters. The colourful cast is full of quirks and mystery, all bonded by ties stronger than either friendship or family. There is something different to love about each character and at multiple points throughout the book I just wanted to reach through the pages to give them a hug. Sean Lusk has a masterful way of conveying deep and complex emotions with compelling simplicity. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so many things for so many different characters in a single book.
The plot of this book is very easy to follow and not hugely difficult to predict. However, I found that just enough surprises were sprinkled throughout to keep me on my toes. Zachary’s accident, for example, is very sudden and there are a few moments like this that, put together, create an erratic tension to the pacing of the story.
Overall this is an engaging story of loss and discovery, with an undercurrent of intrigue and magic and just a touch of adventure.
After ten years of being presumed dead in the jungle, Leonora returns home. Unfortunately, fitting in seems even more difficult than when she left. Not quite Spanish and not quite Mexican, she finds herself distrusted at all turns. The guise of Pantera gives her the anonymity she needs to make a difference. And the magic she learnt in the jungle gives her the means. Yet Leonora is not the only player in the game, nor is she the only one wearing a disguise. If only she can uncover everyone else’s secrets before they uncover hers.
This is not your typical sleeping beauty story. It has all the right components: a fairy blessing, a sleeping princess, a wall of thorns, a chivalrous knight determined to hack his way through to the tower. Except that this is one princess that no one wants to wake up. Toadling has resigned herself to an eternity of guarding the tower. But then a knight arrives and it is not the princess he has come to save.
Escape to the Bookshelf 