Series: The Red Abbey Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 5th 2017
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Pages: 256
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis

Maresi came to the Red Abbey when she was thirteen, in the Hunger Winter. Before then, she had only heard rumours of its existence in secret folk tales. In a world where girls aren’t allowed to learn or do as they please, an island inhabited solely by women sounded like a fantasy. But now Maresi is here, and she knows it is real. She is safe.

Then one day Jai tangled fair hair, clothes stiff with dirt, scars on her back arrives on a ship. She has fled to the island to escape terrible danger and unimaginable cruelty. And the men who hurt her will stop at nothing to find her.

Now the women and girls of the Red Abbey must use all their powers and ancient knowledge to combat the forces that wish to destroy them. And Maresi, haunted by her own nightmares, must confront her very deepest, darkest fears.

A story of friendship and survival, magic and wonder, beauty and terror, Maresi will grip you and hold you spellbound.

Review

Maresi is an enchanting read which follows a young girl who lives at the Red Abbey. This gorgeous island is home to a group of women and girls, who work for themselves and forbid men to come to the island. When their world is threatened Maresi and the sisters must use all their knowledge and power to save everything that they know.

This was such a fascinating little book. It sucks you in deeper and deeper and leaves you desperate for more of this stunning world. I completely fell in love with the island setting and I loved the way the author brought it to life. The abbey and the nature surrounding it was vividly painted on each page and it definitely brought the story to life.

The plot is a bit more of a slow burn, giving you time to get to know the characters and the world before ramping up the action in the latter half of the book. I enjoyed getting to know Maresi and Jay. They were multi-layered characters with dark pasts and it was lovely watching their friendship bloom.

Maresi is an incredibly unique feminist fantasy tale. This is a coming of age story, full to the brim with the themes of friendship, family and the strength of women. This is a beautifully told story and I’m so looking forward to going back to this world in books two and three.

Series: The Silent Gods #1
Release Date: February 21st 2019
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 448
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis

You have heard the story before – of a young boy, orphaned through tragic circumstances, raised by a wise old man, who comes to a fuller knowledge of his magic and uses it to fight the great evil that threatens his world.

But what if the boy hero and the malevolent, threatening taint were one and the same?

What if the boy slowly came to realize he was the reincarnation of an evil god? Would he save the world . . . or destroy it?

Among the Academy’s warrior-thieves, Annev de Breth is an outlier. Unlike his classmates who were stolen as infants from the capital city, Annev was born in the small village of Chaenbalu, was believed to be executed, and then unknowingly raised by his parents’ killers.

Seventeen years later, Annev struggles with the burdens of a forbidden magic, a forgotten heritage, and a secret deformity. When he is subsequently caught between the warring ideologies of his priestly mentor and the Academy’s masters, he must choose between forfeiting his promising future at the Academy or betraying his closest friends. Each decision leads to a deeper dilemma, until Annev finds himself pressed into a quest he does not wish to fulfil.

Will he finally embrace the doctrine of his tutors, murder a stranger, and abandon his mentor? Or will he accept the more difficult truth of who he is . . . and the darker truth of what he may become . . .

Review

Master of Sorrows if the first in an all new fantasy series from Travis Call. The book really caught my eye with the tagline of ‘what if you were destined to be villain?’ and I was so intrigued to know more. The story is action packed, dark and incredibly addictive – if you’re looking for a new fantasy series this is definitely one to pick up.

The story follows our main character Annev who is very much a reluctant hero and just a fascinating protagonist. The story features one of my favourite tropes – a magical academy and I loved seeing Annev navigate the trials and dangers of life as a student. Annev is different to many of the others at the academy and faces enemies at every turn. As the story progresses it gets darker and more brutal as the stakes are raised even higher. The ending is so intense and I’m so eager to find out what’s next in store for Annev.

The world building in this story was superb and I found it really easy to immerse myself in the magic system and the world that Call has created. The story is well paced and it really gives you the chance to get to know the characters and the world before diving into the action.

Master of Sorrows is an incredibly impressive debut, it’s excellently written and well executed. If you’re a fan of fantasy stories on an epic scale and especially if you love writers like Mark Lawrence and Patrick Rothfuss, this is an absolute must read.

Six for Sunday is a weekly post from Steph at A Little But A Lot. Each week features a different prompt and this week is bookish hates, so let’s dive in!

1. Insta-love

My number one pet peeve in books is insta-love. I’m not a big fan of romance books and those that have characters falling in love over a few chapters or over like a week really bug me – it really jars me out of the story and it tends to bother me for the rest of the book.

2. Series that don’t keep the same cover design

I really hate when publishers change the cover design mid series. I’m a big fan of long fantasy series so to have the next instalment have a completely different design really bothers me. It’s even worse if they’re a different sized book too (I have one Victoria Aveyard book that is bigger than the rest of the series and it bugs me to no end).

3. Dog earring books

I know this will divide some people but I really hate when people fold down the pages of the book. I don’t mind if the book looks read and worn or whatever – it doesn’t have to be pristine or anything but I do hate dog earring books and writing in them as well!

4. Cliff hangers

This is a kind of love/hate relationship. If a book has a major cliff hanger it obviously makes me really interested to read the next one but it often means I need to wait a long time for the next book to be released and I hate that feeling of being desperate to know what’s going to happen (I’m looking at you The Wicked King).

5. Waiting so long between books

This goes back to the long fantasy epics I mentioned earlier. I love long series that follow the same characters for multiple books but that often means waiting years for the next instalment – George R. R. Martin is my favourite author and I’m trying so hard to wait patiently for The Winds of Winter. Likewise Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch have taken long breaks between instalments and I know there must be a reason for it but I do really hate waiting.

6. Characters with no back story

I love books where you really get to know characters and you can delve into their back story and watch them grow and develop, so when a character doesn’t really have a back story it kind of bugs me. This annoys me the most in villains who are evil for absolutely no reason – if there’s no motivation I tend to struggle to enjoy the story.

So those are my six bookish hates! What are some of your bookish pet peeves?