Spark by Ella M. Lee

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I received an advance review copy for free from Booksirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Fiona Ember is still trying to get over the loss of her best friend, whilst trying to get used to the newly created Lightening Clan. With her clan still trying to control their magic, Fiona is struggling to accept her new power.

When the Sky Clan sends a message inviting Fiona, Nicolas and Ryan to meeting between all the clans, she has to come to terms with her position within the magical community. The rest of the clans have questions about the new clan and not all the answers will be easy.

To make everything more difficult there have been inconsistencies in the Lightning Sanctum which could alter the what everyone believes about magic - if Lightning can workout what they mean.

What I liked about this book

• Ella's writing is very descriptive, she is very good at painting the scene. I could easily picture the lightning clans magic and inside of the Sanctum.
• There were some extremely powerful emotional scenes focusing on grief and heartbreak in particular.
• Fiona has grown a lot since the first book but is still dealing with anxiety which she acknowledges.
• The story went in a direction that I was not expecting which was a very welcome surprise.

It took my a while to begin this book because I wasn’t sure that I was emotionally prepared. As with the previous instalments of this series, I was gripped from the start. It is no secret that I have been a fan of this series since the first book. I am excited to see where this story arc takes the characters, especially after that ending. I would definitely recommend this series to any reader who enjoy the fantasy romance genre.

5 stars

✮✮✮✮✮

How To Buy A Planet by D.A. Holdsworth

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Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, the worlds leaders have taken drastic measures to reduce everyone's debt. They have decided to sell the planet.

When Toby and his flat mates find out, they are shocked at how adorable the alien who bought the planet is and that they say they will be able to create a debt free future. Just as they were about to celebrate, they meet a mysterious professor who reveals what is really going on. But there is a problem: the Earth is going to be wiped out.

What I liked about this book

• A fast paced and entertaining story with lots of twists.
• The concept is extremely original. I haven’t come across anything of its like before.
• Within each chapter, the focus changes across characters to give a clear understanding of what is happening at the same time across different locations.
• I particularly enjoyed reading the description of how the characters move between planets.

What I didn't like

• I was sometimes confused by the banking terminology. I had to search the internet to understand what was being discussed.
• I would have liked to understand a bit more about both Toby and Mrs B.

For some reason when I was reading this I kept picturing a young Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Toby and Paranoid Dave? I would be interested in finding out what happens after this book finishes and how the world would cope. I would recommend this book to anyone who like sci-fi comedy.

3.75 stars

✮✮✮✭

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

  

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Essun comes home to find that her husband has killed their son and kidnapped their daughter. At the same time, the mighty Sanze Empire has fallen due to the deaths of her citizens in an act of vengeance by a madman. Meanwhile, across the continent known as the Stillness, a rift has been opened into the earth from which an ash cloud continues to exit. which has the potential to darken the skies for centuries.

Essun must go on a perilous journey to follow the remains of her family. A war has broken out in the Stillness, not for land or power, but for the basic necessities that are needed to live. For Essun the lengths she will go to, to protect her daughter are unlimited, even if it means the worlds falls apart.

What I liked about this book

• The story is told from that point of view of 3 women at different stages of life: Essun, Syenite and Damaya. I found the chapters that focused on Essun to be refreshing. These chapters stand out from the rest of the book as they are told in the 2nd person whereas the other chapters are told in the 3rd person.
• I wasn’t expecting the 3 perspectives to tie up the way that they do. This was really cleverly written. 
• The Fifth season has a well rounded, inclusive character set.

If you are looking to read an epic dystopian high fantasy with a unique perspective and well written story, then I would recommend the fifth season. This is a book that will stick in your head for a long time after you finish reading. 

✮✮✮✮✮

5 stars

August wrap-up

Here is a list of all the books I have read or listened to in August. Click the link in the title to add to your Goodreads shelf.

Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon (ebook) 

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Our rating ✮✮✮✮

Intended by 

H.L. Macfarlane (ebook) 

“There’s something here, beneath the surface. Something alive. Can’t you feel it? Don’t you want to…join it?”

The last thing Charlie Hope wants is to get into magical politics – especially when she’d rather spend all her time singing in the woods. But when her father gives her an ultimatum she cannot ignore Charlie reluctantly becomes assistant to Mr Silver, immortal magician extraordinaire and one of the biggest political influences in the country.

The last thing Daniel Silver wants is to look after a precocious young woman whilst working to avoid all-out war with foreign magical factions. Yet though Charlie hides the true extent of her abilities from the enigmatic man, it isn’t long before Silver is drawn in by what’s lurking beneath the surface of his unwilling protégé.

As tensions rise between Silver and Charlie and war between factions becomes inevitable, something deep and ancient and forgotten may just be using their petty distractions as a means to crawl back into existence and obliterate them all.

Our rating ✮✮✮✮✮

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander 2) by Diana Gabaldon (ebook)

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves.... 

Our rating ✮✮✮✮

Voyager (Outlander #3)by Diana Gabaldon (ebook)

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had travelled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite or forever doom her timeless love.

Our rating ✮✮✮✮

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne (audiobook)

Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach…

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers. 

Our rating ✮✮✮

Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1) by Katee Robert (audiobook)

He was supposed to be a myth. But from the moment I crossed the River Styx and fell under his dark spell... he was, quite simply, mine.

Society darling Persephone Dimitriou plans to flee the ultra-modern city of Olympus and start over far from the backstabbing politics of the Thirteen Houses. But all that’s ripped away when her mother ambushes her with an engagement to Zeus, the dangerous power behind their glittering city’s dark facade.

With no options left, Persephone flees to the forbidden undercity and makes a devil’s bargain with a man she once believed a myth... a man who awakens her to a world she never knew existed.

Hades has spent his life in the shadows, and he has no intention of stepping into the light. But when he finds that Persephone can offer a little slice of the revenge he’s spent years craving, it’s all the excuse he needs to help her—for a price. Yet every breathless night spent tangled together has given Hades a taste for Persephone, and he’ll go to war with Olympus itself to keep her close…

A modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that’s as sinful as it is sweet.

Our rating ✮✮✮

All synopsis taken from goodreads