Water's cover is here!

What do you think? I love it, but I'm obviously bias! It sticks very much to the theme of the first book, with the blurred figure and the emphasis on the elemental power, but has a distinctly blue tone to it. The photography was all done by my amazing younger brother; we had a lot of fun taking various water pictures while emptying a paddling pool this week. I have also updated the font from Fire, after reading a few interesting articles like this one. Like with Fire, the fill for the title is an image of water, rather than a photoshopped gradient.  

I have now updated the Water page on the site, so make sure you check that out to read the synopsis. You can also read the synopsis and an exclusive excerpt from the first chapter, over at Once Upon A Series, who are running a feature on the Elements of Power series today. 

Please let me know your thoughts on the cover in the comments and feature it on your own blog if you are a fan of the series (in return, I will be more than happy to send you a copy to review!)

Water Update and Angelfall Review

Water is nearly finished! The cover will be revealed very shortly and an official release date will follow. 

In the meantime, here is my review of Angelfall by Susan Ee

5 Stars

“I never thought about it before, but I'm proud to be human.

We're ever so flawed. We're frail, confused, violent, and we struggle with so many issues. 

But all in all, I'm proud to be a Daughter of Man.” 

The book is amazing; I could not put it down and got through it in a day.

I loved the plot as it was very different to the other angel stories I've read. Angelfall is a fusion between an angel story and a Zombie apocalypse. It was dark and edgy, but also offered an interesting take on what it means to be human. I think my awareness of this might have been heightened by the fact that I am currently working my way through Battlestar Galactica, so this sort of storyline - humans surviving against the odds against a religiously motivated super-race - is forefront in my mind! 

I thought that the relationship between Peryn and her sister was very sweet and a powerful driving force in the novel. I really believed that Peryn would do anything to get her back and I liked how it was also highlighted through the twins in the resistance camp.

The romance felt very natural and progressed at a good pace. I loved Raffe, he was a strong male lead, with a decent amount of arrogance and wit (not quite on Jace proportions, but still very promising).

Peryn was also a great protagonist; she was strong and feisty but not perfect (I loved how she struggled to come up with witty responses to Raffe).

I had no idea that this was the first in a series, so was slightly concerned when my Kindle claimed to be 90% of the way through and there was not a neat conclusion on the horizon! I am now eagerly anticipating the release of book two in November.

The cover is also really striking; pretty, but also dark and mysterious. According to Ee's website, it was actually picked following a cover competition, which is pretty cool. 

This one is a must-read for fans of Fallen and Hush-Hush.

Life of Pi Review

5 Stars

"Doesn't the telling of something always become a story...

Isn't the telling of something - using words, English or Japanese - already something of 

an invention? Isn't just looking upon this world already something of an invention?"

The best things about this novel were the writing and the twist at the end. I'm not going to say anything more about the latter - in fact, I'm going to try to say very little on the plot as I think that the less you know about this novel before you start, the more you will enjoy watching the narrative unfold.

The writing was what really sold it to me from the beginning. I loved Pi's insightful observations on life, which make him seem wise beyond his years and also often made me laugh. I particularly enjoyed his initial views on different religions and the way he summarised each in a few neat points.

Life of Pi explores big themes of overcoming extreme adversity and keeping your faith despite the challenges which come your way. It also explores the idea of living in isolation and, of course, has lots of information about animals. These technical details about the life of animals, with lots of 'case studies' thrown in, was another feature of the book that I really enjoyed. Pi was an extremely realistic character; you could see a clear parallel between his upbringing in the first section of the novel and his actions in the second.

As much as I loved this book while I was reading it, once I put it down to do something else, I would often forget about it for a few days and wouldn't feel compelled to pick it straight back up. It just didn't seem as gripping as a lot of the other books I have read and the pace was very slow. Although this did allow for the beautiful language and detail which made me like the book so much; as much as a quicker pace probably would have made me read the book more quickly, I think the message and point of the novel would have been lost.

I haven't seen the film yet - I usually follow a pattern of 'Oh, that book's going to be made into a film. Let's read the book first, but wait until the film is no longer out before doing so, ensuring that I am stuck once I finish it'…

When I finished Life of Pi, I felt as though I had just read something really special. Something that I needed to sit ant think about for a little while, before starting to do anything else. I would really, really recommend it. It would also have been a brilliant novel to read while I was completing my 'Origins of the Modern Novel' module at Uni, due to the way it explores the nature of storytelling - if you are studying anything like this, at school or Uni, you should definitely read this book! 

.Kindred Dreamheart.: DAY 7: Character Fashion Face Off

The Fashion Face Off between Imogen and Avery has been posted  for Novel Fashion Week. Please check it out and comment with your opinion. Plus you can enter to win an e-copy of Fire. I would love to know what you think of the outfits:

Check the feature out at .Kindred Dreamheart.