Impressive finale: A Sorrow Fierce and Falling

Book buddies, I am utterly impressed. I fell in love with A SHADOW BRIGHT AND BURNING, by Jessica Cluess when it was published in Spain, my home country. I had the exciting chance to get an arc for the second part on Netgalley and now, tadaaaaa, the third and most extraordinary part is coming out in October, 16th. 

Thanks to @prhinternational I got the e-arc and I am SO HAPPY! It made me cry seas of feelings, but it also amazed me, yeah, amazed me O_O The female character is a role model because of her wit and resilience and her magic abilities and oh the swoons and the monsters... :-D You should feel all this for yourself. Go ahead. And look at the covers! They are beauty itself.

MY OPINION

This is one of the finales I’ve been anticipating the most. I love Henrietta, her strength, her dark secrets, her valour against literally monstrous odds.

This novel is acutely atmospheric with its gothic setting and the many dangers lurking in army or ghostly form all around this intrepid heroine. She dallies with powerful forces which have unforeseen consequences that crack open a can of evil dangers that wreak havoc as never before. Whatever hope Henrietta, Blackwood and Magnus started with, it was crushed under the onslaught of lingering mistakes, violence, bloodshed and betrayals.

I loved the growing push of loss as she tries to love Blackwood (so much swoony romance), but death keeps raining down on Sorrow-Fell, the last bastion to defend England from a horde of vengeful demons. Gripping plot twists, thrilling action and spectacular magic entwine with a bunch of characters that clash in their ambitions and failures.

The novel has a phenomenal pace riddled with horrors and a valiant heroine at the helm of a sinking ship that she never abandons. She’s clever and never relents, yet the enemy always seems to lick at her heels. I laughed with her wit and the wonderful interactions with all her friends and allies, and I cried for her when she made the most painful kind of sacrifice. Blackwood and Magnus are two wondrous challenges to Henrietta’s heart, and I relished every moment of truth, anguish and emotion they shared.

Epic is the word that best defines this finale of an amazing trilogy. Epic in magic powers and monumental battles and godly confrontations. Epic in profound love and unbearable loss. Epic in soulful detail and characters. Epic epilogue, too. I stand awed. Thank you for writing this majestic fantasy tale.

Favourite quotes:

There’s nothing gentle about magic.

I always loved the happy look of books lining a shelf.

Any healthy society needed to hear multiple voices.

Sometimes we must be harder than life itself.

THE LOVELY AUTHOR - JESSICA CLUESS

http://jessicacluess.com/

 Book 1 in the Kingdom on Fire series                    Book 2 in the Kingdom on Fire series 

Out from Random House September 20, 2016         Out from Random House September 19, 2017

START AT THE BEGINNING...

Henrietta can burst into flames
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she’s shocked when instead of being executed, she’s named the first female sorcerer in hundreds of years and invited to train as one of Her Majesty’s royal sorcerers. Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the prophesied one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.
But Henrietta is not the chosen one.
As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, how much will she risk to save the city–and the one she loves?
Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess’s spellbinding first book in the Kingdom on Fire series introduces a powerful, unforgettable heroine and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal.

A Sorrow Fierce and Falling comes out October 16, 2018 

If you like YA fantasy with lots of imagination, action, magic and romance, and heartbreark, you will love this trilogy from start to finish :-)

Enjoy your reading week!

This is not Forbidden for you: guest post + review

If you're curious and you know it, read a book... :-D Ok, it's not an original line, but hey, I'm not the writer with a creative mind, that's CATHY CLAMP, today's wonderful guest on Literaria. Please, welcome her as she deserves... with cupcakes and a curious mind.

Mating for Life . . . Or Death

Cathy Clamp

GUEST POST

My new novel, FORBIDDEN, hit the shelves in August and one of the issues in the book is mating among shapeshifters---specifically werewolves. My shapeshifters are known as the Sazi, and they come in pretty much all predatory species. Wolves share the planet with great cats, bears, snakes, lizards and raptor birds. While many animal species mate for life, humans don’t. Part of being a magical shapeshifter is taking on the traits of the animal. But not all animals follow “the rules”, so the Sazi don’t either.

Many humans who lose a spouse pine away until they die. They simply cannot live without their mate and die of a broken heart. The Sazi reality takes that one step further. With great magic comes great power . . . and great depression. When mating takes on a magical edge, the problems do too. Being cut off from the magic of the mating can cause physical and mental issues. Get cut off for too long and you can literally go insane or even pine to death.

What happens in FORBIDDEN is that our hero, Alek, becomes mated to the heroine, Claire. Unfortunately, it’s not a double mating, and Claire doesn’t feel the same. Oh, she likes him well enough, and could potentially come to love him. But it’s not the instant infatuation that Alek falls into. One he can’t come out of.

Ever. He has to have her, be with her. If he can’t . . . he’ll die from loneliness.

Magical healers can help if they catch a single-sided mating quick enough. They can shut down the tie before it becomes too strong and threatens a person’s sanity. A healer in FORBIDDEN puts a temporary magical block between Alek and Claire so they can function (and they have to function to survive the plot). But it’s hard on Alek. Depression looms constantly at the edge of his mind. He can’t understand why a woman he just met is affecting him so strongly and why he can’t get through the pain. Even worse, he knows Claire doesn’t love him in return. How can he possibly overcome that?

And Claire? She feels horrible guilt at Alek’s pain. But she can’t magically create love and anything else would be a lie that she couldn’t live with. She has to work with him and somehow balance the pain she knows she’s inflicting. 

How do they get through it? Pick up a copy of FORBIDDEN and find out. You won’t be sorry... :)

I thought it was a very interesting issue in the plot, 

so I'm eager to find out how it's resolved :o)

Would you like to know what I thought?

A gripping combination of paranormal intrigue, clever worldbuilding, moving characters, and hot action with a pinch of mouthwatering romance.

I was happy to encounter action from the start, heavily laden with mystery that never slows down. The detailed paranormal hierarchy and history of the shapeshifters are seamlessly interwoven as the plot advances. I really liked to know how Claire's magic works, what she can smell due to her wolf nature or the things that happened during and after the plague that affected her kin so appallingly.

However, that was not the only remarkable feature of the story. The many characters are relatable, interesting, they all interact wonderfully to enliven the mysterious plot that threatens Claire from the first moment she sets foot, not too softly, in town with a mission that rubs everybody the wrong way. Except Alek, who will turn to mean a lot to her in a very unexpected twist.

To my surprise, Claire's stay in town is marked with not only undercover investigation and lots of characters, but a huge dose of violence. Some of the traditions there seem gruesome and unjust. Of course, that served to have me glued to everything that was happening to her and around her.

I was really into the events while the mystery surrounding some kids and the mixed creatures-population took place. The only thing that bothered me somewhat was that a bit ugly truth is revealed in a very anticlimactic way, only to reveal it again as a dramatic surprise in a dialogue between Alek, Claire and another cat character. It had lost its edge by then, I'm afraid.

Throughout the story, there is a vibrant physical attraction between the two wolf-shifters, Alek and Claire, that was vividly described. Nice. And it's appealing on several levels, including a beautiful, poignant emotional scene linked to mating rituals and repercussions.

The final one hundred pages almost shake with the intensity of the discoveries, the magic, the violence and the wild emotions. I was as exhausted at the end as the characters. They all had to fight and bleed to come out alive of the veritable avalanche of terrible things that fell down on them. 

Forbidden really convinced me in terms of plot, characterization and even quasi-romance. The soft cliffhanger is just enough encouragement to read the next adventure.

USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp 
returns to the adventures of the Sazi

FORBIDDEN

Cathy Clamp

Urban fantasy authors Cathy Clamp and C.T. Admas won countless fans with their exciting and romantic tales of the shapeshifting Sazi. Now Cathy Clamp returns to the world of Hunter’s Moon with FORBIDDEN (Tor Trade Paperback Original; $14.99; On-sale: August 11, 2015), a high tension urban fantasy featuring shapeshifters, murder, and romance.

Ten years have passed since the war that destroyed the Sazi Council and inflicted a horrible "cure" on thousands of Sazi, robbing them of their ability to shapeshift. In the isolated small town of Luna Lake Sazi refugees have had a chance to grow up and live in peace – but now Sazi children are being kidnapped. Claire, a red wolf shifter, is sent to investigate and meets Alek, a wolf shifter adopted by a parliament of Owls in defiance of Sazi tradition.  Sparks fly between them, but the desperate race to find the missing children forces them to set aside their mutual attraction and focus on the future of their people.

Return to the Sazi universe with Cathy Clamp in this tightly-paced, high-tension urban fantasy thriller. This new book is a must-read for fans of the series, but also a perfect intro for new readers. And Library Journal points out, “Its multiple YA characters made this a solid choice for crossover teen readers.” FORBIDDEN is the urban fantasy choice of the summer for readers looking for lots of action and a little romance.

"Immersive shapeshifter fiction with plenty of action, a wealth of

detail, and supernatural features that are just plain cool.

I wish I'd thought of some of this stuff."

—Jim Butcher, New York Times bestselling author, on Cold Moon Rising

"Adams and Clamp just keep getting better and better.... Whether you like urban fantasy or paranormal romance, this is a series worth picking up."

—SF Site on Howling Moon

"Adams and Clamp are adept at writing intensely sensuous, hot lovemaking scenes, but where they really shine is in the creation of an unforgettable world.

Laurel K. Hamilton readers will enjoy this edgy world."

—Booklist on Moon's Web

ABOUT THE MASTERMIND

CATHY CLAMP has written paranormal romance and urban fantasy in partnership with C.T. Adams. Clamp and Adams hit the USA Today bestseller list with their Sazi and Thrall series. They are also the authors of the Blood Singer series, published under the name Cat Adams.

Forbidden is Cathy Clamp's first solo novel. It returns to the world launched in Hunter's Moon. You can visit her online at http://www.ciecatrunpubs.com/.

Thank you for your time and for writing such compelling stories! Book buddies, don't forget to have a look at her books, they're worth it :o)

Top Ten Assets to Become a Cool Egyptian God + giveaway

Hi, book buddies. Today I'm very happy to be hosting a guest post from creative author Kelsey Ketch as part of her book tour for Son of Set, her second novel in Descendants of Isis. I've read both books and reviewed them here not long ago. Worth it, believe me.

Top 10 Assets to Become a Cool Egyptian God

1.     Stunningly Good Looks: A god’s image is that of perfection. They look neither too old nor too young. Their body is at the peak of their physical physic; slender and well-toned. Their skin is a perfect golden tan, and always warm to the touch; like it has permanently been touched by the rays of the sun.

2.   Advanced Knowledge: One thing Egyptian gods are known for is having bestowed knowledge to the people of Egypt. Thoth taught them how to write. Isis and Osiris taught how to irrigate the land and make wine and bake bread. Isis also taught remedies and medicine. 

3.     Heka or Magic: Though it is dependent on the role they play, each god has their own set of gifts which they can use. Being the goddess of magic, Isis’s power includes the ability to heal, seeing into the future, and with the secret name of Ra, the power of creation. Set’s gifts, on the other hand, focus on his position as god of the dessert and Ra’s protector from the demon Apep (advancing his physical abilities such as strength). Then darkness consumed his heart, and his abilities turned toward manipulation and causing chaos.

4.     Symbols of Power: Osiris has his crook and flail. Set uses his was scepter. They are very much like wands, which can direct their magic. But they can also be used to manipulate their environment and allow them to do more than their natural abilities would permit.

5.     Unusual Eyes: Not only are gods’ eyes unique in color, when in true form, but the whites also glow. It is the light of their power. It also can be used as a gauge of their temper and control. The more intense their emotions, the less control they have over their powers.

6.     Shape Shifting Abilities: Almost every Egyptian god is associated with a specific creature, such as Anubis and the jackal. These are the animals which they have connected with and can take the form of. But also others gods and goddess, such as Isis and even her sister, Nephthys, who have been known to shift into animal or even other human-like forms.   

7.     The Ability to Move between Worlds: Whether physically or spiritually, gods must be able to move between (and even through) the living world, Duat, and Amenti. Many gods use false doorways as portals for their souls, and then possess a shadow (a statue or image left in the living world). Others, like Ra, have the ability to move through what are called Gates of the Horizons to move through the layers of Duat and bring forth another day.

8.     Dream Manipulation: Though Thoth is most known for this ability in historical records, all the gods can control a mortal’s dreams. They mainly use it to send messages to their followers or lead people to their destiny. But others use it for more invasive purposes, like to alter a person’s emotions or their thought patterns.

9.     Followers: You can’t be a god without followers. They are the ones that worship you and protect your name and shadow. They are the keepers of the houses and temples; the caretakers of the gods statues, images, and relics; and the providers of worldly needs, including food and drink. Without them, a god wouldn’t be a god.

10. Eternal Life: This isn’t the same immortality. Eternal life is that a god’s or goddess’s name and shadow live on. This can be through hieroglyphics, temples, images, and/or statues. But once a name or their image is completely destroyed everywhere, then the god is erased from existence.

I'm sure I'd relish having a couple of those powers. Mmm, the ability to move between worlds? That must be amazing! But, wait, what about having followers to do you bidding, or eyes that could hypnotize every single person, or so much knowledge that you could create anything from scratch? Wow.

The books

The last thing Natara “Natti” Stone wants to do is to start anew at Setemple High School. She wished she had never left London. Yet the brutal murder of her maternal grandmother has made her life very complicated. The only clue related to her murder is an ancient, encrypted necklace Natti discovered after her grandmother’s death. And if trying to adjust to American life is not enough, Natti is being stalked by a mysterious, charming high school senior, Seth O’Keefe, who is annoyingly persistent in his attempts at seduction.Seth O’Keefe is secretly a member of the Sons of Set, an order that worships the Egyptian god of chaos. Seth’s blessing from Set, his “charm,” never failed, except with one person: Natti Stone. Her ability to elude him infatuates and infuriates him, and he becomes obsessed with the chase. But the closer he gets to her, the more his emotions take a dangerous turn, and he risks breaking one of the most valued covenants of his order. The punishment for which is a fate worse than death.The adventure this unlikely couple becomes engulfed in could cost them their lives and their souls.

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – Smashwords

  

Seth O’Keefe has broken the laws of his god. He never thought he would sacrifice his own future to protect a Daughter of Isis. But when the Sons of Set discovered Natti is the Secret Keeper, he had no choice. Now, Seth and Natti are on the run from his father, who wants nothing more than to see Seth dead. With no allies, Seth turns to the Daughters of Isis for help, hoping they would protect Natti. But when they meet the Daughters, he discovers a secret that puts both their lives in more danger. Low on options, Seth sees only one possibility for survival. He must help Natti solve an ancient puzzle and find the secret name of Ra.Natara “Natti” Stone is having a hard time swallowing the truth. She can’t believe what she has learned in the past twenty-four hours: Seth is a Son of Set blessed with charm; she is a Daughter of Isis blessed with a sliver of Ma ‘at; the locket her grandmother gave her holds an ancient Egyptian secret linking to Osiris and Isis. That along with being tortured and brutalized by the Sons of Set, she can hardly hold herself together. Thank God for Seth’s touch! That warm, tingling sensation that drowns it all out. Yet her heart struggles to stay focused. She must quickly embrace her destiny before the secret name of Ra falls into the wrong hands.

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – Smashwords

Add Son of Set to your Goodreads list!

The mind behind the books

During her high school years, Kelsey Ketch could always be found tucked away in a little corner of the hall or classroom, writing her fantasy worlds and creating illustrations and maps. Today is no different, except now she’s writing in the break room at her office building or at the tables of the Barnes and Noble Café in Cary, North Carolina. She is also an avid reader, a part-time book blogger at Ketch’s Book Nook, and lives with her two orange tabbies and awesome and humorous flat-mate. For more information, please visit her site at kelseyketch.com.

Website – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads

The awesome giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you enjoy today's post? If you want to read my reviews of both books, here they are :o)