REVIEW #20 - Eon by Alison Goodman

TITLE: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn
AUTHOR: Alison Goodman
GENRE: fantasy
PUBLICATION DATE: Dec 26th 2008

SOURCE: library

BLURB:

Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he'll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragon-eye, the human link to an energy dragon's power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and, if discovered, Eon faces a terrible death. After a dazzling sword ceremony, Eon's affinity with the twelve dragons catapults him into the treacherous world of the Imperial court, where he makes a powerful enemy, Lord Ido. As tension builds and Eon's desperate lie comes to light, readers won't be able to stop turning the pages...

REVIEW:

Deemed "best fantasy book for young adults 2008", Eon: Dragoneye Reborn was a book I definitely looked forward to reading. I have to admit I am a bit disappointed.

What would happen if a Dragon-eye, the key to save the whole empire, is actually a girl? In the world of men it's a betrayal so deep it's unimaginable. Yet Eona, known as Eon, is a chosen one.

I think I expected too much from Eon, with all the hype surrounding it. But still, it's a decent book and a good read. Despite the info dumps and a lot of mythology, I found it the most intriguing element of the Dragoneye world. It's fascinating to watch how Alison Goodman incorporated ancient Chinese beliefs and myths, the lunar cycle, the ying and yang theory. Definitely an interesting read for those who love Asian culture.

For the majority of the book, Eon(a) was irritating me. Although I could understand her motivations and aspirations, her journey to discover her true self was infuriating. I'm glad she accepted herself though.

The best characters were in my opinion Lady Dela and Ryko, but I am not going to spoil them to you - you will have to read the book to find out who they are.

I didn't like how slow paced the story was. Only the end was action packed and a real page-turner, as opposed to the rest of the book full of nuances and politics which weren't necessarily the most interesting part of the book. On top of that, the story was just too predictable for me and although the title reads Dragoneye Reborn, there were next to none of what I looked forward the most to! Appearances of the dragons.

All in all, I'm still considering whether or not I'd like to read the sequel. The premise left by Eon: Dragoneye Reborn promises great adventure and (finally!) more dragons on the scene and less politics. Given that those were two main things that irked me in the first book, it could be the deciding factor in picking up Eona. That and... I wouldn't mind to hear more from the handsome prince.

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

REVIEW #3 - Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

TITLE: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

AUTHOR: Laini Taylor

GENRE: paranormal romance, fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: Sept 27th 2011

SYNOPSIS:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

REVIEW:

Cover

I found it quite intriguing. It didn't take my breath away or anything, but the blue on the cover is exactly what I have in mind when imagining Karou's hair.

Plot

Whoa. That was something different. While at some point it became rather clear and straighforward tragic romance, it sure kept surprising me. I wasn't really convinced at first - the weirdness of it all, the created world reminded me a bit of magic realism, which is one of my least favorite genrs out there. But, thankfully, it's not the case at all.

Besides, half of the book happens in Prague. I've been to Prague two times, each time really sick and with high fever, so it's all like behind thick fog for me, but I remembered the details through Karou's eyes.

Characters

Karou is one of the best female lead characters I've read in a while. She can manage on her own and her badassery is showing (the scene at the bearded guy's shack was one of my absolute favorites!), even if she can be quite helpless at times.

Akiva is described as "so beautiful to the point of overdoing it" and I had to smile at that. He's troubled, he's got some problems with trying to be funny, which in turn IS funny - I'm not the one to fall for perfect angelic main characters, but this time, I couldn't help it. ;)

Other characters - Zuzana (you know, the bickering bff type, but I appreciated her awesome sense of humor), Brimstone (LOVED the guy, another Gandalf type but not quite) and even Thiago (our bad guy) were really well executed.

Writing

Nonlinear narrative was refreshing, but a bit confusing at times. While I appreciated that it's not first person POV, I was kind of lost sometimes. Especially when it became clear to me that the narrator is omnipresent. It hopped from Karou to Akiva to other characters almost from sentence to sentence and it took me a while to get used to it.

But it's not a disadvantage of course. The writing flowed nicely, and, what I appreciated a lot, there was humor present. It made me laugh out loud a few times, which happens rarely when I read paranormal romances these days. Yay!

Overall

A must-read! I added this book to my favorites and I can't wait for DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT, which is a confirmed title of the sequel.

Rating

4.5 stars out of 5.