Hello everyone!
Happy Monday! Today I'm gonna have no one but two Mark This Book Monday entries! I could have done a combined entry of both books, but I thought each book ought to have their own very entry, since one of them should have been last Monday's entry!
So, for the first Mark This Book Monday, I'm going to review my very first ARC copy that I've got through NetGalley!
Gold by Talia Vance (Bandia #2).
As I've said before I requested this book on NetGalley and my request was approved, so I was sent a digital copy of the ARC of this book. As it is an ARC it is not a final copy and might differ from the finished book when it is published, but being able to read it in advance since it doesn't publish till September 8th was amazing!
I read Silver, book 1 in the series and really liked it, but this one I love! I give it 4 and a half stars out of 5!
Gold starts where Silver left us, but not exactly, since Silver left us with Brianna choosing Blake and in Gold Brianna is running to Ireland to clear her head and save her life, and she does it without Blake. And ends up at Austin's ancestral home of all places. And let me tell, this book is big on Austin time!
Through some flashbacks we find out why Brianna came to Ireland without Blake, and during Brianna's exploring of the surroundings of her refuge she gets two big surprises: one of the charms of her bracelet allows her to go back in time, the time before all Hell broke loose and the Feud started; and all of a sudden, Austin is back from the Underworld!
In Gold, we get a much deeper look at all the characters, a new threat, and discover more about how the present, the future and the past get intertwined. The plot deepens, and shows us that nothing really is as it seemed at first, with some very unexpected twists and turns!
Brianna's character goes through a lot, and how she grows to accept who and what she is, the choices she makes and why she makes them, it kept me rooting and feeling for her through all the pages and trials she has to deal with.
There's a love triangle here, and despite my absolute lack of interest on love triangles, this one never buggered me at all. The way it was presented and developed must have made sense enough for me, so I understood Brianna's affections and choices without thinking "arrgh, not another love triangle!!". Also, silly little me hadn't made sense of the book titles before, but mid-book I had a "Aha! That's why book #1 was Silver and book #2 is Gold!" moment. Austing and Blake, Blake and Austin, and surprisingly, I completely got to understand why Brianna makes the choices she does. But, I'm not gonna say anymore on that!
Talia Vance waves a very intrincate story with Ireland as the background, their myths as the inspiration and a look at human nature, choices and Fate as the main drives of it and delivers a great story that will have you turning each page wondering where Brianna's choices will lead her and the rest of the characters.
The ending is heartwrenching in more ways than one, with loss, casualties and a goodbye to Ireland, but also has a glimmer of hope in the end, and I just can't wait to read book 3! Hopefully the title will give us a little hint of what's to come!
Are you wondering if after reading the ARC copy I'm likely to buy the book once it comes out, since I already know what happens? Well yes, this is a book I want to add to my collection!
Stay tuned for the second review of the day, coming later!!
Happy Monday! Today I'm gonna have no one but two Mark This Book Monday entries! I could have done a combined entry of both books, but I thought each book ought to have their own very entry, since one of them should have been last Monday's entry!
So, for the first Mark This Book Monday, I'm going to review my very first ARC copy that I've got through NetGalley!
Gold by Talia Vance (Bandia #2).
As I've said before I requested this book on NetGalley and my request was approved, so I was sent a digital copy of the ARC of this book. As it is an ARC it is not a final copy and might differ from the finished book when it is published, but being able to read it in advance since it doesn't publish till September 8th was amazing!
I read Silver, book 1 in the series and really liked it, but this one I love! I give it 4 and a half stars out of 5!
Gold starts where Silver left us, but not exactly, since Silver left us with Brianna choosing Blake and in Gold Brianna is running to Ireland to clear her head and save her life, and she does it without Blake. And ends up at Austin's ancestral home of all places. And let me tell, this book is big on Austin time!
Through some flashbacks we find out why Brianna came to Ireland without Blake, and during Brianna's exploring of the surroundings of her refuge she gets two big surprises: one of the charms of her bracelet allows her to go back in time, the time before all Hell broke loose and the Feud started; and all of a sudden, Austin is back from the Underworld!
In Gold, we get a much deeper look at all the characters, a new threat, and discover more about how the present, the future and the past get intertwined. The plot deepens, and shows us that nothing really is as it seemed at first, with some very unexpected twists and turns!
Brianna's character goes through a lot, and how she grows to accept who and what she is, the choices she makes and why she makes them, it kept me rooting and feeling for her through all the pages and trials she has to deal with.
There's a love triangle here, and despite my absolute lack of interest on love triangles, this one never buggered me at all. The way it was presented and developed must have made sense enough for me, so I understood Brianna's affections and choices without thinking "arrgh, not another love triangle!!". Also, silly little me hadn't made sense of the book titles before, but mid-book I had a "Aha! That's why book #1 was Silver and book #2 is Gold!" moment. Austing and Blake, Blake and Austin, and surprisingly, I completely got to understand why Brianna makes the choices she does. But, I'm not gonna say anymore on that!
Talia Vance waves a very intrincate story with Ireland as the background, their myths as the inspiration and a look at human nature, choices and Fate as the main drives of it and delivers a great story that will have you turning each page wondering where Brianna's choices will lead her and the rest of the characters.
The ending is heartwrenching in more ways than one, with loss, casualties and a goodbye to Ireland, but also has a glimmer of hope in the end, and I just can't wait to read book 3! Hopefully the title will give us a little hint of what's to come!
Are you wondering if after reading the ARC copy I'm likely to buy the book once it comes out, since I already know what happens? Well yes, this is a book I want to add to my collection!
Stay tuned for the second review of the day, coming later!!
I'm really sick of love triangles at the moment (they're one of my least favourite things about YA!), but I'm glad to hear you weren't frustrated with this one. I still need to pick up the first book in this series. Great review! :)
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