Review: Sacrifice

Sacrifice
Legacy, Book 3

Author: Cayla Kluver
Pages: 437
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Publication Date: October 23, 2012
Source: HarlequinTeen via YA Books Central

Description from Goodreads:
This is not the time for the fight to end. Now is when the fight will begin. This is the time to regain what has been lost.

Alera

Queen of a fallen kingdom, secretly in love with the enemy.

Shaselle

Daughter of a murdered father, rebel with a cause.

One lives behind the former Hytanican palace walls and walks the razor's edge to keep the fragile peace in her beloved homeland. The other slips through the war-torn streets, seeking retribution for her family's tragedy, following whispers of insurgency.

Both face choices that will separate them from those they cannot help but love. As their stories intertwine, a conspiracy ignites that may end in slavery or death—or lead to freedom anew, if only each can face what must be sacrificed.

Series:
1: Legacy (review|Goodreads)
2: Allegiance (review|Goodreads)
3: Sacrifice

First Sentence: "The Captain of the Guard instinctively glanced behind, scanning the palace's third floor corridor for enemies who might be monitoring him."

Review:
The Legacy Trilogy has not garnered immense acclaim from most of my blogger friends. In fact, a full three of them rated the first book one star on Goodreads. So yeah, these books aren't for everyone, and I know that, but, despite them being imperfect, I really love this series. Sacrifice was one of my most desired ARCs of 2012, and that's why it was my first ARC request as a YABC staff reviewer. I'm happy to have been able to read it early, because, yet again, I found myself wholly swept up in Cayla Kluver's world. At this point, be advised that there will be spoilers for the first two books in the rest of this review.

Sacrifice gets off to a bit of a slow start, dealing with the political ramifications of Cokyri's takeover of Hytanica. That first chapter was a snoozefest, but, thankfully, things picked up a few chapters in. For the rest of the novel, I was wholly engrossed, just as I remember being every time I read a book in this series.

What I love about these books, what makes me look past their faults and hold them up as personal favorites, is the fact they Cayla Kluver always manages to convince me that I know what's going to happen and then pull the rug right out from under me. Seriously, this happened in every book, usually more than once. It's so rare for me to be so unsure what will happen to the characters, and I love that feeling, especially since Kluver does so without stooping to impossible twists. I just find that so refreshing, and it's also why I'm always on tenterhooks as I read, because anything could happen.

Both Legacy and Allegiance were written entirely in Alera's perspective, but in Sacrifice Kluver adds a second narrator, Shaselle. At first I was hugely skeptical, but I ended up really liking Shaselle's point of view. She's snarky and very different from Alera. Her romance plot line was cute, and I really loved her refusal to be put into a box of people's expectations. I was just sitting here about to make the assertion that her perspective doesn't really add anything to the story from a narrative point of view, but, on further reflection, I think her story serves as a foil to Alera's, showing how things might have been a bit different had Alera chosen another path. Maybe I'm crazy, but I like this new theory of mine.

Now, the romance did get me down a little bit. Here's the thing. I liked Narian at first in Legacy, but I very much switched allegiance (see what I did there?) in the next book. Steldor, while obnoxious at first, just seems so much more passionate and interesting than Narian. I kept holding out hope for him to win in the end, but, honestly, I knew as soon as I saw the second narrator that Alera wouldn't have any love triangle drama in this one. I'm glad Alera's happy, but my heart breaks for Steldor. Perhaps a spinoff about Steldor is in order?

The writing was a bit clunky in places, but I hope those issues will be fixed in the final version. I usually don't mention such things when reviewing ARCs, but I have to comment on one particular oddity. At one point, Shaselle referres to a horse as 'loco.' Since when do they know Spanish in Hytanica? The use of that totally threw me out of the text for a bit, and I hope it's caught by the editor before final printing.

The ending was a little bit too happy for my tastes, but good enough. All in all, I declare this an immensely satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, though I still want that spinoff. I hope Cayla Kluver continues to write books than can completely catch me off guard!

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote:

"He took a breath, then proclaimed, 'Lady Shaselle of Hytanica, I am in love with you.'
   I burst into laughter, pulling my legs up to ease my aching stomach muscles. He rolled onto his side to look at me, propping his head up with his hand.
   'I'm serious,' he insisted, grinning foolishly at me.
   'You're drunk.'
   'True, but even drunks can be in love.'"

New Amsterdam - Travis (+ Giveaway)

The Orphanmaster

Author: Jean Zimmerman
Pages: 416
ARC Acquired from: Penguin

Description from Goodreads:
From a debut novelist, a gripping historical thriller and rousing love story set in seventeenth-century Manhattan

It’s 1663 in the tiny, hardscrabble Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now present-day southern Manhattan. Orphan children are going missing, and among those looking into the mysterious state of affairs are a quick-witted twenty-two-year-old trader, Blandine von Couvering, herself an orphan, and a dashing British spy named Edward Drummond.

Suspects abound, including the governor’s wealthy nephew, a green-eyed aristocrat with decadent tastes; an Algonquin trapper who may be possessed by a demon that turns people into cannibals; and the colony’s own corrupt and conflicted orphanmaster. Both the search for the killer and Edward and Blandine’s newfound romance are endangered, however, when Blandine is accused of being a witch and Edward is sentenced to hang for espionage. Meanwhile, war looms as the English king plans to wrest control of the colony.

Jean Zimmerman brings New Amsterdam and its surrounding wilderness alive for modern-day readers with exacting period detail. Lively, fast paced, and full of colorful characters, The Orphanmaster is a dramatic page-turner that will appeal to fans of Hilary Mantel and Geraldine Brooks.

Book Trailer:


First Sentence: "On the same day, two murders."

Review:
The Orphanmaster is Jean Zimmerman's debut novel. It is not, however, her first foray into publication by any stretch of the imagination. Zimmerman is, first and foremost, a historian. Earlier this year, I read her recently published Love, Fiercely, and quite enjoyed it. Despite that, The Orphanmaster wasn't really on my radar, and I was going to let it pass me by. Then, one of the lovely folks at Penguin offered me a copy for review, and I couldn't say no. Guys, I am so, so glad that she offered me an ARC of this and that I accepted.

The first thing I have to mention is Zimmerman's writing. She has a way with words. The novel is complex and beautiful. I learned new terms and got to appreciate just how crazy Dutch looks. Reading The Orphanmaster is simply a pleasure, through all 416 long pages. This book took me some time to get through, but it was never a struggle.

Now, the story. The story is completely epic. From the first sentence, which definitely had me hooked, I was completely entranced by this whole other world, the past, which Zimmerman transported me to. Set in New Amsterdam in the 1660s, a gigantic cast of characters is centered around the mystery of a series of murders of orphans, done either by a psychopath or a demon.

The plotting and characterization reminded me somewhat of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, another book I love, although I think this one is better. In the first couple of chapters, I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters I was introduced to, all with very weird names, like Aet and Blandine. I worried I wasn't going to be able to track who was doing what, but Zimmerman does an excellent job, and after the initial onslaught, I had no issues with that.

Blandine was by far my favorite character, which should come as no surprise. She's an independent, headstrong lass. An orphan herself, she is 22 and as-yet unmarried, though she certainly could be if she wanted to be. Instead, she works (very successfully, I might add) as a trader. I loved her strength, and her openness to other cultures. There are strong themes of racism through the book, and Blandine is a wonderful person who judges people by their actions, not their skin color.

Just to warn you, this book can be quite gruesome. There are rapes, skinnings, murders and cannibalism. This is not a book for the faint of heart. None of this is done to excess or just for shock value, I don't think, but it is there.

Prior to reading this book, I knew almost nothing about the Dutch presence in what is now New York. I knew they were there for a while, and that the Brits pushed them out. That was about the extent of my knowledge though. I think that period was generally glossed over in history classes as not especially important, or maybe I just forgot. Either way, getting to learn about that colony was totally awesome. There are so many completely fascinating historical goodies in here. If you like to learn from your books, you will love this.

From start to finish, The Orphanmaster is dazzling. Historians should write historical fiction more often. I eagerly anticipate more novels from Zimmerman in the future!

Penguin has generously offered up two copies of this wondrous novel to one of my readers. US only. Enter via the Rafflecopter below. All of those options are one-time entries to keep things simple. :)

Rating: 4.5/5

Favorite Quote: "Drummond appreciated his guest's initial silence, his respect for the ancient, sacred act of imbibing. Drink first, talk later."

"And it's a new day,
It's a new dawn,
In New Amsterdam."
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Ride of the Valkyries - Richard Wagner

Heart of Darkness

Author: Joseph Conrad
Narrator: Kenneth Branagh
Duration: 3 hrs, 51 mins
Publisher: Audible

Story:
Back in high school, senior year I believe, Heart of Darkness was one of the instrument so torture with which the teachers gave us great pain. I hated it. It's nothing that I'm interested in. The writing is pompous, but I don't find it beautiful. The narrative is racist, as it would be, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I'm going to be entirely truthful here and say that I don't get this story. In class, we sat and analyzed it. I even remember some of our analyses, but, still, the story has little meaning to me. I just can't relate to it in any way.

Performance:
If you have to read Heart of Darkness, I heartily recommend letting Kenneth Branagh read it to you. Actually, this is not the first time I have listened to this book. In high school, I read it out loud to myself, because that was the only way I could make the page-long sentences resolve into meaning for me at the time. While I am one of the best narrators ever, I probably preferred Branagh.

I mean, his voice is amazing! The editing of this audiobook was unfortunately not perfect. They didn't do a great job with the breathing, but that's pretty easy to tune out. More disconcerting were the constant changes in volume. I would realize that Branagh had gotten very quiet and would be thinking about turning up the volume when suddenly Bam! it would be all extra loud. Do not turn up the volume or it will be REALLY loud. You have been warned.

Rating: 2/5