Book Review: Sacrifice (Sarah Singleton)

Sacrifice, Sarah Singleton

When I first picked up Sacrifice by Sarah Singleton, I thought two things: 1) Wow this cover looks familiar and 2) What?  It looks exactly like the cover for Heretic!  Of course, it’s not linked in anyway to Heretic, it just has a similar cover, that’s all.

Sacrifice follows three different individuals: Jacinth, a girl who is locked up in Bohemia; Miranda, a young girl living in England who has just moved to her grandparents’ house as her father has been killed and her mother was sent to an asylum home and James Maslin, an elderly man found by a young Irish chap, Jack, who originally thought Maslin was dead.

Despite having never met, they all share something in common – Jacinth, Miranda and Maslin are all descendants of the Crusader Knights.  Over seven centuries ago, a group of 12 knights received a lily from an angel to help them defeat their enemies in a holy war…but over the centuries, the lily’s mysterious power has warped and darkened.  Gifts still remain in the descendants, but curses are far more prevalent.  Jacinth can use her far-sight, Miranda her foresight and Maslin sees the past.  Together they must combine to reverse the curse before the Tremayne brothers, also descendants of the knights, steal the lily and try to retain the power for their own selfish purposes.

The plot in this book was really quite interesting.  It was set in the late 1800s and the setting was believable and likeable.  The plot was as thick as…something extremely thick.  I was often surprised by the plethora of twists and turns Sarah threw in.  All in all, the plot was very strong.

However, Sarah’s writing style often disappointed me.  At times it was hard to tell what was going on, and I blame her verbose language for this.  In numerous circumstances she turned a simple sentence into a complex, hard to understand sentence which seemed to drag on the book.  Her writing also didn’t seem to flow very well; time worked very strangely in her writing, if you know what I mean, and it all just seemed so choppy and unpolished.

Despite this, I believed the plot and the strong characters made up for Sarah’s lacking writing style.  I really liked Jacinth; having being left on the street after her parents died and captured and locked up in a tower by Tremayne, she really had quite a story and an interesting personality.  I found Miranda changed her personality a lot…one moment she was warm and happy, the next cold.  This was interesting, though.  Jack seemed a bit unnecessary until towards the end of the book.

Sacrifice was a pretty good book.  Sure, at times it was hard to know what was happening in this fantasy novel, but I really liked the unique plot and characters.

Rating: 3.5/5

Josh

Book Review: The Singing (Alison Croggon)

Hey everybodeiii 😀

~*_*~*_*~*_*~*_*~

Book Review: The Singing, Alison Croggon

'The Singing'

The Singing is the final book in the highly acclaimed Pellinor series by Alison Croggon.  Based on recent findings in Morocco of an ancient civilisation known as the Edil Amarandh’s and a book written by them called The Treesong, The Singing follows Maerad of Pellinor and her brother Hem of Turbansk as they attempt to find each other and solve the final riddle of the Treesong.

On opposite ends of the world, Maerad and Hem each hold one half of the Treesong.  In order for the Nameless One to be destroyed forever, the Treesong needs to become whole again.  Maerad faces an epic battle with the Landrost, the Elidhu [or Elemental] who held her beloved friend Cadvan of Lirigon captive before they met.  Hem faces mortal sickness in which his strength as a healer is put to the test.  Will brother and sister finally meet again or will all be lost in a final apocalyptical battle?

I loved this book.  I loved this series.  Normally sequels fail to impress, falling short of expectations.  However, Alison has delivered far more than what I expected with The Singing.  I have become extremely attached to the characters through this journey and am sad to see them go.

The development of the characters has been phenomenal.  Maerad, starting out as a shy, out of place girl now finds herself as a bold young woman, fearful of her own powers.  Hem, though still scrawny, is now a gifted healer.  Even Cadvan and Saliman have developed enormously.

Alison has a habit of retelling events from the past books in the series, which is a tad annoying, though it helps refresh your memory.  The language she has used has painted an incredibly vivid masterpiece.  However, I would have liked to learn what happened of Enkir, just to tie things up at the end.  The ending was a bit anticlimatical; in fact, it was pretty much the only thing I wasn’t happy with.

Nevertheless, The Singing and the whole Pellinor series: The Gift, The Riddle and the Crow, are all wonderful reads, not just for fantasy lovers but for everyone.

Rating: 5/5

~*_*~*_*~*_*~

Josh

Book Review; The Crow (Alison Croggon)

Hi ~

Yes, another book review hahah.  I’ve been reading quite a bit.

~*_*~*_*~*_*~*_*~

Book Review: The Crow, Alison Croggon

The third book in the Pellinor series, The Crow is once again utterly incredible.  Unlike the previous two books of the series, The Crow focuses on Maerad’s brother, Hem, and his adventures through Turbansk.

The Pellinor series is based on the ancient land of Edil-Amarandh.  In the previous two books, Maerad of Pellinor learns that she is the fated one who will defeat the Nameless One – a former bard who cast off his name in a bid for endless life, which he received, but his life is now one of hurt – in his quest to convert all of Edil-Amarandh to the dark.

At the end of The Gift, the first book of Pellinor, Maerad went to the frozen wastelands of the north with her mentor Cadvan while Hem traveled to the golden city of Turbansk in the Suderain with Saliman.  In Turbansk Hem befriends an unusual white crow who soon becomes one of Hem’s closest friends.  When disaster strikes Turbansk, Hem and Zelika, an orphan who appears in Turbansk, venture into Den Raven, a land filled with darkness.  Will they come out alive?

Like the previous two books of this series, I loved The Crow.  I really liked hearing things from Hem’s point of view; it was a nice change.  His feelings for Zelika are really cute too.  This book, which occurs at the same time as The Riddle, has left me filled with suspense waiting for the final book in the series.

Rating: 4.5/5

~*_*~*_*~*_*~

Josh