Saturday Pages: Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong!!

Well, as the second and last entry for this week's Saturday Pages, I have a book that was chosen by Alyssa from The Eater of Books! We decided to push a book on each other for every month of the year (inspired by Epic Recs) and for this month, I chose this one! And quite unsurprising... Alyssa triumphed once again! This girl has such a similar taste to mine that it's scary!



Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first book that I read after reaching an agreement with my fellow awesome blogger friend Alyssa from The Eater of Books, based on Epic Recs, we've decided to push one book on each other each month! She actually sent me a huge list, but I went for Sea of Shadows cause I already had it on my Kindle app!

I am so very happy that I chose this one! It was a great read and totally put me in the mood for reading more epic fantasy!

This is the story of two sisters, twins. Physically identical but quite different in attitude and ways to deal with their responsabilies. They're the Keeper and the Seeker of the Forest of the Dead and they live in the village of Edgewood, right at the start of the forest. Ashyn and Moria are facing the rituals to put the spirits of the dead at peace on their own for the first time and each in their own way are trying to deal with the nerves and stress of the situation in their own way.

As with most fantasty books the pacing is not fast but with the wonderful world building we have entangled with the plot progression, I was kept enganged, entertained and even mesmerized! The mythology in this series simply seems amazing. The world seems like a mix of Japanese and Middle Ages with a twist, and the depth of information we glipse at everytime we peel a small layer here and there it's amazing!

The story is told in dual POVs from Moira and Ashyn, and I always felt they were distinct enough to never feel confused or wonder who were following in each chapter. The first chapters are prefect to introduce us to the world and to show us enough of the sisters together, to show their bond and their interactions. Then some unexpected and quite dire events happen and the sisters are separated, and both end up on their separate ways with varied travelling companions. Both trying to get to civilization to get help for themselves and their village.

Each of the sisters go through their own inner and outer journey, each with a guy that they wouldn't have chosen to accompany them. You can expect some romance because of this, but nothing really prominent at all. For most of the book, if not all, we see these relationships develop, getting to know each other, how to work with each other, and they first start with a friendship that seems to be progressing to something more.

Before I continue babbling about this book more, I cannot miss mentioning both Tova, Ashyn's hound and Diago, Moira's wildcat! Both beasts were no mere pets, but bonded to the girls since they were chosen as Seeker and Keeper. They're loyal and protective of the girls, and they're as important companions as any of the other human characters!

This a great first step on a larger journey, with plenty of world building, establishing our characters and although the ending leaves more than enough opening for more to come, with an actual twist that was quite a shocker that I didn't see coming AT ALL! But we close a chapter and the journey comes to an end. No real cliffhanger per se, so that's a plus!

Very well deserved 4 to 4.5 stars for this one! Thanks Alyssa for pushing this one me! Cannot wait for book 2 now!



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Mark This Book Monday: The Beautiful And The Cursed by Page Morgan!!

As the next and last entry on this week's Mark This Book Monday I have a book that was highly recommended by Alyssa from The Eater of Books and that is her 2 of 2 great recommendations to me so far.

It is also finally a book to be counted towards my 2014 TBR Pile challenge, that is one I haven't been doing too well this year! I really need to switch gears a bit and once I have my NG ratio up to 80% focus more on this one!

The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Beautiful & the Cursed was a book that I had seen around and felt quite curious about, but thought that it'd be too much romance so I had postponed checking it out. But that changed when I read Alyssa's review for it on her blog, and after that I went and bought it for my Kindle and started reading it right away. And boy am I glad that I did!

This book is historical fiction through and through with a strong gothic romance atmosphere and plenty of fantasy/paranormal elements here and there. As soon as I started reading I knew that I was in love with the writing and the dark and creepy feel of the book as well as with the historical setting.

The book starts with Ingrid arriving in Paris with her mother and her sister to a place that his brother had found for them, where their mother could finally start the art gallery she had wanted to work on for a long time. After an incident that the high society of London won't forget easily and that has ruined Ingrid's good standing there, Paris feels like a fresh start for them. But everything changes right on arrival, when they discover that Grayson is not there to welcome them, or anywhere to be found.

Something I really liked is that none of the ladies in this family are the ones to wait for things to be solved. The mother starts using whatever friends and influence she might have to try and find out what happened and involve the police. And Ingrid and Gabby start trying to find out by visiting bookstores trying to follow Grayson movements leading to his disappearance. And they stumble upon so much more than they could have ever imagined!

Demons walking the Paris streets and snatching girls, gargoyles that protect assigned humans and an organization of humans that fight against the demons and have an agreement of sorts to work with the gargoyles. All of that is more or less dumped on Ingrid and she even has to face a demon or two and finds herself falling for Luc, the gargoyle that is her protector. Gabby gets herself in plenty of trouble cause she's so fierce and headstrong, but she proves that she can hold her own.

The romance is present and it is quite a fantastic kind of romance... even if at first I wasn't entirely sure how it had changed from curiousity and protectiveness to attraction and amazing chemistry, but I quickly forgot about that and was swept away by Ingrid and Luc's forbidden romance! I also really enjoyed Gabby's banter and fiery romance with one of the Alliance members. Each one of the romances were so fitting to how different the sisters are.

The plot was paced slowly but surely, you kept on wanting to turn the pages but never felt like rushing through them because this is one book to be savoured! I loved the writing and the characters and there were hints and pieces of the bigger picture scattered all over the pages. I wasn't really expecting some of the revelations we got by the end of the book, but in the end everything made sense and was open enough to what's to come in the next book(s). I wasn't very happy about what Luc decided to do by the end, even if I could understand his choice... still is painful and horrible and even opens a door to possible love triangle and I don't like it!

A fantastic read for sure, well deserving of 4 to 4.5 stars and now I cannot wait for book 2!



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