Wishlist Wednesday #26

Wishlist Wednesday is a wonderful meme created by the ever sweet Dani from Pen to Paper where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

Stormdancer (The Lotus War #1)
by Jay Kristoff
Expected publication: September 18th 2012
by Thomas Dunne Books

Summary from Goodreads:

A DYING LAND 

The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever. 

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST 

The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death. 

A HIDDEN GIFT 

Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her. 

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Babble:
Yes, I have a weakness for books which features kick-ass girls with sword on the cover. And the fact that I'm Asian just made me very desperate to get my hands on this beautiful and awesome looking book. I'm hoping that Yukiko will be the next Azumi or even cooler.

Review: Soulbound

Soulbound (Legacy of Tril #1)
by Heather Brewer
Published July 5th 2012

by Dial

Summary from Goodreads:

What's worse than being blackmailed to attend a hidden school where you're treated like a second-class citizen? How about nearly getting eaten by a monster when you arrive? Or learning that your soulmate was killed in a centuries-old secret war? And then there's the evil king who's determined to rule the world unless you can stop him...

Meet Kaya, a young woman with the power to heal and the determination to fight. But struggle as she will, she remains tied to three very different men: a hero who has forsaken glory, a tyrannical ruler who wants to use Kaya, and a warrior who's stolen her heart. Kaya learns the hard way that some ties can't be broken...and blood is the strongest bond of all.

Thoughts:
When I finished reading the book, the first thing that popped into my mind is how misleading the cover is. Kaya do not even have a sword since she is a Healer destined to be bound to a Barron eventhough she had two runaway Barron as parents. Barron is a group of people who become warriors due to their incredible strength, skill and agility and each Barron is paired up with a Healer who can cure them of any injuries or sickness with a single touch.

The overall concept of the book is quite interesting and appealed to me greatly but halfway through the book I realised that it's actually the usual teen in a boarding school story set in an alternative fantasy world complete with the cliché mean beautiful bitchy girls, hunky love interest, snarky sidekick and another mysterious guy which ultimately leads to a love triangle. Damn!

I really wanted to love this so much because of the cool fantasy elements but the plotline has been done countless of times and Kaya's swear words just seemed so weird in the supposedly medieval setting. Kaya is a puzzling character for me. At the beginning she seemed like a headstrong and outspoken character but after meeting Trayton she changed into this giddy schoolgirl that I found confusing. Kaya only realised her true potential near the end of the story but I found that it's rather unbelievable that she can defeat a Barron after only learning how to fight for a short time. I'd rather prefer her friend and servant; Maddox who remained snarky throughout the story.

Hopefully the next book will be better and feature a lot more action scenes rather than those petty teenage drama moments. I will definitely continue the series since the ending just left me literally dumbfounded. The beginning and the ending is so good. Too bad the middle parts are kind of slow.

Recommended for: fans of epic fantasy
Verdict: 3 stars.

Available on: Amazon

Review: Seraphina

Seraphina

by Rachel Hartman
Published July 10th 2012

by Random House Children's Books
ARC from Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

Thoughts:
Seraphina; a half born dragon is a talented musician but was shunned most of her life by her human father. Thankfully her somewhat reluctant uncle who just happens to be a brilliant dragon took her under his wing. Just when the celebration to commemorate the peace between the dragons and humans are under way, certain situations arise and Seraphina must work together with the bastard prince to solve the mysterious murder.

Seraphina is simply a delightful story with its clever and unconventional depiction of dragons. I just love the dragons in this book. They can change to human form and disguised themselves as scholars with a talent for solving difficult math problems and they converse in such a straight forward manner that can be so funny and downright sarcastic at times. And Seraphina's relationship with her dragon mentor/uncle Orma really touch my heart.

The colourful characters, the delicious romance and the heart warming relationship just made me fell in love with this book completely!

Recommended for: fans of epic &high fantasy
Verdict: 4 stars.

In my Début Author Reading Challenge 
Available on: Amazon

Book of the Month: June

Book of the Month is a monthly event, hosted by Book Whales. This is done to highlight one of the books we have read in the previous month.

So my book of the month is (cue drum roll please..)

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

My review

As a fan of epic/high fantasy, I fell in love completely with the awesome fantasy world of Shadow and Bone. I just love love love it so much!