Gateways between world, always harbingers of doom!

-
Sisters of Shadow and Light (Sisters of Light and Shadow #1) 
by Sara B. Larson            
A combined Beauty and the Beast and a Gateway to another world story. No beasts in this world now, but they have been here in the past, and they truly were malignant Beasts. What we do have is a sentient hedge that sprouts thorns around a strange citadel and doesn't let any one in or out, except for Sami, the midwife and now the cook and housekeeper for the family, when absolutely necessary.
Zuhra and Inara, born of a Paladin father and a human mother, are secured inside the citadel along with their mother Cinnia and Sami.
When the Paladins came through a portal from another world they came to rescue the human world from the renegade Paladins, and the monsters that had swarmed through the gate and attacked the human world.
Then the Paladins disappeared, including the girls' father Adelric, something their mother Cinnia had never recovered from. She is like a demented wraith mourning and trying to protect, from what neither we nor the girls know.
When a stranger is able to come through the treacherous hedge protecting the citadel things become more complex and a course is set on from which there is no retreat.
A fascinating step into a world that involves Paladins, Gryphons, betrayal and two young women's lives being turned upside down
For some reason which I'm having trouble defining, I just wasn't as enchanted as I'd hoped to be, although I kept reading to see what would be revealed.
I did like the bond between the sisters. Inara "had the power of the Paladin in her veins--and her eyes." She is so powerful she's lost to the reality around her unless she can do something to bleed the resonance of her power off. Zuhra spends her life trying to communicate with her sister and protect her.
But, getting back to Beauty and the Beast. Well the young man Halvour (handsome prince) did find a way through the magical hedge, he did awaken the inhabitants out of their daily routine, the citadel's gateway from the Paladin world was breached, and a Beast did come through the gateway between the worlds. Although it seems that unbeknownst to all, another kind of beast was already roaming the human world. (Ok, I had my suspicions that something was up but not the what!)
The arrival of Halvour opened up Pandora's box and as we all know this is never a good thing!

 A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley

****

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

The Three Muscateers—three widows, three sets of different circumstances

-
Image
The Widows' Wine Club  by Julia Jarman    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Different enough to be interesting but I kept losing which character was which. I almost feel I need to read it again to follow who’s who. I do know that three women came together to form a support group, going to the pub for lunch etc. Better than the local widow’s group in the church hall.  All three had recently lost their husbands and now had to find a way to face their new lives. Viv Halliday is a knowledgeable gardener. Zelda Fielding is setting herself up with internet dates and searching the web for her unknown father. Janet had a controlling husband who it turned out was having affairs, and their son is just as controlling. How their lives unfold is the new challenge. A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.                                               Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Read more