Dance of Thieves - Review

Dance of Thieves (Dance of Thieves, # 1)

By: Mary E Pearson

Publication: August 7th 2018 by Henry Holt & Company

384 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--A new novel in the New York Times–bestselling Remnant Chronicles universe, in which a reformed thief and the young leader of an outlaw dynasty lock wits in a battle that may cost them their lives—and their hearts.

When the patriarch of the Ballenger empire dies, his son, Jase, becomes its new leader. Even nearby kingdoms bow to the strength of this outlaw family, who have always governed by their own rules. But a new era looms on the horizon, set in motion by a young queen, which makes her the target of the dynasty's resentment and anger.

At the same time, Kazi, a legendary former street thief, is sent by the queen to investigate transgressions against the new settlements. When Kazi arrives in the forbidding land of the Ballengers, she learns that there is more to Jase than she thought. As unexpected events spiral out of their control, bringing them intimately together, they continue to play a cat and mouse game of false moves and motives in order to fulfill their own secret missions.

I'm so glad that I jumped into Dance of Thieves immediately after finishing The Beauty of Darkness. Even though we're now following a different set of main characters, the cast we fell in love with from the original Remnant Chronicles series were all mentioned in one way or the other. Lia has quite a prominent role in that she's discussed frequently throughout the book and does have a section toward the end where we see her again. Kaden isn't mentioned by name I don't think, but his position and relationship to Pauline (who is mentioned more than once) is. Rafe is mentioned and is present. Even Natiya as well as Griz are all characters in this story. We even see Lia's brother, Bryn, at one point and discuss Jeb, who died at the end of The Beauty of Darkness.

Honestly, at first I was frustrated with Kazi because she's so quick to accuse Jase of being a thief, but yet she knows that she's one of the most accomplished thieves in Venda. Of course, this comes up later and isn't something that's ignored. Kazi and Jase's relationship is full of this type of thing. The very thing one holds against the other is often something they're doing also. I did feel like Kazi and Jase jumped into things quickly, but there was plenty of time that they spent together solidifying what may have happened too quickly for me. For me their relationship drove so much of the story, and this is always a good thing in my opinion.

Dance of Thieves did take me a good 10% to get invested. I kept falling asleep when I'd start reading. I don't think that's a fault of the book itself so much as me just being exhausted most of the time. But once I was hooked I didn't want to stop reading and would squeeze in a page or two every spare chance I had. Especially toward the end--70% on--I felt feverish to finish this book and see how everything was going to end until the next book in the series.

The side characters and world were just as vivid as the main two. I wasn't expecting Mary E Pearson to make a new series in the same world yet have it feel so cohesive and separate at the same time. The area of land that the Ballenger family is over has such a unique set of rules and customs that it truly made the series feel brand new even while being a piece of the world we came to love in the prior series. Kudos for that. And despite having such a large cast of characters (Jase's family alone is quite large), everyone felt separate and completely fleshed out.

Dance of Thieves was everything that I wanted it to be. Driven by the relationships yet still enough story and intrigue and questions to keep me devouring pages. I felt torn with Jase and Kazi at times. I wanted them to work things out, yet there were so many times that I thought each one had crossed the line of no return and not being able to fix their relationship. I loved the uniqueness of Thors Watch and the history of the Ballenger family where this was one of my complaints of the original series. And then there's that cliffhanger. Dance of Thieves gets 4.5 Stars. Have you read Dance of Thieves? What did you think? Let me know!

Silver Shadows - Review

Silver Shadows (Bloodlines, # 5)

By: Richelle Mead

Published: July 29th 2014 by Razorbill

416 pages

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.

Oh my goodness you guys. This was an exhausting book. If you remember, we left The Fiery Heart with Sydney being abducted by the Alchemists. We know that they’re shipping her off to re-education in attempts to purge the Moroi and dhampir sympathies (if that's even the right word) from her. And so well, neither Adrian nor Sydney start Silver Shadows in the best mind space. Sydney’s been gone for several months, I believe, when we first begin Silver Shadows. She’s mostly been kept in a solitary cell in the dark the entire time thus far. And Adrian…well Adrian’s been hitting the bottle for a good portion of that time.

You guys I struggled so much with Adrian in the first half of this book. I mean, on the one hand, his behavior fit entirely with what we’ve seen of him up until now so it wasn’t that he was behaving out of character, but on the other hand, he wasn’t behaving at the level of which I know he’s capable and of which Sydney needed him to be capable. I was screaming at him when it came to his friendship with Nina. How men can be so dense sometimes truly blows my mind. And so I was really torn about Adrian in this book. While I still like him as a character, and he redeemed himself over the latter half of the book, he just proved Rose right again and made me glad that I had been rooting for Dimitri the entire time throughout Vampire Academy.

Thankfully, Silver Shadows was a book that--although it didn’t start in such a great place--progressed in an upward trend. The characters begin to make better decisions throughout the book, the action picks up, and everything just all-around got better as the book advanced. I almost hate to make this comparison because I think this series is on a whole other level from the Lux series, Silver Shadows reminded me a lot of Origin in more ways than one. But unfortunately to explain how would be spoilerish.

As always, I love how strong Sydney is. Whereas Rose is physically strong and capable (and smart too), Sydney is mostly intellectually smart and strong (even though she held her own physically in this book as well). I just love female characters like this. She makes some difficult decisions, but she also has the good of others in her heart always. I respect her.

In typical Richelle Mead style, there is a cliffhanger which sets up the events to come for the next and final installment of the Bloodlines series, The Ruby Circle. I also can’t wait to go back and re-read this series from the beginning after finishing the last book so that I can see how Richelle Mead sets up the entire thing and the foreshadowing that she does so well from start to finish. She always puts her books in a series together like a puzzle and I can only see how everything fits together when it’s all finished.

I don’t know that I can say Silver Shadows is my favorite of the Bloodlines series. I can see where The Fiery Heart is considered the equivalent of Shadow Kiss and if that’s the case then Silver Shadows definitely felt very similar to Blood Promise but with more romance since Blood Promise was almost entirely lacking in the romance area. So if The Ruby Circle is anything like Spirit Bound then I think we’re in good shape for a spectacular ending to this series.

Silver Shadows gets 4 Stars from me. The characters grow even more throughout this book. And once the events start picking up, Silver Shadows becomes non-stop action until the very end. I hardly felt like I had a chance to breathe on the latter half of this book. I loved where Richelle Mead chose to end this one, and I’m already dying to get my hands on the final book in the series. Have you read Silver Shadows? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Silver Shadows

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Silver Shadows (Bloodlines, # 5)

By: Richelle Mead

Expected Publication: July 29th 2014 by Razorbill

416 pages

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .

Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.

After having finished The Fiery Heart earlier this week, Silver Shadows had to be my pick this week. What are you waiting on? Let me know!