Aussie Review: Saltwater Moons by Julie Gittus

Saltwater Moons by Julie Gittus

Published: August 7, 2008

Publisher: Lothian Books

In the beginning it seems so simple. A poem in the mail. A weekend invitation to the coast. But when Sun says yes to a midnight walk, her life becomes suddenly complicated. Saltwater Moons tells the story of Sun Langley during her final months of Year Twelve. There's the intensity of her first relationship, complicated by the fact she continues to exchange poems with her boyfriend's best mate. It's a story about love and betrayal, about constantly longing for the things we can't have.

My Thoughts

Another Aussie Hit!
It’s a true testament to how much I enjoy a book when I forego an entire sunny afternoon to curl up on my couch and read a book from beginning to end in one sitting. I find I do that quite often with books penned by Aussie writers. It’s like there’s a magic and realism about them. Something like tuning into a story you're already familiar with to get another few chapters of someone’s life… someone you feel you know and a story that seems so real. I don’t know how else to put it, but that’s what these books do to me and Saltwater Moons is no exception.

I really came to like Sun, Tycho (pronounced TySHO) and even Mark in some form or fashion. They each had a sort of vulnerability that was expressed so honestly that I wanted to give them all a big hug. So as far as the cast of characters go, they were awesome. I’m probably one of few readers that came to like Mark. Now don’t get me wrong, what he did at the end was wrong, but the entire time I saw him for what he was… sad, flawed and somehow broken to the point that you really had to look closely to sense his desperation and that broke my heart. I wish he didn’t do that one thing that was meant to destroy his character at the end, but other than that, he was your typical guy that makes mistakes when it comes to girls, lust and love. I tried to understand why Sun made the choice she made that sealed her fate between her and Tycho and I don’t think it was a strong enough reason to set Tycho aside, but she realized that. Tycho was definitely someone that deserved more then he got, but unfortunately he didn’t cease the moment and it passed him right by. But I did have hope for Sun and Ty at the end after all was said and done.

Overall, the storyline was right up my alley. This book to me is about beauty and hope and most importantly wanting something that seems unreachable. It’s also about betrayal and learning to trust again, all the real feelings that come with loving someone you can’t have and being with someone that doesn’t feel quite right. Julie Gittus manages to share all of these feelings without rushing the story. Her pace and delivery has that special element that you feel you’re deep into the story and before you know it, the main character is ending her narrative and you don’t feel hurried along or left with a sense of longing. It’s wrapped up, not in a pretty bow, but packaged in a way that you feel complete.

P.S. To all of the Aussie writers out there, there’s something simply magical about the stories you share. They might not all be earth shattering or life changing, but definitely special and emotional in the best kind of way. So keep drinking the water or eating the vegemite, basically keep doing whatever it is you do that fills the pages you write with that something special that makes me crave just one more page before I close my eyes at night… just one more page… May the well never run dry down under. ~sigh~

4 Snowflakes

Aussie Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Published: February 14, 2012

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.

My Thoughts

Love.love.loved it!!
What a great story! I enjoyed it from cover to cover with not a moment of downtime.

This was an Aussie wonder that was filled with moments of laughter and nothing but love for the characters ofGraffiti Moon. I was an instant fan of Cath Crowley when I came across her beautiful story A Little Wanting Song, but now with Graffiti Moon I know for a definite fact that I can’t pass up anything by this great Australian writer.

Lucy and Ed made a great pair as they shared their story using alternate POVs. I laughed and I sighed as Crowley packed a full adventure these two accomplished in one night.

The writing was vivid as I could clearly picture the art Shadow tagged around the town and the glass blowing projects Lucy created. I’ve never been a fan of graffiti and glass blowing is interesting, but this story made it come to life and bring on a whole new meaning for me. Impressed!

Definitely a book I highly recommend as it’s worth the time and emotional investment. Awesome Aussie book!

5 Snowflakes

Aussie Review: Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams

Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams
Published: November 9, 2009

Publisher: Penguin Books

Imagine your name is John Lennon, only everyone calls you Beatle.

And then you meet your Dream girl and her name is Destiny McCartney.

But what if you're already with the perfect girl?

A novel about change, chance and everybody doing the wrong thing.

My Thoughts

If I was ever asked if I could fall for a male protag that was a cheater, accidental stalker, and a former pot smoker, I’d respond HELL.TO.THE.NOOO! So leave it to an Aussie writer like Gabrielle Williams to work her literary magic with Beatle Meets Destiny and create a cast of fully flawed characters that had me rooting for them the entire time.

This book is filled with hot mess guys and girls that share their hilarious, slightly cringing story and leave you with an awe-inspiring feeling that you won’t soon forget. Applause to these brilliant Aussie writers for penning books filled with magic, love and laughter. Beautifully done!

The main character in this novel is named John Lennon… aka… Beatle and on an off chance day, he stumbles across Destiny and not just any Destiny but Destiny McCartney. What are the chances? Well, did I happen to mention it’s also Friday the 13th? Yeah, well that’s how stars align sometimes, right? So after some great conversation and an unforgettable kiss, Beatle finds himself in a quandary. See he has a girlfriend, and she’s great, and she also stood by him while he recovered from an uncommon stroke for his age that left him with a limp and a slightly bruised ego after a string of bad luck. So what’s a guy to do? I’ll tell you… make a bad situation even worse after it’s all said and done. LOVED.IT.TO.PIECES!!

I recommend this book to absolutely everyone that enjoys YA contemporary. I read it so quickly and enjoyed it completely that it’s definitely moved to my top shelf of faves. Absolutely awesome!

Finally, the last scene where Beatle walks out of the theater holding hands with that certain someone, this song played in my head:
Song Choice: Best of Me - Sum 41 

Favorite Quote I won’t soon forget.

Life throws up lots of stuff at you. You’ve already had more than your fair share for an eighteen-year-old, but as life goes on, you’re going to have other hard times. And the hard times are good in their own way, too. Because the only way you can achieve true happiness is if you experience true sadness as well. It’s all light and shade. Balance.

5 Snowflakes

Aussie Review: A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley

A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley
Published: June 8, 2010

Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers

A summer of friendship, romance, and songs in major chords. . .

CHARLIE DUSKIN loves music, and she knows she's good at it. But she only sings when she's alone, on the moonlit porch or in the back room at Old Gus's Secondhand Record and CD Store. Charlie's mom and grandmother have both died, and this summer she's visiting her grandpa in the country, surrounded by ghosts and grieving family, and serving burgers to the local kids at the milk bar. She's got her iPod, her guitar, and all her recording equipment, but she wants more: A friend. A dad who notices her. The chance to show Dave Robbie that she's not entirely unspectacular.

ROSE BUTLER lives next door to Charlie's grandfather and spends her days watching cars pass on the freeway and hanging out with her troublemaker boyfriend. She loves Luke but can't wait to leave their small country town. And she's figured out a way: she's won a scholarship to a science school in the city, and now she has to convince her parents to let her go. This is where Charlie comes in. Charlie, who lives in the city, and whom Rose has ignored for years. Charlie, who just might be Rose's ticket out.

Told in alternating voices and filled with music, friendship, and romance, Charlie and Rose's "little wanting song" is about the kind of longing that begins as a heavy ache but ultimately makes us feel hopeful and wonderfully alive.

My Thoughts

See, the water molecules are attracted to each other so much that they hold on for as long as they can. They grip to each other till they’re too heavy and then they break. It’s why water falls in tears.

Spending a quiet afternoon reading A Little Wanting Song is like watching the stars go harmonic. It’s really beautiful and I loved it! This book is sad, hopeful, funny, heartbreaking, happy all mixed in one from beginning to end. As you read this story, these myriad of emotions just keep crashing into each other like a wave in the ocean, and you can’t help but be swept away by the current. What an awesome Aussie book!

Cath Crowley creates a cast of genuine voices tied to characters that feel so clearly real. Having the story told in alternating POVs was perfection because from Charlie and Rose’s differing perspective we see how two people can be so completely different, but in the end they simply want the same thing… a chance at something new, something different.

See, Charlie is great with words, with lyrics. She can put her thoughts into words but only when she’s singing, not in public, but on her own, in the dark. Sometimes she can’t sleep because she’s swimming in so many words. But when she’s around teenagers her own age, she can’t seem to find that comfort zone, which really hurts her chances at making friends. In the end, she’s just a girl who wants someone she can talk to, someone to fix things when they are broken, someone that’s willing to worry about her and simply show that they care.

Now Rose on the other hand is surrounded by people that care, actually too much in her opinion. See she has a secret she can’t share with her family and friends. She won a scholarship to a city school, but chances are her family won’t let her go and her friends will make it hard to leave. All she wants is a ticket out of her small town and a chance to see the world, and that means leaving her friends and family behind.

Put these alternating voices together and you have a summer filled with lessons, love and inevitably a little bit of hurt.

This book is filled with so many funny moments and light hearted dialog between the characters that blend together perfectly. Some of my favorite scenes below include Dave, which I came to adore. I loved his quiet, confident way and how despite his family situation, he never took his friends for granted and found a way to just make it work.

Favorite Quotes
Some people are hard to understand, so you gotta understand yourself.

I’m not angry at all anymore really. I’m not sad. I’m certain.

See friendship is about believing in someone so hard they believe it too. Sure, it’s about trust. But if anyone hurts her tonight, it’s about ripping them apart with my bare hands and really enjoying it.

5 Snowflakes

Aussie Review: Eona: The Last Drangoneye by Alison Goodman

Eona: The Last Drangoneye by Alison Goodman
Publisher- VIKING by Penguin Group
Release- April 19th 2011
Purchase- Amazon / B & N / Chapters

Eon has been revealed as Eona, the first female Dragoneye in hundreds of years. Along with fellow rebels Ryko and Lady Dela, she is on the run from High Lord Sethon's army. The renegades are on a quest for the black folio, stolen by the drug-riddled Dillon; they must also find Kygo, the young Pearl Emperor, who needs Eona's power and the black folio if he is to wrest back his throne from the selfstyled "Emperor" Sethon. Through it all, Eona must come to terms with her new Dragoneye identity and power - and learn to bear the anguish of the ten dragons whose Dragoneyes were murdered. As they focus their power through her, she becomes a dangerous conduit for their plans. . . .Eona, with its pulse-pounding drama and romance, its unforgettable fight scenes, and its surprises, is the conclusion to an epic only Alison Goodman could create.

My Thoughts:
Wow! What a sequel! 
Don't you just love it when the second book is better then the first? Well, for me, this book was so different compared to Eon: Dragoneye Reborn. While the first book was more slow moving, Eona: The Last Drangoneye was more action packed, more dire and moved at a constant steady flow of intrigue. I loved it!

Eona is very different compared to herself as Eon. She was a very uncertain character who was shadowed by fear. In this book she has more strength, more courage, but she still struggles with control, which is really the whole point of the book since a power that fantastical is beyond control. But it's more then that. It seems that Eona is always caught between what is right, what is wrong and what is necessary. I didn't always agree with her choices and it was  frustrating to see her being pulled by blame, guilt and duty.
Alison Goodman did a tremendous job with character building, not only for Eona but for the entire cast. There were vital points to where Eon stood in the first book that lead Eona to her master conclusion. Getting there is the most fun I've had in high fantasy since Finnikin of the Rock. As for the other characters  I don't think I could have loved them any less. Ryko, Dela, Vida and of course, his Majesty, emperor Kygo.

As for the love interest? There was no romance in the first book, something that I was grateful for actually since Eon had a enough on her shoulders just trying to figure out who she wanted to be and finally deal with who she became. Love would have complicated it and make it unrealistic for her at that time. However in this book Kygo and Eona walk a very thin line. Both are powerful and important, each having their own duty. But they are still man and women and whenever they are reminded of that, the raw attraction is filled with pure energy, even when they disagree and argue, I can feel the chemistry sizzle. Such an explosive pair. As for Ido? Well I'm not sure I can say this was much of a triangle since, in my opinion, I feel that the women should have conflicting feelings for both men, while the men fight for her love. Was Eona attracted to Ido? Sure, but attraction isn't love. Was she connected to him affectionately and emotionally? No, I don't think she was. I think that she was attracted to what he could offer her. Power and knowledge. It wasn't love, it was control and as I mentioned before, this book is about control that is out of control and therefore can never truly be real. So I believe that Eona has only truly desired and loved one man in her life and I'm glad for it. They are an exceptional pair.

The plot has stepped up hugely in this book. Some of the scenes were pretty graphic, earning a cringe from me, but I was still simply amazed by all the twist and turns that Goodman put the characters and the readers through. I couldn't predict half of what happened and I was constantly on my toes. While it took a little longer to read the first one, I couldn't inhale this one fast enough. Loved the real story behind the Pearl and the dragons and how the Mirror Dragon was vastly connected. Such a sensational tale.

Bottom line, I loved this series. It's chaotic, heartbreaking and spiritually uplifting. Apart of me is still curious about what happens next, but it's not hard to figure out. I'm content with the way it ended, but I'll miss these characters very much. 
This was a brilliant adventure that I wont soon forget, it will be treasured always.

Find the author:
Goodreads / Website
                                                                   5 Snowflakes

Aussie Review & Giveaway: Saving Francesca & The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Published on May 9, 2008 
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

A compelling story of romance, family, and friendship with humor and heart, perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Lauren Myracle.

Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys' school that pretends it's coed by giving the girls their own bathroom.  Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player.  The boys are no better, from Thomas, who specializes in musical burping, to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can't seem to stop thinking about.

Then there's Francesca's mother, who always thinks she knows what's best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling of who she really is.  Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, hersocial life and—hardest of all—herself.

My Thoughts:
It's a weird smile, but it reaches his eyes and I bottle it. And I put it in my ammo pack that's kept right next to my soul and Justine's spirit and Siobham's hope and Tara's passions. Because if I'm going to wake up one morning and not be able to get out of bed, I'm going to need everything I've got to fight this disease that could be sleeping inside of me.


After reading Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta I’m convinced that this author can write a 500 page book about the different brands of toilet paper and I’d be glued to every page and every single word she has to share. I love this author’s writing, and I’m going to make it a point to read a couple more of her books before the year is out, including The Piper's Son and On the Jellicoe Road. Marchetta is a master of her craft and I’m enchanted by her skill and ability to draw the reader into her story and make them want to travel with her characters and feel every emotion they are experiencing.

Saving Francesca is a poignant, character driven story filled with humor and heartfelt moments that kept me turning the pages until I reluctantly stumbled upon the conclusion. What a beautiful novel that will stay on my mind because I became attached to the characters immediately upon meeting them.

This is more than a story about St. Sebastian’s boy’s academy becoming coed and Francesca and several other girls having the misfortune of trying to infuse themselves in the school. This book deals with depression, family issues, social pressures and a girl’s attempt to find the strength to keep her family together and her life in tact. It’s about love, friendship and finding the will to continue when everything around you makes you just want to curl up and hide from the world. I loved it and I’ll be reading Francesca’s story over and over again.

There were moments I laughed out loud, giggled like a goof and other times my eyes got misty and my heart felt a tug. When a story pulls me in so many emotional directions, but leaves me with a sense of hope, I know something was done right. I loved this book and I hope others will give it a try and get to know Francesca and walk in her shoes. Great book that shouldn’t be missed.


Favorite Quotes
I can't believe I said it out loud. The truth doesn't set you free, you know. It makes you feel awkward and embarrassed and defenseless and red in the face and horrified and petrified and vulnerable. But free? I don't feel free. I feel like shit.

I came, I mucked around. Thus I did not learn.

Do something that scares you everyday.

Ten years from now…
Will you have played your part?
Will you have carved your mark?

What are you thinking?
I’m thinking a lot of things, but they will require too much honesty and I don’t think I can take that at the moment.

I was born seventeen years ago. Do you think people have noticed that I’m around? Francesca said. Will replies, I notice when you’re not. Does that count?

Did he just insult me? Francesca asks Justine. Yes, but the tragedy is that he thinks he’s paying you a compliment.

You go shake your foundations, Will. I think it's about time I saved myself.

Favorite Scenes
Thomas, Jimmy, Justine, Francesca are on the bus and Tuba Guy Francois boards. Thomas makes things happen for Justine. I loved this guy!!!

Francesca rids the cabin of evil spirits with her hip hopping and chanting but before she does, she stops Will from entering and tells him “Nonbelievers are barred” Why did that make me crack up???

Thomas, Jimmy, Justine, Tara, Siohban wait for Francesca at her home as her dad drives out to Woy Woy to bring her back home. What an awesome group of friends. 

 5 Snowflakes

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
Published on March 1, 2010
Publisher: Penguin Australia 

The award-winning author of Finnikin of the Rock and Jellicoe Road pens a raw, compelling novel about a family's hard-won healing on the other side of trauma.


Award-winning author Melina Marchetta reopens the story of the group of friends from her acclaimed novel Saving Francesca - but five years have passed, and now it's Thomas Mackee who needs saving. After his favorite uncle was blown to bits on his way to work in a foreign city, Tom watched his family implode. He quit school and turned his back on his music and everyone that mattered, including the girl he can't forget. Shooting for oblivion, he's hit rock bottom, forced to live with his single, pregnant aunt, work at the Union pub with his former friends, and reckon with his grieving, alcoholic father. Tom's in no shape to mend what's broken. But what if no one else is either? An unflinching look at family, forgiveness, and the fierce inner workings of love and friendship, The Piper's Son redefines what it means to go home again.

My Thoughts:
Maybe she’d always been there. Maybe strangers enter your heart first and then you spend the rest of your life searching for them. - TM

I don’t know how she does it, but Marchetta delivers it every time - a fictional story that seems so real, a cast of characters you’re not ready to let go of, and a powerful dialog that reaches into your heart and soul and reveals lessons and observations that have you contemplating love, life, loss and redemption. Absolute and shear perfection that I will never get enough of.

The Piper’s Son is a heart-wrenching story told in alternating POVs of both Thomas Mackee and Georgie Finch. It takes place two years after the death of Thomas’ Uncle Joe and the day he walked away from his friends from St. Sebastians and his family that was on the verge of imploding. Georgie has a set of issues of her own as her pregnancy progresses and she struggles to make sense of her life and the man that cheated on her seven years prior. This story takes you on their journey, one of healing, forgiveness and finding one’s way home again.

As with Marchetta’s other books, I love the cast of characters she creates and every single one is a gem in their own right. They are full of surprises and ready to take you on their exploration of life. I loved the twist with Mohsin the Ignorer. It made me realize that the worst thing you can do is not give someone a chance or simply the benefit of the doubt. Wow, when his bit was revealed, I was this close *gestures thumb and index finger one inch apart* to starting the story from the beginning to get a different perspective.

Frankie, Tara, Justine and Will were fun to revisit, but I wish.wish.wish Jimmy would have made an appearance. But no worries, this book delivered a healthy dose of surprises, sigh-worthy moments, and misty eyes that I hope others will enjoy as much as I did.

Melina Marchetta, the words you to commit to page are magical and the journeys you deliver are heart rending. You are a literary genius!!

Favorite quotes
Don’t let anyone take care of you. Can you maybe leave that for me to do? I mean, take care of you? Feel free to take care of me in return… because I think I’ll need you to do that.- TM

Death by humiliation... - TM

Play me something that makes me feel,
This soul inside is made of steel.
Brain is breathing, but heart’s not beating,
And babe I need you to make things real.

Walk inside me without silence,
Kill the past and change the tense.
Empty gnawing and the ache is soaring,
Take me places that make more sense.
-Thomas Mackee 

5 Snowflakes

I am giving away a copy of both Saving Francesca & The Piper's Son to one lucky reader!  Open to all countries that are able to receive books from The Book Depository!

Good luck! 

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Review: Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 9, 2006
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it’s just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it’s her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn’t be any stricter—but that doesn’t seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past—and the year she sets herself free.

Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel—which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture—is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.

My Thoughts:
I only wish we could have been the best or the worst in the class. Not just somewhere in between… Purgatory... I hate it so much that when I die, and if God sends me there, I’ll beg him to send me to hell instead.

What can I say about Melina Marchetta that I haven’t said before? I love her character driven novels, I wish I could meet each and everyone one of them, and if I could define novel honesty fused with passion, I’d stamp a Marchetta book cover as an example. She’s brilliant, she’s literary perfection and she’s at the top of my list of favorite authors of all time.

Well after that little soliloquy it’s probably no surprise that Looking for Alibrandi did not disappoint one bit. This little gem of a book had all of the elements that I love to experience when reading Marchetta’s novels. It starts off in undefined territory where I’m not quite sure what’s going on or where Marchetta intends to lead me, but by the time I’m done with the story, I don’t want to turn the final pages and I wish I could have just a little more time with the characters that crept into my heart and took a post.

Josie Alibrandi is everything I love in a MC. She’s full of passion, spark, flaws, honesty and hope. This book is comprised of heavy themes such as culturalism, teenage struggle, sexual pressures, faith, and finding oneself in the midst of an ongoing storm. The relationship Josie has with her mother, nonna, father and friends tugged at my heart and pulled my emotions in many different directions.

There were a couple of events I predicted, (view spoiler) but that didn’t’ stop me from feeling the hurt and pain that Josie experienced when these truths unfolded. I loved how Josie and her father’s relationship developed at a slow but steady pace and by the end of the novel, he was one of my fave characters. I was bummed about Jacob Coote, but not left without hope. Josie really showed tremendous growth from the beginning to the end of the story.

If you’re a fan of Marchetta, I highly suggest you give Looking for Alibrandi a try. It’s sure not to disappoint.

Favorite quotes
…She asked me on Friday what type of contraception I use. “Underwear,” I said. “Keeping it on prevents pregnancy.”

Face it, the age of innocence is gone. We abused the act of sex now God’s sitting back and having the laugh of his life.

Please, God, let me be accepted by someone other than the underdog.

Thank you to Nomes for challenging me to read this sooner than later. I loved it!!

4.5 Snowflakes

 

Aussie Review: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
Publisher- Viking Juvenile
Released- June 23rd 2009
Purchase- Amazon / B & N / Chapters

Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he'll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragon-eye, the human link to an energy dragon's power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and, if discovered, Eon faces a terrible death. After a dazzling sword ceremony, Eon's affinity with the twelve dragons catapults him into the treacherous world of the Imperial court, where he makes a powerful enemy, Lord Ido. As tension builds and Eon's desperate lie comes to light, readers won't be able to stop turning the pages... 

My Thoughts:

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, is an exquisite, fascinating story that combines Chinese culture, the zodiac animals, swordplay, magic and dragons. It's traditional with code of honor and respect. It's cruel and cunning, sharp and smart and completely imaginative.
Eon is a sixteen year old girl posing as a male so she can train in hopes to be a Dragoneye apprentice. Even though she is a weak link, a cripple, she is also special. She has a rare gift, she can see the presence of the eleven dragons as well as the lost Mirror Dragon, with mind-sight. Something no one else can do. Soon the weight of hope is rested on Eon's shoulders, and she will learn her true fate...as Eona. 

This is the kind of high fantasy that I can't help but crave. Lots of names to remember, politics to understand and emotional play to get lost in. But at the heart of the story it's actually quite simple. It's a story about one girl who got tangled in a web of lies that her master set her upon, its a story about struggling to find her own way...as herself. To belong. To be accepted and ultimately, to survive. As the story moves on it becomes bigger then her and takes on a more dire need. As Eon unfolds in the story, I begun to unfold with her. So much forced-growth in a character right before my eyes and it was incredible to witness each step with each new chapter.

The way of each character is very formal in both speech and physical presence, I don't mean it to sound like they're robotic or dry, quite the opposite in fact, each of them have a commanding presence, from royalty to Dragoneye to servant. They are fair. They are power. They are humble. They know their places. Each role is very defined and rooted. I was going to name a list of characters and what I liked about them, but that would result in a rather long(er) review, so in short, I was very much invested to each and everyone one of them. Chart is one of my favorites though, so he gets a special shout out. He has such a kind and innocent heart. What Eon did for him was absolutely amazing and really touched my heart. There were a few characters that surprised me and some that made me disgusted (Lord Ido I'm looking at you) but no matter who was bad and who was good I thought they were all marvelously created.

The flow of this book is gradual and filled with very fine details, which I feel is the true beauty of this book. It's rich, vivid and stunning.
My only suggestion to anyone who wants to read this is, to take it a few chapters at a time. Let the story absorb in your mind before moving on, otherwise it can be a bit overwhelming or underwhelming depending on your take of the story.
Personally, I loved the way it was written. Alison Goodman writes with passion and grace. There is zero romance in this installment, so if your expecting one then you might be disappointed. It didn't take anything away from the experience for me though since I don't think there was any room for romance in a story this grand. Maybe next book?

All in all, I was very impressed with this book. It has so much heart and soul and I had a great time savoring this right till the very end. An Exceptional Read!

Find the author:
Goodreads / Website
                                                                    4 Snowflakes