Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau: Book Review

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Testing trilogy comes a sweeping new fantasy series, perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sarah J. Maas.

Twins Carys and Andreus were never destined to rule Eden. With their older brother next in line to inherit the throne, the future of the kingdom was secure.

But appearances—and rivals—can be deceiving. When Eden’s king and crown prince are killed by assassins, Eden desperately needs a monarch, but the line of succession is no longer clear. With a ruling council scheming to gain power, Carys and Andreus are faced with only one option—to take part in a Trial of Succession that will determine which one of them is worthy of ruling the kingdom.

As sister and brother, Carys and Andreus have always kept each other safe—from their secrets, from the court, and from the monsters lurking in the mountains beyond the kingdom’s wall. But the Trial of Succession will test the bonds of trust and family.

With their country and their hearts divided, Carys and Andreus will discover exactly what each will do to win the crown. How long before suspicion takes hold and the thirst for power leads to the ultimate betrayal?

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

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The reading slump I have been in for a few months now has possibly been absolutely eradicated thanks to this beauty of a novel. I have found myself reeling and craving more after finishing Dividing Eden and as always with great books I am counting down the days, through my Goodreads account, to when Eden Conquered releases next year on the 12th of June. This is definitely a great read for anyone who thoroughly enjoyed Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas or Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. You may be wondering where the magical elements might be hiding within the story - well just take my word and WAIT FOR IT... Read on and be bedazzled!

I think this is the first time I've read a book with twins as the protagonists. Carys is very strong willed, able to use a knife with apt skill, and is very protective of her twin brother. Andreus is a sweet talker of the ladies, an all round lovely guy who saved a young boy from the streets, and loves to help with the windmills and Masters of Light to keep the city safe from vicious monsters hiding in the deathly shadows of Eden. Together they are an unstoppable force who would die for one another, but then their father and older brother, King and Crown Prince of Eden, are assassinated and their mother is driven mad by grief. Thanks to the help of the Seer, Lady Imogen, the council are prevented from immediately handing the throne to the next eligible head and are forced to start a series of trials in which Carys and Andreus are divided to compete against one another to determine their capability of handling the title of King or Queen of Eden.

Strange, is it not, that a book you might pick up will seem like it is foreseeable. That's what I felt like in the first half of the book until I was blown away by so many changes and twists that made me wonder why I did not pick it up earlier. I mean, how could I have known! It was such a wonderful change with reading about two twins who are close and dedicated to protecting one another from ever-lurking evils behind every corridor and under every stone, soon pitted against one another to test their loyalties to their people and the seven virtues that their city was built upon long before their existence.

✨ THINGS I LOVED ABOUT DIVIDING EDEN!✨

• Carys and Andreus are considered EQUAL! There is no sexism or prejudism over what they are except that no one but the Queen, who was supposedly too mad to be trusted, knew who was older than the other. In so many stories, movies, or TV shows, I see how the male will always get the throne no matter what. To have this story break out of that trope is a nice change.

• Carys and her friend, Larkin, have such a close bond, no matter the fact that Larkin is a commoner and Carys is a princess. They have never let that change anything between them and to be honest, I totally root them together. Better than setting Carys up with a guy she barely knows, not when she knows Larkin inside out and they're already so close.

• The tension was ablaze through the whole book and it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. There was always something going wrong and I know how frustrating that is in real life, but it's hellishly entertaining in books. Let's have more shit go wrong in novels please!

• Magic and divination is in the book, no matter how little, and it is AWESOME! It's there and I'm happy. Not too much, not too little. Just enough to make you go hell yeah and run the streets praising the Gods for Joelle to bring a brand new fiery couple of protagonists in to root for!

• It got me out of my reading slump. NEED I SAY MORE?

I have rated this book a 4.75 out of 5 stars because the last half of the book was the real turning point for me. I have to be honest, I felt like the first half was a little slow for me but that could just be the reading slump talking. I truly enjoyed this book and I'm so happy to have found yet another awesome fantasy with strong characters that prove that not everything in fantasy has to be a certain way. Do I really have to wait until June 2018 to read Eden Conquered though?

Thank you HarperCollins New Zealand for the review copy of Dividing Eden! Go check out their links here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Harpercollinsnz

Website: http://www.harpercollins.co.nz/

Go add Dividing Eden to your Goodreads list HERE

Go buy it on MightyApe with 1 day delivery in New Zealand HERE

Buy it on Book Depository with free shipping world wide HERE

Find it on the HarperCollins NZ website HERE

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Dividing Eden

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Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige: Book Review

First kisses sometimes wake slumbering princesses, undo spells, and spark happily ever afters.

Mine broke Bale.

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.

Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.

Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

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In all honesty, I have to say that this book was not up to the exact level of excitement I thought it might be. But that aside I will admit that I definitely thought this book was an awesome retelling of "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen. I didn't actually read the original story until just after I had finished the book but I could definitely see the similarities and how Danielle managed to weave many of the same elements into her own little fantasy story. This review may be filled with mixed emotions about multiple parts of the book as I felt like there were some things about it that I thought could have been better or slightly different to enhance the overall opinions from many readers including myself - though I do feel like I enjoyed the themes that lay within the fantastical world filled with snow-covered cities and beauty amongst the darkness of an evil king who had ruled Algid for many years before Snow's arrival.

The protagonist of the story is a young girl who is introduced as Snow and resides, much to her dismay, in a mental asylum in New York where she is monitored on a daily basis by her orderly, Verne, takes pills that she named after the seven dwarves, and lives for the moments when she gets to see Bale - which is almost never since he broke her wrist after their first kiss - and all of that because she tried to walk to a mirror as a young girl and cut herself badly by accident. I personally felt like I could resonate with Snow as she is described to have issues controlling her anger and I feel like that is something that many people struggle with but there is so much stigma around the idea because it can be a scary thing for those that don't want to know about it or be around people who have the potential to blow up for any particular reason. Her issues trusting her mother and feeling hardly any love for her because of the mirror incident is something that I feel is believable and true for those where their family won't support or help them when they feel like they need it the most. Snow goes through many instances where her loyalties are tested and ties are torn in ways that are brutal, and in that way I felt for her because she never knew her family like she thought she did. The friendships she gains along her journey to fulfilling the prophecy are of deep importance and show Snow what real life, despite having entered a fantasy world, can be for her if she decides to choose to stay and help Algid defeat their curse. Unfortunately a bit of the plot seemed slightly off track and went in directions that didn't quite add up - I was thinking that maybe the manuscript could have been edited up to be a little better prepared for publication.

I know that this would have been a book that I would have said five stars to right away when I was only a young teenager starting out with young adult novels like The Twilight Saga and the Vampire Academy series, but sensibly with time I have come to a state of mind where every thought seems to be critical in the best and worst ways sometimes. I definitely did enjoy Stealing Snow but I just feel like it wasn't written the best way it could have been. Many people I know have mentioned their distaste for the love triangle and I totally get that. But it didn't bother me as much as I thought it might so I'm sure many others can feel the same way I do! I'm thinking that the next book will follow things up in terms of the spread-out plot so it could impress a lot of the readers that may not have liked this one. I'm just hoping that we get to see more badass magic, snow-tornados, and Gerde and Kai because their scenes just weren't enough and I loved them specifically to bits! Snow's anger issue didn't exactly have much development and a clear resolution or point of importance in my opinion. There were a few other things that should have been cleared up as well but I guess I could be wrong with my assumptions and they might all be answered with absolute detail and serve a better purpose for the second novel. But I guess we won't know until it comes out!

I have decided to give Stealing Snow a 3 stars out of 5 because it would appeal more to a younger audience that may not have many issues with the simplistic style of writing and feel too overwhelmed by the direction of the plot line. I do think many people will love reading this story for the awesome fact that it's almost like envisioning Elsa from the Disney movie, Frozen, as Snow with her magical flurry of ice powers. It just lacked in major character development, a clear vision of the story, and better sentence structure, which might have really given this book a kick of enthusiasm. However, I am still looking forward to reading Danielle's other series, Dorothy Must Die, as I heard it is a great series and is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz which is absolutely awesome considering it being such a classic oldie! 

Thank you Allen and Unwin NZ for the review copy!

Check out their links here:

Official Website: http://www.allenandunwin.co.nz/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllenAndUnwinNZ

 

  Go add Stealing Snow to your Goodreads list HERE

Go buy it on MightyApe with 1 day delivery in New Zealand HERE

Buy it on Book Depository with free shipping world wide HERE

Find it on the Allen and Unwin website HERE

Find more out about me at:

Website: http://ellafleming-christie.weebly.com

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